this is bbc news. i'm ben brown. the headlines at 103m: the chair of the government's social mobility commission — and his team resign, warning that the prime minister is failing to build a "fairer britain". the government, probably for understandable reasons, is focused on exit and seems to lack the bandwidth to be able to translate the rhetoric of healing social division and promoting social justice into reality. president trump faces accusations that he obstructed justice, after suggesting he'd known that his former national security adviser had lied to the fbi. children in england are to get access to mental health support at school or college under government plans to improve services. england are struggling in the ashes, they've lost an early wicket as they chase more than 400 under the floodlights in adelaide. and, in half an hour here on bbc

news, one hundred women takes a look at the issue of harassment on public transport. good morning, and welcome to bbc news. all four board members of the government's social mobility commission have stood down in protest at what they say is a lack of progress towards a fairer britain. ex—labour minister alan milburn, who chairs the commission, said he had little hope the current government could make the necessary progress, downing street insists it is working to provide opportunities for all. here's our political correspondent, alex forsyth. when theresa may became prime minister she stood in downing street and made a promise. the government i lead will be driven, not by the interests of the privileged few, but by yours.

when it comes to opportunity, we won't entrench the advantages of the fortunate few. we will do everything we can to help anybody, whatever your background, to go as far as your talents will take you. but the government's senior adviser in improving social mobility has now left his job with immediate effect, saying he had little hope the government could make progress in bringing about a fairer britain. in his resignation letter, alan milburn said the government was: his departure, along with three senior members of his team, has been described as a loss by some campaigners. downing street said it had already told mr milburn it planned to appoint a new chair as his term of office had ended. a spokesman said the government was committed to fighting injustice

and had made good progress. alex forsyth, bbc news. with me now is our political correspondent, jonathan blake. so, this mass resignation. how much ofa so, this mass resignation. how much of a surprise is that? well, it has come as a bit of a surprise. we understand that alan milburn‘s term of office officially came to an end backin of office officially came to an end back injuly of office officially came to an end back in july and of office officially came to an end back injuly and he was told by downing street they would be appointing somebody new to the role. he has clearly chosen, along with his colleague on the board of the social mobility commission, not to go quietly. he has come out with his resignation letter, which has been published this morning, saying that in his view, the government is talking a lot about social mobility and the need to tackle inequality in various parts of the uk, at those words are not being translated into action. he puts that down to brexit come in one word. a lot of time,

energy and resources are being focused on the effort to leave the european union, that they have not got capacity to get much else done. he was asked about the way in which he has decided to leave his post with immediate effect. the government, probably for understandable reasons, is focused on brexit, and seems to lack the bandwidth to be able to translate the rhetoric of healing social division and promoting social justice into reality, so i am afraid i reached the conclusion that there was only so long we can go on pushing water uphill. so, was only so long we can go on pushing water uphill. 50, alan milburn clearly frustrated. we heard him use the phrase" bush water uphill". we had him talk about lack of leadership in this government, and this was supposed to be theresa may's main mission. we saw in the

report a few moments ago about how she stood on of downing street on day one in the job and said very clearly that she wanted to lead a government and a country that worked for everyone, and to tackle the burning injustice is that there were in society. the governance's record on that in focus. alan milburn has said what he has said on leaving this post. he singled out in his letter the education secretary justine greening, who wanted him to continue in the post, and she was asked about the issue on the programme earlier as well.|j asked about the issue on the programme earlier as well. i am not going to get into the discussions we had inside government. he has done a fantasticjob, but had inside government. he has done a fantastic job, but his had inside government. he has done a fantasticjob, but his term had come to an end, and it was about getting some fresh blood into the commission. but the whole lot when. —— went. we were already under a new recruitment process for commissioners. but what i don't agree with alan milburn about is his

characterisation of the government, what we are doing is a transformational series of policies across government. i'm sorry, if the four people that you have put into place to oversee that say nothing is happening, you are talking the talk but you are not walking the walk, surely people are going to believe them? i absolutely don't agree with them. that was justine greening. them? i absolutely don't agree with them. that wasjustine greening. how damaging do you think all of this is for the government and theresa may? well, it is not welcome news in an already difficult time. we have the issue of damian green, the panellists are's de facto deputy, the first secretary of state, facing an investigation into his conduct, and whether there were images of pornography on his computer. we expect an announcement from the cabinet shortly on that. tomorrow, the prime list is meeting the president of the european commission, who will want to see further clarity and progress on the

uk's position with regard to brexit. and that illustrates what alan milburn was saying earlier, that the issue of brexit is taking up so much of the government's capacity that it is tricky to get anything else done. it isa is tricky to get anything else done. it is a difficult time, and this is one more bad headline that the prime lister properly did not need. thank you. we can speak tojon trickett now, the shadow cabinet office minister. thank you very much for being with us thank you very much for being with us this morning. what are you make of this resignation, alan milburn and his colleagues, this weekend? they have been speaking in increasingly strong line but over the last couple of years. resigning all at once because they are dissatisfied with the lack of progress, and they are right to be dissatisfied because so many people in our country are struggling to get by. in the budget the other day, it was the final straw, which predicted that there would be no recovery in

incomes in probably the next 15 yea rs incomes in probably the next 15 years for most people. we can't go on this way. housing is almost impossible to access for young people, whether you want to buy or rent, it is so expensive it has become out of reach. tuition fees for the children who managed to get off to university, £30,000 worth of debt around your neck. people expect in our country that if you work hard, you have got talent, you will do well and progress, but that has stopped happening. isn't all of this a bit of gesture politics question mark alan milburn's time had come to an end anyway, we just heard that from justine greening. they were getting in "fresh blood". maybe that is because the government thought he was not doing a greatjob and they thought somebody could do better.m maybe they wanted to get rid of people who were speaking the truth, and that is a more likely explanation. it will be interesting to see what happens next. the budget the other day gave £4] billion of tax cuts to the bankers, while other

people are struggling, it simply is not doing the right thing by our country. when you look at the idea that they are too busy doing brexit, it is preposterous. the holder bait about brexit is what kind of country do we now want to be in? wherever i 90, do we now want to be in? wherever i go, ifind people want do we now want to be in? wherever i go, i find people want a fair country where people who do work ha rd to country where people who do work hard to get screwed over by a system thatis hard to get screwed over by a system that is only working for a view of the richest at the top. justine greening was saying that actually the government have embarked on a transformational series of policies on social mobility across bodmin departments. i try not to smile because this is a serious business, but quite rightly, that is not the reality of people in our country. the reality is that young people are staying at home and their mid—30s, putting off decisions about their futures, poorjobs, tuition fees, poverty for so many children. in yorkshire alone, there are 240,000

children in poverty, yet most of those children are in households where there is somebody in work. it is low pay, poor futures for most people. we have people working at tescos and elsewhere who have got degrees because they can't find quality work. the country knows it is time for a big change and this cove na nt is is time for a big change and this covenant is not going to deliver it, by the look of it. —— this government. thank you to joining us. leading brexit supporters have urged the prime minister not to settle the uk's "divorce bill" unless the eu agrees to a series of conditions. the ‘leave means leave' group, which contains former cabinet ministers, says brussels must end the european court ofjustice's jurisdiction over the uk. it also wants freedom of movement to the uk for eu citizens to stop when britain leaves the bloc in march 2019. theresa may is to hold more meetings next week on the terms of the uk exit. one of those signatories was the conservative mp jacob rees—mogg. he told the bbc‘s andrew marr show that paying the divorce bill reduces the uk's hand in negotiations.

it is very important that we don't hand over a great deal of money, u nless we hand over a great deal of money, unless we have an agreement. the risk is that we pay the money from the day we leave, and that reduces our negotiating cloud to get the trade deal finalised if it has not been done before 29th of march 2019, and that seems an obvious point. donald trump is facing accusations of obstructing justice, after suggesting that he knew his former national security adviser, michael flynn, had lied to the fbi about contacts with russia before the president fired him. mr trump said mr flynn had done nothing unlawful. 0ur washington correspondent, laura bicker reports. donald trump's started the day on a bullish note. he is on course for a much—needed win on tax reform, he brushed aside questions about his former national security adviser lying to the fbi over his meetings with russians. what has been shown is no collusion,

no collusion, there has been absolutely no collusion, so we are very happy. but then he issued another controversial tweet, one that could cause him a real headache. he said he had fired michael flynn because he lied to the vice president and the fbi. many people are asking why michael flynn, a former three star general, did not tell the truth to the fbi about his meetings with the russian ambassador, as the president said, his actions were not against the law, but donald trump's tweet leads to a bigger question, did you know michael flynn had lied to the fbi? this is a problem because the former head of the fbi james comey has testified under oath that the president asked him to drop an investigation into michael flynn. legal analysts are now wondering if the president was trying to stop

an inquiry into his former adviser, knowing he was guilty, in other words, was he trying to obstruct justice? on this vote, 51 in favour and 49 against. it should have been a momentous day for donald trump, the republicans had finally united behind a tax bill, a welcome distraction and at last a legislative victory. but now, once again, because of a tweet, the american president is embroiled in a controversy over russian meddling in the us election, a controversy that continues to loom over the white house. well, donald trump has been tweeting again in the past few hours. he says michael flynn's life has been "destroyed", and contrasts that with the way he says hillary clinton was treated

by the fbi in a different investigation when she was allowed to give a voluntary interview over a july 4th holiday weekend. he asks, what are thejustice department going to do about that matter, drawing attention once more to hillary clinton's use of a private email server when she was secretary of state. the metropolitan opera in new york has said it will investigate allegations that its former music director sexually abused a teenage boy in the 1980s. the met said it was deeply disturbed by media reports about james levine, who stepped down last year after 40 years in the role. he's reported to have denied the allegations. rail passengers across england are facing disruption this morning after electric wires near london's euston station were damaged. network rail says there will be no services in and out of euston until at least midday while repair work is carried out, delays are likely on services between london euston, watford junction,

birmingham and manchester. the headlines: the chair of the government's social mobility commission quits with the rest of the board. he warned that the prime minister's is failing to build a fairer britain. children in england are to get access to mental health support at school or college under government plans to improve services. all the very latest sport now. it is not going england's way in the cricket down under, is it? that's right, it has not been the best day for them. to make matters

worse, the rain has started. brain has actually stopped play in adelaide. england have lost an early wicket as they chase more than 400. the aussies declared on 442—8 and put england into bat under the floodlights. an unbeaten century from shaun marsh was the base for australia's strong position. england lost opener mark stoneman — he made 18 before being trapped leg before wicket by mitchell starc. still around half an hour's play left on day two. australia are well on top and favourites to go two up in the five match series. ben stokes has been back in action. don't get too excited though, he's not in adelaide but in new zealand, where his much—anticipated return to cricket with the bat was disappointingly brief for canterbury. he was dismissed forjust two runs. the all—rounder, who's suspended pending a police investigation for an alleged assault, didn't take any wickets either. and while they struggle with the rain in adelaide at least

they didn't have this to contend with this. this is the third test between sri lanka and india in delhi, where a thick smog has descended over the ground. the umpires, batsmen and fielders in deep discussion, pressumably over whether or not they can continue in those conditions. a tricky match for manchester city at home to west brom later — they'll be hoping to extend their lead at the top, following manchester united's 3—1 win over arsenal yesterday, putting them within just five points of their rivals. elsewhere, there were victories for chelsea and liverpool, as tim hague reports. arsenal versus manchester united has been one of the premier league's premier fixtures over recent years and this match showed why. sensational from start to finish, two early united goals including this one from jesse lingard, then numerous arsenal chances and saves by david de gea. commentator: brilliant save, fantastic! unbelievable, david de gea.

while alexandre lacazette did beat the spaniard just after half—time, united broke away and sealed an impressive victory in a match with 41 shots on goal. amazing character by the players, amazing attitude from every one of them. they showed also amazing character in the difficult moments of the game and the game gave us difficult moments, arsenal gave us difficult moments. there was also one self—inflicted difficult moment for mourinho's men, the late sending—off of paul pogba. commentator: he's trodden right on the back of his knee, pogba, and paul pogba will miss the manchester derby next weekend. with city not playing until today it was a chance for the likes of chelsea and liverpool to close the gap a little. eden hazard getting two for the blues in their win over newcastle. commentator: no lack of confidence there, two for him and three for chelsea. liverpool in free—scoring form, they hit five at brighton and back in the top four.

a long way ahead of their local rivals everton. they have a new manager in charge. sam allardyce! and they're starting to find their feet this season. victory over huddersfield getting sam allardyce off to a solid start. and there was another new man in charge yesterday, alan pardew back in the dugout at west brom and facing old side crystal palace in his first match. no goals but two struggling sides in need of a few more points. tim hague, bbc news. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. i'll have more for you in the next hour. thank you. i'm not sure we want to follow the latest from down under! see you later on.

children will be able to get access to mental health support at schools or colleges in england under plans announced by the government this morning. £300 million of funding will be made available in a joint initiative between the departments of health and education. campaigners say the measures are welcome, but long overdue. edward curwen reports. i didn't have any therapy, it was just to talk about things... sienna, not her real name, has had an eating disorder and depression for the last five years, but for nearly half of that time she was waiting for the right kind of help. ijust feel i've never been properly treated for the mental side, theyjust sort of put me in hospital when my physical side is bad, and then don't treat anything else and they wonder why it keeps happening. she says once support was offered in a hospital, that service was still hundreds of miles away from home. just over a month ago, a review by the care quality commission found that young people were facing long waiting times and unequal access to mental health services that could be put in their lives at risk. now the government's allocated £300 million from the departments of health and education.

the measures include the piloting of a new four—week waiting time for young people to get treatment. for all primary and secondary schools to get mental health awareness training and joined up mental health support teams between schools and the nhs. the promise we want to make to parents up and down the country is that if your child has a mental health issue, we want to make sure that you get the help much, much earlier than happens at the moment and, if possible, we want to work within the schools system to prevent that condition deteriorating. labour, though, says it questions whether the plans will enable every school in england to provide support, while the charity young minds says there's still a long way to go with chronic underfunding for so long. edward curwen, bbc news. the british red cross is calling for syrian refugee families

who are being resettled in the uk to be allowed to bring their young adult children with them. around nine thousand syrians have been allowed into the uk under the home office's vulnerable person resettlement scheme. but the british red cross says it's wrong that refugees who have come in under a different programme are being forced to leave their over 18s behind. june kelly reports. born in syria, but this 14—year—old is growing up in glasgow. he's really good at what he does. what do you think about children's rights? in this lesson on human rights, she describes how her home was bombed. three bombs fell into my house... beside her, her brothers. my brother's face got bombed, half of it. what's it been like in scotland? you can go to school, you can go out. you're not scared of anything.

their parents are grateful to the uk for giving their family refuge. but this family was fractured when the rules forced them to leave their eldest child behind in syria. their daughter here, growing up with her sisters and brothers, was barred from coming to the uk. this is because she was 19 and legally an adult. her parents decided she had to get married, to have someone to protect her. now this is how they all keep in contact. translation: i couldn't come with my family. i had to get married because i had no one left at home. i had to give up university and the prospect of getting a job. this had been my dream since being a little girl. three years on, she is now a mother of two. after paying people smugglers, she embarked on a treacherous journey and finally followed her new husband to germany. but the uk is still refusing to let her in.

translation: this law that stopped her coming here is a war against families. i managed to bring my entire family, except for her. she had to stay behind. this law is helping to bury her. in a statement the home office said: the british red cross believes these cases should not be left to the discretion of case workers. let's be clear. we're talking about children that are part of the family unit. people watching this now, think of your family, the children who still live at home, childred who maybe away studying. that's what we are talking about. let's bring those families back together. families belong together.

this family will always be thankful to the uk, but, having endured the horror of war, they are still suffering the trauma of separation. june kelly, bbc news, glasgow. pioneering surgeons successfully completed a human heart transplant for the first time 50 years ago today, a procedure which has changed the way heart disease is treated. the youngest person on the uk transplant list, eight—week—old baby charlie is making good progress following a nine—hour operation where he received a new heart. duncan kennedy reports. a tender moment tracie wright thought she would never have with her baby charlie. charlie was born with only half a heart. hospitals across europe were contacted to find an organ donor. this week, a heart did become available. and now, atjust eight weeks old, charlie has had a transplant. his skin colour was just amazing.

i can't describe it. from going so blue, he wasjust blue all the time, to being so pink and peachy and perfect. charlie was the youngest patient on britain's transplant waiting list. his doctors say the operation went well. he was extremely lucky, considering his condition and his size, to get a heart, a suitable donor heart, on time. it's not known if the family who donated their baby's heart know about charlie, but charlie's mother says they've given her a precious gift. it's the bravest thing anyone could do. they've given my boy a second chance at life, and for that, i'll be forever thankful. i cried for them. charlie is expected to be strong enough to go home in the new year.

an unbearable loss in one family that became unrestrained joy in another. duncan kennedy, bbc news. new measures to protect parts of britain's coastline, and around 150,000 rare birds, will be announced today. the uk's so—called "blue belt", which protects marine areas, will be extended to several parts of the country. the hope is that it will give animal and bird life greater protection, as tom burridge reports. parts of britain's coastline are rich, diverse habitats, and important breeding grounds for a wide variety of birds. so the government wants to protect them. we know about greenbelt, now more coastline will be classified as blue belt to protect certain species. like these manx shearwaters, rescued

a few years ago in pembrokeshire. these birds are also found in the irish sea off anglesea, an area which will now have the new protected status. so, too, will 24 miles of cornish coastline. it means that in total, 650 square miles of sea and coastline around the uk will now be classified as blue belt. lundy off the coast of devon, already a marine conservation zone. important work to protect the life in and above our waters. tom burridge, bbc news. hello, we should see the weather in proving today. a lot of the damp, drizzly weather tending to push its way south, allowing more broken

cloud and some sunshine to come down from the north. staying rather cloudy in the south—east perhaps, here temperatures higher than yesterday. milder today than yesterday, but by contrast further north a little lower than yesterday. turning dell and damp across northern ireland and still rather cloudy in the far south—west. that cloudy in the far south—west. that cloud and drizzle comes back into scotla nd cloud and drizzle comes back into scotland and other western parts of england and wales. cloud breaks developing across parts of eastern england and south—east scotland, so here just england and south—east scotland, so herejust a england and south—east scotland, so here just a touch of frost in the countryside. a greater chance of seeing that super moon. some fog around overnight, which will lift on monday morning. eight few showers coming from the north west. many places will have a dry day, some wea k places will have a dry day, some weak sunshine and it will be on the mild side. hello. this is bbc news with ben brown.

the headlines: all four board members of the government's social mobility commission have resigned, in protest at what they see as a lack of progress towards a "fairer britain". the government, probably for understandable reasons, is focused on brexit and seems to lack the bandwith to be able to translate the rhetoric of healing social division and promoting social justice into reality. donald trump faces accusations of obstructing justice, after suggesting that he knew his former national security advisor, michael flynn, had lied to the fbi about contacts with russia before the president fired him. the government sets out plans to make it easierfor children in england to get access to mental health services. schools and colleges will be encouraged to appoint staff who'll work with the nhs to provide specialist support.