good morning. it's wednesday, it's 9am. i'm victoria derbyshire. welcome to our programme. ministers are facing severe criticism over what's been described as their abject failure to tackle homelessness in england. it is two too many. the council, there needs to be something done. why are we not looking after these people? we'll hear how 120,000 children are homeless and look at the impact it has on them and their education. the metropolitan police is looking at all ongoing cases. people injail right now, where evidence that could have proved their innocence hasn't been disclosed? i think yeah. i mean, there is going to be you can't really stop false accusations. people do have a spiteful side and

when people are hurt they react in a way but wouldn't really expect. we'll look at whether these mistakes are incompetence, carelessness or "unconscious bias" against alleged perpetrators in rape cases. plus, should fathers taking parental leave be entitled to the same level of pay as mothers on maternity leave? an employment tribunal will hear a case this morning which argues dads are discriminated against. if you're a dad who has taken shared parental leave, how have you afforded it? hello and welcome to the programme, we're live until iiam. throughout the morning the latest breaking news and developing stories — a heads up that later the international monetary fund will set out their annual review of the uk economy. we'll bring you some of that and we'll talk to people who are spending their christmas away

from theirfamily. if that's you — do get in touch and tell us how you'll be spending your christmas — use the hashtag victoria live and if you text, you will be charged at the standard network rate. our top story today. the extent of homelessness in england has been described as a "national crisis" by a committee of mps. a report by the all—party public accounts committee says the government's attitude to tackling it is "unacceptably complacent". the government says it's investing more than £1 billion to help make more affordable housing available. andy moore reports. this report says the problem of homelessness has been growing for years, with a number of people in short—term accommodation up by 60% since 2010. the mps say there is an unacceptable shortage of realistic housing options. there are estimated to be 9,000 people sleeping rough on the streets every night, that's more than doubled the number in 2011. there are a further 78,000 families living in temporary accommodation, often of a poor standard, and that includes 120,000 children.

the committee has described the situation as shameful. it's called on the government to focus on the supply and affordability of decent housing. you need to stop being complacent about this. it is not enough also to just throw money at it, it needs to be money that is fixing the core root of the problem, that looks at why people are homeless in the first place. critically you need to be building more houses, yes, but they need to be truly affordable houses. the committee now wants the government to come up with a strategy for tackling the issue by the middle of next year. labour said this report showed the conservatives had caused the crisis of rapidly rising homelessness but had no plans to fix it. the government said homelessness was a complex problem and it was providing over £1 billion over the next few years to help deal with the issue. 0ur correspondent dan johnson is here. what stands out from the report

then? the figures and the fact that this problem has grown consistently. 9,000 people at least sleeping rough, but another 78,000 households that are part of the hidden homeless problem, living somewhere, but not having their own home and that includes 120,000 children. that's a staggering figure, but the language in here about the government's response that does stand out, the fa ct response that does stand out, the fact that the department dealing with this apparently, the committee says its approach has been unacceptably complacent and the limited action it has taken has lacked the urgency that is needed. this light touch approach by the government, the committee says, has clearly failed. the government says it is putting £1 billion into this. the government says its homeless reduction act and its rough sleeping taskforce will tackle this problem, but clearly a huge issue and talked a lot about at this time of year and something that's difficult to get right. we are going to talk about

children who are homeless later on. annita is in the bbc newsroom with a summary of the rest of the day's news. good morning. the metropolitan police is launching a review of all current sex offence investigations, after the collapse of a second rape case in a week. the prosecutions were halted because of the late disclosure of evidence. scotland yard has confirmed the same officer was involved in both investigations. bbc news has learnt that eu banks will be allowed to continue operating in the uk as normal after brexit even if the european union and britain fail to reach a deal. the plans from the bank of england mean that european banks operating through branches in the uk will not have to go through the expensive process of creating british subsidiaries. police will continue searching two properties, including a community centre, this morning, following anti—terror raids in sheffield and chesterfield. four men have been arrested and held over an alleged islamist terror plot that officers say could have been carried out this christmas. people forced to evacuate their homes to allow the bomb a man has admitted knocking

a cyclist off his bike after the shocking incident was captured on dash—cam. this footage shows the driver swerve towards the cyclist and knock him off his bike before driving off and leaving him lying in the road. 30—year—old ashley wallace merrett pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, actual bodily harm and common assault following the shocking incident in colchester in essex. the cyclist needed hospital treatment but his injuries were not serious. british homes and businesses will have a legal right to high—speed broadband by 2020 as part of plans to improve broadband speeds in rural areas. under the proposals, broadband providers will face a legal requirement to provide high—speed broadband to anyone requesting it, subject to a cost threshold. the government has decided to regulate the industry rather than have a voluntary agreement. the european court ofjustice has decided that the taxi hailing app

uber should be considered a transport company. the ruling means that the firm should be subjected to tighter eu regulation in the countries in which it operates. 0nly countries in which it operates. only 62% of the british population will spend most of the christmas day with their closest relatives a survey suggests. the poll of 2,000 people by yougov for the stand alone charity which helps people estranged from theirfamilies charity which helps people estranged from their families suggests 12% will spend it with their partner's immediate family and just 39% said they found the dayjoyful. the bbc is to broaden its coverage of religions, devoting more time to non—christian faiths. the decision follows a review of the corporation's output in response to claims it was out of step with its audience. there will also be more religion reflected in mainstream programming. christmas jumpers, prosecco, all

good giftsz gifts to find out under the tree. many dog owners are splashing out. fiona lamdin has been finding out. more and more are dressing dogs in christmas costumes. just last week, 300 dogs injumpers smashed a world record in london. # the weather outside is a frightful, but the fire is so delightful. not hugely surprising then that we are spending a lot more on them. just a couple of miles across town, much thought and planning has gone in to suki the pug's wardrobe. on christmas day she will have three changes of clothes. when i was a kid my parents got me clothes for christmas, and i was excited to wear the clothes, going to see my family on christmas dinner, so it is kind of the same thing. she is like my daughter. i am like, whoa, she is. it is notjust clothes.

she'll have a small mountain of presents under the tree. i think we spend more money on her than on each other. if you come to the kitchen, there is a section for her in the fridge. so you can start the day with a mince pie, and your christmas dinner. you have got a choice of red or white. and it seems suki isn't alone. around the corner at the local groomers... we have given her a lovely warm bath. i can't keep the stock on the shelves long enough. sometimes i come in and wonder what i am going to fill them with? let's look around for things to get in quickly because we can't keep up. i have to admit this is a whole new world. i adore my dog mouse, but i have never bought him a christmas present before. there are so many things i could get him. a raincoat, socks, or even boots. uk consumers are spending more every single year on accessories for pets.

just over £900 million is expected to be spent in 2017, that's up 16% since 2012. this is an ongoing shift towards treating pets much more like people. this really comes from the really strong parent bond between owners and pets. # let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. it is nice to have a puffer jacket when it is cold. i am buying my friends' a presents. the more that you treat your dog like a human, the more likely they are to develop behavioural problems. shall we pack your stocking? many dogs across the country will have something under the tree, though i am not so sure how many of us will be in matching attire! definitely some pampered pooches.

they deserve it! that's a summary of the latest bbc news — more at 9.30. i have doggy chocs and a toy for gracy. it is an elf with a bell on and gracy will adore it. do get in touch with us throughout the morning — use the hashtag victoria live and if you text, you will be charged at the standard network rate. let's get some sport now with holly — and the former wimbledon champion marion bartoli has announced her return to tennis — that's a bit of a surprise, isn't it? it has been a shock when she put this video online last night. she has been dropping a few ominous hints on social media i think it is fairto hints on social media i think it is fair to say, talking about exciting things to come, but i don't think anyone expected this. it is quite a surprise when you consider she just retired well nearly five years ago 110w retired well nearly five years ago now after a rather successful career which saw her winning eight tour titles and reached a career high ranking of seventh in 2012 and then

in 2013, she fulfilled her life long dream of winning wimbledon and that was her first grand dream of winning wimbledon and that was herfirst grand slam dream of winning wimbledon and that was her first grand slam title. dream of winning wimbledon and that was herfirst grand slam title. so, it's going to be a surprise to many. it was a surprise then when she walked away from the sport in the first place and many were quite disappointed to see her retire, but now, at the age of 33, it looks like we'll get to see more of that well—known two—handed fore hand once again and she posted that video to oui’ again and she posted that video to our instagram last night and she said she will be making her return at the miami 0pen next year. she has admitted she has a lot of training to do, but she hopes she will be ready for march and she has her sights on wimbledon. in retirement she had serious health problems, hasn't she? that's right. and it was, she made no secret of it at the time to be honest. she revealed that actually at one point she had feared for her life and that was contracting an unknown virus. it was never really confirmed what had happened, but it did cause her to lose a dramatic amount of weight. i

think people were really quite shocked when they saw her at wimbledon and she was commentating for the bbc and she was almost unrecognisable. those images of her looking extremely thin made headlines across the world with many people understandably concerned about her health. thankfully, since then, she has been seen looking healthier and admitted she has been working on her gym routine and eating healthier and playing more tennis. she said in a video as well last night that she has been training in secret since october. hopefully she will able to come out more publicly and do a bit more training now. she is a such a bubbly and larger than life character. many people will be so pleased to see her back on the tour, we are looking forward to seeing her getting back in training and looking out for her in march, victoria. thank you very much, holly, thank you. all of the metropolitan police's current sexual offences investigations are to be reviewed

after a second rape prosecution collapsed because the defence was only shown evidence helpful to its case three months after asking for it. the trial was due to begin next month. the earlier case against liam allan was halted in croydon crown court last week. he spoke to us on this programme on monday and told us he wouldn't be surprised if there were further cases like his. you can't really stop false accusations. people do have a spiteful side and when people are hurt they react in a way that you wouldn't really expect. so you know, we rely on the procedure to find the right sort of things and as far as i'm aware if i have been through it, i'm aware if i have been through it, i'm not the only one, just because i'm not the only one, just because i'm the one in the media. there are people going through it now and you know, that's the aim now is just sort of, the procedure may need to change in order to make sure that this doesn't happen again, but for the people that are going through it now, you know, can that change? reviews of other cases might happen.

but the first step is making sure that the procedure changes in the right direction so you know what you're looking for. why do you think the police didn't disclose those a0 thousand messages which proved your innocence? disclose those a0 thousand messages which proved your innocence ?|j wouldn't know why. it could be a mistake. it could have been been i haven't got the time to read a7,000 messages. for me, for something this serious and others have gone through the same thing, your life's on hold. so there isn't, i would have happily waited another month if it meant they would have read those properly and this could have been avoided. it would saved another eight or nine months waiting for a trial. i think they're under a months waiting for a trial. i think they‘ re under a lot months waiting for a trial. i think they're under a lot of pressure, given how much media pressure there is. you don't think it was malicious. i find it hard to believe it was malicious. thank goodness for

the prosecution barrister who was insisting they should be disclosed, because he had been to fobbed off and he was told there was nothing releva nt. and he was told there was nothing relevant. i mean there is a lot of credit in terms of, this is where i consider myself lucky, the judge handled it so well from a neutral point of view and that was nice to see, you don't feel so alone. the prosecutor was very understanding in the respect that we should have that information. but i have got to give credit to my barrister, which is julia smart and simone from the law firm, their persistence and their work attitude has been amazing. there is nobody else like them for me andi there is nobody else like them for me and i do owe my life to them all equally. liam allan.

the second case involves a 25—year—old man called isaac itiary who spent four months in jail awaiting trial after being charged with raping a child girl under the age of 16. the defence asked for details of her text messages in september, but they were only just provided this week. they showed she regularly posed as a 19—year—old. all charges were subsequently dropped. we can speak now to lord paddick — he is a former deputy assistant commissioner of the metropolitan police and a liberal democrat peer. he says the public would be more reassured if the current review of all rape investigations being carried out was done independently, or by another force instead of the met. chris henley qc is vice chair of the criminal bar association — he believes both the crown prosecution service and the police have shared responsibilities in these failings. peter kirkham — a former detective chief inspector who spent 21 years with the met. during his time he investigated many

rape cases and believes the police is under huge pressure and are not at fault. why do you say they're not at fault? i need to make it plain, i'm not saying they're not at fault in there was nothing done wrong. what i'm saying is they're not able to do theirjobs properly. they weren't able to do theirjobs properly in 2010. in 2010 we had about 12,000 rapes a year being reported. we now have about a8,000. and since 2010 we have about a8,000. and since 2010 we have reduced the number of police officers by 20,000. that is about 1596. if there are text messages and what's app messages, digital media, how can you as a police officer sleep when you know you haven't

checked them. you can't. if you go and speak to any police officer on any of the metropolitan polices, they were sapphire units, they're 110w they were sapphire units, they're now two units rolled together. you speak to any officer, they're not sleeping at night. they're suffering from stress. why aren't they disclosing the messages? because they haven't got time to do their jobs. they could disclose them. how many officers do you think are allocated to a rape inquiry on the day it comes in. it doesn't take much to disclose stuff. how many officers do you think are allocated toa officers do you think are allocated to a rape inquiry. tell us how many it is now and what it used to be.“ i told you officers have over 20 on going rape and serious allegations on the go at once with no support

and insufficient supervision and insufficient training, because you can't train officers if they haven't got time to come away from operations, with no support and budgets for things like laboratory examinations cut. i hear that, but i don't know why that would stop the police saying to the crown prosecution service there is a load of m essa g es prosecution service there is a load of messages here, let's disclose them and give them the opportunity to look at them. that is a minor issue. of course that is wrong and in an individual case there will be problems like that. this officer will be hauled over the coals and i wouldn't be surprise if they were pushing to put him injail. it won't solve the problem. chris henley was surprising, deputy of the criminal bar association, why are you smiling? that is an overreaction. but what is important is that the police are able to do theirjobs properly. because what is at stake

is the liberty of in liam allan's case an innocent man. of course. because the investigates process was not carried out effectively, his liberty was put at risk and its unacceptable. if there is a resource problem, it falls to the officer investigating the case and the crown prosecution service lawyer and the barrister who stepped up in this case to say to the judge we are not ready. this is too important. let me ask you, lord paddick, is it reasonable for an investigating officer to say there is a load of messages, we haven't had time, here they are. yes it is reasonable. what is not reasonable... being transparent about the fact that there is other evidence there. what is not reasonable is not to look at the messages and tell the defence there is nothing to see. or the prosecution. yes. what i'm concerned

about and why we need an independent review is that the culture may have shifted. when i did a review of rape investigation in 2005 the problem was the police didn't believe the people making the allegations. now, my concern is and i'm not sure whether it is true, that the culture may have smifted, so —— shifted so the complainant is always believed. what the previous, what the previous speaker has said is right. in that there has been a massive increase in there has been a massive increase in the numberof there has been a massive increase in the number of cases. there has been a significant reduction both in terms of the numbers of police office rs terms of the numbers of police officers and the seniority of the office rs officers and the seniority of the officers investigating the cases. in the time which were in the met it was at least a detective sergeant and now you have got constables investigating these very serious crimes. there is a question about

supervision of the officers and about culture and resources. there isa about culture and resources. there is a question about the volume of this thing. in liam allan's case it was over 2,000 pages of text messages. that is a lot of stuff. as it has happened twice and it is the same investigating officer we are told, what do you read into that? clearly there is, there may be an issue with that office and an issue with supervision of that officer. it might be as the prosecution barrister said it maybe a systemic problem. i don't think we can leave to it the police and the crown prosecution service to get to the bottom of it, there needs to be an independent look at this. chris henley, do you, you, the chair of your organisation warned unconscious bias could be preventing the police

from investigating, do you agree with that? yes it is possible. what brian has said about the history of the investigation of these cases is right. complaintants used to be treated badly. now it has gone the other way. that still doesn't make sense from a police officer's point of view, you follow the evidence. that what is should happen. an allegation is made, a complaint is made, of course the complaintant should be treated with respect. but then the allegation needs to be tested and be set against what the answer is whether ten suspect is interviewed. this material was in the possession of the police and it obviously wouldn't have taken long if it was sifted through and it wasn't, because the defence barrister sat up all night to do her job, hours for which she won't be paid, because of the cuts across the system, not just the

paid, because of the cuts across the system, notjust the barristers, the the courts are crumbles. the inspectorate reviewed the disclosure process and july said there were fails. what would your advice be to anybody who maybe investigating now, for crimes of a sexual offence or who may be injail now for crimes of a sexual offence or who may be in jail now as for crimes of a sexual offence or who may be injail now as i for crimes of a sexual offence or who may be in jail now as i was putting to liam allan and potentially wondering if they're a victim of a miscarriage ofjustice. well it must be demoralising if you're on the receiving end of this and you feel the matter has not been investigated properly. you keep faith with your solicitor and the barrister who will fight your corner and thank goodness we have independent barristers who don't ta ke independent barristers who don't take at face value everything their told and want to see the material themselves. we have some messages

from people listening. research for the home office suggests only a% of cases of sexual violence reported to the police are suspected to be false. bruce says, the police seem to be damned if they do and damned if they don't. martin says, liam allan was held under police bail while they trawled for evidence. this practice is common to constitute a threat to liberty. another e—mailfrom constitute a threat to liberty. another e—mail from peter, the constitute a threat to liberty. another e—mailfrom peter, the media put pressure on the police to get convictions in rape cases and this isa convictions in rape cases and this is a way of satisfying the media craving. thank you all very much. more on this later. your views is welcome. particularly if you're being investigated now for a crime ofa being investigated now for a crime of a sexual offences nature. a man who threw acid across a packed london nightclub injuring 22 people has been jailed for 20 years.

arthur collins, the ex—boyfriend of reality tv star ferne mccann, admitted throwing the liquid but had claimed he believed it was a date rape drug. last month he was found guilty of five counts of gbh with intent and nine counts of abh. this cctv footage shows the moment of the attack — collins had claimed in court he had taken the bottle from a group of men with whom he had got into an argument. he said he snatched it thinking it was a date rape drug. "i wanted to show them the drug was gone; show them there was nothing left in the bottle." but the jury didn't believe his defence and on sentencing thejudge told him: a total of 22 people were injured as a result of the attack,

16 of whom suffered serious burns. victims who read impact statements to the court spoke of feeling "scared", "traumatised" and "suicidal" as a result of the attack. 0ne victim was lauren trent. for me, it doesn't change what happened. it sets a standard for anyone out there thinking about throwing acid, especially a pm acid over another human being. i think it's the fear of the unknown. that night there was nothing to indicate what was about to happen. i was in a nightclub, a place i should have been safe. it was my 22nd birthday. my birthday is now an anniversary of an acid attack. i didn't walk in there with scars. i'm now fearful of people i don't know. if a commotion breaks out, the first thing that now goes through my head is, are they going to throw acid? something i would like to think would not affect my life,

but it has affected my thoughts and actions and it will from this day on. perhaps about where i stand in a club, perhaps what i do when a fight breaks out. i would like to think i'm stronger than that and i would like to think his actions will not get to me and i would like to think i'm moving on with my life. but today, i would say i'm not the laura i was when i walked into mangle. joining me is andreas christopheros. three years ago, he survived being doused in sulphuric acid. thank you for talking to us. how do you react to this 20—year sentence? i spent st last year campaigning for tougher sentences. i believe anyone who commits an acid attack should be facing life with a minimum term of 20 years. now we have got to the 20 year point that seems like a great

achievement, but i still would have like to see life. life is reserved for people who are a danger to society and arthur collins is obviously a dangerous man. what happened to your attacker? my attacker was originally sentenced to life with a minimum term of eight yea rs. life with a minimum term of eight years. reappealed the sentence. the eight years was not long enough. we we re eight years was not long enough. we were told thejudge eight years was not long enough. we were told the judge acted fairly and it was in line with case line and our appeal was not granted. but unbeknown to us, my attacker appealed the life aspect of the sentence of which his appeal got granted to the court. so shortly after the sentence we went to the high court in london where three of highest ranking judges in the land deemed david phillips not to be a dangerous man and lifted life are

the sentence, shortening his sentence to 16 years of which he will only serve eight, that is five yea rs will only serve eight, that is five years from now. i have passed the three year anniversary of the attack. in five years i will still be having surgery and i will wear the scars for the rest of my life. tell our audience what happened to you? it was december, 9th 2014, i opened my door to an unknown man, assuming it was a courier in the run—up to christmas. we have people coming and going from the house on a regular basis and i opened the door confidently as i would normally and i received a beaker of sulphuric acid to my face. it was a large amount. about over a pint. ithink that's why my injuries are full facial and more severe. it was a

case of mistaken identity. he was trying to target someone who lived close to me. i got rushed to hospital and i started my recovery from there. and what do you think of campaigners who wa nt what do you think of campaigners who want restrictions on the easy availability of acid effectively? restrictions, it was it has been too easy to buy sulphuric acid. amber rudd stood up at the tory party conference and made it clear they will put an age restriction on sulphuric acid which seems ludicrous. you would have thought it would have been restricted by age. so that was a step in the right direction. shortly she came forward with the two strike policy for anyone carrying acids, if you are caught carrying acid, it is six

months inside, twice. 0ne bit of legislation that legislation that i have been pushing for is to take acid from its original bottle. acid is sold in marked bottles. it would be an easy law to implement make to sure it can't be put into anything else. if someone is caught carrying a squirty bottle of acid then they should be automatically face six months inside. thank you for talking to us. we appreciate your time. should fathers taking parental leave be entitled to the same level of pay as mothers on maternity leave? we will be talking to some dads about their experiences and we're keen to hear from you as well. the festive season sees us hear from you as well. the festive season sees us bombarded with festive family cheer, but a third of

us festive family cheer, but a third of us will be spending christmas without a family member. tell us what you're doing on christmas day. time for the latest news, here's annita. the bbc news headlines this morning. the government is being accused of "abject failure" in its attempt to tackle homelessness in england. a damning report by the all—party public accounts committee says the issue has become a national crisis. the government says it's investing more than £1 billion to help make more affordable housing available. the metropolitan police is launching a review of all its current sex offence investigations after the collapse of a second rape case in a week. the prosecutions were halted because of the late disclosure of digital evidence. scotland yard has confirmed the same detective was involved in both investigations. bbc news has learnt that eu banks will be allowed to continue operating in the uk as normal after brexit even if the european union and britain fail to reach a deal. the plans from the bank of england mean that european banks operating through branches in the uk will not have to go through the expensive process of creating

british subsidiaries. a man has admitted knocking a cyclist off his bike after the shocking incident was captured on dash—cam. this footage shows the driver swerve towards the cyclist and knock him off his bike before driving off and leaving him lying in the road. 30—year—old ashley wallace merrett pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, actual bodily harm and common assault following the shocking incident in colchester in essex. the cyclist needed hospital treatment, but his injuries were not serious. an employment tribunal will hear a landmark case on whether firms which offer enhanced maternity pay to women can give only a statutory minimum to their male employees when they take shared parental leave. the outsourcing company capita appealed against an earlier ruling that it discriminated against a new father. shared parental leave was introduced more than two years ago but take up rates are lower than 10%. the bbc is to broaden its coverage

of religions, devoting more time to non—christian faiths. the decision follows a review of the corporation's output in response to claims it was out of step with its audience. there will also be more religion reflected in mainstream programming. that's a summary of the latest bbc news. here's some sport now with holly. birmingham is set to be named as the host of the 2022 commonwealth games. they were the only city to bid before the original deadline, but the proposal was deemed to be not fully compliant and the deadline was extended, but they have won the right to stage the event. manchester city talk of four trophies. they are through to the semi—finals, but the manager has dismissed talk of a quadruple insisting it's unrealistic. marion ba rtoli

quadruple insisting it's unrealistic. marion bartoli has announced her return to tennis. she retired four years ago, but she will be back for the miami 0pen retired four years ago, but she will be back for the miami open in march. ben duckett has been told he won't ta ke ben duckett has been told he won't take part in the england lions tour to the west indies next year. he with—suspended for pouring a drink overjames anderson's head in a perth bar. more in the next half an hour. it's that time of year when we're bombarded with pictures and videos of the perfect christmas, but if we're honest we know it's not like that for a lot of people — and seeing everyone pretending it's perfect can actually be pretty hard. a new survey by a charity which works with people who are estranged from their families suggests that only two out of three of us in britain will spend most of christmas day with our immediate family. 0ur reporter catrin nye spoke to three people who don't have contact with their family about christmas when it's it is portrayed as the perfect situation, isn't it?

with the family sitting around the christmas tree, and reality is starker. i remember last christmas, there wasn't even that noise of the door being opened, and ijust felt so unwanted, and i felt as though everyone has someone or somewhere, and i didn't have that. i was very upset, and ijust stayed in my room, pretty much, cried all day. farah has no contact with any of her family. she grew up with just her mum, but has not spoken to her at all for two years now. and lives in another city at university. she didn't want to use her real name. when herfriends go home for christmas, she is left alone. this year, although i will still be in the same building, ijust aim not to be upset, really,

and just treat like a normal day. just spent the day with music playing or something, so that i can overcome the fear of silence. yeah, the gulf is massive. the idea that is represented in tv programmes and ads and the actual reality of people's real lives. christmas then becomes even more of a contradiction. it's portrayed as the perfect situation, isn't it, with the family sitting around the christmas tree, and reality is starker. david wilson does have contact with some of his family. he is also married, and so, not completely alone, but he says at christmas he is reminded more than ever of the family that he doesn't get to see. with my youngest son, who is now living in spain, there is a problem there, in that i don't see him or my grandson, actually, so, i've got a grandson

aged three who i don't see. i am quite unable to explain it, because nobody has ever told me. the lines went dead. so, you just really don't fully know? no. i'm not in contact with my mum. i sent her an e—mail basically saying that i didn't want to have contact with her any more. my younger brother didn't really want to talk to me after that. i haven't spoken to my dad in years. because my parents got divorced when i was seven and he lives in manchester, and doesn't have an address. like, because it's the end of term now, people will be asking me, when are you going home? and i kind ofjust say, i'm not. ijust avoid telling people about my situation just because i fear of having any

insensitive comments being said to me. how can your mother not love you or why can't you two just patch up? everyone does have the assumption that a mother loves her child, but, there are unfortunately some exceptions to that. tell me about your grandson at christmas. yeah. i give him a present every christmas and birthday. so that's two a year. and i put them in a box. that's enough. one day, he'll know that i did care enough to get him those things, yeah. so, i think it has meaning for me, and it has meaning for him. you'll see all the pictures on facebook of people with their families and big

piles of presents. i think, it'sjust weird being different to everyone else around you because there's nothing on the tv, really, about not spending christmas with your family. like, it'sjust kind of expected that you go... it'sjust all very, like, positive. nobody's really saying christmas can be hard for people. i have two sisters who i am close to. a selfish thing to say, because it that she quite difficult for me to sit with my sister and say, "how's your grandson?" because i know he's fine, and i'm not. so, there's an element of that. when i was growing up it was weird, anyway. because, like, we would have quite a small christmas, and so i would cook the christmas dinner and wrapped my own presents, and my brother's presents and do a lot of the christmas shopping, as well. amy now spends christmas with her boyfriend's family, a new family. it does feel like i'm tagging onto somebody else's family christmas a lot of the time.

i get some presents there that i don't know about from my boyfriend's family, because they're lovely. i have the christmas dinners that i don't have to cook it's wonderful, really. so, i kind of consider them my family, now. sometimes ijust like to observe festive happy people. it makes me think that one day, when i start my own family, i want to be like that. insofar as i can sit in the chair and give anyone advise, is, it's go out and do something with yourself, and expand yourfamily. in every way. whether its books, music, good friends... family doesn'tjust have to be biological. christmas is definitely a time where i feel that i need to be loved and the longer you are a strange, the more desperate you become for love. i would much rather spend christmas with my boyfriend's family and feel a bit out of place, than try and fit into a normal family christmas and just find the whole thing horrible. because it's meant to be a nice time. sarah says, "i love being on my own.

alone does not equal lonely." rosie on facebook says, "i will be working this christmas. i don't mind. i like working christmas and i like making sure the patients get fed on the wards. those who people who don't get home for christmas and new work andi get home for christmas and new work and i will see my family after work." pam and i will see my family after work. " pam says, and i will see my family after work." pam says, "christmas has the same effect on me as mother's day and father's day. my family live in australia. it is another day of housework, charity work, etcetera. i wish it wasn't commercial." ian says, "i must be the only one happy on my own for the first time this christmas because i can watch whatever i want on tv." really keen to hear from you this morning — if you're spending christmas

without your family — do get in touch and tell us what you're doing. coming up: we will be talking to a fisherman. should new dads who want to take time off to look after their baby be entitled to the same pay as women taking maternity leave? that's the question that is due to be answered by an employment tribunal in an appeal hearing that opens today. the case is the first of its kind by a man under shared parental leave laws — which came into force three years ago. shared parental leave gives parents the right to split their leave between mum and dad, but some companies pay mothers an enhanced maternity payment whilst dad get the statutory minimum. perhaps that explains why take up rates are pitifully low, at lower than 10%. in a moment we'll be talking to some dads, but first let's speak to our legal eagle, clive coleman. let's talk now to some dads who have taken advantage

of shared parental leave and one who wanted to, but says the system is unfair. tom higham is in salford, josh lawsonjoins us from chester and with me here is simon knee. hijosh. hi. here is simon. lucas was two last month. he is around. he willjoin us when he feels like it. tom, the issue is maternity pay is generally higher than shared pa rental leave. generally higher than shared parental leave. how much higher. that is part of it, but mothers get 90% of full pay for several weeks at the start of pregnancy, at the beginning of having a child, while we are not advocating for lower pay for mothers, we're advocating for equal rights to men who take paternalty leave. if you want to

create a balanced family and economy and all of the positives that ensues for the child and the family and the work place, you have to make an effort to make pay more equal in a society and in a country where there isa society and in a country where there is a still a huge gender pay gap, 17% or 19%, and also a situation where mothers are given incentives not to work and fathers making a decision as a family, a father going out to work is more likely to bring in more money. it is important for children and fathers and families and the economy if we make some proper efforts to equalise how parenting works. does it seem extraordinary that mums and dads don't have equal rights on this? yes what frustrate us the narrative, particularly from the conservative

government is we offered shared pa rental leave, government is we offered shared parental leave, but dads are not taking it up. i readjust 1%. it is not the full story. dads don't take it down because statutory is £139 a week. and if a dad is on a higher salary, you won't be able to afford. it is not true they don't want to ta ke it is not true they don't want to take parental leave. there a swathe of fathers who want to engage more in their children's upbringing. josh you are one of those dads, what has it meant to you to be off work with your son. it is critical to get that time to bond. i have always wanted to bea time to bond. i have always wanted to be a dad, i wouldn't have had a clue without those early months to bond and i'm in a privileged position where i knew about shared

pa re ntal position where i knew about shared parental leave and could take advantage of it in work, i think the company was... they gave you full pay for 22 weeks? yes for the entirety of my time off. 22 weeks and further few weeks for standard pa re ntal and further few weeks for standard parental paternity. if one of us had to go back to work, it must be my partner. simon, lucas will hopefully just us at some point. your issue is different, your wife is free lance, what were the issues that came up for you? my company were helpful and supported me in taking shared pa re ntal supported me in taking shared parental leave and itself was good too take it in blocks. but i had to do it at the end of period when he

was nine months old. why did you have to do it at the end? with my wife being self—employed she gets a maternity allowance, but that stops and you can't mix and match with your partner so one person has a month off and then the other. for family finance reasons, the only way to work it work was for 0lga to look after him for the first nine months and thenl after him for the first nine months and then i could in the last three months of year take my shared pa re ntal months of year take my shared parental pay. do you think you missed out? yes because those early months are important and i valued the time that i had. the other thing was i could see my wife being self—employed at that time getting stressed out with those nine months, because she didn't know if she was going to have clients to come back to. but it wasn't a choice we had to

work out what way we could make it work out what way we could make it work for our family. tom, the employment appeals tribunal will hear this appeal to determine whether bosses have to pay fathers the same as they would pay a work taking maternity leave. what do you think is going to be outcome? 0n the face of it it seems to be straight forward discrimination? yes it is, i feel conflicted, because the odds are stacked against women in the work place in many ways across the economy and across the demographics, if you want to address the way families work and societies work and the economy works, why not equalise it? and take, we always quote the statistics and anecdotes from northern europe and in sweden where they have a situation that there is

a use it or lose it access to full paid parental leave, so a family unit gets access to incredible rights, if you use it you get access f you rights, if you use it you get access fyou don't, you don't. it incentivizes men to get involved with theirfamily incentivizes men to get involved with their family and for woman not to disenage from work. so surely and hopefully everything crossed that today comes back with the right verdict. josh, let me put this to you a tweet from somebody watching, why should employers pay for your family? put yourself in that situation, everybody needs that time, it is unfair for a situation, everybody needs that time, it is unfairfora man, a male not to have that time to bond, the female does the hard work in the pregnancy. i don't they they are

saying, but why should your boss's company pay for that. my boss is a father himself he would would put himself in that scenario. it is down toa human. himself in that scenario. it is down to a human. it is something that gets overlooked, we know about the importance of the bond with the baby, but tom alluded to the fact that you need to be there to support your partner as well. me and my partner are first time parents and there was some small complications and she needed that support and it was amazing for me to be there to offer that support at that time. but imean offer that support at that time. but i mean looking at from it a human perspective as opposed to a business perspective. people need that time. let me read this message from katie, another consideration is maternity and paternity leave when your baby is born prematurely. i spent the

first few months travelling to hospital and missed three months of normal maternity leave. all the while my partner had to go back to work, knowing his baby was in hospital. this should be reviewed on a more individual basis. thank you for coming in with your boys and have a lovely christmas. thank you. next: the footballer sol campbell believes he experienced a life—changing moment when he became a teenager. that gave him the determination to become one koft country's most successful players and he has gone back to london to inspire children there to look for their own moment. you all right? good. how's things. good. here we go. robert, long, time. must be what? 30 years? yeah. it must be at

least 30 mans. this man what a player. 0bviously least 30 mans. this man what a player. obviously you didn't fulfil your dreams at the time. because you was a exceptional player. years ago i grew was a exceptional player. years ago igrew up was a exceptional player. years ago i grew up in the same area obviously. you know the temptations that were there. went out, done the wrong things, wrong attitude. i think you know sometimes you have got to say, when does it kick in? when does that you know... that light turns on. when does that lightning bolt hit you. my moment was when i said to myself, there is too many people in my house. no space. who wants to be a footballer? me. me. do you think it is easy? no.

you have to work hard. you have to work hard? obviously. really? 0bviously. work hard? obviously. really? obviously. yeah. if i left work... if you work hard do you think it a lwa ys if you work hard do you think it always comes. no sometimes you get let down. my family were looking to where is the next pound coming from, the food on the table, people haven't got time to worry about how you are feeling or whatever. it is about get some money, because we have got to pay the bills. why do you think i kind of you know made it, it isjust you think i kind of you know made it, it is just discipline orjust determination or i don't know. many people didn't have the talent i had we nt people didn't have the talent i had went on, had the right attitude, worked hard and became a professional. i believe you wanted it. you wanted it more. and you had ability. you don't make it unless you have ability to start with. but

you have ability to start with. but you have ability to start with. but you have to have the right attitude. i done the first trial at qpr and the first atroe turf pitch, i had to borrow the astroturf boots, played on the pitch, score ed two wells and bobby robson was in the office at the last trial and he asked me, why have you been thrown out of three schools in three years? i didn't have an answer and i begged the man to say if you take me away from where i am and give me a chance and three weeks later i get the answer. i believe andy cole got picked over me. i think i grew i believe andy cole got picked over me. i thinki grew up in i believe andy cole got picked over me. i think i grew up in that moment and it became the norm. it is only when you step out of the norm that you were under severe pressure at an airlie age in your —— an early age in your life. that was sol campbell

returning to his roots. no i the weather. we have a cloudy day for many parts with some misty and foggy conditions this morning and our weather watchers have been taking picture of the fog. the first one here if we can run this, bear with me. that one there in buckinghamshire, a lot of fog. and fog in the south west. but it is not foggy for all of us. we have got some brighter skies. mainly in the northern half of the uk. in stirling some blue skies is. maybe some cloud here later. but it will stay largely dry in scotland and northern ireland. some showers in the far north—west of scotland. elsewhere in england and wales cloudy and still some misty conditions. but it is mild. temperatures about nine, 10,

11, 12 celsius. still some mist and fog patches lingering. in the higher ground of wales and north—west england still some fog. for scotland and northern ireland, here some brighter skies. temperatures lower at nine to 12 degrees. wednesday evening will continue to see a lot of cloud and still some mist and fog in parts of england and wales. perhaps becoming more extensive into the early hours of thursday morning. and rain spreading north across northern ireland into north—west england, wales and the south—east of england. further north temperatures down to four degrees. for many still a mild night. and milder conditions continuing on thursday. the cloudier skies associated with the weather front. some rain in northern ireland into the south of scotland. the far north—east of scotland having brighter skies, but for most not a great deal of change. lots of grey

skies, misty and foggy conditions and temperatures into double figures. this system is with on friday and shifts a bit. and the rain just friday and shifts a bit. and the rainjust shifting a friday and shifts a bit. and the rain just shifting a bit. friday and shifts a bit. and the rainjust shifting a bit. so not a great deal of change. still under the influence of high pressure. for friday, again lots of cloud, some rain across wales. a lot of that will clear. a few bright spells. but again temperatures up into double figures for many and in the run up to christmas, it will stay mild, a lot of cloud and still mist and fog and some rain in the far north. but it gets more interesting from christmas day onwards. hello. it's wednesday. it's 10am. i'm victoria derbyshire. today, homeless has been described asa today, homeless has been described as a national crisis.

it is two too many. the council, there needs to be something done. why are we not looking after these guys? that's two too many and there are still people on the street right now. we'll hear how 120,000 children are homeless and look at the impact it has on them and their education. a fishery with sign banning polish and "eastern bloc" anglers is facing possible legal action. there are different ways to deal with the matter, not banning the whole community or the whole country anglers from a fishery. the farmer says he is standing up for his rights. the full interview in the next half an hour. and 3.5 million people will spend most of christmas day alone this year in the uk. we'll be talking about loneliness during the festive period. let me know what you're doing. good morning. here's annita in the bbc newsroom with a summary of today's news.

good morning. the government is being accused of "abject failure" in its attempt to tackle homelessness in england. a damning report by the all—party public accounts committee says the issue has become a national crisis. the government says it's investing more than £1 billion to help make more affordable housing available. the metropolitan police is launching a review of all its current sex offence investigations after the collapse of a second rape case in a week. the prosecutions were halted because of the late disclosure of digital evidence. scotland yard has confirmed the same detective was involved in both investigations. in 2010 we had about 12,000 rapes a year being reported. we now have about a8,000. and since 2010 we've reduced the number of police officers around the country by 20,000 — that's about 15%. the european court ofjustice has decided that the taxi hailing app, uber, should legally be considered a transport company rather than a digital services provider. the ruling will mean that the firm

should be subjected to local licensing laws in the countries in which it operates. the government says it'll pass legislation to ensure all british homes and businesses can demand access to high—speed broadband. ministers are to force bt, which owns much of the uk's telecoms infrastructure, to provide connections offering speeds of up to ten megabits—per—second by 2020. police are continuing to search two properties, including a community centre, this morning, following anti—terror raids in sheffield and chesterfield. four men have been arrested and held over an alleged islamist terror plot that officers say could have been carried out this christmas. people forced to evacuate their homes to allow the bomb squad to investigate, have now been allowed to return. a man has admitted knocking a cyclist off his bike after the shocking incident was captured on dash—cam. this footage shows the driver swerve towards the cyclist and knock him off his bike before driving off and leaving him lying in the road. 30—year—old ashley wallace merrett pleaded guilty to dangerous driving,

actual bodily harm and common assault following the shocking incident in colchester in essex. the cyclist needed hospital treatment but his injuries were not serious. an employment tribunal will hear a landmark case on whether firms which offer enhanced maternity pay to women can give only a statutory minimum to their male employees, when they take shared parental leave. the outsourcing company, capita, appealed against an earlier ruling that it discriminated against a new father. shared parental leave was introduced more than two years ago but take up rates are lower than 10%. that's a summary of the latest bbc news — more at 10.30am. the met is reviewing all sexual offences cases because of the colla pse offences cases because of the collapse of two cases in a week. this viewer says, "when i was on trial for rape five years ago, it

came out in court that the police had withheld evidence about text m essa g es had withheld evidence about text messages and also the accused's medical claims. i was found not guilty, but my life has still been ruined. ithink guilty, but my life has still been ruined. i think the met inquiry should look at cases like mine as well." another anonymous message on facebook. "my15—year—old boy was arrested in october for the facebook. "my15—year—old boy was arrested in 0ctoberfor the rape facebook. "my15—year—old boy was arrested in october for the rape of arrested in october for the rape of a 15—year—old girl. we are worried sick. they took his phone and two months on, we have been told it could take until next may. i hope someone looks at the phone in the meantime." this tweet from stephen, "my case was from five years ago, but very similar to the two collapsed cases. the review should ta ke collapsed cases. the review should take in past cases because my life has been ruined even though i was found not guilty." you can get in touch. you can message us on facebook and you can text. here's some sport now with holly. birmingham is set to be named as the host of

the commonwealth games in 2022 after organisers finally confirmed their backing. when durban was stripped of the event in march, birmingham was the only city to bid before the original deadline, but the proposal was deemed to be "not fully compliant". it now appears it will be birmingham staging the games and at a cost of £750 million, it'll be the most expensive sports event in britain since london 2012. manchester city manager, pep guardiola, has dismissed talk of winning a "quadruple" — that's the three domestic titles plus the champions league, but their magnificent season continued, as they reached the league cup semi—finals. jamie vardy scored a controversial equaliser from the spot for leicester seven minutes into injury time to make it 1—1. but it went to penalties, vardy missed, and claudio bravo was the hero, saving riyadh mahrez‘s attempt. arsenal will also be in tonight's semi—final draw after beating west ham.

danny wellbeck with the only goal of the game, when 0livier giroud was injured towards the end of the match. the draw will be made after tonight's matches — chelsea take on bournemouth, while holders manchester united face championship side bristol city — and city manager leejohnson is really hoping jose mourinho pops by after the game. i bought iboughtan i bought an expensive bottle of wine. i will be disappointed if he doesn't come in and taste it because it has to be poured specially because it is that good. england's ashes tour has been fairly disasterous so far — they've lost the series, and there's been lots of talk about ill—discipline within the squad. batsman ben duckett was one of those in trouble. he poured a drink over james anderson's head in a bar in perth and was given a suspension. now he's been told he won't take part in the england lions tour to the west indies next year, because of that incident.

former wimbledon champion, marion bartoli, has come out of retirement and says she'll return to the wta tour next year. bartoli is 33 now. she quit tennis in august 2013 less than six weeks after winning wimbledon — her only grand slam title — citing ongoing injury problems. she suffered severe ill—health during her retirement but now says she intends to make her comeback at the miami open in march. and it seems she's already been doing some training in secret — looking forward to seeing her back on the court victoria. thank you very much. homelessness in england is a "national crisis" and the government's efforts to tackling it are "unacceptably complacent" and an "abject failure" — according to a group of mps. there are more than 9,000 people sleeping rough, while 78,000 families live in temporary accommodation. the government said it was providing more than £1 billion, over the next two years, to reduce homelessness. the definition of homelessness under law includes rough sleepers, single people in hostels and those in temporary accommodation. since 2011, the number of people

sleeping on the streets has increased by 13a%, the report says. earlier this year our reporter lesley ashmall spent time on the streets of chatham in kent where the deaths of two homeless men prompted calls for more to be done to help rough sleepers in winter. the high street was bobbed. it's christmas eve, people were doing their shopping. it was about half past 11 in the morning when someone realised he had actually passed away. you look at all these flowers, that have been left over in the last week, pictures people have left all the staff. this is where michael stayed. michael mccluskey was in his a05. a father and grandfather. a run of bad luck left him on the streets. michael was a lovely guy. always in top spirits. he was a great guy. a west ham supporter, i may walk — i'm a west ham supporter, so we always talked a lot about football. he was a really nice guy. you could see from the amount of flowers that people left him

and reading some of the cards. and then, just a few days later, a few streets away, another... sadly, greg past as well. that's two too many. the council... there needs to be something done. why were these guys left out here wise we need to look after these guys. that's two to many, and there's still people on the street now. its problem, it's very, very problem. it's not known how either man died, but their friends think the weather could have been to blame. yeah, definitely the cold. he was found out there with no blankets on him, it was definitely the cold. how do you survive? we use... pop in mcdonald's now and again. try and find anything warm in shops. three pairs of trousers, three pairs of socks. two sleeping bags, and still freezing during the morning. what do you think should be done?

what should the government do? the government should come down and see the actual homeless, and give them a place to stay. do you know what i mean? we are all suffering, do you know what i mean? we are not bad people. around 120,000 children are among those living without permanent housing. a separate report exclusively seen by this programme shows the huge impact that can have on children still attending school with children falling behind academically, falling asleep in class, becoming socially isolated, anxious and withdrawn. the research by the homeless charity shelter not only looks affects on pupils and their teachers such as health, hygiene and achievement, but also explores which parts of the country have the highest rates of homeless children per schools. luton tops the table with 32 homeless children per school, london second with 28 and brighton third highest with 22.

let's speak to shandor nikitits, who had to live in an emergency homeless shelter with his eight—year—old son billy. kelly mckinnon is a school family liaison officer, who offers practical and emotional support for homeless families. and polly neate is chief executive of the homeless charity shelter. you became homeless, there was a sequence of events. you had an accident at work which meant you couldn't work. therefore, you couldn't work. therefore, you couldn't pay the rent so you began to stay with a friend. sadly, they passed away at the beginning of this year so you had nowhere for you and your boy to go to, did you? well, that's right. sadly after his death i approached the council and you know i had a problem. and after a

very turbulent time i ended up in a homeless shelter and i was there for a considerably long time. can you tell our audience what a homeless shelter is like to live in, particularly when your eight—year—old is living with you from fridays to mondays? well, the shelter i was in was very bleak. there was no atmosphere. it was grubby. you go into any council premises, there is inspirational posters, there is, you know, slogans, plants, whatever, there was nothing. it was like almost being in prison for want of a better word, yeah. it was terrible. and how was it for your little boy? he just found it very difficult to deal with because there was strangers there. he had to lock the doors. he had to

worry about, you know, where he was going, where was i? who was coming down the corridor. he had to worry about all things like that. how long did it take for the council to officially acknowledge that you were homeless? it took a couple of days short of seven months. why? that was just to acknowledge that yes, i was homeless. why did it take so long? ah. i don't know. but i was asked regular questions like, "can they contact my landlord ? " regular questions like, "can they contact my landlord?" well, sadly, no, he was dead. and did they contact the estate? no, they hadn't. i don't know what went wrong, i really don't. and then one day you we re really don't. and then one day you were contacted by a housing association and moved into a property. what did that feel like?

0h, property. what did that feel like? oh, that was just... property. what did that feel like? oh, that wasjust... even property. what did that feel like? oh, that was just... even though the place needed paint and everything, the relief i felt was something incredible and the happiness of my son was, he couldn't wait to move in. he couldn't wait to explore the place. he couldn't wait to be a boy again. wow you have brilliantly articulated the highs and lows of your life. the government says tackling homelessness is complex, but we are determined to help the most vulnerable and we are providing up toa vulnerable and we are providing up to a billion pounds to reduce all forms of homelessness and we have established a rough sleeping and homelessness task force. so we can respond as effectively as possible. well, it is not fair to say the

government are doing nothing. but what they're doing is not enough. there are not enough homes and two people can't afford the homes that there are, because housing benefit's been frozen. unless the government is going to tackle those two thing that will cost money, then as a society we have to be prepared to acce pt society we have to be prepared to accept the impact of homelessness of many of our fellow citizens, including children. if your childhood is blighted by something like homelessness, as a parent it is shocking, if you lose your childhood in that way, you never get it back. you only have one child hooved. one things that comes up, people say, some people say, look, they're not really homeless, they have a roof over their head, it may be temporary ora over their head, it may be temporary or a hostel, they're not sleeping on the streets. well, that is true to

an extent, if you have a whole family in one room, if you have to particularly with children have to share bathroom, toilet, kitchens with other families, if you have that insecurity of continually moving and never having anywhere to call home and the stigma that families feel and particularly children feel at school about their situation, then they are legally homeless and they're emotionally homeless and they're emotionally homeless and they're emotionally homeless and you know this is a huge crisis. it has to stop. we can't be putting up with this. kelly, you offer practical support for children in the role of a family liaison practitioner. . tell us about the impact on children at school.“ practitioner. . tell us about the impact on children at school. it has a huge impact, with a environment where it is frightening, it is is

very disturb and the transition from one hostel to another hostel has a huge emotional effect and their physical well being, they are can tired at school. that impacts the rest of their life chances? yes, of course, this is our future generation and we talk about mental well being and it won't be until later we will witness the impact it is having on these children. later we will witness the impact it is having on these childrenlj wonder is having on these children.” wonder a final thought, do you still see the impact on billy of that time when he was in the emergency hostel? yes, he is a lot more thoughtful and a lot more emotive to not only my thoughts and feelings, but other people as well. yes, it has had an impact on him. but hopefully it has

made him a better person. that is what i would like to hope. thank you very much. happy christmas. thank you. now news from the international monetary fund that have downgraded their prediction for uk economic growth for this year from 1.7% to 1.6%. that isjust in growth for this year from 1.7% to 1.6%. that is just in from the international monetary fund, they have downgraded their prediction for uk growth for this year. a number of lawyers have welcomed a review by britain's biggest force — the metropolitan police — into all ongoing sex crime investigations. it follows the collapse of two rape cases in a week — after relevant evidence was given to the defence only after the cases had started.

police officers have over 20 ongoing rape and serious allegations on the go at once w with no support and with insufficient training, with no support, with budgets for things like has been triexaminations cut. —— has been triexaminations. like has been triexaminations cut. -- has been triexaminations. it is not stopping the police to say let's disclose this to the defence. that isa minor disclose this to the defence. that is a minor issue. of course that is wrong and in an individual case there will be problems like that. this officer will now be hauled over

the coals and it wouldn't surprise me to find that the ipcc are pushing to put him injail. it won't solve the problem. chris henley was smiling, deputy of the criminal bar association, why are you smiling? well, i think that is an over reaction. but what is important is that the police are able to do their jobs properly. what is at stake is the liberty in liam allan's case an innocent man. because this was not carried out effectively his liberty was put at risk and it is not acceptable. it falls to the officer investigating the case and the crown prosecution service lawyer and the barrister who stepped up in this particular case, to say to the judge, we are not ready. this issue is too important. the two cases revealed over the last week are those of 22 year old student liam allan. his trial collapsed after it emerged

officers had failed to disclose vital evidence which undermined the prosecution case — including phone messages where his accuser had asked him for sex. the second case involves a 25 year old man called isaac itiary who spent four months in jail awaiting trial after being charged with raping a girl under the age of 16. the defence asked for details of her text messages in september but they were only just provided this week. they showed she regularly posed as a 19—year—old. all charges were subsequently dropped. commander richard smith from scotla nd commander richard smith from scotland yard said the met will review about 30 cases that are due to go to trial. we can speak now to karma melly — she's a barrister who has defended rapists but also worked on the prosecution side too. and sue sim, a former chief

co nsta ble of and sue sim, a former chief constable of northumbria police. why do you say sometimes evidence is not being disclosed by the police? there is absolutely no credible exmra nation for not providing the evidence. there is a loot of pressure on police officers who want to get convibss for victims and that —— convictions for victims and that is laudable for such an awful crime. but it is extraordinarily important that only guilty people are convicted and there is no excuse for not doing the investigations properly. i listened to your report from the chief inspector who blamed lack of resources. i do not agree with that. it is important that

chief constables review their rain cases. as far back as 201a, the hmic said northumbria police was not investigating its rape cases properly. i launched an immediate investigation into it then, not withstanding that northumbria had one of the largest cuts in budgets, i managed to do that. but the thing people didn't like the the detective chief inspectors and the those who do not like to be questioned and i'm pleased there is an investigation into this. chief constables have to ta ke into this. chief constables have to take responsibility for the resources they‘ re take responsibility for the resources they're controlling. there isa resources they're controlling. there is a review in the metropolitan place what about other forces. fit is found in the largest force in the country, it will probably be happening every where else. i think

it is important that her majesty's inspector of constabulary looks at this as an urgent case and i would call for him to do so. we are going to hear from commander call for him to do so. we are going to hearfrom commander richard smith. it is important to draw a distinction between the two reviews that we are conducting. the case of liam allan clearly went wrong and we are keen to find out why. we instigated an immediate high level review. so that is a joint review started immediately and that is continuing now. to learn what happened in that case. the other review which you mentioned is the review which you mentioned is the review of all of our current cases, all our current investigations where we have an individual charged and we are progressing to trial. we're reviewing those with the crown prosecution service to ensure we

have complied with the disclosure process. that should have happened. it is an ongoing process of review in any case. but we want the confidence that those cases have been compliant with the disclosure regime. 0ur priority will be around the 30 cases that are about to go to trial. it is a pragmatic step to ensure we can go to trial safely. you say about 30 cases, can you put any figure at all on how many other wider cases you're looking at. no i will have the number later. i expect it to be scores of cases. commander richard smith. let's have a reaction from karmen melee. what do you say. people will be pleased that the disclosure which is looking at the material that the prosecution aren't using at the tliel but might assist

the —— trial but might assist the defence will be reviewed. i'm concerned, as defence will be reviewed. i'm concerned , as are defence will be reviewed. i'm concerned, as are many about those cases that have been court all right and if the crown prosecution service and if the crown prosecution service and the police are reviewing the disclosure of those cases about to go to court, what about cased where we have had convictions already? for myself and i think i speak for a number of other barristers, is that we are concerned about disclosure and how it is being dealt with across the board, notjust in rape and cases of serious sexual offences, but whether the systems that are in place are being followed. so that we can be confident that there will not be miscarriages of justice confident that there will not be miscarriages ofjustice based on the failure to disclose important material that may help the defence case. i'm going to bring in steve, who has got in touch with us today, he was watching our programme and he

was found not guilty of rape and he said the accusation ruined his life and he wants cases like his to be included in the review. is that right? yes mine was nearly six years ago, although it started in 2010, and there are a number of occasions where during the trial it became apparent that the police had been less than honest with the defence and in the preparation of the case. do you mean late evidence was disclosed? yes, one, they were awaiting, i was on bail for 20 months and allegedly waiting for a report from a leading neurologist about the woman's condition and only on the day of the trial did the prosecution come and say, oh, we are had a report about four months ago saying that there was nothing wrong with her. but the police had never

disclosed that to us at all. during the trial, she denied that she had beenin the trial, she denied that she had been in touch with me by text message. but we were able to produce two telephones that showed that she had been texting me a lot. you had that evidence, because it was from your phone. yes. if it is about lack of disclosure or late disclosure, as you were found not guilty by a jury, what would the point of police spending time reviewing your case? because my life has been destroyed and there is an old saying, there is no smoke without fire, my life has been destroyed to the point where i have received death threats, harassment, my address is the subject of a police special protection scheme, all as a result of this woman continuing to insist that i got off on a technicality, because the police had not disclosed things. you, you mean, the late

disclosure or the revelation of the report, would that have changed things? would the judge report, would that have changed things? would thejudge have report, would that have changed things? would the judge have thrown it out at that point? my barrister summed it up, the police was the police became prosecutors rather than investigators. there was clear evidence of inappropriate contact between the woman and the liaison officer, she was found out to lie... sorry i won't go over the whole case again. you have welcomed the fact that the metropolitan police will review cases, sue sim said all forces should now be reviewing similar cases, would you agree with that? it is routine for there to be

significant late disclosure, a review yes, but we want to see a better funded criminaljustice syste m better funded criminaljustice system and that would mean that we didn't have these errors. the system is at breaking point. disclosure is no longer being dealt with by police officers, but civilian officers, employees of the police force. there is no longer the time and the resources to put into a proper disclosure exercise and that comes at the same time as the fact that disclosure through text messages, social media and other investigations that the police should be investigating that particular and additional onerous burden is also on the police so we wa nt burden is also on the police so we want to see yes, a review, but better funding in place so that this doesn't happen again. thank you. it's time for the latest

news — here's annita. the headlines now: the government's efforts to tackle homelessness have been described as an "abject failure" by a group of mps. the commons public affairs committee says the problem is a "national crisis" with more than 9,000 people sleeping rough and a further 78,000 families in temporary accommodation. the government says it's providing more than £1 billion in the next two years, to reduce homelessness. the international monetary fund has downgraded its prediction for uk economic growth from 1.7% to 1.6% for this year. the imf said that despite a strong recovery in global growth the impact of britain's decision to exit the european union has weighed on the economy. it also said that the weak pound was pushing up said that the weak pound was pushing up inflation and squeezing household real income and spending. the met police is launching

a review of all its current sex offence investigations after the collapse of a second rape case in a week. the prosecutions were halted because of the late disclosure of digital evidence. scotland yard has confirmed the same detective was involved in both investigations. the european court ofjustice has decided that the taxi hailing app, uber, should legally be considered a transport company rather than a digital services provider. the ruling will mean that the firm should be subjected to local licensing laws in the countries in which it operates. the government says it'll pass legislation to ensure all british homes and businesses can demand access to high—speed broadband. ministers are to force bt, which owns much of the uk's telecoms infrastructure, to provide connections offering speeds of up to ten megabits—per—second by 2020. that's a summary of the latest bbc news. here's some sport now with holly. birmingham is set to be named as the host of the 2022 commonwealth games. they were the only city to bid before the original deadline

but the proposal was deemed to be "not fully compliant" and the deadline was extended but it now appears they've won the right to stage the event. say it quietly manchester city fans — talk of four trophies now after they beat leicester on penalties in the league cup last night to reach the semi—finals. but manager pep guardiola has dismissed talk of a quadruple — insisting it's unrealistic. marion bartoli has announced her return to tennis. she retired straight after winning wimbledon four years ago, citing persistant injury problems, but she says she'll be back for the miami open in march. in the midst of an ashes tour plagued by ill—discipline within the squad, batsman ben duckett has been told he won't take part in the england lions tour to the west indies next year. he'd already been suspended for pouring a drink over james anderson's head in a perth bar. i'll have all the latest sport on bbc news channel throughout the day. thank you very much. we are hearing the chief brexit negotiator,

europe's chief brexit neglector maybe holding a conference to layout guidelines for the next phase of brexit talks. so when that news conference begins we will bring it to you. it could be in the next half an hour, it could be after that. whenever it is, we will bring it to you. a fishery which has a sign banning polish and eastern bloc anglers is facing possible legal action. the owner of field farm fisheries in 0xfordshire says he'd previously caught anglers stealing fish and is standing up for what he believes in. billy evans, a former conservative councillor, has had similar signs on his property since 2009. earlier, we spoke to polish fisherman rado papiewski who is crowdfunding to pay for a private prosecution and have the sign removed. elizabeth prochaska the legal director of the equality and human rights commission who say they'll take enforcement action and martha spurrier — the director of liberty. i began by asking rado what he thought when he saw the sign. when i first seen it, i felt a bit disappointed. i felt this is very unfair for all eastern european and polish anglers who are fishing

in the uk legally. despite the seven years of very good work we put in to educate migrant anglers and educate fisheries owners who have different rules, regulations and traditions, you come across a place where the fishery owner decides to take a case into his own hands and decides to do things like this, which are not necessarily legal. when you say rules, regulations and traditions, you mean because some polish fishermen fish to take the food to eat, is that what you mean? yes, it is. it's a tradition to fish for food in the whole of europe. england is a place where you fish for sport, so... you are expected to throw the fish back? exactly, you catch, you take a photograph of it and you put it back. if you can imagine someone who has been fishing back in poland for 20—odd years with the mindset of going, catching a fish and cooking it, because this is how we have been growing up, and coming to a different country and being told, you have to catch the fish and release it. it takes a bit of time to change the mindset, it's not a one—day sort of thing.

billy evans, the owner of this fisheries has put a similar sign up in the past actually in 2009. obviously we tried to get him on the programme, that wasn't possible. but he said previously he has caught some anglers stealing fish. he says, "i shall stand up for what i believe in, if they want to call me a racist for stopping thieves from coming on to my private property, that's what they'll do. i'm rightand i'm doing the right thing." you see, i have never denied there was no problems on the fishery. i'm sure there are problems in different regions of the country and i'm sure people will steal the fish, will take a chance. but there are different ways to deal with the matter, not banning the whole community or a whole country of anglers from the fishery. this is where are our organisation can provide the guidance and we can actually tell them what to do. but when i offered some help to the fishery owner, he rejected it. he said he doesn't want to hear about it, the sign is there to stay and this is pure ignorance in my eyes.

right, you have come across a similar sign at another private fishery, and you did have a conversation with the owner and eventually you persuaded him to remove the sign? exactly, exactly. everyone can make a mistake and do something wrong, but when you offer help and advice and when the sign has been taken down, i see myjob has been done. and the guy who has taken the sign down is a strong supporter of integration now, so it works. do you always put the fish back? i do, yes. elisabeth, what is this specific legal problem this sign presents? this is a really straightforward case of direct discrimination on the grounds of nationality under the equality act 2010. there's no question that it is unlawful, it doesn't matter what mr evans' motive is for putting up the sign, he could easily deal with this by putting up a sign that said, "please don't take the fish". he doesn't need to discriminate on the grounds of nationality. what will you be doing about it? in the first instance, we'll be writing to mr evans and we will follow up with legal action if doesn't remove the sign, as a result.

this is not a criminal matter, it is a civil matter, i understand? that's right, it is. what sort of action would you be able to pursue? you pursue the matter in the county courts under the equality act 2010 and we would seek either an injunction or an order after the end of the hearing which would force mr evans to remove the sign. how unusual is a case like this? it's fairly unusual, but unfortunately earlier this year we did have to bring a very similar sort of case against mr wilson, a landlord who had discriminatory letting criteria and we've were successful in seeking an injunction against him to stop him from using discriminatory letting criteria, so it is unusual, but i wonder whether the current political climate is enabling more of this sort of attitude to proliferate. 0k, let me ask you martha, as director of the campaigning organisation liberty about what elizabeth calls the current political climate. are you registering a rise in discrimination examples, like the one we are discussing today? yes, i think we are. after the referendum last year there was a big rise in hate crime

and we know that many of those hate crimes are targeted at people who are from eastern europe, or are perceived to be from eastern europe that may have a right to be here. and that can be anything from this kind of sign or those kind of letting arrangements. it could be verbal abuse in the street, but we have also seen some violent hate crimes and there was a polish community organisation in london that was smashed up shortly after the referendum. what is the link with the referendum vote? well, i think firstly it's nothing to do whether you voted leave or remain, it's not saying one group of people are racist or bigoted, it's nothing so black and white. but i think there are, in some quarters of that debate, at that time and then in politics since, there has been a sense that it is ok to demonise and scapegoat people from other countries. where has that sense, from? for example, about ten days ago we saw a story where a polish couple had been very violently burgled and the woman had been beaten up in her own home. they went to the police to report this crime and the police, rather than treating them as vulnerable victims, like you would hope to be treated if that has happened

in your own home, they arrested the man and they turned him over to the home office and he was then detained in an immigration removal centre and he's lawfully here. that sends a signal of saying it is immigration enforcement at any human cost and we prioritise that over everything. and i think that might then give licence to some people, like the man who put up this sign, to act on their worst prejudices. what's the best way to combat that kind of prejudice? well, i think firstly we want to see some leadership from the top. so i think you need an absolute zero tolerance policy across the board and that means everyone, public officials in particular, when they legislate, when they make policies and any rhetoric they use has to be all about non—discrimination and equality and treating people fairly with respect. and then we need to take action. people may think this is a kind of small example, but actually you have to take action and be vigilant against every single example of this kind of really abhorrent, very unfairand very upsetting behaviour. rado, you ran a project called building bridges which you mentioned earlier was about educating and integrating anglers

from other countries. what do you say to anglers from other countries about returning the fish to the water? you see, this is, for me it is a fantastic concept and you only realised this when you catch a fish, return it back and you catch it again and the fish is bigger, bigger and bigger. you photograph yourself and that gives you a lot of satisfaction when you see the same fish growing and you can keep your own personal records. what we try to sell, the message which we try to sell to migrant anglers is, this is going to help us keep up the fish viability and we can go fish and enjoy the sport and the next generation can. when we remove a fish from the water, obviously there's going to be nothing to fish for in the future. so, this is some of the arguments we use to persuade migrant anglers to do it. if billy evans is annoyed at people stealing his fish, how should he handle it, in your view? there are different means.

obviously, there is the police, voluntary bailiffs scheme which is run by the angling trust. there is the environment agency, which is doing a fantasticjob. they are under resourced now, but they do a fantasticjob. there are authoritative organisations which are actually looking after the fish. if there are problems with someone removing the fish from the fishery, it is the same problem with people stealing from shops, so it should be reported to the police. ok, you are going back to poland? iam. i have one leg here and one leg already in poland. ijust decided to change my life like i did 15 years ago and decided to move to england. now, i decided it is time to change, try a life back in my own country. good luck. thank you. thank you for coming on the programme, all of you. that was rado papiewski who is crowdfunding to pay for a private prosecution aagainst a sign which bans polish and eastern bloc anglers from fishing at a farm in 0xfordshire and elizabeth prochaska the legal

director of the equality and human rights commission and martha spurrier the imf says britain's decision to leave the european union has weighed on economic growth. jonty bloom is here. what have they said? they said that brexit has caused a fall in the pound and that's slowed growth as has a lack of confidence which hit business investment and this latest figure shows it expects growth this year to be figure shows it expects growth this yearto be1.6%, down figure shows it expects growth this year to be 1.6%, down from 1.7% as the head of the imf christine lagarde explains. this country, the united kingdom, since the start of this year, growth has slowed notably. the significant depression of sterling that followed the referendum has pushed inflation over 396. referendum has pushed inflation over 3%. squeezing real incomes and

private consumption. companies are also delaying some investment decisions until they have greater clarity about post brexit trade rules in particular. 0ur forecast for growth in 2017, this year, is 1.6%, down from 1.8% in 2016 and 2.3% 1.6%, down from 1.8% in 2016 and 2.396 in 1.6%, down from 1.8% in 2016 and 2.3% in 2015. and all of that, despite what i have just mentioned which is a stronger global environment. 0ur forecast for 2018 is 1.5% as uncertainty about the shape of brexit persists most likely and inflation remains above target. what else did she say. the figure is based on the idea we get a soft

brexit, we get the same deal of access to european markets, especially for financial services, the imf does say there are opportunities in brexit to rebalance the british economy, but says you're dependent on financial services for your growth and tax revenue, companies with big supply chains, will want reassurance and free access to the european market. so there are caveats with a hard brexit there are caveats with a hard brexit the growth of only 1.6% could be worse. thank you. europe's chief brexit negotiator has said the eu has set the end of uk's brexit transition period no later than december 2020. we will leave officially march 2019. and according

to ing to michel barnier, who is now deciding the transition period which be december 31st 2020. what a new yea r‘s eve be december 31st 2020. what a new year's eve that will be for some people. despite television bombarding us with images of the perfect family christmas, only 62% of the british population will spend most of the day with their closest relatives, a survey suggests. christmas estranged from your family can be incredibly difficult as catrin nye reports. christmas is definitely a time where i feel i need to be loved and the longer you are estranged, the more desperate you become for love. farrar has no contact with any of her family. she grew up with just her mum, but hasn't spoken to her at all for two years now and lives in another city at university. i remember last christmas, ijust felt so unwanted and i felt as though everyone has someone

somewhere and i didn't have that. i was very upset and ijust stayed in my room, pretty much cried all day. ijust avoid telling people about my situation because i fear of having any insensitive comments said to me. how can your mother not love you all, why can't you two just patch up. everyone does have the assumption that a mother loves her child, but there are unfortunately, some exceptions to that. david wilson does have contact with some of his family. he's also married and so not completely alone. but he says christmas he's reminded more than ever of the family he doesn't get to see. with my youngest son, who's now living in spain, i don't see him or my grandson, actually. i've got a grandson aged three, who i don't see.

i'm quite unable to explain because nobody's ever told me. the lines went dead. so you just really don't fully know? no. tell me about your grandson at christmas. yeah, i give him a present every christmas and birthday. that's two a year and i put them in a box. that's enough. one day he'll know that i did care enough to get him those things, you know. so i think it has meaning for me and it has meaning for him. we can speak now to brogen harrison who is recently estranged from her whole family, and this is herfirst christmas without them.

becca bland founded the charity stand alone, which works with people who become estranged with theirfamilies. thank you both for coming on the programme. you have been estranged from yourfamily programme. you have been estranged from your family since april. what has that been like? estrangement is difficult, but there is also an immense feeling of freedom that i have gained from breaking from my family. so it has been empowering. as you approach christmas without them, you're not going to see them, what are you thinking? i'm a bit apprehensive, but it is my decision and my own christmas with the people that mean the most to me. and are special to me. what are you doing? i'm going to new york with a close

friend. i'm looking forward to seeing the home alone tree. a very different environment and very special. interesting to hear her say it has been empowering, that isn't the case for many people.” it has been empowering, that isn't the case for many people. i think it is split. a lot people feel the freedoms too. i feel christmas is a time where that can be triggered because of emphasis on the close loving family and that is can mean people feel isolated. how can you help? it is helpfulto understand people feel isolated. how can you help? it is helpful to understand wh people are doing, our research shows not everyone is going to have a family christmas. a quarter of the population will not. it is freeing for people to understand they don't have to have a family christmas and christmas can be for people who are

special to them. that is not necessarily our immediate family. that is the root you're —— route you're pursuing it is interesting to hear it is ok to give yourself permission to do something different. it is about reclaiming your christmas, saying not always are we going to have to do things in are we going to have to do things in a way the adverts suggest or the media suggests or is expected. christmas is a time also for rejuvenation and it always about reconciliation with family. it can bea reconciliation with family. it can be a dangerous time to attempt that for those that are estranged. why that is? because those behaviours around christmas, involve a lot of alcohol and sentimentality and that pushes people into thinking they must reconcile, but those processes can take a long time and often need interventions from professionals too. it isn't simply a matter of knocking on the door on christmas day. in fact that can be very

damaging. when you reached the end of this year and it is midnight, on new year's eve, how will you be feel something ing? exhilarating, i'm moving forward and making decisions that are important to me and spending time with my friends and extended family like cousins and aunts and i'm looking fore ward to making memories with them in 2018, they have been nothing but supportive of me since april. thank you both. happy christmas. i appreciate your time. now this news from hmrc, they are warning the public about a high profile phone scam that is conning people out thousands of pound. they are cold call them and pretending to be a

member of staff from hmcc and tell them they owe large amounts of tax they that only pay with gift cards. they're told to go to a local shop and buy the vouchers and read the codes. the scammers use intimidation they get, threatening to seize the victim's property or involve the use of police. the use of vouchers is an attractive scam, because they're ha rd to attractive scam, because they're hard to trace. that warning from hmrc, scammers are cold calling people, pretending to be an hmrc member of staff saying they owe tax. with christmas round the corner, thousands of workers on the high

street have an uncertain future with two of the country's biggest retailers struggling to keep their creditors at bay. about 3,000 jobs at toys r us are under threat and poundland has been dragged into a storm engulfing its south african owner that could threaten its uk business interests, which include bensons for beds and harveys, the out—of—town furniture chain. we can now speak tojohn baulch, editor of toyworld magazine, and kate hardcastle, a consumer analyst. good morning. are you worried more about is toys—r—us. good morning. are you worried more about is toys-r-us. yes there has been a revolution in people buying online. brands are prolific and if we know we can buy a certain brand, we know we can buy a certain brand, we won't worry about where that is and we like the convenience. toys r

us have huge warehouses that are not enticing. they seem to have lost their way. john, with toys-r-us, the pensions seem to be involved. they have moved the goal post, the cva, which they have been asked to sign up which they have been asked to sign up to, needs 75% in favour to go ahead. the pension protection fund has a block vote and they're concerned about the pension and they have asked for £9 million to be deposited. toys—r—us said it can't do that, because of the bankruptcy position in the us. so the pension protection fund said it will vote against the cva. but we have two

daysin against the cva. but we have two days in which the cva and toys—r—us can continue to negotiate and perhaps find a solution that works for both of them. that is interesting. kate do you think toys—r—us will still exist? interesting. kate do you think toys-r-us will still exist? they will have some future, but i can't imagine many of the store environments existing. totally different with the bed brand and furniture industry, where it is more ofa furniture industry, where it is more of a creditor issue. john in ten seconds, poundland ? of a creditor issue. john in ten seconds, poundland? poundland is a difficult one, because it is more cross category, my understanding, because credit insurance is being pulled largely, the situation could be worse than your other caller is suggesting. thank you very much. we are back tomorrow and we will be

celebrating your random acts of kindness over christmas. if you have stories to tell let us know. we have a few bright skies developing. for many it is cloudy and for some still foggy. this is the the scene in port talbot and thatis the the scene in port talbot and that is a scene across widely across the south with misty and murky continues. hill fog in wales and north—west england and some drizzle from time to time. in northern parts of england, scotland and northern ireland there is some bright spells and a few showers in the far north of scotland. but temperatures about

nine to 12 degrees. so still feeling mild. tonight a lot of cloud and mist and fog developing and widely into thursday morning. still some rain and drizzle that will move north into northern ireland. and into north—west england and the midlands. that will push further north. some sunny spells in northern scotland. elsewhere the mist and fog continuing into the afternoon, but temperatures into double figures. this is bbc news, and these are the top stories developing at 11. the metropolitan police confirms

it is reviewing scores of current sex offence investigations after the collapse of a second rape case in a week. we are reviewing all of those with the cps to ensure that we have complied with the disclosure process in all of those cases. the eu's chief brexit negotiator sets out a limit for a transition period after the uk leaves the eu. translation: the european commission's position is that this would run logically to the 31st of december 2020. i'm ben brown live in westminster where mps are debating the eu withdrawal bill.