today at 5 — oxfam loses thousands of financial donors — in the light of allegations of sexual misconduct. the claims relate to staff working in haiti seven years ago — now the charity's head in the uk has apologised for seeming to downplay the seriousness of what happened. i am sorry, we are sorry for the damage oxfam have done, both to the people of haiti but also wider efforts for aid and development, by possibly undermining public support. we'll have the latest on the parliamentary session — and we'll be talking to one of the mps — highly critical of the charity's handling of the crisis. the other main stories on bbc news at 5. syrian government forces intensify their bombing of a rebel—held enclave near damascus — with 100 civilians — including 20 children — among those reported killed. the brexit secretary — david davis tells business leaders in vienna — that the uk doesn't want to undermine its neighbours after it leaves the eu. prolonged pain for kfc —

hundreds of outlets are still closed because of a problem with its chicken supply. in the christie goes you reach the first corner. in the christie goes you reach the first corner. and more heartbreak for elise christie — as hopes of winning a medal at the winter olympics are over. it's 5 o'clock. our main story is the crisis at oxfam — following allegations of sexual misconduct by some of its staff in haiti. the charity has revealed that thousands of people have stopped giving money in the past fortnight. senior executives have been questioned by mps about the scandal and

the head of oxfam gb — mark goldring — apologised ‘wholeheartedly‘ for remarks he made last week — when he appeared to downplay what had happened. he also revealed that 26 more sexual misconduct allegations have been received by the charity — as our correspondent matt cole reports. we should warn you there is flash photography from the top of matt's report. if there was any doubt that the senior oxfam leaders were going to face a tough time, it was dispelled by the very first question. in your interview with the guardian published on saturday, you appear to be downplaying the scandal, using the parallel with the murder of babies in their cots, which many people regarded as grossly inappropriate, can i give you the opportunity to apologise? certainly, chairman, i do apologise. over and over, perhaps a dozen times in the hearing, the apologies kept coming. please allow me to begin by saying how sorry i am about what has happened. on behalf of the council

of oxfam, we are ashamed of what has happened in haiti. in 2011, oxfam sacked three staff and allowed four others to quit their roles in haiti, so why was it not reported to the authorities? oxfam leaders made a report that there was no existing press interest, it was not public, that serious misconduct had happened, they did not describe that in explicit terms, they did not describe the sexual misconduct and the use of prostitutes. we know now that was not enough. later came a tough question, why was one of the sacked men later rehired by oxfam? these men were predators. i quite agree, i am not excusing it. that is why we have now set up a database of accredited referees of oxfam. when was that started?

when did you start that? only because you were found out. oxfam now promises transparency, which brought an admission that new claims have come to light. across oxfam great britain, we have had about 26 stories, reports, come to us, which were either new reports come out as a result of the stories, or earlier stories where people said, i did not necessarily report this at the time. the committee announced it will now investigate the whole sector amidst concerns oxfam is not the only charity affected by abuse. it feels a little bit like a potential ratners moment for you, but isn't the truth that this is a cross sector issue and if it had not been oxfam, it could have been a different organisation? if any good can come out of the horror of both haiti and the last couple of weeks, it is a more intensive commitment across the whole sector.

oxfam says it now has better safeguarding measures in place, but this was a bruising encounter, and will by no means have completed the organisation's difficult task of restoring its reputation. there has been a statement on this in the past couple of minutes by the international development secretary. responding to these to the kind of evidence we heard in the parliamentary session earlier today. let us listen for a moment to what the secretary of state had to say. an organisation failing to report evidence of wrongdoing which cars it undermines trust and sends a message that sexual exploitation and abuse is tolerated. we cannot prevent sexual exploitation and abuse if we

do not demonstrate zero tolerance. we must be able to trust organisations not only to do all they can to prevent harm but the report and follow—up incidents of wrongdoing when the cards. in this duty oxfam failed, under the watch of barbara stocking and penny lawrence. they did not provide full information to the charity commission and their donors. they did not provide any report the prosecuting authorities. in my view they misled quite possibly distler brett lee. even as the investigation could not rule out the allegation that some of the women involved were actually children. —— quite possibly deliberately misled. they did not report this to the police in haiti. i believe their motivation appears to be the protection of their organisation's reputation, they put that before and those they were

there to help and protect in a com plete there to help and protect in a complete betrayal of trust. betrayal also of the british people and all those oxfam staff and volunteers who do hit -- those oxfam staff and volunteers who do hit —— put the people serve first. i very strongly worded statement at the commons by penny mordaunt, the international development secretary, pointing the finger firmly development secretary, pointing the fingerfirmly at development secretary, pointing the finger firmly at oxfam, penny stalking and —— barbara stocking and penny lawrence, having misled people in the aftermath of the reports of sexual misconduct, possibly deliberately. let us go to westminster. the conservative mp pauline latham was one of those questioning the head of oxfam and other senior officials — and is in our westminster studio. are you surprised by the strength of the secretary of state language learner? not surprise, i am very pleased. it is about time someone

spoke out strongly against what has been going on. she said it over the last week and to be fair, priti patel before her tried but often people did not want to speak out as stridently but penny mordaunt is getting to grips with the problem 110w. getting to grips with the problem now. where does that leave the current leadership of oxfam? in my view, i would suggest that the leadership really are no longerfit for purpose and have not been for some time. we, as the committee, did not call for his head but i do not believe he should remain. he could believe he should remain. he could be staying there until they think they are sorted it out and someone else could take it on but he is not sorting it out. he could not give concrete exa m ples sorting it out. he could not give concrete examples of what they were going to do to get it right in oxfam. they have pudsey fitted around it, they said sorry lots of times which is great but it does not

change things. you are failing to mr goldring? yes, i am talking about the head of oxfam. what is your impression of the evidence, he apologised whole heartedly for giving the impression he was downplaying the seriousness of what happened? i was not convinced by his lots of story. it is welcome he should say sorry but i did not feel he had anything in place to make sure things would get battered —— better for oxfam and for the people who had been abused by members of his staff. oxfam, the issue is the pro—people who have been sexually exploited by members of oxfam so it is no good saying, he brought in a few prostitutes to give them money but actually these girls and women we re but actually these girls and women were victims. they were not really

prostitutes, they were victims of the terrible situation following the earthquake, wanting aid and the thought that was only they could get it. that is the big question, as you point out, this is about helping people in distress. are you concerned that when people stop giving money, as they have done, actually the people who will suffer are those people who need the help? they are the people who need their help the most so i would suggest if they do not feel confident in one organisation, they should send the help they want to send out to another organisation in which they have more confidence. i was interested to hear what the head of oxfa m interested to hear what the head of oxfam said when he said it has been terrible in 2011 with haiti and in the last two weeks. he did not mention what has happened in between. he is on the upset about it

because they have been found out. would you personally give money to oxfa m would you personally give money to oxfam now? no. what would it take for you to give money to oxfam ain? for you to give money to oxfam again? new leadership and i would have to be convinced they are doing the right thing by the women and girls they are supposed to be protecting. that is what we give money forfrom dfid protecting. that is what we give money for from dfid and that is what the british public wants, they want the british public wants, they want the women and children who are vulnerable to be looked after and to be able to trust people who supposedly go out to help them and at the moment i don't see any help being given in the right way. oxfam has some wonderful work over the yea rs, has some wonderful work over the years, you concerned the oxfam name has been tarnished in an irreparable weight? i hope not irreparable but they are going to have to work hard to gain that reputation again. they have done fantastic work, they were the leading brand of aid but they

have let everyone down, the people they were supposed to help the most, they were supposed to help the most, the british public and the public in other countries because it was not just british people who were the perpetrators, this was around the world. also they have let themselves down by not having the right safeguarding procedures in place. penny is correct, they have to get themselves sorted out as well as the other agencies who are in this as well. if it is true, and oxfam seem to have misled regulators in the aftermath of allegations possibly deliberately, what could that lead to? certainly the people who were misleading. it should not be misleading, it should be open and transparent. now the crisis has happened, we need everyone to be transparent about what happened and when it happens. and by whom. you have welcomed the words of the secretary of state, what actions

would you like to take? we need to have an international register of people working in the edict agency who have been found guilty or have left organisations before anything came to light but before the investigation was completed and moved on to another charity. —— aid agencies. so that they never get a job in international development work or anywhere else where they deal with the vet —— vulnerable people. also those people who have been allowed to leave under the cloud but no one has talked about it. there should be a second register in my view about that. it needs to be worldwide, people need to work with un agencies and to have this worldwide list of people that should not be employed when anyone vulnerable is in danger. good to talk to you, thank you for coming

in. a conservative member of the select committee which questioned the leadership of oxfam today. the united nations has demanded an immediate end to the targeting of civilians in syria — as syrian government forces intensify their bombardment of eastern ghouta, the enclave held by rebels near damascus. activists say more than 100 people have been killed in the last 2a hours. the upsurge in violence is part of a wider escalation of the civil war — as president bashar al—assad pushes to end the 7—year conflict. you may find some images in this report from tom burridge disturbing. fear and chaos after an air strike and there is no warning when the next missile will hit. explosions. shouting. and this, the desperate scramble, the aftermath of trauma that the bombs bring. children trapped in the nightmare that is eastern ghouta,

activists who support the rebels say the bombardment is as intense as it has ever been. you can hear the shouting of women and children through their homes. the missiles and mortars dropping on us like rain. there is nowhere to hide from this nightmare. surrounded by syria's army, eastern ghouta has been under siege for five years. it's the last rebel held enclave and president assad seems intent on taking it back. many other images of children in this hospital are too distressing to show. the united nations has demanded an end to the targeting of civilians.

something syria denies. life goes on, in nearby damascus. where the syrian government is firmly in control. this man says he just wants an end to the situation in any way possible. he says shelling day and night means people are too scared to send their children to school. but in eastern ghouta lives often hang in the balance. after declaring victory over the so—called islamic state the syrian regime with help from russia and iran, is focused on rebel forces. and the west, once an enthusiastic backer of some rebel groups, seems unwilling or unable to respond. tom burridge, bbc news. the un special envoy for syria — staffan de mistura — has warned that ghouta faces an even worse fate than aleppo.

you remember that not long time ago we had a city called aleppo. aleppo went through something very similar to what we're seeing the moment. it was a sudden escalation, they were shelling from one side to another but very heavy shelling inside aleppo and in between the situation for the civilians, they were suffering. i fear we're going to have, apart from the fact that aleppo had by far more history, but ghouta has got by far more people. we are looking in front of us at an increasing tragedy. bottom line, if we have learned something from aleppo, time to actually avoid all this going on in this type of

form of tit—for—tat in an increasingly incremental militarisation of the conflict in ghouta where civilians are suffering. we got that statement a short time ago. bbc arabic‘s mahmoud ali hamad is here. explain to viewers what is the nature of the intensification of this attack? it is clear the russians have made their mind up, they want to repeat this scenario they want to repeat this scenario they inflicted on aleppo one year ago which caused displacement of a lot of people. most of them are still living in camps. with minimum access to food, hygiene and medical help. now we have 400,000 people having the same thing. we knew it is

the russians because they are providing the cover, assad himself does not have a regular army as such, he relies on militias, some are from lebanon, iraq and afghanistan. we can it is clear attention by the russians, especially by the russian prime minister comments, that what happened in aleppo is applicable and we are going to pursue them. this is not a threat like in the past when they wanted those army groups to go for negotiations. now it seems the russians have made up their minds and the lack of the international community and the silly award fatigue has allowed this to happen as fast as we are watching. —— sir

ian award fatigue. there has been a casualty every hour. it is quite a tragedy unfolding slowly in ghouta. we are looking at the disaster unfolding now and what will happen to those people. imagine, those people are not willing to hand themselves over to the syrian government because there is not such a thing. each part has its own chain of command so even if they go out, they do not know whose hands they will end up in and that is part of the human tragedy that's ghouta is experiencing right now. this is totally devastating, injured children being carried into cars and va ns children being carried into cars and vans which have been badly damaged. as we look at these images, can i

ask you about notjust as we look at these images, can i ask you about not just the as we look at these images, can i ask you about notjust the military strategy but the political aims, assad's is clear but for the russians? at the end of this, what will they get? pilot in the region. if it was not for the russians, even the iranians, three years into the water cannot see that. —— power in the region. it was only their brute force of the russians which they have applied in their own civil wars. for the russians, they know this is a puppet they can rely on. thank you very much for explaining a little of the conflict. this is bbc news at five — the headlines: the brexit secretary — david davis has told business leaders in vienna — that the uk doesn't want

to undermine its neighbours — after it leaves the eu. the brexit secretary — david davis — has sought to allay fears among eu member states — that britain will focus on deregulation after it leaves the eu. delivering a speech to business leaders in austria — he rejected claims that brexit would lead to ‘an anglo—saxon race to the bottom'. he also insisted britain did not want to undermine europe — and repeated his belief that the ‘right‘ brexit deal could be achieved. our political correspondent iain watson reports. is this really some people's vision of life outside the eu, a world deregulated to the point of lawlessness, vehicles that almost certainly would not meet eu emissions and safety standards(!) the spectre was raised by david davis, but then he went to reassure business leaders that this meant nothing to him, in a speech in vienna. we will continue the track record of meeting high standards after we leave the european union. now, i know that for one reason or another, there are some people who sought to question if these are really our intentions, they fear that brexit could lead to an anglo—saxon

race to the bottom, with britain plunged into a mad max style world borrowing from disturbing fiction. these fears are based on nothing. his argument is that while we may have some different regulations after brexit, to keep trade flowing, the eu and uk should recognise each other‘s high standards but in brussels, were the eu's finance ministers convinced? in this day and age you can't be selfish and go it alone, of course we trust david davis but we do not know who will come after him. david davis has made clear that britain could raise standards, not just maintain, on animal welfare and climate change, for instance, if we exceed eu minimum, could that lead to problems as well?

that could see costs to adhere to it, that could interfere with competitiveness. but it should not raise new trade barriers with the eu. the government vision of a post—"brexit" britain is becoming a little clearer, and on thursday, the prime minister will take the cabinet away from westminster to the seclusion of a country retreat to try to resolve any outstanding disagreements and the "brexit" secretary david davis says she will keep them under lock and key until they do. we have been here before with a supposed crunch meeting. but no outcome. david davis is saying one thing, borisjohnson is saying another. that has not been resolved. i do not have confidence this prime minister can resolve that. ministers could not find a way forward in whitehall today, the prime minister will be looking for more movement from some of them at this week ‘s cabinet meeting. in a moment we'll hearfrom our reporter adam fleming in brussels — but first eleanor garnier

is in westminster. just thought on the contribution of david davis. those people calling for more clarity, did he some?|j think we are, notjust with his speech, but with a series of speeches from ministers, the prime minister on the weekend, we are starting to get some clearer picture. david davis was trying to get some reassurances today to eu leaders. it felt a long way away from some of the argument is conservative brexiteers have made over the last few decades when they argued about leaving the eu and criticised eu red tape and seeing it stifled uk business. he said the uk had helped to shape rules and regulations but in some cases the uk was a world leader so he was telling

the eu we would not scrap all those rules and regulations, we will not undercut the eu. we need to trust each other and our rules and regulations but will that be enough for brussels and will it be enough for those sitting around the cabinet table who need to come to some sort of agreed position? in two days theresa may will summon her senior ministers to the country retreat of chequers weather will try to thrash out an agreed position. thank you very much. adam fleming is in brussels. how did it go down there? finance ministers were here having a meeting. i was struck by two things, this is just how the eu meeting. i was struck by two things, this isjust how the eu does meeting. i was struck by two things, this is just how the eu does things with its international partners. if you stick to the eu rules, you get good access to the eu markets. the more you try to undercut the eu, the

less access you get to markets. did the uk really have a choice? the second thing is this place does not run on warm words by politicians, no matter how well—received. it works on proper, detailed regulations which are specific and legally enforcea ble. which are specific and legally enforceable. the real hard work will be turning this idea and pledge by david davies into a functioning mechanism which can find its way into eu treaties and the eu will be happy if it is legally watertight. so easier said perhaps than it is done. thank you very much for that. thank you very much for that. the supreme court is considering an appeal that could have a major impact on the so—called ‘gig economy'. pimlico plumbers is challenging a ruling — that entitled one of its plumbers, gary smith, to basic workers' rights — such as paid holiday — even though he was first hired

on a freelance basis. our correspondent simon gompertz has been following the case and joins us from the bbc‘s business unit. tell us more about the background and what this could mean. gary smith worked for pimlico plumbers first six years under a self—employed contract. he had cut —— he had heart attack and wanted to work fewer hours and his contract came to an end as a result of that. he said he should have been treated as an employee all along, was his case, seeing that includes holiday pay sick pay, that sort of thing. he won that in an employment tribunal and the court of appeal. pimlico plumbers were told to pay him holiday pay and some back expenses.

he had had 2p to hire one of the company vans and use their phones for instance. employment status is not just whether you are for instance. employment status is notjust whether you are an employee 01’ notjust whether you are an employee or self—employed, there is another concept which is a worker which is between the two so you do not have full employment rights but you have limited rights which he has been told he can have. that is a dispute whether this applies to just pimlico plumbers are others as well because lawyers are pointing out there are perhaps as many as 3 million people working in this sector, being called the gig economy. drivers for insta nce the gig economy. drivers for instance who are told to be self—employed but are no arguing they are actually workers. for interest —— for example buber is bringing an appeal itself to the supreme court to see that —— to

discuss the supreme rights of its workers. this could become very big and this is why people are seeing this as a test case. thank you very much. joining me now is the founder of pimlico plumbers, charlie mullins. i think it will be ground breaking news if we overturn the decision. we will be at the supreme court today but six years ago when the case went to court thejudge to court the judge misinterpreted that he was self—employed and employed his wife and had an office in his house and was vat registered and supplied materials with the mark—up. claimed all that back and earned over £100,000 a year. it was misinterpreted six years ago and quite clearly that was brought up to date in the supreme court. why has it taken so long? well because they keep trying to make out he is a

worker. when he first went to court they said he was an employee but quite clearly he was a subcontractor and self—employed. he knows it and i know it but sadly there has been a lot of misleading evidence. and over 2 million people in the country work on the same system as pimlico plumbers. he was given a choice and chose to be self—employed. he exploited every angle possible to claim tax and different things for being self—employed. claim tax and different things for being self-employed. so your point is there was no question about his status in terms of being self—employed and the tax thing, i heard one expert said today even if you are self—employed, if you work for the same organisation continually and almost exclusively for several years your status can change a bit and you can claim your status, your relationship is different. we need clarity, really. the end result is that we were led

by the inland revenue and they told us by the inland revenue and they told us it was a self—employed plumber. we have used the model for 39 years and never had a problem. so we were guided by them and it has been blown out of proportion or because of the circumstances changed due to his own lifestyle and he could no longer meet what we require. he had heart problems? they say he did but that has nothing to do with work. my understanding is he had heart problems and wanted to reduce his hours. and we did accommodate him the best we could. we did not dismiss him. the end result was he just was not doing what was required in the end. some of the jobs that he was doing, longer than one or two days, but i'm saying to you he took every advantage of being self—employed that he could. when it did not suit he wanted to be in for you. that was dismissed six years ago in the court and they came up with this now. it was misinterpreted

then by thejudge, the legal team made clear today and pointed out how it had been misinterpreted. we need to get it right now, to get parity. 2 million people out there are using the same system we are using. final point, we will see what happens in this appeal obviously but you mentioned the 2 million people. what are the implications of this if you lose? first it makes hardly any difference, i will give him a few weeks holiday pay and i think that is it. it is not about the money. the 2 million workers no longer going to be classed as self—employed but as workers. but if this guy wasn't for you i would not have been paying him what he got, i would be paying him what he got, i would be paying half of that. it is he who exploited that. and i'm telling you 110w exploited that. and i'm telling you now he knows he was self—employed, i

know it and 2 million people in this country know they are self—employed. is there a comparison between how you engage people and let us say you were. i'm nothing like uber, they force people into contracts and pay little. we gave him a choice, he chose to be self—employed because of the advantages that go with it. so where nothing like uber. this guy matthew taylor has just done a report for the government and basically said if you're a worker you are dependent on that company. this guy is not dependent, he was independent and could go anywhere and used his skills. he did not depend on us. that makes him a self—employed or independent contractor. good to talk to you, thank you. how is your boiler? working very well! charlie milne —— charlie mullins from pimlico plumbers. time for a look at the weather.

here's susan powell. we will all meet to churn up the boiler because it is going to get colder next week. but for nowjust boiler because it is going to get colder next week. but for now just a glimpse at the next 24 hours. there has been sunshine today which has left us with clear skies and now things turn colder overnight. further south there is more clout around and some drizzly rain overnight. that will hold temperatures up just above freezing. but further north it could be as low as minus three. wednesday morning, but the best of the sunshine first thing. a frosty start but beautiful nonetheless for scotland and northern ireland. much of the north of england more clout around. some drizzle further south and hopefully a bit brighter across easternmost

england. starting to feel a bit cooler. just a glimpse of things to come. this is bbc news — the headlines. there have been calls for the chief executive of oxfam to stand down. oxfam says around 7,000 people have stopped donating money, following the revelations that some staff used prostitutes in haiti. syrian government forces have intensified their bombing of a rebel—held enclave near damascus, with 100 civilians — including 20 children — among those reported killed. the brexit secretary david davis has told business leaders in vienna that the uk doesn't want to undermine its neighbours after it leaves the eu. kfc says disruption is expected to continue across its restaurants for the rest of the week — due to chicken shortages. let's catch up with the sport with

john. it's all over for great britain's elise christie at the winter olympics, failing in all three of her events. her last chance was in the 1000 metres, but in today's heat she was disqualified. for news of that and the other highlights from day 11, here's our sports correspondent david ornstein. just three days after leaving the ice on a stretcher elise christie was back, her olympic hopes on the line. away they go. christie goes down before they reach the very first corner. christie's bid for 1000 metres gold got off to the worst possible start, but having been tripped she earned a reprieve. the heat would be rerun. clearly still troubled by an ankle injury, christie trailed her rivals. she fought back impressively to finish second to qualify for the quarterfinals.

as she was carried away and discomfort her night would take another turn for the worse, the judges spotting two infringements and disqualifying her. heartbreak for elise christie yet again. after failing to win a medal at the last olympics four years ago, history has repeated itself in the pyeongchang. herdreams ending in bitter disappointment. i am a bit shell—shocked. i worked so hard to come back from this injury. i think 1000 people would not have skated with my ankle the way it was. i can barely move my knee. the only thing i can say is i can promise britain i will fight back from this and i will come back for beijing. and hopefully i can do britain proud then. for the skater and her team it was a huge blow. clearly she is massively disappointed. to come here as double world champion and go away with a fourth place, ultimately, that is hugely disappointing. that happens in sport, there is high

jeopardy. in short track, as everyone knows at home now. better news for the curlers, as the british men produce their best performance of the competition so far, out—dazzling the colourfully dressed in 2014 world champions norway. like the victorious women, they close in on a semifinals place. it was not to be for ice dancers penny coomes and nick buckland, finishing 11th in the free dance final. but given coomes was returning from a career threatening injury it was a respectable result. the football association and police are reviewing video footage following a pitch invasion at the end of wigan‘s 1—nil win against manchester city in the fa cup fifth round. two arrests were made outside the ground for affray. 10—man city were beaten by a late will grigg goal that ended their hopes of the quadruple.

wigan, who are now in league one, also beat city in the 2013 cup. they'll face southampton in the quarters. a few manchester city players were caught up in the pitch invasion and sergio aguero was involved in an altercation with one of the supporters. the striker claims he was spat at. some of the 5000 city fans were also seen to be throwing missiles and advertsing hoardings at police. wigan say they are also conducting a full investigation. at the time you cannot tell but the clu b at the time you cannot tell but the club are investigating as well as they can. it is disappointing in that it takes away the limelight from the game. emotions are running high but we leave the club to deal with that. the england one—day opener alex hales has signed a new deal with nottinghamshire to play only limited—overs matches until the end of the 2019 season. hales follows the path of england team—mate adil rashid,

who said he will only play white—ball cricket for yorkshire in 2018. hales has played 58 one—day internationals for his country but his last test appearance was back in 2016. that's all the sport for now. more detail has emerged today about how farming subsidies in the uk are set to be reviewed after brexit. the environment secretary michael gove — in a speech to the national farmers union conference — outlined his plans to replace the present system of subsidies with funding for issues such as conservation and animal welfare. at present — payments amounting to £3bn a year to uk farmers are based on the amount of land that they own. our environment and rural affairs correspondent claire marshall reports. they have travelled here from all over the uk and they have many questions for michael gove. is he going to do a better job in the agriculture sector than in education? brexit, what will go on in brexit?

at the moment farmers are paid around £3 billion a year in eu subsidies. take that away and around half of them would go out of business. please give the secretary of state, mr michael gove, a very warm welcome. the environment secretary's message, let's make the most of it. he believes the problem of rural broadband could be solved. universal broadband and 4g coverage for all, paid for by the money we no longer have to give the eu. that is what i mean by taking back control. that is not the limit of my ambition for rural britain and the farming sector. i have argued we should not compete on a race to the bottom but argue the high ground of strong environmental welfare and quality standards. mr gove said post brexit more money should be used to help farmers invest in more technology. this farm in leicestershire is using it to better housed animals and grow crops. we are always investing in technology, animal handling systems,

animal welfare systems, crop production, innovative ways of growing crops. we are doing it all the time as farmers but any helping hand could only increase productivity. we must not forget that productivity does not mean just more yield, it means doing it with less input. another issue was on the agenda, who will read the nfu for one of its most turbulent periods since the second world war? by the end of tomorrow wee could be have first woman president in the whole 110 year history of the national farmers' union. the winner will be announced tomorrow afternoon. claire marshall, bbc news, birmingham. we can now speak to tom bradshaw from the national farmers' union — he joins us from their conference in birmingham. your thoughts on that speech from michael gove today and the reshaping he was talking about? michael gove,

his speech today seem to have a lack of clarity still. we had some delivery on broadband but what we wa nt to delivery on broadband but what we want to know about how we will deliver environmental standards, what exactly he wants us to deliver and also not much about food and we produce food, that is the most important thing we do. you said there was a lack of clarity but where exactly could he have offered clarity today? we all know the support payment is likely to change in the future but to be able to plan and invest in the future we need to know exactly how he intends to deliver that for the future. there was a lot of times in the speech where things would be announced in the next few weeks, when actually we need those decisions made now so we are then able to make clear investment decisions. well we lost

sound there. is tom back with us? my apologies to tom bradshaw, we lost we re apologies to tom bradshaw, we lost were found. we got the gist of what he was saying but i'm sorry that we lost the sound from birmingham. the prime minister is due to meet officials of both the dup and sinn fein tomorrow to discuss the situation in northern ireland. talks to restore the stormont assembly collapsed last week. the dup leader arlene foster has been urging the government to set a budget and take key decisions about the region's infrastructure. sinn fein leader mary lou mcdonald has again warned direct rule is not an option for northern ireland. we can cross now to stormont and our ireland correspondent chris page. we heard in the house of commons

this afternoon from karen bradley the northern ireland secretary. she had hoped to go back this week to talk about the restoration of devolved government 13 months after it collapsed but instead was updating mps about the collapse of those negotiations between the dup in sinn fein. that has meant she had major decisions to make. the civil serva nts major decisions to make. the civil servants have effectively been running the stormont departments for a yearand running the stormont departments for a year and they have said they need a year and they have said they need a budget for the next financial year just a few weeks from now. she indicated that she did intend to bring forward a budget for northern ireland in westminster. things in northern ireland cannot simply remain in a state of limbo. a number of challenging decisions will have to be taken. ultimately the government has responsibility to ensure good governance and the continued delivery of public services. in particular as the head of the northern ireland civil service has made clear, there needs to be certainty and clarity about a budget for northern ireland for next year as soon as possible. and i intend to take steps to provide clarity on the budget and i will update the house as soon as i'm in a position to do so. this would be the second time the

westminster government will have had to step in to provide a budget for northern ireland in the absence of the stormont executive. but the government in london still reluctant to go for what is known as direct to put ministers in westminster to take over stormont departments were dubbed the leader of the dup in westminster nigel dodds urged mrs bradley to implement the budget as $0011 bradley to implement the budget as soon as possible. we have had no ministers for 13 months and that cannot continue. it is time to set a budget, led the efforts for devolution continue, we want to see devolution continue, we want to see devolution but it is a dereliction of duty to continue without a budget, without ministerial decisions. time to get on with it. mrs bradley said she would consult with all the parties about the contents with all the parties about the co nte nts of with all the parties about the contents of the budget and said she would come back to speak to mps about the budget as soon as she could. she reaffirmed the government

commitment to the good friday agreement. in recent days from the brexiteers such as dan hannan, and owen paterson and kate hoey have questioned whether the agreement is fit for purpose. it was the good friday agreement in 1998 that effectively ended the troubles and set principles of the power—sharing government here. but today the british and irish governments have both in strong terms at at high levels said they are committed to that agreement. thank you for that update. the parents of a seriously ill little boy have lost a life support treatment fight with doctors. specialists at alder hey children's hospital in liverpool had asked a high courtjudge to allow them to stop providing life support treatment to 21—month—old alfie evans. our correspondent charlotte gallagher is at the high court. tell us a bit more about the case and what happened today. alfie evans

is just 21 months old but he has spent much of his life at the children's hospital in liverpool. he has a neurological condition which is to generative and getting worse, it is not going to get better. doctors do not actually know what is wrong with him, it has no official diagnosis. they came to the high court today, alder hey hospital, because they want to withdraw life support from alfie. they say continuing to treat him would be inhumane and futile. well his pa rents inhumane and futile. well his parents strongly disagree with this. the hospitals they offered cannot see 01’ the hospitals they offered cannot see or feel and cannot hear. but his pa rents see or feel and cannot hear. but his parents insist that he responds to them when they see him and he reacts to them. thejudge them when they see him and he reacts to them. the judge today came down on the side of alder hey hospital saying he had reviewed evidence from different medical experts who all agree that this condition is just not treatable. it is fatal. after the ruling his father spoke outside of court and was very distressed by what had been served. this is not

over, it isjust the start. i'm not giving up, my son is not giving up. no one in this country is taking my boy away from me. they're not violating his rights. he is two years old and being sentenced to the death penalty. we got the false impression that we would get the dignity to go on but they want him dead on friday. well the father very passionate there and throughout the case he has been so vocal for his son, he has represented himself in court. this could well be not be the end for the case, his parents could 110w end for the case, his parents could now go to the court of appeal and possibly the supreme court which is what the parents of charlie gard did. it was quite a long legal process. but both his parents and alder hey hospital say they have his best interests at heart. thank you very much. after months of wrangling, mps have released a report

by the financial regulator which said a unit of rbs mistreated thousands of small firms. the global restructuring group was marketed as an expert service that could save a business, but according to the report took "inappropriate" action against them — including new fees and high interest rates. our economics correspondent andy verity is here. what does the report tell us? well this division that claim to be a turnaround division was systematically not putting turnaround at the top of its priorities but instead putting making profits and —— improving the financial position of the bank at the top of its priorities. that was widespread and in some respects systematics vote up the bank said the most serious allegation as it sees it, that it deliberately targeted viable businesses to asset

stripped them for profit, that that has not been upheld. but the people who made the allegations originally, those mistreated customers have said it was not a turnaround division, and it also names people who until 110w and it also names people who until now had not been named. we would not have this it had been leaked to the bbc and two other people. it was put on the intranet last week and the mps were going to publish anyway. and in the report stephen hester is named, nathan bostock, another senior executive and derek stage head of the global restructuring group. they are not criticised but they are named here. what about the rule of them —— the role of the regulator and what people have made 01’ regulator and what people have made or their regulator and what people have made ortheir —— regulator and what people have made or their —— other ability to intervene? the chief executive of the financial conduct authority put up the financial conduct authority put up what he said was a summary of the report in 2016. at the top of that summary it said there are some isolated cases of bad practice but

they gave some findings saying many accusations had not been upheld. looking at the full report that mps had, it looks different. so andrew bailey the head of the body, very much in the firing line. many kfc outlets across the uk remain closed today because of a continuing lack of their key ingredient, chicken. the fast food chain, which has nearly 900 outlets, blames problems after switching to a new delivery firm dhl. it's encouraging staff to take leave while restaurants are closed. but the majority of outlets are franchises — which means many workers could be hit hard, as our correspondent sima kotecha reports. for chicken lovers and fast—food fans it is another day of sadness. hundreds of kfc stores closed across the country because of a shortage of britain's most popular bird meat. how can you run out of chicken in

kfc! this kfc in the centre of birmingham is open but it has a limited menu. it serves only chicken popcorn. the chain says almost 600 remain closed around the country and it is not clear when they will be back open. kfc says it has happened because it has changed distributors. it used to use south african owned company bidvest to transport chicken but recently changed to dhl, and that is why they say they have had some teething problems. we saw this coming weeks ago, people last week were earning money, working on a good product, providing good customer service and today they will struggle to put food on the table. then looking at the people working in the 900 kfc stores, they have been sent home with no pay. dhl says due to operational reasons a number of deliveries in recent days have been incomplete. they moved what looked like a relatively uncomplicated supply chain to a more complicated

one and they do not seem to have pressure tested it at all. for any organisation to do that seems bizarre at best. customers have complained on social media. the chain says some staff will still be paid but many of its outlets are franchises, so it is likely they will make losses. fried chicken is not everybody‘s favourite but for those who love it, patience is wearing thin. kfc says more deliveries are being made each day but it expects disruption at some restaurants for the rest of the week. stand—by for bbc news and sticks and i will be back same time tomorrow.

—— use at six. now the weather forecast. there has been some sunshine around today. some drizzly rain in eastern anglia and the south—east of england and that continues into more central areas in the next few hours. but nothing too significant. the covering of cloud at least overnight means temperatures hold up probably just above freezing. clearer skies and monitor wind to the north and west m ea n and monitor wind to the north and west mean a widespread frost for scotland, northern ireland and wales. still a legacy of the weather front left as we move into wednesday but high—pressure coming to dominate. and sticking around for quite some time dominating the

weather. for wednesday it is a settled date with light wind. still some light rain across the midlands. a slightly cooler field to tomorrow. just a taste of what is to come. the high—pressure doing its work on thursday, holding up the weather front in the atlantic. sunny spells for many although increasing amounts of cloud. but an easterly wind setting up the way it is going to change into the weekend. friday and saturday, fine weather across the british isles. the easterly wind really starting to nike. —— like. that hype builds up and becomes bigger on into the weekend. the source of the air coming from

siberia. following round all the way to the south of that area of high pressure. for the start of next week the cold air really starts to push its way across us and we will feel that all the more so, monday and tuesday as the wind becomes particularly biting. so a little colderfor particularly biting. so a little colder for the next few days but next week for sure you will notice the difference in ways that feel. and even the chance of some snow. stay tuned. the oxfam scandal in haiti. now the charity reveals it's investigating 26 more cases of alleged sexual misconduct. called to account by mps — oxfam's boss admits the sex scandal has prompted thousands of people to stop making donations to the charity. i am sorry, we are sorry, for the damage that oxfam has done, both to the people of haiti and also to wider efforts to aid and development. it comes amid fresh allegations against another charity tonight.

also, in the programme... explosion. the suburbs of syria's capital. activists say up to 200 are dead as government forces attack the last rebel stronghold near damascus. the new treatment bringing hope to children with a rare blood vessel disorder that causes facial disfigurement. commentator: and christie goes down before they reach the very first corner.