hello, this is breakfast, with louise minchin and dan walker. a former russian double agent is in critical condition after he was exposed to an unknown substance in salisbury. 66—year—old sergei skripal and a woman in her 30s were found unconscious on a bench on sunday. last night, police closed a restaurant in the city as a precaution. good morning, it is tuesday 6 march. also this morning: counting the calories. health officials in england call for portion sizes to be cut, as they say the public need to go on a diet. six—year—old maisie was one of the stars of the oscars, but we will find out why deaf children like her could be falling behind at school.

thousands of homes across the uk are still without water because of burst pipes caused by last week's freezing temperatures. i will have the latest. and in sport: sir bradley wiggins denies that he is a cheat, after a parliamentary report suggests he and team sky crossed an ethical line in their use of drugs. and carol has the weather. good morning. we have heavy rain, sleet and snow across northern britain at the moment. that will largely be confined to the hills of northern scotland, where we will see significant snow later. the rest of us significant snow later. the rest of us it is a day of sunshine and some showers. i will have more details in about 15 minutes. police are trying to identify a substance which caused a former russian double agent to fall critically ill in salisbury yesterday. he was convicted by a

russian court of passing state secrets to mi6 but was later given refuge in britain as part of a prisoner swap. our correspondent has more. police are racing to establish just what happened here. last night, officers were examining the contents of a bin near to the bench where sergei skripal and a 33—year—old woman were found unconscious on sunday afternoon. a high street italian restaurant nearby was closed, the staff inside questioned. detectives are trying to piece together the events that led to the police being called out to this shopping precinct in the centre of the city. there was a couple — an older guy and a younger girl. she was sort of leant in on him, it looked at though she was passed out. he was doing some strange hand movements, looking to the sky. i felt anxious, i felt like i should step in. but, to be honest, they looked so out of it that even if i did step m, i wasn't sure how i could help. the two remain in a critical

condition at salisbury hospital. sergei skripal was a former russian secret service officer, convicted of treason in 2006 after he was accused of spying for britain. but he was pardoned in russia in 2010, and handed over to the uk in a swap, when he and three others were exchanged for russian spies in the us. police say they are keeping an open mind about this incident, and don't yet know whether a crime has taken place. but, given sergei skripal‘s background, it is likely to be a sensitive investigation. leila nathoo, bbc news, salisbury. public health england have challenged the food industry to cut calories in products such as ready meals, sandwiches, pizza and snacks. it is hoped the plans, targeting some of the most popular family foods, could lead to a drop in the number of obese children. 0ur health correspondent adina campbell explains. they are some of our biggest—selling products, but not necessarily the healthiest. processed meals and food on the go are, for many of us, shopping basket staples. but, as part of the government's plans to curb childhood obesity,

health officials are now calling on food retailers and manufacturers to reduce calories by 20% by 202a. public health england says this can be achieved in three ways. changing the recipes in meals, using better—quality products. smaller portion sizes, which would help control how much we eat. 0r steering us to buy lower—calories products in some of our favourite foods. we've announced a 20% calorie reduction programme. so that's taking calories out of ready meals, out of pizzas, out of savoury prepacked sandwiches, out of savoury snacks, and gradually, over a time, improving the recipes so we all eat healthier. these posters are one way health officials are hoping to make us more aware of what we eat, by having a benchmark of 400 calories at breakfast, and another 600 for lunch and dinner.

10 starjumps! it is estimated some children are consuming 500 calories more than needed every day. and, with around a third leaving primary school overweight or obese, health experts say britain needs to go on a diet. adina campbell, bbc news. in syria, the first aid convoy for three weeks has delivered supplies to the rebel—held territory eastern ghouta. but aid workers were forced to cut the mission short after dozens of people were killed by shelling from pro—government forces. nearly 400,000 people are thought to be trapped in the enclave, which has been the focus of heavy fighting in recent months. thousands of homes in the uk are still without water following last week's freezing weather, that caused pipes to burst. production at two of jaguar land rover plants had to be halted temporarily to allow water to be prioritised by emergency services and hospitals. tom burridge reports. after the big freeze, the thaw, and

cracked, leaking water pipes in several parts of the country. so this the only supply for thousands of people for several days. thames water is handing out bottles of water to its customers in parts of london which a cut off. large numbers of homes in scotland, wales and southern england are affected. i've got five kids, and literally without water since 6am yesterday morning. it is terrible. washing the bottles isjust a bit difficult. there is a lot of stuff covered in baby to that i can't wash at the moment. the water needs to be fixed. schools have closed. some say the water company should have planned more. at the very least one would have thought they would be some kind

of public enquiry. people will be interested to know whether they will get compensation for what has happened. several water companies have apologised. they say they were working overnight to get people connected again. nearly 250 bbc staff have signed an open letter challenging the corporation to publish employees' individual salaries and benefits. injanuary the bbc director general, lord hall, announced a five—point plan to tackle pay inequality at the corporation. but signatories to the letter, including victoria derbyshire, mariella frostrup, dan snow and the reverend richard coles, claim bbc management should go further to ensure transparency and accountability. a new unit is being set up to tackle gang activity and organised crime being carried out within prisons in england and wales. thejustice secretary, david gauke, is concerned that too many prisoners are able to smuggle drugs, mobile phones and weapons into their cells, fuelling violence behind bars. under the changes set to be announced later today, inmates who get involved with crime behind bars could be moved

to higher—securityjails. north korean state media is reporting that leader kim jong—un is calling for closer ties with south korea. it follows a rare visit to the north korean capital, pyongyang, by senior officials from the south. the us said it is cautiously optimistic about improving north—south contact, but ruled out formal talks with the north korean regime unless it is ready to give up its nuclear weapons. the packaging industry in england has denied claims it is greatly exaggerating the amount of plastic it recycles. waste consultancy group eunomia says the industry's figures don't add up, and companies aren't paying enough towards the cost of collection and processing. 0ur environment analyst roger harrabin explains. dealing with waste costs the public £2.8 billion a year. under a government scheme, the firms that

produce bottles and packages have to pay towards improving the recycling system. for every ton of waste they create, they contribute towards recycling technology. but today's report says the packaging industry is only paying a 10th of the real cost of clearing up the mess it creates. it is government policy. government policy effectively allowing the bulk of the cost of the packaging recycling service to be met through council tax payments, from you and me. whereas what we would like to see is producers pulling their weight and paying the full costs of the packaging recycling service provided to you and me as households. the industry says that trusts its figures on recycling, and has not exaggerated. a spokesman hinted that packages would be willing to pay more towards recycling, as part of a government

review into waste policy —— packagers. and ourformer colleague and our former colleague and and ourformer colleague and good friend bill turnbull has announced that he has been diagnosed with prostate and bone cancer. he tweeted the news last night and has undergone chemotherapy. he says he is in good spirits and hopes to be around for some time yet, which is good news. you will recall he was here with us for breakfast for 15 yea rs. here with us for breakfast for 15 years. this was his last day before he left the sofa in 2016, just over two years ago. he was diagnosed at the end of last year during the recording of the great celebrity bake 0ff recording of the great celebrity bake off on channel 4. i was getting pains in my legs, my hips particularly. and they would come and go, and i thought this is old age. eventually the pains got so bad i thought, well, i had better go and see my gp. he said, well, i am

just going to give you a blood test, just going to give you a blood test, just a sort of mot, if you like, just a sort of mot, if you like, just to check a few things out. the next morning he called me and asked me to come in pretty quickly and the doctor said it is pretty clear from this that you have advanced prostate cancer. i spoke to bill yesterday. how is he? everybody who has watched him over the last 15 years will know he is an immensely optimistic person. he was in good form. he is undergoing treatment at the moment and we have a long conversation. between us we have a national lottery syndicate and i phoned him to tell him we had won £2 something 01’ to tell him we had won £2 something or other. and again, he was really up or other. and again, he was really up beat, so best wishes to bill and all his family as well. and you can see more of that interview with bill on great celebrity bake 0ff tonight on great celebrity bake 0ff tonight on channel 4. he is probably watching, so good morning. and john

is here with another day of talking about bradley wiggins. we were saying that we would like to hear from sir bradley wiggins, and yesterday he spoke to our sports correspondent, and in a really compelling interview he strongly denies all the allegations put forward against him in that report which came out yesterday from that group of mps. he says he has only ever taken drugs under the therapeutic use exemption which allows you to take what would normally be a banned substance for medical reasons, to get him up to the level which allows him to compete on a level playing field, the drugs to fight asthma and respite you problems. he says it has affected his family deeply and we will be bringing you a clip of that interview a bit later on. he flatly denies those allegations against him and calls it malicious. it is a really interesting listen. we will have more for you later on that. how about this for a winning goal? nemanja matic‘s stunner wins a thrilling game for manchester united, but it leaves crystal palace

in the bottom three. and, as serena williams prepares to make her comeback after having her first child, she has added her voice to the chorus of women in hollywood calling for equality. she says maybe it is time to get feisty. and the head coach of england rugby says abuse is part of the job. he got some unwanted attention on a train and outside a station after his side lost to scotland in the six nations. he says it is part and parcel of the game and that perhaps that happened asa game and that perhaps that happened as a result of the nature and size of the defeat england suffered to scotland. he says he won't travel on a train again. which is sad, really, isn't it? it is sad, because you wa nt to isn't it? it is sad, because you want to be forward facing and be able to stop and have a conversation with someone on the street. if you

are treated in that way you are going to hide behind tinted windows ina taxi. going to hide behind tinted windows in a taxi. it is not what people wa nt to in a taxi. it is not what people want to do. you would love to be able to have a chat with him afterwards, and a bit of gentle reading... he knows he will get a little bit of that, when england lose to scotland, but as is always the way, it is always the minority who spoil it. and more of that interview later with radley weakens. let's find out what is happening with the weather this morning. —— radley weakens. we do not have the severity we had. we do not have the severity we had. we have rain and sleet and snow pushing north. that will become confined to the hills of scotland. today, significant snowfall. for the rest of us, a mixture of sunshine and showers and bright spells. low pressure has dominated our weather for a while and will continue to do so for a while and will continue to do so for much of this week. this is

the system bringing rain and sleet and snow northwards and it is making progress, coming out of northern england through parts of scotland, the central lowlands, and the highlands. across the central lowlands, we could see sleet and snow, lowlands, we could see sleet and show, even lowlands, we could see sleet and snow, even at lower levels, this morning, as the system goes north and takes rain with it. further south, mist and fog. some bright spells, but equally, a fair bit of cloud around as well and showers from northern ireland, south wales, and the channel islands. temperature—wise, we are in good shape as we go further south. ten, 11,12. shape as we go further south. ten, 11, 12. not feeling bad at this stage in march. scotland, much colder. the north of scotland, once again, easterly winds, exacerbating the cold feel. getting down to low levels in shetland. as we go through the evening and overnight, significant snowfall in the hills of

scotland. low pressure moving north through the north sea. the distribution of where we see the snow tends to change. coming in again across the northern isles and across north—west scotland as well. tonight, cloud around. some breaks and some frost. the risk of ice. and also showers, some will be wintry. tonight, there could be problematic fog and dense fog, patchy and dense fog, in east anglia and the south—east. keep that in mind if you are travelling tomorrow morning. tomorrow, low pressure is continuing to push in the direction of scandinavia. the weather front around it producing rain in the north—west. wintriness here and there. showers, and we will not all see them. dry weather in between. sunshine. some showers in the south of england could be heavy with a mixture of hail and thunder and

lightning. temperatures coming down a touch. instead of 12 today, temperatures like nine. aberdeen, temperatures like nine. aberdeen, temperatures climbing a little bit. thursday, while we have a system close to the south of england, it will bring rain to southern counties in the channel islands. some of it could be heavy. move away from the south, for many of us, a dry and bright today with sunshine. having said that, some showers. compared to what we are used to, especially in scotland, a brighter picture. some showers will be wintry in nature to be in terms of temperatures, 5—9 in the south. friday, a lot of dry weather around. high pressure in the north and wet and windy weather starting to spread in the south. back to you, lou and dan. the papers. a lovely picture on the

front page. steph is with us. he revealed on twitter he has prostate cancer, bill. we spoke to him and he is upbeat yesterday. this story is on all of the papers. a spy, they do not know what happened, but they suspect the former spy could have been poisoned. he put out two tweets. it said spread a thought for those in the uk with cancer. and get checked as well. and we have met her many times, his wife. we were talking about this. a russian spy is critically ill after suspected poisoning. the double agent was found unconscious in salisbury following exposure to an unknown substance. we will be live later on for the latest on that

investigation. for weeks, they have had different views on the papers. but this story has one story. the story of the spy. the telegraph as well. russian spy with poisoning. spy well. russian spy with poisoning. spy swap, poisoned in britain. the guardian as well. a former russian spy guardian as well. a former russian spy has been left critically ill after exposure to a substance. bradley wiggins on the times, i am not a cheat, i'm a victim. allegations have been added to the report. he says he wants to know who it is so we can get some facts and end allegations. the guardian. several articles. richard williams said trash or treasured memories. can we believe what we have

witnessed in sport? is the trust in sport there? we were talking about the achievements and legacy of bradley wiggins. as a fan of sport, can we believe what we have witnessed? did can we believe what we have witnessed ? did it can we believe what we have witnessed? did it happen naturally, was it pure cycling? man vs machine, pure machine? drug use? those are the suggestions. can we believe what we are seeing? he had a robust defence yesterday. he is protecting everything he has done. yes, all the medals he has one, is achievements, his reputation is being tarnished. —— won. the same for team sky. his reputation is being tarnished. -- won. the same for team sky. we look forward to hearing that interview in 20 minutes. there are many people who have been affected by the bad weather we had last week. many people without water in their

houses. good morning, everyone. the daily mirror picks up on that. in particular, to companies are struggling without water, the chocolate giant, cadbury, and the cargiant, land chocolate giant, cadbury, and the car giant, land rover. they have halted production to ease the water shortages. it seems extraordinary. yes. you always think, how could that happen? there are many problems and we will talk about what people can do later on. we talk about many things about paying more for the same product if you are male or female. this is in many papers. children's toys and clothes. they have done a little survey, research bya have done a little survey, research by a parenting website, and this is an example. these are some skates,

blue and green, these, in pink and purple. 7.99 and 10.99, the difference in price, but only the colour changes. that is it. these ones could have funkier wheels. no, they say only the colour is different. and you have read the research as well. a similarjacket. the same colours. it could have a different zip. you have a great story. this is very "me." four in five people could not pick out their neighbours ina five people could not pick out their neighbours in a police line up. did they say where they live? different places are better than others. the biggest failure is, no surprise, in london. northern ireland is a bit better, one in 50. it seems, on average, four in five could not. and

you could say yourself you know?‘ you could say yourself you know? , i do not, sorry. i am you could say yourself you know? , i do not, sorry. lam busy you could say yourself you know? , i do not, sorry. i am busy and you could say yourself you know? , i do not, sorry. lam busy and i am in and out of the door. it depends where you live. a big city, a village... you where you live. a big city, a village. .. you might where you live. a big city, a village... you might recognise them ina village... you might recognise them in a village. you chat a lot. hey, i'm friendly. you are more focused. you are not alone, steph, that's the thing. the last few years have seen a boom in the popularity of trampoline parks across the uk, from just three in 2014 to more than 200 now. but their popularity is being linked to a rise in hospital admissions. a freedom of information request by the bbc found ambulance crews were called out to more than 1,200 incidents at trampoline parks in england last year. anna crossley reports. good girl. she was really

distraught, she was hysterical, which is not like us. she is normally quite resilient. what should have been a fun day out ended with a trip to accident and emergency. one of the staff came over and said don't worry, she has just landed awkwardly. but i knew, definitely, as they think a mother does, there was something wrong. her worst fears were confirmed. her 3—year—olds daughter, cameron, had broken her leg. she was taken to a hospital with staff well versed in dealing with trampoline injuries. they said they were keeping them in business. they were not surprised and said it was quite a regular thing, having children coming in with broken bones to put in the last few years, trampoline parks have surged in popularity. -- bones. there are now around 200 in the uk.

so we is hardly surprising there has been an increase in the number of accidents. but it is the severity of these injuries which is concerning this hospital, so much so it has launched an internal audit. this hospital, so much so it has launched an internal auditm this hospital, so much so it has launched an internal audit. if you are injured by a trampoline, you could have a more serious injury if it is from a trampoline park. broken limbs and hitting head as well, people bouncing into each other. —— heads. not only medical professionals a re heads. not only medical professionals are concerned. even trampoline park owners are saying it is time that tighter controls were introduced. i am worried about the injuries at trampling barks. am i worried about the injuries of gravity, no? we have eight 0.01% injury rate. ——a. gravity, no? we have eight 0.01% injury rate. --a. in fact, there is so injury rate. --a. in fact, there is so much concern within the industry itself, some owners like michael have been working with the british standards institution to draw up a

new set of safety guidelines to be and although there will be no legal requirement to comply, it is hoped they will sign up. —— guidelines. requirement to comply, it is hoped they will sign up. —— guidelinesm will cover construction of the park, the nuts and bolts and how high off the nuts and bolts and how high off the floor it should be, and the operation of the policies that should be in place on the type of training that needs to be identified in order to operate a safe park. there is no doubt trampolining is good fun and good exercise, the challenge now is making sure safety standards can keep up with the speed with which the industry is growing. bbc news. we will talk to somebody about that a little bit later on breakfast and how many people are being injured. some places have trampoline is without nets around the edge. i get a bit of fear with that. --

trampolines. it is time to get the news, travel, and weather wherever you are. good morning from bbc london news. i'm alpa patel. hundreds are without water. it is taking longer than expected to restore water services. south london has been affected. ministers have been urged to launch a public enquiry into the situation. six months after controversially being introduced into several london boroughs, nearly 75% of council tenants who claim "universal credit" are now behind with their rent. it was supposed to simplify the benefits system, but critics say the credit has delayed payments, which pushes some of london's poorest people into debt. that is 12 weeks without money, 12 weeks without paying my rent every weeks without paying my rent every week 12 weeks without paying my

licence, because all i could borrow money for was food and gas. i could not taken my friends and that, pay for my bank loan, pay for my tv licence. so, itjust mounted and mounted. -- say to my friends. the government says it's taken seven days off the wait time and offered an extra fortnight of housing benefit to help ease the situation for new claimants. pushing ahead with universal credit, it says, will help people get back into work. a theatre group is helping military vetera ns a theatre group is helping military veterans come to terms with their experiences by letting them go onstage. they are touring with vetera ns to onstage. they are touring with veterans to tackle issues like post—traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and physical injury. let's have a look at the travel situation now. 0n the tubes, minor delays on the london 0verground between surrey quays and new cross due to a shortage of trains caused by recent weather conditions.

0n the roads, the marylebone road is down to one lane eastbound near regent's park tube station because of repairs to a burst water main. let's have a check on the weather now. good morning. not especially cold. temperatures above zero. low cloud at first, but breaking up with sunny spells developing. it will feel pleasa nt spells developing. it will feel pleasant and mild. sunny spells. temperatures rising a little. patchy cloud. the risk of a few showers for essex and kent. temperatures in london getting up to 12. 0vernight, clear spells at first. rain arising from the south in parts of south london through dawn. the minimum temperatures, between zero and four. a misty and murky night. taking time to lift tomorrow morning. unsettled for the next few days. look at these

temperatures, gradually, very slowly, to the weekend, starting to rise. starting to feel more like spring on saturday and sunday with temperatures getting up to 13 or 14 celsius. a lovely warm day ahead. i will be back in 20 minutes. plenty more on line. now, though, it's back to the breakfast sofa. bye for now. hello, this is breakfast, with louise minchin and dan walker. it is 6:30am on tuesday 6 march. we will have the latest news and sport injust a moment. but coming up later in the programme: it is our main story this morning — the search for answers after a former russian spy was found critically ill after being exposed to an unknown substance in the centre of salisbury yesterday. we will have the latest throughout the morning. the beast from the east and storm emma may have blown themselves out at last, but they have left a grim harvest of on britain's beaches.

we will be live in east yorkshire, where thousands of sea creatures have been washed ashore. and, in the ‘70s and ‘80s, millions of us tuned in to watch the likes of big daddy and giant haystacks do battle in very british wrestling matches. now, the spirit of that era is being rekindled in new british comedy walk like a panther. we will be talking to the film's star, davejohns. all that still to come. but now, a summary of this morning's main news: police are trying to identify a substance which caused a former russian agent who spied for britain to collapse in salisbury. sergei skripal, who is 66, and a woman in her 30s are both now critically ill in hospital. skripal was convicted of high treason in his native russia after passing state secrets to mi6, but was later given refuge in britain as part of a prisoner swap. ben emmerson qc joins us live from kiev now. he represented alexander litvinenko ‘s widow, marina, at the inquiry in to her husband's death. manufacturers of some of the country's most popular foods have been asked to cut portion sizes and number of calories in their products. public health england hopes the plans, which will focus on ready

meals, pre—packed sandwiches and savoury snacks, will help cut the number of obese children over the next six years. the agency is also launching a campaign encouraging adults to consume 400 calories at breakfast and 600 each at lunch and dinner. thousands of homes in the uk are still without water following last week's freezing weather, that caused pipes to burst. production at two of jaguar land rover plants had to be halted temporarily to allow water to be prioritised by emergency services and hospitals. a new unit is being set up to tackle gang activity and organised crime being carried out within prisons in england and wales. thejustice secretary, david gauke, is concerned that too many prisoners are able to smuggle drugs, mobile phones and weapons into their cells, fuelling violence amongst inmates.

under the changes set to be announced later today, inmates who get involved with crime behind bars could be moved to higher—securityjails. nearly 250 bbc staff have signed an open letter challenging the corporation to publish employees' individual salaries and benefits. injanuary the bbc director general, lord hall, announced a five—point plan to tackle pay inequality at the corporation. but signatories to the letter, including victoria derbyshire, mariella frostrup, dan snow and the reverend richard coles, claim bbc management should go further to ensure transparency and accountability. north korean state media is reporting that leader kim jong—un is calling for closer ties with south korea. it follows a rare visit to the north korean capital, pyongyang, by senior officials from the south. the us said it is cautiously optimistic about improving north—south contact, but ruled out formal talks with the north korean regime unless it is ready to give up its nuclear weapons. the packaging industry in england

has denied claims it is greatly exaggerating the amount of plastic it recycles. waste consultancy group eunomia says the industry's figures don't add up, and companies aren't paying enough towards the cost of collection and processing. returning to our main story. ben emmerson qc joins us live from kiev now. he represented alexander litvinenko's widow, marina, at the inquiry in to her husband's death. thank you so much forjoining us. 0bviously thank you so much forjoining us. obviously there is so much we don't know about this, but what is your reaction to what appears to have

happened? i would say three things first of all. firstly, our thoughts must be with sergei skripal‘s family and those who are close to them. i know from the litvinenkos‘ experienced that this time of waiting is the worse of them. the other thing is that the investigation must be carried out to establish the essence of what has taken place here. and the third is that there is always a distinction to be drawn between crimes committed by the russian former kgb and crimes committed by organised criminals associated with the kremlin. it is an increasingly difficult distinction to draw because the kremlin are involved in organised crime, but there is a distinction. and the message i would put out at this point is that if sergei skripal turns out to have been the target of

a russian assassination attempt, the prime minister and home secretary must prompt the announced a public enquiry to determine the extent of kremlin involvement —— compleat announced. —— promptly announce. they did not announce such an enquiry into mr litvinenko, believed to have been inflicted with an un— discoverable poison. and it was linked not just with discoverable poison. and it was linked notjust with fsb and the kremlin but with vladimir putin himself. one of the reasons mrs may gave at that time for this decision was that a public enquiry would be harmful to the uk's relationship with russia. mr litvinenko's widow, marina, had to go to the high court to get that decision overturned.

that unseemly spectacle should not be repeated here. the russian state policy of assassinating political opponents at home and abroad has been allowed to continue unchecked for too long. this is not the time for too long. this is not the time for prevarication. mrs may needs to act quickly and decisively, and show the russian state that if they send murder squads to britain we will be tenacious in our search for the truth, without fear. just quickly, you make very good points here, do you think it raises questions about the types of protection to people involved in spy swaps, as well? that is always an issue. to what extent are those who are cooperating with our own domestic and international intelligence services given adequate protection? there is no evidence so far that there is any failure on the

pa rt far that there is any failure on the part of the services and it is wrong to even speculate on that this early stage. thank you for talking to us. and john is talking about the man in yellow, bradley wiggins, who has come out fighting. he says he has only ever taken drugs for medical reasons, never to gain an advantage over people he has raced against. he goes on to say how difficult it has been for his family and that it has been for his family and that it has been a very troubling time as he tries to salvage his reputation. he denies he ever cheated and says the drugs he has taken were to treat allergies and asthma, which he struggles with, and he takes them as a cyclist to ensure he is competing ona a cyclist to ensure he is competing on a level playing field against those he is racing against. the suggestion yesterday was that boundaries are being pushed and it is unethical in this approach, in

using these drugs they are allowed to ta ke using these drugs they are allowed to take in applying for a therapeutic use exemption, essentially allowing you to take what would otherwise be a banned drug in competition. the suggestion is that that is what bradley wiggins has done to gain an advantage. the fallout continues to what is a messy situation. wiggins told our sports editor dan roan that "100%, he didn't cheat". not at any time during my career did we cross the ethical line. as i've said before, i had a medical condition, that i went to a doctor, this has been treated since back in 2003, when i was diagnosed with it, through the doctors at british cycling at that time. this was the treatment that i'd been prescribed for that particular occasion, which was, what, seven years ago now, under specialist supervision, as well. and in place of the rules at the time, which you're allowed to apply for use for this medication. and you can hear more of that on the

bbc news website. crystal palace gave manchester united a real scare last night. townsend's shot was well worthy of the lead for crystal palace. it would have been a really important win for them, but united scored three times. how about that for a winner, a stoppage time stunner from matic. he almost killed me with one action inside of our box, because he took an eternity to clear, so one—minute he was killing me, the next minute he was killing me, the next minute he pushed me to satisfaction. you might have seen his opposite number, pep guardiola, wearing a yellow ribbon on the sidelines. there it is. he does so in support of politicians in his native catalonia in their fight for independence. he has accepted an fa charge. rules don't allow players and managers to display political symbols. he says he will continue to wear it

before and after matches, which he can't be punished for. city are in action tomorrow as the champions league returns. liverpool in action tonight, 5—0 up against porto heading into their second leg at anfield. no wonder managerjurgen klopp is looking so relaxed. following on from frances mcdormand's acceptance speech at the oscars, in which she got every woman nominated for an award to stand up, serena williams has added to calls for greater equality. back on court, at the tie—break tens competition in new york as one of the world's leading sportswomen, she added her voice for greater change. you know, the comfortable with having uncomfortable conversations. like, we deserved to be paid what a quy like, we deserved to be paid what a guy does, you know. we deserve to be treated fairly, the same way. conversations that really, in 2018, we shouldn't have to have. and i think it is important to have them an important to speak out loud and clear and say no, this isn't right. now, england rugby union coach eddiejones always comes across as a tough cookie,

and it seems he hasn't been fazed by the rather unpleasant send—off he received after england's six nations defeat against scotland last month. jones was physically and verbally abused during and after a journey on public transport out of edinburgh. ijust got on i just got on with ijust got on with it. there was an incident that happened, it was done and dusted. i've had once before, it's not uncommon as a coach to get abuse. you know, you either get abused or you get advice or you get slaps on the back. so, you know, you are always expecting one of the three. and, just before i go, we have all been feeling the freeze recently, but there are some brave souls prepared to take to the water in st petersburg at the weekend. participants from 13 different countries, including the usa, switzerland, uk, and finland, braved the icy waters of the neva river. the water temperature was just above freezing, with surrounding ice 40cm thick, while the temperature outside was minus 16 degrees. they may be brave, but i think a warm blanket will do me.

i once jumped ioncejumped in i oncejumped in a i once jumped in a frozen i oncejumped in a frozen lake in iceland, the country, not the shop, and it is a massive adrenaline rush. and your skin starts to burn a little bit. you must have braved some cold temperatures.” little bit. you must have braved some cold temperatures. i have, but ido some cold temperatures. i have, but i do normally wear a wetsuit. which is essentially cheating! plenty more of that bradley wiggins interview later as well. in syria, the first aid convoy in three weeks has delivered supplies to the rebel—held territory eastern ghouta, but it was forced to cut its mission short after dozens of people were killed by shelling from pro—government forces. 46 lorries carried aid into the territory, enough to feed 27,000 people. around 400,000 people are believed to be trapped by the fighting in eastern ghouta, where bombing and artillery fire continued

yesterday, despite the un's repeated calls for a ceasefire. pawel krzysiek from the international committee of the red cross joins us from damascus. thank you very much indeed for joining us. i think you were on that convoy, so give us an joining us. i think you were on that convoy, so give us an idea of what you saw when you got there.|j convoy, so give us an idea of what you saw when you got there. i saw desperation. i saw the sadness and the anger, and i saw the people who arejust the anger, and i saw the people who are just exhausted. they are tired cause of the continuous shelling, fighting around them. they are tired because they had to spend their days in the basements, because they have difficulties with feeding their children, because the people are dying around them. and the only message, actually, that they have is that they want this to stop. they ask for the solution that will make

the shells stop. how many suppliers did you manage to get in there, and what type of thing where you taking in? so we managed to get the medicines, the kids to treat the wounded patients —— kits. because thatis wounded patients —— kits. because that is definitely priority number one for the overstretched medical services. materials to treat burns, for instance, the trauma kits. we also brought the food supplies, basic food supplies, because that is the most kind of urgent supply that you are usually bringing in the places that are under siege for so long. and of course, this is definitely not enough, so what we have to do is basically to push for more have to do is basically to push for m o re co nvoys , have to do is basically to push for more convoys, for more aid deliveries, but of course we have two see it as a temporary solution,

because a sustainable solution is really to make it stop. thank you very much indeed for describing the circumstances, as well. the weather. good morning. we have it all. rain and sleet and snow and bright spells and patchy and misty fog as well. the forecast is rain and sleet and snow will go north. the snow will be a low feature, especially late in the day. the south, sunshine and showers. low pressure is dominating the weather for much of this week. a weather front going north producing brain, sleet, and snow. —— rain. this is the picture. this is what has been happening. snow in northern england and scotland. you could see some of

the heavier bursts at lower levels. the central lowlands, or example, sleet and snow through the morning. that'll move out of northern england and across scotland. later, significant snowfall in the hills, up significant snowfall in the hills, up to 15 centimetres, which is getting on six inches. wind is blowing here. it will feel bitter. the rest of the uk, patchy mist and fog. some bright skies. at times, more cloud. a few showers in northern ireland, with drizzle as well. showers in the south—west in wales and the channel islands. the heaviest through the afternoon will likely be in devon and cornwall. you could see the odd flash of lightning. temperature—wise, in good shape in the south. it will feel pleasa nt shape in the south. it will feel pleasant for this stage in march. it will feel cold further north. this

evening and overnight, low pressure continues to go north. the distribution of snow changes. we will see it in the northern isles and into the west of scotland. for the rest of the uk, showers. cloud around. breaks in the cloud. cold enough for some frost, and once again, highs on untreated surfaces. —— ice. watch out for patchy fog in east anglia and the south—east in particular. it could be disruptive. we will keep a look at that. showery outbreaks of rain in the south—east. meanwhile, the pressure edging towards scandinavia. a front draped across scotland. rain. here and there in some of the showers, a little bit of wintriness. showers, but we will not all see them. you will notice five degrees in

aberdeen. a change in the weather in central scotland compared to what we are used to and further south, down are used to and further south, down a touch. thursday, a weather front is draped across the english channel producing rain the southern counties of england and the channel islands. it could be heavy at times. dry weather around. a few showers in the north. in the cold air mass of them will still be wintry. still wintry? —— most of them. ? thousands of homes across the uk are still without water because of burst pipes caused by last week's freezing temperatures. steph has the latest. this seems extraordinary, to be talking about this. many companies are saying it is unprecedented. this

is all because of burst water pipes due to freezing weather. it has affected every area, the south of england, wales, the midlands, scotland, yorkshire, they have all had problems with their water supply. dozens of homes have been affected and they have been told to use bottled water. this is one family's experience of that.|j use bottled water. this is one family's experience of that. i have five children literally without water since the six o'clock yesterday morning. it is terrible. washing the bottles is a bit difficult. a lot of stuff covered in baby poo that i cannot wash at the moment. they said it was fixed this morning. nothing is fixed. the water companies are saying they are doing all they can. thames water says it is washing up enough water every day

to fill an olympic pool. but it is not enough. interestingly, some companies are closing down production facilities to help the situation. severn trent in the midlands asked land rover if they could cut back to prioritise emergency services. they have done that. 11,000 people work there. they have sent people home and said if you are not on shift, stay home until further lotus. cadbury had to reduce production as well to make sure emergency services that need water have it. it is difficult to make chocolate without water. teams of engineers have been drafted in to help. this is what thames had to say. we expect a rise in leaks and

bursts. it has been a huge increase, 500 million litres of extra water being pumped into the system just to keep up with extra demand. it is unprecedented. what about compensation? without water, it impacts people. there is monetary compensation. £20 for the first 48 hours of not having water. after that, £10 for each 24—hour period. but now, we have been told that does not happen in extreme weather. but, of course, because it is so unprecedented, they have said companies will be given compensation even though it is because of extreme weather. i know you will follow that up. yeah, we will. plenty to come on that. when we were covering the oscars yesterday, amongst all the talk of gary 0ldman and the shape of water we brought you the story of maisie sly from swindon. she's six—years—old, profoundly deaf, and the star of the silent child, which picked up the oscar

for best live action short. maisie's character is forced to endure a silent life, before a social worker teachers her how to communicate through sign language. now, exclusive analysis by the national deaf children's society has found that deaf children in england are falling behind in school at every level. this is despite the fact deafness is not a learning disability. we're joined by sign language interpreter russell andrews to sign jayne mccubbin's film for us. maisie sly‘s family waited, hoped, then heard. the silent child. a six—year—old from england has helped shine a light on the barriers some deaf children face. incredible. this is...i deaf children face. incredible. this is... i don't know what to say. and

1 million miles from hollywood, congratulations! well done, maisie this is her school in swindon. the family had to move 160 miles to find a place like this, a mainstream school were deaf children are taught alongside hearing the bulls. they are not different in any other way except they cannot hear to be as long as you make those challenges possible, there is no reason they should not succeed. this is the reality of the attainment gap. in early years, reality of the attainment gap. in early yea rs, 34% reality of the attainment gap. in early years, 34% of deaf children make a good level of development compared to 76% of hearing children. at key stage 2, almost 40% compared to 70% of other children. and just over 70% do not achieve a good gcse in english and maths compared to

nearly 50% of hearing children. these figures take in notjust the profoundly deaf like maisie sly, but also those moderately deaf, like thomas. it is difficult. we can hear plenty of sounds, but not all of them. until two plenty of sounds, but not all of them. untiltwo years plenty of sounds, but not all of them. until two years ago, thomas had them. until two years ago, thomas ha d a ccess them. until two years ago, thomas had access to a teacher of the deaf. they were getting support. we were getting support. but it was cut? com pletely getting support. but it was cut? completely gone. their council told them they follow guidelines when it comes to the provision of services. but for this film, there are just not enough across the country. those problems to still be happening in england? it is crazy to me. in scotland, they have recognised sign language in the curriculum. they

have sublet it is better to be deaf in scotland than in england right now. “ in scotland than in england right now. -- have. a debate took place over here, a petition in westminster for england to follow the lead of scotland. this moment is already having an impact. the government says standards are improving, with more reaching the expected grade, but for many, the gap is still too big. jane mccubbin, bbc news. thank you very much. it is lovely to have you here. thank you. we will discuss that later on in the programme. if you want to make a comment on that, you can, find us on oure—mail comment on that, you can, find us on our e—mail all the usual social media sites. and now it is time to get the news, travel, and weather, wherever you are watching us. good morning from bbc london news. i'm alpa patel. thousands of londoners are still without running water this morning after the recent cold weather caused pipes to burst. thames water says its currently

working on restoring the supply, but says it's taking longer than expected. homes, hospitals, and schools in north and south london have been affected. ministers have been urged to launch a public inquiry into the situation. six months after controversially being introduced into several london boroughs, nearly 75% of council tenants who claim "universal credit" are now behind with their rent. it was supposed to simplify the benefits system, but critics say the credit has delayed payments, which pushes some of london's poorest people into debt. so, that's 12 weeks without money, 12 weeks without paying my rent every week, 12 weeks without paying my tv licence, ‘cause all i could borrow money for was food and gas. i could not say to my friends and that, "pay for my bank loan, pay for my tv licence." so itjust mounted and mounted. the government says it's taken seven days off the wait time and offered an extra fortnight of housing benefit to help ease the situation

pushing ahead with universal credit, it says, will help people get back into work. a designer from london's design museum has come up with a revolutionary way to dispose of, and recycle, chewing gum after she found there was no recycling programme for the waste. anna bullus created special bins and other products from the recycled gum and they are now being rolled out at location across the capital including heathrow airport and the british library. let's have a look at the travel situation now. 0n the tube, minor delays on the london 0verground between surrey quays and new cross due to a shortage of trains caused by recent weather conditions. 0n the trains, there are delays on south—western services in and out of waterloo. services are blocked at surbiton. 0n the roads, the marylebone road is down to one lane eastbound near regent's park tube station because of repairs to a burst water main. in harrow, station road and pinner road are closed because of a fire. chitchilly road in cricklewood is closed near to anson road because of a burst water main. let's have a check on the weather now. good morning.

it's not an especially cold start this morning. temperatures, all above zero. you might have some low cloud at first, but breaking up with sunny spells developing. it will feel pleasant and mild. these sunny spells, temperatures rising a little. some patchy cloud. the risk of maybe one or two showers for essex and kent. temperatures in london getting up to 12. 0vernight, clear spells at first. then cloud from the south. then, with it, rain arising from the south in parts of south london through dawn. the minimum temperatures, between zero and four. so, a misty and murky night as well. that will take its time to lift tomorrow morning. unsettled for the next few days. but if you look at these temperatures, gradually, very slowly, towards the weekend, starting to rise. starting to feel more like spring on saturday and sunday with temperatures getting up to 13 or 14 celsius. have a lovely day if you are heading

out. i am have a lovely day if you are heading out. iam back have a lovely day if you are heading out. i am back in 20 minutes. there is more on our website. hello, this is breakfast, with louise minchin and dan walker. a former russian double agent is in critical condition after he was exposed to an unknown substance in salisbury. 66—year—old sergei skripal and a woman in her 30s were found unconscious on a bench on sunday. last night, police closed a restaurant in the city as a precaution. good morning, it is tuesday 6 march. also this morning: counting the calories. health officials in england call for portion sizes to be cut, as they say the public need to go on a diet. six—year—old maisie was one of the stars of the oscars,

but we will find out why deaf children like her could be falling behind at school. thousands of homes across the uk are still without water because of burst pipes caused by last week's freezing temperatures. i will have the latest. and in sport: sir bradley wiggins says he 100% did not cheat, following claims by mps he crossed an ethical line by using drugs to improve performance. the widespread effect on the family is just... the widespread effect on the family isjust... it is horrific, and i am going to have two... i don't know how i am going to pick pieces up. and carol has the weather. a band of rain, sleet and snow moving northwards. eventually that will be confined to the hills in the north but it will be significant. the rest of the uk, a day of bright

spells, sunshine and showers. some of the showers could be heavy. i will have more in minutes. —— in 15 minutes. police are trying to identify a substance which caused a former russian agent who spied for britain to collapse in salisbury. sergei skripal, who is 66, and a woman in her 30s are both now critically ill in hospital. skripal was convicted of high treason in his native russia after passing state secrets to mi6, but was later given refuge in britain as part of a prisoner swap. in a moment, we will talk to our reporter leila nathoo, in salisbury. but first, our moscow correspondent steve rosenberg joins us. steve, what do we know about mr skripal‘s links to russia? well, we know that sergei skripal worked for russian military intelligence. he was arrested in 2004 by russian security agents here, and in 2006 he was convicted

of high treason in the form of espionage, found guilty of passing state secrets to mi6, as you say, and was sentenced to 13 years in prison. but in 2010 he was released as part of a big spy swap. ten russian sleeper agents uncovered in america were sent back home, four people were released from jail in russia, and he moved to britain. thank you very much for that, steve. leila nathoo is live in salisbury for us this morning. just give us a description of where you are, where he was found and what more we know. well, this shopping centre behind me is the site where sergei skripal and the 33—year—old woman that he was with were found. you might be able to see in the distance a police tent has been erected over a bench where the two

we re erected over a bench where the two were found unconscious on sunday evening. now, police so far have not confirmed the identity of the two, but we believe the man to be sergei skripal. police have still not given update about the nature of the substance the two were exposed to. they say they are keeping an open mind about the incident. they say they are working to establish whether or not a crime was even committed here. they say it... last night they gave an update, they haven't given an update this morning but they said counterterrorism is not involved, the counter—terror unit here was not involved. but they do say it that the two were known to each other, and they are working to find out exactly what caused the two to become unconscious. now, clearly this will be a wide ranging enquiry. police last night here were searching bins, police in protective suits, in respiratory masks, were

searching bins. a high—street italian restaurant was closed nearby as police try to piece together the events which led up to those two being found unconscious here. thank you very much, and you are giving an indication of so many questions to be answered. public health england have challenged the food industry to cut calories in products like ready meals, sandwiches, pizza and snacks. it is hoped the plans, targeting some of the most popular family foods, could lead to a drop in the number of obese children. 0ur health correspondent adina campbell explains. they are some of our biggest—selling products, but not necessarily the healthiest. processed meals and food on the go are, for many of us, shopping basket staples. but, as part of the government's plans to curb childhood obesity, health officials are now calling on food retailers and manufacturers to reduce calories by 20% by 2024. public health england says this can be achieved in three ways. changing the recipes in meals, using better—quality products. smaller portion sizes, which would help control how

much we eat. 0r steering us to buy lower—calories products in some of our favourite foods. we've announced a 20% calorie reduction programme. so that's taking calories out of ready meals, out of pizzas, out of savoury prepacked sandwiches, out of savoury snacks, and gradually, over a time, improving the recipes so we all eat healthier. these posters are one way health officials are hoping to make us more aware of what we eat, by having a benchmark of 400 calories at breakfast, and another 600 for lunch and dinner. 10 starjumps! it is estimated some children are consuming 500 calories more than needed every day. and, with around a third leaving primary school overweight or obese, health experts say britain needs to go on a diet. adina campbell, bbc news. in syria, the first aid convoy for three weeks has delivered

supplies to the rebel—held territory eastern ghouta, but aid workers were forced to cut the mission short after dozens of people were killed by shelling from pro—government forces. nearly 400,000 people are thought to be trapped in the enclave, which has been the focus of heavy fighting in recent months. water companies have been working through the night to restore supplies to thousands of homes across south—east england affected by burst pipes after last week's cold weather. production at two of jaguar land rover‘s plants had to be halted temporarily to allow water to be prioritised by emergency services and hospitals. tom burridge reports. after the big freeze, the thaw, and cracked, leaking water pipes in several parts of the country. so this the only supply for thousands of people for several days.

thames water is handing out bottles of water to its customers in parts of london which are cut off. large numbers of homes in scotland, wales and southern england are affected. i've got five kids, and literally without water since 6:00am yesterday morning. it's terrible. washing the bottles is just a bit difficult. there's a lot of stuff covered in baby poo that i can't wash at the moment. 7:30 in the morning they sent me a message, the water's fixed. schools have closed. some say the water company should have planned more. at the very least, one would have thought there would be some kind of public inquiry. people will be interested to know whether they will get compensation for what has happened. several water companies have apologised. they say they were working overnight to get people connected again. a new unit is being set up to tackle gang activity and organised crime being carried out within prisons in england and wales. thejustice secretary, david gauke, is concerned that too many prisoners

are able to smuggle drugs, mobile phones and weapons into their cells, fuelling violence amongst inmates. under the changes set to be announced later today, inmates who get involved with crime behind bars could be moved to higher—securityjails. north korean state media is reporting that leader kim jong—un is calling for closer ties with south korea. it follows a rare visit to the north korean capital, pyongyang, by senior officials from the south. the us said it is cautiously optimistic about improving north—south contact, but ruled out formal talks with the north korean regime unless it is ready to give up its nuclear weapons. the packaging industry in england has denied claims it is greatly exaggerating the amount of plastic it recycles. waste consultancy group eunomia says the industry's figures don't add up, and companies aren't paying enough towards the cost of collection and processing. 0ur environment analyst roger harrabin explains. 0ur former colleague and good friend

bill turnbull has announced that he has been diagnosed with prostate and bone cancer. he tweeted the news late last night, and has undergone chemotherapy. he says he is in good spirits, and hopes to be around for some time yet. he was with us at breakfast for 15 years, before leaving the sofa in 2016. bill was diagnosed at the end of last year, during the recording of the great celebrity bake 0ff for stand up to cancer on channel 4. i was getting pains in my legs, my hips particularly. and they would come and go, and i thought this is old age. eventually the pains got so bad i thought, well, i'd better go and see my gp.

he said, well, i'mjust going to give you a blood test, just a sort of mot, if you like, just to check a few things out. the next morning he called me and asked me to come in pretty quickly, and the doctor said it's pretty clear from this that you have advanced prostate cancer. and as eales said, it is a —— as eales said, it is a reminder to us all to get regularly checked. —— as bill said. and even though he left the programme two years ago, we are still in a lottery syndicate together, and i phoned him because we had one £2.70. —— won.

and you can see more of that interview with bill on the celebrity bake 0ff for stand up to cancer, tonight on channel 4. how did a former russian spy end up slumped on a bench in the centre of salisbury on sunday afternoon, and is this another example of a former russian agent being poisoned on british soil? these are the questions facing investigators, as sergei skripal and a woman in her 30s remain critically ill in hospital. police are still trying to identify the substance which caused him to collapse. journalist 0liver bullough reported on the inquiry into the death of the former kgb agent alexander litvinenko, who was fatally poisoned in london in 2006. hejoins us from our london newsroom. thank you so much for coming on the programme this morning and talking to us about this. can we start with this case, sergei skripal. what more do we know about this man? well, he is always described as a russian spyr is always described as a russian

spy, which is a little bit ironic, because really he was a british spy. he was working for the british security services while he was employed by russian military intelligence. that makes him slightly different to alexander litvinenko, the man you mentioned earlier, because alexander litvinenko worked for a different branch of the russian security services, and actually never worked forforeign intelligence services, and actually never worked for foreign intelligence while services, and actually never worked forforeign intelligence while he was in russia. he was essentially persecuted in russia for being a whistleblower. he only worked for foreign intelligence after he left and defected to the west. there are some similarities in that they were both former russian security service employees, but be on that, they are different. and sergei skripal was involved in this spy swap in 2010. when that happens, what sort of protection are those spies given in both directions? well, essentially you get a new identity, you get a place to live. 0bviously your family, or his wife was taken out of russia to come with him. he would have received a pension, and i

understand he was a regular lecturer to new entrants to mi6, in order to tell them about russian intelligence. so he was essentially pa rt intelligence. so he was essentially part of the british security services family. and that presumably is what he was doing in this intervening eight years. unlike alexander litvinenko, again, he didn't publicise his existence. alexander litvinenko was an inveterate self publicise, whereas sergei skripal state under the radar. you attended the alexander litvinenko enquiry every day it was taking place. how did russia react to that, and how do you think they will react to the new case? one of the astonishing things about the enquiry was the sheer contempt russian enquiries showed it to the investigation into the murder of alexander litvinenko from the very beginning. it is worth recapping, alexander litvinenko was murdered in 2006 in the centre of london, and

the poison used to kill him, polonium 210, is possibly the most deadly poison known to man. the ground that would kill everyone in britain and there would be enough left over to kill most people in france. it is absolutely lethal. he was the first victim ever of deliberate alpha radiation poisoning, and the two meant he killed him were amateurs, they splashed around like aftershave, contaminating large amounts of hotels and contaminating large amounts of hotels a nd restau ra nts contaminating large amounts of hotels and restaurants in central london, and yet the russians refused to extradite the suspect and during the enquiry refused to make them available to answer questions. not only did they do that, but during the hearings, one of the suspects was given a medal for services to the fatherland. the russians were not interested at all in helping the met investigate the murder of litvinenko, and i imagine if this turns out to be a similar case and it would be naive to expect any help from moscow at all. he was officially pardoned by

vladimir putin. does that mean he was a threat for russia? how was he viewed? judging from the revelations of litvinenko, we need to look at what he has been doing in the last two years, months, for why this happened, if indeed it was a poisoning. —— few years. the connection to litvinenko, there was a lot of speculation at his death that it was caused by his relationship with russia. but it was probably because of the spanish services and mafia services and bridges services and activities in this country. —— british services. it is more likely they will look at what he has been doing in the past few years, maybe things he revealed about his work in russia that might be uncomfortable to currently exist

in russia's state programme, rather than in russia's state programme, rather tha n staff in russia's state programme, rather than staff in the past which russia is happy to forget about. -- stuff. thank you so much for that. it is the front page on many papers. we will continue to talk about it on brea kfast. will continue to talk about it on breakfast. something else we are talking about is trampolines. the last few years have seen a boom in the popularity of trampoline parks across the uk, from just three in 2014 to more than 200 now. but their popularity is being linked to a rise in hospital admissions. a freedom of information request by the bbc found ambulance crews were called out to more than 1,200 incidents at trampoline parks in england last year. anna crossley reports. good girl. she was really distraught, she was hysterical, which is not like her. she's normally quite resilient. what should have been a fun day out ended with a trip to a&e.

one of the staff ran over and said "don't worry, don't worry, she's just landed awkwardly." but i knew, definitely, as i think a mum does, there was something wrong. her worst fears were confirmed. her 3—year—old daughter, cameron, had broken her leg. she was taken to a leeds child infirmary where staff well versed in dealing with trampoline injuries. they said they were keeping them in business. they were not surprised and said it was quite a regular thing, having children coming in with broken bones. in the last few years, trampoline parks have surged in popularity. there are now around 200 in the uk. so it's hardly surprising there's been an increase in the number of accidents. but it is the severity of these injuries which is concerning this children's hospital, so much so it has launched an internal audit. if you are injured from

a trampoline, you are more likely to have a serious injury if it is from a trampoline park. broken limbs and hitting heads as well, people bouncing into each other. and it is not only medical professionals who are concerned about these injuries. even trampoline park owners are saying it is time that tighter controls were introduced. i am worried about the injuries at trampoline parks. am i worried about injuries at gravity, no. we have a 0.01% injury rate. but so many of these should not be able to operate. in fact, there is so much concern within the industry itself, some owners like michael have been working with the british standards institution to draw up a new set of safety and although there will be no legal requirement to comply, it is hoped the majority will sign up.

it will cover construction of the park, the nuts and bolts and how high off the floor it should be, and the operation of the policies that should be in place, and the type of training that needs to be identified in order to operate a safe park. there is no doubt trampolining is good fun and good exercise, the challenge now is ensuring that safety standards can keep up with the speed at which the industry is growing. anna crossley, bbc news. iimagine many i imagine many of you have gone to these parks. donna brailsford is a major trauma nurse at sheffield children's hospital, she joins us from our sheffield newsroom. you have looked at how many people get injured. tell us about dealing with this one a day today basis. does this happen often? it is not uncommon at all for us to see injuries, broken bones, as was mentioned earlier in the report, lacerations to heads that have clashed together. more often than not, it is fractured bones and

sprains and ligament damage and dislocation, really. but we have noticed a trend in the injuries being more significant from indoor parks in comparison to garden trampolines. wanted to ask about that. have you any indication why that. have you any indication why that might be the case, more often they are injured in trampling parks? —— trampoline. they mentioned it, there is a greater gravity, the larger trampolines rather than the indoor ones. you have a greater force. it is through general awkward landing. we noticed many more were happening without collision in comparison to those that were just jumping on together. i think purely because of the actual force of it, thatis because of the actual force of it, that is what causes the more significant injuries in comparison to the garden trampolines. what would you like to see change, what

would you like to see change, what would make a difference?” would you like to see change, what would make a difference? i think! mean, going to these trampoline parks, they are absolutely fine. it is great exercise. i would not discourage children from doing it. it is the general safety awareness that we need to instil better, the registration and policies, so they have policies to abide by. they can still have fun, but it can still be appropriately supervised. you are talking about the appropriate supervision, presumably from people working at these trampoline parks and parents as well? absolutely, yes. you have got, you know, the people that work there should actually be trained up so they are aware of it. general first aid as well so they can help those children out if they do sustain an injury. but also, parents should have a duty

themselves for their own children to make sure they are properly supervising them as much as anyone else. good to talk to you. thank you so much forjoining us. we should mention as well that we have another guest later. a spokesperson from the international association of trampoline parks said owners are working with the british standards institution to draw up a new set of safety guidelines for trampoline parks. my my daughter had her ankle fixed in that hospital because of a trampoline injury at a trampoline park. another big lad landed on her ankle. a 14—year—old landing on an eight—year—old. but she's 0k. it was a long time ago. the weather. a beautiful picture. good morning. this morning we have a lot of different weather on offer.

something for everyone. rain and sleet and snow in sunshine and bright spells, even patchy mist as well. the rain and hail and snow will continue to go north across the north of the country, eventually becoming confined to the hills, with sunshine and showers further south. some of the showers later in the day, especially in devon and cornwall, will turn heavy and thundery. low pressure is very much driving weather and will continue to do so for the next few days. the front is moving north and taking a combination of rain and sleet and snow with it. this is what has been happening in the last few hours. snow in the hills of northern england and scotland. do not be surprised if, even at lower levels, the central lowlands, for example, this morning, snow and sleet falling, because it will be heavy enough for that to happen. we do not expect it to be problematic. heavy snow will push across the hills, for example, as we go through the day. 15 centimetres, getting near six

inches. there will be an easterly wind. it will feel cold. forthe rest of the uk, looking at a dry day. bright spells. sunny spells. a few showers at the moment. rain on and off across northern ireland. showers in the south, especially the south—west, through the afternoon. temperature—wise, lighter winds, further south, 10—12. feeling nice for this stage in march. don't forget, fuelling cold in the rain and sleet and snow in scotland. —— feeling. 0vernight, low pressure pushing north across the north sea, changing the distribution of where we see the snow overnight. it will be across the northern isles and northern and western scotland. away from that, cloud at times. showers and frost and the risk of ice. and if that was not enough, patchy and

dense fog forming in east anglia and the south—east. that could prove to be problematic if you are heading out early on the morning. the south, tomorrow, showers coming in. dry weather. the weather system pushing north. the weather front attached to it takes that rain and wintriness that bit further north—west. for much of the uk, dry skies and sunshine. showers, especially in the west. some could be heavy with some thunder and lightning once again. by the time you get to thursday, a weather front straight across the english channel producing rain on either side of it. the channel islands are also seeing rain, but a lot of dry weather and a fair bit of sunshine, but still some of those pesky wintry showers. back to you. thank you very much. a bit late with carol today. we were, but thank goodness we had her.” carol today. we were, but thank goodness we had her. i know some people can be thrown off while they

are having their breakfast. time for the news, travel, and weather. good morning from bbc london news. i'm alpa patel. thousands of londoners are still without running water this morning after the recent cold weather caused pipes to burst. thames water says its currently working on restoring the supply, but says it's taking longer than expected. homes, hospitals, and schools in north and south london have been affected. ministers have been urged to launch a public inquiry into the situation. six months after controversially being introduced into several london boroughs, nearly 75% of council tenants who claim "universal credit" are now behind with their rent. it was supposed to simplify the benefits system, but critics say the credit has delayed payments, which pushes some of london's poorest people into debt. so, that's 12 weeks without money, 12 weeks without paying my rent every week, 12 weeks without paying my television licence, ‘cause all i could borrow money for was food and gas. i could not say to my friends

and that, "pay for my bank loan, pay for my tv licence." so itjust mounted and mounted. the government says it's taken seven days off the wait time and offered an extra fortnight of housing benefit to help ease the situation for new claimants. pushing ahead with universal credit, it says, will help people get back into work. a designer from london's design museum has come up with a revolutionary way to dispose of, and recycle, chewing gum after she found there was no recycling programme for the waste. anna bullus created special bins and other products from the recycled gum and they are now being rolled out at location across the capital including heathrow airport and the british library. let's have a look at the travel situation now. 0n the tube, minor delays on the london 0verground between surrey quays and new cross due to a shortage of trains caused by recent weather conditions. 0n the trains, there are delays on south—western services in and out of waterloo. services are blocked at surbiton. 0n the roads, the marylebone road

is down to one lane eastbound near regent's park tube station because of repairs to a burst water main. in harrow, station road and pinner road are closed because of a fire. chitchilly road in cricklewood is closed near to anson road because of a burst water main. let's have a check on the weather now. good morning. it's not an especially cold start this morning. temperatures, all above zero. you may have a bit of low cloud around at first, but breaking up with sunny spells developing. it will feel quite pleasant and mild. we get these sunny spells, temperatures rising a little. some patchy cloud. the risk of maybe one or two showers for essex and kent. temperatures in london getting up to 12 degrees celcius. 0vernight, clear spells at first. but then cloud starts to increase from the south. then, with it, rain arising from the south in parts of south london through dawn. the minimum temperatures, between zero and four. a misty and murky night as well.

that will take its time to lift tomorrow morning. staying rather unsettled for the next few days. but if you look at these temperatures, gradually, very slowly, as we head through towards the weekend, they are starting to rise. starting to feel more like spring on saturday and sunday with temperatures getting up to 13 or 14 celsius. i am back in 20 minutes. there is more on our website. hello, this is breakfast with louise minchin and dan walker. here is a summary of this morning's main stories from bbc news: police are trying to identify a substance which caused a former russian agent who spied for britain to collapse in salisbury. sergei skripal, who is 66, and a woman in her 30s are both now critically ill in hospital. he was convicted of high treason in his native russia after passing state secrets to mi6, but was later given refuge in britain as part of a prisoner swap. ben emmerson qc represented alexander litvinenko's widow at the inquiry into her husband's

death in london at the hands of russian agents in 2006. he says serious questions may need to be asked about this latest incident. if sergei skripal turns out to have been the target of a russian assassination attempt, the prime minister and the home secretary must promptly announce a public enquiry to determine the extent of kremlin involvement. manufacturers of some of the country's most popular foods have been asked to cut portion sizes and number of calories in their products. public health england hopes the plans, which will focus on ready meals, pre—packed sandwiches and savoury snacks, will help cut the number of obese children over the next six years. the agency is also launching a campaign encouraging adults

out of ready of out of ready 7, 11: 1:7 7" 7 77 ”w7 7 of snacks, eady 7,112." ”7 77 ”w7 7 of snacks, eady gradually 4:15? ”7 77 ”w7 7 of snacks, eady gradually -;* ”7 77 ”w7 7 (improving eady gradually -;* ”7 77 ”w7 7 (improving sac recipes lly -;* ”7 77 ”w7 7 (improving sac recipes so -;’ ”7 77 ”w7 7 healthier. in syria, the first aid convoy for three weeks has delivered supplies to the rebel—held territory eastern ghouta, but aid workers were forced to cut the mission short after dozens of people were killed by shelling from pro—government forces. nearly 400,000 people are thought to be trapped in the enclave, which has been the focus of heavy fighting in recent months. a new unit is being set up to tackle gang activity and organised crime being carried out within prisons in england and wales. thejustice secretary, david gauke, is concerned that too many prisoners are able to smuggle drugs, mobile phones and weapons into their cells fuelling violence amongst inmates. under the changes set to be announced later today, inmates who get involved with crime behind bars could be moved

to higher—securityjails. north korean state media is reporting that leader kim jong—un is calling for closer ties with south korea. it follows a rare visit to the north korean capital, pyongyang, by senior officials from the south. the us said it is cautiously optimistic about improving north—south contact, but ruled out formal talks with the north korean regime unless it is ready to give up its nuclear weapons. the packaging industry in england has denied claims that it is greatly exaggerating the amount of plastic it recycles. it follows the release of a report today by waste consultancy group eunomia, who say the industry's figures don't add up and companies aren't paying enough towards the £2.8 billion annual cost of collecting and processing plastic. now, how far have you gone for your boss?

a man who ran his first half—marathon at the weekend, and won the race, has been disqualified after he ran under his boss's name. 24—year—old jack gray took the place of 49—year—old andrew rawlings, who was injured. jack said he did tell the organisers, but he was still disqualified when they found out what had happened. he i would imagine, i iwould imagine, i haven't i would imagine, i haven't seen a picture of his boss, but i imagine it is quite obvious he is not a 45—year—old fell. it is quite obvious he is not a 45-year-old fell. you can't get away with that skulduggery. imagine if that happened in your triathlon. somebody ran instead of me? it might go faster! you know me, though, i just like racing. and john is

looking at all the day's sport, and this time yesterday you were saying iam sure this time yesterday you were saying i am sure we are going to hearfrom sir bradley wiggins, and he spoke exclusively with the bbc. and a very staunch defence of his reputation and what he has achieved in the sport. he said he is 100% not a cheat, he has only ever ridden clea n, cheat, he has only ever ridden clean, and he says the drugs he has taken were only for genuine medical conditions, asthma and allergy is, not to improve performance. so really staunch defence of his reputation, and interesting to hear that it has notjust affected him, but his family, deeply. the widespread effect on the family is just... it's horrific, and i'm going to have to... i don't know how i'm going to pick pieces up. it isjust... i

it is just... i wouldn't wish it upon anyone. i have worked and had the passion i have for the sport for 15, 20 years. jerseys, i have been writing a book all morning about the love of the sport. to do that to the sport, i mean, it isjustabsurd. these allegations, it is the worst thing to be accused of, i have said that before. what it is also the ha rd est that before. what it is also the hardest thing to prove you haven't done, because we are not dealing in the legal system. i would have had more rights if i had murdered someone, more rights if i had murdered someone, in this process. and he is adamant he has not crossed and ethical line in that report which came out from a group of mps yesterday. i think he feels a lot of what was written is based on innuendo and conjecture, and what was delivered to him in a package at the end of a race in 2011. he says

he never knew what was in there, and he never knew what was in there, and he claims he doesn't know if that package was even delivered, or if anyone received it. it is not like he was waiting for delivery. and i think he feels that there needs to be more facts and more evidence. there is a source quoted saying if he wants the facts, he is encouraged to come out and provide more detail. 0ther to come out and provide more detail. other people have been saying until there is hard evidence we should reservejudgement. and others immediately questioning his achievements. now, have we got a cople of great goals for you. relegation—threatened crystal palace giving manchester united a real scare. andros townsend's shot was worthy of the lead. it wasn't long after the break they were 2—0 up. but united scored three times, the last one this stoppage—time stunner from nemanja matic, which might have got him out of trouble with his manager. he almost killed me with one action inside of our box, because he took

an eternity to clear. so one minute he was killing me, the next minute he pushed me to satisfaction. you might have seen his opposite number, pep guardiola, wearing a yellow ribbon on the sidelines. there it is. he does so in support of politicians in his native catalonia in their fight for independence. he has accepted an fa charge. rules don't allow players and managers to display political symbols. he says he will continue to wear it before and after matches, which he can't be punished for. city are in action tomorrow as the champions league returns. liverpool in action tonight, 5—0 up against porto heading into their second leg at anfield. no wonder managerjurgen klopp is looking so relaxed. following on from frances

mcdormand's acceptance speech at the oscars, in which she got every woman nominated for an award to stand up, serena williams has added to calls for greater equality. back on court, at the tie—break tens competition in new york as one of the world's leading sportswomen, she added her voice for greater change. you know, be comfortable with having uncomfortable conversations. like, we deserve to be paid what a guy does, you know. we deserve to be treated fairly, the same way. conversations that really, in 2018, we shouldn't have to have. and i think it's important to have them, and important to speak out loud and clear and say, no, this isn't right. and, just before i go, we have all been feeling the freeze recently, but there are some brave souls prepared to take to the water in st petersburg at the weekend. participants from 13

different countries, including the usa, switzerland, uk, and finland, braved the icy waters of the neva river. the water temperature was just above freezing, with surrounding ice 40cm thick, while the temperature outside was minus 16 degrees. they may be brave, but i think a warm blanket will do me. i like the fact he was swimming with a hat on. i suppose if you are out of the water, that is all you are feeling, the cold. we are all used to the warnings that many of our waistlines are expanding, and far too many children are becoming obese. products like these ready meals, pre—packed sandwiches, pizzas and savoury snacks often take the blame. so now, public health england are calling on manufacturers to cut the number of calories in some of our favourite foods. is this the answer to the obesity epidemic, or do we all need to take more personal responsibility? we asked the people of manchester for their views on counting calories.

i wouldn't know where to start with calories. just numbers, aren't they? no idea. i have always calorie counted. you just check everything, and the fat content as well.” counted. you just check everything, and the fat content as well. i just try and eat healthy, choose right. if you weigh yourself regularly, and ido if you weigh yourself regularly, and i do every night, if you put two pounds on, you need to get it off straightaway. if you get ten pounds off, you will have a job.” straightaway. if you get ten pounds off, you will have ajob. i try straightaway. if you get ten pounds off, you will have a job. i try to know what i am eating, and to balance out the amount of calories. they can cause all kinds of problems, and you can pass those down to your kids, as well, if you have got kids. there is a lovely

aroma in the studio. i don't mean that about you. your perfume is obviously lovely, but i am talking about this beautiful arrangement of food. nice to see you. i can't count how many times we talk about this on brea kfast, how many times we talk about this on breakfast, about rising levels of obesity, especially children, and all the rest of it. they are now talking about bringing down calories in foods like this. yes, so what is really interesting, public health england are aiming to reduce the calorie content of savoury products by about 20%. what i think will be more important is focusing on the much higher calorie food. if you have a 300 calorie sandwich, that is not excessive. if you have a 700 calorie sandwich, yes, there might be benefits in pulling down the calories of that sandwich. it is an interesting reaction. the head of

the institute of economic affairs has said the nanny state zealots at public health england have lost the plot. the only way companies can realistically manage this is by shrinking their products. we have already seen this with chocolate bars and other sugary treats. now the great british rip—off is being extended. does he have a point?” think calories are not always king. we have these two sandwiches in front of us, the ham sandwich and a chicken sandwich. a ham sandwich actually comes in... shall i unveil? the ham sandwich comes in that fewer calories, however the chicken sandwich would need a better choice because as you can see it is on the wholemeal bread, so it has more fibre, it has more salad and we should all be eating more salad, and it has chicken instead of red meat, so it has chicken instead of red meat, so it will have less salt. it is about taking a step back and looking at the product and what we are eating. and will they be able to

reduce the calories in these products are not make them smaller? that was the accusation, wasn't it? yes, so companies have three different options, either reformulating with the recipes, making them smaller, or helping consumers to make the healthier choice. we talk about calories a lot, but calories can be really... not confusing, but if you just talk about calories it can be quite hard to get your head around things. because something like an avocado, which everyone tells you is a superfood, is ridiculously calorific, but good fat.” superfood, is ridiculously calorific, but good fat. i think for most of us we shouldn't be calorie counting, but we should be calorie aware. you know there are more calories in a mars bar than an apple, and that is a step in the right direction. so we need to be thinking about how people are eating. if we have tv, turn it off during a meal and really savour what you are eating, and not grazing throughout the day, and not skipping

meals either. it is about having a healthy relationship with food as well. one thing we do is, if you have a sandwich, a packet of crisps and the soft drink, you can really go through a lot of calories in just a simple lunch, can't you? you can really reach for around 1000 calories, which for a woman is half her daily calories, which for a woman is half herdaily intake, calories, which for a woman is half her daily intake, that is not including snacks and evening meal as well. what is an example of a good one?l bowl of cereal with some orange juice. lunch, a sandwich with them you get. evening meal, spaghetti bolognese. you have some snacks as well. snacking on things like fruit, cheese, yoghurt, that's recommended

as well. thank you for coming. it is nice to smell bangers and mash in the morning. do you want some? not at all. 746. it is not actually hot, do you know that? it's cold. magnificent. thank you very much.” do not want any of that right now. thank you for watching us. the main stories. a former russian spy is critically ill in hospital after being exposed to an unknown substance in salisbury. britain needs to go on a diet, according to public health officials who are calling on portion sizes and calorie counts to be cut. iam not i am not sure you are extolling the virtues of those bangers and mash. the smell of food with many people, it is like a bacon sandwich. many

vegetarians are watching, good morning to you as well. but itjust makes you go bananas. good morning. i will decline. all of this talk of diets, i have been holding my breath. a lot of weather. rain and sleet and snow and sunshine. the rain and sleet and snow is going north, clearing northern england and continuing across scotland. the south, a dry picture. we will see showers. further showers are developing, some are heavy in cornwall later. low pressure is in control. this weather front is dragging rain and sleet and snow north. today we will see significant snowfall in the hills of scotland. the grampians could have 15 centimetres of fresh snow. this is the most recent snow at radar. you can see where it is. a lot of it is

in the hills. the heavier bursts, you'll see it in the central lowlands. it is moving north and it will brighten up in northern england and southern scotland. the rest of england and wales, a fair bit of cloud. some bright breaks. some sunshine. also showers. later, heaviest in devon and cornwall, possibly the odd flash of lightning. light winds in the south making it feel pleasant for this stage of march. rain in the north with wind blowing that snow and it will feel cold. this evening and overnight, low pressure continuing to go north. the distribution of the snow changes. across shetland at lower levels, the northern isles generally, in the north—west. 0vernight, showers moving from the south—west to the south—east. a risk of patchy and dense fog in east anglia and the south—east. frost and

the risk of ice on untreated surfaces. tomorrow, starting with patchy and dense fog. showers in the south—eastern corner. rain, wintriness in the far north—west of scotland. for the rest of us, largely dry. fairly bright. sunshine. and showers here and there. we will not all see them. if you catch one in the south of england, it could be heavy with hail and thunder and lightning. thursday, and thunder and lightning. thursday, a weather front is draped across the english channel producing rain on either side of it. southern counties of england and the channel islands, likely to see that rain. look at the dry weather. scotland, compared to what you have had of late, quite different. having said that, still, there will be wintry showers. but not all of us will see them, that is the nature of showers. thank you. see you later. there have been many

lead stories in the past few weeks, but the vast majority have gone with this one this morning. a russian spy is critically ill after suspected poisoning from a double agent, found in salisbury. the sun. the front page. daily telegraph as well. a russian spy fights for life after poisoning. the daily mail. spy swap. a russian is poisoned in britain. another front—page. it is close to home for us. this is about bill turnbull, who worked here for 15 years, sitting here on this so far. he announced yesterday he has prostate cancer. he has known for a while but announced yesterday. and is undergoing treatment. i spoke to him yesterday and he was very chipper. talking about that on the daily mirror. he says to give

thoughts to everyone who will be told they have cancer every day. and he has told people to get checked as well to be that as on the daily express. thank you for your lovely m essa g es express. thank you for your lovely messages you have sent to bill. we will send on as many as we can. he knows there is a huge public affection for him and many people are shocked. another story. we have talked about calories. also that this is interesting. it is in the daily mail. everyone is cleaning incorrectly, apparently. they have published 12 tips which will help you save time when you clean. challenges of the get as much done as possible in 30 minutes. —— challenge yourself. do not do it room by room, do it chore by chore. they have digressed slightly. use

slower spin speeds and shake clothes to cut creases. dust blinds with a slightly damp sock over your hand. that is how you do it. perfect. i will do that later today. use someone will do that later today. use someone else's. don't use your own sock. that's crucial. cleaning tips from dan. thousands of homes across the uk are still without water because of burst pipes caused by last week's freezing temperatures. steph has the latest. all this, of course, came about because of burst pipes caused by last week's freezing temperatures. it is still carrying on, causing problems for many people. things are getting better. here is an update. all this, of course, came about because of burst pipes caused by last week's freezing temperatures. supplies have been affected in the south of england, wales, the midlands, yorkshire and scotland. several customers are being advised against all but essential use, with bottled water having to be handed out in some areas. severn trent water which covered the midlands has asked the carmaker jaguar landrover to reduce

consumption to help supply. also production at the cadbury factory has been affected. let's get the latest from tony smith, ceo of the consumer watchdog the consumer council for water. good morning. in mourning. i imagine you are very busy. —— good morning. the main focus is to get people back on supply and to get customers informed about what is going on. they are gradually reducing the number of customers who have not got any water, but there is a lot of work to do to keep customers informed. we are still getting many complaints that companies are not keeping websites up—to—date, keeping customers informed, of when they will be back in supply. do you think

the water companies have coped? many people have said this is unprecedented. have they coped? clearly, it was very cold over the weekend, but it was also predictable. these things happen. there was an incident in 2000 and which affected many companies in the north of england, in fact, northern ireland. —— 2010. it should be part of the planning of the company to make sure they are ready to deal with this and to communicate with customers and to supply water to those customers who really need it. should they have been better prepared? we think so. after this we will be looking for companies to review what they have done and do it better next time. also, meanwhile, companies need to provide compensation. can you tell us about compensation? what are the rights people have? i imagine many people would not know. yeah, if a company fails to get customers back on

supply after more than 12 hours or more if it is a big man, they should automatically pay compensation to customers. ——a bigger main. domestic customers, £20, business, £50 to it does not sound like much if you have been out of waterfall 24 hours. does not sound like much if you have been out of waterfall 24 hoursm is usually disruptive. one point is to make is that roughly the cost of water a day is about a pound. you are talking about 20 times the daily rate. this is not good compensation for customers who have lost their water, having trouble washing and flushing the toilet and so on. thank you so much, tony smith. later on i will bring you up—to—date with exactly the areas most affected. we have just an updated by water companies. it is very difficult for

people, as he pointed out. good morning. still to come. the beast from the east and storm emma have finished, but have left a grim harvest on beaches in the east. thousands of creatures have been washed ashore. extraordinary pictures. much more on that later on. for now, the news, travel, and weather, wherever you are waking up this morning. good morning from bbc london news. i'm alpa patel. thousands of londoners are still without running water this morning after the recent cold weather caused pipes to burst. thames water says its currently working on restoring the supply, but says it's taking longer than expected. homes, hospitals, and schools in north and south london have been affected. ministers have been urged to launch a public inquiry into the situation. six months after controversially being introduced into several london boroughs, nearly 75% of council tenants who claim "universal credit" are now behind with their rent.

it was supposed to simplify the benefits system, but critics say the credit has delayed payments, which pushes some of london's poorest people into debt. so, that's 12 weeks without money, 12 weeks without paying my rent every week, 12 weeks without paying my television licence, ‘cause all i could borrow money for was food and gas. i could not say to my friends and that, "pay for my bank loan, pay for my tv licence." so itjust mounted and mounted. the government says it‘s taken seven days off the wait time and offered an extra fortnight of housing benefit to help ease the situation for new claimants. pushing ahead with universal credit, it says, will help people get back into work. a designer from london‘s design museum has come up with a revolutionary way to dispose of, and recycle, chewing gum after she found there was no recycling programme for the waste. anna bullus created special bins and other products from the recycled gum and they are now being rolled out at location across the capital including heathrow airport and the british library. behave change is the only long—term

and sustainable solution to tackling theissue and sustainable solution to tackling the issue of littered gum. —— behaviour. let‘s have a look at the travel situation now. 0n the tube, minor delays on the london 0verground between surrey quays and new cross due to a shortage of trains caused by recent weather conditions. 0n the trains, there are delays on south—western services in and out of waterloo. services are blocked at surbiton. 0n the roads, the marylebone road is down to one lane eastbound near regent‘s park tube station because of repairs to a burst water main. let‘s have a check on the weather now. good morning. it‘s not an especially cold start this morning. temperatures, all above zero. you might have some low cloud at first, but breaking up with sunny spells developing. it will feel pleasant and mild. these sunny spells, temperatures rising a little. some patchy cloud. the risk of maybe one or two showers for essex and kent. temperatures in london getting up to 12 degrees celcius. 0vernight, clear spells at first. then cloud from the south.

then, with it, rain arising from the south in parts of south london through dawn. the minimum temperatures, between zero and four. so, a misty and murky night as well. that will take its time to lift tomorrow morning. unsettled for the next few days. but if you look at these temperatures, gradually, very slowly, towards the weekend, starting to rise. starting to feel more like spring on saturday and sunday with temperatures getting up to 13 or 14 celsius. have a lovely day if you are heading out. i am back in 20 minutes. there is more on our website. hello, this is breakfast, with louise minchin and dan walker. a former russian double agent is in critical condition after he was exposed to an unknown substance in salisbury. 66—year—old sergei skripal and a woman in her 30s were found unconscious on a bench on sunday last night police closed a restaurant in the city as a precaution. good morning, it‘s

tuesday the 6th of march. also this morning... counting the calories — health officials in england call for portion sizes to be cut as they say the public need to go on a diet. well turn, maisie! —— well done. six—year—old maisie was one of the stars of the oscars but we‘ll find out why deaf children like her could be falling behind at school. thousands of homes across the uk are still without water because of burst pipes caused by last week‘s freezing temperatures. i‘ll have the latest. in sport, sir bradley wiggins says he would hinge percent did not cheat, following claims by mps he

crossed an ethical line by using drugs to improve performance. the widespread effect on the family is horrific, and i‘m going to have to...i is horrific, and i‘m going to have to... i don‘t know how i‘m going to pick the pieces up. and carol has the weather. a band of rain, sleet and snow moving steadily northwards across northern england and scotland. most of it in lover levels, that it will mostly be in the hills. some of the showers will be heavy, especially later across devon and call will. more in 15 minutes. we shall fluky win 4815 am, carol. —— we shall look you in for 8:15am. good morning. first, our main story. police are trying to identify a substance which caused a former russian double agent to fall critically ill in salisbury yesterday. sergei skripal was convicted by a russian court of passing state secrets to mi6, but was later given refuge in britain as part of a prisoner swap. leila nathoo reports. police are racing to establish

just what happened here. last night, officers were examining the contents of a bin near to the bench where sergei skripal and a 33—year—old woman were found unconscious on sunday afternoon. a high street italian restaurant nearby was closed, the staff inside questioned. detectives are trying to piece together the events that led to the police being called out to this shopping precinct in the centre of the city. there was a couple — an older guy and a younger girl. she was sort of leant in on him, it looked at though she was passed out. he was doing some strange hand movements, looking to the sky. i felt anxious, i felt like i should step in. but, to be honest, they looked so out of it that even if i did step in, i wasn‘t sure how i could help. the two remain in a critical condition at salisbury hospital. sergei skripal was a former russian secret service officer, convicted of treason in 2006 after he was accused of spying for britain. but he was pardoned in russia in 2010, and handed over to the uk in a swap, when he and three others were exchanged for russian spies in the us.

police say they are keeping an open mind about this incident, and don‘t yet know whether a crime has taken place. but, given sergei skripal‘s background, it is likely to be a sensitive investigation. leila nathoo, bbc news, salisbury. leila joins us from salisbury. what‘s the latest on the investigation? what more do we know this morning? you can see behind me at this shopping centre that police activity is picking up again this morning. you have seen a number of cars arriving, clearly officers will still be scaring the scene and the surrounding area to the bench where the two were found unconscious on sunday evening. we know that counterterror police are assisting the police with their inquiries this morning. there is no confirmation of the identities of the two that were

found. but we have had some kremlin reaction to the suggestion that the man involved as sergei skripal, the former russian double agentjailed in 2006 in russia and brought to britain in 2010. a kremlin spokesman said they have no information on this, they have no commentary to give on this, knowing agement with those allegations or any suggestion of russian involvement in what happened. —— no engagement with those allegations. the police are trying to find would close the two to be in critical condition in hospital. —— trying to find out what caused the two. you can follow this story throughout the day on bbc news. public health england have challenged the food industry to cut calories in products like ready meals, sandwiches, pizza and snacks. it‘s hoped the plans, targetting some of the most popularfamily foods, could lead to a drop in the number of obese children. 0ur health correspondent adina campbell explains. they are some of our biggest—selling products, but not necessarily the healthiest.

processed meals and food on the go are, for many of us, shopping basket staples. but, as part of the government‘s plans to curb childhood obesity, health officials are now calling on food retailers and manufacturers to reduce calories by 20% by 2024. public health england says this can be achieved in three ways. changing the recipes in meals, using better—quality products. smaller portion sizes, which would help control how much we eat. 0r steering us to buy lower—calories products in some of our favourite foods. we‘ve announced a 20% calorie reduction programme. so that‘s taking calories out of ready meals, out of pizzas, out of savoury prepacked sandwiches, out of savoury snacks, and gradually, over a time, improving the recipes so we all eat healthier. these posters are one way health officials are hoping to make us more aware of what we eat, by having a benchmark of 400

calories at breakfast, and another 600 for lunch and dinner. 10 starjumps! it is estimated some children are consuming 500 calories more than needed every day. and, with around a third leaving primary school overweight or obese, health experts say britain needs to go on a diet. adina campbell, bbc news. in syria the first aid convoy for three weeks has delivered supplies to the rebel held territory of eastern ghouta. but aid workers were forced to cut their mission short after dozens of people were killed by shelling from pro—government forces. almost 400,000 people are thought to be trapped in the enclave, which has been the focus of heavy fighting in recent months. a new unit is being set up to tackle gang activity and organised crime being carried out within prisons in england and wales.

thejustice secretary david gauke is concerned that too many prisoners are able to smuggle drugs, mobile phones and weapons into their cells — fuelling violence amongst inmates. under the changes, set to be announced later today, inmates who get involved with crime behind bars could be moved to higher securityjails. north korean state media is reporting that leader kim jong—un is calling for closer ties with south korea. it follows a rare visit to the north korean capital pyongyang by senior officials from the south. the us said it is "cautiously optimistic" about improving north—south contact, but ruled out formal talks with the north korean regime unless it is ready to give up its nuclear weapons. experts say extreme wintry weather is to blame for thousands of dead sea creatures being washed up on beaches on the east coast of england. heaps of starfish were scattered over beaches in ramsgate and dead lobsters were swept onto the shore in east yorkshire. the traumatic scenes are thought to

be the result of a drop in temperature combines with high winds, part of storm emma and the remnant of the beast from the east of last week. they are staggering. we will be going live to one of these beaches later. some of the lobsters are being picked up and rescued. so they can be put back into the sea later. a really interesting story. the packaging industry in england has denied claims it is greatly exaggerating the amount of plastic it recycled. it follows a report by a waste consultancy group today which says the figures do not add up and the companies are not paying enough to the £2.8 billion annual cost of collecting unprocessed plastic. we should say a massive thank you for so many kind comments and wonderful things you have said about ourformer wonderful things you have said about our former colleague wonderful things you have said about ourformer colleague and wonderful things you have said about our former colleague and good friend bill turnbull. 0ur former colleague and good friend bill turnbull has announced that he‘s been diagnosed with prostate

and bone cancer. he tweeted the news late last night and has undergone chemotherapy — he says he is in good spirits and hopes to be around for some time yet. that is the way he put it. so many of you remember him so fondly. he was with us at breakfast for 15 years before leaving the sofa in 2016. this was his last day, i remember it well. bill was diagnosed at the end of last year during the recording of the great celebrity bake 0ff for stand up to cancer on channel 4. he has been talking about it. i was getting pains in my legs, in my hips particularly. and they would come and go, and i thought this is old age. eventually the pains got so bad that i thought, well, i‘d better go and see my gp. he said, well, i‘mjust going to give you a blood test, just a sort of mot, if you like, just to check a few things out. the next morning he called me and asked me to come in pretty

quickly, and the doctor said it‘s fairly clear from this that you have advanced prostate cancer. the other thing that bill said on social media last night was a reminder for everybody to get checked, but also encouraging people not just to checked, but also encouraging people notjust to think checked, but also encouraging people not just to think about checked, but also encouraging people notjust to think about him but the hundreds of others who will be told today they are suffering with cancer. really sad news. you get the sense it was a real shock for him and his family. i caught up with him yesterday because we still have a lottery syndicate, you are welcome tojoin! we had a small win, £2.70, recently, i rang him up to speak to him about that and about, of course, what he told us about prostate cancer. he was in really good spirits. you can see more of that interview with

bill on celebrity bake off for standard to cancer. let‘s get more details on the main story. how did a former russian spy end up slumped on a bench in the centre of salisbury on sunday afternoon? and is this another example of a former russian agent being poisoned on british soil? these are the questions facing investigators today as sergei skripal and a woman in her 30s remain critically ill in hospital. police are still trying to identify the substance which caused him to collapse. heidi blake is the uk investigations editor at buzzfeed. good morning, thank you forjoining us. so much that we do not know, but given what we know so far, and you have looked into suspicious deaths before, what do you make of what has happened? this case bears many hallmarks of the sort of targeted, attempted assassination we have seen happen on uk soil many times before. last year

our team investigated a total of 14 suspected russian assassinations in britain. all of those were treated as non—suspicious by the british police in terms of their public statements, but we establish there is intelligence connecting all of those deaths to either russian state actors or two russian mafia groups, those are two groups that often act in tandem. in many cases we can see people who have been poisoned, exposed to mysterious substances, many of which kill without leaving a trace. that is something the russian state has become very adept at doing something they dedicate lots of state resources to, to the research of undetectable poisons. the fact that this person is clearly an enemy of the kremlin, a spy who has defected and handed over information to the british authorities about russian agents in europe and has been exposed rey mysterio substance which appears to have had the effect

of poisoning him, it certainly raises suspicions that this could be another state—sponsored assassination in britain. we are finding details about him all the time. he came to the uk in a spy swap? yes, he came here the fbi in 2010 busted a programme of ten undercover agents working in the usa for the russian government. anna chapman is the most famous spy who was busted in that case. in order to get those ten agents back to russia the kremlin traded four other spies who had been helping the west, sergei skripal was one of those people who was exchanged and therefore came back to the uk after being convicted of spying for britain and russia. this has echoes of the alexander litvinenko case, as far as we understand it. let‘s talk about likely uk government reaction and what the uk government could do if it were to be found that this were the case that the russians had

involvement? this is a fascinating step change in terms of the way the british authorities have responded. if you look back at the litvinenko case in 2006, police took a firm line and the government accused the kremlin of orchestrating that hits. it was a very obvious assassination, there was a radioactive trail left all across london by the assassins who poisoned alexander litvinenko with polonium. there have been more deaths connected to the russian state in britain since then, the british police has treated them all was not suspicious after what intelligence service tellers is a desire on the part of the british government not to antagonise the kremlin. litvinenko case cause ten yea rs of kremlin. litvinenko case cause ten years of diplomatic pain in terms of worsening relations with russia. there is a desire to preserve russian investment and to avoid antagonising the kremlin. there has been a concern about russian interference in the west, not least

in democratic processes. we know russia interfered in the us election. the fact that the police has made a public statement so early and declared it a major incident is and declared it a major incident is a big step change and i think it is a big step change and i think it is a mark of increasing concern at the highest levels of the british government about what russia is doing on uk soil. thank you. as you point out, this is the early stages of the investigation and i am sure we will talk about this for weeks to come. here‘s carol with a look at this morning‘s weather. very nice. i think i have been to a doughnut shop there many years ago. fond memories! thank you! good morning. a beautiful picture of cumbria. across the north of england at the moment, a band of rain, sleet and snow. another cracking picture from norfolk, a bit

of blue sky and some clout. nice and bright start to the day. the snow, the sleet and the rain across northern england and scotland will continue to advance north through the day eventually becoming confined to higher ground in scotland. the cairngorms could see a further 15 centimetres. away from that, we are looking at sunshine and showers. some of the showers are likely to be heavyin some of the showers are likely to be heavy in devon and cornwall this afternoon. low pressure still firmly in charge and will remain so through this week. the weather front responsible for the rain, snow and sleet continuing to drag the whole lot further north, through the day. this is the position at the moment. slowly moving north, this isjust one hour ago, you can see where we have got snow across northern england and scotland, and some heavy bursts at lower levels, we expect

that to be fairly transient. brightening up later. northern ireland, grey start with light rain and drizzle, brightening up from the south later. england and wales, mostly dry start. a few showers. a glimmer of sunshine. the heavier showers likely to be in the south—west particularly devon and cornwall. temperatures, good shape in the south, in light winds, feeling quite pleasant for this stage in march. easterly wind in the far north and north—east of scotland which will be blowing around the lying snow and add to the significant wind—chill. this evening and overnight, low pressure continues to advance north so the weather front changes position, taking snow to low levels across the northern isles and parts of north—west scotland. showers in the south—west move southeast overnight and one or two showers elsewhere as well. frosty night, the risk of ice on untreated surfaces and the risk

of patchy dense fog in east anglia and south—east england. if you are travelling first thing in the morning, bad that in mind. and showers through the morning. tomorrow, not a bad day, dry for many of us, some sunshine, still some pesky showers, and it might be heavy with hail and thunder in the south, and possibly some rain with a wintry mix in the north—west, but much better generally across northern scotland to what we have had. steph says, the weather needs to get better! carol can obviously control.! we know thousands of homes across the uk still without water because of burst pipes caused by last week‘s freezing temperatures.” burst pipes caused by last week‘s freezing temperatures. i have an update. i do not normally like to give a list but this is important. still thousands affected. i want to let people know what is happening.

southeast and water have said they have reconnected nearly 9000 homes overnight and there are still 12,000 without water, mainly in kent and sussex, some in hampshire. welsh water, still 1500 without water. thames water so they have got it down to around 5000 homes without, in the south—east. sutherland says in hastings a bit of a problem for them still, —— southern. in crawley, they have been trying to refillable water, 13,000 homes affected. good news in the birmingham area, they have pretty much got things back to normal, and in scotland as well. the water companies say they are working flat out to try to get this sorted and this is what thames water have to say. since the thaw sat in on the weekend, we were expecting to see a rise in leaks and bursts, the reaction has been unprecedented and

we have seen a huge increase, about 500 million litres of extra water is being pumped into the system to keep up being pumped into the system to keep up with the extra demand. thames water saying they are doing everything they can. you can get compensation if your supply has been disrupted for more than 48 hours. you can get 20 quid. it might not sound like much but it is something. it adds up. thank you very much. for our next report, we‘re joined by sign language interpreter russell andrews because we‘re talking about one of the most uplifting stories from the oscars — the triumph of the silent child which picked up the award for best live action short. its star, maise sly, is six years old and profoundly deaf. she attends a mainstream school in swindon, but her parents had to move house to get her the education she needed. exclusive analysis for breakfast by the national deaf children‘s society has found that deaf children in england are falling behind in school at every level. jayne mccubbin reports. maisie sly‘s family waited, hoped, then heard.

the silent child, chris 0verton and rachel shenton. a six—year—old from england has helped shine a light on the barriers some deaf children face. my daughter is the face of change. you know, this isjust... i don't know what to say. and a million miles from hollywood, congratulations. well done, maisie! this is maisie‘s school in swindon. then what did you do? i went downstairs and had my breakfast. herfamily had to move 160 miles to find a place like this — a mainstream school where deaf children are taught alongside hearing pupils. they're not different in any other way other than they cannot hear. as long as you make those channels of communication possible, there's no reason why those children shouldn't succeed. anything is possible? anything is possible.

but is it really? this is the reality of the attainment gap. in early years, 34% of deaf children make a good level of development compared to 76% of hearing children. at key stage 2, almost 40% reach the expected grade compared to 70% of other children. and just over 70% do not achieve a good gcse in english and maths compared to nearly 50% of hearing children. these figures take in notjust the profoundly deaf, like maisie, but also those who are moderately deaf, like thomas. it‘s difficult. you can hear plenty of sounds, but not all sounds. is that right? yeah. until two years ago, thomas had access to a teacher of the deaf. the teachers were getting support. tom was getting support. i felt like i was getting support. but then it was cut? completely gone. their council, walsall, told us

they follow guidelines when it comes to the provision of services. but for this film‘s producers, there just aren‘t enough across the country. for a developed country and for those problems to still be happening in england, that‘s just... it‘s crazy to me. in scotland, i think they've recognised sign language in the curriculum. they have, yeah. it's better to be deaf in scotland than in england right now. as the oscars party closed over there, a debate took place over here — a petition heard in westminsterfor england to follow scotland‘s lead. this moment is already having an impact. the government says standards are improving, with more reaching the expected grade. but for many, the gap is still too big. jane mccubbin, bbc news. great to speak to rachel and chris on the programme yesterday as well.

thanks to sign—language interpreter russell andrews for signing jayne‘s film for us. joining us now is susan daniels from the national deaf children‘s society. thank you so much for coming on the programme, listening and watching to that report, is it a case ofjust money that can make a difference? well, the statistics we have seen are well, the statistics we have seen a re really well, the statistics we have seen are really shocking, deaf children can achieve anything that other children can achieve with the right support. we have seen what is happening to teacher of the deaf services, a third more deaf children than there were before, over seven yea rs, than there were before, over seven years, services have been cut by 1496. years, services have been cut by 14%. we are facing a cliff edge as far as deaf education is concerned. councils are reporting to us a third are having difficulty recruiting teachers of the deaf and over the next ten, 15 years, half will be retiring. the government have no plan in place to recruit more and to

put a marketing campaign in place to get more deaf teachers in place.” wa nted get more deaf teachers in place.” wanted to ask you, how much difference it makes to children to get help at an early age when they first go to school? does it have a big impact? yes, absolutely. if you have the right support from the start, to —— deaf children can thrive. if the support is in place from the beginning, as we saw in the silent child, there is no reason why they cannot do as well as their peers. with the threats to teacher of the deaf support, it jeopardises the potential for deaf children to do as well. would it help to have a sign language gcse, encouraging other children to learn sign language at an early age? the national deaf children and society, we have a right to sign campaign and we have a right to sign campaign and we are trying to persuade the government to put a gcse in bsl in

place —— the national deaf children‘s society. 97% of young people have said they want to see that gcse take place, they do not see why sign language should have an inferior status to other languages. thank you for talking to us. i want to give you a statement from the department for education, saying, we wa nt department for education, saying, we want all children with special educational needs including those who are deaf to get the right support to allow them to reach their potential. thank you to susan and russell as well. and just a reminder that bbc breakfast is interpreted in british sign language every weekday between 6.45am and 7.30am, and again between 7.45am and 8.15am. that‘s on the bbc news channel. if you are watching a*, very good morning to you. —— watching us for the north of the country, we

have rain, sleet and snow, mostly on the hills, pushing northwards and becoming confined to this dunn hills in the afternoon. low pressure very much dominating our weather. this is the front taking the rain, sleet and hill snow steadily northwards through the day. this is what has happened in the last couple of hours. some snow across northern england and scotland and all of that will push northwards. later it will brighten across northern england and southern scotland but we have seen significant snow across the grampians, up to 15 centimetres, roughly six inches. it will be windy with a cold easterly. for the rest of the uk, bright, sunny spells and

showers, some thundery across devon and will and drizzly across northern ireland. this evening and overnight the low—pressure continues northwards so the distribution of where we have snow continues, so we‘re looking at the north—west of scotla nd we‘re looking at the north—west of scotland and the northern isles. showers in other parts of the uk, cold enough for some frost and there is the risk of ice. we could see dense, patchy fog across east anglia and the south—east which will slowly cleared tomorrow. some showers tomorrow, still the rain, possibly a wintry elemental two. temperatures climbing a little in the north, fairly respectable in the south, ten to around 12 celsius. a warm front sitting across the english channel will produce rain across southern counties and the channel islands by thursday, but much of the rest of the uk remains dry with some sunshine and a few wintry showers here and there. temperatures down a touch. this is business live from bbc news,

with sally bundock and ben thompson. tackling the tariffs — carmakers meet in geneva for the world‘s largest car show, but they face a battle over president trump‘s promise to impose tough tax on foreign—made cars. live from london, that‘s our top story on tuesday 6th march. america is the most valuable market for european car exports — so how will car markers respond,

and does it really help us manufacturers as much as president trump has promised? also in the programme... cut out the calories — food manufacturers, supermarkets and fast—food chains are told to cut fat in food or face legal action.