hello, it's tuesday, it's 9 o'clock, i'm victoria derbyshire, welcome to the programme. our top story today. moscow is considering its response after theresa may warned it had until midnight tonight to explain its role in the salisbury nerve agent attack or it would face retaliation. should there be no credible response, we will conclude that this action amounts to an unlawful use of force by the russian state against the united kingdom and we will not tolerate such a brazen attempt to murder innocent civilians on our soil. we'll hear growing calls that england should boycott the world cup this summer. keen to hear from you, would you support england withdrawing or is itjust empty gesture politics? also on the programme. police say tackling child exploitation in telford is their number one priority after it's been revealed that up to 1,000 girls, some as young as 11, may have been abused in the town over the last a0 years. it's horrific and an absolute disgrace and i think essentially what it means is that there is really no end to the sexual abuse scandals that we're going

to see in this country. we'll hear from one victim who was abused as a young teenager over a period of years, raped countless times and forced to sleep with several men a night. and one of the biggest names in british tv for most of our lifetimes is here to tell us why he's trying to sue lloyds banking group for over £60 million. welcome to the programme, we're live until 11. throughout the morning we'll bring you the latest breaking news and developing stories and as always really keen to hear from you. a little later we'll hear from two asian friends who say their experience of being turned away from a restaurant on mother's day is a typical example of the kind of everyday racism people of colour experience in the uk. that is after half—past ten.

really keen to hear your experiences this morning. use the hashtag #victorialive and if you text, you will be charged at the standard network rate. our top story today. the hours are ticking down towards the midnight deadline given to russia by theresa may over the salisbury nerve agent attack. the prime minister says she'll take action unless by the end of the day moscow is able to explain its role. the uk has had backing from the american secretary of state, rex tillerson, who said russia was probably behind the poisoning of a former double agent and his daughter, nine days ago. caroline davies reports. a supermarket car park shut down to search for a lethal chemical. hundreds of police are still at work in salisbury, trying to find out who poisoned a former russian spy. sergei skripal and his daughter yulia are still critically ill in hospital. they were attacked with a rare nerve agent. we now know it's a type only developed by russia called novichok.

yesterday, the prime minister gave an ultimatum to the kremlin — explain how this happened or there will be consequences. either this was a direct act by the russian state against our country, or the russian government lost control of its potentially catastrophically damaging nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others. the russian ambassador has until midnight tonight to return with an answer. russia has denied being involved. president putin brushed off questions about the attack. dnfsx—vz‘g ”47,7: , . . if there's no credible response, the uk government has said it will take action against russia for what happened here. but how far they can go will depend on whether they can get the backing of other countries.

this diplomatic stand—off between russia and the uk could yet turn into a crisis. caroline davies, bbc news. let's get the latest from norman at downing street. the cabinet are arriving for a meeting, what kind of things could they do to russia if russia doesn't speak up before the deadline? well, i think a couple of things follow from what we have the prime minister yesterday, one is, i don't think anyone expects russia to come up with some sort of credible explanation as to how nerve agent was used in the salisbury attack, the second is, whatever the government decides to do, it's going to have to be an awful lot more than happened after the murder of alexander litvinenko. certainly you got the sense that yesterday theresa may was raising the bar in terms of the likely retallick three measures.

what struck me most was that she wasn't ruling anything out at all. you had tory mps saying, why don't you follow the example of edward heath and he booted out 90 russian diplomats and assorted trade envoys? the view was that it's pretty much put the lid on russian espionage in the uk for the rest of the cold war. mrs may didn't reject that as an option. similarly she was asked, why don't we engage in cyber warfare against russia? again she didn't reject that. you just get the sense that really, nothing is off the table. but the bottom line is, whatever we do is probably not going to significantly impact on president putin unless we get other countries on board, that is why mrs may has dropped about going to nato and to the un, going to the eu. the hard pa rt the un, going to the eu. the hard part is, that is a much more slow, time—consuming, difficult process

because quite obvious that, other countries have other agendas. you just have to look at the eu, where the are a number of eu countries who area bit the are a number of eu countries who are a bit sceptical about the existing sanctions against russia, never mind putting on additional sanctions and many of them also highly dependent on russian energy supplies. so they are unnaturally cautious. with the un, the problem is, russia, a prominent member, has a veto of any resolutions. lastly, america, the difficulty there is president trump is somewhat ambivalent attitudes towards president putin, albeit there were stronger words coming from rex tillerson last night. but the options for a broader international move are quite difficult to put in place will stop later on the programme we will stop later on the programme we will talk about whether england should boycott the world cup in june. we would like to hear from you. do let us know your own view.

here is then in the newsroom. —— here is ben. the chancellor, philip hammond, is expected to deliver some positive economic news in his first ever spring statement today. the statement, which replaces the spring budget, will include the latest official economic figures but it will not impose new taxes. labour ministers say mr hammond must take the chance to end austerity. productivity is still 35%, below the french and germans, for example. unemployment levels are low but the incredible amount of insecurity injobs, low pay, inflation is still high, investment both in the public sector and private sector are critically low. so i don't think it's time to crack open the champagne. but housing minister dominic raab said the chancellor would look to take a balanced approach with the public finances. one of the obvious thing he says is that he doesn't want to be engaged in tinkering, short—term measures. that's been welcomed by business and groups like the institute for government.

i think you'll hear less of the political clatter and fanfare that normally accompanies these set piece events and more of the healthy economic hum that is warranted by the raw economic data. the european parliament meets in strasbourg later to debate the eu's guidelines on brexit. after a speech from the european commission president, jean—claude juncker, meps will discuss the guidelines, as well as their own resolution, which outlines the parliament's priorities and so—called "red lines" for the brexit negotiations. the former liverpool and england defenderjamie carragher says he'll accept any punishment that comes his way after he was filmed spitting from his car towards another vehicle. it happened after manchester united's 2—1 win over liverpool where he was working as a pundit for sky sports. he's been suspended from his job. two victims of black cab rapistjohn worboys begin a high court challenge today against what they have called the irrational decision to release him from jail. the judicial review is expected

to hear for the first time why the parole board plans to free the sex attacker. the board and worboys, who will appear via video link from prison, oppose the legal challenge. more details are beginning to emerge of the allegations of abuse over four decades against girls in the shropshire town of telford. the police have already said that tackling child sex abuse is their top priority, and that allegations in a sunday newspaper aren't new to them. up to a thousand girls are reported to have been groomed and exploited with some as young as 11 being drugged and raped. doctors in the uk and ireland have seen 130 cases of rickets in children under 16 over a two year period. it's the first study of its kind into the prevalence of the illness which affects bone development. it can be prevented by taking

vitamin d supplements. a 17—year—old boy has died after opening a parcel bomb delivered to his home in austin, texas. a 39—year—old man and an elderly woman have also been injured in what are believe to be related incidents over the past 10 days. police are looking into possible motives behind the attacks. salt content in takeaway dishes must be urgently reduced in a bid to tackle strokes and heart disease, campaigners have warned. a study by action on salt found some chinese meals including sides like prawn crackers contain more than double the recommended daily intake. the survey also revealed a selection of ready meals were high in salt. that's a summary of the latest bbc news, more at 9.30am. if you are getting in touch with us, you are very welcome. wright, sport. well perry is that the bbc sport

centre. menna fitzpatrick and her guidejen kehoe have this morning won a silver medal at the winter paralympics in pyeongchang in the women's visually impaired super combined events. the pair were second after the super—g run despite an impressive slalom effort out there and they were unable to get the better of the slovakians. great story, menna fitzpatrick, just 19, born with no vision in her left eye, limited sight in her right eye, but started skiing at the age of five. they have only been working together since 2015 and have built up a strong partnership. millie knight has missed out on a third straight medal with brett wild, her guide, they workforce a slalom run. kelly gallagherfinished workforce a slalom run. kelly gallagher finished seventh with gary smith. in terms of the curling, great britain have dented their hopes of a medal in the curling, it didn't quite go there with this morning. they beat canada yesterday.

they were expected to see off the slovakians but they lost 6—5. the tea m slovakians but they lost 6—5. the team tried to do a bit better against the neutral paralympic athletes later. that one starts at around 10:30. manchester city or even closer to the premier league title? it's inevitable call isn't it? that is the most interesting thing, they beat stoke last night 2-0, thing, they beat stoke last night 2—0, david silva with both goals. they are restoring a 16 point leads and it means if you are from manchester this is huge because manchester this is huge because manchester city need just two more wins for the third premier league title. if they beat everton later this month they could seal the premier league title on derby day at the etihad against their rivals manchester united. this will be on the 7th of april, vincent kompany saying it is a once—in—a—lifetime opportunity. stoke, they arejust saying it is a once—in—a—lifetime opportunity. stoke, they are just a point from safety, eight games to go. and another premier league manager has lost his job? go. and another premier league manager has lost hisjob? yes,

amazingly, 20 teams in the premier league, we'rejust in march, nine premier league managers have lost league, we'rejust in march, nine premier l this e managers have lost 5 was still be in a job this week. i have to g was still be in a job this week. i have to 2 you again, do you still have to ask you again, do you still think with eight games to go that you're the man that can keep southampton the premier league?” you're the man that can keep southampton the premier league? i am the southampton manager right now. and you're confident you can keep them up with yellow of course, if not, i have to move along. but sometimes, one side they are the winners you duller than your side of the losers. but in a week you can change everything with one victory. this is part of our life. that was

his final interview in england, pellegrino out, this man is the favourite for the job, marco silva. sacked by watford injanuary. 0ther names in the frame are slaven bilic, mark and martin 0'neill. and who won the latest tennis bottle of the williams sister? serena was beaten by venous, at her comeback. —— beaten by venus williams. 17 years ago, this term it was the subject of race is abused so great to see these two getting a great reception. serena saying she has a long way to go in this comeback and she revealed in february she almost died after giving birth. she was bedridden for six weeks. i will have the headlines at half past nine. let down for years by police and social services, victims of the telford abuse scandal say it's time for authorities to accept their failings and hold a public inquiry into how as many as 1,000 girls were abused

in the town over a a0 year period. on this programme yesterday we told you the scandal could be the worst the country has ever seen. police there say tackling child sexual exploitation remains their number one priority but so far only seven men have been convicted of any crimes with many others escaping justice. and there are reports that the abuse could be linked to three murders and two deaths in the town. as with other grooming scandals we've seen the victims are mainly white, and the abusers mainly british pakistani or bangladeshi men. some of the girls as young as 11 were drugged, beaten and raped over a number of years. we can talk to holly, a victim of child sexual exploitation in telford. she has agreed for us to hear her tell her story but she did not want us to show herface. geraldine mckelvie, one of the journalists behind

the sunday mirror investigation which exposed child sexual exploitation in telford. and the town's conservative mp lucy allan, who is calling for a public enquiry. welcome, all of you, thank you coming on the programme. holly, i will start with you, if i may. you we re will start with you, if i may. you were 1a when your exploitation began. how did it start?|j were 1a when your exploitation began. how did it start? i was befriended by some boys my own age. they were harassing me constantly. what does that mean? they were co nsta ntly what does that mean? they were constantly calling, saying, come and meet us, they would be hanging around. it's difficult to explain. basically they took our phone numbers, and then sold them on to older men. and then from then, the older men. and then from then, the older men. and then from then, the older men would bombard us co nsta ntly older men would bombard us constantly with phone calls,...

saying what's to you? saying, come and meet up with us, we willjust go chilling. that was at first, i was, i don't want to. after receiving hundreds of calls every day, curiosity got the better of me and i went and met one. at first it was fine, he would go and buy us food, top up our mobile phones, things like that. so we built up a bit of trust. and then he started violently raping me. he would beat me with his belt if i didn't agree to let him rape me. and then he would try and make me feel better by making himself feel better, maybe, by

giving us money or topping up our phones. from that man, it moved on to many men, about seven abusers in the end. so you were passed around, 01’ the end. so you were passed around, or they would all turn up en masse, 01’ or they would all turn up en masse, or what? it would be almost whoever caught me first. whoever saw me walking home from school first, or toa walking home from school first, or to a friends house. telford is a very small area. so there's nowhere to hide. somebody knows where you live, and your daily routine, so they can find you. but it quickly moved on to being sold on to men every single day. so i would be being sold, maybe two or three times a night, taken in to the only thing ican a night, taken in to the only thing i can describe it as is a great house, it was set up for the purpose

—— a rape house, set up for the purpose of young girls being its sold to men. people who would pay for the girls sold to men. people who would pay forthe girls in sold to men. people who would pay for the girls in telford, it wasn't just pakistani men, like we have seen across just pakistani men, like we have seen across the rest of the country, there was every race and religion coming in and wanting to pay for girls. how did you cope with this? everyone always asks, i can't really explain. almost like i was living in a bubble. iwas explain. almost like i was living in a bubble. i wasjust numb i had explain. almost like i was living in a bubble. iwasjust numb i had no feelings about anything, and all i wa nted feelings about anything, and all i wanted to do was make my family proud of me. so i continued going to school, did my best, everything i could do, just to try and make something good it my family because the reason why i kept going back we re the reason why i kept going back were they were threatening me of

bringing my house down, which was a real threat in telford because that had happened previously. and they said they would rape my mum and sisters. they knew all about my family. was sisters. they knew all about my family. - was escape % all. sisters. they knew all about my family. - we thinkipe 5 all. %:m a . , %: mea, , ‘and %:mea ‘and in the $2325 be offaléfl offgdl off “$11 i would say, it's going off and i would say, it's nobody. mind your own business. i would wait for her to go to bed because she would think i was home and safe, she would fall asleep and i would go straight back out again. until all hours in the morning. come back, lie in bed and sometimes my alarm would go off almost as soon as i got into bed, ready to go to school. so just i got into bed, ready to go to school. sojust running school. so just running off period general in all the time. the idea of

—— just running of pure adrenaline all the time. the idea of contacting police was a no—no? all the time. the idea of contacting police was a no-no? yes, one man turned up at my house i a i 5— a ere mymum,... was a prostitute to my mum,... an abuser? yellow macri yes, the reason was that i had not done what i had told him to do. how did your mum react? she was angry. who at? everybody, because you don't expect someone everybody, because you don't expect someone to say something about that about your child. and the behaviour i was displaying was almost general teenage behaviour, i think it's quite difficult to know the difference between having a teenage daughter and actual crying for help. the one thing that i did do, i was gang raped just after i turned 16. that was probably the worst, the

worst thing that ever happened to apologise. suicide. people - was i a commit suicide. peoplersayrwas vita re help? commit soicide. peoptorsayrwas vita ff; help? and | said, no, wa nted wanted . die because i genuinely wanted to die because i thought that was the only way out. here; today, and i'm obviously i'm here today, and lin abuse we” obviously i'm here today, and jim abuse any h. not suffering abuse any more, so there is a way out. and | think it's there is a way out. and i think it's a front for every single person that is involved. however, —— i think it's different for every single person involved. however, i was in ca i’s person involved. however, i was in cars that were stopped and searched by the police with older men, i was never questioned why i was there, my name was never asked. i think if there had been more proactive behaviour in have iii; * lg; 7777 7;

—7% z: week, for three | s— we .§ of times a week, for three years, getting . , , of times a week, for three years, getting the . , of times a week, for three years, getting the morning after pill. how many “he: do you think you took it? many times do you think you took it? i could not even estimate. dozens, hundreds, you were going twice a week over three years? i know one there raised the alarm? -- and no wonder raised the alarm? nothing. did they ask you why you kept coming back? note -- no, nobody asked any questions and i had two abortions and no questions asked. the summit he had asked atjust a few questions and shown some some interest, i might have spoken out and said, there's something not quite right and i'm not comfortable. nothing was ever said. gosh. let me bring in geraldine, if i may. thank you, holly, i know that was ha rd thank you, holly, i know that was hard for you. but i thinkjust to

let the audience know the kind of horrific experience that you have gone through without anybody, any grown—ups stepping income isjust really, really distressing. geraldine, you work for the sunday mirror, you decided to investigate child sexual exploitation in telford, what piqued your curiosity? i had worked on a few stories about what had happened in rotherham and i got in touch with holly and i asked if she would be interested in telling her personal story. at first, i thought it would only be holly's personal story, rather than the wider story of what had been going on in telford. once i spoke to holly, and realised what she was saying about the sexual health and, the morning after pill, the other girls and the threats to burn down

her house, that was a really real threat in telford because two years previously, it had happened to a girl who had had a baby at 14 with an abuser. i just girl who had had a baby at 14 with an abuser. ijust thought, there's something more to the story than just holly's personal story. there seems to be a scandaljust as bad as rotherham and rochdale. you spoke to 12 victims, how have you gone from 12 victims, how have you gone from 12 to this estimated figure of hundreds in telford ? 12 to this estimated figure of hundreds in telford? we asked an expert from london metropolitan university to look at our figures and the timescale that our oldest victim is nearly 50, and our youngest is still a teenager. all of the victims we spoke to were largely com pletely the victims we spoke to were largely completely unconnected, it was not just one small group of friends that we re just one small group of friends that were all being abused by the same people at the same time. this is somebody who had been abused in the

early 80s and then a girl whose last violent rape was just months ago. we explained to this expert that the police themselves have identified over a two—year period in telford, between 2007 and 2009, there could have been 100 victims. based on the timescale and the police's and figures, we managed to estimate that. there could be 1000 victims, we think. and when we have reported on child sexual exploitation in rochdale, in rotherham for example, the cases revolve mostly about british pakistani and bangladeshi men, and white girls, but you have also spoken to asian victims? we cannot get away from the fact that the vast majority of the abusers are from a pakistani heritage community. but in holly's story and a lot of other stories we heard from girls, although the abuse is being organised by men from the pakistani

heritage community, a lot of girls are being sold to men of a lot of different ethnicities. what is a factor in the telford scandal is that there are some asian victims. we've spoken to an asian victim, we have also seen some files relating to the case about an asian victim who felt pregnant six times in four years. but i think that because in some asian communities this is seen as so some asian communities this is seen as so shameful and the girls would have been shunned, we would never get the extent of their abuse. let me bring in the mp for the area, why has this happened in telford?” think we've heard this is not an isolated incident. i've been aware of people coming to me telling me such similar stories to what holly has been so bravely recounting today. they all have very similar features. online grooming is often a precursor to further activity. it's

happening because people are not identifying it as a crime, and i think historically, it was looked at as young girls in gauging in risky behaviour not recognising the element of coercion and fear and shame that they were acting in ways that they were about the bible and self—preservation. the that they were about the bible and self— preservation. the threats that they were about the bible and self—preservation. the threats to family, i —— it was about survival and self preservation. the threats to family, i had heard that, i did not hear that it had happened but they would say, they are threatening my sister and my mother. what you say about the way victims presented themselves, led to some in authority to not treat them as victims, however, when holly tells us that she's going to a clinic to get the morning after pill twice a week for

three years, that's hundreds of times. hundreds of times. you don't have to be a trained medical health professional to think, there is something wrong here. plus two abortions, oh, my goodness. this is about failing to join the dots... it's about social and cultural attitudes to young women and girls, where it is seen that it is the victim that brought it on themselves and that's what i find abhorrent about this. that people will more to turn a blind eye but almost say, that's how they behave, isn't it. and therefore we should not be interfering. that's the problem, the social and cultural attitudes of young women and girls were people feel this is perfectly normal behaviour for these young girls, without questioning why it is that they're engaging in sexual activity with men who were 30 or 40 and that only 14. he first called for a

public inquiry into 16, no one is listening, it would seem? —— you first called for a public inquiry?” asked the prime minister to have an independent public inquiry into the bed in telford in 2016 because i genuinely we have got to find why it happens. that was two years ago, was that cameron? that was theresa may. at that time, we were told by the authorities in telford that there was sufficient investigation going on under the national inquiry that was being led by baroness jay, and in due course, that inquiry would come to telford. we now know that's not true. the authorities are still using that as a reason today not to have an inquiry. sol using that as a reason today not to have an inquiry. so i am going to restate my request for an independent inquiry, i've put in today in parliament for an urgent question. this cannot go on. lucy allen, with rochdale and

rotherham, one of the issues that stops people in authority who could help these young people was political correctness, for want of a better phrase, they thought they approached a man of a dost—mac a british pakistani man about allegations of exploiting and raping young girls, they would be accused of racism. is this relevant to telford, bearing in mind geraldine has already said it wasn't just telford, bearing in mind geraldine has already said it wasn'tjust men of colour ayes think it has some relevance to telford. in any police investigation, you have to profile the perpetrator, you have to profile the perpetrator, you have to profile the victim and it's quite clear the victims are often white, often working—class young girls from disadvantaged backgrounds and the minute the high—profile case of operation chalice for all of pakistani heritage. 0k. operation chalice for all of pakistani heritage. ok. this tweet, this is not just pakistani heritage. ok. this tweet, this is notjust happening in

telford, this is taking place in most major towns and it's notjust girls, it is boys too. this from anak, absolutely heartbreaking hearing the story of the victim of the abuse in telford on your programme this morning. we really need to do more for girls like this, we have let them down too many times. well done, lucy allen for supporting these victims. my salim says there is an amazing lady on your programme today talking about the horrific abuse she suffered in telford. —— marceline says. ian says, this is terrible, it frightens me and i'm a grown man. one of them for making this a serious topic of discussion. the pc brigade would condemn me. stephen says, as a pa rent condemn me. stephen says, as a parent i cannot fathom how the pa rents parent i cannot fathom how the parents had no idea what was going on, they could not see anything was going on with their child. we will see what happens. you will continue

to call for a public enquiry. thank you to you all. still to come... one of the biggest names in british television tells us why he's trying to sue lloyds banking group for more than £60 million. and we'll have the very latest from the high court, where two victims of the taxi driver rapistjohn worboys are due to challenge the decision to release him from prison. time for the latest news, here's ben brown with the bbc news headlines this morning. the cabinet is meeting about now to discuss the midnight deadline for the kremlin to explain how a nerve agent — developed in the soviet union — was used to attack a former russian spy in salisbury. the poison used in the attack on sergei skripal in salisbury was a military—grade nerve agent, part of a group known as novichok. theresa may has promised to retaliate if moscow's response isn't satisfactory.

nato has issued a statement condemning the use of nerve agent and reiterating that the uk is a highly valued ally. one of the victims of grooming and rape in the shropshire town of telford has revealed details of her ordeal on the victoria derbyshire programme. the woman, speaking anonymously, says she was gang—raped and sold between men, and that her family was threatened if she refused to comply. she also said that the alarm was not raised by the health or police authorities despite repeated prescriptions for the morning after pill, and being seen in cars with much older men. the chancellor, philip hammond, is expected to deliver some positive economic news in his first ever spring statement today. the statement, which replaces the spring budget, will include the latest official economic figures but it will not impose new taxes. labour ministers say mr hammond must take the chance to end austerity. some reports say they will be an

effort to reduce pressure on the nhs. the european parliament meets in strasbourg later to debate the eu's guidelines on brexit. after a speech from the european commission president, jean—claude juncker, meps will discuss the guidelines, as well as their own resolution, which outlines the parliament's priorities and so—called "red lines" for the brexit negotiations. two victims of black cab rapistjohn worboys begin a high court challenge today against what they have called the irrational decision to release him from jail. the judicial review is expected to hear for the first time why the parole board plans to free the sex attacker. the board and worboys, who will appear via video link from prison, oppose the legal challenge. the former liverpool and england defenderjamie carragher says he'll accept any punishment that comes his way after he was filmed spitting from his car towards another vehicle. it happened after manchester united's 2—1win over liverpool where he was working as a pundit for sky sports. 5 were 77

u-“z as 5 were 77 ”mt as grown 5 were 77 we; as i grown man 5 were 77 teenage ; as i grown man 5 were 77 teenage ; as i grown m in tea rs tears listening to her story. yet another shocking, disgusting sexual abuse story. the grooming and rape of hundreds of young girls by much bachasson amen. it's hard to believe this goes on in this country, i'm almost embarrassed to be a man. another tweet, a brave victim who has recanted the abuse she went through. alice says, incredible bravery in such an important conversation on your programme. something needs to change in how we protect vulnerable young people in society. tanya says, i'm horrified by what i'm listening to, the evidence around sexual abuse ignored for so long and so horrendously prevalent. and this text from george, i know

the three families whose children we re the three families whose children were abused, then murdered in telford. they didn't want to cause any race problems, and they were told that. thank you for those, do keep them coming. here is the latest sport. britain's menna fitzpatrick and her guidejen kehoe britain's menna fitzpatrick and her guide jen kehoe have britain's menna fitzpatrick and her guidejen kehoe have won silver at the winter paralympics in the women's visually impaired super combined and ben. millie knight missed out on a third straight medal with brett wild. they were for. two goals from david silva helped manchester city to a win at stoke last night, pep guardiola's team in a 16 point lead in the premier league so they could win the title against manchester united at the etihad next month. southampton have sacked murray to pellegrino after just one southampton have sacked murray to pellegrino afterjust one win in 17 league games. is the ninth premier league boss to lose hisjob league games. is the ninth premier league boss to lose his job this season. marco silva is the favourite to ta ke season. marco silva is the favourite to take charge. serena williams says she has a long way to go in her comeback after the

birth of our child following defeat against her sister venus. i will have more for you at ten. noel edmonds, face of bbc saturday night tv for decades and then deal or no deal on channel 4, says he was almost left bankrupt after falling victim to a multi million pound fraud at lloyds. he's seeking £60 million in compensation over losses he claims he suffered when his former business, unique group, collapsed. the £245 million loans scandal at halifax bank of scotland, which was later bought by lloyds, saw several menjailed for their part in the scandal with the bankers being dubbed the british wolves of wall street. lloyds have previously disputed noel edmonds' claim that the fraud caused his business to collapse. now in an exclusive interview noel edmonds tells us he was left suicidal and at rock bottom after the losses. hejoins us now. good morning, how are you? and very good, it's a great pleasure. how

have you worked out it is sitting knowing you need back? it such a lot of money to bail it is a huge amount. it was independently assessed by a highly respected accountancy firm. they are experts in forensic accountancy. there were stories in the press it was 300 million, etc. the figure has been assessed at about 60 million. the businesses that were destroyed would have been worth that amount of money. how did it collapse? actually, i am one of many, many victims in this country. i find myself as a reluctant people's champion. this started a year ago when those people went to prison and i realise one of those people was my bank manager. i previously thought, i must have been rubbish business. but then it became very clear, this isa but then it became very clear, this is a common thing with victims, suddenly a light goes on and you go, actually, my farm was taken away for

this reason or i lost my garage for this reason or i lost my garage for this reason. we are talking about thousands of people, maybe tens of thousands, not the 60 or so that lloyds banking group claim. and basically, smes were targeted for their assets. 0k, basically, smes were targeted for their assets. ok, the people that went to prison took that policy to extremes. but unfortunately, it is a policy that has been prevalent throughout british banking for many, many years. it does go back to the 19905, many years. it does go back to the 1990s, and the banks saw a way of boosting their balance sheets by acquiring the assets of businesses, and in my case mark unique group had some great assets, and we were not able to realise the value of those assets, which meant that basically we we re assets, which meant that basically we were forced into administration, the bank came after me for money under my personal guarantees, which forced me to the edge of bankruptcy. and it had a huge impact on you personally, tell the audience a

little about that. well, a massive impact. it was an incredibly stressful time, that is a real understatement, because i am either by nature or nurture a very positive person but last year i decided i might be able to benefit other people if i said, yes, i tried to ta ke people if i said, yes, i tried to take my life. the reaction to that has been, um, humbling. iwas delighted with the reaction from the samaritans, who have supported for many years, and i'm pleased to say there are individuals who i am now still regularly in contact with, who attributed the fact they did not ta ke attributed the fact they did not take their lives to the fact they heard the bloke of the telly had been driven into that dark space. never being judgmental about someone who attempts to take your life because until you have been in that space you cannot know how bad it is. and we have an epidemic of suicide in this country. it is particularly men. they always want to be seen to

be strong, to be providing for the family, and suddenly you are exposed as fallible to yourself and it takes you to a very dark place. and what about the impact on those around you? it was huge, devastating for in all of this, with the failure of unique group, it's easy to forget, but i didn't forget that over 70 people lost their jobs, but i didn't forget that over 70 people lost theirjobs, they had to be told they were going to be made redundant, that impacts on to many other people in their social circles and in theirfamily. it was a horrendous period in my life. and at the time, ijust horrendous period in my life. and at the time, i just thought that i horrendous period in my life. and at the time, ijust thought that i was rubbish at business, my chief executive thought the same thing. then suddenly, we realise we are pa rt then suddenly, we realise we are part of a cold, calculating plan to destroy the business. that's why i'm taking legal action against lloyds banking group because i've tried to

negotiate with them, but as with so many of the other victims, they say one thing in public, but in private, they have a different agenda. they said they have tried mediation had offered you composition but it's not enough? i had an independent review, which cannot be independent because they paid the professor, he's not a real professor and he doesn't have any qualifications. i don't know if thatis any qualifications. i don't know if that is true about his qualifications, i just that is true about his qualifications, ijust need to say that. but i'm talking about the mediation. it is fair to say it wasn't enough? they put me into this review, which is not independent... again, i don't know if it is independent or not. they describe it as independent. it is not transparent people have to sign gagging orders. contrary to what their chairman said last may, no—one is compensated for their losses. they give money for the distress. and of course, the people who are victims have to be honest and they

have to say there are circumstances as part of filling out this form for the review. so, lawyers know that people are tough time so they are able to offer them the minimum amount of money. so they forced me into the review, we filed a 90 page statement of the losses, they immediately threw me out the review and said, we will go to mediation. i went to mediation with an astonishingly well qualified chap, wonderful man, and i went to negotiate and to settle. they didn't come for that. it wasn't enough, that's the bottom line? they started off with an insulting the money, they didn't even offer to give me back the money that they got through a corrupt high court action. they offered me, in the end, after ten hours, £3.6 million, which i grant you is a massive amount of money, who wouldn't want that in their bank account who wouldn't want that in their bank a ccou nt cos who wouldn't want that in their bank account cos but in the context of 60

million, i have stole from you £600, you are upset and i offer you £36 back. they wouldn't admit a crime was committed or that i was a victim and they fought me into a bad situation. the professor you have mentioned says he is independent, i am just going to say that... he can't be. don't keep saying the same thing, he says he is. but he paid by lloyds. i'm just saying what he says. leslie says, go for it, you are representing people who have lost everything. homes, businesses, and in some cases their livestock and i have been humbled by the —— in some cases their lives. i have been humbled by the response. this is not just about lloyds, it is the whole financial sector, people who have lost everything and they don't have the litigation funding that i have

secured. it was a massive moment for me when one of the biggest funders in the world said we have looked at your case and on merit, we will fund it. i have seen some estimates that you're worth £75 million, is that true? no. what are you worth, do you think? i've no idea, at the until came until will be wi area wi are a battle our nature “spur" w with this battle against lloyds? the moment i realised ”f: i with this battle against lloyds? the moment i realised if? i was the moment i realised that i was the victim, of criminals, then i was able to put positive spin on it. and ido able to put positive spin on it. and i do have the facts now. i've done a

lot of work with people like lord cromwell, vince cable, the appg on this. unfortunately i do know an awful lots this. unfortunately i do know an lots now about the way banks operating and i agree with the comment of the mps injanuary at the appg debate that there is systemic criminality and malpractice within british banks, principally rbs and lloyds. and it's really upsetting, to realise this is a massive national scandal that has affected eve ryo ne national scandal that has affected everyone in the country. we've had ten years of austerity because of a relatively small number of corrupt bankers. there is no evidence of systemic commonality, and going to read this statement from lloyds if i may. "lloyds banking group made determined efforts to reach a consensual resolution with mr edmonds through mediation late last year, but this was not possible. as a formal litigation process is now anticipated it would be inappropriate to comment other than to say his claim will be contested."

they would say that. it's the mandy rice davies comment.” they would say that. it's the mandy rice davies comment. i know. you we re rice davies comment. i know. you were diagnosed with prostate cancer. in 2013. and you believe, i think, that part of the stress of the business collapsing contributed to that? yes, it is a scientific fact, medicalfact, that that? yes, it is a scientific fact, medical fact, that stress can contribute to wide range of diseases. we have a health under their neck in the uk, is that anything to do with the very stressful —— we have health epidemic in the uk, is that to do with the stressful way we live our lives? the scientists say yes, it manifests in different ways but for me, when i got that diagnosis, i looked back andi got that diagnosis, i looked back and i thought, i know how this has come about. and i was determined from that awful moment when i had to tell liz, i have cancer... your wife's? yes, i was determined i

would come at it with a smile on my face, befriend my tumour, i even put it on my screen saver, that would not talk about attacking cancer, not talk about a war, i would just ask it to leave. and my consultant who gave me the treatment that tha nkfully gave me the treatment that thankfully worked and destroyed the tumour, he said he had never met such a positive person. he kept looking at my medical records saying, keep getting your date of birth wrong here, are you really? i'm 70 in december, he couldn't believe it. i do believe there is a direct link between your positive attitude to all sorts of things, whether it's lloyds banking group or cancer, and the outcome. what kind of things would you say to your cancer, or a photograph of your tumour? i called it my little friend, and i would ask it to go away. in polite terms or did where? no, you have to befriend it. -- did

you swear? no, you have to befriend it. i changed certain aspects of my diet, iam huge it. i changed certain aspects of my diet, i am huge advocate of positive electromagnetism which i think has a positive role to play in a range of illnesses. this looks like a mobile phone, this is an app which i have subsequently developed and i want to make available to people free, which gives you post electromagnetism over time. you are criticised for two things around the issue of cancer, one was the gadget, the yoga mat or the electromagnetic pad, which you suggested could help tackle cancer, tackle, being irrelevant word you use. and second you were criticised, someone use. and second you were criticised, someone tweeted you and said you we re someone tweeted you and said you were talking about quackery, and you said, scientific fact, disease is

caused by negative energy, is it positive your ill health is caused by your negative attitude, do you regret that? not at all. i regret the fact that he didn't answer the question. why would you suggest that to someone? because it is a scientific fact that negative energy causes disease and negative thoughts are part of that process. if you are face with a serious illness, you have come at it with a positive mental attitude. it changes the outcome and millions of doctors and scientists will tell you that. but don't you think it's a horrible thing to say to a cancer survivor?” think it was horrible, the way he started the dialogue. but i'm asking you about what you said to him. the any concession i will make is, i stopped doing quite a because i realised you cannot have a balanced debate through twitter. do not think it was horrible what you said to him? nope, -- because i asked him a

question. it is perfectly reasonable to ask if someone's negative attitude has contributed to the situation you find yourself in. do you not think it would to a person? possibly. is that it? that chapter has gone. i'm very, very relaxed with the principle that if you want to tackle big problems in your life and serious disease, you have to come at it in a positive way. and there's a whole range of things you can do before you subject yourself to big pharma and chemicals in your body, etc. do you think all cancers can be caused by negative attitude? no. which once? i don't know, i'm not a doctor. exactly. the point you're making is? i don't know what

the point is making. you suggested to one cancer survivor that his disease with down to his attitude. no, iask disease with down to his attitude. no, i ask a question. i was not doing a diagnosis, i was saying, is it possible? you could come at it the other way and say, somebody could come at it and think, that's a good point, and i in this situation because i have created a negative energy about my being? that could be a positive thing. and obviously you know that there are very positive people who get serious diseases who don't make it. correct, my father being one. so it's notjust about positive attitude? it's not binary. ido positive attitude? it's not binary. i do think we need to explore a lot more about the energy of the human body, and we need to understand, it's back to my fk oh, find out the fa cts , it's back to my fk oh, find out the facts, then gain the knowledge, then you are qualified to get an opinion. let's got some messages for you. everyone is behind you, says

christopher, in your legal battle, i hope you get your money back and fight for the little guy, good luck. mohammed says, i must admit, such a good interview, iwent mohammed says, i must admit, such a good interview, i went through the same thing, i'm happy he's getting justice for what he's lost. i hope more getjustice. karen says, go for it, i'm sure hundreds of others are behind you and i hope you beat the big conglomerates. chris, 60 million is just greed, he does need this money, he taking advantage, do you wa nt to money, he taking advantage, do you want to respond to that? -- he does not eat is money. it's back to fa cts , not eat is money. it's back to facts, knowledge, opinion. i had my business is stolen for me, i never talked about competition. i and asking —— i'm giving the chance for compensation. they proposed nicking my carand giving compensation. they proposed nicking my car and giving the wheels back. there's another thought about that, but i will be polite. hazel on facebook says to me, you were very

rude to ask in what he was worth. facebook says to me, you were very rude to ask in what he was worthm the current bbc climate, for goodness' sake, you got to ask the question, even if i don't regard it of being worthy of an answer. tracy says, these banks have destroyed people for way too long, especially lloyds. do you miss being on television? i thought we were on telly? a weekly show. no, i don't. i have had just the most wonderful career. it reaches the 50 year milestone in september, that's when i first started in milestone in september, that's when ifirst started in radio. i'm in a building which i respect and appreciate, and at every opportunity, because there has been misrepresentation, i thank the bbc for 30 fantastic years of one full opportunity. i decided —— wonderful opportunity. i decided —— wonderful opportunity. i decided —— wonderful opportunity. i decided of my english and to concentrate my businesses which were then destroyed by hbos

and lloyds, and i was saved by channel 4 asking me to do deal or no deal, i did ten years, 3000 shows, because of the tabloid world we live m, because of the tabloid world we live in, it was axed, but ten years of opening doctors is enough.“ someone opening doctors is enough.“ someone approached you with a format you like you would do it? exacta, if someone came you like you would do it? exacta, if someone came to you like you would do it? exacta, if someone came to me and you like you would do it? exacta, if someone came to me and said, here is something different, that's the key thing. i was so fortunate to be given the formats. i was a great, i wasn't in the class of ronnie or ken dodd, i had great teams and great formats. i don't miss it. dodd, i had great teams and great formats. idon't miss it. i'm dodd, i had great teams and great formats. i don't miss it. i'm not sure i believe you. but thank you for coming on the programme. but i lie to you? i don't know, but thank you for coming on. good morning. what a day today, much

better across england and wells compared to yesterday and some of you seen compared to yesterday and some of you seen big prisons, the skies overhead in cornwall. —— england and wales and some of you have seen big changes. blue skies overhead in cornwall. but there have been periods of rain, in the wirral, for example. there is a weak weather front pushing across western areas from west to east, but you can see a swirl of cloud which board the cloud and rain yesterday that is moving towards northern europe. sunny conditions continue to work their way eastwards but we have got a line of showers north—west england to the midlands, which will stretch towards the south—east in the afternoon. eastern counties and the far north of scotland will see showers but most of scotland will see showers but m ost pla ces of scotland will see showers but most places seeing good sunny spells. winds are light,

strengthening much sunshine, it will feel quite pleasant. up the little bit on what we would normally expect at this time of year. one or two showers towards the south—east corner, but certainly if you are heading off to cheltenham for the first day of the festival, you could not have picked a better day. the winds are light, the ground is soft underfoot, but sunny conditions to see the day. clear whether across central and eastern parts, we could get down to —1 in newcastle, but further west, more cloud and a strengthening breeze. belfast and plymouth, six or seven into the morning. the rain and drizzle art links to this low pressure to the west of us as we start tomorrow, the weather front will get close to us and it will drag up some mild air coming up from the south on strong to gale force south to

south—easterly winds. the wind is strongest across the south and west, outbreaks of rain which will turn persistent across ireland, west and wales and cornwall later on. occasional rain in western scotland but dry for a lot of time across scotland, eastern wales and england. hazy sunshine in eastern areas and we could get to 15 degrees in the south—east. wednesday night, the cloud and rain pushes across other parts of wales and southern england, heavy bursts to take us into thursday morning. doesn't make too much in the way of inroads further north before the area of low pressure gets shoved back into the atla ntic pressure gets shoved back into the atlantic as high—pressure built across south —— scandinavia, cold airon its way across south —— scandinavia, cold air on its way back. cold and windy with the increasing chance of some snow showers as well. we will keep you updated. good morning, it is victoria park

russia, welcome to our programme. our top story today... how do you deal with russia? moscow has until the end of the day to explain why a russian—made nerve agent was used to poison a former spy and his daughter. should there be no credible response, we will conclude that this action amounts to an unlawful use of force by the russian state against the united kingdom and we will not tolerate such a brazen attempt to murder innocent civilians on our soil. as the pressure mounts for russia to respond, we'll discuss the growing calls for england to boycott the world cup. permit will call for a national enquiry into the abuse scandal in telford. —— parliament will call. i'd be being sold maybe two or three times a night, to the people who would pay for the girls in telford. men of every race, religion coming in there and wanting to pay for girls. we'll also get reaction from a senior lawyer who played

a key role in the rochdale and rotherham abuse scandals, and from a group set up to tackle sexual grooming in the uk. and one of the biggest names in british tv, noel edmonds, tells us why he's trying to sue lloyds banking group for over £60 million. it was an incredibly stressful time. that is a real understatement. yes, i tried to take my life. good morning. here is the latest news. the cabinet is meeting about now to discuss the midnight deadline for the kremlin to explain how a nerve agent, developed in the soviet union, was used to attack a former russian spy in salisbury. is the uk preparing to strike hard against russia? boris johnson has said if russia cannot come up with a

convincing explanation of why the nerve agent was used in salisbury, the government will be announcing the government will be announcing the uk's response tomorrow. mr johnson said he was encouraged by the report that britain has received from his french, german and american counterparts. i've been very encouraged so far by the strength of the support we are getting. i think in particularfrom president macron of france, and my german counterpart, and from washington. rex tillerson last night made it absolutely clear that he sees this as part of the pattern of disruptive behaviour, increasingly destructive and malign behaviour by russia. the reckless use of chemical weapons and support for the reckless use of chemical weapons that stretches from syria now to the streets of salisbury. and i've been encouraged by the willingness of our friends to show support and solidarity. more details are beginning to emerge

of the allegations of abuse over four decades against girls in the shropshire town of telford. up to a thousand girls are reported to have been groomed and exploited — with some as young as 11 being drugged and raped. one victim, who was 14 when the abuse began, spoke anonymously to reveal she was repeatedly raped and sold between men and that her family we re sold between men and that her family were threatened if she refused to comply. i was gang—raped just after i turned 16. that is probably the worst thing that ever happened. sorry... you don't need to apologise. and after that, i tried to commit suicide. i genuinely wanted to die because i thought that was the only way out. the chancellor, philip hammond, is expected to deliver some positive economic news in his first ever spring statement today.

that's a summary of the latest bbc news. -_ l'll have more ath—l‘so

about fit‘, regards to positive attitude and ‘sfi‘é' "’ ' ‘says, by the way victoriacieatt with meet came across as rude edmonds, came across as rude and unprofessional. i've never experienced anything quite like it. another tweet from phil, it is not a fa ct another tweet from phil, it is not a fact that negative energy causes disease. negative energy is not itself a scientific fact. sue says noel edmonds is being offensive on cancer. to suggest that someone's attitude is causing damage to them is infuriating. dave says i'm surprised than disappointing at your

hostile tone of questioning. you seemed to be showing your own prejudices as regards his cancer treatment. boris zazai hole at —— i wholeheartedly support his assertion that the positive attitude contributes. hypnotherapy steered me in the right direction. thank you for that, do keep them coming in. right, the sport now and will back. britain's menna fitzpatrick and guidejen kehoe have won silver at the winter paralympics this morning in the women's visually impaired super combined event. the pair were second after the super—g run and despite an impressive slalom effort, they were unable to get the better of the slovakians. fitzpatrick is just 19, she was born no vision in her left eye and limited sight in her right, but started skiing aged five. they only started working together in 2015 and have built up a solid partnership. fellow briton millie knight missed out on a third straight medal with brett wild, they were fourth after a disappointing slalom. two goals from david silva helps manchester city

to a 2—0 win at stoke. pep guardiola's side now have a 16 point lead. city need just two more wins for their third premier league title. if they beat everton at goodison park later this month, they could seal the title on derby day with a win over rivals manchester united on the 7th of april. city captain vincent kompany says it's "a once in a lifetime opportunity". stoke remain a point from safety with eight games to go. the cheltenham festival gets under way this afternoon, more than a quarter of a million spectators are expected over from her days quarter of a million spectators are expected overfrom her days with bookmakers estimating after £350 million will be wagered. the nicky henderson trained horse will attempt to defend his title in the feature race. i will have the headlines at half—past. telford is a large picturesque town in the west midlands with a population of 170,000 people. but over a 40 year period it's been estimated that up to 1,000

girls were abused by gangs of british pakistani and bangladeshi men. so far, only seven of them have been convicted. now there are calls for a public inquiry into how the abuse went on for so long and whether authorities were too politically correct to properly address it. holly archer was abused from the age of 13, raped countless times, and sometimes forced to sleep with several men a night. she told us the impact it had on her. it quickly moved on to being sold, every single day. so, being sold two or three times a night. taken to the thing i can only describe as a rape house, which was set up for the purpose of young girls being sold to

men will. it wasn'tjust pakistani men, there were men of every race, religion, coming in and wanting to pay for girls. how did you cope with this? i can't really explain it. it was like i was living in a bubble. i had no feelings about anything. all i wanted to do was make my family proud of me. so i continued going to school, did my best, everything i could do to try and make something good bit for my family, because the reason i kept going back was they we re reason i kept going back was they were threatening me with burning my house down, which was a real threat in telford because that had actually

happened to revisit. they would say to me they would rape my mother and sisters. they knew all about my family. there was just no escape at all. with us now is senior lawyer nazir afzal, who specialises in child sexual exploitation and played a key role in the rochdale and rotherham abuse scandals. also ansar ali, spokesperson for together against grooming. an organisation set up to tackle sexual grooming in the uk including working with mosques and islamic centres. welcome, both of you. how do you respond to what is being uncovered in telford? it's no surprise. i prosecuted the rochdale case seven yea rs prosecuted the rochdale case seven years ago now, and i said then this was the tip of the iceberg, there we re was the tip of the iceberg, there were pa rt of was the tip of the iceberg, there were part of this country for this type of sexual abuse was taking place, the 30s have not recognised it, they lifted the stone then they

would see it. —— the authorities is. i prosecuted the telford original prosecution and i knew that this was a bigger issue notjust in telford but everywhere. but i still see stories like that of holly, she has not been listened to or believed, the abuses have gained dost—mac the abuses have almost acted with impunity because they know the authorities will not do anything about it. she is one of probably thousands of young girls and young boys who are being abused in street grooming up—and—under country, and i am pretty sure robbie you look, you will find this. you mean in every town and city across the country? every town and city. there was a report which went as far as saying even report which went as far as saying eve n every report which went as far as saying even every hamlet. but certainly anywhere where you find groups of men, you will find prejudices

amongst them, they will abuse children. but you would like to think, would you not, from what we have learned from previous scandals, the authorities and the police, social workers, medical professionals, which treat those who are being exploited as victims now? you would hope so. the levels of training and expertise have improved. but you always hear in every serious case review, lessons have to be learned. because people don't get it right first time. it comes down to confidence. these are difficult cases to prosecute and investigate, absolutely. but i think the lawyers and skills or there: but are not being utilised. it is also an impartial posterity, but we've lost some expertise and specialism in an area where we need expertise and specialism. but ultimately we need empathy. we need to understand these victims need something more than most victims, and they are not being given it. we've been told in the case of telford that is notjust

white girls that were being exploited, but asian young girls too. have you heard the same? not only have i heard that, not on is the anecdotal evidence, but actually, the most thorough examination, the recent study of this issue was done by the office of the children's commissioner, and that researched it back to 2013. that research, it said about a third of the victims were from a non—white background, black and minority ethnic background. going back to 2013, when the home affairs committee was taking evidence on this issue on one of the conclusions was that whilst official statistics, the proportion of the can to come from a non—white background is low, when they actually went out to the towns and cities and the agencies dealing with these issues on the ground, they got a totally different picture. so although the official

statistics say the number of victims we re statistics say the number of victims were goals but winner unofficially from anecdotal evidence and by research the road reality is different. sorry, let me ask you, why have some asian exploited and abused young girls? that is configured to question. i think a lot of these cases —— a complicated question, what you find is that there are links between these gangs who are involved in grooming young girls, and in crime. they have all beenin girls, and in crime. they have all been in criminal activity, they are involved in drugs, and they see this asa involved in drugs, and they see this as a diversification of their activity. these gangs operate, they are not what you call classic, typical paedophiles. that is not their kind of motivation. yes, they are sexual predators but i think it's more that they use these girls

asa it's more that they use these girls as a sexual commodity and it's about making money from them. is there any link to their heritage or are they just criminals? i don't think there isa link just criminals? i don't think there is a link to their heritage, because most people from the background do not commit these sort of acts. the vast majority find their actions reprehensible, from all communities including the community from which they originate. sol including the community from which they originate. so i don't think thatis they originate. so i don't think that is the cause. a statement from the home office has cold the child sexual exploitation and national black, would you agree? —— a statement from the home office has called child sexual excitation and national threat, would you agree? yes, we have two agree. we have had a number of studies in places like oxford and rotherham but the lessons are not being learned on

a national basis. that's what we need to do, a and nationwide response. thank you very much, both of you. thank keep your messages as well. many of you want to comment on the young woman we spoke to at the beginning of our programme called holly. we spoke to her anonymously, she did not wish to show her face, she was talking about the abuse and exploitation she experienced in telford as a teenager, beginning from the age of 14. adam says, my heart goes out to the brave young lady who spoke on her programme today. i am ashamed disgusted again of another sex scandal involving thousands of victims involving pakistani men, i'm a bachelor of 50 years, british—born pakistani and once again i am wary of stepping outside my house, what people may think of me. this one says, how can

this have happened, no one asked her about her abortions? amanda says, how brave of this young woman to speak up, theresa may you need to speak up, theresa may you need to speak up, theresa may you need to speak up now. there needs to be an inquiry, this one says, and this one says, these are crimes, need to be treated as such. do the police need nor resources? would rather we had a change of the law to make enablers as guilty as perpetrators, i am tired of men behaving like this. the conservative chancellor, philip hammond, will give his verdict on the nation's financial health in a couple of hours' time. it's known as the spring statement. we're expected to see "light at the end of the tunnel" on the amount of money the uk is in debt, but it won't be the end of austerity. our political guru norman smith is in westminster. it's been eight years now of austerity, just remind us where we're up to. todayis today is normally a big bananas day at westminster, you look at

previously chancellor gordon brown and george osborne, it used to be a mini budget, packed with tax announcement and spending commitments. not so this time. it could be a bit of a damp squib. who says so? the chancellor, philip hammond, has already announced he is not being to making any big tax giveaway announcements, there are knocking to be any spending commitments, he will not have a red box. there will not be a drum roll before he gets up to deliver his statement, which has worked a number of people because for the first time ina long of people because for the first time in a long time we have a budget surplus. that is to say, each month we get more cash in in taxes that we pay out in various government expenditure. you have to go back until 2001, the last time we had a budget surplus. that has fuelled calls for an end to austerity. and end to the squeeze on public sector pay, trying to find more cash for

social care and hospitals. will the chancellor end austerity? almost certainly not. that's notjust because he thinks today is not the moment to do it, today is just reporting on the state of the economy. but also because of our level of debt. now, debt is all the bills we have accrued over previous decades for paying for everything from wars to hospitals to schools, you name it, and we have a humongous pile of debt. that's the 02 —— which we owe to banks and financial institutions. we have £1.74 trillion, trillion, not billion. that is the amount of money at ten which we owe. —— outstanding which we owe. that's the equivalent of 64,000 pounds for every household in

the country. put it another way, if you look at the amount of money the uk generates, the percentage of that which is debt is 84%. that is a huge amount, and many economists think it's far too big and the danger is if you get into another economic downturn, that could creep up even higher. the fear is eventually the banks say, we are going to stop lending you money because you never pay it back. there's a second reason why mr hammond is not inclined to end austerity and that the deficit. that's the amount we spend above what we get in on a yearly basis, that includes the amount we owe on debt interest and we are still expected to owe around £40 billion. however, there is a plus to this and thatis, however, there is a plus to this and that is, over the past couple of months, the government has been in surplus. we have been getting more taxes in than we been putting money

out. so there is enough tax to cover the government's daily costs. and i think what you'll hear from mr hammond today is a slightly more optimistic economic picture. so we'll talk about the fact that the government has now got enough taxes to cover daily costs, he'll will talk about the fact that growth might be revised up a little bit, productivity beginning to nudge upwards. but end of austerity, don't hold your breath. the chancellor has talked about light at the end of the tunnel but this is the economic equivalent of the mont blanc tunnel, it's going on for a long time and i think we have got a lot of this territory to come. —— a lot of austerity to come. let's talk now to labour's shadow treasury minister mp annaliese dodds and conservative mp andrewjones who is the party's vice chair for business and a former treasury minister. welcome, both of you. the chancellor has nearly 4 billion to play with,

should keep unfreeze the benefits and put money into part of the nhs which crumbling or give councils more money to social care? a balanced approach. what does that mean in real terms? balanced approach. what does that mean in realterms? still focus on reducing debt but invest in public services. so next year we will see the innocent in the services. so next year we will see the in by ent in the 252, ge uerby—egte billion; vie—r— = health investment in the health service, schools by 1.4 billion, defence1 billion, and we will see debt starts to fall as a percentage of gdp for the first time in 17 year.” to fall as a percentage of gdp for the first time in 17 year. i can see you shaking your head in disagreement as andrewjones is speaking, why? this has not been a balanced approach. what we've seen under this government is positioned to cut taxes for the very best off people and corporations, giving away 70 billion over the course of this parliament and where they have paid for some of the deficit, it's been

on the backs of public services, those nurses who have not seen a pay increase, teachers, and children's services and we are very worried that a third of children's services cannot even fill their legal responsibilities. this is not something that should be said about it, we're calling for the chancellor to approach a different approach and reverse those tax cuts which are many benefits of the best off, reverse those and have the funding to support our children and communities. he will have heard that our political editor laura kuenssberg has heard that the cabinet has discussed tax rises to fund an increase in nhs spending. would that be to replace the brexit windfall of 350 million for the nhs? i'm not party to cabinet conversations. all i i'm not party to cabinet conversations. alll can i'm not party to cabinet conversations. all i can tell you. .. what do you think? all i can tell you is we are seeing an increased budget in the nhs next year... you

know it's not enough, not one person says it enough who works in the nhs. of course our nhs needs more cash, because we are seeing greater amounts of treatments being available. so give them more cash. we are. the whole point is getting the balance right, making sure we have enough money to invest in public services but keeping the economy strong. our economy is fundamentally strong. we are the slowest growing g—7 economies.“ you go back to 2010, we have been one of the fastest—growing. you go back to 2010, we have been one of the fastest-growing. right now, we are the slowest growing. you cannot take one data point, you have to go through the biggest picture. if you go back to 2010, the uk has been the fastest—growing or equal fastest—growing and at the same time we have created 3 million jobs and bridges and employment to an all—time low. bridges and employment to an all-time low. the surplus is a good

thing and we would not have that without the conservatives, do you acknowledge that?” without the conservatives, do you acknowledge that? i don't, it has taken as much longer to get this a nessie had a different approach. the government has had to abandon previous targets for deficit elimination and a big reason is because it has not sorted out the long—term problems in the uk economy which means that we have less tax revenue coming in. the office for budget responsibility, the independent watchdog, it revised down its forecast for the uk's economic roast because we have a huge productivity problem, more of a productivity problem than copper bowl countries in a similar —— comparable countries in similar positions. we don't have enough investment, lowest public sector and private sector investment of all can parable countries at the moment. we don't have enough money going into education, we will have falling

levels of funding per pupil in education for many years for the first time from this government and a cut into further education. this government has decided it will eliminate the deficit, but at the same time, if tax cuts to the best off and that has not worked.” same time, if tax cuts to the best off and that has not worked. i have to reject that, can't accept that comment. 0k, thank you. andrew jones and shadow treasury minister annelise dodds. three judges at the high court will hear the start of a legal challenge today against the parole board's decision to grant the release of the serial sex offender, john worboys, who police suspect attacked more than 100 women. the former black cab driver, who's changed his name tojohn radford, has spent more than ten years in prison. lawyers for two of his victims are expected to argue that the board's decision was irrational and it should have taken a more cautious approach. it's the first time a parole boards decision has been reconsidered in a judicial review.

one of the women involved in the case, who we called fiona, spoke exclusively with us earlier this year. she told us how she thought he was a danger to other women and she also described what it was like facing worboys in court as part of the legal process. when he first walked through the doors, i was just struck by, "oh, my god, he's pathetic. he's a pathetic old man". he was all hunched over, and wringing in his hands. he's talking, and he's talking just above a whisper. but a couple of times he looked at me and i saw his eyes and do you know what? he hasn't changed one bit, because every woman that got in that cab reported that the reason they accepted that drink was because they felt sorry for him because he was pathetic. it was an act. and i do believe him going into court was still an act because i saw his eyes and he's still capable of what he was doing years ago, absolutely still capable. and i will keep fighting.

i will do whatever it takes to keep him behind bars because that is the only way women will be protected from him, is if he's behind bars. no licence conditions can watch him 24/7. so you're adamant that he is still a danger to women? as far as i'm concerned, he is still a danger. i'm not worried about what he can do to me, because there's nothing more he can do to me. but i don't want to go back to 2003 and watching the news again, waiting for him to reoffend, and i know he will reoffend. i don't want to be in that position again where i say, "i was right — i told you he will do this again," because he will. he will absolutely do it again and we need to protect women from him. let's talk now to adam wagner, who is a human rights barrister and has sat in parole board hearings. sarah green is co—director of the lobby group end violence against women. ian lawrence is from napo, the trade union that represents probation workers.

give our audience and insight into what it's like those hearings. pa role what it's like those hearings. parole board hearing is like a court hearing, it might take place in in a prison but you will have, there's only one question the parole board needs to answer, if this person safe to be released into the public? they will have evidence written and oral, so will have evidence written and oral, so people there in person, from a psychiatrist and a probation officer, potentially evidence from victims, and they will make a decision based on all that evidence, whether this person is safe to be released or not. how can you know that? they are looking at future risk, that's difficult to pin down. that's the tasks that they have achieve. and it's a very difficult decision. in my experience of the pa role decision. in my experience of the parole board, one of the surprising things about this case, is that they

are incredibly cautious. if there's any kind of a hint of a continuing risk, they tend to release. so i was surprised —— they tend to not release. so i was surprised to hear about this. how important is it we have tried fancy about the decisions of the parole board? the parole board needs opening up, it needs transparency. they are following the law in terms of keeping it secret. it would be a law change needed by mps. there has been some thought into that secrecy, so there is not mob rule saying you should stay in prison. so for us that ourjudgment around making judgments of risk in sexual offenders, because knowledge of sexual offenders are quite poor. they are not researched as a group, we do not know what drives them and the different groups of sex

offenders. so it's difficult to properly assess risk of likelihood of future offending. we do know that people who have offended multiple times, police have said that for john worboys there were more than 100 offences in all likelihood, people have held deeply misogynistic attitude and predatory towards women and very capable of lying, he was. the woman in your clip talked about his way of being able to put on a good act, the trait himself as something that he is not. you believe that opening up the parole board believe that opening up the parole boa rd process believe that opening up the parole board process could lead to trial by media? it is a concern, i sympathise massively about some of the comments made about better transparency and support for victims, and this thing is. this is a high profile case, understandably, for reasons we know. there is a concern that the process

could become flawed if there was a trial by media element. it could be flawed without transparency? the system resists, there is a high court. victims were not consulted, the head of the parole board said, victims can have said in licence conditions, they can make a written statement, attend the start of hearing to read their statement in person or say nothing but in this case they were not consulted, does that seem wrong you? those who signed up to victim support scheme should have been consulted and i believe an independent report said it should have happened. people who we re it should have happened. people who were not in the scheme and were not notified about the release, that needs to be looked at. as far as under —— i understand it, the probation ministers have given this a clean bill of health. in terms of

what happens over the next few hours, the lawyers have been told the reasons, the explanation of the pa role the reasons, the explanation of the parole boards decision in wanting to release john parole boards decision in wanting to releasejohn worboys. they say that strengthens their belief in the fa ct that strengthens their belief in the fact that the process went wrong.” think you will find out now because we are in "but it proves the point about openness. we're getting a sense that how this decision has been made. it happens by chance, they had a very good lawyers, they had crowdfunding, it was a very high profile case. but in the vast majority of cases, the victims have no idea especially victims who have been convicted of offences and potential victims, so i think the argument that this should be opened up argument that this should be opened up is quite strong. i think the pa role up is quite strong. i think the parole board themselves are interested as well. what are the

most what are the most draconian conditions, for someone like his crimes, what with that involve, john worboys? that would decide -- depend ona numberof worboys? that would decide -- depend on a number of things. we think someone on a number of things. we think someone of that character would be released into premises,. workers would supervise the client and my concern is the quality of supervision that someone like worboys would get, because it has been privatised, it is a serious and stick by government. thank you very much, all of you. —— i think it is a serious mistake. a sign of our times in 2018 is seeing stories explode on social media based on one person's experience or claim. that tweet or post goes viral but often we don't get to hear from both sides which means we don't always hear the full story. this morning we have brought

together both sides of a story which went viral yesterday. fatima rajina tweeted that she and herfriend had been turned away from a restaurant on mothers‘ day despite seeing empty tables. when minutes later they rang the restaurant, a table was offered. fatima rajina and herfriend nasar rehman say they were turned away because of the colour of their skin. that tweet got thousands of retweets and as a result they got a flood of responses from other people of colour saying casual racism in the restaurant industry was an every day occurrence. dr fatima rajna, an academic, and herfriend nasar rehman, a management consultant, agreed to speak to us this morning alongside alex scrimgeour, the chief executive and founder of the cote restaurant chain which turned them away. it was sunday brunch, first went to a cafe across the world —— across the road. they had quite a long

queue, and and the guy came and showed as cote. we were ignored for a while when we went in, and then someone a while when we went in, and then someone just pop out at the site and it is an elevated platform, someone pot out and looked as and down and reservations only. when was this? about 12, midday on mother's day. we we re about 12, midday on mother's day. we were standing there for a few minutes, there were quite a few empty tables. mother's day, it tends to be big groups. it doesn't mean those tables weren't booked. there we re those tables weren't booked. there were ta bles those tables weren't booked. there were tables are the front that were empty. we then left. we were having a

disagreement between ourselves. we call the number, then. we rang the restau ra nt. call the number, then. we rang the restaurant. and i said, have you got the restaurant? and i said i'm calling, it is mother's day, and i have call with my mother. and it was the lady that was serving while we we re the lady that was serving while we were standing there. she turns round and goes, we haven't —— we have got and goes, we haven't —— we have got a table ready in 30 minutes. by that time it would have been about half past 12? a couple of hours after we left and we were walking back to the car. i was a bit shocked. i said, why didn't you check the list? not any why didn't you check the list? not a ny let why didn't you check the list? not any let me check for you or anything like that. i wasn't offered a table.

why was that? chose a bit hesitant. i could not see any reason why i was not given the table. she didn't say let me check the actual booking. and it was early on mother's day that they had the booking system. so it was a bit strange, really. when we initially walked in, we were both aware that it was mother's day so we knew that it would be busy. they had seats, tables free, outside. inside, it wasn't particularly busy. when we walked out ijust instantly got this gut feeling. and i said, i think there is more to the story. so we will make this phone call and put it to the test. and he did put on an acce nt to the test. and he did put on an accent to make himself sound like he was a white man making a phone call. and we got offered a table within15 minutes. and when he switched back

to his normal accent by addressing her, saying, why wasn't this offer to us when we walked in a few minute ago, that is when she got really flustered and offered as the table straightaway. that can burn my initial doubts about what i thought about —— that confirmed my initial doubts. that you were turned away because of the colour of your skin? yes. we were like, as soon as she offered as a table in 15 minutes, it was, like, wow. she got very flustered after we addressed.“ was, like, wow. she got very flustered after we addressed. if it was because of a racist member of staff, how does that make you feel? i rang up the head office before this was all arranged and said have someone this was all arranged and said have someone call me. so it made me think that was being done by the booking system, we were told three or four different stories, so it is, like,

what is the truth? here is the chief executive, alex skriniar. why were they turned away? first of all i am terribly sad and disappointed that you were turned away from one of our restaurants feeling that there was some act of racist prejudice against yourselves. that is my first thing that i would like to state. there are a few salient facts that ijust need to put across, it is a matter thatis need to put across, it is a matter that is under investigation in our restaurants right now. mother's day, as you have already mentioned, in fa ct as you have already mentioned, in fact it was our busiest of a day in our restaurants, and we had 60 people who came to the door. and people who came to the door. and people were turned away throughout the day of mother's day. we were incredibly busy that day. the phone

call that you refer to, we do not have a telephone receptionist in our restaurant. it is off—site. so, you called and off—site reservations team. and they had different access to the restaurant manager so the re sta u ra nt to the restaurant manager so the restaurant manager, it is an incredibly busy day, it is hard to manage. he's conscious of freeing up tables to time. we do everything that we can to try and make reservations. my only conclusion can be that there has been some sort of mix—up with the reservations team. i am incredibly sad and disappointed that you feel that you were turned away based on your appearance. why we re away based on your appearance. why were they turned away? because the manager felt he didn't have enough space to take them as guests at the time. it is still a matter that is

under investigation. as a business, we employ over 3000 people. and we represent over 120 different nationalities. so we are very proud of reputation as an equal opportunities employer. this is an unusual thing to hear, and something we take very seriously. you have my word that we will be investigating your allegation fully and we will come back to you. who have already said that you are sorry for something, and that the restaurant was fully booked anyway. so what is it that you're investigating?” was fully booked anyway. so what is it that you're investigating? i am not sorry for act of racism because we have not established that. if you left our business feeling that you had been in some way prejudiced against all there was some act of racism, i am against all there was some act of racism, lam not against all there was some act of racism, i am not saying categorically if there was or wasn't any act of racism, it is an ongoing investigation and i feel very strongly that, before we are

accused, tried and convicted on social media that has ensued, i think it is only fair to the team in the restaurant and to the person and placed that we actually, that all the facts are represented and it is not a one—sided affair. i disagree with the reservations team being off—site. it was the lady that i heard. it is local to will and garden. it was diverted to our call centre. we have a very ethnically diverse team in charlotte street. and i can absolutely guarantee you that they did not give any preferential treatment to anyone who speaks in eithera preferential treatment to anyone who speaks in either a posh accent or, as you say, trying to pretend that you're something else. sol as you say, trying to pretend that you're something else. so i can absolutely guarantee you and i will be happy to show you personally the reservation system, if you want. i can show you, first—hand. reservation system, if you want. i

can show you, first-hand. just because your team is diverse doesn't mean that one cannot experience racism from the organisation. so, emphasising that you have a diverse team i don't think is sufficient in this case. what i am emphasising is that people are innocent until prove n that people are innocent until proven guilty and we are taking this matter extremely seriously. it was something that happened 36 hours ago. i became aware of the situation less than 24 hours ago. and i'm sitting on national television giving you my commitment of how seriously we are taking the situation. and if there is any act of racism you have my word that we will act to the full extent we can. nilwe will act to the full extent we can. nil we have been will act to the full extent we can. nilwe have been given will act to the full extent we can. nil we have been given conflicting reports. one was that it was the booking system, wonders that we are one was that we were dissatisfied with our service and we had gone away like that. which one was it? we

are putting across our position. we are putting across our position. we are genuinely sorry that anyone would walk away feeling unhappy from one of our restaurants. we are investigating the accusations that you have made. you need to speak to the team and the restaurant and make sure that we speak to the individuals concerned and then we can come back with a conclusion. how would you measure whether it was racist or not? what would be the parameters? we would be looking at the reservations and investigating. there is no way as far as you're concerned that the woman in a restau ra nt concerned that the woman in a restaurant you saw, that it was the same person? i'm absolutely certain that it was not the same person who was in charge. it was in welwyn garden city. so categorically, and we will investigate the number of bookings at tables on the day and

the cct -- cctv bookings at tables on the day and the cct —— cctv images of the day. i have seen a number of guests turned away. not counting exact numbers but it looks like it has been around 60 people turned away during the day at our restaurant in welwyn garden city. what added to the conversation was the phone conversation when we sounded a particular way, we were offered a table in 15 minutes, if that was available, why will we —— why were they making a stand that? and then when he switched back to his normal accident, it was another table as soon as possible. it is about how we sounded different. i do think you're making very big accusations here. i need to investigate fully. our reservations teams, the people who you spoke to, not the people in the restaurant, are well trained. i appreciate that, however... i can

are well trained. i appreciate that, however. . . | can assure are well trained. i appreciate that, however... i can assure you that they do not treat people differently based on how they speak on the phone. lots of people got in touch with you, talking about is similar kind of experiences, including, for example, black people who said they we re example, black people who said they were asked to pay the bill before they sat down and ate their meal. tell us how you felt about the kind of, ina tell us how you felt about the kind of, in a different restaurant, but tell us how you felt about the anecdote he received from people. -- anecdotes you received. the tweets that we put out, we heard from african—american people from across the pond of being rejected at restau ra nts, the pond of being rejected at restaurants, one comedian said she once tried to hire some cycles and was rejected and how white cousin went in and got the cycles immediately. another young lady said they had to pay before they were

eating but a white family did not have to do the same. and she called up have to do the same. and she called up using what i call a white accident and they said, of course not, you do not have to take —— a white accent. and they said, of course you do not have to pay before you eat. this is not an isolated incident, it's part of greater picture in britain where we are very co nsta ble picture in britain where we are very constable talking about racism, basher grow very uncomfortable talking about racism. this personifies where britain is, they just do not want to confront where they stand where it comes to race relations. can ijust add, we have been monitoring social media, this has caused quite a stir. the story you are referring to about someone saying they were asked to prepay in one of our restaurants... it wasn't in one of your restaurants. we do

not have a prepayment policy. i'd like to go back to the defending cote, our integrity and community equal opportunities. we are very diverse, we don't tolerate any racism in any form to our guests ought diverse, we don't tolerate any racism in any form to our guests or the team members. and when you have reached the investigation and? they will be the first to know? of course. russia has until midnight tonight to explain how a powerful russian nerve agent was used on british soil. the prime minister told the house of commons, "should there be no credible response, we will conclude that this action amounts to an unlawful use of force by the russian state against the united kingdom." in the last half hour, the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov has said moscow has requested access to the nerve agent used to poison the former spy sergei skripal, and his daughter, in salisbury describing the allegations as "rubbish" and insisting... "we have nothing to do with it. russia is not guilty." this was president putin's response when questioned by the bbc yesterday. president putin, bbc news.

is russia behind the poisoning of sergei skripal? translation: we're busy with agriculture here. to create good conditions for people's lives. and you talk to me about tragedies. first work out what actually happened there and then we'll about it. with me is famil ismailov, editor of bbc russian. bring us right up to date with all the latest? we know that the uk ambassador was summoned to the foreign ministry of russia, and most probably he will be demanded to give explanations about the ultimatum and why as mr lavrov said, britain will not show the evidence that links russia to surrogate —— to to the case. russia will probably start moving towards

worsening relations with the uk, because they will be prepared for every thing. a spokesperson for the foreign ministry in russia you today called the statement by theresa may a circus show in parliament. we have seen a a circus show in parliament. we have seen a demand from mr lavrov, and most probably after the summoning of the ambassador, we will see more things from the russian officials. we have seen a statement from the russian defence minister this morning saying that the chemical weapons that russia had will be destroyed and they have accounted for all the weapons and element of items that they had. thank you very much. oh, dear. we can speak now to radek sikorski, a former polish foreign minister. he has described russia as an assassination department. the prime minister's. the prime minister's assertion that putin is to blame has led to renewed

calls for england to withdraw from the world cup in russia injune. why do you say that russia is an assassination department? to be precise, russia has an assassination department. they have bumped off chechen need is brush recruit leaders and previously mr litvinenko and others, they have the means and the motive. the motive is, there is an election on sunday? president putin is fond of showing his capabilities, whether they are in the nuclear field or capabilities, whether they are in the nuclearfield or in capabilities, whether they are in the nuclear field or in syria, capabilities, whether they are in the nuclearfield or in syria, the missiles, maybe this as well. i also think he's testing britain. the statement from sergei lavrov is nothing but contemptuous. and they know the way to make mr putin noticed the british response would be to go after dodgy russian money

in london. they are betting that in anticipation of brexit and the widening of the current account deficit, britain wouldn't dare do that? where would you put your money? i think it's an opportunity for theresa may to show leadership and show that britain is in the big league. so go after the russian money? yes, with the support of nato allies and i think we should all rally round britain on this issue. how do you go after the money, in practical terms, what does that mean? in force existing legislation. it mean? in force existing legislation. —— rubber rabbi enforcing existing legislation against politically connected people, and investigate large amounts of suspect money, to affect the russian way of life which is to steal money from russian people and scroll it away and enjoy it in the west, primarily in london. but that actually hurt president

putin, who was a very, very wealthy man? the trick would be to go after his associates, not the putin dissidents. but to craft a political response to a political assassination. thank you very much. do you have a view on whether in ten —— england should boycott the world cup? i am against boycott, the olympic tradition was to suspend even olympic tradition was to suspend eve n wars olympic tradition was to suspend even wars to have the games. and i hurts the sports men, —— i think it hurts the sports men, —— i think it hurts the sports men, —— i think it hurts the sports men and there are different ways to respond to acts of terrorism. in oxford, professor anthony glees, head of the university of buckingham's centre for security and intelligence studies. he wants england to boycott the world cup in june. cup injune. and peter shilton, england's most capped player who has played in three world cups. what do you think, peter shilton? i don't think we should mix politics with sport. what would it achieve if

we did with sport. what would it achieve if we d id boycott with sport. what would it achieve if we did boycott the world cup? we would probably suffer more ourselves. if we did it on our own, the fans would suffer, and the england team, financially we would suffer, the fa would suffer. and what would it achieve? i think if there is a boycott in terms of sport, it would have to be done by a lot of other countries as well. i don't think we'd achieve anything, i think it's very dangerous mixing sports with politics. obviously the government have to be seen to be doing something, but i think it's basically got to be done as the previous gentleman said, by sanctions, and by hurting russia in a different way. ifigured wejust had ourselves. that's what i think it would just heard ourselves. so what would it achieve if we boycotted the world cup?“ what would it achieve if we boycotted the world cup? if it could be shown that russia was behind the attempted assassination of two

people in salisbury, and the poisoning, perhaps, of 500 british people in salisbury, not to mention the brave police officer, then not to go and play football in russia would be the least of the measures that we ought to be taking. it would bea that we ought to be taking. it would be a very serious thing if russia could be shown to have been regarding the united kingdom's territory as a place which it can go and kill people in. that's a very, very serious thing. as for the argument, keep politics out of sport, it's something that we used to hear when south africa was a vile racist apartheid country, and all the people who wanted to go and play sports said, keep politics out of sport. it's the other way around. the people who are playing politics with sport, they are countries like south africa, as it used to be, and russia today. there's another point

that needs to be addressed by our foot ball that needs to be addressed by our football association. the russian fans, even before all of this, were well known for their brutality. in 2016 in the euro cup... that is a separate issue. and we will talk about that no doubt but peter shilton, you were disagreeing with much of that? briefly respond, if you would. it's happened before in this country. i forgotten the gentleman's name, forgive me, who was poisoned and died and we still entered the world cup. what's the difference? why didn't we boycott the world cup and not ended? i think it's very —— not into it? i think it would hurt us more than it would hurt russia. russia are a big country, we have got to come up with some better ideas than not going to the world cup and hurting our own

fans and fa. thank you both for coming on the programme. tomorrow morning, strictly legend and former head judge len goodman will be ml a lovely hello, there. after yesterday's heavy rainfall across england and wales, things much improved today. many of us have some sunshine at the moment and it will continue to stay sunny into the afternoon. springlike conditions in shropshire with the daffodils coming out. a few showers are affecting central areas, they will tend to clear away and as you can see by the green on the map, plenty of sunshine during the

afternoon. light winds, to which is up afternoon. light winds, to which is up to 9012 celsius, that will feel quite pleasant with the —— temperatures up to 9—12dc and it will feel quite pleasant with the spring sunshine. tomorrow, more cloud rolling in and that will keep temperatures up overnight. a cloudy day across western areas, strengthening windfall of this, exposed western and —— wind us, i the he says he says an“?