this is bbc news. i'm ben brown. the headlines at 8pm. the police officer who fell ill following the salisbury nerve agent attack has been discharged from hospital. in a statement read by a fellow police officer, detective sergeant nick bailey said he's thankful for the support he's received. some days we've had about 300 messages from officers, the wider police family and the public. the level of support has been unbelievable. germany and france have tonight reiterated their backing for the uk over the incident, saying there was no plausible explanation other than that the russian state was responsible. anger from some conservative mps as it's reported britain's post—brexit passport will be manufactured in the eu — the government says it was a fair and open competition. one year on from the westminster bridge attack, a memorial is lit to remember all those affected by last year's terrorism in the capital. the founder of facebook apologises for its role

in the cambridge analytica scandal — and admits more needs to be done to protect the personal data of its users. also in the next hour, why the humble blueberry muffin is getting the thumbs down from health professionals. researchers find some brands of the popular treat are exceeding the recommended daily intake of sugarfor adults. on meet the author this week my guest is the norwegian writer whose book two sisters tells the haunting story of 2—mac teenage girls who left fallow labour without warning five years ago to join the syrian war. good evening and welcome to bbc news.

germany and france have reaffirmed their support for the uk and their response to the nerve gas attack in salisbury tonight. meeting at the eu summit in brussels, chancellor merkel and president macron agreed that there is no plausible explanation other than that the russian state was responsible for the poisoning of sergei skripal and his daughterjulia. christian fraser is at the eu summit for us tonight. this was so important for theresa may to get this backing, this is what she really wanted. very much salt and it will probably set the mood of the dinner she is going to know where she will outline some of the threats she has talked about before. the british side have worked pretty ha rd in before. the british side have worked pretty hard in the last few days in brussels setting at some of the intelligence they have, informing

them of ambassadors they have sent back to russia. the british national security adviser yesterday informed european countries about the information they have and tonight she will do more of that in this dinnerand she will do more of that in this dinner and hopefully give this statement to the one a week ago with slightly tougher language, she got from the foreign ministers, a unanimous vote of confidence. tonight what she is hoping for is more solidarity and support along the lines of what you have just heard from the trilateral meeting, and the very words, no plausible alternative, that will reverberate around the room in brussels. let's talk with adam fleming, our europe correspondent. she was never going to get sanctions and direct attribution but this is as close as she could have come. this is the first part and they now have the central powers of the eu behind

them, albeit repeating what they said inajoint them, albeit repeating what they said in a joint statement with the united states a few days ago. a clever bit of diplomacy because they means other member states of the eu who were perhaps wavering now have two either fall who were perhaps wavering now have two eitherfall in who were perhaps wavering now have two either fall in line think the statement from france and germany risk looking like some disunity amongst the eu and right now they hate the idea of disunity. it forces the other centreline. at the end of the other centreline. at the end of the statement it says france, germany and the uk will keep in touch and revisit this over the next couple of days so what happens at the dinner tonight is not the end of the dinner tonight is not the end of the story. does that mean we can expect more details from the chemical weapons watchdog investigation in the coming days, or can we expect unilateral measures being taken by france and germany in the coming days, or maybe theyjust wa nt to the coming days, or maybe theyjust want to keep in close contact as the story unfolds. some countries are already seemingly ready to take that

action, particularly those next to the border with russia. they see the threat and think it is real. you are referring to the president of lithuania who arrived at this summit on the red carpet and was asked would you do what today is a dead—end expel russian diplomats from your capital and she said yes. i have to say she is the only leader i have to say she is the only leader i have heard going on the record with any ideas about the unknown concrete measures. the rest of them are awaiting to get chapter and verse on this from the international chemical weapons watchdog. yesterday we had news that the foreign ministry in moscow, we have heard from the russian ambassador, as theresa may comes here to brussels. what i thought was interesting is that this time britain is trying to bring all the europeans together and it is the russians on the outside trying to divide and rule. the message from the uk about how russia

has handled this is that first point of the community and excuses, accusations, cds and conspiracy theories the russians have thrown back ourfaces. it theories the russians have thrown back our faces. it proves they are not taking it seriously. the second problem of the british strategy is to remind all the others around the table that they have faced the same issues with the russians as well, some such as the netherlands seeing the loss of life on a large scale when a plane was brought down over ukraine potentially with russian involvement. those are the 2—mac things the uk is trying to push the eu 27 to deliver on that statement, of rock—solid solidarity, but don't expect any rock—solid measure as tonight. it might take some time, and sadly they will be waiting for the findings of the ocp w. we talked

about the russians trying to divide the europeans and we have today that president putin had got in touch with the greek prime minister, so they will do their own lobbying and as said, some governments like the greeks and the italians who have shown more sympathy to russia than some of the others. let's bring you the latest on the salisbury attack. well, meanwhile, the police officer who fell ill going to the aid of a former russia spy and his daughter who were poisoned in a nerve agent attack has been discharged from hospital in salisbury. in a statement read by a colleague, detective sergeant nick bailey said he'd been overwhelmed by the support he'd received during what he called a completely surreal experience. sergei and yulia skripal are in a critical but stable condition. our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford has the latest. detective sergeant nick bailey has spent more than two weeks in hospital, much of it in a serious condition after being one of the first responders to the salisbury nerve agent attack. but this evening came this news.

i'm pleased to say that sergeant nick bailey's condition has now improved and he was discharged from salisbury district hospital this afternoon. i personally want to wish nick and his family well and i know that the staff right across the hospital will want me to share their very best wishes. i'm sure you'll understand that, for reasons of patient confidentiality, i'm not able to go into any further detail regarding nick's condition or his treatment. and nick bailey's chief constable read a statement on his behalf. people ask how i'm feeling, there are no words to explain how i feel right now. surreal is the word that keeps cropping up and it really has been completely surreal. i have been so very overwhelmed by the support, cards and messages i have received. everyone has been so incredible. and a judge released the most detailed description yet

of the health of yulia and sergei skripal. both are heavily sedated, neither can communicate, and it's known to what extent either will recover. no friend or relative has been in touch with the hospital to ask about their welfare. thejudge ruled that, as they are unable to consent, doctors could take new blood samples from there to give to international inspectors from the organisation for the the prohibition of chemical weapons, to independently check what made them so ill. the attack with what british experts believe is a russian—designed novichok nerve agent has left relations between russia and the uk at a new low. the russian ambassador said today that borisjohnson had insulted the russian people by equating this summer's world cup with hitler's 1936 olympic games. duncan kennedy is in salisbury and sent us this update. the news that sergeant nick bailey

has been discharged was described by his boss, the chief" sure, is absolutely fantastic news. sergeant bailey himself gave a few comments to the chief constable in the form ofa to the chief constable in the form of a statement. he said the last 18 days had been a completely surreal experience. he said there were no words to describe how he feels, he said he wasjust words to describe how he feels, he said he was just a normal person words to describe how he feels, he said he wasjust a normal person but that his wife would never be the same again. also in the statement a few comments from his wife sarah who said it had been the most traumatic event of our lives. what the couple said was being they want to go home and be left at home by the press and others to try to carry on with their recuperation. they know it will be a long haul and he says his life will never be the same again, which means

there are probably still some lingering effects from the nerve agent he came into contact with 18 days ago. we don't know the circumstances of how when he came into co nta ct circumstances of how when he came into contact with that, but the news today that sergeant bailey has been released will be welcomed by not only himself and his family but the whole of wiltshire police force and all those who have been trying to give him support during these last few days. he said at one point in the statement he was getting 300 m essa 9 es the statement he was getting 300 messages a day from the public and collea g u es messages a day from the public and colleagues offering their support. a memorial service has been held today in memory of the five people killed in the westminster terror attack a year ago today. khalid masood, who also died in the attack, drove into pedestrians on westminster bridge, before stabbing pc keith palmer outside the houses of parliament. mps observed a minute's silence, and the prime minister laid a wreath in parliament square. vicki young reports. a year ago today, on this estate and on westminster bridge,

we were visited by what i regard as evil. senior politicians and faith leaders led tributes today to of the attack. westminster fell silent in their honour and remembered the shocking events of a year ago. the fear as khaled massoud ploughed his car into pedestrians on the bridge. the panic as people fled to safety. pc keith palmer was fatally stabbed as he stood on duty protecting parliament. one of his colleagues recalls the moment it happened. mass confusion, really. eventually one of my friends came over and said, who with it, who is the officer on the floor? he said, it is your friend keith.

and, well, terrible. a conservative minister had been among those desperately trying to save the officer's life. you rack your brains as to what more you could have done and should you have done things differently? they are all sorts of things you torment jon mind with but you can't. you have to understand everybody that i think did their utmost on that day and it's very, very sad. a romanian tourist andreea cristea also died in the attack. her family are still struggling to cope with the loss. there are moments when i pick up the phone to call her or write on messenger. we spent all our time together and now all of this doesn't make any sense. in her tribute, the prime minister said this was a day to remember those who were lost but also to defy those who sought to silence our

democracy one year ago. micky young, bbc news, westminster. the british firm that makes uk passports says it's failed to win the contract to produce the new blue passports which will be reintroduced after brexit. the chief executive of de la rue, has accused ministers of not supporting british industry by giving the work to a french company. the government insists there's been a fair bidding process. danny savage reports. it's an icon of british identity. post brexit, the current style of burgundy passport is going to be replaced with a new version of the old style. but, according to the current uk manufacturer, they are going to be made in france because it is cheaper. ijust think it's kind of surprising the british government doesn't support british industry. more than that, i think it is disappointing for my workforce,

who i will have to talk to later today or in the coming days and explain to them why theresa may and amber rudd don't believe the british passport should be manufactured by them. just down the road in durham is the passport office. there's not much appetite here today for french—made british passports. i think it should be made up here. ijust don't get it. if we are leaving the eu, why should it be made abroad? it is prestige. a british passport should be printed in made in england. and they shouldn't be made elsewhere? i don't think so. regardless of cost? regardless of cost. the british government should step in and try and make sure, what's the name of the company — de la rue — or something? they should maybe get the contract. again they may have to look at the price. so, in an ideal world, you do want them made here? yes. in an ideal world, at the right price. for the sake of protecting jobs and work, pay more money, have made in the uk?

i think so. what do you think? i'm torn. the government says the deal could save the taxpayer up to £120 million but some people want to make sure that "made in france" is not going to be stamped in uk passports. forget agincourt, forget waterloo, forget trafalgar. we must say "no" to these french passport makers. but the government says it is playing by the rules. we often win business around the world and will continue to do so, both before and after we leave the european union. they say that while passports don't have to be made in the uk, any personal details will only be added here, not abroad. danny savage, bbc news, durham. we will talk lots more about british passports. joining me now is martin lloyd, author of the passport: man's most travelled document. you own a staggering 700 passports. yes. and you brought some with you

but we will talk first about this controversy. what do you think, this company saying it should be made in britain. i don't think it really matters where the passport is made as long as it comes out as a good product. de la rue might be being a little bit hypocritical in that when they got the first contract to issue they got the first contract to issue the british passport in 1921, they got it by undercutting the current producer, which was harrison. and thatis producer, which was harrison. and that is now happened to them ex—mac batters business. the other thing is they make passports and other countries. are those other countries saying why are ours made in britain cue—mac i don't know. the first british passport made by de la rue they had terrible difficulties with because they had to get cylinders from france to manufacture it. so they are very long established passport company. you have brought

with you some fascinating examples of old british passports.|j with you some fascinating examples of old british passports. i have an 1846 of old british passports. i have an 18116 passport issued in london and in those days, every single one was signed by the foreign secretary. you can see at the bottom the signature, but it was written in french. the passport was written in french, because that was the language of diplomacy. can you imagine boris johnson signing every single british passport ex—mac what about the other ones, these are wonderful. we had the problem that the british passport was the only one without any descriptions, and this is because the foreign secretary said he would not submit them to the economically of having passports perused by followers dash—mac foreigners. the beginning of the first world war, spies started to

use passports with no photographs so we insisted that the british passport have photographs on andy passports, which then look like that, had to be sent back if you had a passport and have photographs stuck on it. the lady has had a photograph taken stuck on it. the lady has had a photograph ta ken out stuck on it. the lady has had a photograph taken out of the album, and she has got off her boyfriend with his fingers round her waist. the days before the photo booth. then they introduced a passport that was designed to carry a photograph. this was introduced in february 19 15. these are huge documents. the passport then was carried by the men, women had passports but often the man was in charge and he had a large overcoat and put it in the pocket. it wasn't until a travel that people started having to carry them with them, and they wanted a smaller passport. what followed

after that cue—mac after that we had discussion of the british blue passport and that was printed by a company called harrison. the first booklet passport, pink pages had to go because m15 said you couldn't read the stamps so they had to change it to brown. mis m15 and mi5 and mi6 m15 and mi6 cue—mac they have a discussion with the printers about various security safeguards. that was the first british passport. this was the first british passport. this was 1921, and it came about after the conference in geneva when all the conference in geneva when all the countries after the first world war got together and discuss what they were going to do and came up with a uniform international passport design and that was the british version. it didn't

significantly change after that. i remember carrying around something a little like that before the eu passport, the smaller maroon passport. this white passport stayed roughly in that design for 70 years and the blue passport did the same. it was quite a well wearing design. nowadays they change the design of the passport every ten or 15 years to keep ahead of forgery. when all this came out that we were leaving the eu and therefore getting the british passport back, they thought we we re british passport back, they thought we were going back to something like this, but it isn't. that's an awful thing to carry, you can't put it in the back pocket of yourjeans. there's something romantic about it. but actually what we are going to get is almost a blue version of what we have now. we already issue a blue version of a red passport which is called the travel document and is issued to people that are stateless

and it is blue with a goldcrest. another irony. as a man who is obsessed with passports, are you nostalgic cue—mac would you like us to go back to that old—style cue—mac the reason the red was chosen as it is because the only colour that the current european union people's passports were not using. they had to go toa passports were not using. they had to go to a colour that nobody was using so they chose right. it's absolutely fascinating. thank you. thank you for coming in. everything you need to know about passports and more. let's get the sport now with a full round—up from abc sports centre. gareth southgate says he has no concerns about security and

safety at the world cup in russia. he also claims that has and every tea m he also claims that has and every team would be viewing it as a political showpiece. borisjohnson agreed yesterday with a suggestion that russian president vladimir putin is using the world cup in a similar way to hitler with the 1936 berlin olympics. gareth southgate says he and his players are only viewing the sporting way. it is of little interest to me what the foreign secretary thinks about it. i was in russia last year for the confederations cup and the run about 15,000 fans from chile and there was an incredible atmosphere. stadiums we re an incredible atmosphere. stadiums were brilliant, facilities and training grounds were excellent. it didn't feel like, sorry, it felt like the world cup site had been to in terms of the experience inside the stadium and the atmosphere.

southgate has decided to start with everton's jordan pickford in southgate has decided to start with everton'sjordan pickford in goal for tomorrow night's match. he kept a clean sheet in the friendly against germany back in november. jack wilshere didn't travel because ofa jack wilshere didn't travel because of a knee injury. gareth dale has become wales's record goal—scorer. he overhauled ian rush‘s mark. it took him two minutes to get the first of the night. an impressive performance in ryan giggs's first match in charge. gareth bale scored the first and sixth goals. it's his first international hat—trick for a man who now holds his country's record in international goal—scoring. who now holds his country's record in international goal-scoring. it's amazing. on my daughter's birthday today saw happy birthday to horror and disappointing account be there.

it's great individually to get the record but the most important thing is the team plays well and with the new manager it's important to get off toa new manager it's important to get off to a good start. zlatan ibrahimovic is set to join major league soccer club la galaxy after announcing he is leaving manchester united who have agreed to an early termination of his contract. now 36, he has played only seven times since damaging cruciate ligaments last april. england's chelated cricketers will have to salvage something ugly started a terrible first they in their first test against new zealand. they resume later tonight, the hosts with a first innings lead of 117 with seven wickets still in hand, after perusing england out for just 58. alastair cook was first to 90, just 58. alastair cook was first to go, out forjust just 58. alastair cook was first to go, out for just five. just 58. alastair cook was first to go, out forjust five. trent boult took 6—mac wickets as five others

went out for a duck. the new zealand skipper took the team to a position of total dominance with 91 not out by the close. england just batted terribly. i have been in teams were that happens sometimes, a juggernaut of destruction comes your way. adversely, on the bowling team that can be the opposite. stuart broad rolled through the new zealanders exactly the same way. don't say heads will be to rule on somebody is to blame. nobody is to blame, collectively they didn't bat well. mark williams is set to reach the semifinals in the players championship needing just 2—mac morphemes against fellow welshman ryan day. he will now face ronnie o' sullivan

in the semifinal. that's all the sport for now, much more to come and on the bbc sport website. much more from gareth southgate and has held a press co nfe re nce from gareth southgate and has held a press conference in amsterdam, and if you want more from me is coming up if you want more from me is coming up in an hour's time. thank you. the founder of facebook, mark zuckerberg, has apologised after data from 50 million users was exploited by the british company cambridge analytica. speaking publicly for the first time since allegations surfaced that data was misused during the us presidential election, he acknowledged there has been a major breach of trust. from washington, chris buckler reports. facebook contains a world of personal information. more than two billion users have entrusted it with details including their age, whether they are in a relationship, and, perhaps crucially, their political leanings. cambridge analytica, and potentially other firms, are accused of exploiting that data

in an attempt to influence, among other things, the us presidential election. and ultimately for that breach in trust, facebook and its founder are having to take responsibility. if you'd told me in 2004 when i was getting started with facebook that a big part of my responsibility today would be to help protect the integrity of elections against interference by other governments, you know, i wouldn't have really believed that that was going to be something i would have to work on. for days, mark zuckerberg was silent while damaging allegations were broadcast around the world of how cambridge analytica took advantage of information from facebook users. now he is promising a full forensic audit, and he says that anyone whose data may have been compromised will be told. but mr zuckerberg knows his social

network will continue to be tested by those looking to exploit it. there's a lot of hard work that we need to do to make it harder for nation states like russia to do election interference, to make it so that trolls and other folks can't spread fake news, but we can get in front of this and we have a responsibility to do this. not only for the 2018 midterms in the us, which are going to be a huge deal this year and that's just a huge focus of us, but there's a big election in india this year, there's a big election in brazil, there are big elections around the world. politicians in both the uk and the us also have questions for mark zuckerberg. he said he would appear before congress in america if it was the right thing to do, and with talk of greater regulation and new rules, the face of facebook may find he has little choice. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. jeremy corbyn has told voters in england they should use the local elections to tell the government "enough is enough" the labour leader

was speaking at the launch of his partys campaign for the may elections. he highlighted the recent increase in council tax bills and said the conservatives were asking people to pay more for less. on may the 3rd people have the chance to send an unmistakable message to this government — that enough is enough. enough of cuts to vital services that hurt local communities. enough of cuts to schools, hospitals and local policing. enough of library and youth centres closures. enough of leaving elderly and disabled people without essential care. time for a look at the weather with darren. good evening, spells of rain will be coming from the atlantic in the next

couple of days, not rain everywhere, we have the band of sick cloud which has brought rain to western parts of the uk -- has brought rain to western parts of the uk —— sick. there will be very little rain across east anglia and the south—east, some heavy rain further west but the main rain will go north towards scotland. heavy rain in cumbria and dumfries and galloway but very little late in the night in eastern parts of england and cloud will break in wales and the south west. some strong and gusty winds, a mild night. sunshine developing across england and wales on friday, the rain clearing northern england. eventually things improving in northern ireland and more rain to come in scotland together with strong and gusty winds. we don't have wet and windy weather in the far south—west by the end of the day —— we then have some. warm in the sunshine, rising to 30 degrees. —— 13 degrees.

this is bbc news — our latest headlines. the police officer who fell ill following the salisbury nerve agent attack has been discharged from hospital. in a statement, detective sergeant nick bailey said he's thankful for the support he's received. germany and france have tonight reiterated their backing for the uk over the incident, saying there was no plausible explanation other than that the russian state was responsible. anger from some conservative mps as it's reported britain's post—brexit passport will be manufactured in the eu — the government says it was a fair and open competition. one year on from the westminster bridge attack, a memorial is lit to remember all those affected by last year's terrorism in the capital. the founder of facebook apologises for its role in the cambridge analytica scandal — and admits more needs to be done to protect

the personal data of its users. some victims of crime aren't being seen by police officers for hours, or even days, after phoning for help because of a failure to respond promptly to 999 calls. the inspectorate of constabulary says a quarter of forces in england and wales are struggling to respond to emergency calls, and are often overwhelmed by the demand. police call: hello, police, what's your emergency? has the thin blue line become too thin? the body that monitors the police says the service is under significant stress, with vulnerable victims often not getting a prompt response to emergency calls. it found that thousands of 999 calls, which needed officers to attend within 60 minutes, weren't dealt with for hours, or in some cases several days. we have raised this as a serious concern. it's a sign of stress

within the system, but it's a fundamental thing that the police are there to do, is turn up when the public most need them. one woman who needed the police was luisa mendes, from leamington spa in warwickshire. she dialled 999 to report an assault. that was at 8:30pm, but officers didn't arrive until the next morning. she was later found dead. every victim of domestic abuse needs to get the right response to the police the first time that she reaches out. it's very concerning to hear about 999 calls not being responded to promptly and in an appropriate way. it can leave victims of domestic abuse alone and in dangerous situations. examples where police have been slow to respond are highlighted on twitter. this man said he reported a drunken hit and run driver to leicestershire police but says "they asked me to bring my documents in before they would do anything". a mother tweeted that her son was threatened with a knife,

but it took the police three hours to turn up. she says the perpetrator was still walking round with the knife for the entire time. the inspectorate says delays are caused when police don't have the resources available to respond, though police and crime commissioners have now been allowed to increase funding through the council tax. we need more of that money to go into local policing. we've got a number of police forces who will be increasing their number of police officers next year in order to improve those response times, but what we also need to address is the demand on policing which is coming from other areas which aren't necessarily crimes, such as mental health, which is accounting for well over a third of police time in some areas. inspectors say most police forces are managing to keep the public safe despite the pressures they face, but the cracks in the service are clearly beginning to show. danny shaw, bbc news. people who live in the countryside in england are being neglected because their communities simply aren't prioritised, according to a house of lords committee.

the peers argue radical change is needed in how the countryside is looked after — and it recommends stripping the environment department defra of its powers to regulate on rural affairs. claire marshall reports. the overwhelming number of people who live in the countryside are being failed by government. that's according to today's report. the house of lords select committee says there should be radical change in how rural communities and the countryside are looked after. it suggests stripping defra of its power to regulate on rural affairs. some of the worst spots for deprivation and intergenerational poverty exist in rural england, as bad as if not worse than in our inner cities, and we feel that they have been neglected by government and we feel that actually defra is not doing a good job and there ought to be changes made. the lords also say the department has focused too much on farming and agriculture, and something that's

suffered as a result — the footpath network. now over half are either impassable or need improving. the path network, the trails themselves, they benefit so many people. they benefit people's health, their well—being, local economies, and it's too important to not address. many countryside groups do see an opportunity in brexit. when the uk leaves the european union the whole way that farmers are subsidised is going to change, and this report says that in the future land owners could be given public money to keep footpaths like this open and maybe even create new ones. defra says the needs of our rural communities sit at the heart of everything it does. claire marshall, bbc news, in the cotswolds. accident and emergency waiting times in wales are the worst on record — with a higher proportion of patients than ever before spending longer than four hours in a&e departments. that's according to

the latest statistics. the royal college of emergency medicine describes the figures as unacceptable, and says it's becoming the new norm as geraint thomas reports. it's a clear demonstration ofjust how severe and difficult this winter has been, with the worst flu season for years, bad weather and an ever—ageing population, a&e departments are under increasing pressure. this is the third consecutive record—breaking month for accident and emergency departments like this one, the country's biggest and busiest a&e at the university

hospital of wales in cardiff, with more patients than ever are waiting longerfor treatment on every measure. i've seen staff who have vocalised to me that they do feel they have been under extreme pressure and as we've heard, it's the largest increase in figures we've seen for really quite some time. they have continued to provide very professional care and they have continued to do that in as a timely way as possible and clearly sometimes we haven't succeeded and when we don't succeed, we apologise. we want to make sure that patients are moved quickly from the ambulances. last month on average, over 2,700 people went to welsh emergency departments every day. almost a quarter of those patients had to wait longer than four hours to be seen. that's up five percentage points on the same time last year. they are unacceptable. we have a four—hour target in emergency medicine and that is really for the benefit of the patients so having patients waiting in a&e for 12 hours is not good but what that reflects is patients who have often been seen in a&e but are waiting for a bed on the ward. wrexham maelor hospital in the betsi cadwaladr area was the worst performer when it came to over four and 12—hour waits. i want to be clear on this, the reason i am apologising to people is that we're not giving the service that i want us to be giving.

for those patients who have been waiting that length of time, that's not acceptable. it's not acceptable to me and is not acceptable to our staff. for us, that's then the challenge that we have to face going forward to get those figures where we want them to be to the experience of people in our busy emergency departments to be what i would want for me or my family. the performance of the ambulance service has held steady on the most life—threatening calls, but some seriously ill patients in recent weeks have had to wait many hours for crews to arrive. facing the press, the health secretary says lessons will be learned. across the whole system, there are an array of things that are improving. if we're going to have real and tangible change to meet the challenge that we have on a sustainable basis, then reform is not is inevitable, it's absolutely desirable, so we do need to change the way we deliver care, not to do the government a favour, but actually because it should provide a better quality of care for every community across the country. this is not a uniquely welsh problem. the declining performance is reflected in other a&e departments across the uk as the pressure on the nhs continues to grow.

researchers have discovered that some blueberry muffins sold by cafes and supermarkets contain more than the total recommended daily intake of sugar for adults. that's seven teaspoons of sugarfor adults — for children it's less. health experts said the findings showed it was all too easy to consume huge amounts of sugar. so — how bad is the problem? the worst offender was the costa blueberry muffin, with 10 teaspoons of sugar — which comes to 40.3g. however — since march they have the reduced the sugar content down to seven teaspoons. another culprit — the caffe nero blueberry muffin which has 7 teaspoons of sugar

— 29 grams. other brands singled out include pret and mcdonalds. and how does that compare to the humble chocolate digestive biscuit — they contain just over one teaspoon of sugar. finally — you may be surprised to see that an apple actually contains more sugar — with around two teaspoons. but it is a different kind of sugar. well, to chew over this research i'm joined by the nutritionist amanda ursell, along with some helpful props. it looks like i'm going to eat lots of snacks but we will just it looks like i'm going to eat lots of snacks but we willjust explain how much sugar is in them. let's talk about sugar generally, we have the sugar tax coming in april. yes, for soft drinks. that is very important? yes, when it was first announced i thought, here we go, it is the nanny state, but actually i've seen what has happened since

the tax was announced, and soft drinks companies have really risen to it, probably because they are going to be hugely taxed otherwise. these big drinks companies have taken hold these big drinks companies have ta ken hold of these big drinks companies have taken hold of their ranges and if you look at coca—cola, for example, all of their drinks are now below the range. they have reallyjust done the most impressive reformulation and they have managed to get their drinks to below the right target, many of them for the white is sugar so bad for us? -- why is sugar. there is a link to wait and type two diabetes and even some forms of cancer, so it is ready important that we look at our overall diets, sugar is one of the things that we have identified as being something we overeat and we wa nt to being something we overeat and we want to get a grip of it. when

public health england put out their report they have the matter should they said was acceptable down from 10% to 5%, a big reduction and they challenge the food industry to rise to the occasion and reduce sugar by 20% by the year 2020 and they have had to get a move on. we are allowed seven teaspoons a day? that is the maximum. 30 grams of sugar, 2a for children who are between seven and 11 and 19 for children who are four up 11 and 19 for children who are four up to six years old. talk us through these foods here. that muffin is seven teaspoons, 30 grams, that is your daily allowance in one go. you can probably see this is half the size and that is half the sugar. if

you are talking about having a treat, go for one which is a smaller size, you could have something, but just a smaller one. that is common sense. absolutely. cereal bars, by often advertised as being healthy, but this has four teaspoons of sugar, they have a health halo around them. but they are nutritional walls in sheep ‘s clothing —— walls. nutritional walls in sheep ‘s clothing -- walls. that is sugar, but this is digestive? yes, this is sugarin but this is digestive? yes, this is sugar in an apple, but it also has fibre and vitamins and the way you digestive is different, much more slowly digestive, you would have to eat, this has about 55