hello, you're watching afternoon live, i'm martine croxall. today at 2pm. as many as 270 women may have had their lives shortened after computer errors meant they missed their final breast cancer screening tragically, there are likely to be some people in this group who would have been alive today if the failure had not happened. conservative brexiteers tell the prime minister to drop a key brexit proposal on customs. theresa may says her policy is clear. we will be leaving the customs union. we want to ensure that we can have an independent trade policy. a woman accused of murdering her boyfriend in an acid attack begins giving evidence. tsb bosses face questions from mps shortly over the it failure which left customers unable to access their accounts. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport with hugh. liverpool preparing to face roma.

that is right, 5,000 liverpool fans are in rome for a significant day on and off the pitch. by the end of it, they are hoping for a champions league final but also a safe return home. we will talk security and the semifinal a little later. thanks, hugh, and stav has all the weather. the bank holiday, not too shabby? not at all, looks like it is warming up. a bit grotty today, this is the scene from sussex, windy and wet but elsewhere, some sunshine and the theme is the rest of the week should warm up. more details on that and the bank holiday weekend later. also coming up: # there'll be bluebirds over # the white cliffs of dover... and at 101, dame vera lynn is nominated for two classic brit awards — 80 years after she released herfirst single. hello, this is afternoon live.

up to 270 women in england may have had their lives shortened because they didn't receive invitations to a final routine breast cancer screening. the health secretaryjeremy hunt told mps that a computer error had meant that 450,000 women, aged around 70, had failed to get invitations since 2009. he announced an independent review and apologised to the women and their families "wholeheartedly and unreservedly" — saying oversight of the screening programme had not been good enough. earlier this year, pag analysis of trial data from the service firm there was an algorithm failure dating back to 2009. the latest

estimates i have received from phe is as estimates i have received from phe isasa estimates i have received from phe is as a result of this, between 2009 and the start of 2018, an estimated 450,000 women aged between 68 and 71 we re 450,000 women aged between 68 and 71 were not invited to their final breast screening. at this stage, it is unclear whether any delay in diagnosis will have resulted in any avoidable harm or death and that is one of the reasons i am ordering an independent review to establish the clinical impact. 0ur independent review to establish the clinical impact. our current best estimate, which comes with caveats as it is based on statistical modelling rather than patient reviews, and because there is currently no clinical consensus about the benefits of screening for this age group, is that there may be between 135 and 270 women who had their lives shortened as a result. shadow health secretary, jon ashworth said his thoughts were with the women whose lives were affected by the error.

i understand that the secretary of state has referred to estimates, but when the facts are established, will he assure us that each and every case will be looked into sensitively and ina case will be looked into sensitively and in a timely manner? our thoughts also turn to the 450,000 women who we re also turn to the 450,000 women who were not offered the screening they should have had, so i welcome the secretary of state's commitment to contact the 309,000 women estimated to be still alive. with me now is baroness delyth morgan, chief executive of the uk's largest breast cancer charity, breast cancer now. thank you very much for coming in. your reaction first of all, 450,000 women missing imitations over a period of nine years. firstly, i am so period of nine years. firstly, i am so sad to hear about this for the women involved. i mean, it is a colossal administrative error and it is right that the secretary of state has apologised and that an

independent inquiry has been set up to look into it, but let's think about the women affected by this. and at the moment, they don't know who they are yet, so of course our hearts should go out to them and there should be absolutely appropriate support available to them as they come to terms with what might have happened because of this. so what form does that support take? the advice at the moment seems to be don't rush to your gp if you think you have missed out. well, that is very easy to say. we know that uncertainty causes distress and i think it is right that we have seen put in place moves to contact all those who have potentially been affected by this, to provide a helpline, public health england are doing that and the charities, breast cancer care and mcmillan are standing by. so there is support put in place but let's face it is, this has been going on for ten years and we need to know why this has happened and how can we have confidence that this isn't going to happen again? because we are so

dependent on technology these days, you can't go back to the old index ca rd system. you can't go back to the old index card system. one of the things we know is that early diagnosis can improve outcomes for breast cancer, so improve outcomes for breast cancer, so it is vital that we have confidence in our screening service. i think that is the thing that is so frustrating about this, we have all been encouraged for so many different health issues to seek out screening, to not ignore those invitations when they come, but if they don't come, how are you meant to know? absolutely, women rely on the screening service to say when they are due for an appointment and of course we are talking about women in the older age group, breast cancer risk increases with age, so it is really important that women are called appropriately at the right moment and for older women, where they are no longer routinely called, they know they can refer themselves for screening if they wa nt themselves for screening if they want to. so this is a colossal failure and we've got to understand

why it has happened and how to stop it again. so when it works properly, tell us the stages at which women get called? it is normal you would be called for screening when you reach the age of 50 or around about 50. there is a trial going on where screening is being looked at from the age of 47 and then you would be screened every three years until you are 70 and there is a trial going on and that is what has flagged this issue up, looking at screening for women over the age of 70. so there is consideration going on about the value of screening younger and older, but essentially, if you are between the ages of 50 and 70, screening between the ages of 50 and 70, screening every between the ages of 50 and 70, screening every three years is what one would normally expect. so there are bound to be women thinking, did i get my screen? did i get my invitation? did i miss it? did i accidentally act already? what is your advice, if someone is sitting at home worrying about this? well,

there will be women sitting at home may be who have a recent diagnosis of breast cancer or have heard about this with a diagnosis of advanced breast cancer and they might be feeling very upset about it and the secretary of state has said they need to make contact with public health england, with their gp, to talk about what is the right thing for them to do, so that is a particular group, and then there are those women who think they may have been affected and don't know and, apparently, a roundabout 300,000 women are going to be contacted by public health england in the next six months, but i would say if you wa nt to six months, but i would say if you want to know your position then you should contact your gp or ring the public health england helpline. no clinician would mind that, would they? no, i think clinician would mind that, would they? no, ithink gps clinician would mind that, would they? no, i think gps would be absolutely keen to do the right thing and as we have heard from the

debate in parliament, there is information available for gps, there is information for patients and that is information for patients and that is to be made readily available so those needing reassurance can have it. baroness morgan, we really appreciate you coming in at short notice, thank you. the department of health says patients are encouraged not to contact their gp in the first instance, but to contact the dedicated national helpline that has been set up on 0800169 2692 or to look on the nhs choices website for more information. but do not sit at home worrying, i think, is the advice. senior cabinet ministers meet this afternoon to discuss brexit, amid warnings from some tory mps that the government's proposed customs partnership with the eu is unacceptable. the proposal would mean the uk collecting tariffs on the eu's behalf. the mps deny they're issuing the prime minister with an ultimatum — but the row is threatening to split the cabinet. theresa may said this

lunchtime that the uk would leave the customs union. here's our political correspondent ben wright. the uk exports half its goods to the eu. the government is hunting around for a solution and is under political pressure to choose a new customs arrangement. why, with just six months to go before a drab brexit deal is signed up, the government still considering options that we all know are not feasible? we will be leaving the customs union, we want to be sure we can have an independent trade policy. we also want to ensure that we deliver, we are committed to delivering on oui’ we are committed to delivering on our commitment of no hard border between northern ireland and ireland, and ensuring we have as frictionless trade as possible with the european union. there are a numberof the european union. there are a number of ways the european union. there are a numberof ways in the european union. there are a number of ways in which that can be delivered. there certainly are. one idea being discussed is a plan for the uk to collect tariffs on the eu's behalf at airports and ports. known as the customs

partnership, it has been met with scorn by brexiteers in theresa may's own party. the customs partnership does not in the end meet the stated objectives of the government. it doesn't meet the commitments made in the conservative party manifesto. nor in the prime minister's repeated statements that we will be out of the customs union and the single market. he and dozens of his brexit—backing conservative colleagues think there is a high—tech solution that would avoid the need for a new hard border in northern ireland while giving the uk maximum freedom to strike new trade deals. but other tory mps are much more sceptical. the customs partnership is a potential solution, and we should not walk away from the negotiating table before examining it in more detail. we shouldn't tie the government's hands at this stage. again, we are seeing how theresa may is having to negotiate brexit with her own party and cabinet as well as the european union. this customs question is combustible. anger the brexiteers and they might try and bring her down.

but theresa may also knows that a number of tory mps could side with labour in voting for a whole new customs union with the european union if they think the prime minister's plan will damage trade. a cabinet decision on customs is not expected today. it will only be the starting point for talks with the eu. for many at westminster, this goes to the heart of what brexit will mean for the uk. 0ur chief political correspondent vicki young is in downing street. how significant could this caution from this group of mps be for theresa may? well, i think down the line it could be very significant. they are making it clear at this stage that they completely oppose this idea of a customs partnership. now, the meeting that is just getting under way in downing street

behind me, we have seen liam fox go in and michael gove, two who are very much on the lives side of the argument in the referendum and who we understand do not think this is a viable option —— on the leave side. said the meeting will be about keeping both options open. as we heard from jake jacob rees—mogg, we should take one of the table, no point going forward with it. i think we will end of today where they are proceeding with both of those options, but of course what opposition mps are saying is it is possible but neither of them will provide a solution, particularly to theissue provide a solution, particularly to the issue of the irish border and certainly brussels has said it doesn't like either of these options the moment, so i think we are in a holding pattern where downing street are saying we holding pattern where downing street are saying we are holding pattern where downing street are saying we are still going to do the work on both of these and we will wait and see in the coming days and weeks whether they come with a preferred option or not. we can cross to the houses of parliament and speak to conservative mpjohn redwood.

thank you very much forjoining us this afternoon. what is wrong with these two options? the highly streamlined system and this partnership? i like the streamlined system, it builds on what we will achieve simply by leaving and being under the world trade organisation rules. both we and the eu will be firmly under those rules when we have left because we will both be members and they have a facilitation ofa members and they have a facilitation of a trade agreement in place from last spring which is pretty comprehensive which means that member states have to have smooth borders and allow the smooth passage of goods, and we think we can add to that some additional improvements, because we are close partners at the moment of the eu and it is massively in their interests because they send us in their interests because they send us many in their interests because they send us many more goods in their interests because they send us many more goods than we send them, so the improved facilitation is the preferred model. most of these goods now moved by large companies sending electronic details in advance of the passage of their lorries, so you don't need to check

individual lorries at the frontiers, you don't need to work out sums, taxes are adjusted and consignments are checked electronically with all of the trusted operators under the system, so we think build on that. the wider customs partnership simply won't work brawl sorts of reasons. the eu 27 would seem to be saying they are not going to be able to cope, the digital system is not going to fly and as you know within your own party and elsewhere in the commons, there is a view that we can easily stay within the customs union whilst not being in the eu and they point to turkey. turkey manages to be part of the customs union and still has struck many free trade deals with other countries. why can't we do the same? well, we voted to leave the eu and the referendum ballot. it made it very clear in both campaigns... we -- it didn't

say that on the referendum ballot. it was very clear in both campaigns, there is no need to be in a customs union and it would get in the way of an independent trade policy for britain in the years ahead and it is wrong to say electronics cannot solve this problem because they should observe what is happening today, the massive use of electronics in the digital economy is already happening at frontiers. the border between northern and the republic of ireland is already a very complex border for goods because there is different vat, excise rates and currency either side of the border but you don't have somebody in the box on the border calculating it on an old machine, it is all done electronically already. it does work. but at the moment, the republic of ireland and northern ireland are all part of the eu and therefore part of the customs union, so therefore part of the customs union, so it is going to have to change and any change that you are going to

bring in, you are going to see ta riffs bring in, you are going to see tariffs that at the moment we don't have to worry about, for internal movement of goods. well, if the eu insist on tariffs, which would be more damaging to them than us, i would be surprised, but all you do is add a customs duty line to the vat line and the excise line that is already on the electronic manifest. there has to be tax settlement for all goods going across the border at the moment. the uk government can just say we don't see any need to change the current arrangements at the border, we already have anti—smuggling in place, police co—operation and so forth and we don't wish to impose new physical barriers on the border and we will scale up whatever needs to be done for electronic processing, and i do think the eu isjust for electronic processing, and i do think the eu is just trying to for electronic processing, and i do think the eu isjust trying to make mischief with the irish border issue andi mischief with the irish border issue and i wish they would stop it and get on and discuss how they will protect their trade with us. there area protect their trade with us. there are a lot of people in this country as well worried about the impact of as well worried about the impact of a different kind of border between

the republic and northern ireland. this dossierfrom the the republic and northern ireland. this dossier from the european research group cautions against continued deliberation in government over this partnership idea. what should theresa may read into the warning from the group? it isjust good advice. the group has been offering advice throughout and quite a number of us offered advice immediately after the vote because contrary to the press reports, there has been a lot of thinking going into what brexit would look like those of us who recommended voting leave and we sent detailed papers into the government setting out our preferred positions on these issues and said, you are the government, you make decisions but we thought this might be helpful and the sooner they make decisions, the better. we gave them a set of answers, we knew they would want to, but their own but we gave them a starting point. but how would you vote in a vote of confidence in mrs may on an issue like this if she does pursue the partnership plan? i support mrs may andi

partnership plan? i support mrs may and i would vote in favour of mrs may but i don't think we are going to have a confidence vote in mrs may. we are having a discussion about what is the best negotiating position for the uk and u nfortu nately we a re position for the uk and unfortunately we are having to have it in public because the opposition and the house of lords are co nsta ntly and the house of lords are constantly trying to drag every detail of our position into public scrutiny. i think these discussions are normally best held in private because it is important the uk has a strong negotiating position and even more important that the eu thinks it is not undermined by noises off. lot of people who wanted to leave the european union talked about restoring sovereignty to parliament. surely the house of lords and the house of commons need to publicly scrutinised these details so we know what we are getting into. that is democracy and the return of sovereignty, isn't it? i am in favour of democracy, indeed, that is the main game that we can make our own decisions, but i am making another point that having made a big

democratic decision in both houses to send the article 50 letter after extensive debate and having more or less agreed the eu withdrawal the bill with a certain amendments that need to be sorted out, again after extensive debate, maybe now it is time to say it is the wish parliament as well as the british people and some things have to be sorted out by the government out of the public eye to have a strong line and report the position to parliament in the usual way. a triggering article 50 means that's exactly when all of the deliberation and scrutiny begins, not whether we are leaving the european union but the means by which we do it and what oui’ the means by which we do it and what our relationship looks like afterwards. the debate begins, it doesn't stop, does it? no, but it moves on. we made a very formal decision, both through a referendum, the people were offered the choice and made the decision and in parliament wisely decided they had to back that judgment, parliament wisely decided they had to back thatjudgment, because we had asked the people to make the

decision, at a very extensive debate and we decided to leave and that is now a given, i trust. of course there can be debate about how you implement that and that is what we are now discussing but it would be good if our soon—to—be sovereign again parliament moved on to discuss some of the other things we need to talk about. we don't want to make everyday groundhog day discussing all of these arguments that i feel like i have been tied up in for three years solid now, before and after the referendum. john redwood, thank you very much for your time. let's get more now on that statement by the health secretary on failures in breast cancer screening for 450,000 women aged between 68 and 71. joining me now from our central london studio is drjenny harries, regional director for the south of england at public health england. how did this error come to light, which according to the health secretary may have shortened the lives of up to 270 women? first of

all, can i say exactly as the secretary of state has done, that we are very sorry. i want to apologise on behalf of nhs breast screening services. the issue that has come to light is a problem with the screening it services and some variation in how regions and send out those imitations to women for their screening, so what we are doing that is offering a catch—up screen to some older women who may have missed that final screen. we will talk about that in one second but when did the error come to light, how long between you finding out and telling us? the error came to light in january, out and telling us? the error came to light injanuary, when we were looking at the results of the progress of research trial and since that time, we have looked back in detail at all of the data we had going right back until 2009, to understand the particular position of what is a very complex system. but early diagnosis and early treatment, as we keep being told, is vitally important for survival

rates, so why has it taken three to four months to make this public? rates, so why has it taken three to four months to make this public7m is exactly right and we are making good progress on cancer screening, but, actually, we need to bear in mind that we are now looking at an older population here. we have obviously moved as fast as we can to understand that date but we have had advice from expert clinical advisory groups that said it was extremely important that we understood the totality of the problem and ensured systems were in place for women, that they got the right treatment and advice going forward, and so we have looked in detail back to 2009 and ensured we have a system and support ready for them. but this don't call us, we'll call you a message and surely is not realistic? people are going to get straight to their gps people are going to get straight to theirgps and people are going to get straight to their gps and who could blame them? we have to understand it is a huge number of women and i can understand the alarm that might send but this is in the context of around 2.5

million women being invited each year, so the vast majority of women at that age, the older age group, will have received their last screen between their 68th and their 71st birthday, so this doesn't affect everybody. the important thing is we address them personally, because there are very specific personal choices to make. as a woman gets older, the variation between the benefits and harm on screening changes, so it is important we support them individually in making that choice. but if a woman does ring hergp, that choice. but if a woman does ring her gp, what sort of reaction will she get, given that she is supposed to wait for public health england to get in touch with her? we are moving the letters as quickly as we can, they have started already but importantly there is a helpline set up for these women to access. i would advise them to wait to get their letter but if they do have access to specialist support through their line, just reinforcing it is not the majority of women, it will only be those women, mostly who were

70 or 71 at the time, who did not receive their final screen. thank you very much for talking to us. the department of health says patients are encouraged not to contact their gp in the first instance, but to contact the dedicated national helpline that has been set up on 0800169 2692. 0r look on the nhs choices website for more information. some tsb customers say they are still facing account problems, nearly two weeks after the bank began changes to its it system. the bank's boss, paul pester, and two other executives will appear in front of mps to explain why the switch left nearly two million customers unable to make scheduled payments or to access their accounts online. our business reporter theo leggettjoins me now. some very strange things going on for people who managed to get online

and one man found he was overdrawn by 51.2 and one man found he was overdrawn by £1.2 million, surprisingly. yes, that must have come as a shock when he saw that, but there have been all sorts of problems and this began the weekend before last, when tsb was migrating its computer systems from those of lloyds banking group, which it used to be owned by, to the spanish bank that now owns tsb. all of this was supposed to happen over the course of a weekend but when it was all set up and ready to roll again, problems started appearing and it wasn't just the occasional customer finding that they were overdrawn by £1 million, there were other customers who reported being able to see other people's bank accou nts able to see other people's bank accounts but for the majority of them, they couldn't get into their bank accounts at all, they couldn't organise payments, they couldn't see their balances, so some people, for a week and a half, have been unable to get hold of their money and make payments. it is a problem for individuals and businesses. there will be some tough questions faced

by tsb executives from mps. the treasury select committee will be wanting to find out what went wrong, why there was miscommunication, because over the past week, on several occasions, tsb said, it's 0k, systems are back up and running and customers said, well, actually they are not. so that miscommunication is a problem and mps want to know what tsb is going to do about it and what sort of compensation is involved. because we are so very dependent, we have seen banks closing branches, because so much business is done on the internet. and the volume of people trying to get into their account seems to have been part of the problem on this occasion. so for a pa rt problem on this occasion. so for a part of the period, it was there we re part of the period, it was there were actual problems with the system. then when the systems were supposedly back up and running, lots of people were trying to get through at once and the system couldn't cope and it lets people excluded from banking. there were problems in the branches as well because they were connected to the same systems. theo,

thank you very much. police have begun a murder investigation after a man was shot dead in north—west london last night. the victim, thought to have been in his 30s, died of his injuries outside queensbury tube station. a second man, in his 20s, is being treated in hospital for gunshot injuries. it brings the total number of suspected murders in the capital so far this year to 63. time for a look at the weather. stav is here and i think we are going overseas first of all to talk about tornadoes. we are, this is not the uk, thank god. even i can spot that, where is it? it is in kansas, they had a severe thunderstorm outbreak, this tornado ripped through and caused this, this funnel shaped tornado associated with spring thunderstorms. the interesting thing about the story is so far spring, synonymous for lots of tornadoes in oklahoma, kansas, the famous places, there haven't been any, one of the quietest on

record and for oklahoma, the quieter since records began for no tornadoes at all. the last very quiet year was backin at all. the last very quiet year was back in 1962. not the kind of weather from the wizard of oz. no, that we usually expected spring. the reason for it has been because we have had a lack of moisture coming up from the south, from the gulf of mexico. we have had thejet strea m gulf of mexico. we have had thejet stream diving south, like we have had here, a lot of cold weather lasting into spring and it has stopped this moisture, the warm moist air, moving stopped this moisture, the warm moistair, moving into stopped this moisture, the warm moist air, moving into the great plains, colliding with the cold air will usually get from the rockies. this is a classic picture, what we will see the next few days, across the great plains and oklahoma, warm aircoming of the the great plains and oklahoma, warm air coming of the gulf of mexico meeting with colder wreck, which is why we have these thunderstorms, so the setup is now in place the typical spring weather but we haven't had this for the last few months, which is why we have seen a

lack of tornadoes. but to bring it back home, we are a lwa ys but to bring it back home, we are always assessed with weather but even more so with a bank holiday. and it is looking pretty good. talking about this fine weather that we have got to the bank holiday weekend, all thanks to the high pressure and the jet stream being in the right place. a lot of big puddles around, all courtesy of this area of low pressure spreading its way eastwards, fairly strong winds associated with it. here is the radar picture, it shows nicely where the heaviest of the rain will be in eastern scotland. across eastern england, some heavy showers. at the moment, it is going to be quite a cool fields of things before temperatures are set to rise later in the week. so as we head into tonight, it is going to be dry with clear skies and quite cool. there will be more cloud across northern ireland and western scotland, maybe the odd spot of rain. maybe one celsius across roo wrote parts of

england, pretty chilly the early may but we will have bright skies tomorrow morning. the sunshine will hold on across central and eastern areas but this feature moving into the west will bring thick clouds, outbreaks to northern ireland and western scotland and maybe west and wales north—west england but with south—westerly winds, much milder than today, highs of 14—16dc in the south and that is the sign of things to come. friday gets even warmer, similar picture, quite a lot of cloud around western areas, sunshine around central and southern and eastern areas. a light breeze. temperatures 18 or 19 maybe in the east of scotland in shelter, 18 or 19 across the south—east. as we head into the weekend, it is looking much warmer, with temperatures in the low 20s.