hello it's friday, it's 9am, i'm chloe tilley, welcome to the programme. slow, expensive and adding to financial hardship. the universal credit system is condemned by the public spending watchdog. a significant minority, we think, are struggling to cope with making a claim online, they're struggling to cope while they wait for their first payment and they're struggling to cope with the fluctuating income they get on universal credit. the government says it's a flexible benefit for the 21st century, but the national audit office accuses ministers of being in denial. we'll speak to the one of the architects of the policy. also ahead, the prison officer who says life on the inside led to psychological damage. neil samworth says the challenges were intense. he tells us his story, this morning. professor stephen hawking's ashes will be buried alongside charles darwin and sir isaac newton at a memorial service later today. we speak to the young scientists inspired by his life. hello, good morning, welcome

to our programme, we're live until ”am this morning. we'll keep you across the latest developing stories across the morning. also ahead: "upskirting", when somebody takes photographs under another person's clothing without them knowing, is set to become a criminal offence. the ministry ofjustice has said it will back the ban, which will form part of the voyeurism offences bill. gina martin campaigned for the law to be changed after a man took a picture up her skirt. i'm keen to hear your experiences. also, concerns digital apps are being designed in a way that stops children from taking a break online. how do you monitor what your kids are up to? do we need to set examples as pa rents do we need to set examples as parents and put down our phones? i am guilty of that. i'd be interested in your thoughts on that or of course anything else we're talking about this morning —

use the hashtag victoria live and if you text, you will be charged at the standard network rate. first, our main story. universal credit, the government's flagship benefit scheme, is not delivering value for money, is too slow and is causing financial hardship, according to a highly critical report by the national audit office. almost one million people currently receive universal credit, which is expected to rise to ten million in 2023. responding to the criticism, ministers say it is a system fit for the modern world. here's our social affairs correspondent, michael buchanan. anderson armstrong has been on universal credit since august. before then, he worked as a chef and bought his bike. but when he lost his job, he built up debts waiting seven weeks for his first benefit payment, and says he now lives on £18 a week. i go to the supermarket, and an hour before they close, they reduce food to the lowest possible price. something might be £5, as you might get it for £1.50, or £i, or something like that. so, you shop clever and box clever around that. today's report says anderson is not alone.

that too many people are struggling with universal credit. last year, 40% of claimants waited 11 weeks for their first payment. 8% actually waited almost eight months. there was usually an increase in rent arrears and the use of food banks, when universal credit was ruled out in an area. was rolled out in an area. a significant minority, we think, are struggling to cope wth making a claim online. they are struggling to cope while waiting for their first payment. they are struggling to cope with the fluctuating income they get on universal credit. despite that, the national audit office says the department for work and pensions does not accept that the benefit causes hardship. ministers say they're building a flexible benefit fit for the 21st century and that they're making significant improvements to the delivery of universal credit. michael buchanan, bbc news. after 10am, we'll meet one of the architects of the policy plus those who say universal credit is pushing them into debt. annita mcveigh is in the bbc newsroom with a summary

of the rest of the day's news. yemen's foreign minister, says an offensive by the saudi—led coalition to recapture the port of hodaydah from houthi rebels has been put on hold. he was speaking hours after the un security council failed to agree on a statement calling for a halt to the entire military campaign — which has seen humanitarian supplies hit after a spate of attacks on the port which is held by houthi rebel fighters. our security correspondent frank gardner is in the uae and has been in parts of yemen away from the fighting. he from the fighting. he just sent this update. it's clear that international pressure on the saudi—led coalition to spare the port of houdayda is having an effect, because it's been announced by the yemeni foreign minister that they're going to have a pause in their operations to take the whole of houdayda. they seem to be concentrating , at the moment, on the outskirts, around the airport, but it's the port itself that's crucial because whoever holds that, holds the key

to economic power in yemen. for the last three years, that has been the houthis. the coalition estimates they get up to maybe $40 million a month from it, about £30 million. and if they can drive the houthis out of the port without any bloodshed, and that's a big ask, then they think, the coalition thinks, they can eventually agree a peace deal and shorten the war in yemen. but the houthis say they will hold on. so, at the moment, it looks like still being a stalemate. upskirting, or secretly taking photographs up skirts or dresses, is set to become a specific criminal offence, with a punishment of up to two years in prison. it's been an offence in scotland since 2010, when it was listed under the broader definiton of voyeurism. currently, victims in england and wales have to seek prosecution through other legal avenues, such as outraging public decency or harassment. a man has been charged with soliciting murder over letters

calling for a national "punish a muslim day", to be held on april 3rd, this year. david parnham, who's 35 and from lincoln, will appear before magistrates in london later this morning. he'll face a total 01:14 charges, including a bomb hoax. he was arrested on tuesday by counter—terrorism police as part of an intelligence operation. labour has won the parliamentary by—election in lewisham east in south london, but with a greatly reduced majority on a low turnout. its candidate, janet da by, was elected with a majority of more than 5,000, compared with the 21,000 secured by her predecessor in last year's general election. the former mp heidi alexander quit the commons to work for the mayor of london, sadiq khan. the americanjustice department has released a long—awaited report into the way the fbi handled an investigation into hillary clinton's emails. she claims it contributed towards her losing the 2016 presidential race. the report accuses the former head

of the fbi, james comey, of being insubordinate but not politically biased. chris buckler reports from washington. james comey is a man who has been criticised by both sides of america's political divide. hillary clinton believes the former fbi director played a part in her losing the presidency, and he was subsequently fired by president trump. during the 2016 campaign, mr comey was in charge of an investigation into hillary clinton's use of a private e—mail server. crowd: lock her up! it became a deeply contentious issue. and this new report finds james comey was insubordinate and made serious errors injudgement in how he handled that inquiry. but the fbi says there there was no attempt to influence the election. this report did not find any evidence of political bias or improper considerations actually impacting

the investigation under review. however, this report does give details of text messages sent between fbi staff members, and in one of them, an agent talks of stopping donald trump becoming president. certainly, there are a lot of things in this report that not only worry those of us in the administration but should worry a lot of americans. that people played this political bias and injected that in a department that shouldn't have any of that. with a special counsel investigation still taking place into allegations of collusion and russian meddling, donald trump knows that all the events of the presidential election will remain under scrutiny. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. former tennis player, boris becker, has claimed diplomatic immunity from bankruptcy proceedings, because of his role as an ambassador for the central african republic. becker, who won six grand slams in the 80s and 90s, was declared bankrupt by a london court injune

last year, after failing to pay a long standing debt. his lawyers claim he can't face any legal action without the consent of foreign secretary, borisjohnson, and his counterpart in africa. mcdonald's will replace plastic straws with paper ones in all its restaurants in the uk and ireland, starting from september. it's the latest company to opt out of the single—use plastic, which can take hundreds of years to decompose if not recycled. the fast food chain uses 1.8 million straws a day in the uk. two astronauts aboard the international space station have completed a seven hour space walk to install new, high—definition cameras to the front of their lab complex. expedition commander drew feustel has already spent more than 60 hours in open space. live views from the new cameras will send us hd panoramic views of the earth 250 miles below. wow.

professor stephen hawking's ashes will be buried alongside charles darwin and sir isaac newton at a memorial service later today. he died in march, at the age of 76, after living with motor neurone disease for more than 50 years. ben ando reports. theoretical physics is one of the few fields in which being disabled is no handicap. it's all in the mind. though his mind was trapped in a body wracked with motor neurone disease, professor hawkingopened up ideas about the universe. if you reverse time, the universe is getting smaller. his life was depicted in the film, the theory of everything. while no one in scientific circles in the early 70s for his work on black holes, his surprise bestseller a brief history

of time led to worldwide acclaim and made him that rarest of phenomena, a theoretical physicist who was also a household name. i am very proud that i have been able to contribute to oui’ i have been able to contribute to our understanding of the universe. i am glad my work has reached a popular audience because i believe it is important that the public should know and have a chance to understand the seemingly mysterious work of scientists. a private funeral service for stephen hawking in cambridge in march. today, in a public memorial, his ashes will be interred at westminster abbey between the remains of sir isaac newton and charles darwin, two other scientists whose ideas shook the world. the captains of two rival bowls teams were left stunned at a match this week, when they realised they were long—lost best friends who hadn't seen each other for almost 60 years. mike andjim, both in their 80s, met as teenagers when they worked as waiters in torquay.

jim was even best man at mike's wedding. but when his friend moved away they lost touch. the pair didn't recognise each other when they began chatting at the match, but were bowled over when they realised they were old pals. lovely story. that's a summary of the latest bbc news, more at 9:30am. do get in touch with us throughout the morning — use the hashtag victoria live and if you text, you will be charged at the standard network rate. let's get some sport with hugh. not many of us had are high hopes for russia against saudi arabia but we we re for russia against saudi arabia but we were wrong! yesterday, the russian president vladimir putin got what he hoped for, an entertaining and engaging start to the world cup, some joyous scenes out in moscow. the only hitch may have been a

rather rude gesture from robbie williams. we won't show you that. the opening ceremony was a real party. none of the strong cultural references that you might expect from say, the olympics... but putin was keen to make a statement... saying "love for football unites the entire world in one team, regardless of people's language or ideology. exactly what you'd expect. he was overjoyed with the match as well, because russia thrashed saudi arabia. with putin even extending the hand of sportmanship to the saudi crown princ. in the end, it was a day for all russian‘s to revel in, a 5—0 win at the luzhniki stadium, is the biggest opening win at a world cup since 193a. whetting the appetite for the next month or so. any idea about the starting line—up for england against tunisia on monday? too early to tell. the

manager, gareth southgate, hasn't yet told the players what the starting line—up will be bid yesterday they had a practice match behind closed doors. he set up with a certain 11th. newspapers speculating that the likes of ashley young and jordan henderson may start but the players haven't we understand haven't been told. now, earlier in the week we discussed the luxuries of the england camp — with the players telling us they wouldn't be getting bored with the selection of activities they have. they well they were showing off their skills yesterday with a bit of ten pin bowling. jesse lingard celebrating a bit too soon. gary cahill even got the media involved with a bit of three—dart finish too. thaking on charlie sale, of the daily mail in what we think may become a regular fixture between the press and the players. so clearly, there's a good mood at the camp. they'll be out to train shortly in repino. third day of training since they arrived. and all 23 players could well be involved for the first time. interesting games today. liverpool

fa ns interesting games today. liverpool fans will be hoping most a la will be making an appearance for egypt. they will have their fingers crossed. a couple liverpool fans said they didn't want him to be one of the stars of the world cup because they didn't want him to leave to go to real madrid or another huge club in europe. well today there are three world cup matches to keep you entertained and the pfa and football writers player of the year, mohamed salah is 100% against uruguay at one o'clock. you might remember he damaged a shoulder in liverpool's champions league final defeat at the end of may. and it will be a lovely birthday present for him after his amazing season. spain and real madrid captain sergio ramos is the man who hurt salah's shoulder in that match. he been speaking about new boss fernando hierro, who was only appointed on wednesday after a fallout within the spanish fa. it like a "funeral". spain face portugal, tonight.

it's a big game today. they take on cristiano ronaldo. while at apm, you can see iran against morocco and earlier i mentioned politics and football mixing. us sanctions against iran mean sportswear brand nike haven't sent iran's players any boots! hopefully, they're sorted for later... thanks. we will speak to you throughout the morning. "prisons are in crisis and i deliberately use that term, because it can't be dressed up in any other way." those are the words of andrea albutt, president of the prison governors association last summer. mobile phone videos and tv footage has shone a light on prisons where use of the drug use is widespread, violence has increased and officers work under extreme stress. for 11 years, neil samworth worked as an officer in perhaps the most notorious of all prisons, hmp manchester, also known as strangeways. from the intimidating atmosphere of a wing housing 200 prisoners over three floors, to the health care unit

where the most mentally disturbed prisoners are held, neil has seen it all — cell fires, suicides, terrifying violence. he was forced to leave his job in 2016 after suffering ptsd and now he's written a book about his life behind bars. neil is with us now. thanks. neil, you were a prison officerfor 11 years. many people will know of strangeways from news articles over the years, what was the attraction for you to become a prison officer? a friend backin become a prison officer? a friend back in 2000, brought up in heavy engineering in sheffield, always beenin engineering in sheffield, always been in engineering. i was looking for somejob security. he had been in thejob for 15 for somejob security. he had been in the job for 15 years and he's saidi in the job for 15 years and he's said i would be good at it. it was only private—sector setting on so i applied to forest bank in salford andi applied to forest bank in salford and i worked there for three years.

during that time i applied for a job at strangeways and got my chance in 2005. myself included, and most people watching had never stepped inside a prison, we have no idea what day to day life is like inside a prison like strangeways, give us a sense of what it's like. it's very daunting at first, the training doesn't prepare you for that, it's very intimidating. it takes a short while to get used to working there. at first, you know, it's a cross between, sort of, fear and excitement. because it's quite intense. it's something you get used to, all prison officers, regardless of their experience. once they have been that a certain amount of time, they get used to being a row prisoners and they get used to things. you say it was important to build up relationships with prisoners. -- being around prisoners. -- being around prisoners. people might find that

strange. for me, prison was made safe by what we called dynamic security in the prison estate. you've got procedures, procedural security and physical security like dates and walls and then dynamic security, which is the prison staff relationship —— like gates and walls. that is built up a big ears. other people might not understand that, when prisoners are out on the landings, you can see what is going on “— landings, you can see what is going on —— that is built up over years. you can see what is going on. some prisoners have respect for staff and it instilled relationships that kept the place safe. unfortunately, current times, certainly from about 2013, the level of staffing has fallen. and prisoners are being locked up, like 30 years ago, for a lot of hours a day, up to 23 hours a day. those relationships are breaking down, the staff— prisoner relationships. it is causing a lot of frustration and anger.|j relationships. it is causing a lot of frustration and anger. i was going to say, frustration is one of the big things that may be sparks

violence inside prison and makes it volatile? i am sure the public would like prisoners to be locked up 23 hours a day but it doesn't work like that. over the last 25 years, we have got people out. we are supposed to be providing education for people and personal activity. if people are used to... we have given prisoners all this time out and we are now up, then there is frustration and anger. what happens, when prisoners are eventually locked, which at some point, you have to, that is boiling over and it is being taken out on risen offices. we are civil servants. you were attacked. you we re servants. you were attacked. you were frequently spat at but also attacked as well? i worked on the health care for seven years and we had mentally unhealthy people there, people were disinherited. my friend used to say being mentally unwell was no excuse for bad behaviour but

in prison, generally, overthe was no excuse for bad behaviour but in prison, generally, over the last two or three years, violence has risen dramatically. i don't know the figures but prisoner on prisoner assaults, self harm, drug incidents, certainly, staff assaults are going through the roof, daily. what happened to you ? through the roof, daily. what happened to you? for me, strangeways changed in march, 2015. the latest round of government... workforce modernisation came in. we were lucky at strangeways, the rest of the prison service had been going through that for two years. it meant that staffing was reduced to a bare minimum. we didn't lose any staff, because we were already short—staffed. it meant that one day we tend up to work, we were eight staff short and the next day we were supposed to be up. we turned up. you never have enough staff in prison. you have enough staff to open up every day but as soon as there is an incident, you are short. the thing that affects the most is prisoners, because they have to be locked up. you were attacks? i have been

assaulted, before. punched, spat at, you know, nothing too serious. you say that the people don't expect to go to work and... that's something people have said to me, you know, nobody does that, you don't get paid for that. i'm quite a big lad, i am tough, i have played rugby but there are tough, i have played rugby but there a re lots of lovely tough, i have played rugby but there are lots of lovely people in there who are just normal people. they don't all have mind presence. the thing that sticks in my mind, if you go back to a certain event, an mp gotan go back to a certain event, an mp got an egg thrown at him, it made world news. every single day, hundreds of staff are being assaulted. verbally, physically, stabbed, spat at, strangled, kicked, you know, it's just stabbed, spat at, strangled, kicked, you know, it'sjust horrendous. it's not getting any better. how much of that would you say is also down to the drug problem, particularly when you look at things like spice, which

has been in the news over the next few years. spice, it's very cheap. —— past few years. few years. spice, it's very cheap. -- past few years. it is readily available and imprison you can't test for spice. we could test for drugs, heroin, cannabis, but spice is undetectable. it's cheaper so prisoners will use that. u nfortu nately, prisoners will use that. unfortunately, prison is very boring. it's a consequence of being locked up. it's very boring. they will use drugs. they will use anything they can to get away from that boredom. it's a nightmare for staff, now. because people are locked behind doors and you don't have those relationships, when they are unlocked, the incidence of drug use and things like that are making it more violent. also, the incidence of drugs, there is probably lots more bullying, prisoners are being bullied. it's a cruel place. if somebody has got no money, they will give a prisoner drugs and if they

can't repay them, they will expect theirfamily to can't repay them, they will expect their family to bring can't repay them, they will expect theirfamily to bring it can't repay them, they will expect their family to bring it all back something like that, which compounds it, it keeps building. —— or something like that. people will say, it's a prison, how is it that spice or other drugs are readily coming in? is it coming in through drones or is it people bringing it in and passing it over? drones i problem, people can throw it over walls. u nfortu nately, problem, people can throw it over walls. unfortunately, the human, anatomically is capable of conceiving things about themselves —— drones are a problem. people will do that. if you are a drug user and you go into court, you've been on bail, and you know you are getting locked up, in strangeways you will wear three t—shirts, three pairs of shorts, three boxes, so you have got close and you will take in drugs and you will make money doing that —— three boxer shorts. you also witnessed radicalisation of prisoners, this is something you wrote about in your book and people are concerned about this. that people who are awaiting trial on

terrorism offences are mixing, freely, with other prisoners. in a high security prison, there's a lot of people held in there who are, you know, terrorists. people who have been radicalised. i have spoken with people. there was a young lads locked up at manchester who went to the high security estate and i met him five years later. we had mutual friends in sheffield, i never actually met him. he was a young muslim. he said it is horrendous. because he was a muslim, he went to friday prayers, he practised. people didn't bother him. but there is a lot of pressure on people when you go to those jails, to become a muslim. the religion is more like a gang culture. to be honest. do you know what i mean? when you get to the high security estate, it is like, join ourgang the high security estate, it is like, join our gang or you're on your own. i met people who had gone

there, tuff lads from salford and they said, look, six months i was fighting people everyday —— tuff lads. but you eventually are told a lie. and you become a muslims. —— become a muslin. and preached radical views? and preached radicalviews? the lad iam thinking and preached radicalviews? the lad i am thinking about now, he's going to do his ten years and he will bite his lip and when he gets out he will go off and do his business. but i met young people at manchester, who have become muslims and have been influenced by it. and they try and preach. what they have been taught. it is very difficult. at manchester, we had prisoners who have been locked up for being radicals and they are on normal locations, they are not isolated from the general prison population. it is a difficult subject. we said in the introduction to our conversation that you had a breakdown. you suffered from ptsd,

that was diagnosed. just explain how that was diagnosed. just explain how that came about? like i say, 2015, march, manchester prison, strangeways changed drastically. six months, i became very confrontational because of the simple reason that when prisoners are angry, if a prisoner is... is having a go at an officer at that office is holding their own, you loiter in the background. you wouldn't get involved, you would be there to support. as is quite often there to support. as is quite often the case, if a prisoner... you see a male orfemale officer who the case, if a prisoner... you see a male or female officer who looks intimidated and may be backing off, i would step up to the mark, that is the sort of person i am. i have got a presence. my six months up until getting injured in september 2015 we re getting injured in september 2015 were just... getting injured in september 2015 werejust... confrontation getting injured in september 2015 were just... confrontation after confrontation of the confrontation. i actually got injured in september ina i actually got injured in september in a restraining situation, injured my shoulder, that was my last shift,

september 200a. my physical health was horrendous, my blood pressure... my was horrendous, my blood pressure... my doctor said, look, you are heading towards a stroke and a heart attack. on top of that, the longer i was off, people would think you were away from thejob, was off, people would think you were away from the job, it's going to be good but i became incredibly unwelcome mentally. not violent, but anxious —— i became unwell. november the same year, friends said, look, you are barking. i referred myself to salford psychological services. i gotan to salford psychological services. i got an appointment quite quickly. that was february 2016, they referred me to see a psychologist who i started seeing in march for about five months. she diagnosed me with ptsd. lots of people will suffer with ptsd, nightmares, whatever, people in thatjob. it had

never stopped me going to work on a horrendous incidentss things like that. but sometimes, unfortunately, if you have a horrendous incident which is managed well, then, you know, you can cope with it. if it's not managed well, as is often the case, it makes it worse. did you feel you had the support in the prison service? particularly that the six months prior to your injury? my the six months prior to your injury? my support came from my colleagues. my my support came from my colleagues. my nurse manager, friends, i work with, offices but didn't necessarily work... you talked amongst yourself. ifi work... you talked amongst yourself. if i had gone to someone they might have offered me professional help but if you are going to going to talk to someone about how you are feeling and things like that, you to a friend. i want to bring you this comment which has been e—mailed from adam, saying, please pass this message onto the former prison officer. i had just come out of prison and it was my first time, i am 44 years old and i have to say the staff were excellent. it's a

shame so many good officers are taking advantage of by the system. i got my medication on time, they regularly asked if i was ok. they have got a hard job to do without the tools to do it. it is a shame that you were ignored by system, both prisoners and prison officers need support from the relevant permits department. he said he was in wandsworth prison. is it good to hear from the other in wandsworth prison. is it good to hearfrom the other side in wandsworth prison. is it good to hear from the other side that people like you, who are putting yourselves on the line every day for work or appreciated? i think some prisoners, particularly vulnerable once, first timers, appreciate the stuff, u nfortu nately timers, appreciate the stuff, unfortunately it does not seem like anyone else does. i was never one, nor were many of my colleagues, for people patting you on the back, but it is getting recognised. we used to call ourselves the unknown servers, the fourth service. nobody knows what it is really like doing that job, which is why i needed to do the book. and it has been good therapy

for me. are you 0k book. and it has been good therapy for me. are you ok now? this month has probably been the best month i have had in two and a half years. this week, getting to talk about in getting people to realise what a toughjob it getting people to realise what a tough job it is, getting people to realise what a toughjob it is, has been a real help. thank you so much. a prison service spokesperson said... "we have recruited over 3,000 prison officers in the last 18 months to improve safety and help turn offenders' lives around — and nearly 90 % of these will be on landings this summer. neil's book, strangeways: my life as a prison officer, is out now. still to come... we look at how too much screen time is damaging children's learning and development. and we'll speak to the young scientists inspired by the life of stephen hawking.

time for the latest news — here's annita. the bbc news headlines this morning... the government's flagship benefit scheme, universal credit, is forcing some claimants into debt, and could cost more to administer than the system it replaced, according to a highly critical report by the national audit office. —— national audit office. so far, almost a million people receive the benefit, which is currently being rolled out across the uk. ministers say they've made significant improvements, but today's report says some claimants have been forced to rely on foodbanks. yemen's foreign minister says an offensive by the saudi—led coalition to recapture the port of hudaydah from houthi rebels has been put on hold. he was speaking hours after the un security council failed to agree on a statement calling for a halt to the entire military campaign, which has seen humanitarian supplies hit after a spate of attacks on the port which is held by houthi rebel fighters. upskirting — or secretly taking

photographs up skirts or dresses — is set to become a specific criminal offence, with a punishment of up to two years in prison. it's been an offence in scotland since 2010 when it was listed under the broader definiton of voyeurism. labour has won the parliamentary by—election in lewisham east in south london — but with a greatly reduced majority on a low turnout. its candidate, janet da by, was elected with a majority of more than 5,000 — compared with the 21,000 secured by her predecessor in last year's general election. former tennis star boris becker has claimed diplomatic immunity from bankruptcy proceedings, because of his role as an ambassador for the central african republic. becker, who won six grand slams in the 80s and 90s, was declared bankrupt by a london court injune last year, after failing to pay a long standing debt. a cat reputed to have psychic powers — who managed to pick the home team, russia, to beat saudi arabia in the opening match

of the world cup on thursday — has been wowing crowds in st petersburg. achilles, who is deaf, selects winners by choosing from two bowls of food marked with flags from the opposing sides. the white cat, who is part of the team that mouses for st petersburg's hermitage museum, is said to have accurately predicted the winners during the 2017 confederations cup. what i want to know is was it exactly the same food and both of the bolt! —— in both of the bowls. that's a summary of the latest bbc news. he isjust he is just hungry! here's some sport now with hugh. the 21st world cup kicked off successfully for hosts russia with a 5—0 win over saudi arabia in moscow. afterwards, president vladimir putin called the team's coach to tell them to ‘keep up the good work'.

england forward marcus rashford is expected to take part in full training shortly in repino as gareth southgate looks to refine his selections ahead of their opening game on monday. rory mcilroy‘s hopes of a second us open title were blown away on day one as he slumped to ten over par. there's a four way tie for the lead including england's ian poulter. johanna konta came out on top, in the battle of the britons at the nottingham open. the british number one beat the number two heather watson in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals. that's all the sport for now. i will have more after 10am. thank you very much. tesco says its growth plans are on track after it reported a tenth consecutive quarter of rising sales. uk like—for—like sales, which strip out the impact of new stores, rose 2.1% in the 13 weeks to 26th may. the supermarket giant said sales had recovered after being affected by bad weather conditions in march. our correspondent alice baxter is here. good news for tesco? absolutely,

having a confident start to the year. it is continuing but sales momentum into the tenth consecutive quarter, shrugging of that impact from the beast from the east, the terrible weather back in march. and what a turnaround from 2014th when it posted its worst results in history. as you rightly say, uk like—for—like sales up over 2%. interesting looking at the group sales, they were also up over 1%. at the end of last year, tesco bought a food wholesaler called booker, which proved to be a smart purchase. they own things like lundy ‘s, premier and budgens, so it was a really good purchase, really utilising the tesco distribution network. outside of the

uk, it was a bit less rosy. sales down 1% in europe due to restrictions on selling on public holidays and sundays in slovakia and poland. central europe only accounts for about 10% of tesco group sales so they will not worry too much. this all speaks to the turnaround strategy but chief executive dave lewis is undertaking is working, it isa lewis is undertaking is working, it is a story of simplification, selling off these unprofitable far—flung foreign businesses and properties, concentrating on the co re properties, concentrating on the core business of fresh food and cost—cutting and purchasing things like booker, that is successful. it is still a fiercely competitive market. they still have the budget lines to content with, the likes of algae and lidl, and they are relaunching their own own brand line of products. —— the likes of aldi

and lidl. and there was also the merger between sainsbury‘s and asda which will not make life easy. but, for now, tesco can consider itself to be ina for now, tesco can consider itself to be in a good spot. thank you, alice baxter. "scrolling forever gives me a sick feeling in my stomach. i'm so aware of how little control i have and the feeling of needing to be online." that's what one child said to organisation 5rights during a study they carried out into protecting children online. the royal college of psychiatrists tells this programme that regulation needs to be introduced immediately and technology firms need to face tougher scrutiny over how they entice children. 5rights have found tech companies are deliberately designing services to be compulsive — and its seriously harming our children's learning and development. well, let's talk now to baroness beeban kidron — she's founder of the 5rights organisation and co—authored this report. louise theodosiou is a child and adolescent psychologist who works for the royal college of psychiatrists. jenny afia is a mum of two

who tries to regulate her children's screen time — she has also worked with the children's commissioner on this issue. andy mellor is a headteacher of a primary school in blackpool — —— and shirley cramer is from the royal society of public health. nice to see a full sofa, thank you for coming in. baroness kidron, iwant to drill down on what you call, in this report, and exploitative relationship with children. what do you mean? strong words. strong words, but i think your viewers will recognise there is an asymmetry of power between tech companies worth billions of dollars who have the smartest people in the world creating and designing things that are very creating and designing things that are very enticing, and a single

child on their own using their device. that is just not a fair fight. when we talk about persuasive design, we are talking about all those little things that grab your attention. the like, the tweet, a re—tweet, a message, that terrible feeling of scrawling forever, that you used in your introduction. it creates a bubble around children that they find awfully difficult to get out of. we are finding the impacts on that are really serious and you have to look up and start worrying about it. jenny, your kids are quite young at the moment, but you are still trying to limit screen time? they are young, so to limit screen time? they are young, so it is easier for me than other parents. i don't know if it is easier, the challenge is different. they can still scream for an ipad. at least i can yank it off them if i

have to, in a few years i am sure i will not be able to. one of the things i learned when writing this report with baroness kidron is how the systems are designed to make it so the systems are designed to make it so hard to tear children away from their screens. these are deliberate design strategies specifically their silver screens will capture our children's attention. louise, i am interested in the call for immediate action you are saying is absolutely necessary right now? the president of the royal college of psychologists has a headline that it today talking about the fact that what we need to make sure is that not only are we thinking about how this is impacting children but putting it into context that we know that rates of depression are rising, particularly in teenage girls and young adults. we not only need more psychiatrists to address that, but we need legislation so that websites

supporting anorexia can be firmly addressed. shirley, do you recognise this as a public health issue? yes, a very serious this as a public health issue? yes, a very serious one. this as a public health issue? yes, a very serious one. we this as a public health issue? yes, a very serious one. we were “— this as a public health issue? yes, a very serious one. we were —— we published a report last year, status of mind, looking at mental health around social media. nine in ten girls are worried about their body and their body image. we found out that depression and anxiety has increased over the past 25 years by 70% and the young people we survey said very specifically what the negative impacts were around mental health, and cyber bullying, fear of missing out, all of these things are having a detrimental effect. we need to regulate and think of ways to mitigate the negative effects of social media and really enhance the very positive effects. we are not there yet and this report today, i think, is a very important step. we

are asking the actual companies themselves, you have a responsibility in this area. is one of the challenges that pa rents is one of the challenges that parents do not necessarily understand all of the different platforms that children are on?” think so. that is a really good point. even in the question there is a problem. what do they understand? they understand content. as a parent it is easy to understand if you think a piece of content is suitable or unsuitable. that is one set of problems. but what they don't understand is the design of services is really leveraging human instincts. so all of those buzzers and ping zampa social obligation inherent so you have all these streaks happening at the same time, and they do need the relationships in the real world. and they do need the relationships in the realworld. ——

and they do need the relationships in the real world. —— and they denude the relationships in the real world. we are very tech positive, for society we need children to be engaged in digital skills, digital literacy, creativity... but not 23 others are gay. —— but not 23 hours a day. but we want them to be doing intentional, creative things in an environment that respects their rights and their difference. we have lots of rules around childhood and they are being ignored by the big tech companies. louise, do you think the tech companies are bullying children? i think there is a lot we do not understand and i think the tech companies do things that hugely impact children. in clinic, children are saying to me that if nobody likes my tweet or picture, i feel terrible. it is awful to think their mental state is being affected in that way. we understand the dangers

of crossing the road, we do not understand the dangers of not getting likes etc. how do you navigate that as a parent? what should you say if you're young person says that? ultimately saying there are bigger things out there and it does not matter, your teenager will not take that on board. as a parent you want your children on one had to be part of a digital future, children on one had to be part of a digitalfuture, we hear thatjobs will be automated, you want your children to be part of that and you feel a slight sense of pride that they can navigate an ipad and call their grandparents, but then you hear allegations about cyber bullying, mental health, plus as the report highlights the really damaging public health effects of these persuasive design strategies. so asa these persuasive design strategies. so as a parent it is difficult. conversations with children about these persuasive design strategies area these persuasive design strategies are a good place to start, helping children switch off some of the design features. help them to turn

off notifications, they do not need pings throughout the night. and what ifind hard is putting my own phone. i have a nine and a 60 world, when we go upstairs and start the bedtime routine the phone stays upstairs, otherwise i would get the ping, i will just reply to otherwise i would get the ping, i willjust reply to this work e—mail. iam willjust reply to this work e—mail. i am telling the girls they cannot look at that tablet before bed and i am doing that. it is the message we send. as a girl there are a few things you can do —— as a pa re nt parent there are review things you can do. we work with a lot of children and a lot of 5rights is based on the voice of children, and they say their parents are not looking at them, they are looking at their phone. they say their parents tell them to put the phone down and then will not put their own phone

down. we must get away from parents blaming and kids blaming, it is unreasonable to deliberately design things to make a compulsive and then be annoyed with your child for not putting it down. you know? it would be like if actually giving them lots of alcohol and saying, don't get drunk. it is not reasonable. today is about saying to government, this is about saying to government, this isa harm, is about saying to government, this is a harm, a public health issue. add it to the list. we know we have things to sort out and then policy flows. the second piece is come on, guys, look at your phenomenal share prices. look at the children and ta ke prices. look at the children and take a small heads. they need a new deal. i want to introduce you to andy mellor, a primary school head teacher in blackpool. his school locks phones away unless they are clearly being used for learning. how much of an issue is it with young people at primary school, 11 and under, with mobile phones?”

people at primary school, 11 and under, with mobile phones? i don't think we see the same issues you might see in a secondary school. notwithstanding that, there are genuine uses for mobile phones, particularly —— we currently have very little funding in schools. for people to bring their devices and use them in school. but they are under very strict guidelines on the schools that do not have strict policies. we tend to accept the fact that parents want their children to have phones, particularly if they walk to and from school. it is a security measure, i understand that. we ta ke security measure, i understand that. we take the phones of the children when they arrive unblock them away. internet is locked down in school, but children can still access 3g and ag but children can still access 3g and 4g on their phones at any time if still have them. do you see a difference in children's behaviour now, compared to pre—mobile times? asa

now, compared to pre—mobile times? as a father of two daughters, 114 and 116, yes, i guess i do. —— one is 14 and one is 16. i was laughing to myself listening to some of the people you are interviewing, in the house we have a policy of taking my daughter plus microphone of her before bed, we are kept to wait —— kept awake down the landing by all the pings and noises. i would rather haveitin the pings and noises. i would rather have it in my room so she gets a good night's sleep. we want our children to have a good night's sleep so they can operate to the best of their capability in school, if their phone is pinging and buzzing all night, that can be the case. i have had to take her phone offer, turn it off completely, it has kept me awake at night. —— take her phone off her. there is a very different and very real problem. the people you are talking to our right, we need the social media companies

to start taking proactive action to support children and protect them. thank you all so much for coming in, we could talk about this for so much longer but we are right out of time. coming up... amid condemnation of the government's universal credit scheme, we speak to those who are on the benefit, alongside conservative mp heidi allen. professor stephen hawking's ashes will be buried alongside charles darwin and sir isaac newton at a memorial service later today at westminster abbey. he died in march at the age of 76, after living with motor neurone disease for more than 50 years. readings will be given by the physicist‘s daughter lucy hawking, actor benedict cumberbatch and major tim peake. of course, stephen hawking's memory will live on in the many people he inspired throughout his life. we're joined by the scientists of the future, who were all influenced by stephen hawking's life and his work. hello. thank you so much for coming

in. ido hello. thank you so much for coming in. i do not know if i will pronounce your name correctly. sankha kahagala—gamage. pronounce your name correctly. sankha kahagala-gamage. thank you so much. i can cope with david bernstein! thank you for coming in. you both won top prizes in the big bang uk young scientists and engineers competition. also with theirs is astrophysicist and science communicator at the university of portsmouth, drjen gupta. you have all been influenced in different ways by stephen hawking. first of all, david adams sankha, what was it that really got you into science? -- david and sankha. i was in bath town about two years ago and saw somebody have an epileptic fit around his family. what got me in treating epilepsy was his family's reaction to the fit, it was quite a visceral and uncomfortable experience but the

family almost treated it as if it we re family almost treated it as if it were normal. it was not a factor of love or care, it was just the fact that this has happened so much to this person, their lives have become normalised to it. so david and i teamed up after that and decided to create something that could help people with severe epilepsy. for as it was designing and creating a device which can predict an epileptic attack before it can happen. that is incredible, how does it work? by managing two aspects of the body, it has sensors monitoring aspects of heart rate and body temperature, combining them through a specific algorithm we develop to getan a specific algorithm we develop to get an overview of the body in its tertiary state, meaning how it connects from the brain. through this we can establish pre—warnings, recognise pre—warnings of when it will happen. and presumably get

people into a safe environment and people into a safe environment and people can act accordingly? it is incredible tewthia this... i did not understand all of it, but it is incredible that young people are engaged in science, it is so important? there is a shortage of engineers and scientists working in the uk, we need to recruit so many young people into science, technology, engineering, maths, the stem subjects. did stephen hawking spark your imagination? he was definitely somebody always in my consciousness since i decided i wanted to do physics and astrophysics. i credit him with me passing my driving test, i tilt the instructor i was going to university to study astrophysics and he started talking about a brief history of time, i relaxed and we started

talking about astrophysics the whole time, sol talking about astrophysics the whole time, so i passed my test. that might make some people tense, but not you. david, did stephen hawking act as a messenger, somebody to get you engaged in science? absolutely, when i saw his amazing work it hit home for our project. he is an absolutely amazing example of somebody who even under extreme circumstances has taken control of his life, even when the odds are against him and it would have been very difficult for him to do what he wanted, he kept on and did some brilliant work. with our project involving giving control back to people with epilepsy, we founded an amazing source of inspiration. and what stephen hawking did was make people who do not have a scientific brain, like me, made it accessible and interesting, made it relevant and interesting, made it relevant and not but frightening. that is absolutely true. for me, taking the first steps into the subject, i knew

nothing about the key pillars of what we ended up doing with science, code and programming. seeing him being able to approach those same pillars of science with such... with so many difficulties in his own life, that inspired me and has inspired so many others to approach those pillars and pass their own obstructions. that was really what his main inspiration to so many scientists, not just astrophysicists, across the world. drjen gupta, one of your big roles is to engage children in schools. how do you find people respond in the classroom to what you tell them? i think astronomy is kind of a gateway science. the classic thing is that young people are interested in space and dinosaurs, sol is that young people are interested in space and dinosaurs, so i would say we initially have it easier than some of the areas of physics.

anybody can look up the night sky, there are no barriers. so in one way it is easy to go into schools and talk to young people, they can go out at night and see it all themselves. but it is quite challenging because it is very inaccessible in a way, we cannot go to those stars and galaxies and bring things back to a lab to test them, so some of the concepts we talk about can be quite difficult to get your head around. but it is such an inspiring subject, why wouldn't you want to know more about the universe? is it such a thing, having a science brain? i would not think so, there are so many pressures on us from when we are born in terms of society and how we are treated, for example gender, ethnicity, disability or anything like that. i am nota disability or anything like that. i am not a neuroscientist, but from what i have seen, for example there are no differences between male and

female brains, and you can change your brain so easily. i think a week of learning how to juggle, your brain so easily. i think a week of learning how tojuggle, you can see of learning how tojuggle, you can see the changes of your brain in an mri scan. sol see the changes of your brain in an mri scan. so i think the idea of having a science brain is something you would be able to change. i would not expect to pick up my flute and b grades eight level, you should not expect to pick up maths and science without working or practising. what is your next project? university. no more competitions for now. this is your award. we won this at the big band competition in the final in 2017 after going through the regionals. —— big band competition. it led to another couple of competitions, that this was the starting point. we went up against some very starting point. we went up against some very tough competitors, we were absolutely shocked when we won but it led to is going to china for another competition, then to estonia. we have had an amazing

time. with you both be sitting science? absolutely. engineering for me, signs for dave. and you have come mid a—levels? me, signs for dave. and you have come mid a-levels? not as such, we're coming the transition phase. thank you both so much. simon, what is the weather looking like for the weekend? pretty mixed, today is fairly straightforward, sunshine and showers. this rainbow was at 4:40am in scotland. you don't get them far to early often, but a few showers this morning. lots of sunshine further south, this is the scene across the south coast. storm hector yesterday gave this really strong winds. that has moved across scandinavia. i look towards the atlantic, this is the weekend weather which will move in. for now,

plenty of dry weather, sunshine towards the south, cloud increasing a little into the afternoon. showers more likely further north across scotland, northern ireland, north—west england around cumbria. we could catch the odd shower further south, but mostly dry and temperatures getting up to around 17 to 23 or 24 degrees. this evening and overnight, clear spells around eastern parts per to the west there is an area of rain which will gradually move in for saturday morning. these are your overnight temperatures at around seven to 13 celsius. the weekend will start showreel commerce and thundery rain moving in across scotland, northern ireland, all associated with the area of low pressure. “— all associated with the area of low pressure. —— the weekend will start showery, some thundery rain moving in. some thunderstorms later in the day to the west, still the risk of thundery rain across north wales into northern england and the north

midlands. further south, probably staying mostly dry. there could still be the odd shower or two on saturday, a bit cooler, temperatures around 16 to 19. on sunday the low pressure moves, the next frontal system is trying to move in. it will make some progress further east, it will increase the cloud across the west, and with that some showers moving in later in the day. the best of the drier and brighter weather in central and eastern parts of the uk. that is where you will get some fairly pleasant conditions. temperatures up a little to around 20 or 21 degrees, temperatures in the mid to high teens. into next week, something of a mixture. getting a little bit warmer. mostly dry with sunshine, especially across england and wales, more cloud further north across scotland and northern ireland, maybe outbreaks of rain. quitea northern ireland, maybe outbreaks of rain. quite a strong winds on monday

and tuesday across scotland. that's all from me. hello it's friday, it's 10am, i'm chloe tilley our top story this morning, a damming report on universal credit. the public spending watchdog says it is "slow and expensive" and may end up costing more to administer than the benefits it replaces. a significant minority, we think, are struggling to cope with making a claim online, they're struggling to cope while they wait for their first payment and they're struggling to cope with the fluctuating income they get on universal credit. the government says it's a flexible benefit for the 21st century, but the national audit office accuses ministers of being in denial. we'll speak to one of the architects of the policy and ask how it could be made better. for the first time, women will be allowed to drive in saudi arabia, we meet the british women taking charge of the training. and the prison officer who says life on the inside gave him ptsd. every single day, now, hundreds of staff are being assaulted. not only was my physical health

horrendous, my blood pressure, but the doctor said, look, you're heading towards a stroke and a heart attack. neil samworth says the challenges were intense. we'll bring you his story. good morning. here's annita mcveigh in the bbc newsroom with a summary of todays news. the government's flagship benefit scheme, universal credit, is forcing some claimants into debt, and could cost more to administer than the system it replaced, according to a highly critical report by the national audit office. so far, almost a million people receive the benefit, which is currently being rolled out across the uk. ministers say they've made significant improvements, but today's report says some claimants have been forced to rely on foodbanks. houdayda. yemen's foreign minister, says an offensive by the saudi—led coalition to recapture the port of houdayda from houthi rebels has been put on hold. he was speaking hours after the un

security council failed to agree on a statement calling for a halt to the entire military campaign, which has seen humanitarian supplies hit after a spate of attacks on the port which is held by houthi rebel fighters. upskirting, or secretly taking photographs up skirts or dresses, is set to become a specific criminal offence, with a punishment of up to two years in prison. it's been an offence in scotland since 2010, when it was listed under the broader definiton of voyeurism. a man has been charged with soliciting murder over letters calling for a national "punish a muslim day", to be held on 3rd april this year. david parnham, who's 35 and from lincoln, will appear before magistrates in london later this morning. he'll face a total of 14 charges, including a bomb hoax. he was arrested on tuesday by counter—terrorism police as part of an intelligence operation. labour has won the parliamentary by—election in lewisham east in south london, but with a greatly reduced majority on a low turnout. its candidate, janet da by, was elected with a majority of more than 5,000 compared

with the 210,000 secured by her predecessor in last year's general election. than 5,000 compared with the 21,000 secured by her predecessor in last year's general election. we were able to speak to lots of people. i was able to speak to a lot of people on the door. some of those issues were about brexit, some of them were not. some issues were about social homes, affordable homes, improving secondary school education results. it was about protecting our nhs service and our railway service as well. former tennis star, boris becker, has claimed diplomatic immunity from bankruptcy proceedings, because of his role as an ambassador for the central african republic. becker, who won six grand slams in the 80s and 90s, was declared bankrupt by a london court injune last year, after failing to pay a long standing debt. mcdonald's will replace plastic straws with paper ones in all its restaurants in the uk and ireland, starting from september. it's the latest company to opt out of the single—use plastic, which can take hundreds of years to decompose

if not recycled. the fast food chain uses 1.8 million straws a day in the uk. a memorial service to remember the life of the renowned theoretical physicist, professor stephen hawking will be held at westminster abbey, later today. there'll be an address by the astronomer royal, martin rees, and a reading by the actor benedict cumberbatch. professor hawking died in march, aged 76, after a long battle with motor neurone disease. a cat reputed to have psychic powers, who managed to pick the home team, russia, to beat saudi arabia in the opening match of the world cup on thursday, has been wowing crowds in st petersburg. achilles, who is deaf, selects winners by choosing from two bowls of food marked with flags from the opposing sides. the white cat, who is part of the team that mouses for st petersburg's hermitage museum, is said to have accurately predicted the winners during the 2017 confederations cup. achilles, no doubt, will be put to

the test throughout the tournament. that's a summary of the latest bbc news, more at 10:30am. i'm not entirely sure he did predict them but maybe i'm being just a killjoy. we'll keep you across the latest developing stories across the morning. earlier, we heard form neil samworth a former prison officer who said life inside gave him ptsd. you've been getting touch: a.webster emailed: "firstly, my heart goes out to the former prison officer — he was brave coming on to your show. i am a prison officer, i suffer from stress, anxiety and have been assaulted a number of times. prisons are a very dangerous stage at the moment with new staff poorly training working in these conditions. neil would have left the service with no contact from governors, no help in training or employment. when an offender is in prison, they gain qualifications,

training and all the help for being a criminal. when we leave or retire, we have nothing." thank you for getting in touch with your experience. an anonymous text has just your experience. an anonymous text hasjust come in. "i have just watched the interview with neil samworth. i worked in prison for 12 years, as a probation officer and drug and alcohol counsellor. i was also head of care team, during a major incident. prison officers are dreadfully unappreciated. i found most of them to be incredibly brave and selfless. they experience awful, harrowing situations that most people would run away from. i witnessed the lengths they regularly go to, to protect each other and prisoners. in emergencies, they go to unimaginable lengths to save lives. i watched as staff numbers were reduced to a ridiculous level, that destroyed the regime, with cuts to valuable courses and education. officers are inundated with a huge amount of paperwork that has further reduced the time they can spend dealing with prisoners. they are amazing individuals." i'd be interested in your thoughts on that or, of course, anything else we're talking about this morning — use the hashtag victoria

live and if you text, you will be charged at the standard network rate. you can get in touch anonymously. here's some sport. well there are plenty of theories in today's newspapers regarding england's starting line—up for their first match against tunisia and monday, but the manager gareth southgate is keeping his cards close to his chest... it gives marcus rashford some hope he may be included. he's training fully this morning in repino for the first time since arriveing in russia. his manchester united team—mate, ashley young, is being put forth as the starting left wing back with jordan henderson reportedly preferred to eric dier in central midfield, but bbc sport understands southgate hasn't informed his players of his selection. it all started well on the pitch yesterday afternoon with the opening ceremony and opening game in moscow in front of russian

president vladimir putin. and he was overjoyed with the match as well, because russia thrashed saudi arabia. putin even extending the hand of sportmanship to the saudi crown prince. in the end, it was a day for all russian's to revel in, a 5—0 win at the luzhniki stadium in moscow. well today there are three world cup matches to keep you entertained and the pfa and football writers' player of the year, mohamed salah is "almost100% certain to play in egypt's opener against uruguay at1pm. you might remember he damaged a shoulder in liverpool's champions league final defeat at the end of may. and it will be a lovely birthday present for him after his amazing season. he turns 26. spain captain sergio ramos is the man who hurt salah's shoulder in that match. he been speaking about new boss fernando hierro, he's the former captain of ramos's club, real madrid and was only appointed on wednesday after the sacking ofjulen lopetegui. translation: i think there aren't

many people better than fernando to cover the absence ofjulien. fernando is a great guy and we have admired him fora fernando is a great guy and we have admired him for a long time. we know him really well and i think he's one of the best choices to take over this role. hopefully, we'll be a tea m this role. hopefully, we'll be a team with the same intentions and staying dreams, which shouldn't change at all because of what happened. so this is how friday in russia is shaping up. mo salah's egypt take on luis suarez‘s uruguay at 1pm. that's on bbc one. you can listen to morocco iran on 5live and then catch portugal against spain back on bbc one at 7pm. it was a day of wildly mixed fortunes on the opening day of golf‘s us open in new york. northern ireland's rory mcilroy really suffered in the early testing windy conditions.

he eventually finished on 10 over—par for his opening round and struggling to make the cut. england's ian poulter is the pick of the british contenders — tied for the lead on 1—under. british number one johanna konta says she feels fortunate to have beaten compatriot heather watson in straight sets at the nottingham open. konta was taken to a tie break in the second set and it took an hour and 39 minutes to get past watson, who's currently ranked 69 places lower. konta advances to the quarterfinal, today. that's all the sport for now. more a little later on. thanks. the government has been told its flagship benefit scheme, universal credit, is not delivering value for money, has been too slow to roll out and is causing financial hardship. a damning report from the national audit office says there's strong evidence that some claimants are turning to food banks, or getting into debt, while they wait for payment. universal credit was first introduced in 2013, and was designed to make claiming benefits simpler by merging six

benefits, including child tax credit and income support, into one single payment. but the move to the new system has long been criticised for its delayed and flawed implementation. last year, 40% of claimants waited 11 weeks for their first payments. almost a million people currently receive the benefit. around 10% of the final number expected to be claiming it by 2023. ministers say universal credit is good value for money and significant improvements have been made to its delivery. last year, three people using the new system told us about some of the issues they have faced. we can speak now to don locke. he has been on universal credit for four months and has already gone £3,000 into debt. also to sherry fulle, she only started on universal credit one month ago, but says without the help of friends and family she'd be homeless. and family, she'd be homeless. both don and sherry are first—time users of the welfare system.

we can also speak to deven ghelani, director of the policy in practice think tank and the architect of the government's universal credit policy, and to heidi allen, conservative mp and member of the work and pensions select committee. tell us about your situation. what was your experience, don? thank you for having me today, first of all. the experience is relatively faceless. it's entirely online. the main thing that categorises my experience is the initial weight between when you first make your claim and receive your payment —— initial waiting time between. it is enormous, you don't know what you expect. how long did you wait? about six weeks, as the government has advertised, previously. iunderstand the effect that can have on people and the effect it has had on me

myself, especially when you haven't gotan myself, especially when you haven't got an income coming in and you have extremely high rents to pay my bills to pay. the effect it can have on your mental health, for example, can be catastrophic. what did you do in those six weeks when you had no money coming in and universal credit hadn't reached you? money coming in and universal credit hadn't reached you ?|j money coming in and universal credit hadn't reached you? i had to use my overdraft a nd hadn't reached you? i had to use my overdraft and rely on credit cards. it's unfortunate, not something i wa nted it's unfortunate, not something i wanted to do. but i didn't have an option. when you have a bill that comes in and you have to pay it, you don't have a choice. obviously, you can borrow against the amount that you are entitled to, later on. but the payments that were calculate it for me were only £60 more than my monthly share of the rent anyway. —— we re monthly share of the rent anyway. —— were calculated. if i were to borrow into that amount, it would mean i would have less money to actually pay my rent. if you borrow into that, you still have to pay it back, it is not free. sherry, tell us your experience. i am very recent to it.

i was made redundant last year, after working in the local government for 17 years, mostly in public health. i have done a few jobs since then. various contracts came to an end and i realised i have no income, i had been struggling for a couple of months, trying to get by with help from friends and family. i thought i'm going to have to go to the job centre and see how this works. i agree with don, although i sat with a person, it's very impersonal. from the outset, it's almost as punishment model that you have to commit to looking for work for 35 hours. if you can't... evidence that you are doing that will take away small amount of money. the mortgage, the payments doesn't cover the mortgage at all. i was allocated £317 per month. because i needed the money straightaway, because i don't have an overdraft or any credit cards, i didn't have any money at all, i took

the advance i have to pay back that don spoke about. i will be getting about £290 and my mortgage is £680. i asked them, what do i do about my mortgage? there are things, i've since found out, through my friends, that you can try to make arrangements with but there was no advice, no signposting, no support as to what i might be entitled to or how i got help. i wasjust told, perhaps you can ask friends and family for help or you can speak to your mortgage provider and see what they can do for you. £290, having totted up my car insurance, you need a carfora lot totted up my car insurance, you need a car for a lot ofjobs you are applying for, it's on u canjust get rid of your car, you need into net because everything you need to do is online —— is not like you canjust get rid. car, gas, electrical, essentials, food, £360 per month. i'm getting £290, which doesn't even

cover the essentials. listening to this, you came up with the idea of universal credit, do you accept its failing? clearly, a significant proportion of claimants are struggling. one of the reasons we set our policy in practice was to see we set our policy in practice was to see how what i fundamentally believe isa see how what i fundamentally believe is a good policy idea manifests in practice. it is very messy and it has a particularly difficult impact on some people's lives. we now build systems that help people to navigate people like don and sherry to navigate the benefit system to see whereas they can turn to for support. whether or not their calculations are accurate. those systems... if it is faceless, as you both described it, there should be a bit more, frankly, lot more engaged in from the department for work and pensions with the support that is available —— a lot more engagement. it is not just available —— a lot more engagement. it is notjust engagement. we cover this issue on this programme and we have done it a lot, every single

time it's about people saying it's delay! yes. they say they have no money. why on earth has this not been sorted? it's definitely a lot better than it was a bunch of changes announced in the budget last autumn. that allowed people to access advances. what you had seen, many more people accessing that initial payment. but the advance doesn't help because you have got to pay it back. but it helps with that initial weight time. pay it back. but it helps with that initialweight time. if pay it back. but it helps with that initial weight time. if it doesn't cover the rest of your money, doesn't. .. the amount of money you get is outside of the system. universal credit is how the money is paid. if you are not getting enough money, that is a problem with the benefit system and you can make a case to say people need more to get by. that is the case sherry was making. heidi allen, the conservative member for the work and pensions select committee. i am not sure how much you have heard of what sherry and don were explaining about their experiences butjust to summarise it for you, both really

struggled with the delay they faced in getting that initial payment. it meant that sherry said she would be effectively homeless because she would have had to use family and friends to support her. don has already gone £3000 in debt. do you accept that universal credit, which was brought in by your government, is failing? not failing. i caught the tail end of what you were saying about you covering it an awful lot and time again it is the delay that people talk about. devon is right, the system itself, when it is working as it should be will be fantastic but the difficulty we are seeing is that too many people are waiting too long. one of the reasons why we urge the government, repeatedly, but last year, also, to slow down the role that is because while the role that was very slow, you could almost get away with it. —— roll out. it is affecting a lot of people. one in five people are

not being paid on time. that's not good enough. when you have a lot of people coming onto the system, that's an awful lot of people. once people get onto the system, they like it and they see that its transformer to be better than the old benefit system but we have real issues getting people on time —— it issues getting people on time —— it is transformative issues getting people on time —— it is tra nsformative and issues getting people on time —— it is transformative and better to be. my is transformative and better to be. my worry is that people struggling the most, people with disabilities, and caring responsibilities and trying to work with childcare costs. we wa nt trying to work with childcare costs. we want them getting into work. when you look at the statistics, they are affected more than anybody else. sherry, you are pulling faces. affected more than anybody else. sherry, you are pulling faceslj can't see them! i appreciate that! it is worth pointing out and figures are difficult but it is important, in 2017, 100 are difficult but it is important, in 2017,10013,000 new claimants, a quarter, were not paid in full on time that a 113. 40% of those affected by late payments january last year waited 11 weeks or more. 20% waited five months or more. this

is desperate times. sherry, speak to heidi. i was pulling my face about the idea that it is fantastic, i am not sure i would agree. from the amount of people that i know who have had to use benefits for one reason or another, it is not a fantastic place to be, it is horrible. very often, you are getting so little money that you are having to rely on food banks, you are having to rely on the goodwill of those around you and i am so lucky i have a good support system. it is not enough. i have worked nearly 30 years, giving away my age, andl nearly 30 years, giving away my age, and i have paid my national insurance, my taxes, this is a service i have paid for, effectively. it would be nice not just to be able to pay my bills, but to be able to live. i can't take pa rt to be able to live. i can't take part in community activities. i can't go to quiz nights with my friends, there's no extra money for you to. people become more and more socially isolated when they are having to live on this incredibly frugal lifestyle. it really doesn't give you enough money to cover the

basics of living. and then you see mental health problems. i come from a background, i am aware of the health affects people can have. sorry to come in. i said —— was going to say, you can make those same set of criticisms if you were on the same benefit system today, it being faceless and compounded by having to go to a number of different agencies and organisations. the measure of success for universal credit has to be how it is doing against the current benefit system. it was meant to come in to save money, this was the big thing. we were told it is going to save money, drive people to more work. it will incentivise them to get into work and importantly, critically, in austerity times, when this was first discussed, it is going to bring that bill down. this report today has said nonsense, that will not happen and people suffering the pain and it's not saving the public any money. i don't fully agree with the national audit office, look at the evidence

available. they are saying that the quality of evidence available is not good enough. that is a separate point. what evidence is available suggests that universal credit is having a positive impact on employment albeit small. we have done research ourselves that looks at people on universal credit versus at people on universal credit versus a control group and we have corroborated that. what evidence is available suggests there is a small positive employment effect. that is something to be applauded and recognised rather than something... it isa recognised rather than something... it is a challenge, certainly, but let's build on that. have you been incentivised into work?|j let's build on that. have you been incentivised into work? i took a job, recently. as a low paid retail worker. i took it because i needed something. i had bills to pay. i couldn't carry on going into debt. when i started working, i took a 20 hour a weekjob, just to get some income coming in. my benefits dropped from about £730 a month, which already wasn't enough, given that my monthly share of the rent was about 675, leaving me 60 quid to pay everything off. it went down to

about 230. overall, i'd get about less tha n about 230. overall, i'd get about less than one grand a month. i'm grateful for whatever help i can get. but i know that the effect this can have on people that aren't perhaps as savvy as i am, can't navigate difficult situations as easily as i can, who don't have pa rents easily as i can, who don't have parents they can borrow from, it's going to be catastrophic. is it was going to be catastrophic. is it was going to be catastrophic. is it was going to work for an extra £200 a month? it is worth it for me. but not to everybody? not necessarily. compare it to the benefit system today. you can find yourself in exactly the same position and take home an extra tenner a week, working just as many hours. that is one of the benefits universal credit is trying to bring in, we would argue that you could still put more money into work incentives. when i worked at it at the centre for social justice it is more generous than how it is currently implemented. heidi allen, picked up on the point sherry made, having to go to food banks.

many people we have spoken to have said they have to use food banks, particularly in that difficult time before they are given that first payment when moved on to universal credit. did you recognise what the nar report says, agreeing with each russell trust report showing and upsurge of 30% off food bank used in the six months after universal credit rolls out in any given area, do you accept that? 100%. but credit rolls out in any given area, do you accept that? 10096. but that's afailure, do you accept that? 10096. but that's a failure, isn't it? in the last conversation you had with your three guests, you touched on lots of different aspects of universal credit but the biggest reason why people end up on food banks, why people end up on food banks, why people are having to wait so long to get onto it. i think the government have, wrongly,... i know it is difficult to talk about but we have to a cce pt difficult to talk about but we have to accept when they get things wrong. they haven't wanted to see the connection between increase in food bank usage and areas where

universal credit is rolled out. i agree and accept that. i am going to visit another trust will trust not in my constituency, i am meeting the chief executive again. it is a manifestation, a symptom of what happens when people are waiting too long for money. one of the other issues you touched on was around work incentives, universal credit is better because it has this tapered feature to it. if you take on a couple of more hours, you don't drop off, the old benefit systems, if you went over 18 hours, all of your benefits were taken away. the system is better, but we have to give people more support. it is called universal support, that was the design of the system, to get people onto it as quick as possible, that is the bit where we are missing a trick, we need to invest in that. get people onto the system so they can receive support and get their payment on time. it is the front end. you have the architect of the

policy on your left, conservative mp on your right, what do you think, each of you, needs to change to make a difference to people like you who arejust a difference to people like you who are just switching on to universal credit? the key thing that people need most from any benefits system is stability. in the context of people that are claiming social welfare, what people need and expect from their system is to be able to say, "this is what i can rely on from my government". from a bigger perspective, from a housing perspective, which is where i come from, this is going to have a huge knock—on effect on both the private sector landlord, sort of, environment. some landlords are saying they don't want to take people on universal credit because of concerns about payments. the national housing federation pointed out that 73% of tenancies that on universal credit are in arrears versus universal credit are in arrears versus 29% that are on the old system. it is essential that we recognise the effect this can have. sherry? i agree with that.

a p pa re ntly apparently universal credit does not cover mortgage, one has to find other ways of getting support. so you are in a precarious, very frightening situation for any homeowner, anybody, really, who worries about having a roof over their head. and having a more advisory, supportive approach for people finding themselves in the position of needing support, rather than you will do this or we will ta ke than you will do this or we will take away what little you get. because i think people want to work. i don't think you need to hold a sticker over them, saying do this or you will not get anything. it just makes them more scared, apprehensive, anxious. people want to work. be more supportive, give that stability and see people as customers of a service they have probably been paying into for a very long time. heidi allen? on the gentleman's first point about

housing benefits, we have had a problem with this, he is right, but that will be fixed. one of the big concessions we got in the budget last year was anybody who has come under the system with housing benefit that they receive will get an additional two weeks' payments, an additional two weeks' payments, an extra two weeks of housing money. when we see that filter to the system... a bit late, we could have done with it sooner, but when that is in place, april, i believe, it should significantly adjust the problem. and absolutely it is the universal support part i have been talking about, not just universal support part i have been talking about, notjust an it system. people need the handholding to get onto it and to take a support from it. through difficult times into better work. the system itself, i think, will be great, but it needs more investment in the handholding side of things if you like. work coachesin side of things if you like. work coaches in jobcentres side of things if you like. work coaches injobcentres are being asked to be miracle workers, experts

and everything, which they cannot be. and whether it is housing association, citizens advice, the government needs to seriously look at almost contracting that out as a stand—alone servers. at almost contracting that out as a stand-alone servers. thank you all so much. we invited the government onto the programme to talk to us about this but they declined. instead a spokesperson from the department for work and pensions told us... time for the latest news — here's annita. the bbc news headlines this morning... the government's flagship benefit scheme, universal credit, is forcing some claimants into debt, and could cost more to administer than the system it replaced, according to a highly critical report by the national audit office. so far, almost a million people receive the benefit, which is currently being rolled out across the uk. the government says it's made significant improvements. former tennis star boris becker has claimed diplomatic immunity from bankruptcy proceedings, because of his role as an ambassador for the central african republic. becker, who won six grand slams in the 80s and 90s, was declared bankrupt by a london court injune last year, after failing to pay

a long standing debt. upskirting — or secretly taking photographs up skirts or dresses — is set to become a specific criminal offence, with a punishment of up to two years in prison. it's been an offence in scotland since 2010, when it was listed under the broader definiton of voyeurism. a union has won the first stage of a high court challenge against a ruling on the employment status of deliveroo riders. in the latest case involving workers' rights in the gig economy, the independent workers union of great britain asked the high court to overturn a ruling which confirmed the "self—employed" status of deliveroo riders. that's a summary of the latest bbc news. here's some sport now with hugh. england forward marcus rashford is expected to take part in full training shortly in repino as gareth southgate looks to refine his selections ahead of their opening world cup game on monday.

all 23 players have trained. the tournament kicked off successfully for hosts russia with a 5—nil win over saudi arabia in moscow. afterwards, president vladimir putin called the team's coach to tell them to ‘keep up the good work'. rory mcilroy‘s hopes of a second us open title were blown away on day1 as he slumped to 10 over par. there's a four—way tie for the lead including england's ian poulter. johanna konta came out on top, in the battle of the britons at the nottingham open. the british number one, beat the number two heather watson in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals. that's all the sport for now. more after 11am. thank you. women in saudi arabia are counting down to a momentous day — next sunday they will be able to drive for the first time ever. the gulf state is the only country where women are currently banned from doing so — if caught, they can be arrested and fined. but this ban is being lifted, and some women have already been issued with driving

licences in preparation. but female drivers will need female driving instructors. and so three instructors have been brought in from outside the country to train women up. we can speak to two of them now from bahrain. sue newbon from wales has been a driving instructorfor more than 30 years and is now one of the first female driving instructors in saudi arabia. and with her is deborah sherwood, a brit who's now living in canada who has also been chosen to be part of the training team. thank you so much for speaking to us today. sue, why did you want the job? what an opportunity! to be part of history was an opportunity i couldn't miss, to empower so many women in this international year of the woman is something i'm privileged to be part. i could not miss out. deborah, what have your

impressions being, arriving in saudi arabia? it is culturally a difference from canada or the uk? exactly, i did not know what to expect. i did not have preconceived ideas, but we have been truly welcomes. it has been fantastic from the moment we landed, treated so well, it has been awesome, it really has. it is so exciting to be here. sue, tell us about the process you go through in training these women? we know that some women have been driving, they have gone against this ban and some have learned to drive abroad? yes, women have licenses from other countries, from america. they were trained as driving instructors already. so our roles as senior assessors was to develop them and raise them to an international standard. so they were already drivers and driving instructors.

being part of the international scene was wonderful, we are bringing a mix of america, canada and the uk to saudi arabia, which should hopefully improve things. to saudi arabia, which should hopefully improve thingsm to saudi arabia, which should hopefully improve things. it is really unique, it has never been done before. it is an amazing situation. have you been on the roads at all, any opportunities to go out with women within a training facility, or is it waiting for the big day? we are on a training facility at the moment, not on the roads. licenses do not become valid until sunday the 24th, which is a working day in saudi arabia. we are already currently doing tests and people are getting their licenses, but they can't drive on the road until sunday the 24th. deborah, this can't be understated what a massive move forward this is for women. there is a long way to go in saudi,

but it is a step towards gaining independence? totally. previously women have had to rely on drivers, if you can even imagine what it is like to focus on eight —— function alex ainley bases having to rely on a driver to take two. —— trying to function on a daily basis are having to rely on a driver to take you. it will be a massive change for them. it will change their life completely. they will not need the drivers any more. totally empowering. best of luck on thank you both for speaking to us. upskirting — the act of taking sexually intrusive photos without someone's knowledge or permission — is set to become illegal. it will be punishable by up to two yea rs it will be punishable by up to two years injail. the government has said it will back a private member's bill in the commons today. we can talk to wera hobhouse, the mp behind that bill shortly, but first one

woman, jean that bill shortly, but first one woman,jean martin, that bill shortly, but first one woman, jean martin, started the campaign to make the practice illegal after a man took a photograph up her skirt at a music festival. i was at a festival with my sister on a blistering hot day, waiting for my favourite band to come on stage, and two guys took pictures up my skirt. ifelt like i had no control over my own body. i just felt, completely, sort of, in a bit of... disarray. i rang the police. they told me there wasn't much they could do because there was a huge gap in the law. so, i looked into the law and i've been campaigning ever since. two or three weeks later i officially launched a petition

asking for upskirting to be made a sexual offence. i think on the first reading of the comments on my petition, i came across 350 comments from women and girls who had been subject to upskirting. are you behind this as well? it is my bill. some people, you know, like in gina's case, it was just, sort of, almost like a prank, a joke. and it is so important that we make it very clear to the general public and to anybody that this is an offence. it is a vile thing to do. it's not a joke, it's not a prank. it is a sexual offence. actually, when we came to parliament to try and get support, it was very immediately obvious but this was a human issue. because political authorities and mps from all parties agree with it. they agreed, in principle, that there is a gap in the law and that this is a problem and it needs to be solved. it is much more an offence with a specific victim. so, there is a real difference. it gives the prosecutors much more tooth to actually prosecute. it feels really amazing to be

actively making change and actively doing something that's going to make people safer. but it is really hard. the reaction online has been unbelievable. i've been having online harassment and bullying and, you know, rape threats, for a year, now. just being here, with all the support across all of government makes me realise how important it is and how right we were about this from the beginning. joining me now is wera hobhouse — who we saw in that film. she's the liberal democrat mp who has introduced the bill to make the act of upskirting a criminal offence. also with me is katie ghose the chief executive of women's aid. and finally we are joined by laila woozeer — who found herself subjected to upskirting whilst on a bus. thank you all for coming in. laila, what on earth happened?” thank you all for coming in. laila, what on earth happened? i was basically just what on earth happened? i was basicallyjust on what on earth happened? i was basically just on the what on earth happened? i was basicallyjust on the bus, i was standing, the bus was really full. there was a guy sat nearest the

doors, downstairs on a normal bus. i felt him staring at me intently when i got on and i thought that is weird, i will ignore him. i could tell he was staring at me, you can feel some on's eyes on your back. he was really weirdly shifting around in his seat with his camera and i was like, that is bizarre, what is he doing? trying to go over a bit, i thought he was playing a game and then i saw a light flash and i thought that is me, he has taken a photo up my skirt. he had headphones on, i said, what are you doing? he didn't do anything. i got closer and tapped him and said, what are you doing? he ignored me and moved right over in the seat and looked out of the window, i knew he had heard me. i just felt so violated. it felt like such an invasion of privacy. i am just standing on a bus, what is he doing?! how did people react around you? did they realise what happened.

i was like, this guy is taking photos of me. i don't know if i said, can someone help, but i was trying to get someone to look. the bus was rammed and everyone ignored me. was it in london, by any chance? yes. it is disappointing, you would hope somebody would intervene. this is just such hope somebody would intervene. this isjust such a hope somebody would intervene. this is just such a sad state of affairs that in this day and age people think this is acceptable? it is a modern crime, facilitated by modern technology. as laila says, people do not know if this is acceptable or not. don't they?! you would think they should, but this is the whole point about making it a specific offe nce, point about making it a specific offence, a criminal offence. we can talk about it as such and say it is not acceptable. in schools when people might think it is a prank, a joke, i people might think it is a prank, a joke, lam a people might think it is a prank, a joke, i am a former secondary school

teacher, we can talk in schools and say this is the red line, you cannot do this, it is not funny, it is an offe nce do this, it is not funny, it is an offence and it is punishable if it is passed into law. katie, this is a really important message to send out to protect women. surely everybody should know this, but it is an important message. so important, and we are really pleased that the government have said that upskirting, which as we have heard is horribly degrading, it is another way a is horribly degrading, it is another way a man can is horribly degrading, it is another way a man can control and to meet —— tamina woman and it can be dismissed as loutish behaviour. it is not, this prevailing sexist attitude and behaviour is the landscape within which other abuse and violence can follow, whether in the street or our homes. i was quite surprised it was not already under some kind of criminal offence. there is a gap in the law. there are some ways of this

being prosecuted, but even the police and crime commissioners in different areas have said the law is not strong enough. it can be prosecuted under public decency offe nce, prosecuted under public decency offence, but that means somebody needs to see it and be on your side in the bus and say i have seen this guy doing it. the change in the law will make its actually a crime between the victim and the perpetrator, it is not a public offe nce, perpetrator, it is not a public offence, it is offence against a woman. that is an important difference in the law that we are trying to achieve. did you reported? no. i didn't even realise there was a term for it, upskirting. it is so important to have a name. i thought this is just important to have a name. i thought this isjust one important to have a name. i thought this is just one of those things that happens in life where something a bit gross happens, ifeel a bit violated but that is just... i accepted it. i think it is typical of those women that we still think it is not nice, i feel humiliated

and degraded, i think it is a vile thing to do but maybe i should not talk about it. we might blame ourselves, which we should not. and the law is now behind women. that would be a very, very good signal. if it happened to you again, and one would hope it would not, would the change in the law make you more likely to report it? i think it would make a huge difference. with this whole campaign i have thought back to my own experience a lot, if i had been able to say this man is upskirting me, that is an offence, ifi upskirting me, that is an offence, if i had had bad language and the law at my disposal as a weapon, i could've done something more about -- if could've done something more about --if| could've done something more about —— if i had that language. but at the time ijust —— if i had that language. but at the time i just thought —— if i had that language. but at the time ijust thought i feel weird, this is odd, i do not know what is happening. katie, that is the point, it is giving women the terminology to call it out? to call a spade a spade, to name something. the law says what is right and

wrong, it is completely unacceptable and in the worst cases these images ofa and in the worst cases these images of a woman's genitals will be spread right across the world, completely out of their control. it is great the government is saying this is serious and wrong and we will capture that by making it a criminal offe nce. capture that by making it a criminal offence. thank you all for coming the former wimbledon champion boris becker has claimed diplomatic immunity from bankruptcy proceedings, because of his role as an ambassador for the central african republic. the six—time grand slam champion was declared bankrupt by a london court lastjune, after failing to pay a long standing debt. to explain more to us now is mark stephens, the former president of the commonwealth lawyers association and human rights lawyer. it is legally allowable. we have a long—standing tradition since 1961,

when it was an international convention, that we could allow high diplomats, ambassadors and suchlike, to carry out their task untrammelled by harassment. so during the soviet cold war period they could not do trumped up charges or something of that nature, if you are in north korea they could not make charges up to harass diplomats carrying out legitimate business. what has happened more recently is that legitimate diplomats have been avoiding both criminal and civil liabilities and on the other hand you have people who have no obvious connection with diplomacy being appointed diplomats and taking the benefits of diplomatic immunity. as a consequence they are potentially liable to get rid of civil liabilities, we are seeing cases where people are getting divorced and abandoning their children and their wives without paying any

maintenance or suchlike. we're also proper criminal offences, things from brake and sexual assaults, even upskirting could be the type of offence which they would claim diplomatic immunity for and walk free from. can this be tightened up so it cannot be abused by people trying to get out of things? yes. the most used book at the un library in new york is diplomatic immunity and how to claim it. that is because these diplomats are all desperately trying to avoid liability. i think what we are looking at is the abuses of the system where it may be legally allowa ble of the system where it may be legally allowable but morally repugnant that people should avoid paying for their families or perhaps other sorts of debts. we are seeing it at one end of the scale, where

parking charges are running into the millions, but at the other end of the game we are seeing serious criminal assaults. we are in a position where people are being advised by their highly paid lawyers in london to skip off to some small island orjurisdiction, in london to skip off to some small island or jurisdiction, become in london to skip off to some small island orjurisdiction, become a printable diplomats and avoid liability. it is much cheaper than paying lawyers fees and defending yourself against fraud. boris becker would say he is doing nothing wrong, he has talked about the people who wa nt to he has talked about the people who want to sue him, he says it is unjust and being declared bankrupt has inflicted damage on him. he says he has done nothing wrong. he has taken this ambassadorial role, diplomatic role, for the central african republic. that confers on him certain rights and entitlements to avoid liability. but what you can do is forgive that. in ecuador, a man was accused of murdering the mother of his son, the government

allowed him to stand trial, they did not allow him to claim diplomatic immunity, he stood trial and was acquitted. what should happen in this case is that boris becker should be allowed to fight his cases so that those with debt due from him, orwho so that those with debt due from him, or who say they have, can actually have those debts and forced they are properly due, but you get a proper legal process. thank you ever so much for coming in to explain that. an analysis of five million births in england shows that most babies are born outside of the working day. researchers at the university of london found the way a woman gives birth heavily influences the time that it happens. the study shows that just over 71% of births take place outside the hours of 9am and 4.59pm on a weekday, which researchers say could have implications for staffing of midwives and doctors. joining me now is dr peter martin, one of the authors of the study. thank you ever so much for coming

in. this is really interesting, isn't it? babies will not come at 95, there are more hours in the day than between nine and five at weekends as well, we probably should not be surprised? it is true, we should not be surprised. people have looked at this since the 19th century, traditionally it was found that most babies are born at night or the early hours of the morning, and that has only really changed in the second half of the 20th century with the rise of interventions and ca esa rea n with the rise of interventions and caesarean sections and induced births, but caesarean sections, when they are planned, usually happen through the day. it is interesting you talk about inductions, often women can be induced so they give birth at night, which seems a curious way of doing it? we were surprised by that finding. the birth after induction more often happens in the hours around midnight than during the day. we think it might be

because often the actual act of induction happens during the day while staff are available, then it ta kes a while staff are available, then it takes a while for labour to set in and the birthing happened that night. it might be a consideration whether you want to consider that practice in terms of when you want the birth to happen. is it less safe to give birth in the evenings and weekends? no, i don't think so and our study has not found that. we haven't investigated complications during birth, in generalthe midwives and nhs staff know very well that many births happen at night and so they provide a service to look after the women and the baby at every hour of the day. should it change the way that maternity units are staffed, so more stuff for roads in the evening? i think it needs to be considered rash so more staff are

around in the evening. it needs to be considered what people prepare for when they take this sort ofjob, but i think everyone will know many births happen at night so they will be prepared for that. i do not think currently there is a deficit in static during the night. but there are fewer staff at night, you do not have consultants. as a woman who has had two babies, you get prodded a lot more during the day down at night. that might be true. the safe thing to say from a scientific perspective is we have no evidence it is less safe to be born at night, despite what you might say about the ability of consultants. thank you for coming to talk to us. we have had a big response to the interview with the prison officer who said life inside gave him ptsd.

i injured my shoulder in september ina straight i injured my shoulder in september in a straight situation. that was my last shift, september 2000 four. when i went to the doctors, not only for the physical injury, my physical health was horrendous, mike blood pressure, the doctor said you are heading towards a stroke and a heart attack. and i just heading towards a stroke and a heart attack. and ijust became incredibly unwell, mentally, the longer i was off. not violent but angry, anxious, things continue going through your mind. it was about november the same year that a friend said, but, you are barking. i self referred myself to salford psychological services. i gotan to salford psychological services. i got an appointment quite quick, that was the theory 2016, they referred me to see a psychologist, who i started seeing in march for about five months. she diagnosed me with

ptsd. lots of people in thatjob will suffer ptsd, nightmares, whatever. that was neal sam wood speaking to us earlier, it was fascinating when he spoke about the impact that things like spice had had a lot of prisoners, how easy it was to get in. he said other drugs are easy to detect things like spies are incredibly difficult, so it was easily getting in. and when you lock prisoners up the 23 alizadeh sometimes —— up for 23 alizadeh sometimes, many people by getting angry and frustrated, there were more likely to be issues with violence. and he talked about how some people had been radicalised by people who were inside facing terror charges. well worth watching the full interview, you can see it on the website online. lots of you have got in touch with your thoughts

about what he had to say. dirk says u nfortu nately about what he had to say. dirk says unfortunately he is by no means a singular case. ptsd among officers, be it in the military or police service, is far too common, yet those who speak out often face negative reactions, from laughter to disbelief. thank you so much for raising the awareness. another one says my heart goes out to the former prison officer, he was brave coming onto your show. i am a prison officer, i suffer from stress and anxiety and have been assaulted and anxiety and have been assaulted a number of times. governors are running scared from ministers and offenders and solicitors, he's a still believe the government statistics, it is smoke and mirrors. staff suck it up all the time because there is a threat of being sacked. thank you for your comments. bbc newsroom live is coming up next. thank you for your company today. have a good day. we are back again on monday. good morning. yesterday we had storm

hector bringing some really quite strong winds across many parts of the uk, today much quieter conditions, thankfully, and some sunny spells for many. dry foremost but the risk of a fewer showers, most of them across scotland, northern ireland and the far north—west of england. you might catch the art show the further south you are, but staying largely dry. a bit more cloud for scotland and northern ireland. maximum temperature is a ratherfresh 14 northern ireland. maximum temperature is a rather fresh 14 to 16, up to about 22 towards the south—east. overnight, plenty of clear weather, especially towards the east. further west, outbreaks of rain moving into

northern ireland by the end of the night. those are your overnight temperatures into saturday morning, around nine to 13. during saturday that area of rain will move in, bringing century and quite heavy rainfor bringing century and quite heavy rain for most of us across the north of the uk, battle clear away and by sunday you should be a bit drier. —— that will clear away. this is bbc news and these are the top stories developing at 11. the government defends its flagship benefit scheme, universal credit, despite claims it may end up costing more than the previous system. when i talk to claimants up and down the country going to job centres, what they tell me is that this system is not only simpler but there are incentives in place so that you can get into work and stay in work.

yemen says the saudi—led coalition has put on hold an operation to retake the port of hudaydah from houthi rebels, but local reports speak of continued air strikes. "upskirting" is set to become a sexual offence, with a punishment of up to two years in prison. former wimbledon champion boris becker claims diplomatic immunity as an attache for the central african republic to avoid bankruptcy proceedings against him in london. remembering professor stephen hawking — a memorial service