hello. it's 9 o'clock. welcome to the programme. an expert panel has recommended to the government that some medicines derived from cannabis should be available on prescription. but some parents are still battling the system to get such medicines quickly. this programme has spoken to one mother whose mp has intervened to ask the home office to get a licence for cannabis medicine for her son's seizures. here we are today, and we just want help. we want help and we need it now. we feel that medical cannabis is the way to go for us. we have seen the benefits and we would like some help now, please. we'll be exploring what the next steps would be to allow cannabis derived medicines to be available on prescription. reports of stalking offences have trebled in england and wales over four years, but convictions are down. we'll be hearing from people who've lived with being stalked. it was just all—consuming and it was designed to destroy me. you feel absolutely weak, torn,

and that mentally destroys you. it's completely relentless. it wears you down, it makes you upset. i have contemplated suicide in the past because of this guy. and we'll be asking what the police can do to increase the number of convictions. also today... what does the average household in the uk have four of? # i'll be riding shotgun underneath the hot sun. # feeling like a someone. # karma, karma, karma, karma, karma chameleon... # but i know how i feel about you now... believe it or not, the answer is that the the average household has four now that's what i call music albums. as the 100th album of chart hits is released, we'll be reminisicing about the top tracks and asking — what's so enduring

about a compilation mix, in an age when we can download any song, any time, anywhere? hello. welcome to the programme. we're live until 11 this morning. do you think the government should go ahead and allow cannabis medicines to be prescribed? or have you experienced stalking? we'll also be talking about ivf later — a0 years after the birth of the first test tube baby, is it right for parents who already have a child not to get fertility treatment on the nhs? do get in touch on all the stories we're talking about — use the hashtag victoria live. if you re emailing and are happy for us to contact you ? and maybe want to take part in the programme — please include your phone number in your message. if you text, you ll be charged at the standard network rate. our top story today...

donald trump has invited russia's leader vladimir putin to visit the united states in the autumn. the american president's press secretary has tweeted that discussions for the trip are already under way — just days after their helsinki summit sparked controversy. the bombshell announcement also came as a surprise to his security chief, as chris buckler reports. america's intelligence agencies have never wavered in their belief that the kremlin interfered in the 2016 presidential election and that, through cyber attacks and campaigns of disinformation, russia remains a threat to democracy in the us. but donald trump's own view has been a little harder to pin down. he said he misspoke when he appeared to back vladimir putin's denials over the word of his own intelligence chiefs. but it is clear that he still wants a relationship with russia. getting along with president putin, getting along with russia, is a positive, not a negative. that being said, if that doesn't

work out, i will be the worst enemy he's ever had. but his recent actions have unnerved donald trump's political friends and foes in washington. the senate unanimously passed a motion opposing president putin's proposal for russia to question us officials, after mr trump seemed to briefly consider it. yet, despite all the fallout from that controversial summit in helsinki, the white house press secretary revealed on twitter that president trump has already asked his national security adviser to invite president putin to washington, and those discussions are ongoing. however, that came as something of a surprise to america's own director of national intelligence. we have some breaking news. the white house has announced on twitter that vladimir putin is coming to the white house in the fall. say that ain? laughter.

0k... that's gonna be special. laughter. questions remain about what donald trump and vladimir putin talked about in helsinki, particularly during their closed—door private meeting. and democrats say until they get clarity on that, there should be no further one—on—one sessions between the presidents, in washington or anywhere else. annita mcveigh is in the bbc newsroom with a summary of the rest of the day's news. the prime minister will today set out her commitment to ensuring there will be no hard border between northern ireland and the rest of the uk after brexit. theresa may will use her speech in belfast to reject the eu's so called "backstop" proposal, which could see the introduction of a hard border, a move the she claims would be in breach

of the good friday agreement. at least 11 people including children drowned when an amphibious vehicle capsized and sunk on a popular tourist lake in the us state of missouri. it happened when stormy weather set in over table rock lake. around 31 people were on board the vehicle at the time of the accident. officials say at least five of those passengers are still missing. rescue boats have been out in the water searching for survivors. this is a really tough situation, and it's gut—wrenching. we may know the people involved here, so it's a very sensitive situation, but we're doing our best as a city to do whatever it is we can to help in this situation. mps have criticised the director of public prosecutions over failings in the disclosure of evidence in rape and serious sexual assault cases. a number of rape trials collapsed last year after it emerged vital

evidence had not been given to defence lawyers. our legal affairs correspondent clive coleman reports. in every criminal trial, the prosecution must disclose any evidence gathered which either helps the defence case or weakens its own. if that fails, innocent people can go to jail, and for years there have been problems. last december, the rape case against liam allan collapsed when text messages were disclosed which proved his alleged victim had pestered him for casual sex. it was the first in a series of collapsed trials. that led to reviews by the police and crown prosecution service, and a national disclosure improvement plan, and now, a damning report from the justice committee. it criticises the director of public prosecutions, alison saunders, for failing to recognise the extent and seriousness of long—term

disclosure failings. there's no doubt in some cases, miscarriages of justice have occurred. people have gone to prison when they shouldn't have done. we were very alarmed at the evidence we had from the outgoing dpp, that suggested to us that the extent of the problem was not being fully picked up. cps data may have underestimated the number of cases stopped with disclosure errors by around 90%. the report welcomes a national improvement plan announced injanuary, but says disclosure must be seen as a core justice duty, and not an administrative add—on. alison saunders says there is an unprecedented focus on finding solutions, and the cps will carefully consider the report. a panel of experts has warned that the progress made in the international fight against hiv and aids is in danger of stalling due to what they call "dangerous complacency". a report published in the lancet says the epidemic could re—emerge

as a new generation enters adulthood. gatwick airport says its main runway has now reopened after it was closed to allow an emergency landing just after midnight. no—one was injured in the emergency landing and passengers were able to disembark the aircraft a short time later. the airport says the schedule is now running as normal. the number of recorded offences for stalking has trebled in england and wales in the past four years — that's according to new figures from the home office. last year there were more than 10,000 recorded offences — the highest figure since a new law on stalking was introduced in 2012. police say the rise shows they're doing a betterjob at reporting the crime but, as ali fortescue reports, the rate of prosecutions has fallen to a four year low. well done! you may not be able to see anna's scars, but being stalked has left a mark. the mum of fourfrom york

left her ex—partner five years ago. but soon after, the cycle of abuse began. it wasn'tjust, you know, texts and things like that. there was so many other aspects he was coming in on. you'd feel absolutely weak, torn, and it mentally destroys you, that you think, i can't do this today. and anna, of course, isn't alone. the number of recorded stalking offences has trebled in england and wales in four years, from nearly 3,000 recorded offences to more than 10,000. that is the highest figure since a new stalking law was introduced in 2012. last summer, the police watchdog found that the forces up and down the country weren't doing enough to tackle stalking. but police say that the figures today show that they have upped their game, and that they're recording more crimes. i think there's still underreporting in relation to these crime types. that's why we're absolutely committed to making sure that the police service response in relation to what are difficult crimes to investigate is as good as it can be,

working with other agencies. but whilst the recorded crimes are going up, prosecution rates have fallen. the cps say this is amongst the most challenging offences that they deal with. hearing for 20 years, you know, that when murders are reviewed, the police would say, we'll learn these lessons and we'll make the right changes, but i'm not seeing that with the leadership. it's a crime that is being called murder in slow motion. charities want the police to take stalking more seriously. but, for now, anna's life and so many others like hers remain on pause. and we'll have more on this story, speaking to people who have been affected by stalking, later in the programme after 9.30. a celebrity plastic surgeon in brazil has been arrested after four days on the run following the death of one of his patients. lilian calixto died after undergoing a bottom enlargement procedure. police say dr denis furtado, who is known online as dr bumbum, was captured in rio, thanks to an anonymous tip. the youngest spitfire pilot to fly in the battle of britain

during world war ii has died. squadron leader geoffrey wellum, who was just 18 when he joined the raf in august 1939, died at his home in cornwall on wednesday evening aged 96. he served with 92 squadron and his first missions included the "dogfights" above london and the home counties, for which the battle became known. dozens of parents queued up outside a cardiff school from the early hours of the morning in a bid to secure their children a place at its breakfast club. the school has 100 places, which are allocated on a first come, first served basis. a spokesperson for cardiff city council says that due to staffing and space they can't provide a place for everybody. and the biggest butterfly count in the world starts today in the uk, with the hot, dry conditions promising a bumper year for numbers. sir david attenborough has described participating in the survey as a "precious breathing space"

from the stresses of modern life. as part of the big butterfly count, butterfly conservation is asking the public to spot and record 17 species of butterfly for the next three weeks. that's a summary of the latest bbc news — more at 9.30. do get in touch with us throughout the morning — use the hashtage victoria live and if you text, you will be charged at the standard network rate. let's get some sport. changing conditions in the gulf today. is that going to play a role? it is. it was a glorious day yesterday. it's been raining at carnoustie this morning. no winds to speak of, but rain will

help the golfers because it will soften those tarmac—like fairways and the greens will become more receptive to the ball. so the guys going out this morning might have it a little easier. it is forecast to clear up later at carnoustie as well. let's look at the leaderboard. it is a cast list of jobbing pros, understudies and never quite made it types. that's harsh, but the really big names are lurking a few shots back. kevin kisner leads — he's an american who's won a few times on the pga tour — ranked 33rd in the world. rory mcilroy is out on the course. and he is doing what he did yesterday, blasting it into the long grass and then blasting it out again and keeping his game together. he

was a bit all over the place yesterday, but he is still in the hunt. tiger had the hard part of the day. but he putted well. and when he got himself into trouble, he got out really well. he was level par at 10.20. he is five shots off the lead, but he's focused and concentrating. people are saying he has got a real chance of doing well here. a lot of excitement about tiger woods. let's talk about the tour de france. is chris froome still in with a chance, he's being outshone by one of his teammates, isn't he? he is, the master being outdone by the apprentice. geraint thomas has cemented his tag as a serious contender for the tour. back to back stage wins. really tough stage up three mountains yesterday, made tougher by the abuse the two are getting — pushed, spat at, trousers dropped —

it's full on abuse. to their credit, the two team sky ridersjust ride on. the welshman put in a late surge to beat rivals including team sky team—mate chris froome, who was fourth. froome is still favourite overall but onlyjust. thomas has a lead of one minute 39 seconds over four—time champion froome. but look at what is happening. the quy but look at what is happening. the guy runs out and pushes him. this is going on all the way up the mountain. flares being lit, people booing and spitting and flares being lit as the drivers go by. it is really difficult. this is a famous pa rt really difficult. this is a famous part of the course. thousands of people camp up there and wait for the riders to pass. chris froome and geraint thomas have said they do not

mind the booing, but when people come out and actually push them that there is another thing altogether and they say that has got to stop. have they not got people there to protect the riders? stage 12 was 150 kilometres long, so there are not the people to please all of it and it is open country, up in the alps it is open country, up in the alps it is open country. thousands of cycling fans got up there and they camp up there, they have a holiday and they wait for the guys to cycle path. they clap, cheer or do other unsavoury things, and they drive onto the next stage like the cyclists. it is difficult to police. liverpool have a new expensive golakeeper what's he been saying? so many people are relieved there is somebody sensible between the sticks and he has been talking for the first time. that is tough on loris karius. that is tough on loris karius. allison says it's a dream come true to move to liverpool. the brazilian keeper's move

to anfield has been confirmed. and jurgen klopp says they now have everything they need for the new season. here he is putting on his top, looking very butch and friendly. the brazilian goal keeper allison ramases becker had his medical and signed on the dotted line. he'lljoin his former roma teammate mo salah and liverpool's four other new signings that include fellow brazilian fabinho. alisson said it was a dream come true. thank you, chris, speak to you later on. a group of medical experts have said that doctors should have greater freedom to prescribe medicines derived from cannabis. ? the advisory council on the misuse of drugs has recommended that cannabis medicines should be rescheduled because there is evidence of some benefit for certain conditions. the review was ordered by the home secretary sajid javid, after a group of mothers fought for the right to bring cannabis oil into the uk to help control their children's epilepsy seizures.

there are other parents who are desperate for a change in the law too — including the mother of five—year—old ethan mason. he has a rare, terminal, genetic disorder which can cause him to have up to 200 seizures a day. his mum tracey currently uses a legalform of cannabis oil and says it s helped reduce his symptoms. now her mp is asking the home office to grant ethan a licence so that he can be given cannabis oil with a higher dosage of the compound thc which is currently illegal over 0.2% in the uk. do you want to get down? would you like to get down? are you going to put the band on? you've lost your slipper. put your slipper on. who's that? who is it? cee cee? he calls thomas cee cee. at the moment, where we are, ethan,

because he's had a lot of seizures, i don't actually know how much of his walking ability has gone, because i feel if the seizure control was better i'd be able to see what's left of his walking. his talking, yeah, that's also started to slowly disappear, and the professor at great ormond street told us that by christmas this year that they would be very surprised if ethan is still walking and talking. so, it's really hard to... do you want to play? on the yellow, the yellow train?

ethan loves trains. shall i move this out the way? there we go. he can have 200 seizures a day, but that varies. it can vary from having a couple of day. the worst ones he has had has been the tonic—clonic, or the old name grand mal seizure, but he doesn't have them any more. the last one he had was december last year. it's shaking. some people will describe it as a fit. his eye contact, his eyes go fixed to one side and that can last from a minute to a good few minutes long. at the moment, all ethan is having are the myoclonics, but he does have spasms too.

the hospital also know about the spasms as well. and he can have, i suppose, a fixed cramp spasm, that's the way i describe it, because all his muscles can contract and he can have pain with that as well, but again they've also gone, slowly, they're not there as much now. it is really the actual spasms and moyclonics that you've just witnessed there. that was a spasm? that was a myoclonic, that one. let me sit you here. tell you what, we will try you in the pram, we will try your chair. 0k? i decided to use this one with a ethan. this one has the full spectrum of extracts and benefits. all working together so this is the effect. i wanted to use that one

and we have seen, within weeks, benefits in using this. i'm so glad i tried it with ethan. just with two drops, after 15, 20 minutes, i could see his body relaxing. which was amazing. i just thought that was an amazing thing to see, and i was so relieved for ethan, because of the pain i could see that his body was in. for me, i did tell the hospital that ethan was on the cannabis oil and they said they obviously couldn't give me any advice on dosages, and, the same, the company can't, so that's why i contacted a doctor in holland and he actually gave me the dosage to start ethan

on and he recommended the product to use. it's difficult going through, when you see it, like this, both down on the floor and you see the amount ethan's had. it's really difficult. and he's still having seizures. ok, it's the myoclonic seizures, but he's still having seizures. and here we are today, and we just want help. we want help and we need it now. we feel that medical cannabis is the way to go for us. we've seen the benefits and we would like some help now, please. tracey mason and her son ethan there. we'll be speaking to her live just after 10 o'clock. and as we mentioned earlier the prospect of gps being able

to prescribe medicinal cannabis moved a step closer yesterday when the advisory council on the misuse of drugs — that's the official government advisory body — recommended the use of certain cannabis products for some conditions so long as they met safety standards. the chair of that council is doctor owen bowden—jones and he explained to the bbc‘s today programme this morning why more research is still needed one of the issues is that cannabis—derived medicines have been very poorly defined. and one of our recommendations is that there is a proper definition made about what a cannabis—derived medicinal product is, and in doing so it will identify what the appropriate standards are in terms of how it is produced, the chemical composition, the consistency of that composition, the absence of impurities. we think these are important situations and things to get right, because this is all very new. let's get more on this from our

correspondent jane francis kelly. this is confusing. people will have followed this story in the news in recent months, explain what the law currently is. cannabis is a controlled substance, so if you take it or sell it, you could risk being fined or prosecuted. but the problem with cannabis, or the benefits as it were, is it has over 100 different chemicals which have different effects on the body. two of the best—known are thc, which is what gives recreational users a high, and thatis gives recreational users a high, and that is what people are worried about. then there is cbd which does not and it is contained in hemp which is grown in this country. there are health food shops which have cbd oil tablets which people ta ke have cbd oil tablets which people take for pain or anxiety. what campaigners would like is to have a

cannabis derived medicine that may have a higher percentage of thc. they say that would be more effective. at the moment they are limited and this is what is causing the problems. people will recall there have been so many stories in recent months of parents particularly coming out and speaking of the benefit that this cannabis oil has had on their children with the levels of thc which are illegal. charlotte caldwell, you might recall earlier in the year, she brought in about six months' worth of supply from canada and it was confiscated at heathrow. this was for her son billy who has severe epilepsy, he has 100 seizures a day, she had been giving him the cannabis oil in northern ireland where she is based. her doctor had been prescribing it and he was told to stop. this is why she tried to bring the cannabis oil

in and was prevented. billy ended up in hospital and the home secretary gave her a temporary licence because his case was so severe. this is why campaigners are welcoming today's announcement because it means that clinical trials can go ahead. medicine is derived from cannabis can be defined and those that are considered safe, hopefully, will be prescribed by gps. thank you ever so much for that. a home office spokesperson says they have been sympathising with the parents and thatis sympathising with the parents and that is why the government is taking action with an expert panel to advise ministers to prescribe in exceptional cases where there is an unmet clinical need. families should speak to their doctors about treatment options and in the case of a cannabis prescription the senior doctors will need to lead the

application to the expert panel. a lot of you have been getting in touch. maria says, i think cannabis oil should be allowed for medicinal purposes. i suffer with a degenerative disc disorder and most days i am in chronic pain. another says, this is heartbreaking, i cannot fathom why it is bad if it helps children have a better quality of life. a very brave mother, i hope even of life. a very brave mother, i hope eve n gets of life. a very brave mother, i hope even gets the help he deserves soon. an anonymous text saying, when will the government finally wake up to medicinal cannabis? it is nowhere near enough and it is insulting to patients and we are 20 years behind other countries and it is embarrassing. keep your thoughts coming on that story. theresa may will call on the european union to "evolve" its position on brexit when she makes a speech a little later this morning about the irish border, which remains one of the most disputed parts of the negotiations with the eu to agree a post—brexit settlement. let's get more from political

correspondent, chris mason. what are we expecting the prime minister to say? it is a good word, evolve. translated into english, it means budge or change. the uk government wants to see brussels move as far as the so—called backstop is concerned. a backstop is one of those ridiculous brexit words that gets thrown around by people like me and can sound just like noise. this is about what happens if there is a deal with the eu and then there is a deal with the eu and then there is a transition period which lasts the best part of two years, but at the end of 2020, there isn't the system in place to make sure that the border between the republic of ireland and northern ireland can remain open as it is now. the existing eu backstop for that scenario is that northern ireland would remain a lot closer to the eu by staying in a customs union and big elements of the single market

than the rest of the uk. that is totally u npalata ble to than the rest of the uk. that is totally unpalatable to theresa may, and she will say that in a speech this morning in belfast, because she says that would draw a border in the irish sea and would divide the uk. she is saying that brussels needs to shift. the uk has presented its white paper and says that now needs to bea white paper and says that now needs to be a shift from brussels. thank you. we expect to hear from theresa may later. still to come... the number of recorded stalking offences has trebled in england and wales in the past four years — we'll be speaking to two victims. as the 100th edition of now that's what i call music is released, we'll be reminiscing about the compilation albums that make up a huge part of the uk's music history. and do get in touch to let us know what your favourite now album was and we'll read some of your comments out shortly. all the ways of getting in touch with us are on the screen. time for the latest news — here's annita.

donald trump has invited russia's leader vladimir putin to visit the united states in the autumn. the american president's press secretary has tweeted that discussions for the trip are already under way just days after their helsinki summit sparked controversy. the democratic leader in the us senate, chuck schumer, has said there should be no more one—to—one meetings between president trump and vladimir putin until americans learn what happened at that summit in the finnish capital. the prime minister will today set out her commitment to ensuring there will be no hard border between northern ireland and the rest of the uk after brexit. theresa may will use her speech in belfast to reject the eu's so called "backstop" proposal, which could see the introduction of a hard border, a move the she claims would be in breach of the good friday agreement. at least 11 people including children drowned when an amphibious vehicle capsized and sunk on a popular tourist lake in the us state of missouri. it happened when stormy weather set

in over table rock lake. around 31 people were on board the vehicle at the time of the accident. officials say at least five of those passengers are still missing. rescue boats have been out in the water searching for survivors. a panel of experts has warned that the progress made in the international fight against hiv and aids is in danger of stalling due to what they call "dangerous complacency". a report published in the lancet says the epidemic could re—emerge as a new generation enters adulthood. the youngest spitfire pilot to fly in the battle of britain during world war ii has died. squadron leader geoffrey wellum, who was just 18 when he joined the raf in august 1939, died at his home in cornwall on wednesday evening aged 96. he served with 92 squadron and his first missions included the "dogfights" above london and the home counties, for which the battle became known. that's a summary of the latest bbc news. more and more stalking incidents

are being reported to police. stalking is a pattern of unwanted, persistent pursuit and intrusive behaviour characterised by an obsessive fixation with the person being stalked. new figures show that the number of recorded stalking offences has trebled in england and wales in four years from nearly 3,000 recorded offences to more than 10,000. that's the highest figures since a new law making stalking a criminal offence was introduced in 2012. police say the rise shows they're doing a betterjob at reporting stalking, but the rate of prosecutions for stalking has fallen to a four—year low. joining us now, dave mooney, who was stalked for eight years by a man he met in a karaoke bar.

his stalker is currently in prison after being convicted. katy bourne is a victim of stalking and is the sussex police and crime commissioner. laura richards is the founder of the paladin national stalking advocacy service. vera baird qc is the police and crime commissioner for northumbria. dave, you were stalled for years by a man who was a regular at a karaoke bar. what happened? it was a busy night. not many people had their usual two songs. so he kept coming up usual two songs. so he kept coming up to me and asking when i was going to sing again, can i be yourfriend on facebook? as you can imagine, i am very busy playing records and getting singers up. so i told him to go away. he managed to get his second song near the end of the

night, and then i started getting text messages and abusive voice mail is. i put it down to him being drunk. the next day, i turn up at the venue to collect my equipment, and the pub has also received voice mails and text messages telling them to sack me and threatening to burn the pub down. this carried on and on andi the pub down. this carried on and on and i eventually went to the police after three or four weeks. and and i eventually went to the police after three orfour weeks. and i reported him because he had started putting things on social media saying i'm a paedophile, i'm a wife beater, a rapist, with my full address and phone number. so how did this go on for eight years? you reported it after four weeks. this go on for eight years? you reported it after four weekslj managed to get a restraining order against him. numerous breaches of the restraining order meant that the police had to eventually act, so he was convicted and i thought that

would be the end of it, but he just carried on and repeated breaches. he has been imprisoned three or four times now. and when he comes out, he just starts again. what does it do to you, your family just starts again. what does it do to you, yourfamily and just starts again. what does it do to you, your family and the people around you ? to you, your family and the people around you? it makes me really upset. it makes me angry. i have become short tempered. i even contemplated suicide at one point, just to be free of him. it is relentless. he is in prison at the moment. he comes out in about five weeks, and i expect it to start up again. it is mind—boggling and horrible. i can see that it is clearly weighing on your mind now, as it would when it is just a few weeks away. let me bring in katy. you are also experiencing stalking, and you are also the police and crime commission for sussex. so i guess you sit between two stalls,

don't you? i certainly see both sides of it. i see the police response and the criminaljustice partners' response and often, their lack of understanding of this type of crime. i also understand totally what the victims are going through. 70% of stalkers know their victim or have had a relationship in some way. 30% are complete strangers. the gentleman you have there is experiencing strange stalking, am i. tell us what you are going through. it started nearly six years ago, when i first stood to become a police and crime commission and a particular individual who i have never named decided to fixate upon me. it began on social media. a lot of what i was listening to just now sounds very familiar. they literally bombard you all the time across social media. lots of lies, lots of

stories about me being a murderer, a paedophile, horrible stuff, all of it fake. so when you go on a well— known search engine and you put your name in, that is all that comes up. and then it transgressed into the physical world. so this individual started turning up and filming the, and it became insidious. like the gentleman in your studio, i got an injunction, but it doesn't stop them. and now there is a small gang of them that are being encouraged to continue this behaviour. i call it the pattern of behaviour. this is the difficult part. it's not like harassment, which is unwarranted behaviour that is abusive. stalking is evil, because the pattern becomes one of the dangerous four. it becomes fixated, obsessive, unwanted and repeated. you heard the word relentless. they do it across social media and then they turn up physically as well and start filming

you, following you, watching you, and it becomes dangerous. people watching this may think, how can it be that dave was subjected to this for eight years? we are hearing from katy about six years. such a long period, why is it going on for so long when it is being reported? there is a reason why we changed along in 2012, because we sadly hear ofan along in 2012, because we sadly hear of an average of people being stalked for seven years. i would add that it stalked for seven years. i would add thatitis stalked for seven years. i would add that it is intrusive. it is like a drip drip, i call these cases murder in slow motion with the psychological and physical damage. this is why police training is so important, that they understand this pattern. the crown prosecution service must be trained. the probation service is assessing the offenders and too often, they are not trained in stalking. and also the judges and magistrates. but it's a psychological issue, so mental health professionals need to be changed to identify stalking and diagnose those who act in this way

so diagnose those who act in this way so that they can be treated and managed properly. they should be on a register, because unfortunately, they will go from victim to victim. and like sex offenders, they need to be put on a register and managed appropriately. there are, you can't see because you are not in the studio, but katy and dave were both nodding when laura was making this point. do you think police are taking the issue of stalking seriously enough and are training officers to help people sufficiently? i think it's beginning to happen. but what has happened recently is that the police got used to using harassment, which has been around since 1997, as the appropriate piece of legislation. so stalking was underused. it is much nearer. harassment sounds as if it cove rs a nearer. harassment sounds as if it covers a lot of stalking as it is about putting people in fear or causing alarm or distress, but stalking is much more dangerous. that it doesn't have those obvious

qualities. what happens day out may not be immediately threatening. it is the course of conduct that is the scary thing and can can quickly become dangerous. that transition is only partly happening in the police andi only partly happening in the police and i agree that more training is necessary. but there is a big shift. pa rt necessary. but there is a big shift. part of the increase in stalking being recorded now is that it has shifted over from being recorded now is that it has shifted overfrom harassment, which is cheering. the stalking protection order which is currently going through parliament ought to be of some assistance in controlling people, as should be the doubling of the sentence for stalking which the government announced a few months ago. so i think things are going in the right direction. laura makes an important point, which is about the individual who is doing it. not only is it dangerous and has this impact on people's lives for a long time, but it is, relatively speaking, not known how to treat such people. the suzy lampley trust have got some

funding to try to work out some sort of package that can lead people in the bud and get them off a fixation, because otherwise, what happens is that despite the best endeavours, if they were perfect in the criminal justice system, people would just evade it because they can't get off their obsession. we need a way to treat that quickly to nip it in the bud and treat it permanently. those things very much still need to be done. dave, did you feel you got sufficient support from the police and were believed and they appreciated what you were going through? not to begin with. when i first reported it, it was dismissed as, don't waste our time. sol first reported it, it was dismissed as, don't waste our time. so i went away and made a list of a lot of breaches. and i went to the police with a big wad of papers with

breaches on them, saying, now let's do something about it. the most frustrating thing is that the cps do no further action. they say it's not in the public interest or there is not enough evidence. the police, i ke pt not enough evidence. the police, i kept getting passed from pillar to post one i eventually did get interviewed. the police officer would keep changing, either being moved onto a different case of being moved onto a different case of being moved to a different department. it was always different people. the other problem was that i would have to keep repeating myself every time i went to report the breach about how happened and how it started. you can imagine, aftereight how happened and how it started. you can imagine, after eight years of relentless stalking, that is a lot of things to recap. going up with paperwork. how traumatic to recap it

as well. the easy way would be to pick my name and look up his name and it's all on a computer. then theyjust and it's all on a computer. then they just have to and it's all on a computer. then theyjust have to look it up. and ask what he has done now. that would be great. the loophole in the law needs to be closed as well about your stalker being able to take you through the civil courts, where he is allowed to cross—examine you. where is he isn't in the magistrates or the crown. you can imagine how daunting that is, to be cross examined by your stalker. dave, thank you for coming in and sharing your story, and thank you to all the rest of you. coming up... could we be on the verge of a radical change in the way cannabis is used for medical purposes? we'll be speaking to a mum who wants a licence for cannabis oil for her son. households in britain have an average of four of these each, apparently. not wooden spoons or odd socks, but

now that's what i call music albums. the 100th version of the iconic pop compilation album is released later. this one features 21 classic hits going back to the 1980s from artists such as bonjovi and wet wet wet, as well as modern songs from the likes ofjess glynne and george ezra. so, in an age of streaming and downloads, how has a compilation album survived? colin paterson reports. now that's what i call music. 1983, and the compilation album changed forever. no more dodgy versions of the latest hits. on now, it was the real thing. nows came out at a rate of three a year, so 35 years later we are now at now 100, and this is their london base. how many are you here? there are eight of us. steve prichard has been with now since now 20. it is that strange mix of current

music and mums and dads remember their first music and mums and dads remember theirfirst one music and mums and dads remember their first one and they want to buy it for their kids and their family and their car. now 44 was the biggest selling now album ever. released in november 1999, people bought it for the millennium parties. robbie williams has made the most now appearances with 31, and now 48 became crucial for peter kay's car share. track two is from me to you. it is still a big deal. as a teenager, i was not up to date with pop culture. i love it now. there were a lot of things i didn't know. now was one that i did. when my manager said we would be on now, i understood that, and it was very exciting. asa

as a kid you by those albums and i rememberwheni as a kid you by those albums and i rememberwhen i got as a kid you by those albums and i remember when i got one with the spice girls and all of that. we use of total sales today, the current chart position, the highest chart position. do you just go i love that track? no, it is not our decision, we cannot take our personal preference into consideration. personal preference into consideration. most music fans seem to remember their first now album. this was mine, the originalfrom 1983. i thought i would go out and about and hear people's memories. this was literally the first one we got on cassette. karma chameleon, can't argue with that. it was always the best side and

usually the first disc was the best disc. every christmas i get one. every birthday. who would give you it? grandma or my dad. had grandma ever heard of anyone? definitely not. my grandad liked the sugababes. it was atomic kitten. it was on my walkman. liam payne thinks the series was ahead of its time. walkman. liam payne thinks the series was ahead of its timem walkman. liam payne thinks the series was ahead of its time. it was like the first world play listing. that was the world's first playlist a little bit, which is now the theme of the industry for all of the platforms that you listen to. and now believe they will survive because, with so much choice,

many consumers like the simplicity of it all being done for them. people always need a guide of what to listen to and now provides that. if you look at where it started, on vinyl, it went to tape, minidisc, vcd, the weird and wonderful formats, and it is still going 35 years later. the next goal is to make it to now 200 in the year 2053. now, that's what i call a long way in the future. let's talk now tojonathan isaby. he owns the first 99 now! albums and he s been desperate this morning to pick up the 100th. ashley abram worked for the now! albums, picking the songs, for 28 years from now 2 to now 81. and katy thompsett is a writer for the young women s website refinery29 and says now was a pivotal part of her childhood. thank you for coming in. jonathan,

this is just thank you for coming in. jonathan, this isjust a thank you for coming in. jonathan, this is just a small part of your collection. during that dt you were saying, this song is on this one... you are a real nerd when it comes to this. yes, i am and about other things as well. they are brilliant. it literally has been the soundtrack to my life. i was five when the first one came out and so every single time it came out, it was a few months from a particular year and it is a snapshot of a particular time. music is very evocative and it will take you back to a particular moment in time. that was my first time at university, that was the summer time at university, that was the summer when i met my wife. it brings back a lot of very happy memories. you are saying it is like the

soundtrack to your childhood ? absolutely, i got my first album when i was nine years old, which is quite common, when you are just starting to get into music and it was a christmas present. what was on it? the biggest track was saturday night and when you are nine it is perfect and kids were doing it at discos up and down the country. now when i go to a wedding and that song has come on and everyone is on the dance floor doing the moves and everyone still remembers it. dance floor doing the moves and everyone still remembers itm dance floor doing the moves and everyone still remembers it. it was in december 94. yes, it was. this is interesting about how you select tracks that make it onto an album. how do you start? is it down to where they get in the chives or whether they get into your head? an ear worm? back in the day the chance came out once a week and we did not have an internet or anything like

that. so they had me as a one—man google — spotify, and i was looking at the chives and what it had been in the charts previously and most crucially what was going to be in the charts. these albums were finished three or four weeks before they made it into the shops. how do you guess what is going to be a hit? you could never know for sure, but that was part of the job, to try and identify these things. it is hard to explain. it is not a perfect science and sometimes you might get a slightly wrong. jonathan, you were saying it is quite coveted to get that first track on one of these. that defines the album for you if you like. artists always appreciate it. i remember talking to someone about it and there was a huge competition between musicians to get that coveted slot. love is all

around was the best selling single of 1994. it is easy to know that you put wet wet wet there. but how'd you prioritise the number one track on the album? it is obviously the biggest track and it is how we use that first. but we looked for a flow, so the albums flowed nicely and it did not chop and change too much. when we started it was lp and cassettes, so you have four sides. i would try and group the music. maybe you would have a couple of pop sides and a side with soul and dance music and a side with soul and dance music and perhaps some rock music. and a side with soul and dance music and perhaps some rock musiclj and a side with soul and dance music and perhaps some rock music. i need to know your favourite tracks ever. goodness, there are about 3500. on

number 11 you have got kylie malone with i should be so lucky. she has had many appearances on them over the years. ifi had many appearances on them over the years. if i was trying to be cool i would say something like radiohead of number 29. but probably it isa radiohead of number 29. but probably it is a really obscure jon bonjovi track called jamie don't take your love to town on number 38. i had never heard it before i had the album andl never heard it before i had the album and i fell in love with it. it introduced me to music that i was not familiar with. it does not normally do that. it normally tells us what we love already, those dance songs. tragedy, all those kind of slightly cheesy ones. guilty pleasures. macarena must have been on there. i would have thought so. is that something that you don't

have? they do introduce you to things that you might not particularly have listened to at the time. iam particularly have listened to at the time. i am a big 80s music fan so i like the earlier ones, but i am still collecting them today. i am keeping in touch with what people are listening to today as well. this is going to be on the 100 album. how is going to be on the 100 album. how is it that this survives when we have got all of this ability around us to download and create our own mix albums if you like? how does it have that in during appeal?m clearly does because each time it comes out it goes straight to number one in the charts. it has stood the test of time and it is that creativity on the part of the people who create that perfect mix to create that brilliant snapshot where you can pick up a cd and transport yourself back to a particular moment in time and enjoy the music of the moment. what do you think? if i am being honest it is probably parents

buying them as presents for their children. around the age of nine, ten or 11, remembering perhaps they had it when they were kids and they wa nt to had it when they were kids and they want to carry on for their own children. probably as the kids get older and become teenagers and start getting into music bit more, they explore their favourite artists. perhaps they stop listening to these albums but years later they will pick one up and listen to it and it will take them back to their formative years when they were starting their musical tastes and they will remember what they were doing. anne-marie has said something on facebook, the original was number one on the day i was born. how on earth are we at 100 when i am only 34? it is about three a year, isn't it? it started off with two year and then quickly moved into three year

sequence. then quickly moved into three year sequence. one for christmas, one for summer, and the first one that came out in november in 1983 was effectively the greatest hits of the 1983. it has been lovely to have music on in the background whilst we we re music on in the background whilst we were chatting. let's get some weather with simon. it should be dry and sunny as we go into the weekend. this is the scene in norfolk at the moment. but for many more of us there is rain in the forecast and it has been raining heavily so far across northern ireland and scotland. you can see this area of rain moving its way southwards and eastwards. meanwhile, another small band of rain moving into kent. but that rain will continue to spread south and eastwards into northern england,

wales, and it will break up a little bit giving as showery outbreaks. scotla nd bit giving as showery outbreaks. scotland and northern ireland staying cloudy and fresher. but in the south—east there will be some warm and sunny spells, temperatures 2627. with that warmth and humidity there is the chance of heavy and thundery showers eking out this afternoon anywhere from dorset up towards the wash. do not take the position of these thunderstorms to literally, but that is the risk area. some will seek torrential rain and others will not see anything. this evening goes showers rattle on into the early hours of saturday and the warm and muggy night stay in the south—east. for the weekend its of largely dry and there will be sunshine for many of us during saturday. a few showers possible across southern saturday. a few showers possible across southern areas saturday. a few showers possible across southern areas of england.

the chance of those turning heavy in places. 24—27 for england and wales and they will be up a bit in northern areas. on sunday there will bea northern areas. on sunday there will be a bit more in the way of cloud. otherwise largely dry and day on sunday, but temperatures continue to rise. 26—29, perhaps 30 in the south—east. further north and west 20-23. next south—east. further north and west 20—23. next week we have got rid of high—pressure holding on in south eastern areas and this weather front comes into the north—west. it is on this weather front that we will have a bit ofa this weather front that we will have a bit of a fight between some fresh air behind it and some much hotter air behind it and some much hotter aircoming into the air behind it and some much hotter air coming into the south—east. potentially 33 in southern and eastern areas. but it is where that weather front positioned itself during the week and the fight and whether or not you get the fresher and cooler air or the hot air.

generally speaking very warm and hot next week and most of us staying dry. a chance of thunderstorms. hello, it's friday, it's 10 o'clock, i'm chloe tilley. an expert panel has recommended that some medicines derived from cannabis should be available on prescription. but some parents are still battling the system to get such medicines quickly. within weeks, we've seen benefits of using this. i'm so glad i tried it with ethan. just with two drops, after 15 to 20 minutes, i could see his body relaxing. we'll be talking to tracey rossiter, a mum who wants cannabis oil for her son, and the chair of a parliamentary group on drugs.

is it fair that women whose partners have children from a previous relationship are denied ivf? that's the policy for more than three quarters of clinical commissioning groups in england and wales. it's unimaginably cruel. that is not the way to ration nhs medical services. if you are infertile, it's a disease. it's defined as a disease. you have a medical condition affecting your reproductive organs. you are as entitled to medical treatment anybody else. and the pain of not knowing what happened to a loved one 15 years after they went missing. we'll be speaking to liz osborne, who's had to live for more than a decade without her daughter kate, who went missing in bali in 2003. good morning. it's 10 o'clock. here's annita mcveigh is in the bbc newsroom with a summary of the day's news. donald trump has invited russia's leader vladimir putin to visit the united states in the autumn. it follows their controversial summit in helsinki. the democratic leader in the us senate, chuck schumer, has said there should be no more

one—to—one meetings between the two leaders until americans learn what was said during the talks in the finnish capital. in an interview with cnbc, mr trump again defended his attempt to improve relations with russia. getting along with president putin, getting along with russia is a positive, not a negative. now, that being said, if that doesn't work out, i'll be the worst enemy he's ever had, the worst he's ever had. within the next hour, the prime minister is due to set out her commitment to ensuring there will be no hard border between northern ireland and the rest of the uk after brexit. theresa may will use her speech in belfast to reject the eu's so called "backstop" proposal, which could see the introduction of the good friday agreement. at least 11 people including children drowned when an amphibious vehicle capsized and sank on a popular tourist lake in the us state of missouri. it happened when stormy weather set in over table rock lake.

around 31 people were on board the vehicle at the time of the accident. officials say at least five of those passengers are still missing. rescue boats have been out in the water searching for survivors. a panel of experts has warned that the progress made in the international fight against hiv and aids is in danger of stalling due to what they call "dangerous complacency". a report published in the lancet says the epidemic could re—emerge as a new generation enters adulthood. the youngest spitfire pilot to fly in the battle of britain during world war ii has died. squadron leader geoffrey wellum, who was just 18 when he joined the raf in august 1939, died at his home in cornwall on wednesday evening aged 96. he served with 92 squadron and his first missions included the "dogfights" above london and the home counties, for which the battle became known. that's a summary of the latest bbc news — more at 10.30. do get in touch with us

throughout the morning — use the hashtag victoria live. let's get some sport now. chris is at the bbc sport centre. good morning. it's a very different day at carnoustie on day two. yesterday, we had the sunshine. today, it's brollies and wet weather gear. i have been watching rory mcilroy on the television here, starting his second round. john watson is there for us and can perhaps... he has an umbrella! see what i mean? john watson, how are those conditions going to affect today's play? the brolly is of course a giveaway that the rain has rolled in. beautiful

sunshine yesterday. we can expect things to slow up a little bit. more links conditions with the rain, but not a strong wind, which would add something else for the golfers to contend with. but i think we can expect things to slow up a bit, which could give them more control. but it might benefit those who are going to be going out later this morning, with the condition is expected to change and the rain expected to change and the rain expected to change and the rain expected to ease later, which could help the overnight leader kevin kastner on five under. he was an unlikely overnight leader, unfamiliar to most. he unlikely overnight leader, unfamiliarto most. he is unlikely overnight leader, unfamiliar to most. he is staying in a house hearing carnoustie with jordan spieth, the defending champion, so perhaps that is rubbing off on him a bit. he is due to go out later. as you say, rory mcilroy is under way. he was also under a brolly this morning, sheltering from the rain. he has done all right. he

has picked up an extra shot. he was two under overnight and has now moved to three under. also putting a run together is tommy fleetwood. he knows this cause well. he holds the course record here at carnoustie and he picked up back—to—back birdies at the fourth and fifth. he hasjust picked up another at the ninth, so three birdies for tommy fleetwood, moving from one over overnight to two under now. huge crowds yesterday for tiger woods, making his two under now. huge crowds yesterday fortigerwoods, making his open return after a two—year absence. he was impressive, and in tough conditions as well. he had a late tee time at three .20, but impressive when you consider that he birdied two birdies in his first four holes. he faded a bit as the green starts to bubble up, with a few missed putts and he finished level par at the end of yesterday. it will be interesting to see how he fares when he heads out later.

jordan spieth has yet to go as well, the defending champion. he finished on one over. but with rory mcilroy and tommy fleetwood with a couple of birdies already, it shows that the birdies already, it shows that the birdies are out there if you go birdies are out there if you go birdie hunting. thank you, john. tiger woods is due to tee off in ten minutes' time. geraint thomas has cemented his tag as a serious contender for the tour de france. back to back stage wins. really tough stage up three mountains yesterday, made tougher by the abuse the two are getting. it's full on abuse. to their credit, the two team sky ridersjust ride on. the welshman put in a late surge to beat rivals including team sky team—mate chris froome, who was fourth. froome is still favourite overall, but only just. we know after yesterday that the apprentice — thomas — could beat his master, froome. thomas has a lead of one minute 39 seconds over the four—time champion.

but look at what the froome is being subjected to. this man runs out and pushes him. there has also been booing and spitting, people dropping their trousers as the riders come by. and there is not a lot the authorities can do about it. this is a public place with thousands of spectators who will see stage 13. another tough one, although not as tough as they spend a lot of time going downhill. but it's very bendy. that's all the sport for now. could we be on the verge of a radical change in the way cannabis is used for medical purposes? a group of drugs experts have recommended to the home secretary that doctors should have greater freedom to prescribe medicines derived from cannabis. the advisory council on the misuse of drugs has recommended that cannabis medicines should be re—scheduled because there is evidence of some benefit for certain conditions. the review was prompted by parent—power — a small group

of mothers who fought for the right to bring cannabis oil into the uk to help control their children's epilepsy seizures, some of whom have now got special licences to receive cannabis medicines. we heard earlier about five—year—old ethan mason. he has a rare terminal genetic disorder which can cause him to have up to 200 seizures a day. his mum tracey rossiter currently uses a legal form of cannabis oil and says it's helped reduce his symptoms. now she s asking the home office to grant ethan a licence so that he can be given cannabis oil with a higher dosage of the compound thc, which is currently illegal over 0.2% in the uk. at the moment, where we are, ethan, because he's had a lot of seizures, i don't actually know how much of his walking ability has gone, because i feel if the seizure control was better, i'd be able

to see what's left of his walking. his talking, yeah, that's also started to slowly disappear, and the professor at great ormond street told us that by christmas this year that they would be very surprised if ethan is still walking and talking. so, it's really hard to... do you want to play? on the yellow, the yellow train? ethan loves trains. shall i move this out of the way? there we go. he can have 200 seizures a day, but that varies. it can vary from just having a couple a day. the worst ones he has had has

been the tonic—clonic, orthe old name, grand malseizure, but he doesn't have them any more. the last one he had was december last year. it's shaking. some people will describe it as a fit. his eye contact, his eyes go fixed to one side and that can last from a minute to a good few minutes long. i wanted to use that one and we have seen, within weeks, benefits of using this. i'm so glad i tried it with ethan. just with the two drops, after 15, 20 minutes, i could see his body relaxing. he's still having seizures.

ok, it's the myoclonic seizures, but he's still having seizures. and here we are today, and we just want help. we want help and we need it now. we feel that medical cannabis is the way to go for us. we've seen the benefits and we'd like some help now, please. tracey isjoining us now, along with clark french from united patients alliance, an organisation formed to promote the medical benefits of cannabis, and baroness meacher, who sits in the house of lords as a crossbencher, which means she isn't aligned to a political party, and leads a group on drug reform.

tracey, it was heartbreaking to see that film of you at home with ethan. tell me how frustrating it is as a pa rent to tell me how frustrating it is as a parent to know that there could be something out there that could help your son tom and you are unable to give it to him? yes, it's really frustrating. you feel that there is another option there that could be used, and our country are not allowed to use it when they are in other countries. so you feel, why can't our country do this? what is the advice you have been given about being able to pursue this, to get the cannabis oil that

you want for ethan? unfortunately our country cannot advise. the companies can't advise either about the dosage, so you take your initiative about the amount of drops you are using on your child. that is what i did, i started off with a couple of drops. after a few weeks we saw the benefits. were you advised to take him abroad for this? no, what i actually did was when we saw the seizures go, i wanted to have advice on that point. i spoke toa have advice on that point. i spoke to a doctor in holland and he advised a product to use and that is the product we are using today. for people watching this they may be frustrated, in fact a lot of the

comments we are getting in our about frustration, that this has not been legalised. this has been a long struggle, hasn't it? it has been a long struggle. i have been doing this now since i was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2010. i found cannabis really worked better than the pharmaceutical drugs. i save the nhs £30,000 every year and my story is the same as so many other people in this country who have found that cannabis works and helps them and have ta ken steps cannabis works and helps them and have taken steps to make sure that they are well. ultimately why are we spending police time and resources to criminalise people who are just looking to be well? sick children are suffering needlessly now because the government is not changing this law fast enough. the police need to instantly decriminalise so that no patient is fearful of being arrested. when you are sick and ill and you have issues, the last thing you need to worry about is the

police and the law. it is in saying this is the situation we are in and in 30 states in the us and in many countries in europe and in israel and canada changes are happening. we are being left behind. the home office needs to reschedule immediately, dozing needs to be available and the police need to be able to show discretion and leave patients to grow their own cannabis alone. posters are forced to do this. i don't think people understand what it is like to have your life ta ken from understand what it is like to have your life taken from you. i cannot imagine what it must be like to have a sick child in the same position. when you find something that works, you don't care what the law says, you don't care what the law says, you want it and you want it now. the law is wrong. the science is there to prove that cannabis is medicine. the prime minister's husband owns the majority profit shares in a company that sells cannabis across the world, but yet it is denied to

uk citizens. i am denied it even though i have ms and i have all the symptoms and problems that will allow for it. it is a farce. i want to bring in baroness meacher who is here in the studio. we are a step closer to those being made available for people for medicinal purposes? yesterday was a huge day for about a million people in this country, possibly more, we do not have numbers, who are suffering a whole range of illnesses. ms is one of them. 10,000 people told the ms society that we need cannabis and we would use it and we want it. there could be 1 would use it and we want it. there could be1 million people suffering from severe neuropathic and chronic pain and there is evidence that cannabis is helpful for these people. yesterday, finally, the advisory council recognised that cannabis and cannabis products are

medicines and should be recognised as such. what is the next step and what is the time frame? the next step is the medicine regulatory authority has to define which products will be recognised and reduced from schedule one down to schedule two. some of them will. the question is how many? if the regulatory authority are very restrictive, not that many people will benefit. but the great news for me was in that a cmd document to the home secretary they quoted evidence about cannabis medicine and its value for people suffering from neuropathic pain. those are large numbers of people and surely they will acknowledge and recognise cannabis medicine for neuropathic pain. that would be something. something for epilepsy as well. my

worry for the epileptic children is there is a new drug, and on the market and it will help some children, but these children who fought for this change would not be helped by it. we know that, there are much better cannabis products with a little bit of thc. you would not normally hand thc to a child, but these children are so sick it is important for them to have a drug that will control and eliminate seizures. it can eliminate, it is incredible. how close are we for pa rents incredible. how close are we for parents like tracy who can go to theirgp and parents like tracy who can go to their gp and say, i need these drugs with thc for my very sick child and the gp right that prescription?” would say we are a big step closer, but there are a lot of steps along the way. the question is will this be funded by the nhs? for that we need the institute of clinical excellence to recognise these

cannabis medicines. we know that because this terrible mistake was made 50 years ago to put cannabis into schedule one, research has been inhibited. universities have not been doing research. finally the oxford university got £10 million to look into these pain, cancer, crohn's disease, and so on, and they hope to produce some evidence within 18 months. it could be 18 months away. then you have to get the agreement of all these organisations. it takes time, but it isa organisations. it takes time, but it is a huge step forward. for you, what is the next step for you to try and secure this medicine for even? that would have to go over to holland to do that. i need to stress as well that the cannabis oil that i

see the overs for even was full plant extract. for me that is the way to go because i need to know out of 5000 strains of cannabis and need to know which other top ones that will help with epilepsy and seizures. we need to look at that as well. your mp has written to the home secretary to push this forward. thank you all so much for coming to speed up this morning. i am grateful to you. i am grateful to you. a home office spokesperson said: "we completely sympathise with the families who have been facing desperate situations as they try to find treatment. that is why the government has taken action, creating an expert panel to advise ministers on any licence applications to prescribe cannabis—related medicinal products in exceptional cases where there is an unmet clinical need. families should speak to their doctors about treatment options and in the case of cannabis prescription, these senior doctors will need to lead the application to the expert panel."

coming up... in most of england couples are ineligible for ivf if one partner has a child from a previous relationship, we'll be asking is this fair? imagine living for 15 years without knowing what happened to a loved one after they disappeared. that's been the reality for the mother of kate osborne. kate went missing in bali in 2003. her mother liz says she has made peace with the fact she may never know what happened to her daughter. kate was 34 years old when she was last seen alive on the indonesian island, but despite a police investigation and the hiring of private detectives no trace of kate has ever been found. now her mother liz has written a book about the impact the disappearance of kate has had on her and her family. we can speak to liz osborne now.

thank you so much for coming in. first of all, tell us about kate, tell us about the sort of girl she was. she loved to travel. yes, she was. she loved to travel. yes, she was hugely adventurous. she was the most loving, caring, joyful and vibrant and most loving, caring, joyful and vibrantand an most loving, caring, joyful and vibrant and an exciting person to be with. difficult as well, bloody—minded, but she was just a i°y bloody—minded, but she was just a joy to have as a daughter. and she travelled around and found a second home in bali. yes, she did. she was very happy there, and after the bombing, which i know she helped with angie did some distressing work m, with angie did some distressing work in, she decided to come back and was making preparations to come back to the uk and you were chatting about that. she had a dog that she loved and she wanted to sort out quarantine and then it all went

quiet and you really started to worry. yes, we did. we were at a dinner party locally and i articulated my fears to a fellow guest and in articulating my fears i became panic stricken. i thought, this is for real, there is something very wrong here. so it was a bank holiday weekend and we tried and tried to contact the foreign office, the embassy, the consulate in bali. u nfortu nately, the embassy, the consulate in bali. unfortunately, the honorary consul has a part—timejob unfortunately, the honorary consul has a part—time job on the island and he has a restaurant which he ru ns and he has a restaurant which he runs as well and we could not make contact with anyone. there was not even an answerphone to leave a message on. it was the following tuesday morning that we managed to make contact and it finally came back to us, given the time lapse

between bali, indonesia and britain, that eventually we were told that kate had not been seen alive since april the 17th. it was now the may bank holiday. yes, it was a difficult time. i know that from reading your book that you really wa nted reading your book that you really wanted to get to bali as quickly as possible, you wanted to get out there and find answers. i know you we re there and find answers. i know you were told initially to hold back. but in your book you said that when you are on the flight to bali that was when you started to think that kate was not alive. actually it was before we left for bali. both my husband and i felt deeply that kate was not alive. but we did not say that. it was very difficult. we had

to go with some hope and expectation, but i think patrick and i thought that the best we were going to have was finding out what had happened and we hoped to bring her body home. we have got to that point. but we had to go through a bit of a farce really. i was given thejob of phoning and bit of a farce really. i was given the job of phoning and visiting hospitals and retreats to see if she had had an accident and had not been able to tell anybody, or if she was in retreat. but i knew it was entirely hollow because i knew she was dead. i have to tell you that the book is about way much more than cake's death. the book is about way much more than ca ke's death. it the book is about way much more than cake's death. it is about her life. and it is about the letters that she wrote to you, very special letters. yes, very. when i started to write a book and i came to her 70th year and

when she first started to travel abroad alone and i remember i kept all her letters. we read them all. i am so all her letters. we read them all. i am so glad i kept them. i thought, these are so beautifully written, they take you to the place so graphically where she was. they were so graphically where she was. they were so colourful and very endearingly written. it was then that i thought i would like to publish this book. then it became a bit of a mission. it took a long time. it must have presumably been helpful for you, cathartic to sit and read those letters, not only to feel a connection with kate once more, but to enjoy her beautiful writing because she was very talented. yes, absolutely, it was cathartic. there we re absolutely, it was cathartic. there were as many tears as there was laughter. she had a wicked sense of humour. everything was written with humour. everything was written with

humour. and in the nicest possible way. they were a joy to read, fun to read again. and i had forgotten how beautifully written they were. yes, she had a talent, a very real talent for writing and photography and was hugely artistically talented as well. how important was it? someone who has not lost someone close to them can only imagine a small part of what you and your pup family have been through, but how important was it for you to find out what happened to kate? you hope that you would be able to bring her home. you have not been able to do that, so how hard has that been? initially it was very hard. we were bent on finding out what had happened and we wanted to bring kate home. but with the

passing of time we had to accept that we were not going to be able to find out what had happened and i think we were very fortunate in that we are a really strong family. kate was immensely strong, so are her sisters. also the extended family and the community around us were just amazing. the north cumbria community in particular is fantastic. i had my faith which helped me hugely. it was very difficult, but we knew eventually that if we did not... i think an informant came forward three years after kate died and the police felt he corroborated, with all the circumstantial evidence that they had. they did not share everything,

they do not, but they had enough circumstantial evidence for us to believe that kate was murdered, that her body was buried at sea. the informer told as that a swedish woman had murdered kate, so we were a little bit further on with that. still no hard evidence. we could not make an arrest. she had an affair with kate's ex—boyfriend and was veryjealous of her and ex—boyfriend and was veryjealous of herandi ex—boyfriend and was veryjealous of her and i think kate had become a nuisance. and she set her up and murdered her, is what we believe happened. she must have had help. so with the informer coming forward and telling us that, i think we knew we we re telling us that, i think we knew we were not going to get any further. the police did put watches on ports for comings and goings of the

swedish woman. they found nothing. so you got partial answers but clearly not fall answers. and no ha rd clearly not fall answers. and no hard evidence. but it was probably at that point... it wasn't a day where you wake up and think, this is where you wake up and think, this is where you wake up and think, this is where you go from here, it was a very gradual process of letting go, which we absolutely had to do, because if you aren't able to let 90, because if you aren't able to let go, then it's very destructive and you can take a lot of people down with you. and affect your whole family. exactly. how have you managed as a family unit to get through this horrendous ordeal, but also remember kate and rejoice in her life and the happiness that she clearly brought you ? her life and the happiness that she

clearly brought you? well, we have been more fortunate than many people in that the joy of kate's life, the i°y in that the joy of kate's life, the joy of having had herfor in that the joy of kate's life, the joy of having had her for nearly 35 yea rs, joy of having had her for nearly 35 years, was joy of having had her for nearly 35 yea rs, was so joy of having had her for nearly 35 years, was so overriding. she was inspirational. she was uplifting. she was very difficult as well! you don't hover all that talent and creativity without another side to it. but because we talked about kate all the time, every day, a load of tea rs all the time, every day, a load of tears and a load of laughter. and every time we talked about her, we couldn't help but laugh and smile, because that was her effect on us. and that keeps her alive. absolutely. for me, the book brought her alive. but we do talk about her

almost every day and we are so fortu nate to almost every day and we are so fortunate to have had herfor all that time. and ourfamily fortunate to have had herfor all that time. and our family are wonderful. we have grandchildren. on her birthday, which was in may, she would have been 50. our six—year—old twin grandchildren made a little shrine for other and wrote cards for her. they made me a necklace with their own beads with kate written on it, which i wore for an interview with a national newspaper. so you can talk about her and remember her. it has been a pleasure to speak to you. thanks for sharing your memories of your daughter. time for the latest news — here's annita. donald trump has invited russia's leader vladimir putin to visit the united states in the autumn. it follows their controversial summit in helsinki. the democratic leader in the us senate, chuck schumer, has said there should be no more one—to—one meetings between the two leaders until americans learn what was said during their recent talks in the finnish capital.

we're expecting the prime minister to make a major speech in belfast in the half hour, setting out her commitment to ensure there will be no hard border between northern ireland and the rest of the uk after brexit. theresa may is expected to reject the eu's so called "backstop" proposal, which could see the introduction of a hard border, a move the she claims would be in breach of the good friday agreement. at least 11 people including children drowned when an amphibious vehicle capsized and sank on a popular tourist lake in the us state of missouri. it happened when stormy weather set in over table rock lake. around 31 people were on board the vehicle at the time of the accident. officials say at least five of those passengers are still missing. rescue boats have been out in the water searching for survivors. a panel of experts has warned that the progress made in the international fight against hiv and aids

is in danger of stalling due to what they call "dangerous complacency". a report published in the lancet says the epidemic could re—emerge as a new generation enters adulthood. and the biggest butterfly count in the world starts today in the uk with the hot, dry conditions promising a bumper year for numbers. sir david attenborough has described participating in the survey as a "precious breathing space" from the stresses of modern life. as part of the big butterfly count, butterfly conservation is asking the public to spot and record 17 species of butterfly for the next three weeks. that's a summary of the latest bbc news. let's get some sport now. let's go to carnoustie now, because it is raining, not like yesterday's sunshine, and things are changing. can rory mcilroy win his fifth major? rory‘s in and out of the long grass, but he's still in the hunt after five holes.

he is one underfor the day after nine holes, four off the lead. rising star and rock n' roll haircut, england's tommy fleetwood is having the best of the morning so far. he's four under today and three under overall, two off the lead. he could be a pop star. "don't push us, don't spit at us, have a bit of decency." the tour de france leader geraint thomas slams the supporters of the race who are abusing the team sky riders. you see this gentleman pushing chris froome. thomas leads the race with chris froome, who's pushed here in second place. stage 13 today. allison says it's a dream come true for him to sign at liverpool.

at 65 million, the brazilian becomes the most expensive goalkeeper. that's all the sport for now. now — there is no doubt that love island is a tv phenomenon. but is life inside the villa the fantasy it appears to be? and what is life like once you leave? zara holland featured on season two of the hit show with her friend sophie gradon, who died last month. ?she's been talking to the bbc about the pressures of appearing on the show. this will change your life. i have been seeing a psychiatrist since january. next week, it will be 40 years since louise brown was born. she was the world's first baby to be born using ivf — and became known as the first "test tube" baby. but would her parents have been eligible for ivf today?

louise's father already had a child from a previous relationship, which means in most of england nowadays, he and his wife would be ineligible for nhs treatment. the charity fertility network uk are calling it "social rationing". eight out of 10 clinical commissioning groups — they're the bodies that oversee health commissioning in local areas — do not enable access to ivf if one of the couple has children from a previous relationship. well, earlier i spoke to catherine hill from preston, who works for the chairty fertility network uk — she found herself in that situation. her husband already had a child from previous relationship and she was refused ivf on the nhs. she's been sharing her story with us. i first started trying to conceive when i was in my mid—thirties. i hadn't met the man that i wanted to have children with before then, and i knew that there were stories

about fertility dropping after 35, but i thought i should be ok. so i started trying to have a baby, but itjust didn't happen. i was aware that i might have some damage to my fallopian tubes. i had chlamydia, i discovered that a few days before my 21st birthday, so i was checked out and discovered that both fallopian tubes were damaged and i was told it was highly unlikely that i would ever conceive naturally and that ivf was my only chance of conception. and i was devastated. so we looked at how to access nhs ivf in the area we were living, and i rememberfinding out that it was probably unlikely that i would be able to access it

because my husband had been married before and i have a lovely stepdaughter. but because he had got a daughter from a previous relationship, we would be denied ivf. it didn't matter that i was the one that was infertile. i rememberjust being so shocked that somebody could have a policy like that that is just so cruel. it's nothing to do with your medical circumstances. and my stepdaughter has never lived with us. she's in her twenties now. it's just... i was appalled. i could not believe it. by that time as well, i was nearing my forties and we were told the waiting list for ivf was so long in our area that by the time i got

to the top of the list, i would probably have been over 40, which meant that i wouldn't have been eligible for nhs ivf at all. what does that do to your relationship with your husband? is there ever a sense of putting a strain on that because his previous relationship and the fact that he does have a daughter means that you aren't able to get nhs—funded ivf? there was a moment where i just felt like, aaagh! but when you're going through something like fertility struggles, you can't blame either partner for the situation. i just couldn't believe that the health service could be so cruel in that way and that the government could allow a policy that was so cruel. but then it was, "ok, we're going to have to pay for it".

i would do anything to have a child. so that's it. that means no foreign holidays. it means every single penny saved in order to pay for ivf. what would you say to people watching this who say, we all know about the strains on the nhs, the limited funding, and maybe priorities should go to couples where there are no children at all from any relationships? i would say that that is unimaginably cruel. that is not the way to ration nhs medical services. if you are infertile, it's a disease. it's defined as a disease. you have a medical condition affecting your reproductive organs. you are as entitled to medical treatment as anybody else and it's just unimaginably cruel to be told that you cannot have help when somebody else

down the road can. you have spent a huge amount of money on funding ivf for yourself. and i know that there were challenges along the way, but you did fall pregnant and you now are a mother? iam, and i am unimaginably grateful. it's an amazing and miraculous technology because without it, i would not be a mother. i paid 30,000 plus in the end to have my daughter. but that doesn't matter at all, because i am now a parent. but not everybody is as lucky to be able to afford that. it should be available for everybody. england pioneered ivf, and we should be proud of that. but i think that achievement really starts to pale when really, we are moving towards a society

where only the more affluent can afford ivf. that just isn't right. what do you think should happen now? you think everybody should be entitled to a certain number of free cycles of ivf? well, the government's body, nice, they have recommended and have looked at the cost effectiveness and the clinical effectiveness of ivf and they say all eligible women under 40 should have three full ivf cycles. and they don't say anything about rationing ivf if one of the couple has a child from a previous relationship. they don't say anything at all. in scotland, in northern ireland and in wales, there is no social rationing. it's only in england. and it is 83% of areas in england that ration ivf in this way. and it's the individual clinical commissioning groups, the ccgs,

that have introduced these policies. there aren't any government guidelines about it. they have just decided to do this. well, let's talk now to aileen feeney, also from the charity fertility network uk and roy lilley, a former nhs trust chairman and now a health commentator. roy, do you think that every woman in this country has a right to free ivf cycles on the nhs? yes. if you ta ke ivf cycles on the nhs? yes. if you take the world health organisation's definition it is a disease, if it is a disease people are entitled to be treated. but the problem we have is one of resources and you touched on it yourself. what you say to these families that cannot have children is really difficult, but what do you say to the millions of people on the waiting list? what do you say to a

little old lady who has got ca ta ra cts little old lady who has got cataracts and cannot cook safely? what do you say to somebody who has got painful hips and they can't sleep or do shopping? the difficulty is putting the rationale behind the use of resources. commissioning groups are entitled to introduce criteria. some of it have done it around the waiting time, some of it has been done around smoking. the exact wording used is not having any children from both your current or any previous relationships, that is the exact wording. they are using that criteria. it is really difficult. no one in the nhs comes to work with any idea of making life difficult for people or rationing services, but they have to put a rationale behind the use of resources . rationale behind the use of resources. the health services have flat line funding. what we are

talking about this morning is the tip of the iceberg and it is a manifestation of what happens when the nhs does not get the funding it needs. that is the problem. no one wa nts to needs. that is the problem. no one wants to say no. i can see you are pulling faces as roy makes those points. speak directly to him. the guidelines are very clear in terms of who should be eligible for treatment and you have pointed out the point is that we would make. fertility is a disease, it is a disease that nobody chooses to have and it has a devastating effect on the individuals that are impacted. we believe those guidelines should be adhered to. i do as well and most people working in the nhs do. but the question for the new secretary of state is this, what shall we stop doing so we can do ivf? we have to make choices. respond to that. what

has to go? the reality of the situation is there is not enough money to go round. what gives so eve ryo ne money to go round. what gives so everyone can have those ivf cycles on the nhs? quite frankly, it is not by position to say what should be stopped to provide it. we believe those guidelines are there and in place and they are done on the basis of cost effectiveness and clinical effectiveness. if you do not provide the treatment within nhs guidelines, effectively you are wasting nhs money. we have got passionate protagonists for ivf and when you say, what should we stop doing so we can do ivf? they say it is somebody else's job. somebody else can do ivf? they say it is somebody else'sjob. somebody else is making the decision, somebody else is having to make an nhs pound do the work of two. the argument is not

with the nhs or health service managers or clinicians in the nhs. the argument is with government who has flat line funded the nhs. we are in the 70th year of the nhs. since 1948 until 2010 when we had the world banking crisis and flat line funding came in, the annual uplift infunding to funding came in, the annual uplift in funding to the nhs for all those yea rs in funding to the nhs for all those years from 1948 to 2010 has been 9% per annum years from 1948 to 2010 has been 9% perannum and years from 1948 to 2010 has been 9% per annum and now we are under 2%. the new money does not start until next april and although it is welcome, it is just enough to keep a lifeline. i want to put one comment. it on e—mail says, ivf should be discontinued completely on the nhs. we are not short of children, it is not a right to have a child, especially as most of those who are requesting it are those who have selfishly put off having children to make money. people with children

should be grateful, stop treating children like a commodity, something delivered off the internet through amazon. all ivf should be delivered privately. that is wrong. infertility is a disease, nobody chooses to be infertile. the world health organisation recognises it as a disease. the impact on people who are infertile are immense. 42% of people are suicidal as they are going through their ivf treatment. it is not a lifestyle choice. it is very important. thank you both so much for speaking to us this morning. nhs england said, in reality the nhs has never been able to offer all of the ivf people might want, but there were over 20,000 babies born using ivf in the uk in 2016 with a number of cycles funded by the nhs in england were many consistent. expanding treatment

option means more people than ever are option means more people than ever a re successfully option means more people than ever are successfully starting out. a quick update on the speech that we are expecting any time now from the prime minister theresa may. she is expected to call on the european union to evolve its position on brexit and the irish border. let's get more from our political correspondent chris mason. we are expecting the prime minister to begin her speech in the next few minutes. remind us what she is going to be saying. there is a lot of talk about the backstop. we are expecting her to be on herfeet by about the backstop. we are expecting her to be on her feet by now and talking to us live, so she is not, so talking to us live, so she is not, so you have me instead. she has gone to northern ireland and went to the irish border yesterday and is giving a speech in belfast today. she is saying, look, what happens if we get a deal with brussels and there is a transition period of just a deal with brussels and there is a transition period ofjust under two yea rs transition period ofjust under two years and the technology is not in

place to ensure there is an open border at the end of that? what is the backstop position? she says the eu's backstop position involves parcelling up eu's backstop position involves pa rcelling up northern eu's backstop position involves parcelling up northern ireland in a closer relationship with the republic and the rest of the eu than the rest of the uk is totally unacceptable. she is saying we have published this white paper and we have shown flexibility, now it is time for brussels to do the same. interestingly, over the channel in brussels, michel barnier, the chief brexit negotiator, is meeting with other ministers from around the eu today and we expect to hear from him around lunchtime as well. potential for brexit developments this morning and this afternoon, but they have happened yet. chris mason, thank you. we are expecting the prime minister to be speaking in the next few minutes. when she stands up we will cross over to bring it to you.

bbc newsroom live is coming up next. thank you for all of your comments today. have a lovely day. good morning. we finally have got some rain to talk about. there has been quite a bit of it through this morning in scotland and in northern ireland and it is moving south and east and it will break up a little bit into the afternoon to give showery outbreaks across wales and the north—west of england. cloudy in northern and western areas, but plenty of sunshine in the south east

where it will feel hot and humid. temperatures in the mid—20s, further north and west 18—23. with the heat and humidity we will see some thundery downpours developing in dorset, hampshire and into oxfordshire through this evening and overnight. some of those showers will deliver a lot of rainfall in a short space of time and there could be some impact associated with that. gradually fading throughout the night. into the weekend for most of us it will be dry with sunny spells and it will feel hot. by sunday temperatures in the south wheeze are into 30. this is bbc news, i'm annita mcveigh.

these are the top stories developing at eleven. the prime minister visits northern ireland as she seeks to promote her brexit plan. this is the scene live in belfast where theresa may is expected to stress again that she will never accept a deal which treats northern ireland differently from the rest of the uk. donald trump's plan to invite vladimir putin to the us, takes american intelligence chiefs by surprise. that's going to be special! a tourist boat capsizes in the us state of missouri, killing at least 11 people. the amphibious "duck boat" was carrying at least 30 people on table rock lake when it sank in stormy weather. mps criticise the director of public prosecutions over failings in the disclosure of evidence in rape and serious