hello. it's monday. it's nine o'clock. i'm victoria derbyshire. welcome to the programme. exclusive. the labour party is calling for a ban on early blood tests to determine the sex of foetuses during pregnancy, after an investigation by this programme. we've found that thousands of british women are using an online forum to discuss using such tests to find out if they're having a boy or a girl. this woman has posted: i was wondering if there was someone on this board who had terminated due to gender. she goes on later to say i need a son to heal me. my only bet is nipt, followed by continuation only if it is a boy. labour mps are concerned the tests are being used as a route to sex selective abortions, particularly in south asian communities where there is pressure on women to give birth to boys. for any clinic to be marketing in terms of gender determination, i

think is absolutely deplorable. i think is absolutely deplorable. i think that needs to be stamped out. we get an update on the typhoon that has killed dozens of people across parts of asia and southern china. in hong kong buildings have been wrecked and the city has been on lockdown, and over 30 miners have died in the philippines. my my hopes are that they are fine and somebody finds them. even if they are dead, at least we can retrieve them and make our peace. it's one of the deadliest storms to hit the region in decades. we'll have the latest. and 16 women with visible facial and bodily differences have taken to the catwalk as models during london fashion week in a bid to change attitudes to beauty. it's a project spearheaded by a top photographer, rankin, and a designer. two of those models are here to talk about why they did it. hello.

welcome to the programme. we're live until 11 this morning. we want to ask you today if you have you had an abortion because you were expecting a girl. obviously you can talk to us anonymously. tell us about the pressures that were put on you to do that. that is because of our exclusive film coming out at 9:15am, where we will here that calls for early blood tests that can tell the sex of the baby should be banned. if you like to take part in the programme, please include your phone number in the message. that's our top story today. the labour party is this morning calling for a ban on early blood tests that can reveal the sex of a foetus atjust eight weeks into a pregnancy. it comes after we showed them evidence gathered by this programme that thousands of british women

are using an online forum to discuss using the pre—natal blood test called nipt, to determine whether they are due to have a boy or a girl. and some of those women are using that information to have a sex—selective abortion. amber haque has this exclusive report which contains flashing images at the very start. in the uk, if you're pregnant you can usually find out the gender of your baby at an nhs scan around 18 weeks. but for women in some communities, news of a girl can mean an end to their pregnancy. sara, that's not her real name, is south asian and lives in london. when i went for the scan and i asked if i could find out the gender of the baby, they said, "you are having a girl." as soon as i found out, i had a panic attack. i panicked. i had straightaway made that decision that i didn't want to have this baby. sara decided to have an abortion at 18 weeks

because of the cultural pressure for her to have a boy. and a blood test available privately called nipt allows women to find out the gender atjust eight weeks. and the bbc has found evidence that thousands of british women are using a website to discuss using nipt testing purely to find out the gender. and then some even say that they are going to have a sex—selective abortion as a result of that information. one example we have here on the website from a british pregnant woman. she says, "i need a son to heal me. my only option is nipt, followed by continuation only if it's a boy." we showed our findings to the labour party, who are now saying early gender testing should be banned. for any clinic to be marketing, you know, in terms of gender determination, i think is absolutely deplorable. communities in south asia have made huge strides in tackling this social evil and that's primarily been through legislation,

so banning gender determination clinics. and i think that in the uk we need to be doing likewise with regards to the private sector as well. the department of health says nipt testing isn't meant to be used for gender and that they will continue to monitor the evidence. we will talk much more about this in the programme this morning. if you have had a termination because you found out you were expecting a girl, do let me know. you can send us an email anonymously. now the rest of the morning's news withjoanna. good morning. south china is being hit by tropical storm mangkhut with winds of up to 100 miles an hour and torrential rain. chinese state media says two people have been killed. about 2.5 million people have been evacuated from their homes in guangdong province. chinese state media says two people have been killed.

the governor of north carolina has warned that the risk to life is rising in the state, after storm florence dropped record amounts of rain. residents are being told to stay off the roads as the risk from flash floods remains high. at least 16 people have been killed. thousands remain in emergency shelters and are without power. the prime minister has told the bbc that the uk faces a choice between the brexit deal she negotiates with brussels, or no deal at all. in an interview with panorama, theresa may also criticises proposals for the irish border, which have been put forward by some brexiteers. the former foreign secretary boris johnson claims that failing to resolve the border issue could lead to a total write—off of brexit, as our political correspondent chris mason explains. you know how it is. "your call is important to us," and all that guff, and then you're kept waiting. thank you. hold music plays. hello, jean—claude. hello.

i'm very well, thank you. i hope you managed to have a good summer break. the brexit negotiations as you've never seen them before. the prime minister talking to the president of the european commission, jean—claude juncker. panorama given a glimpse behind—the—scenes, before being shooed out. in an interview with nick robinson, the prime minister says mps will face a simple choice — her plan or nothing. i want to be clear whether you are saying, i think you are, my deal or no deal. the deal... as i say, i believe we'll get a good deal. we'll bring that back from the eu negotiations and put that to parliament. i think that the alternative to that will be not having a deal, because i don't think there will be... a, i don't think the negotiations will have that deal, and b, we're leaving on 29th march 2019.

last week, conservative brexiteers opposed to the prime minister's so—called chequers plan set out their own ideas, including using technology to avoid checks here at the border between northern ireland and the republic. but mrs may argues they are a nonstarter. the only proposal that's been put forward that delivers on them not having a hard border and ensures that we don't carve up the united kingdom is the chequers plan. the only proposal? so these other plans that we saw this week, they don't do it? no, because what many of these other plans are based on is moving the border. you don't solve the issue of no hard border by having a hard border 20 km inside northern ireland or 20km inside ireland. it's still a hard border. but in his weekly newspaper column, which doubles as a stage for his alternative outlook, the former foreign secretary borisjohnson argues that it is the government's approach to the irish border that leaves

the uk, as he puts it, heading full throttle for the ditch with a total write—off of brexit. it was already noisy and it's getting louder. chris mason, bbc news, at westminster. wiltshire police have called off a major incident in salisbury where two people fell ill at an italian restaurant. roads were cordoned off and paramedics in protective suits were deployed in case it was linked to the recent novichok attack in the city. police in wiltshire say they took all precautions after the pair fell ill last night. a new way of measuring poverty in the uk is being proposed to include the unavoidable costs that some people face. factors such as childcare or the impact of disability should be taken into account, according to the social metrics commission. the government says its policies are lifting people out of poverty. there's been a severe squeeze on the budgets of further education colleges in england, according to a new report. the institute for fiscal studies

says that money for 16 to 18—year—old students has dropped in real terms by 8% since 2010. the government says it's protecting funding in cash terms for the next two years. that's a summary of the latest bbc news. more at 9.30. thank you. if you are getting in touch, you are very welcome. please use the hashtag victoria live on twitter and if you text you will be charged at the standard network rate. ali can get the sport. simon yates has won one of the big cycling races in the calendar. yes, simon yates has won the vuelta a espana, huge personal achievement for him. it isa huge personal achievement for him. it is a massive event, in terms of cyclist in great britain, bradley wiggins and chris froome have also had several victories. the achievement means that victory in the felt as spaniel means that three

different cyclists from the same country have won the three biggest races in the same year, which has never been done before. —— vuelta a espana. simon yates had led the giro d'italia three months ago but fatigue set in on the 19th stage and he went from first to 18th, but he learned from that and he showed physical and mental strength to come back and win yesterday. he is still only 26, so plenty of time to get stronger and improve his talent and he is the youngest of the recent grand tour winners. lots of stories about him on the back pages, but he is not expecting to be recognised on the streets just yet. is not expecting to be recognised on the streetsjust yet. i don't is not expecting to be recognised on the streets just yet. i don't think superstar is the correct word. cycling is still a small sport, especially in the uk. we have many su ccesses especially in the uk. we have many successes now, but compare it to football or any other sport, it is still small will stop i don't think i will ever be a superstar. that is fine for me because it isn't in my

character. i am quite laid—back guy andi character. i am quite laid—back guy and i like to relax on my own and 0k. and i like to relax on my own and ok. icame and i like to relax on my own and ok. i came here to work hard. i'm ready to go from there. we have had two riders from the same country winning all three races in the same season winning all three races in the same season but this is the same time it has been done by three different cyclists. simon yates not the superstar type, is he? it means it has been an amazing year for british cyclists. it is incredible and it is unprecedented, british cyclists making history. chris froome won the giro d'italia, which was the one that simon yates was leading before. he has won the tour de france four times and geraint thomas won the tour de france with his first title this year. and simon yates doing the same thing, winning a grand tour title, meaning a british clean sweep. we can trace their history back to 1992 with chris boardman winning olympic gold in barcelona, and then lottery funding came in in 1997. 20 years later, bradley

wiggins won the 2012 tour de france, the first british rider to do that. we have had no british winners in any of the first 259 grand tours, and simon yates's victory in madrid means that a british rider has been victorious in nine of the last 20 grand tours, and five in a row as well, which gives some idea of how the sport has changed in this country. british riders going from challengers to dominating the sport. if you look at the traditional powerhouses of cycling, italy have won 85 grand tour titles and france and spain have around 50, so they still have the history even though britain are winning the most recent ones. thank you. more sport later on in the programme. our exclusive story today — the labour party is this morning calling for a ban on early blood test that can reveal the sex of a foetus atjust eight weeks into a pregnancy. that's after we showed them evidence gathered by this programme that found that thousands of british

women are using an online forum to discuss using the pre—natal blood test called nipt, which is available at private clinics and can be purchased online, to determine whether they are due to have a boy or a girl. and some of those women are using that information to have an abortion when they discover they're having a girl. labour mps are concerned that the pressure on women in some south asian communities in britain to have a boy is forcing some women to take such steps. amber haque has this exclusive report, which contains flashing images at the very start. they said, "you're having a girl." the words some women long to hear. but in some communities, those words are feared. i had a panic attack. i had straightaway made that decision that i didn't want to have this baby. they are simply aborting because it's a girl. we speak to women who admit they lied to doctors

about why they were seeking abortions. it's toxic in our community where we're devaluing women, where women themselves are complicit in the abuse. i remember him kicking me in my stomach over and overagain. my first thought was, "please, please, i hope my baby is ok." and we expose evidence that modern technology is aiding this problem. this is gendercide, this is six selective abortion and there are many girls missing as a result. in the uk, if you are pregnant, you can

usually find out the gender of your baby at an nhs scan from around 18 weeks. for women in some communities, finding out they are carrying a girl can mean an end to their pregnancy. we have come to meet sara, that's not her real name. she is sikh and lives in london. we were a family of five girls and every time my mum had another daughter, everyone would come to the house as if they were coming to mourn, not celebrate the birth of my sister. it would be like they would come and say, "oh, my god, another girl, another daughter. next time god will give you a son." for them, it's like a burden. my fear was i didn't want to go through what my mother went through. so when did you find out that you were going to have a girl? when i went for the scan and i asked if i could find out the gender of the baby, they said,

"you're having a girl." as soon as i found out, i had a panic attack. i panicked. i had straightaway made that decision that i didn't want to have this baby. and sara's story isn't an unusual one. here we deal with victims from honour—based violence, forced marriages and sex selection abortion is a form of violence. we have many women who have told us that they've had coerced or forced abortions. we have had many women who have been thrown down the stairs, stomachs kicked because they are having their second or third girl. i know women who have told me that i wasn't mother—in—law didn't think she was worthy of having my breastmilk. this is the real plight of some of these women and no wonder

they are resorting to sex selection abortions because they have no choice, they don't want to be homeless, they don't want their marriages to fail simply because they couldn't give birth to a boy. having an abortion because of the gender of the foetus is illegal here apart from some rare exceptions. but as women are unlikely to admit to this, it is nearly impossible to detect. would you say it was quite easy to bluff it with the doctors that you want an abortion for another reason? i believe so. they never asked me was it because of the gender. they asked me why i wanted the determination and i said it was because i couldn't cope with having another child. the reality is women are going to doctors and saying they simply can't have a child because i've got a change in career, we haven't got enough money, whatever excuse, because they become savvy to the system.

but also they are complicit in the abuse because they feel that it is normal, it's fine, i can do this. it's a big decision to decide? it was, yeah. to go ahead and have a termination? yes. was that quite difficult? very difficult. you see friends and family that have daughters and they have such a lovely relationship. i am someone's daughter and someone's sister, so now i wish i hadn't. i do live with that regret. sara and her husband found out the gender five months into her pregnancy and decided together that she should have a surgical abortion. but many private clinics in the uk offer women a cheap and quick blood test called an nipt, that allows a pregnant woman to find out the gender atjust eight weeks.

having an earlier abortion usually just involves taking a pill. and these tests and early gender scans have been pushed in communities like slough, which has one of the uk's largest punjabi communities. as you can see, we are coming into slough and we are greeted by one of these women's clinics posters and that is really telling the community, "come here, come to us, and we will let you know if you are having a baby boy or girl." and they are strategically dotted all around slough. the nhs plans to introduce a similar test next month but it is so parents can test for down's syndrome. doctors won't allow women to find out the gender of their foetuses an attempt to prevent these sex based abortions. but the private sector are offering the service perfectly legally. it's also possible to order a test online and do it yourself at home. you can see there's a number of these tests available online. you just have a pinprick

of blood, send it off and then in three to five working days it comes back. so can i find out the gender of my baby? you can request this. yes, this is the driver really. we know that women from certain communities are under pressure to have boys and here we have the technology which could, as it were, reinforce that pressure. the private sector, as long as it doesn't break the law, gets to do what it wants and the desire for sex selection is a major driver of private sector testing. and i think that it perpetuates sexism, which we should be resisting. the government acknowledged in 2015 that they didn't know how widespread this testing was and that they would have to monitor if it became popular. they have told us that nipt isn't meant to be used for gender and say they will continue to monitor the evidence. our investigation has suggested thousands of women in the

uk consider using nipt testing as a way to carry out gender selection. so this forum here shows just how common this attitude is. it gets more than 10,000 posts each year from british women. so this woman has posted, "i was wondering if there was someone on this board who had terminated due to gender?" she then goes on later to say, "i need a son to heal me. my only bet is nipt followed by continuation only if it is a boy." this woman is saying that she is considering a termination and just cannot bear the thought of another girl. one of the threads is even called "extreme gender disappointment". and it says, "this area is for people who are considering abortion or other methods that are considered very extreme." i've seen the disappointment that

some south asian families feel when they have a girl. for example, you don't really give sweets out unless you've had a boy. but it is shocking to learn about this more extreme end of things. that this prejudice can really lead to healthy foetuses being aborted just simply for this reason. and organisations say we really need to start seeing this as part of honour violence against women. and some women are exposed to physical violence from their husband or in—laws for expecting a girl. it was an arranged marriage. i got married in pakistan. like aysha, whose identity we are protecting. when he came here, i had my first child which was a girl. after having my daughter, ifelt as if i had

disappointed the family. there was abuse that started to build up. when i had my second child and we went for a scan, the nurse told me that it was a little girl. he didn't say a word to me and there was silence all the way home. i was very scared because he used to hit me. there was a lot of violence. when i got home, my first—born started to cry and i was trying to calm her down. as i was calming our daughter down, he came into the kitchen and he was angry. he started hitting me. i was on the floor. then he just kept on kicking me in my stomach. i was scared. i just remember thinking, "please, please, don't harm my baby girl."

the next thing i remember, i kept becoming unconscious. when i gained my consciousness, my daughter was screaming. she was crying and my neighbours had heard her screaming so they came to help me. i was very lucky that the baby survived. my husband, he left, and a week later he sent me a divorce through the post. aysha was taken into a refuge and now she's remarried. she went through with her pregnancy. but is there political will to stop this? we showed our findings to the labour party, who are now saying early gender testing should be banned. for any clinic to be marketing,

you know, in terms of gender determination i think is absolutely deplorable. and i think that needs to be stamped out. as i said, that needs to be done through legislation but also as i said, that needs to be governed either by legislation but also through community pressure. so if there's anybody doing that either in slough or london or in some of the other metropolitan centres, i think that is an issue for us because we need to educate people. overall, local communities in south asia have made huge strides in tackling this social evil and that is primarily through legislation, so banning gender determination clinics. and i think that in the uk we need to be doing likewise with regard i think not only do the government not understand there is an issue around sex selection abortion but also organisations,

charities and other sectors are not asking the question and it is a toxic in our communities, it is insidious in our community, where we are devaluing women, where women themselves are complicit. i don't think the government wants to regulate. theyjust don't like it in any sector. countries like china and india have recognised the problem of sex—selection abortion, so if we allow it, people will come here as tourists and they will find this out and it will facilitate their sex—selection abortions and i think it perpetuates sexism, which we should be resisting. women are still treated like dirt, not respected, and there is not any support from the parents. my mother would still wish me to carry on with marriage. even the one that you were in,

do you think that despite what happened she would've wanted you to stay in that? yes. ijust feel i need protection for women and for our daughters. this is gendercide. this is sex—selection abortion. it is going on in india, in china and, yes, it is going on here and there are many girls missing as a result. that was amber haque reporting. we'll be talking to the labour party's spokeswomen on women and equalities about ourfindings, just after ten o'clock. in myfamily: in my family: daughters are celebrated as that her sons if not more. after three sons, my daughter

wa nted more. after three sons, my daughter wanted another daughter but she had another son. this is just wanted another daughter but she had another son. this isjust one wanted another daughter but she had another son. this is just one story from our region. and on facebook: it isa from our region. and on facebook: it is a woman's body and a woman's right to do as she wishes. lucia on facebook said: yet again, what choice does the baby have? i understand fully the argument to save the woman's life in certain emergencies but to aborted child just because they are girl, sorry, i will always be a voice for the child. please keep those coming in. it is coming up to 9:30am. here is the latest news withjoanna. south china is being hit by tropical storm mangkhut with winds of up to 100 miles an hour and torrential rain. about 2.5 million people have been evacuated from their homes in guangdong province. chinese state media says two people have been killed. we'll have the latest from our correspondents in china and in the philippines shortly. the governor of north carolina has warned that the risk to life

is rising in the state, after storm florence dropped record amounts of rain. residents are being told to stay off the roads as the risk from flash floods remains high. at least 16 people have been killed. thousands remain in emergency shelters and are without power. the prime minister has told the bbc that the uk faces a choice between the brexit deal she negotiates with brussels, or no deal at all. in an interview with panorama, theresa may also criticises proposals for the irish border, which have been put forward by some brexiteers. the former foreign secretary boris johnson claims this morning that failing to resolve the border issue could lead to a "total write off of brexit". but mrs may says the choice is simple, her deal or no deal. i believe we'll get a good deal. we'll bring that back from the eu negotiations and put that to parliament. i think that the alternative to that will be not having a deal. there's been a severe squeeze on the budgets of further education colleges in england, according to a new report. the institute for fiscal studies

says that money for 16— to 18—year—old students has dropped in real terms, by 8% since 2010. the government says it's protecting funding in cash terms for the next two years. that's a summary of the latest bbc news. and the sport now. victory for simon yates in the vuelta a espana means all three grand tours this year have been won by british cyclists. yates, chris froome and geraint thomas are the 2018 champions of the vuelta, giro and tour de france. lewis hamilton cruised to victory in the singapore grand prix to strengthen his hold on this year's formula 1 drivers' championship. with six races to go, hamilton is a0 points clear of sebastian vettel, who finished third yesterday west ham had their first league win of the season, beating everton 3—1 to move off the bottom of the table and up to 16th place on what was manager manuel pellegrini's 65th birthday. and there were plenty of tears at the final golf major of the year —

angela stanford of america couldn't stop crying when she won the evian championship — it was her 76th major appearance. try, try, try again. thank you. 9:32am. it is reported to be the biggest storm in the south china sea in more than 50 years. here is the latest. the typhoon has devastated the northern tip of the philippines at the weekend, killing dozens philippines at the weekend, killing d oze ns of philippines at the weekend, killing dozens of people, before barrelling into hong kong, macau — which borders guangong — and other parts of the china mainland. this was the scene as the typhoon struck the hong kong—macau bridge at speeds of 55 metres a second. eight people are reported to have died in in macau, tens of thousands of homes were hit by power cuts, and the chinese army was put on standby for disaster relief. in hong kong, high—rise buildings swayed,

there were major storm surges, and streets were flooded. dozens of people were injured and hundreds of trees uprooted. on the southern chinese mainland, around 50 million people were said to be in the wider path of the storm, and around two and a half million of those were moved from their homes before the storm hit. there were power outages, and two people were reported killed in guangdong. fishing boats were called back to port and work suspended on nearly 30,000 construction sites. but the worst—hit was the philippines, where more than 50 people have died and there's still a high risk from landslides and flooding. this footage from the weekend shows a man stranded in the middle of raging floodwaters — he was later rescued. the cyclone hit the philippines with winds of more than 125 miles an hour, with the island of luzon very badly affected. rescue work is continuing.

howard johnson is on the island and sent this report earlier. we are standing in front of the provincial government headquarters. you can see someone provincial government headquarters. you can see someone repairing the roof up there. this rant old american colonial era building took a battering when storm mangkhut past. you can see part of the river here and trees shredded behind me. this region was one of the worst affected but a few of the provinces along... we've heard a mining community has been devastated by a landslide. what happened is that these miners and their families went toa these miners and their families went to a bunkhouse that was converted to a chapel. this three story building was then inundated by a landslide following heavy winds and rain. today, search and rescue teams are scouring the area for the missing people. we've heard that dozens of

people. we've heard that dozens of people are already dead. the philippine president is travelling to the region to meet those families affected by the storm and he will offer his condolences to them when he meets them today. new research suggests that the amount of money spent on adult education has dropped by almost half, or 45%, since 2010. the institute for fiscal studies says that the number of learners older than 19 has also fallen, from four million in 2005 to 2.2 million by 2016. earlier this year the association of colleges said that unless more funding was found, adult education would be a thing of the past by 2020. let's talk to with sue pember — she's from an organisation called holex, which represents that adult community learning sector. she was also the director of further education funding at the dfe and brought in the funding cuts she now wants reversed.

also with us is david hughes — the chief executive of the association of colleges, caireen mitchell— the principal of croydon college, and tess shepherd ? she struggled at school because she is partially sighted and went onto an adult learning course after more than ten years unemployed. welcome to all of you. thank you for coming on the programme. test, why did you decide to do a level to teaching assistant course? my son is in full—time education now and i thought it was time for me to get back on the horse. it is time for me to get back into the workforce, as daunting as that may seem. i was recommended the wea and it was quite daunting. what i really wanted was the early years foundation stage because i am a trained nursery nurse by trade. my qualification is somewhat outdated now. i needed to

upgrade that. the wea couldn't offer me that but they did say, how about a send? i thought, me that but they did say, how about a send? ithought, having me that but they did say, how about a send? i thought, having a disability myself, why not? i'm not sure it's what i want to do, but because the lady, sam johnstone, she was very supportive of me and the tutor was absolutely amazing. a class that i had, there was 12 ladies and we have been all supportive of each other. i did that and i'm glad i stayed on because halfway through i did decide, i'm not sure this is for me. i was having trouble keeping up with the whole work. my tutor says, hey, you're halfway through. why quits now? we can talk about this, let's sort it out. i'm glad i stayed, i've got the qualification and it's amazing to have something else knew under my belt and from that i went on to do the award for helping in

schools, might level two ta course. i thought, well, schools, might level two ta course. ithought, well, if schools, might level two ta course. i thought, well, if i can't go back to nursery or preschool... my son is at school, best time for me. i get the school hours, the school holidays, i enjoy working with the children, i've been volunteering in my son's class. what is clear from the way you are describing that, doing the adult learning qualifications is helping transform your life. it is indeed, yes. otherwise i'd be sitting at home and what would i be doing, really? sue, you work for his organisation which now represent adult community learning, the adults committee learning, the adults committee learning sector. what kind of impact, one of these courses have on somebody? it changes people's lives. as we've heard from tess. if you have poor literacy and numeracy skills, which tess doesn't, but there are lots out there. one in five of the population has brought literacy and new morrissey skills.

it affects your children, yourjob opportunities, every part of your life. all these cuts mean that 2 million adults are less likely to improve their life chances. did you not realise the value of these when you are at the department for education comeback in 2013 when you helped bring the cuts in? when we we re helped bring the cuts in? when we were measuring posterity measures, this was part of it and the ministers of the day did recognise what this would do to people. vince cable was the secretary of state. he already admits that the impact of all the measures we took was not properly understood and not properly measured in the way that we can see now. do you regret... it wasn't my job... but you helped bring them in, i suppose. of course i do. what i do regret is not being able to see the impact of each of the measures. one of the ways to combat it was that we brought in loans, the government brought in loans, the government brought in loans for level three.

the type of client group isn't keen to take up alone. when you put these different measure together, that's why the impact is so great. david, the dfe says was we accept there are pressures a cross the dfe says was we accept there are pressures across the system, we have protected base rate funding for 16 to 19—year—olds until 2020. we're putting more money into our schools than ever before. we understand the pressures in further education, which is our wide ranging review of post—18 education and funding is looking at how the system can work better for everyone. does that reassure you? not at all. tess is a great example. working life will be 50 years and you need to retrain. ' qualificationsjust 50 years and you need to retrain. ' qualifications just aren't relevant any more. the opportunity to re—trainees to be for all others. there are 2 million fewer adults a year being able to retrain. the government probably will talk about apprenticeships, as well, but they are really only there for people with employers that really care. they are not for people in the gig economy, people on zero—hours

contracts. it's notjust that economy, people on zero—hours contracts. it's not just that there is more demand for apprenticeships, meaning fewer people are doing adult learning courses? there is 4596 cut in funding, that is profound. 0ur figures show that in care and health, big, big demand in our economy. of the eu fill the jobs and ten years ago there were 700,000 people training every year. it's just about 200,000 per year now. it's all gone wrong. we need people to be training for the economy. also for the social issues. confidence, self—esteem, tolerance, community development, all those issues as well as the economic issues adult... you are from croydon college, the principal. how has it been affected by funding cuts? a number of major ways. one of the ways we've had to do this year is reduced the hours we re do this year is reduced the hours were open. we're open one evening per week. we have a fantastic fertility in the centre of croydon and can't have it open as much as we'd like. we have an issue

recruiting staff, we haven't been able to provide the teacher packages, salary packages that we'd wa nt packages, salary packages that we'd want to. that means that in particular areas such as engineering, we really struggled to get people. we run farfewer adult education courses. as tess says, it makes such a difference for people. notjust individuals, we see continually that it makes such a difference to people's families. such a difference to the number of households living in poverty, young people living in poverty. and yet we are not able to provide the level we would like to. or any of you reassured by this? david isn't, but what about you, sue, tess? this statement from the department from education. it sounds like there is nothing else going into the area. there is one little excitement. the government has announced a national retraining scheme, so they recognise that people mid—career need to now be retrained. we are hoping that funding will follow that announcement because that is

absolutely right for this time, but it's the rest were worried about. it's people with low basic skills.|j worry about the working poor. a lot of them really could benefit from further training and skills, and yet they are expected to contribute towards the price of any kind of education they now undertake once they are in employment. it's a huge impact on the number of people who come through our doors, because if they have a choice between food and rent and education, they will choose food and rent. ok. thank you to all of you. thank you for coming on the programme. the prime minister has told the bbc that the only alternative to her approach to the brexit negotiations would be "no deal". in an interview with panorama, part of a week of special brexit coverage across bbc news, theresa may is also sharply critical of proposals for the irish border, put forward by some brexiteers. meanwhile the former foreign secretary borisjohnson has said the government's approach to the irish border could lead

to a total write off of brexit, in his weekly column in the telegraph. norman is at westminster. so, what have we learned from this interview the pm has done? for her, it's either her check his plan or a bust. there is no alternative in her mind. there is no alternative in her mind. there is no third way. —— chequers plan. part of that is her belief that she isn't going to be able to get any other sort of agreement with the eu. this is as good as it gets. pa rt the eu. this is as good as it gets. part of it is about marching recalcitrant tory mps up to the cliff edge, letting them feel the wind whistling amongst their ankles, and say to them, look, if you really wa nt to and say to them, look, if you really want to vote against me, you will be going over the cliff and voting for no deal in the hope that the last

minute they will blink and back off. the other part of it, i think, is a message to the ardent brexiteers who are still pinning their hopes on the thought... hope they might crack. particular the pressure is cranked up particular the pressure is cranked up in the run—up to party conference and there is all sorts of torque about maybe more resignations. huge pressure being brought to bear on her. when you that this interview, you don't get the sense there is a scintilla of doubt in her own mind. this is not a woman, i don't think, who is going to back down. have a listen. the deal... i believe we'll get a good deal. we'll bring that back from the european negotiations. and put that to parliament. i think that the alternative to that will be not having a deal, because i don't think there will be... a, i don't think the negotiations will have that deal, and b, we're leaving on 29th march 2019. meanwhile, in the daily telegraph,

borisjohnson has waded in again with another flamboyant attack on mrs may saying her chequers plan will be the first time since 1066 that a foreign power has ruled over britain. is that beginning to kind of build up some momentum for the brexiteers? strangely, no, i don't big it is. we had a whole series of articles by boris johnson. big it is. we had a whole series of articles by borisjohnson. we had born about the suicide vest, than the one about mrs may waving the white flag. i begin to think it's a law of diminishing terms. each time borisjohnson law of diminishing terms. each time boris johnson makes law of diminishing terms. each time borisjohnson makes these interventions people shrugged and think, there goes boris again. i think, there goes boris again. i think the hope of that macro team may is slowly she can pick off these brexiteers so there is the fear of no deal, some will blink over that. there's the appeal to party loyalty not to divide the prime minister, not to divide the prime minister, not to divide the prime minister, not to defy the leadership. pressure will be placed on them from ordinary

local party activists and then there will be the fear, possibly, if they vote against it, even prompting a general election. the hope of team mate is that slowly, over the weeks ahead, and there will be weeks, and we won't get the final vote in parliament until christmas, slowly, slowly, slowly the brexiteers will be peeled off and she will have a chance of getting chequers through parliament. we'll see, won't we. thanks very much. norman smith at westminster. today around 42 people will be told they have melanoma — the most aggressive form of skin cancer. that's over 15,000 a year — making it the uk's fifth most common cancer. the typical treatment is surgery to remove the cancerous cells. but in some cases the cancer returns, and previously when it has doctors have had little in their arsenal to stop it. now nice — a part of public health england — has approved a new treatment which could see the likelihood of melanoma returning dropping

by a half.? this type of drug specifically targets the melanoma and stops it proliferating, without harming other cells in your body. let's talk to amanda coton. she had surgery to remove a melanoma seven weeks ago — and has been told she's at high risk of the disease coming back. also here is emma neeves. she had melanoma and was able to get the targetted treatment on her private health insurance. also with us, pippa corrie a consultant medical oncologist at addenbrooke's hospital in cambridge and a trustee of melanoma focus. gill nuttall is the ceo of melanoma uk — a charity that supports patients and families through the disease. welcome to all of you. amanda, seven weeks ago you had surgery. how are you doing? and very well in myself. the surgeon said the surgery went as well as to be expected. i am recovering, i can drive, walk. i'm

not running yet! that's due to other complications. i'm feeling really good, thank you. you have been told there is a high risk of the illness coming back. does that mean you'll be eligible for this new treatment? i hope so. i've had the initial consultation with my oncologist who has given me some information. it's very early days, but i hope to be eligible for it. how do you greet that news? i'm really happy. i was talking to the skin cancer specialist nurse at my last appointment and she said, well, if you'd been treated last month, we wouldn't have even been aware of this. so i feel very lucky that i'm being able to have this opportunity a second chance and some more treatment. emma, you've had this treatment. emma, you've had this treatment because you have this private health insurance.|j

treatment because you have this private health insurance. i feel amazing. everyone who is in this situation that we found our selves in should be able to have it. i think it's great, really good. how did you both learn you had skin cancer? i had a mole on my back which changed over a number of... i think it changed over a number of years. i had it checked then removed and that's when the melanoma was noted and the biopsy was taken and found to be melanoma. very similar. two years ago i had a melanoma removed from ankle. to be honest, they said it was very early, so just to keep a lookout for any lumps and bumps and keep looking at my skin. and then suddenly, fast forward two yea rs, and then suddenly, fast forward two years, it's travelled. it's travelled to a worse stage. let me

bring in pepper. consultant medical oncologist and also john nuttall. welcomer both of you. jill, first of all, how do you react to news of this drug being made available on the nhs? as we mentioned before, it's another level of kit when it comes to treating patients in the situation. i think we have to say a huge thanks to nice because they get a bad rap sometimes and i think it's extremely difficult and an invaluablejob extremely difficult and an invaluable job that they bring. the current watch and wait for patients is difficult so this will be welcomed by the patient community. pepper, how does this new culmination of drugs treatment work? about half of all melanomas have a

fault in a particular gene called b—raf. that's an abnormal gene or a gene mutation which drives the cancer process in those melanomas. the new drugs are two different drugs are given orally and they work to block the signals from the b—raf mutant gene. therefore they stop the cancer is growing. is it good value for money for the nhs? so these are high—cost drugs. we are using them at the moment to treat what we call metastatic melanoma, that the surgeons cannot remove. there is no doubt about it that they do have a cost burden. it's better to be able to use these drugs upfront in people like the ladies that we've just... that you've just been talking to. you are preventing the cancer

comeback. it is a one—year course of treatment and hopefully we will make a big difference. it will be more cost—effective using it in this stage to prevent the disease coming back rather than trying to control disease long term. based on the clinical trial, it reduces the risk of melanoma returning, or death, by over 50%. of melanoma returning, or death, by over 5096. yeah, exactly. for us that's a huge difference. is the first time we'll have had an effective treatment after surgery to offer this group of patients. it's a major step forward. there are some serious side—effects, i've been reading. relatively speaking, in the cancer world, they are and as bad as they might be. we use a lot of treatments that have significant life—threatening side—effects. in fa ct, life—threatening side—effects. in fact, these side—effects associated with the drugs tend to be not

necessarily life—threatening but they do impact on quality of life and if you are taking drugs chronically than these side—effects can be problematic and significant. particularly when you first have the drugs and your body first receives them, you can get some unpleasant fevers and chills and feel quite fatigued on treatment. part of what we're doing as we introduce new treatments is to manage the side—effects, help patients to understand about them and to do some more studies. we are doing a safety study at the moment particularly to manage the side—effects of treatment because it is important to keep on it for as long as possible to maximise the benefit. when you weigh up maximise the benefit. when you weigh up the side—effects to what might happen, how did the scales fall? i've been on the treatment for nearly five months and i've had five days of chills and fevers. five days out of five months is nothing. the

rest of the time i feel absolutely fantastic. i feel like... like rest of the time i feel absolutely fantastic. ifeel like... likei normally did. brilliant. the older you. definitely. thank you both, thank you very much. we wish you all the best. thank you. thanks for your messages for our exclusive story this morning. women on online forums discussing how to use an early blood test in pregnancy to find out the gender of their foetus in order, potentially, to abort if it's a girl. this text who doesn't leave their name says, i'm a white english woman, i married into a pakistani family over ten years ago. one gave birth to my first child, a son, the midwife said to me, you did well to have a boy. i was surprised at her comment. when i have my second child, daughter, the family walked out of the room. i wasn't visited by anyone the whole

timei wasn't visited by anyone the whole time i was in hospital. i will never leave daughter with them, as i see a massive difference in the care each child receives. they shower my son with gifts at any opportunity. graham says this on e—mail. selective abortion based on gender is deplorable. it is so different from celebrities will stop but is it so different from celebrities and selecting to have a baby of a specific agenda? the outcome is the same, the mother only once the baby if it is the gender of their choosing. annabel says this. why is it morally worse to abort because of gender than because as other superficial reasons such as a minor disabilities which is a cleft pallet, or career issues which require you presenting this as a solely asian issue when it will be used by others to produce a designer baby? another e—mail. when i was working as a nurse in glasgow, doctors were refusing them to say if a foetus was male or female. this was due to this very problem you are

discussing this morning. richard says, my friend had two baby boys by a surrogate who was able to choose the six of the babies and nobody saw this to be wrong. what is the difference between this and selective abortions on the grounds of gender? if you ban selective abortions on the basis of gender, you would ban choice through surrogacy. you would ban choice through surrogacy. labour are a calling for a ban on parents being told the six of their beaters as a result of having one of these blood tests. you won't get told the six if you have a test by the nhs —— you won't get told the sex—mac. we will have the news and sport at 10am. let's bring you the web. very good morning. we have a bit of a roller—coaster of weather on the way. some very windy spells but at the same time some of the strong

winds will be coupled with very warm air. the first spell of windy weather will come tonight. all due to this area of cloud which was warwick on her land. this will be pushing towards us over the coming hours. from the troubling atlantic, the territories will take a notable boost. cloud to the north and west of the uk, that could produce the odd shower here and there. a bit spotty rain across the midlands, north wales, northern england. that will break up. sunny spells will develop. shows the west, breeze picking up. nothing untoward is for the time being as far as wind strength is concerned. the general date on which the winds get more blustery. the afternoon, longer spells of rain across the highlands and islands and whilst we still have dry weather to the south and east, a lot of cloudier. temperatures could still get up to 19 or 20 degrees into northern ireland with some brighter weather but showers covering again towards western areas. the odd spot of rain here and there in northern england and wales but the vast majority of england and wales dry, and after the club this morning, the midlands, east anglia

and the south, a sunny afternoon. sant‘elia and the south, a sunny afternoon. sa nt‘elia up to and the south, a sunny afternoon. sant‘elia up to 25 degrees. some warm tropical air ahead of the storm, pushing up western areas as we go into tonight. areas in yellow might as well we'll see strongest winds. kills and coasts gusts in excess of 60 mph. blustery to the south and lighter winds in the far north. the winds will get stronger through the night. tied in with rain which will spread through the irish sea during the second half of the night. wet night across ireland and also into western parts of scotland, but east of scotland, through eastern england, should be dry, and uk wide very muggy night. 14—18 for many into tomorrow morning. ' uk wide very muggy night. 14—18 for many into tomorrow morning. ‘start, before lightening up. outbreaks of rain in scotland, particularly in the north through the afternoon and then a few showers here and there in then a few showers here and there in the west but many some bright spells through tuesday afternoon and temperatures in the high teens, low to mid—20s. and even windier spell

of weather set to push into wednesday. an area of low pressure, uncertainty how far north or south it will be. that will dictate the strongest winds. at the moment, scotland, northern ireland, northern england will bear the brunt of winds which could exceed 70 mph at times. lots of wet weather in the morning, sunshine and showers further south. blustery day by and large with temperatures and the low 20s. hello. it‘s monday. it‘s ten o‘clock. i‘m victoria derbyshire. our top story — the labour party is calling for a ban on early blood tests in pregnancy being used to tell parents if they‘re having a boy or a girl after an exclusive investigation by this programme. they are concerned about pressure on women in some south asian communities to give birth to boys. this woman admitted to us that she had a termination when she found out she was having a girl. we were a family of five girls and every time my mom has another

daughter, everyone came to the house as if they were coming to mourn, not celebrate the birth of my sister. it would be like they came to say, oh my god, another girl, another daughter. next time god will give you a son. we‘ll be talking to naz shah, labour‘s shadow women and equalities and equalities minister, in a few minutes and hear from one woman whose mum left the family after she gave birth to her third daughter. "walls of water." storm florence has caused catastrophic flooding in towns along america‘s east coast as president trump declares north carolina a disaster zone. this is my street. the river is coming up. this is not good. we‘ll be hearing from someone who is stranded and from a relief worker. and is this a breakthrough for the fashion industry? 16 models with visible facial and body differences have taken to the catwalk for london fashion week. ijust think i want

an accurate reflection of the world that we live in. that is what i think is important because as much as fashion is distorting, i think it needs to be conscious of the social responsibilities as well. two of those models, phyllida and catrin, are here to tell us what it was like. good morning. here‘s joanna gosling in the bbc newsroom with a summary of the day‘s news. the labour party is calling for a ban on parents—to—be being told the sex of their baby after early blood tests, after this programme exposed evidence it may lead to abortions of girls. the noninvasive prenatal test nipt is used by the nhs to test for genetic conditions, but people can pay for it privately

to discover a baby‘s gender. south china is being hit by tropical storm mangkhut with winds of up to 100 miles an hour and torrential rain. these pictures show the violent storm as it swept through hong kong. about 2.5 million people have been evacuated from their homes in guangdong province. chinese state media says two people have been killed. the governor of north carolina has warned that the risk to life is rising in the state after storm florence dropped record amounts of rain. residents are being told to stay off the roads as the risk from flash floods remains high. at least 16 people have been killed. thousands remain in emergency shelters and are without power. the prime minister has told the bbc that the uk faces a choice between the brexit deal she negotiates with brussels or no deal at all. in an interview with panorama, theresa may also criticises proposals for the irish border, which have been put forward by some brexiteers. the former foreign secretary boris johnson claims this morning that failing to resolve the border issue could lead to a total write—off of brexit. but mrs may says the choice is simple — her deal or no deal. as i say, i believe

we‘ll get a good deal. we‘ll bring that back from the eu negotiations and put that to parliament. i think that the alternative to that will be not having a deal because i don‘t think... a, i don‘t think the negotiations would have that deal, and b, we are leaving on 29th march 2019. wiltshire police have called off a major incident in salisbury where two people fell ill at an italian restaurant. roads were cordoned off and paramedics in protective suits were deployed in case it was linked to the recent novichok attack in the city. police in wiltshire say they took all precautions after the pair fell ill last night. a new way of measuring poverty in the uk is being proposed to include the unavoidable costs that some people face. factors such as childcare or the impact of disability should be taken into account according to the social metrics commission. the government says its policies are lifting people out of poverty.

there‘s been a severe squeeze on the budgets of further education colleges in england, according to a new report. the institute for fiscal studies says that money for 16 to 18—year—old students has dropped in real terms by 8% since 2010. the government says it‘s protecting funding in cash terms for the next two years. game of thrones could match its own record tonight for the most wins at the us television awards, the emmys. the ceremony celebrates its 70th anniversary tonight. british hopes include nominations for thandie newton, benedict cumberpatch and vanessa kirby. sandra oh is the first woman of asian descent to be nominated for best actress, for her role in killing eve. that‘s a summary of the latest bbc news. more at 10.30. thank you. and thank you for your m essa g es thank you. and thank you for your messages about adult education courses. there is a report out today that funding has been cut by a

significant amount since 2010. on emailjoanne says: so interesting to hear your piece on adult education while i am sitting here trying to find a job. i while i am sitting here trying to find ajob. i have while i am sitting here trying to find a job. i have a degree and postgraduate qualifications and vocational qualifications. i used to bea vocational qualifications. i used to be a nurse and i have been a stay at home mum for ten years. going back into nursing is not an option because shift work will not fit in with family life and school holidays. my children are now at school and i‘m very disillusioned andi school and i‘m very disillusioned and ifind school and i‘m very disillusioned and i find myself school and i‘m very disillusioned and ifind myself feeling school and i‘m very disillusioned and i find myself feeling as school and i‘m very disillusioned and ifind myself feeling as if school and i‘m very disillusioned and i find myself feeling as if i have a lack of purpose. my husband has his career and my children have school but i am not sure where my life is heading. ifind myself looking to retrain but there is very little help for people like me. i have friends in the same situation and we are frustrated we want to be useful

again. heath on email: i went back to college in the 19905 and i retrained in it became a lecturer at the college that trained me. i am now 5emi retired but i teach it three days a week in a primary school and i love it. going back to couege school and i love it. going back to college at 43 gave me a whole new career. thank you for getting in touch with us. u5e career. thank you for getting in touch with us. use the ha5htag victoria live if you get in touch. if you‘d like to take part in the programme, include your phone number and if you text will be charged at the standard network rate. let‘5 and if you text will be charged at the standard network rate. let‘s get the standard network rate. let‘s get the sport now. good morning. it‘s not the first time we‘re talking about briti5h cycli5t5 making history. this time it is simon yate5 who won the vuelta a espana. the win mean5 briti5h rider5 have taken all three grand tours this season. he rode into madrid alongside his mitchelton—scott team—mates, including his twin brother adam. the vuelta is a three—week race and in the closing stages simon yate5 extended his lead to more than a minute but he says he still never thought this day would come. even the final day there in andorra, i really didn‘t believe that we could pull it off. not only in grand tours,

but in smaller week—long race5 i‘ve been second many times, just missing out on a win. so we were really focused ju5t to cross the finish line, really complete the job well. and it‘5ju5t a really unbelievable journey, really. lewis hamilton says he still feels as if he needs to win every race despite extending his lead in formula one‘5 world champion5hip to 40 points. the mercede5 driver won the singapore grand prix ahead of max ver5tappen. in third was sebastian vettel. there are six races to go, but hamilton is taking a break with a few days on a beach, doing yoga and training hard before the russian grand prix at the end of this month. west ham had their first league win of the season, a 3—1 defeat of everton. one of their big summer signings, andriy yarmalenko, scored twice on his first start for west ham. the london side moved off the bottom of the table to 16th place. and it‘s burnley who replace them at the bottom. they still haven‘t won a league game this season. they were beaten 1—0 by wolves.

there were plenty of tears at the final golf major of the year which was won by the american golfer angela stanford. at the age of 40, she won herfirst major, the evian championship in france, in what was her 76th attempt. stanford was completely overwhelmed, saying she‘d always been a fighter and in golf, you play with faith and just hope it works out. i have no idea whatjust happened. i‘m...i‘m grateful. i am so happy for everybody at home, everybody that‘s always cheered for me. just — they never gave up on me. kenya‘s eliod kipchogee smashed the marathon world record in berlin. the olympic champion is widely seen as the greatest marathon runner of the modern era and he finished in two hours, one minute and 39 seconds, taking an incedible one minute and 18 seconds off the previous best. that‘s the biggest jump

in a marathon record since 1967. and if you want to get an idea of the pace of that, you have got to go to 20 on your treadmill in the gym, evenif to 20 on your treadmill in the gym, even if it goes that high. more headlines at 10:30am. thank you. an investigation by this programme has found that british women are using a blood test called nipt to find out the sex of their child just eight weeks into a pregnancy. and some of those women are using that information to then have a sex—selective abortion. our investigation has prompted calls from the labour front bench for a blanket ban on the sex of a foetus being revealed this early, given the pressures on women in some communities including the british south asian community to give birth to boys. we‘ll be talking to naz shah in a moment, labour‘s women and equalities spokesperson. we brought amber haque‘s exclusive film earlier. fir5t here‘s a short recap. in the uk, if you are pregnant, you can usually find out the gender of your baby at an nhs scan

around 18 weeks. but for women in some communities, news of a girl can mean an end to their pregnancy. sara, that‘s not her real name, is south asian and lives in london. when i went for the scan and i asked if i could find out the gender of the baby, they said, "you are having a girl." as soon as i found out, i had a panic attack. i panicked. i had straightaway made that decision that i didn‘t want to have this baby. sara decided to have an abortion at 18 weeks because of the cultural pressure for her to have a boy. and a blood test available privately, called nipt, allows women to find out the gender at just eight weeks. the bbc has found evidence that thousands of british women are using a website to discuss using nipt testing purely to find out the gender. and then some are even saying that they‘re going to have a sex—selective abortion a5 a result of that information. one example we have

here on the website from a british pregnant woman. she says, "i need a son to heal me. "my only option is nipt, followed by continuation only if it‘s a boy." we showed our findings to the labour party, who are now saying early gender testing should be banned. for any clinic to be marketing in terms of gender determination i think is absolutely deplorable. communities in south asia have made huge strides in tackling this social evil. and that has primarily been through legislation, banning gender determination clinics, and i think that in the uk we need to be doing likewise with regards to the private sector as well. the department of health says that nipt testing isn‘t meant to be used for gender and that they will continue to monitor the evidence. i think not only do the government not understand there is an issue

around sex—selective abortion but also organisations, charities and statutory sectors aren‘t asking the questions. this is gendercide, this is sex—selection abortion. it is going on in india, it is going on in china and, yes, it is going on here. and there are many girls missing a5 a result. amber haque, bbc news. let‘s talk now to labour mp naz shah. she‘s labour‘s women and equality minister and a5 a reuslt of our investigation, labour is now calling for early sex detection to be banned. dr alex allinson is trying to make sex—selective abortions illegal on the isle of man. we‘re also joined by haf5a. her mum left the family after she gave birth

to her third daughter. she had a breakdown because of the cultural pressure for her to have a boy. and jasvinder sanghera is from honour violence organisation karma nirvana. why is it that having a girl can be 5een why is it that having a girl can be seen as having a failing? in our community, the boy takes the family forward. he is the one that looks after the parents. the girl is the one that gets married and goes into her own family. so that's why? yes. when did you first realise that your widerfamily had when did you first realise that your wider family had an when did you first realise that your widerfamily had an issue when did you first realise that your wider family had an issue with you being a girl? it wasn't on my paternal side of the family. it was more on my mother‘s side. when she gave birth to my third sister, my dad, who was back home in pakistan, was giving out sweets, a5 dad, who was back home in pakistan, was giving out sweets, as you do. when they found out that it was actually a girl, they put the sweets

back and said we don‘t want it. because she was the daughter from that family, and having that pressure on her, why didn‘t you give birth to a boy? it was difficult for her, i guess. birth to a boy? it was difficult for her, igue55. from birth to a boy? it was difficult for her, i guess. from personally, birth to a boy? it was difficult for her, igue55. from personally, my grandmother, my dad‘s mother, my auntie is and uncles, they have a lwa y5 auntie is and uncles, they have always tried to protect us from that kind of mentality. i think i am quite lucky to have been raised like that. god forbid what i would have been like if i had been raised by my mother‘s side of the family. been like if i had been raised by my mother's side of the family. what was the impact? your grandmother on your mother‘s side, what would they do after your mother gave birth to another daughter? she would ring my grandmother. i was little then but i actually witnessed my dad‘s mother saying don‘t be silly. you have got three girls in the house. heaven is

opened for my son and your daughter, you can‘t think like that. my grandfather is very religious a5 well. he was very firm as well with my mum. you can‘t feel like that. you can‘t allow your family to believe it is ok to have a son and not ok to have a daughter. when we showed you the results of our investigation, naz, it has led to you and your party calling for early pregnancy you and your party calling for early preg na ncy tests you and your party calling for early pregnancy tests in terms of them being used to determine the sex of a foetus, to be banned. why? i think it is absolutely unacceptable. it is unethical. it is absolutely wrong for women to be under that pressure to have sex selective abortions, just because of the foetus's gender. girls should be celebrated as much as boys. i feel very strongly that

the fight for gender equality shouldn't start in the womb, on conception. i'll say feel there is a message for communities that the gender of the child is determined by the male biology, not the woman's. there are lots of conversations that need to be had. the truth is that the nhs does not tell parents at an early stage, so why should private companies? what you investigation has found is really alarming, that women can order tests online and do them in the safety of their own home with a pinprick blood, and go on to have selective abortions without support, without that support, that after—care, for support, without that support, that after—ca re, for example, but support, without that support, that after—care, for example, but more importantly what is really important for me is that the nhs doesn't do it so why should the private sector be allowed to do it? it is shocking, isn‘t it? allowed to do it? it is shocking, isn't it? it is very shocking. there are couple of things i'm thinking about really. when we have the issue of cultural appropriateness, with

women particularly the south asian community, as we were saying earlier, it was about dowries and girls being a burden. that isn't the case any more because many women are earning equally. men and women are going into education. that whole pressure of a woman being a burden because of the dowry and the man being an earner doesn't apply any more. where we have moved on in society, we need to follow suit in terms of the community and understanding these cultural practices. they are outdated and there is no place for them in modern society. and we have had an email from one woman saying that you cannot generalise this. i don‘t think we are doing that in our report today. there are plenty of women, plenty of parents in british south asian communities who celebrate girls as much as boys. it is not a huge generalisation. thank you for talking to us. tell us what you for talking to us. tell us what you have heard about in terms of women on this issue. how do you know

that definitively it is going on? that women are having abortions when they find out they are having a girl? first and foremost, victoria, i come from a family, one of seven sisters, and i watched my mother being dealt with as somebody who was not worthy because she had given birth to yet another daughter. and also when we were born, the swedes we re also when we were born, the swedes were not given out because we were daughters. they were only given out when my brother was born. —— the sweeties. what we hear about on our helpline, every single month, is young women who have married into families. and i have to say that i disagree with naz shah mp. the dowry practices not outdated. it is still happening. women are told they are now the property of the family and within that, there is an expectation of them giving birth to males and females, because you become a good daughter—in—law. i have heard of cases on the helpline, just this past week i heard of a case where

young one girl was actually thrown down the stairs because they had identified that she was having a girl, in orderto identified that she was having a girl, in order to abort the child, and she is past the abortion stage. we hear this every time and it is a problem in the south asian communities. it may be outlawed in india, but according to the un, 25% of the population are boys. there is a population crisis of males to females. the south asian community has got to start accepting that this isa has got to start accepting that this is a reality. it is deeply rooted in how south asian communities few women and the position of women. you can say my body, my foetus, you have a right, that actually in these cases, these women don't have a right because their bodies become the property of the family. the expectation placed upon them is that if they don't give birth to boys, they are not worthy and in fact they can be replaced. now we have a test where ina can be replaced. now we have a test where in a city like slough, where you have the minority community in

the majority, they are proactively promoting roadside adverts for this test. it is appalling. as a country we need to speak out about that. doctor allinson, you are a doctor and a politician. how do you react to the findings that women are buying the nipt te5t online and testing for gender?|j buying the nipt te5t online and testing for gender? i think there is a real difference between what people might say online and what people might say online and what people might say online and what people might do and this came to the for several years ago in the uk when gender selection abortion became a real topic. fiona bruce try to bring in legislation to ban it. what we know from evidence from the department of health is that the gender bias in the uk is what you would expect. what is shown by your survey and your report is that within certain communities, and it may not be just asian communities, there is a demand against women, and against young children born as

women. and how we deal with that, morally, ethically, legislatively, and through education, is imported. and is it an issue on the isle of man? no. we have looked at the department of health issues and we did think it is an issue. i have spoken to obstetricians on the isle of man and they have never been asked to perform an abortion because of the sex of the foetus, but we are bringing ina of the sex of the foetus, but we are bringing in a new abortion law which is progressive and decriminalise a5 abortion and allows it on request up to 14 weeks. our chief minister has brought in an amendment specifically prohibiting sex selective abortion, except for very specific medical reasons, and there are some. what we are trying to do is make a clear statement on the isle of man that this kind of procedure, this kind of abuse of women, will not be allowed. because it is abuse of women. in your previous film you are talking very much about emotional abuse, physical abuse, very much about emotional abuse, physicalabuse, domestic very much about emotional abuse, physical abuse, domestic violence against women. i think you have got

to see sex selection abortion a5 pa rt to see sex selection abortion a5 part of that. the government says this test is not meant to be used to determine the gender of the foetus, and they will continue to monitor the evidence. is that enough? no, i don't think that is enough. it is not good enough to have clinics advertised in a british city. it is not good enough that we know that it is going on. one abortion in this way is one too many. one woman abused is one too many and the government needs to act and make sure they are putting legislation into place, like we have in india and china. and at the very least, orderan and china. and at the very least, order an immediate investigation. 0k. order an immediate investigation. ok. thank you for coming on the programme. we appreciate it. coming up: three women with visible facial and bodily differences take to the stage during london fashion week. we‘ll be talking to two of the models involved in the breakthrough project.

storm florence, which began a5 a hurricane on friday, is now causing catastrophic flooding in towns and cities on america 5 east coast. president trump has declared north carolina a disaster zone and could visit the state this week. and although the winds have weakened, the 350—mile—wide storm is moving very slowly, meaning communities face what the governor has described as walls of water. roy cooper says people who think the storm has missed them have yet to see its threat. so what‘s the situation over there and what‘s being done to help people in need as the waters continue to rise? let‘5 speak now to margaret traub from the international medical corps who arrived in north carolina this weekend to provide aid. reporter gloria rodriguez has been covering the storms for the abc11 network in raleigh, the state capital. and on the east cost of the state is andy pittman who didn‘t move out and is now stranded at his home in snead5 ferry. andy, let me start with you. what is

the situation there? currently we are luckily at a high enough elevation that we don‘t have to worry about the flooding. on both sides of our street there is about four feet of water, so we are actually trapped at the moment. we are not able to get off of our street. and even beyond our street, which i have seen by kayak, there are washed out roads, power lines down, trees on houses. it really looks like a war zone. we are just trying to survive at the moment. let‘5 trying to survive at the moment. let‘s have a look at some footage that you sent us of you in the kayak, out trying to help neighbours. most of the houses are underwater. brand—new deck just got finished

last week. this is my street. the river is coming up. this is not good. luckily i live way up the hill, so it‘s not going to reach me. but there is no way out of here. you 5aid but there is no way out of here. you said you arejust but there is no way out of here. you said you are just trying to survive, you and your neighbours. why didn‘t you and your neighbours. why didn‘t you leave? well, we had all intentions of leaving but the part about it was you know how animals react when they feel the pressure drop and they know when it is on the ri5e drop and they know when it is on the rise and they noted a little better than we do. one of our dogs had escaped when we were trying to get in the car. obviously that is like a member of the family and we can‘t

without him. by the time i actually wrangled the dog and i got him under control and back to the house, the conditions have worsened so much that i just conditions have worsened so much that ijust did not feel it was conditions have worsened so much that i just did not feel it was safe to put my family in that situation and leave. the only thing that we we re and leave. the only thing that we were able to do was just hunker down and get ready to build a raft for the storm and brace ourselves for it. luckily we had preparation a5 far as food and water and i have a generator and i have gas, so luckily we we re generator and i have gas, so luckily we were able to withstand that. had i known the magnitude of the storm and how scary it was going to be, i probably would have left base earlier. let me bring in margaret from the international medical corps. you arrived in rally this weekend. what are the issues and the challenges in terms of trying to help people? international medical

corps teams arrived on friday. you described it well. it is a really slow—moving disaster. we are really concerned that the storm has just hovered over north carolina and it is just dumping tonnes of rain. hovered over north carolina and it isjust dumping tonnes of rain. our teams are assisting with medical supplies, doctors and nurses, but access is really a huge issue, as you guessed was saying. roads are com pletely you guessed was saying. roads are completely cutting off towns. there have been 900 or 1000 rescues of people from their homes. 600 roads have closed. really getting into some of these towns is treacherous. we are concerned about people in shelters. there are 150 shelters across the state. people are being cut off from all services and health care. they aren‘t able to get clean

water or food. it really is only getting worse. we were out yesterday trying to access a variety of villages, communities, and we had a really difficult time. we had to keep stopping and turning around. for miles, there are crops that are destroyed. we are extremely concerned about people‘s livelihoods and not having food. corn and soy beans. just miles upon miles of scorched earth. let me bring in gloria, a reporter. isuppose scorched earth. let me bring in gloria, a reporter. i suppose some people might have thought that once the hurricane passed, that might be it. but clearly listening to andy and to margaret, this continues to bea and to margaret, this continues to be a disaster. yes, and unfortunately for some communities, the worst is yet to come. we still

keep getting rain in a lot of communities. i have been in a community in the south—eastern part of the state, and the rivers there are quickly filling up. there are threats of possibly damns braking, which could bring so much more water into the communities. it was difficult to get into a lot of the neighbourhoods because of all of the neighbourhoods because of all of the neighbourhoods because of all of the water. when we were finally able to get into the neighbourhoods it was astonishing because you just see roads that are completely flooded. home is surrounded by water and some places looked like lakes. it was really interesting, you would still see people walking in water that was up to their knees and we saw a lot of crews that were coming in from other states, the search and rescue crews, they were going around trying to get people out of their homes. i was talking to a spokesperson for the county where i was connor robinson county, and she said they have had so many swift

water rescues that she couldn't give mea water rescues that she couldn't give me a number because there were so many and they were conducting rescues throughout that community. we are seeing that through a lot of communities. another community where the army base is, they also have the threat of a river filling up very, very quickly, and again that could send more flooding into the neighbourhood and all of this is going on while the rain continues to fall. in the coming days, some rivers in different towns and cities are expected to crest and we could seek more water flowing into these communities. thank you to all of you. we appreciate it. we wish you all the best. thank you for coming on the programme. still to come. with the lib dems in limbo in the opinion polls, and vince cable 5et and vince cable set to leave before the next election, could deputy leaderjo swinson be the answer to their problems? we will ask her. three women with visible facial and bodily differences take to the stage during london fashion week. we‘ll be talking to two

of the models involved in the breakthrough project. time for the latest news — here‘sjoanna. the bbc news headlines this morning. the head of the assertion would refu nd the head of the assertion would refund is warning many critical issues are unresolved just six months ahead of britain‘s scheduled exit from the eu. speaking at the treasury a short time ago, they also 5aid treasury a short time ago, they also said a destructive departure from the eu will have a much worse outcome for britain and that a no deal scenario would lead to a reduction in the size of the uk economy. the labour party is calling for a ban on parents—to—be being told the sex of their baby after early blood tests, after this programme exposed evidence it may lead to abortions of girls. the non—invasive prenatal te5t — nipt — is used by the nhs to test for genetic conditions, but people can pay for it privately to discover a baby‘s gender. south china is being hit by tropical storm mangkhut with winds of up to 100 miles an hour and torrential rain.

these pictures show the violent storm as it swept through hong kong. about 2.5 million people have been evacuated from their homes in guangdong province. chinese state media says two people have been killed. the prime minister has told the bbc that the uk faces a choice between the brexit deal 5he negotiates with brussels, or no deal at all. in an interview with panorama, theresa may also criticises proposals for the irish border, which have been put forward by some brexiteers. the former foreign secretary boris johnson claims this morning that failing to resolve the border i55ue could lead to a "total write off of brexit". but mrs may says the choice is simple, her deal or no deal. the deal... as i say, i believe we‘ll get a good deal. we‘ll bring that back from the european — from the eu negotiations and put that to parliament. i think that the alternative to that will be not having a deal, because i don‘t think there will be... a, i don‘t think the negotiations will have that deal, and b, we‘re leaving on 29th march 2019. wiltshire police have called off

a major incident in salisbury, where two people fell ill at an italian restaurant. roads were cordoned off and paramedics in protective suits were deployed, in case it was linked to the recent novichok attack in the city. police in wiltshire say they took all precautions after the pair fell ill last night. that‘s a summary of the latest bbc news. here‘s the sport. british cyclists are making history again. simon yates won the spanish race which means all three grand tours this year have been won by british cyclists. yates, chris froome and geraint thomas by the 2018 champions of the three tours. lewis hamilton had a comfortable victory at the singapore grand prix to stripping his hold on this year‘s formula 1 drivers championship with six races to go. he‘5 drivers championship with six races to go. he‘s 40 points clear of title

rival sebastian vettel, who finished third yesterday. west ham have their first league win of the season, beating everton 3— want to move off the bottom of the table and up to 16th place. it was there manager‘s 65th birthday. there was an emotional end to the final golf major of the year. angela stanford of america won the evie championship in her 76th attempt at winning a major title. more sport after 11am on the bbc news channel. victoria. the lib dems havejust got 12 mp5 in parliament and are failing to make a major break through in opinion polls. and many people are asking why they aren‘t making more impact. could one of their mp5, deputy leaderjo swinson, be the answer to their problems? earlier this month, party leader vince cable stated his intention to stand down before the next election. he intends on making it easier for non—members to join the party to build what he sees a5 a centrist movement. yesterdayjo swinson addressed the lib dems‘ party conference, saying that her party had not done enough to fight its corner whilst in coalition with the conservatives.

let‘s talk to jo swinson at the party conference in brighton. hello to you. good morning. good morning. good to be with you. you have 12 mp5. you are polling between six and 11%. there‘s no particular evidence voters are being drawn to the lib dems because of your campaignfor the lib dems because of your campaign for second referendum. and no unhappy labour mp5 have yet defected to your party, despite the chatter about it. what is the point of the liberal democrats? well, we‘ve been fighting for a people‘s vote on the deal for two years and i‘m delighted that the momentum that is growing and more and more people are now supporting that campaign. we are now supporting that campaign. we are doing that because it‘s the right thing for the country, but we have seen more peoplejoined right thing for the country, but we have seen more people joined the right thing for the country, but we have seen more peoplejoined the lib dems than ever before. we‘ve seen increasing good results at council

elections, we took control of four councils in may and week in, week out good by—election result. there is momentum but we are ambitious and wa nt to is momentum but we are ambitious and want to do more. that‘s why vince has done more to open up these reforms to open the party admitted easier reforms to open the party admitted ea5ierfor people reforms to open the party admitted easier for people who are looking for a home in british hodzic site is liberal, progressive, to make it easier liberal, progressive, to make it ea5ierfor them tojoin liberal, progressive, to make it easier for them to join up and become registered supporters. vince cable says he‘s had conversations with labour mp5 privately about them splitting from the labour party. have you had similar conversations? i don‘t think it‘s a secret that many labour mp5 i don‘t think it‘s a secret that many labourmps in i don‘t think it‘s a secret that many labour mp5 in westminster are deeply unhappy with the direction the party is going in... i'm asking you, have you had specific conversations with any of them about leaving labour and potentially joining you? i don't think is particularly likely there will be defections. i think it‘s entirely likely that labour mp5 will leave the labour party because many of them are very unhappy. i think we

have those conversations with lots of people because, you know, you speak to them and, you know, a5k of people because, you know, you speak to them and, you know, ask how things are going. you know, it‘s a pretty unhappy time to be in the labour party when they‘ve just spent several months debating anti—semitism and of course for many of them who believe that brexit is a nightmare for the country, and yet the labour leadership with jeremy corbyn is not standing up against brexit. it‘s not surprising many labour mp5 brexit. it‘s not surprising many labourmps are brexit. it‘s not surprising many labour mp5 are unhappy, but i also think it‘s not surprising that people right across the country... lots of people who have previously voted labour or been labour members have gone to the lib dems and joined u5 have gone to the lib dems and joined us and are very welcome in our party if they share our liberal values. and have previously voted lib dem and never would a because she went into coalition with the conservatives. yesterday in your speeches at the lib dems should own their failures speeches at the lib dems should own theirfailures of their speeches at the lib dems should own their failures of their time speeches at the lib dems should own theirfailures of their time in government are referring to things like tuition fees. you actually voted for an increase in tuition fees. well, look... you know, we

made that mistake. we did get things wrong and i said yesterday in my speech, we need to be very honest about that. we had succe55e5 speech, we need to be very honest about that. we had successes in government. lots of things we did i‘m very proud of, taking people out of paying income tax, free school meals. more money for the poorest pupils. lots of things we did were good but equally there were things that we got wrong. i wonder if the fa ct that we got wrong. i wonder if the fact that you voted for tuition fees means that you shouldn‘t lead your party in the future because you are clearly a politician that breaks your promises. well, we've apologised and i apologise again that we got that wrong and that we didn‘t keep that promise... that we got that wrong and that we didn't keep that promise...” understand that apology and some people will have her your apology and may accept it. but the point is, you cannot be trusted, can you?” don‘t think that‘s the case. you know also i don‘t think, you know, goes through their... you know,

their life or work without making a mistake and when that happens, the thing is to do —— the thing to do is be straightforward about it. the focal point is not about the leadership of the lib dems. at the moment, less than 200 days until brexit, is to fight and campaign to make sure we can have a people‘s vote on the deal. we heard in the early item on your programme about how theresa may is saying that it‘s her deal or no deal. what a hobson ‘s her deal or no deal. what a hobson ‘5 choice! she won‘t get a good deal. she says will potentially crash out and have medicine stockpiling and not enough food. what kind of leadership for the country is that? it‘s really important that we keep building momentum so we can get a people‘s vote and the public can have a say on theresa may‘s deal and if it‘s a bad deal, which it looks like it will be, they can reject it. you we re will be, they can reject it. you were praised for bringing your son into the chamber of how the house of commons last week. how else should parliament modernise so it‘s a more

accessible working environment? the debate of course that i took gabriel into last week was about proxy voting, and that‘s one of the things that should happen and that the government needs to bring forward the clear boat on that very shortly because making it possible for working parents to balance their commitments and to have proper cover is vital and it‘s important in parliament because parliament 5et5 the tone and we know that working pa rents the tone and we know that working parents in all sorts ofjob5 around the country do find that difficult. there is a horrendous level of pregnancy discrimination in this country with more than 50,000 women losing theirjobs each year because of it. these are real problems that people are facing. discrimination that the government do macro government is not tackling at parliament at least should be trying to lead the way rather than being stuck in a 19th—century. to lead the way rather than being stuck in a 19th-century. thank you for talking to us. thank you very much. jo swinson live from the lib

dem conference in brighton. she is the deputy leader. the boss of the international monetary fund has spoken in the last few minutes about the british economy and has said that financial safeguards are needed in case of a chaotic brexit. andy verity is here, our economic correspondence. the boss of the imf, what is that? the international monetary fund, a body 5et international monetary fund, a body setup international monetary fund, a body set up towards the end of world war ii. in orderto set up towards the end of world war ii. in order to try to regulate the regular currency cri5e5 that have happened in countries before them by for example lending money to country that faces a big devaluation. it‘s also become an authority on where the world is going. we look to their forecast every year about the uk to get relatively objective views of what is likely to happen in the event of brexit. we know brexit will happen and what christine lagarde is saying is that in any brexit scenario, our academy

saying is that in any brexit scenario, ouracademy will saying is that in any brexit scenario, our academy will be worse off. your brexiteers will say they don‘t give the imf much credibility. they got it wrong the first time round, they said before the referendum there might be huge swings in markets, falls in house prices, that didn‘t happen. here‘s what christine lagarde 5aid prices, that didn‘t happen. here‘s what christine lagarde said about the potential danger from any particular brexit option. all the likely brexit scenarios will have costs for the uk economy and, to a lesser extent as well, for the eu. the larger the impediments to trade in the new relationship, the costlier it will be. this should be fairly obvious, but it seems that sometimes it is not. that's on the ba5i5 sometimes it is not. that's on the basis that any impediments to trade, anything that stops goods floating across borders, is potentially going to mean less economic activity. but 5he to mean less economic activity. but she did also have a word for those who think this is just some sort of a bstra ct who think this is just some sort of abstract economic debate. economists

talking about things like nontariff barriers to trade and obscure terms like that. she said, no, it‘s actually a very concrete thing. and this is notjust abstract matters that economists argue about. many of theseissues that economists argue about. many of these issues actually relate to people's daily life, like the ability to travel to and back from europe. 0r being able to count on secure access to critical medications that are produced on the continent. what else does she say? she talks about the non—brexit travels for the economy. we have structural issues in our economy, including an ageing population. how do you pay for that? how do you pay for the long—term care you‘ll need for the long—term care you‘ll need for older people, their pensions, etc? what will you do? then productivity. the only way for sustainable wage growth, the emphasis kept coming back, is to have rising productivity. if each

worker produces more per hour or per day, we can afford to pay those workers more. if they are not producing more, and that may be the fault of the firm, not necessarily the employees, you can‘t afford to pgy- the employees, you can‘t afford to pay. the thinking is there has been a lack of investment and that lack of investment that has led to poor productivity is aggravated by the uncertainty ahead of brexit. we‘re also reporting this morning on the extreme weather in the south china 5ea, which has seen the biggest storm in more than 50 years. typhoon mangkhut hit the northern tip of the philippines at the weekend, killing dozens of people, before barrelling into hong kong, macau — which borders guangong — and other parts of the chinese mainland. joining us now from the capital of the philippines, manila, is lot felizco, who is the country‘s oxfam director. tell us about the devastation there.

. what we are seeing is that as feared, the very powerful typhoon brought strong winds and heavy rain and caused massive damage. there are more than 150,000 people who have been displaced and are living in about 1000 evacuation centres spread out across the provinces that have been affected. homes have been damaged. infrastructure has been heavily damaged. lambs have been inundated by floods. sadly there is a rising death toll due to landslides. we‘re not seeing the full a5 landslides. we‘re not seeing the full as yet. this will take another few days or so because in some areas, roads are still unable to be passed and communications facilities are still down. in terms of the challenges for you and your colleagues, then, where do you begin? yes, we have been on the ground for five days now and we have

been trying to reach the areas that have been affected. the logistics challenges are indeed great in some areas. our vehicles had to be pulled by payload is just to make it through the mud. in some areas our teams, comprised of oxfam staff and national partners, have had to walk and we still have to hear from our teams because of communications challenges. but we do need to start with providing immediate basic services forfamilies with providing immediate basic services for families that have been displaced, and who, we must remember, have been without incomes for the past days or even weeks. fishes have not been able to fish because of bad weather for about three weeks and farmers have lost almost all of their harvest. we are already starting our relief operations. either today or early tomorrow will stop our provisions

we re tomorrow will stop our provisions were safe water for those in evacuation centres and some hygiene kits, a5 evacuation centres and some hygiene kits, as well, and shelter materials just to make sure we are meeting immediate needs at the moment. thank you very much. thank you for talking to us. thank you for your messages this morning about our exclusive story, the fact that an early pregnancy te5ti5 the fact that an early pregnancy test is being used by some people to determine the six of their beaters and in some cases potentially leading them to abort if they are having a girl. bits e—mail it doesn‘t leave their name. the test, it is definitely being used for gender selective abortions. i am a sonographer at an essex hospital and i have seen it first hand and if many people think it‘s just happening in the south asian community, they are just kidding themselves. it is widespread. and

this e—mail says... i am indian, themselves. it is widespread. and this e—mailsays... iam indian, i have three beautiful girls who we are very have three beautiful girls who we are very proud of and we would not change a thing. it‘s sad that in this day and age community 5till frowned upon female births. girls are loving and look after parents much more than the boys do! fact. all three of mine are now expecting their own children and we are so excited to welcome a new generation into our lives. i hope they are not subjected to all of this nonsense. we need to shake off the stigma about male and female. thank you for those. next, we‘ll talk about the fashion industry. we‘ve seen some changes over the past few years when it comes to diversity on the catwalk, with people of different sizes and ethnicities beginning to model for some of the best known brands and designers. now photographer rankin, and designer steven tai are keen to do more — and have worked together on a project called portrait positive which has seen 16 different women with visible facial and bodily differences photographed by rankin for a new book, and three of those women take to the stage during london fashion week.

in a moment we will talk to two of the women involved in the project, but first let‘s take a look at how the show went i just want an accurate reflection of the world that we live in. that‘s what i think is important because i think as much of fashion is creating a story. i think it needs to be conscious of the social responsibility. it enriches the setting. it enriches the clothes, as well. it gives the context of the clothes show a lot more depth. phyllida was involved in a bus crash

in ghana three years ago which left her with facial scarring. catrin pugh is here too — she was also photographed by rankin for the portrait positive book. catrin was in a coach crash, in which she sustained 96% burns acro55 herface and body when she wasjust 19. and becky hewitt is the ceo of changing faces. thank you all very much for coming on the programme. how was it yesterday? brilliant. it was such an empowering experience to be stood in amongst all of these bottles. i grew up amongst all of these bottles. i grew up watching things like america‘s next top model and feeling so different for those —— different

from those models. that was only heightened when i got my scars, so to be up there a brilliant experience. it was wonderful and it just shows me that if designers are willing to start putting people in their shows then maybe that's something that will start happening more and that's what this project is about, to try to promote that people are different and it's notjust their size, race, ethnicity, it's also their visible differences, things like scars, birthmarks and things like scars, birthmarks and things that make us look different. that should be represented. will it really change things or is that tokenistic? i hope that's because steven has done such a good job of setting an example, from the top—down, this is high—fashion, as well. as soon as other brands and designers jump on and well. as soon as other brands and designersjump on and see the benefits of representing real women across the board, it will start to happen and it won't just be about tokenism, it will be true diversity.

if this is a one—off, then that‘s not enough, is it? i don't think so. hopefully, it will be a ripple effect and unfortunately in the fashion industry often we do have trends. i know that i, as well as all the other models, reason we do this is to keep pushing and this will not be the last campaign. things will carry on and there are so many brands and people who want to become more diverse and hopefully we are just the start of this next chapter of the visible differences being represented. who inspires you? winnie harlow, the models you always think about. women with conditions like vitiligo who are part of the industry and with steven all the time but we need more representatives in the industry and that‘s what we are here to do. we are here, we deserve to be seen and heard as much as everyone else. does 5he heard as much as everyone else. does she is by eu? completely. as well as

the fashion industry and media industry, you have people like katie piper who industry, you have people like katie piperwho are industry, you have people like katie piper who are out there, they are presenters and doing things where it is becoming normal to see people with scars who look different doing jobs that everyone else is able to do, so why shouldn't we be able to do, so why shouldn't we be able to do it with scars, as well? there are inspirations out there but just do it with scars, as well? there are inspirations out there butjust not enough. becky, your charity supports people with visible differences. what are you trying to achieve with this project? changing bases, what we are hoping for is a world where people with visible differences —— changing faces. they are included in all kind of mainstream culture, but particularly in the fashion industry where people with visible differences at often been discouraged. we are asking the fashion industry to celebrate people with visible differences —— often been not included. we think if that happens, that will send a message to wider society and other cultural spaces to really change the way that

they value and present difference. obviously you‘ve got a famous photographer on—board, rankin, a famous designer, steven tai, but you have to get to other designers, other big brands, globally successful brands. it's not good enough any more for people with visible differences not to be included or forage to be tokenistic. we see wonderful examples where it's just a one—off show about diversity, but what we are saying is we want, across fashion, across film, across mainstream tv in advertising, for people with visible differences to be included all the time so if you are young and growing up with a visible difference, you see yourself and you feel included. what has been and you feel included. what has been a physical and emotional impact on both of you of the injuries you sustained in the accidents were involved in? it's incredibly difficult to have a positive stance

of self when you no longer looked like yourself and for a long time i had a fringe cut in so i could cover as much of my scar a5 had a fringe cut in so i could cover as much of my scar as i could. i didn‘t want to wear bright colours to attract attention to myself and it affected my self—esteem.” to attract attention to myself and it affected my self-esteem. i found the same thing, especially with scarring. when something happens way you look completely different, and it was at a time in both our lives where you are young, you are finding your way in life, i remember i used to use fashion to hide myself. rather than to express myself, whereas now i like to wear things to enhance my skies because they are just as beautiful as the clothes i'm wearing. that's the way i see it, but it was a long journey to get there and without those inspirational things to look at two in media it has been a journey where you kind of had to do it on your own. hopefully that can change if more brands are willing to involve everyone. that would be such great

tool to feel like yourself again, the choices you make, the way you express yourself with your clothes, that can be a brilliant tool to feel like yourself. this viewer says bravo to fashion week and i think the scars of life are very beautiful, as are these women on your programme today. your coach crash, three months in a coma, 96% of your body had been burned. we haven‘t got much time left, sadly, but how did you even survive?” haven‘t got much time left, sadly, but how did you even survive? i ask myself that every day! a look back now and it‘s wide and a half years of long recovery, rehabilitation. i didn‘t get chance to even start being myself until about a year ago, a yearand a being myself until about a year ago, a year and a half ago. sometimes you have to do survive. sometimes i had to grin and bear it and gain confidence in a lot of the stuff i did. igot confidence in a lot of the stuff i did. i got there —— hopefully i will inspire people who

felt the way i did a few years ago. thank you. very nice to meet you. thank you. very nice to meet you. thank you. very nice to meet you. thank you very much to both of you and becky from changing faces. enter your company today. we‘re back tomorrow at 9am. bbc newsroom live is next. have a good day. hello there. good morning. we are in for a rather windy spell of weather over the next few days or so. tonight we‘ll see some ridiculous strong gusts of wind is living in but for now, ahead of all that, it‘s quite cloudy for many. this is the scene at the moment in wales and the cloud will continue acro55 much of north wales, northern england, scotland, northern ireland. rain affecting mainly western parts of northern ireland into the north and west of scotland during the afternoon. in southern areas, you‘ll

get the best of the sunshine, increasingly sunny. quite one for many. those temperatures getting up to about 17—25 degrees in the south—east. through tonight we will see south—east. through tonight we will 5ee strong winds around the irish sea coast, in particular the south—west, gus to 60 mph. rain spreading into wales and into northern ireland and into scotland. overnight temperatures 5tay northern ireland and into scotland. overnight temperatures stay up into fairly high double figures. pretty warm and humid starts to tuesday morning with some sunny spells and showers. goodbye. i‘m vicki young in salford, where we‘re taking a detailed look

at brexit with six months to go before the uk is due to leave the european union. my deal or no deal — the prime minster defends her plan to take the uk out of the eu. i believe we‘ll get a good deal, we‘ll bring that back from the eu negotiations and put that to parliament. i think that the alternative to that would be not having a deal. it comes as policy analysts warn that ministers are running out of time to implement a successful brexit. lots more analysis coming up all day, plus after 11:30am we‘ll hear from a panel of local business—people and students about what they make of the government‘s brexit brexit preparations.