there's to be another delay to the introduction of the government's flagship welfare reform, universal credit. and there are plans for hundreds of millions of pounds to be spent, amid concerns that claimants are suffering hardship. i had loads of problems with my childcare payments, having to call them up every month reminding them to pay me and notjust once a month, a few times a month. we will have the very latest on the controversial reforms. also on today's programme. . . ahead of this week's crucial eu summit, the prime minister updates her cabinet on the latest in the brexit talks. the disappearance of the saudi journalist jamal khassoggi — the us secretary of state meets the saudi king to tell him he has huge concerns. a big increase in religious hate crime — offences are up 40% in england and wales, with more than half of cases directed at muslims. and what next for the most successful british winter olympian of all time, as lizzy yarnold

announces her retirement. and coming up in the sport later in the hour on bbc news, a good night's work in spain. what now for england after their first competitive win since the world cup? good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. the deadline for moving all benefit claimants onto universal credit has slipped to the end of 2023. pressure has been mounting on the government to delay or halt the rollout of the reform, which merges six benefits into one payment. the bbc understands the government has drawn up plans to spend hundreds of millions of pounds making changes to universal credit, to prevent claimants suffering hardship as they move onto it. our social affairs correspondent

michael buchanan reports. universal credit is a new service that helps ensure you are better off in work than you are on benefits... it was meant to make things easier, bringing six different benefits into one monthly payment. but for too many people, universal credit has made things more complicated. single mother michelle has regularly had a failure to pay for her childcare costs, which is at the 25—year—old struggling to make ends meet. it has been hell, a very stressful experience. i had loads of problems with my childcare payments, having to call them up every month to remind them to pay me a notch as once a month, but a few times a month. such problems and evidence of rising food bank use in areas where universal credit is introduced has put pressure on the government to

stop or delayed roll—out of the benefit. from next summer, around 4 million people were due to start moving on to universal credit but we have learned the process when properly begin until november 2020, which means the benefit would be fully rolled out until december 2023, almost seven years later than originally planned. we have had people going into arrears and sadly even losing their homes as a result because of eviction, so it is a real mess and the government really needs to get its act together and sort it out. ministers hope to use the delay to improve universal credit. they plan to continue paying some benefits to some claimants for an extra fortnight. most existing benefits are currently stopped when someone benefits are currently stopped when someone applies the universal credit. reducing the amount of maximum deductions that can be taken from the universal credit payment and make it easierfor more people to be available, but payments that will cost 100 —— hundreds of millions of pounds are still need to

be approved. the deed of uv secretary was tight—lipped when asked about it this morning. so it was left to a junior minister to respond. we have always said that under universal credit, it is a test and learn approach and as we test and learn approach and as we test and learn, we adapt and earlier this year, we put in an extra £1.5 billion to support claimants and clearly this is a process. the government has today refused to confirm which changes, if any, it will make, but universal credit, announced with such hopes in 2010, continues to provide significant challenges to ministers and claimants alike. michael buchanan, bbc news. and michael is here. how embarrassing is this for the government? well, politically, it is embarrassing because the benefit will be nigh on seven years before it is delivered behind schedule, but these embarrassments and delays have been part of universal credit almost since it was announced back in 2010. what they are trying to do at the

moment is grapple with two things at the same time, neither of which are easy and both of which are expensive. the measures, the plans they have drawn up, are essentially trying to ensure that people don't lose out on a lot of money when they move on to universal credit, that is theissue move on to universal credit, that is the issue we have heard in the past, with people waiting weeks for the first payment if they don't apply foran first payment if they don't apply for an advance in the first place. that is difficult and expensive. at the same time, they are also trying to find a way to answer the critics, like the former work and pensions secretary iain duncan smith, that says eve n secretary iain duncan smith, that says even when you are on it, you won't be as well off as you could have been had they not make cuts to welfare in 2015. he and others want around £2 billion to be spent on that aspect of universal credit, so you have got some people saying you have do ensure that claimants are better off as they move onto it, others saying you have do ensure they are well looked after when they are on it. both of these challenges are on it. both of these challenges are significant and both are expensive. thank you for now,

michael buchanan. theresa may has briefed her cabinet on the state of the brexit negotiations, before tomorrow's crucial eu summit in brussels. last night, eight cabinet ministers took the highly unusual step of meeting on the eve of the weekly gathering, to discuss their concerns about the prime minister's approach. eu officials have warned no—deal is "more likely than ever" after talks failed reach a breakthrough over the weekend 0ur political correspondent leila nathoo reports. what do we want? noisy objectors outside the gates of downing street this morning trying to change ministers‘ minds at this 11th hour. do you support theresa may? are we closer to no deal? the cabinet has been meeting to discuss how to break the brexit deadlock, with insurance policy to keep the irish borderfree from checks still the main sticking point. the government insists it won‘t allow northern ireland are to

be treated differently. making that point clear again at a meeting of eu foreign ministers in luxembourg. we are the united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland and we are not about to change that. you know, there can be no border in the irish sea, we are not allowing the eu to dictate to us on that area. any customs arrangement that we negotiate must be temporarily, they are the strong negotiating points that we have set out and we will abide by them. some in theresa may's top team have been nervous about her giving more ground to brussels. the prime minister is doing a very, very complicated job and i am fully supporting in getting that done. but, today, the threat of rebellion appeared to recede. this is going to bea appeared to recede. this is going to be a difficult time but the whole cabinet is digging in to get the best deal for this country. the eu, too, knows talks have reached a critical moment, saying the threat of no deal is now more likely than ever before. who is caught as the ball in? one european minister had this advice for theresa may. take

responsibility and be constructive. thank you very much. theresa may has spent much of the brexit process fighting battles here in westminster as well as in brussels. not only is she still at loggerheads with the eu, she hasn‘t yet persuaded her party of her plans and that matters, because any deal that is done will have to be approved by parliament. whose vision brexit will triumph in the end? whose vision brexit will triumph in the end ? with whose vision brexit will triumph in the end? with negotiations drawing toa the end? with negotiations drawing to a close, that still being worked out. leila nathoo, bbc news, westminster. in a moment, we‘ll talk to gavin lee, who is in luxembourg, where european ministers have been meeting ahead of this week‘s european summit in brussels. but, first, our assistant political editor norman smith is in downing street. it feels hard to keep up, frankly, norman. well, this was built almost asa norman. well, this was built almost as a moment of truth for mrs may, with some leading brexiteers pretty much calling on disgruntled cabinet ministers to rise up in revolt, to

save up with your cheque is planning, we will not put, but after three hours of cabinet, they all emerged pretty much have the same time —— chequers plan. no one stormed off red—faced at a stroke, no one announced her resignation, no one ran up no one announced her resignation, no one ran up to the cameras to castigate mrs may and the reason i think it‘s because the prime minister did not today confront them with the sort of hard choices they may have to make about any final brexit deal. and, as she has done so often throughout the whole brexit process , often throughout the whole brexit process, when confronted with a looming crisis, has opted for delay. she has sort of taken the ball into the corner flag to just play through bit of time. and the hope, i think, in numberten is bit of time. and the hope, i think, in number ten is that the pm can go to brussels tomorrow and maybe convince eu leaders to back down over their backstop proposals, which she fears would involve treating northern ireland secretary from the rest of the uk. and there is a

paradox here. for all of the grief that mrs may is getting and will probably continue to get within her cabinet, from brexiteers, from remain as and the dup, that may actually strengthen her hand in brussels if eu leaders decide that mrs may really has no further ground to give, we are the ones that perhaps will have to compromise. gavin lee is in luxembourg. michel barnier has walked in injust the last few minutes, i think. he has, he has just the last few minutes, i think. he has, he hasjust arrived here and the importance of michel barnier being here is because europe‘s 27 ministers are here and they want to hear from ministers are here and they want to hearfrom him the ministers are here and they want to hear from him the latest in the brexit developments, because they will brief european leaders who will come to the brussels summit tomorrow and will decide whether or not there is enough progress to get the talks through to a special brexit summit in november. and we are told by senior eu officials that at this

stage, we heard from norman a month ago, a moment of truth summit, they are words that have long expired since sunday because eu officials believe now that actually chances of the deal tomorrow are slim. theresa may get the chance to talk to eu leaders before dinner tomorrow. michel barnier spoke to us a minute ago and said words we are familiar with, "we are ready," and then spoke in french to say we have much work to do tomorrow, we still have to work to get a deal but donald tusk, the european council president, have said chances of a no deal are more likely than ever and i spoke to the german europe minister who said he had words for theresa may, he said be realistic tomorrow and be constructive. gavin, thank you. speaker of the commonsjohn bercow has granted an urgent question on bullying in the commons as calls for him to quit his role intensified in the wake of a damning probe. several mps and a former top parliamentary official have said it is time for mr bercow to step down.

it follows an investigation by a high courtjudge that found a culture of "deference, subservience, acquiescence and silence" had allowed the mistreatment of staff in the house of commons to thrive. mr bercow has also faced claims that he bullied two former officials, which he has strongly denied. with two weeks to go to the budget, the treasury received mixed economic news this morning. new figures show wages have risen at their fastest pace in nearly ten years, but there‘s been a stark warning from independent economists the ifs, who say the chancellor will need to find an extra £19 billion a year for the next five years, if he‘s to meet the government pledge to end austerity and balance the books by 2020. 0ur economics correspondent andy verity is here. he has been looking through all of these numbers. thanks, jane. so that 3.1% pay rise was better than expected — but it tells you something about the decade we‘ve had

that that is the biggest average pay rise in nine years. when you take account of inflation, the average wage has gone up by 0.6%. better than a pay cut, but how does it look over the decade since the crisis? stripping out the effect of inflation, here is what we are earning now. about £25 a week more on average when the squeeze on living standards was at its tightest. but if you compare it to the peak, we‘re earning about £20 a week less than before the crisis struck. and weak wage growth is also a big reason why austerity‘s lasted so long. the government keeps raising the amount you can earn before you pay tax — so, even though more people are working than ever before, there‘s still not enough tax rolling in to cover the government‘s spending — that‘s known as a budget deficit. yet theresa may‘s promised an end to austerity, which means lots more spending. well, the government seem to have made two incompatible office to the electrode. the first is that it

wa nts to, electrode. the first is that it wants to, and it said this in the ma nifesto, wants to, and it said this in the manifesto, get rid of the deficit in the next few years. the second thing the next few years. the second thing the prime minister said just a couple of weeks ago is that the end of austerity is nigh. well, getting rid of austerity will mean spending at least an extra £20 billion or so by the end of this parliament. if you‘re going to spend an extra £20 billion or so, you are not going to get rid of the deficit unless you have some big tax rises. they don‘t look very likely right now. to cover the extra spending and still get the deficit down, the institute for fiscal studies has worked out the chancellor would need to raise an extra £19 billion in tax. and it still wouldn‘t be ending the welfare cuts — where the government saves £7 billion and benefit recipients see their incomes fall. with the budget coming up in just under two weeks, the government‘s committed to tax cuts and cutting the deficit as well as spending rises and ending austerity. the economic logic is — something has to give. andy, thank you for now. the us secretary of state mike pompeo has met king salman of saudi arabia,

and told him he is deeply concerned about the disappearance of a saudi journalist. jamal khashoggi — a critic of the crown prince — hasn‘t been seen since he entered the saudi consulate in istanbul two weeks ago. reports in the us media suggest the saudi government is preparing to say that mr khassoggi died accidentally while under interrogation. mark lowen is in istanbul. so, a full two weeks, where is the investigation today? well, saudi and turkish investigators spent the whole night inside the saudi consulate here in istanbul. they will be other consul general‘s resident today —— residence today. president erdogan said some toxic materials will be looked at and other material had been painted over. this comes amidst those us media report that the saudis are perhaps preparing to announce that jamal khashoggi was killed by

mistake as a result of an interrogation that went wrong. that would tally with president trump‘s comments yesterday after speaking to king salman of saudi arabia in which he suggested that rogue killers might have been responsible for the journalist‘s there. i think both claims will be met with plenty of scepticism. why, for example, send, among the 15 strong team of saudi of the writers to conduct this alleged interrogation —— operatives, why would you send a printed expert, an autopsy expert and one was reportedly carrying a bone saw and this happened inside the consulate of the country which is an autocracy and which virtually everything happens as long as it is approved, sanctioned, with the full knowledge of the highest members of the state. this will be seen by critics by an attempt —— as an attempt by the saudi government to absolve itself of responsibility and protect the crown prince mohammed bin salman and if turkey and the us buy into that

narrative, that will be seen as an attempt by both governments to preserve their diplomatic and political relations with saudi arabia over and above uncovering the two 7 7 delete truth. a man has gone on trial accused of the murder of two nine—year—old girls in brighton more than 30 years ago. russell bishop, who‘s now 52, is facing his second trial. he denies the charges. helena lee is at the old bailey. remind us about this case. 32 years almost to the day when karen hadaway and nicola fellows, both nine years, went out to play one afternoon after school, they reported missing that evening and they were found the following day in the woods near their home half a mile from where they live near brighton. they had been sexually assaulted and strangled —— where they lived. the prosecution opens the case and the jury

prosecution opens the case and the jui’y were prosecution opens the case and the jury were told the defendant russell bishop had already been tried and acquitted for their murders the following year in 1987. they were also told that the court of appeal quashed those acquittals because of new evidence and the prosecutor said new evidence and the prosecutor said new evidence and the prosecutor said new evidence had emerged and there had been advances in dna testing and so had been advances in dna testing and so he is now facing a second trial. thejury so he is now facing a second trial. the jury was told that the defendant had also attempted to murder and kidnapping indecently assaulted a seven—year—old girl in brighton in 1994 which he was convicted. the prosecutor brian altman qc told the jury prosecutor brian altman qc told the jury in connection with this case that the killings were entirely intentional and they were carried out in the woods by a man who sexually assaulted them for his own gratification, the man, say the prosecution, was this defendant, russell bishop. in court the families of the girls were sitting and listening to the evidence

including karen hadaway‘s mother or stop the trial is expected to last for around eight weeks. thanks for joining us. our top story this lunchtime. there‘s to be another delay to the introduction of the government‘s flagship welfare reform, universal credit. and still to come... blue peter celebrates its 60th birthday as the world‘s longest running children‘s television programme. coming up in the sport in the next 15 minutes on bbc news — a big night for wales in the nations league but they‘ll have to do without their best players in dublin. the duke and duchess of sussex have spoken publicly for the first time since it was announced that they are expecting a baby. at the start of their tour of australia, prince harry thanked people for their warm welcome — and said he couldn‘t think of a better place to reveal the news.

there is flash photography in this report from hywel griffith. they may have onlyjust told the world but already the first baby gifts have started to arrive. a kangaroo and tiny sheepskin boots could well give the royal nursery an australian theme. there were late wedding gifts, too, for the duke and duchess, who will have to get used to talking publicly about their upcoming arrival. thank you for the incredibly warm welcome and the chance to meet so many aussies from all walks of life. and we also genuinely couldn‘t think of a better place to announce the upcoming baby. be it a boy or girl. so, thank you very, very much. we‘re both absolutely delighted to be here. and really impressed to see you serving beer and tea at the reception in true aussie style. no tour of australia is complete without the obligatory koala photocall. harry‘s grandmother,

father and brother have all posed in the past. now it was his wife‘s turn. she kept a safe distance, while the bear seemed rather unimpressed. the latest polls suggest a majority of australians now want their country to be a republic. most don‘t want their head of state to be 10,000 miles away. but today‘s visit has proven that there is still a celebrity appeal to the young royals which brings out people to the streets. normally the crowds are inside the opera house but today some queued for hours outside, hoping for a selfie and sight of a royal bump. i‘ve even picked out the name, princess matilda. laughter i hope it's a boy. why is that? so grace can marry him! i got a little bit overwhelmed, i started crying. but they were so nice and so genuine. it was amazing. for 98—year—old daphne dunn the

excitement doesn‘t seem to diminish. this is the third time she‘s met prince harry who beckoned over meghan to meet her. like most, she wanted to wish the couple well when they become parents. beautiful. absolutely. they were lovely. the gifts kept coming. that nursery may soon be full, as australia showed its excitement for the parents to be. hywel griffith, bbc news, sydney. there has been a surge in hate crime directed at people because of their religious beliefs. new figures from the police in england and wales show an increase of 40% on the year before. it comes as the home office is considering making offences sparked by hostility to elderly people or to men a hate crime, following a review of existing laws. here‘s our home affairs correspondent, danny shaw. talking about hate crime, these kids at globe primary school

in east london are meeting government minister lady williams to tell her what they‘ve learnt from a course on equality and diversity. the home office is funding more projects like this as part of a new hate crime action plan. we learnt about stereotypes and we learnt not to judge people by just what they look like or just what we know about them. we should get to know them more and then judge them by their personality, not by their appearance. you don'tjudge a book by its cover, it's a good saying. you don'tjudge people by their appearance. you have to be nice to people and respect them and notjudge them by the way they look, or what their religion has done in the past, because everyone is different and you have to respect them. and more awareness about hate crime has led more people to report it. between april 2017 and march this year more than 94,000 hate crimes

were recorded by the police in england and wales. that‘s a 17% increase on the year before. religious hate crimes went up 40%, most of these offences were directed at muslims. but some believe that an even wider variety of offences should be seen as hate crimes. as well as getting schools to tackle the problem, the home office has announced a legal review. it will look at extending the definition of hate crimes to include offences motivated by a hatred of women and men. people have come to us and it is right that we ask them to look at it. maybe we don‘t take it forward. it would be very interesting to hear what the law commission says. the law commission review will also consider if offences targeting older people and those from alternative cultures, such as goths, should be defined as hate crimes. there‘s more than1 million older people in the uk who experience abuse every single year and yet less than half of 1% of that actually reaches the criminaljustice system.

more lessons about tolerance won‘t be needed here. danny shaw, bbc news, tower hamlets. she‘s the most successful british winter 0lympian of all time, winning back—to—back gold medals. now after a decade of hurtling face—first down a skeleton track at 90mph, lizzy yarnold has announced her retirement. she says it‘s time to focus on new challenges. 0ur sports correspondent joe wilson has been with her on a visit to her old school. at maidstone grammar school for girls, they were expecting a former pupil. quick! lizzy yarnold‘s skeleton gold medals in 2014 and 2018 make her britain‘s best ever winter 0lympian. commentator: she goes to the front, and how! now, it‘s over. it has been an amazing 10 years of my life and i‘ve been lucky enough, i guess, to learn from amazing coaches and be part of this team.

it was neverjust me by myself so i guess i‘m able to take the opportunity to thank everyone for helping me achieve my dreams. iwonder, though, lizzy, how you ever replace that adrenaline rush? i‘m hoping to just stop and rest now, i guess. her experiences will now be channelled, she hopes, into sports governance and this kind of thing — talking to young people. i loved just simply trying to see what i could achieve. coming back to my school, it really brings back the memory that even at that point, i didn‘t know that i was going to be a skeleton athlete. you might be able to live out that dream as a musician or chef. i don‘t mind if people do sport or not, ijust would love to encourage people to follow their own dream. while the girls here in this pe class are doing their gcses and thinking about careers, well, what about heading 90mph headfirst down an ice chute in something about 18 inches wide?

i think it would be fun to try but it would be a bit scary so i'm not sure i could actually get myself together to do that. i really think sport really does teach you that failure isn't always a bad thing. it shows you that anyone can do anything, and she does seem really down—to—earth, so lovely. lizzy yarnold will promote the winter olympics and urges funding to find more champions. she, meanwhile, after back operations, will be sticking to yoga. joe wilson, bbc news, in kent. happy birthday, blue peter. the world‘s longest—running children‘s television programme is 60 today. it‘s seen 37 presenters, along with dogs, cats, and tortoises, entertain and educate children for more than 5,000 episodes. here are a few highlights from the progamme‘s six decades on air — and a warning, this footage contains some flashing images. hello there. hello. hello! welcome to live blue peter!

i think this is the first time i've shampooed a camel. hold onto that. 0h! get off my foot! that was a very scary moment. i'm up 20,000 feet and i'm upside down! and here it is, tracy. your very own blue peter silver badge. this might be the proudest day of my life. that is fantastic. here is your very own gold blue peter badge. applause it is the best day of my life. yeah! that was wicked! woohoo! whoa! i‘m abseiling off blackpool tower. ready to skydive?

0ur entertainment correspondent colin paterson is at the blue peter studio in salford. i never got a blue peter badge, did you get one? not yet, but maybe dolittle port, i will be able to get one “— dolittle port, i will be able to get one —— but maybe doing this report. 27 presenters will be returning, including janet ellis and connie hack. —— connie huck. why hasn‘t lasted? why hasn't lasted? it is very tempting to kind of change the viewers and maybe have if you inject, but it has never done that, and if you are between the ages of eight and 12 you are safe in the company of blue peter —— maybe have

a few injokes. company of blue peter —— maybe have a few in jokes. where does the show go from here? it is all their online, and although the viewing habits have changed the content is still the same, this is all relevant to children. the thing about blue peter, there's something for everyone , peter, there's something for everyone, the next thing is about the environment and the next thing you are with a fluffy pop group so it will always cater for everyone. what about your highlights from the programmer? when i was watching i was struck by the fact that the girls and boys did everything, there was absolutely no demarcation along gender lines and that stayed the same when! gender lines and that stayed the same when i was on the programme. and i loved we went to a place called cork happy, —— cork abbey, with the first people to look round, it was that kind of