a sharp rise in vulnerable children needing protection over the past decade according to new research. the number of children at risk of serious harm has more than doubled to nearly 200,000 in a decade. more and more are being taken into care. its obviously going to be a heartbreaking time for the parents, and stuff, but, you know, we always try to look for the positives, the mother —— we always try to look for the positives and support mum. we've been given rare access to children's services in liverpool to see the growing pressures that staff are under. also tonight: the cabinet agrees there needs to be a brexit deal this month amid warnings from brussels that a solution to the irish border is still missing. police continue to question six men from london after a model of grenfell tower is set fire on a bonfire as onlookers laughed. america goes to the polls for the midterm elections in what's being seen as a referendum

on donald trump's presidency. and, 100 years after the death of world war one poet wilfred 0wen, we look at the enduring impact of his words from the trenches. coming up on bbc news, champions league back, we will have the latest from serbia, liverpool in action against red star belgrade. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. there's been a sharp rise in the number of vulnerable children needing protection in england over the last ten years. domestic violence, drug and alcohol addiction, mental health issues and poverty are all contributing to the growing number of cases, according to the association of directors of children's services. new research shows that 2.4 million people made calls to children's

services in the past year because they were concerned about a child, a rise of 78% over ten years. the most serious investigations, where a child is at risk of significant harm, has more than doubled to nearly 200,000 last year. and the number of children in care has gone up from just over 60,000 to more than 75,000. it comes at a time of huge financial pressure for councils as their budgets are cut. from liverpool, our social affairs correspondent alison holt sent this report. been working with this young kid since november now, the issues are his mum's ability to keep him safe. she's an alcoholic. gary bresnahan is a family support worker and he is on his way to help take a child into care. to protect the boy's identity, we are calling him tim. 0bviously upset by what is happening, his little world has been turned upside down.

gary has spent months working with the mother, but social workers have decided the risks to tim are now too great. it's obviously going to be a heartbreaking time for the parent. as gary emerges from the mum's house carrying her son's belongings, there is a last—minute phone call saying that relatives will let tim stay with them, even so, it is a distressing day for him and his mum. she is tearful, she's crying. and you're trying to take as many positives out from what is happening. at the end of the day, it is still a baby being removed. liverpool has seen a significant rise in children going into care, a sign of what this new report says are huge pressures felt by councils across the country. careline, jack speaking, how can i help? nationally, at the front door of the care system, calls from people worried about children have nearly doubled in a decade. do us a form, please, lou, and get it sent out.

in liverpool, the social work team manager is dealing with an urgent case. a strategy meeting is called involving social workers, police and other agencies. there are fears that a man who has attacked one person may target a mother and her small child. we can't be in there, because of the level of confidential information being discussed, but they are trying to draw up a plan which will mean the child is protected quickly. do you feel you are getting more of these serious calls? i do, i think there is a huge demand for social care, just in the last year alone, 71,000 contact with children alone. ..can ijust take this call? hello, careline. in too many of the homes they visit, they find domestic violence, mental health problems, and addiction, complicated, ha rd—to—reach families like maria's. i hide it. i not let them, because i am scared.

scared that hey will take my children. heroin addiction nearly cost maria her children, for more than a year, she tried to avoid social workers worried by the neglect the children faced. there was very, very little food in the cupboards. support worker pauline davidson represented maria's last chance. the children seemed really guarded and unhappy and very sad. pauline visited them three orfour times a week, sometimes twice a day. finally, maria admitted her addiction. i had to say to her, i will have to speak to social services, but you have been honest with us. and that is what we have wanted, because now, we can help you. how different are the children? they are smiling. they are happy.

they sometimes say, mother, you now buy us too much food. a step forward for maria, but social workers have many others needing help. and poverty plays its part. in some homes that we visit, there are no toys, no forms of stimulation for the children, not appropriate beds for children to sleep in, cots, bedding, furniture, even. so, the basics... the very, very basic needs, yes. these pressures mean a £5 million overspend on children's services in the city alone this year. most of the north—west authorities are also facing overspending, some greater than ours. it is the same as the national picture, the local government association are talking about a £2 billion gap in children social care funding. a hard reality for services that shape lives like tim's; despite gary's hopes he would go to a relative, he eventually moved to a children's home. the government says extra money is being put in to ease pressures and improve the lives of children like him.

the cabinet has agreed they want to reach a deal on brexit this month and they may meet later again this week to keep the process moving forward. meanwhile the bbc has seen a suggested detailed timeline for how the government might try to sell a brexit deal to the public and parliament. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg reports. you might think it is about time there was a deal, the people who work in there certainly wish it was, one source told me it has been like groundhog day, for two years! are they finally on their way? is a smile and indication of a deal in the offing? everyone recognises there is a will to get a deal, the whole cabinet united behind the prime minister, as ever, and optimistic we can continue to get a deal. any sign of a solution, secretary of state? are you any closer to a deal? inaudible always optimistic. ministers agreed, there has to be a deal this month,

and might get together again at short notice, maybe even again this week. is the cabinet united, chief whip? as always. to sign of a solution about the sticking point, what to do about the irish border. a note passed to the bbc suggests they wa nted note passed to the bbc suggests they wanted to do a deal today and announced big progress this week to kick off a three—week greed, and processed to sell the deal to parliament and to you. this, then, suggests a day by day, blow by blow guide, to how the government hopes to sell a deal to you and to parliament, a speech by theresa may, speeches by other government ministers, former foreign secretary ‘s and foreign leaders coming on board, businesses coming out to back the deal, and a plan for each day of debate in the house of commons with a final vote saying yes or no to the deal at the end of this month. —— formerforeign

deal at the end of this month. —— former foreign secretaries. that is still not impossible for such a timetable to work but it is certainly right now far from being guaranteed. downing street says it is not theresa may's plan and the childish language in the notes shows it is not an official document, but there are clearly plenty of discussions about how to broker the deal with the public, if it can be done with brussels. the chief negotiator of the eu was clear again that there still are obstacles to making that happen. the back stop it means back stop. the backstop, politically troubling promise that there will not be a return to a hard border in northern ireland, whatever happens after brexit, for him and the rest of the eu, that cannot have a shelf life. but the ultimate political choice about doing this deal will come down to the prime minister, before her party, parliament, and then the public will

passjudgment too. now, it is not the case that you would be safe to put your wages on this deal suddenly being done by the end of the week but there is the question that the cabinet is ready to suddenly gather at very short notice in the next few days if they believe there is something that could be signed off in a matter of a couple of days or so, with brussels, and the notes we have seen, the government says they are not the official plan of what is about to happen but there are clearly extensive discussions under way about how a deal could be sold to you and sold right around the country, if and when it is done. and that contributes to a sense around here that after more than two years of what has often felt like gridlock, things could be about to change and change very fast. the brexit campaign group founded by the businessman, arron banks, and an insurance company he owns,

are to be fined £135,000 for breaches of privacy rules. the information commissioner's office said some personal data from customers at eldon insurance was used by leave.eu to unlawfully distribute political marketing messages. mr banks is already being investigated by the national crime agency, over the financing of the pro—brexit group. he denies any wrong—doing. a 16—year—old boy has died in a suspected stabbing in south london. the teenager was found unconscious in tulse hilljust before 11 last night. an eyewitness said the victim's parents saw their son dying as they waited up to 15 minutes for emergency crews to arrive. he's the 119th person to be murdered in london this year. inspectors are warning that the future of a major homecare provider for thousands of elderly people across the uk is uncertain. the care quality commission says allied healthcare could only confirm it has enough money to operate

until the end of the month. the company said the warning was unwarranted and premature. our health editor hugh pym is here. how serious is this warning? the message from the government at westminster and devolved administrations is that every effort is being made to maintain continuity of service and no disruption for the thousands of people who depend upon this company for home care visits for the elderly but the very fact that the regulator has for the first time used its powers in its role of monitoring is financial stability in social care shows there is serious concern at a high level, the recent history is that allied health care ran into financial problems earlier this year and had to reach a deal with creditors which it did, the c0 sea qc feels it does not have sustainable finances in place beyond the end of this month, the company has hit back saying that is unwarranted, that there will be no disruption and it is understood that lenders are prepared to carry on providing money beyond this month.

the sea qc message to local authorities is, be prepared for a possible failure here, line up alternative providers, just in case they are required. —— alternative providers, just in case they are required. —- cqc. police are questioning six men from south london about footage posted online which shows a group of people laughing as they burnt a cardboard model of grenfell tower on a bonfire. the men aged between 19 and 55 handed themselves last night after the video was widely circulated on social media. they've been arrested on suspicion of intentionally causing harassment, alarm or distress. our home affairs correspondent june kelly reports this afternoon, a house in south—east london became the focus for police gathering possible evidence. twenty four hours on from the appearance of the video, the investigation was well under way. this is a still from the video which shows a model of grenfell tower on a bonfire. the footage emerged on social media, and today, neighbours near the house being searched joined

the chorus of outrage. how can anybody wake up in the morning and think it is ok to make a box in detail of cutting out windows, cutting out the outlines of people, with their hands up in the air! the men being questioned are being held under the public order act, which says that a person is guilty of an offence if with intent to cause a person harassment, alarm or distress he uses threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour or disorderly behaviour. the reality is that as grossly offensive as this is, it does not necessarily mean it is a criminal offence. when you post grossly offensive material online, you can be guilty of an offence under the communications act. for which you can go to prison for six months. the video has horrified all those affected by the grenfell tragedy. like rukayet mamudu, who escaped from the tower with her grandson. there are still people who have no human feelings, particularly when there are people going through the enquiry now,

going through what they went through during the fire, and some other people are making a joke, with children in the background. tonight, scotland yard announced a further arrest — a 19—year—old was detained after he went to a police station in south london today. he's now in custody with the five others who handed themselves in last night. new figures show the number of children at risk of serious harm has more than doubled in a decade coming up. allegations against the businessman sir philip green. the bbc talks to former employees. coming up on sportsday on bbc news. test debutant ben foakes saves england's innings after a top order collapse on the first day of the first test against sri lanka in galle. it's being seen as a referendum

on donald trump's presidency — the first real test since he was elected two years ago. americans are currently voting in the "mid—term" elections, where seats in congress are upforgrabs. congress is the law—making arm of us politics and much like our houses of parliament is made up of two chambers — the senate and the house of representatives. all 435 seats in the house of representatives are up for election. and in the senate, just over a third of the seats are being contested. donald trump's republicans currently have a majority in each, but the democrats hope they can win the seats needed to take control of at least one chamber. 0ur north america correspondent nick bryant reports now from pennsylvania. this is the day when the american people get their say, when their voices, notjust the president's, finally get to be heard. and despite the ugly weather, the lines at this polling station on the outskirts

of philadelphia were the longest they have seen in ten years. for many, it was donald trump who drew them to the polls. sometimes i don't agree with some of his antics, and i don't agree with his texting or twittering, but other than that i think the country is a better place than it was two years ago. donald trump and the whole republican party needs to go. we need to be done with them. we are ready for a change. these lines speak of how donald trump has energised the american electorate. he has rallied his blue—collar base for sure, but here in the suburbs we are also seeing a lot of white—collar discontent about the tone and the style of his presidency. suburban kitchens have been turned into election command posts, and what has been most striking in this campaign is the participation of women. volunteers such as lauren and joanna, who see themselves as part of a pink wave against donald trump. everything that comes out of his mouth is a lie,

and it is frightening that he is the head of our country at this point. though the suburbs of the major cities will decide if the democrats could win back control of the house of representatives, many key senate seats are in rural terrain, more friendly towards donald trump. and a question throughout america, are you with him oragainst him? his name, of course, is not on any ballot, but he has dominated this campaign and applied the trump political business model of raucous rallies and a hard—line stance of immigration. and then there is the booming economy. the contrast in this election could not be more clear. democrats produce mobs, that's what's happened. republicans produce jobs. so this is what democracy looks like in the trump era. what seems to be a huge turnout across the country. maybe one thing this divided nation can agree on is the importance of getting out to vote.

i have covered elections on beautiful sunny days and sometimes it is hard to find voters and the democrats believe the strong turnout, especially from suburban women, will help them but if we drove into rural pennsylvania we would find republicans saying the same thing about the high turnout from their supporters. what we could get, of course, is a divided result. where the democrats regain control of the house of representatives and the republicans retain control of the republicans retain control of the us senate. we will see. nick, thank you. a former senior member of staff at sir philip green's arcadia group has told the bbc how he subjected her to a constant barrage of verbal abuse over a period of years. other former employees have described the retail magnate as a bully who was known to throw products at staff that he deemed to be underperforming. sir philip has previously denied allegations that he has been guilty of unlawful sexual or racist behaviour. our special correspondent

lucy manning reports. it's the constant swearing. at you? yes, yes. it's the f word all the time, all the time, just tripping out, rolling off his tongue. he's spent his life shouting. i find it really aggressive. some of those who worked for sir philip green wanted to speak out, but are reluctant to fully identify themselves, still scared of his power in the retail world. he verbally harassed people, it was a constant verbal barrage. it was an attack. but when it becomes constant, and you're not given the right to reply, and when you do reply, your reply is considered worthless, you know, there's nowhere for you to go. you know, he owns the company that you are working for. sir philip has claimed his behaviour in the office was just banter. it's absolutely not banter. not the banter that i understand. this was aggressive, it was threatening, it

was constant. and it just brought you down, constantly. other staff members claim they saw similar behaviour towards colleagues. she said he used a word often seen as a racial slur when describing a black man. another former employee said... sir philip had taken out an injunction against the daily telegraph to stop sexual and racial harassment allegations, but he was named in the house of lords. some of those who work

with sir philip say he can be charming and generous, his company say it takes accusations and grievances very seriously if they are raised by staff. and they are thoroughly investigated. he's previously wholly and categorically denied he's been guilty of any unlawful sexual and racist behaviour. lucy manning, bbc news. manchester city manager pep guardiola has said he "trusts" the club after they were forced to defend themselves from accusations they tried to avoid european football's financial fair play rules. it follows allegations in the german news magazine, der spiegel, that the premier league champions channelled millions of pounds into the club via their abu dhabi sponsors. city say the accusations were an attempt to damage their reputation. 0ur sport's editor dan roan is outside the etihad stadium. what more can you tell us? city are busy preparing for a big champions

league match tomorrow but they do so amid a second consecutive day of damaging regulations and leaked e—mails by the german newspaper der spiegel. ffp is controversial. the summit isa spiegel. ffp is controversial. the summit is a sensible attempt by uefa to limit overspending by clubs and encourage them to live within their means, but the others it's a crude attempt to protect the status quo of european club football. 0ne attempt to protect the status quo of european club football. one thing is certain. city have been found guilty of breaching the rules some years ago and been punished in 2014. der spiegel claim that what it does the first time is truly reveal the extent of what they allege is deceit when it comes to what they told uefa. city have been caught. they have said this is merely organised attempt to smear the club. pep guardiola today says he retains faith in the club's leadership but since the takeover by abu dhabi ten yea rs since the takeover by abu dhabi ten years ago manchester city have been the dominant force in the english game, but the question is does this

detract from their achievements on the pitch and could they face a new investigation? the famous world war one poet wilfred 0wen died exactly 100 years ago. he was killed in action just a week before the armistice that marked the end of more than four years of conflict. wilfred 0wen's poems shed light on the physical and mental horrors soldiers had to face in the trenches. many of his poems were written when he was in hospital in edinburgh being treated for post traumatic stress. lorna gordon looks at the impact his war poetry had on the treatment of mental health. bent double like old beggars under sacks. knock—kneed. coughing like hags, we crush through sludge. wilfred 0wen's poems paint a vivid picture of the horror of the trenches. his words have helped shape the way future generations see war. gas! quick, boys! an ecstasy of fumbling. fitting the clumsy helmetsjust in time. 0wen's psychotherapy for shell shock included a spell teaching here at tynecastle high school in edinburgh. it was really upsetting even reading

the poetry because you could see it through his eyes after he experienced everything. we went to visit the grave of the youngest man to be killed, when he was 15, which is younger than me, which is awful. there is a lost generation, all these people who could have had families and the future. and those who died include five of your relatives. yes. the city's military hospital treated 1800 officers, most of shell shock. wilfred 0wen was among them. the treatments developed here contributed to our understanding of what we now know as ptsd. the first world war, really, was the first time that people started to understand perhaps that you can develop a psychological injury in the same way you can develop as physical injury. and, for the first time, we started to understand that this is not about a character flaw ora this is not about a character flaw or a weakness, but about something

that can happen to anybody, and even to the bravest of the brave. so the medics encouraged their patients to take part in ground—breaking talking therapy, and the so—called work cure. for 0wen, that meant writing. his doctor in courage is into right both essays and also poetry, and if you are comfortable things, doing work things, you would have someone and a sense of peace and rest at night and you would be able to recover. the job of the doctors here was, wilfred 0wen wrote, to make the officers dangerously well, to return them to the front. 0wen died seven days before the war ended, his family were told as the bells marking the armistice rang out. his poems, an epitaph of the horror of war. my friend, you would not tell with such high zest to children ardent for some desperate glory, the old lie: dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. the world of world war i poet,

wilfred 0wen. time for a look at the weather. here's matt taylor. just want to reference how warm it is not just here just want to reference how warm it is notjust here but across europe. in parts of europe, 16 degrees warmer than it should be and that warmth extends to scandinavia and it is due to this anti clockwise swirl of wind and the low pressure to the west which normally brings is warm but it will be increasingly wet and windy in the next few days. we finish soggy across western parts and it will spread erratically, north and east through the night, turning showery so it means north—east scotland and eastern counties might stay dry, but the wind is falling lighter, cooler than the rest of the country and we could see dense patches of fog to take this into wednesday morning. try to begin before rain pushes into county down and antrim. but across parts of england and wales, scotland,

showers, go through the morning and a lwa ys showers, go through the morning and always heaviest in the west. in eastern parts of scotland or england it turns brighter with fewer showers but they are heaviest across wales and around the irish sea and towards western parts of scotland. another mile day, even if a bit on the breezy side. the wind will switch in a westerly direction later which will push the showers eastwards through wednesday night into thursday before the next raft of wet weather arrives in the west. thursday in the south and east of the country, north and west, fewer showers and a bit more sunshine but anywhere from south—west england and wales and northern england as the winds focusing we could see more in

the way persistent hello and welcome to sportsday, i'm azi farni, the headlines, new research shows a sharp rise in number of vulnerable children needing protection over the last ten years. the cabinet has agreed they want to reach a deal on brexit this month and they may meet again later this week to keep the process moving forward. the brexit campaign group founded by the businessman arun banks and insurance company he owns face fines for