today at 5:00pm, the state of the nhs, as no part of the uk hits key waiting time targets for a year. one in five local hospital services have failed to hit any of their waiting time targets for cancer, accident and emergency and routine operations. nhs hospitals blame rising demand. we will have more capacity for the emergency worker, the trauma work, that we do at our other hospitals. that will enable us to improve the services that we have in cancer, in waiting times for patients for surgery, as well as our emergency department. we'll have the detail and reaction, and we'll be talking to the head of the royal college of nursing. the other main stories on bbc news at 5:00pm... the first cabinet meeting since last week's resignations over the brexit plans, as the prime minister prepares for more talks in brussels. in chicago, a doctor, pharmacist and a police officer have been killed in a shooting incident at one of the city's hospitals. the excitement of enjoying a bedtime story in makaton sign language

for one young viewer. # ground control to major tom... and, celebrating 20 years of the international space station with one of its most famous tenants — commander chris hadfield. it's 5 o'clock. our main story is that no part of the united kingdom has hit any of its key nhs waiting time targets for a year. analysis by bbc news shows that nearly one in five local hospital services in england, scotland, northern ireland and wales has failed to hit any of the targets for cancer, accident and emergency and routine operations in the past year. ministers insist the health

service is ready for winter but the royal college of nursing said the nhs is going into its most challenging period "on the back foot". 0ur health correspondent nick triggle is here. first of all, take us through the main ones that guide us along the findings we have here. these are the key targets of the nhs, the ones we judge hospitals by month by month when they come out. there are two ways of looking at the target, one is to add up all the patients in the nation for the nationalfigure, and the other is to look at how local hospital services are doing. if we do that, in england, 16 out of 131 trusts failed to hit their targets throughout the whole 12 months. in scotla nd throughout the whole 12 months. in scotland it was three out of throughout the whole 12 months. in scotland it was three out 01:14 of the health boards. in wales it was five boards out of a total of seven. in northern ireland, all five health

ca re in northern ireland, all five health care trusts missed each target for the whole 12 months. if you add up all those people, to give yourselves all those people, to give yourselves a nationalfigure, the performance shows the targets have been missed in each part of the uk, and that is the first time since these targets we re the first time since these targets were started to be rolled out more than ten years ago, that that has happened. given that is a milestone, the nhs doesn't want to pass it, so what reaction have we had today? the individual health departments in each nation have been insistent waiting times will improve and the delays patients face will reduce. they are investing more money in the service, particularly during winter. but talking to hospital managers, one senior but talking to hospital managers, one senior manager but talking to hospital managers, one senior manager told me that in the current climate with a rising number of patients being seen, it will be very hard in the foreseeable future to hit any target. the hospitals are facing rising numbers of patients and also increasingly complex cases and this is what

senior hospital executive had to say about the challenges she faced. we are seeing increasing numbers of patients coming to hospitals, but perhaps most interestingly they are coming with increasing complexity. they often have diabetes, they've got asthma, they are very elderly, often. so they come with multiple needs so they take a lot longer to help and if they get admitted they tend to stay in hospital a lot longer as well. there are lots of hospitals like that, that are struggling to meet any targets. but even among the best performers, like in hartlepool, meeting 30 of its 36 targets in the year, and they have spoken today about the challenges they have faced and the difficulty in keeping waiting times down. nick triggle, health correspondent, with some of the detail there. we will be talking to the head of the royal college of nursing and asking for her reaction at around nursing and asking for her reaction ataround 5:30pm. nursing and asking for her reaction

at around 5:30pm. and if you would like to find out how your local services are performing there is a good page on the bbc website. the bbc‘s nhs tracker at bbc.co.uk/tracker. you can put in your postcode and see how your local hospital trust is performing in each category. the prime minister has chaired her first cabinet meeting since the ministerial resignations last week prompted by the publication of her brexit plans. and tomorrow she will travel to brussels for talks on latest stage of the brexit negotiations. those talks withjean—claude juncker. at westminster, those conservative mps who oppose theresa may's plans have been defending their attempt to remove her as party leader by calling for a vote of no confidence. so far their plan has not worked because they haven't been able to assemble enough support. thejustice secretary david gauke said that removing the prime minister would be "dangerous for the country" and "irresponsible" at such a difficult time. 0ur political correspondent chris mason reports. conservative mpjacob rees—mogg

can attract a crowd — of reporters, that is. he and his colleagues in the brexiteer european research group have not managed — yet, at least — to muster up a big enough bunch of tory mps to force a vote of confidence in the prime minister, despite suggesting it was imminent. reporter: are you disappointed in your colleagues? of course i am not disappointed in my colleagues. i have always said that the erg does not have a collective view. people must make their minds up themselves. and people will do what they think is right at the time they think it is right. mr rees—mogg was chairing an event including businessmen and the brexit secretary before last, david davis, among others, setting out its alternative to the government's plan. meanwhile, the cabinet was gathering up the road. the last time they met, the government started self—combusting shortly afterwards. and this morning we saw the smile of a newbie —

the prime minister's third brexit secretary, stephen barclay, and the return of amber rudd as work and pensions secretary. have you steadied the ship or is it panic stations? i think the situation is the choices for the country are becoming clearer and it is either the prime minister's deal or we leave with no deal, which would be bad forjobs and living standards, or we don't implement the brexit result, which would damage trust in our political systems. but this is what the latest headache for downing street looks like. northern ireland's democratic unionist party, who prop up theresa may in downing street, don't like her brexit plan, and last night refused to vote with the conservatives on bits of last month's budget. we took the view that, since the government had broken one of the fundamental agreements they had with us, namely that they would deliver brexit for the people of the united kingdom as a whole and not separate

northern ireland constitutionally or economically from the united kingdom, that we had to do something to show our displeasure. the dup flexed their muscles last night. how do you persuade them back around to backing the deal? we will continue to talk to the dup and make the case that this deal is good for the whole uk, but in particular for northern ireland. the prime minister has rightly focused on ensuring that northern ireland is not in a different customs arrangement from great britain, and she has risked the whole deal in order to win that, and she has won that point. they don't believe you — that is the point. we will continue making the case. making the case about the withdrawal agreement and the future partnership with the european union continues for the government, in different places and to different audiences. tomorrow night, the prime minister is heading to brussels to meet european commission president jean—claudejuncker ahead of the big

brexit summit at the weekend. in a moment, we'll speak to our brussels reporter, adam fleming, but first our chief political correspondent vicki young at westminster. all that talk again about the dup, reminding us of the massive parliamentary challenge that faces theresa may still. i think as one rebellion might be fading, the lack of letters coming in to call for a vote of no—confidence in theresa may, eyes are still turning to that crucial vote that there will be once she brings this deal back at the beginning of december, probably on the deal. the numbers are not stacking up in a positive way for the prime minister at the moment. we have had labour saying they will vote against it. the liberal democrats, the snp, and many on her

own side, some on the brexit side of the argument who are very unhappy about the whole thing, and some on the remain side saying it is so bad, we are better off staying in. the question is, what will be the alternatives to theresa may's plan? there has been a lot of talk about no deal and leaving at the end of march with out a deal in place. it's true that in the house of commons there is certainly not a majority for that to happen. the question is, can they stop it happening? in regards to that, that is why the leader of the snp, nicola sturgeon, first minister of scotland, has come to london today and met with opposition leaders. trying to find out what it is they might be able to agree on. she thinks membership of the customs union and the singles market, and maybe another referendum on the things they are talking about. it's important that we decide not just what we don't like just now, but also what we think should be the alternatives. so a coalition of opposition where we come together, coalesce

around what should happen now. i think most people across the length and breadth of the uk would think it's time for some responsible governance in the public interest, not internal feuds within the tory party that have dominated so much of the debate in the last two years. meanwhile, the democratic unionist party, who theresa may relies on to get votes through, they are effectively on strike. they did not vote with the government last night and will not do so tonight. some people say that means the arrangement they have with the conservatives is all over. she really needs them onside to get her deal through parliament. but they are looking for more changes and they help when she goes to brussels tomorrow, she might be able to get something. vicki young in westminster, thank you. 0ver something. vicki young in westminster, thank you. over to brussels to speak to adam fleming. a lot of talk today about the difference between what is a draft agreement and what is a done deal. is there a difference of perspective

between brussels and london on this? the first thing is to remind eve ryo ne the first thing is to remind everyone what we are talking about. last week was about the draft withdrawal agreement, 585 page monster, the divorce agreement sealing the terms of the uk's departure. as far as the eu is concerned, that is closed and done. there is still room for manoeuvre, negotiations, for the document alongside it, the political declaration, setting out the shape of the future relationship in the yea rs of the future relationship in the years to come. 0n of the future relationship in the years to come. on a whole host of areas, trade, science, energy, counterterrorism, aviation, data protection, all that stuff. it was published in draft outline form last week as a 6—.5—page summary. they have filled in the blanks and made it longer with more detail, and it will probably be 20 pages by the end, and endorsed by leaders and

theresa may at a special summit on sunday. what has happened in that process is that a few member states have raised concerns in particular areas, boiling down to three things. first of all, fish, how detailed is the document about the link between british fish products being able to be sold on the eu's internal market, and european trawlers having access to british fishing waters. that's the first issue. the second issue, the first issue. the second issue, the level playing field, as it is known. what sort of conditions does the eu expect from the uk when it comes to environmental law, social law, competition law, and state aid, in order to get access to the single market. that is called the level playing field. and third is the issue of gibraltar with the spanish government making quite a fuss at the moment about the extent to which the moment about the extent to which the future relationship will cover gibraltar. that is what everyone in brussels has been talking about

today. we will get more of a clue in a couple of hours on how things are going because ambassadors for the 27 other member states are getting a briefing on the latest and if we have learned anything in the last few weeks, things tend to meet out from those meetings. thank you to adam fleming and vicki young. joining me from our studio in belfast is tina mckenzie, policy chair of the federation of small businesses in northern ireland. she also owns businesses on both sides of the irish border. thank you for coming in. can we talk first of all about theresa may's d raft first of all about theresa may's draft withdrawal agreement. what is your position? the federation of small businesses, like most other business organisations in northern ireland sports theresa may's deal, and we would just like to get on with the process of actually getting into the transition period and working out the finer detail. —— supports theresa may's deal. that's where most businesses in northern ireland stand. and the politics of

it, i know you are a business representative, because the dup has such an important role in westminster in terms of parliamentary numbers, do you see they have valid concerns about the shape of the plan? it is absolutely obvious that notjust the dup but right across the house of commons that politicians have concerns and it seems to have split families, political parties and more. at the end of the day, i think we have to come together and line up behind each other and support the prime minister in getting the best deal for the country. i think so far, we are quite pleased about the fact, from a northern irish perspective, we are able to trade freely and u nfettered we are able to trade freely and unfettered across the uk and across the eu. if people have concerns it is right for them to air them, but we are getting to the time, a number of days to the summit on sunday and a number of weeks to the cliff edge. it is time for us to get together as

a country and move forward with a good deal. there has been lots of talk about the so—called backstop, which might not be needed at the end of the day, but it is therefore a purpose. are there elements of that that concern you? i guess the backstop is an insurance policy, but for us in the business community, nothing is perfect. no agreement will be perfect. it is easy to sit on the sidelines and criticise the agreement, but it has been two and a half years of uncertainty for and economic. if the economy is not doing good then we can't look after the vulnerable in society, never mind provide thejobs the vulnerable in society, never mind provide the jobs we need to. for us, this is the deal we have got, the only one on the table at the moment and if there is something better people can come up with in a number of days, or a short number of weeks, then of course the business community will look at it, but this is the deal on the table and we only have a number of weeks. we think it is time to start moving with this. there are politicians today repeating the view that a no—deal

brexit would not be the disaster some people think. i would absolutely disagree with that. if you know anything about how trade works and how entwined the markets are, looking at northern ireland and the amount of crossing is done by small businesses, the supply chain and looking at how much goes across from northern ireland into great britain, great britain into northern ireland and from ireland back into great britain, we are important markets to each other and to europe. repealing and untangling that is very complex and all of the business community, everyone i know, has come out to say no deal and it would be remiss of us not to stand up and speak against it. we need to make our voices loud and clear that it would be bad for the economy and bad for the uk as a whole. tina mckenzie, policy chair of the federation of small businesses in northern ireland, thank you. we heard adam fleming in brussels a

short while ago bringing in a rather significant theme about the spanish government's concerns about the future of gibraltar. that has entered into being gay prime element of the debate around brexit. —— that has entered into being a prime element. simon hunter is the editor of el pais english edition. hejoins me from madrid. what is the spanish government now saying at this stage of the negotiations about how gibraltar fits into the picture? gibraltar was a lwa ys fits into the picture? gibraltar was always going to be a massive problem for the spanish. and on the more conservative side of the spanish political spectrum, politicians see it as political spectrum, politicians see itasa political spectrum, politicians see it as a prime opportunity for spain to finally reclaim gibraltar, which it has long contested. during times of the franco dictatorship, the border was closed. what happened on monday, the spanish foreign minister, he said that as it stands

at the moment, spain will not sign off on the brexit withdrawal agreement because he wants to ensure there is clarity that the future relationship between spain and gibraltar will be negotiated outside of the uk — eu negotiations, so it is completely separate. because there are a lot of issues on the table that spain wants to deal with. gibraltar has always been very problematic for spain. it is viewed bya problematic for spain. it is viewed by a lot of spaniards as a tax haven. even looking at the language in major newspapers when they write about gibraltar, they still refer to it as about gibraltar, they still refer to itasa about gibraltar, they still refer to it as a colony, in britain it is called a british 0verseas territory. it isa called a british 0verseas territory. it is a thorny issue, with issues around smuggling, environmental protection, cooperation with law enforcement and border control, and spain wants to ensure that those negotiations will be completely

separate from the uk and eu negotiations in the future. how far do you think they would push it, would they go so far as to veto a final agreement if they don't get their way on it? be spanish prime minister sanchez was forceful in his comments today. he said as of today, if there are no changes with respect to gibraltar, spain will vote no on the withdrawal brexit agreement. but diplomatic sources were telling us today that this is an issue that could be solved with a simple annex in the document. some eu countries are not willing to reopen negotiations on this point because it could pave the way for other countries coming up with new demands. but this gibraltar issue was always going to be problematic andi was always going to be problematic and i think, to be honest, it is quite fortunate for the uk that the conservative popular party is not in power at the moment because they could have taken a much harder line

with negotiations regarding gibraltar, for example, the socialist party left out of the thorny issue of co—sovereignty over the airport out of negotiations prior to the protocol on gibraltar being finalised. it's a tricky situation at the moment but it could bea situation at the moment but it could be a lot worse. simon khan interesting to talk to you and thank you forjoining us, simon hunter. in the us, three people have died after a shooting at a hospital in chicago. the gunman shot a doctor — believed to be his former fiancee — outside the building before storming inside and killing a pharmacist and a police officer. he then turned the gun on himself.

0ur correspondent peter bowes reports. another city, another shooting, this time at a hospitaljust south of downtown chicago. the police say it started with a row in the car park between people who knew each other. the gunman first shot a woman with whom he was in a relationship, and then headed inside the building, closely followed by several police officers. more shots were fired, apparently at random. it was like pow pow pow, pow pow pow, pow pow pow pow pow. it was extreme, it was very loud and it was close, so this is what happened. i don't know, after that, swat came and got us out of the utility room and made us walk across the street. literally as i was stepping onto the pavement i heard five shots, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. i dropped my groceries, i head to take cover, so we take cover, and at this corner there was really nowhere to seek shelter. and we heard about six more shots. a doctor, a pharmaceutical assistant and a police officer were all killed. the gunman is also dead. those officers that responded today saved a lot of lives, because this guy was just shooting. that poor woman that

got off an elevator had nothing to do with nothing, and he shot her. why? there's no doubt in my mind that all those officers that responded were heroes, and they saved a lot of lives because we just don't know how much damage he was prepared to do. the city of chicago is no stranger to gun violence. it's everyday life for people who live here. but this shooting has hit home harder than most. this tears at the soul of our city. it is the face and the consequence of evil. at about the same time in another us city, another shooting was unfolding, in downtown denver. the police say the suspect is still at large. it leaves two more american cities in mourning today. the scourge of gun violence once again to blame. white house officials have confirmed that ivanka trump —

the president's daughter and special adviser — used a private account to send hundreds of emails concerning government business. they say the messages — which were sent after ms trump joined the administration last year — contained no classified information. in 2016, her father accused hillary clinton of putting the us "in danger" over her use of a private email server while secretary of state. a video showing police officers being attacked in south london has been shared widely on social media. the footage, taken in merton on saturday, shows a man kicking a female officer, who is left clutching her head just yards from a passing bus. her colleague is shown being dragged across the road as he tries to stop a suspect. a warning, this report from jon mcmanus contains footage some people may find disturbing. everybody‘s fighting! look, they've got him! this is the moment a routine a traffic police stop in south—west london turned violent.

one of the occupants of the car attempts to run away. the male police officer is dragged around the road while trying to stop him. a female officer tries to help, only to be violently drop—kicked to the ground by another man. an oncoming bus narrowly avoids hitting her. dear me, hejust kung fu kicked her. both officers were treated in hospital but their injuries were not serious. the incident was recorded on a mobile phone. i'm getting this all live. and it's this and the tone of the commentary that has prompted the chair of the metropolitan police federation to criticise the behaviour of some members of the public. is it becoming acceptable that we can film constantly police officers executing their warrant, do absolutely nothing about it and it's a big joke? ken marsh says officers might have to start letting suspects go if they don't receive public support, but he doesn't mean he expects them to jump in to physically help. assaults on officers are growing — there were 26,000 in the past year. and other emergency workers have also been targeted,

with over 17,000 nhs staff attacked in some form. the senior policeman responsible for officers' welfare says the public should be cautious. this isn't a green light for have—a—go heroes. many members of the public do incredibly brave things to keep us safe as well as themselves safe on a day—to—day basis. all we are saying here is there is a difference between helping us and hindering us and glorifying some of the things that are being filmed at the moment. i'm getting this live, boys and girls. among those who drove by, a passing motorcyclist appears to aid the officers. police say they are grateful for help from the public, but they should only get involved if it is safe to do so. one person has been charged in connection with this incident. police are searching for two others. john mcmanus, bbc news. italian prosecutors have requested the seizure of the charity run migrant rescue ship,

aquarius, which is currently in the french port of marseille. prosecutors in sicily are investigating claims the ship dumped 2a tonnes of potentially hazardous waste at several italian ports. medecins san frontiers says the claim is unfounded. aquarius is banned from docking in italy's ports in an attempt to limit unwanted migration. three people have been injured in a serious incident at the nuclear power plant heysham in lancashire. the power company edf, said the employees were taken to hospital following an "accidental steam release". the bbc understands one person suffered burns, one a broken hip and the other a broken back. edf said the incident was not related to the nuclear process. the annual discount shopping day known as black friday is taking place at the end of this week. but research by consumer experts at which say it may not be as much of a bargain as we thought. most products they found were actually cheaper

at other times of year. the bbc is launching a consultation period to decide how licence fees for over—75s should be paid for. they are currently financed by the government, but that is due to end in 2020. it is expected the cost of free licences to the over—75s will amount to a fifth of the bbc‘s budget by 2021—22. director general lord hall explained the options being discussed. you could keep the current concession. you could abolish the concession altogether. and then there are three ideas sort of in the middle. one would be to raise the age by which you pay for it from 75 to 80. there are some pluses to that and some minuses, as the document makes clear. we could cut the concession from being the full cost of a licence fee, £150.50, to half of that. or we could link the payment of the licence fee so that people who are in real poverty as pensioners would not pay.

you could link it, as is suggested in the document, say to pension credit, which is the government pars which is the government's way of deciding real poverty among pensioners. so all of those options are there. we want to hear people's views. i go back, the most important thing we do is to make a decision as a board, it is the board's decision, on both what is fair to the pensioners, the over 75s, but also what is fair for other people who are the licence fee payers. tony hall, the bbc director—general talking about the options for funding the licence fee for over 75s. the headlines in a moment and a look at the sport but before that it's time for a look at the weather. the gallery complaining that my background is too dark but that is just the weather today, gloomy, it

has looked cold, and the wind has made it look and feel extremely chilly, showers from the east, white colours show showers falling asleep and even snow. showery rain with some hail, sleet and snow drifting north—west through the night, something a little drier into the south later on, odd mist patches forming, generally above freezing, touch of frost in the far south—west. into tomorrow, pretty grey and gloomy start for many, particularly across northern areas, outbreaks of rain, sleet and snow over the highest ground, further south, drier and brighter, over the highest ground, further south, drierand brighter, if you showers in the south—west, wind is light in the south, but still, chilly breeze in northern areas. temperatures slowly but surely recovering as we head to the end of the week, keeping cloud, a little bit of rain at times. this is bbc news.

the headlines: one in five local hospital services in the uk have failed to hit any of their waiting time targets for cancer, accident and emergency and routine operations. nhs hospitals say rising demand and more patients with complex needs are putting pressure on their capacity. we will have more capacity for the emergency work, the trauma work, that we do, at our other hospital, that we do, at our other hospital, that will enable us to improve the services we have in cancer, in waiting time for patients, as well as the emergency department. the first cabinet meeting since last week's resignations over the brexit plans as the prime minister prepares for more talks in brussels. 5:32pm, the days sport now. many

thanks indeed, the british olympic sprinter nigel levine has been banned from all sport for four years after failing banned from all sport for four years afterfailing a drugs banned from all sport for four years after failing a drugs test, banned from all sport for four years afterfailing a drugs test, 29 banned from all sport for four years after failing a drugs test, 29 years old, that could mean the end of his career, european indoor gold—medal list was provisionally suspended in february after testing positive for an asthma drug that can be used to increase performance, the positive test was —— uk anti—doping say they we re test was —— uk anti—doping say they were unable to show that he took the asthma drug unintentionally, so he has been hit with the maximum ban or four years, backdated to last december. this weekend's rugby union international, wales going for their first clea n international, wales going for their first clean sweep. —— british olympic sprinter nigel levine has been banned from all sport for four years after failing a drugs test and at 29 years old that could spell the end for his career. the european indoor gold medallist was provisionally suspended in february

after testing positive for an asthma drug that can be used to enhance performance. levine had tried to prove that the positive test was the result of taking contaminated supplements, but uk anti—doping say that he was was unable to prove that he took it uninterntionally. to this weekend's rugby union internationals, wales are going for their first clean sweep in the autumn series, they have wins against scotland, australia and tonga but for their final match in cardiff they will be without full—back leigh halfpenny. he was concussed in this collision with the wallabies samu kerevi ten days ago. halfpenny still hasn't recovered. warren gatland accused the australian player of being reckless at the time. it's australia next for england, a notable absentee is wing chris ashton. he has a calf injury. he's featured in all three of the autumn internationals so far but was replaced in the first half of saturday's win against japan. jack nowell and jonny may are expected to be the wingers for the match now the final round of nations league group matches take place tonight. if scotland beat israel

at hampden park, they'll top their group and get promoted to the second tier. and perhaps more importantly they will earn a play—off spot, should they need it, for euro2020, that's if they fall short in next year's regular qualification process. the sides are level on points at the top of their group, israel only need a draw to finish top, becasue they beat scotland in haifa last month so plenty at stake. we took on a huge game at the weekend, after the disappointment against israel, and we absolutely nailed it. we just have to take that forward and realise... and the players are under no illusions about how big a game it is. sir mo farah will make another attempt to win the london marathon next april. he finished third this spring, in his first race over the distance since quitting the track, but went on to win the chicago marathon last month in a new european record. he expecting another world class field in london that will include the kenyan world record holder eliud kipchoge. i think anything is possible, having run my first two marathons, third last year, pretty good,

and winning chicago, two hours, five minutes, i have got to face eliud kipchoge, he is the best out there, he has run decent chimes, he has not lost too many marathons, i am excited to take him on, i will give it my all and i will see what happens. i will mix it with them and the rest of the athletes. great britain are still waiting for theirfirst win at hockey‘s champions trophy in china. they were held to a 2—2 draw byjapan. tess howard scored her first international goal to help the reigning 0lympic champions to an early 2—0 lead. but japan fought back to take a point, leaving britain fourth in the table with two group games remaining. they face the netherlands next, it's their first meeting since the rio final two years ago. laura davies will be a vice captain for the european team at next year's solheim cup at gleneagles. the 55—year—old holds the record for appearances and points scored in the competition. she'll support captain catriona matthew in september alongside suzann pettersen and kathryn imrie. the usa have won the last two solheim cups. we'll have more for you in sportsday at 6.30. picking up on the main story this

evening: nearly one in five local hospital services across the uk are consistently failing to hit any of their key waiting—time targets according to analysis by the bbc. twenty nine hospital trusts and boards out of 157 have not hit a single target for a whole year. northern ireland seems to be struggling most, all five trusts have failed their key targets for a&e, cancer and routine operations every time in 2017—18. nhs leaders said the health service was facing a very difficult winter. with me in the studio is dame donna kinnair, acting chief executive and general secretary of the royal college of nursing. nice to have you with us, thank you

for coming in, depressing to read these figures, i am wondering, from your point of view, representing so many nurses, what are they telling you about the root causes of this, is it simply a matter of lack of resources ? is it simply a matter of lack of resources? more than that? combination of things, think about the summer we have had, baritone research shows, looking at the last five summers, we could see in three important areas that we looked at, trolley rates were up and we also found that it is the lowest number of people being seen within accident and emergency within four hours, and access to beds, 7000 drop in the number available overnight, so we started winter coming in from the summerand it started winter coming in from the summer and it was a difficult summer. we looked at summer because members were saying to us, they are having more and more patients turning up in accident and emergency, with dehydration, cardiac issues, and that is why we undertook our own research. so issues, and that is why we undertook our own research. so many levels to

this, so many layers, let's pick on a fuel, coming to resulting in a second, i will come to money and the budget issue in a second. —— let's pick up on a few. people going into accident and emergency rather than visiting the gp, how much of a bottleneck is that? it is huge, my own experience shows, if there is not enough experience locally, people will turn to accident and emergency. we know that some of the community nursing services are not available because we know there has been a 50% drop in district nursing. people will go where it is easy to access people will go where it is easy to a ccess ca re . people will go where it is easy to access care. and therefore, no matter what we do, we need to have enough people on the ground, boots on the ground, nurses on the ground, to deliver and care for patients. that is one case, people turning up for emergency care, what about cancer statistics, being seen within a certain time frame, what would

account for the fact that the performance there is so bad?“ account for the fact that the performance there is so bad? if you have people coming into accident and emergency and they are volumes we cannot cope with, they will take up other, so, you will not be able to deliver operations, beds will get filled, and that will have a knock—on impact on how many patients you can see with cancer within the two—week period. so, all of them are interlinked. cannot do operations if their hospital beds are filled with people are filled with people will cardiac failure, and operation. talking about money, the chancellor, very difficult, public spending, we we re very difficult, public spending, we were talking recently about the police, the nhs has been part of it. confirmation of an extra £20.5 billion for the nhs over the next five years, now, lots of people

listening to that and thinking, that isa listening to that and thinking, that is a big chunk of money. would you expect that to change the statistics radically, pretty quickly or not?” hope it will do, we need it to, we do need investment, that is your front line here, yourfront do need investment, that is your front line here, your front line care, for patients, we cannot grow nurses overnight, it takes three yea rs nurses overnight, it takes three years at the minimum, to produce a nurse, you will always be in this cycle a nd nurse, you will always be in this cycle and this we start investing. what we do know, money, over the last austerity period, has been pulled out of nursing education, the evidence is clear now, because of that, we are not getting the number of nurses coming forward. we have got to start recognising that, and out of the 20 billion, an adequate amount, at least 1 billion, out of the 20 billion, an adequate amount, at least1 billion, is bent on nursing and nursing education. 0ne on nursing and nursing education. one final point, you talked about nursing and training, today we are reporting on the fact that theresa may is going to brussels to talk more about the brexit process. what

is the impact so far, do you think, of the whole brexit landscape, on the ability to recruit nurses, clearly, lots of nurses have come to this country from different parts of the world. we know there has been a massive fall on the number of nurses registered with the nursing and midwifery council, but what we also need to do is make sure that our neighbours from europe are welcome because as we can see, there is a 42,000 shortage in this country alone. nurses, 42,000, so we need to encourage those we have two stay here. i know the government have been taking some steps to encourage them to stay. nice to talk to you. acting chief executive and general secretary of the royal college of nursing, thank you. the international space

station is celebrating its 20th birthday today, it's been inhabited every day for the past 18 years, with different crew carrying out research for a wide range of scientific and medical purposes. we've assembled a few interesting facts about the international space station before we talk to our special guest. back in 2013, the astronaut chris hadfield gave us one of the most memorable moments on the space station , his own rendition of space 0ddity, which became the first music video to be filmed in space. could not celebrate the 20th

birthday of the space station without playing that! and i'm delighted to say that commander hadfield joins us now from toronto. a few years since we spoke, beyond the success of the music, what is your best memory of being there? good to be talking to you again, my best memory, apart from the 2600 extra sunrises and sunsets i got to see, i think, extra sunrises and sunsets i got to see, ithink, being outside, helping to build the space station... 0utside, building the space station, but while i was outside, going through the aurora of the world, having the southern light pouring past the ship, pouring past my body,

like you are surfing on the aurora, the space station allows us to go to places and see things that are beyond the experience and almost beyond the experience and almost beyond imagination, it is an amazing place and i count myself so lucky to have been there. given the richness of the experience, can i take you back 20 years to its inception, where were you, and what is your recollection? houston, 21 years, 21 yea rs recollection? houston, 21 years, 21 years ago today i was in houston, sitting in front of my television, with my fingers crossed, watching the very first rocket launch, with the very first rocket launch, with the first big piece of the space station, thinking, how, in the world's political climate and all the things that go on, how we could possibly fly this improbable thing, and yet, it has been flying every single day since. and, in a terrific example of the type of international

cooperation we have, when we do things right, it was all hinge in on that first launch, 20 years ago today, i'm delighted it makes sense. it isa today, i'm delighted it makes sense. it is a noted example of collaboration, what would you say to people who say, what has it achieved in scientific terms, what are the main achievements in that area? thousands and thousands of experiments, go to any of the space agency websites to list them all, some huge ones... it's only available to that has been for over available to that has been for over a decade but looking into the very nature of how certain genes behave, salmonella, how the plague is both caused and thwarted, origins of universe, the remnants of the first great, even beyond a supernova, a hyper nova, within the solar system, within our own galaxy, and there is

a huge experiment, mounted on the top, collecting the particles that make up the atom, sub atomic particles, to try to understand the very nature of the universe, and matter its self. in among the thousands of things on the spaceship up thousands of things on the spaceship up there, it has been an amazingly productive labradorian. constant development and maybe even more investment, can it do another 20 yea rs ? investment, can it do another 20 years? —— investment, can it do another 20 years? -- amazingly productive laboratory. yes, it is good for longer, it can go another 20 years, like any old vehicle, it will get more and more maintenance, hopefully, all the things we have invented and tested on the station which are now teaching us about how to live off earth, how to build the equipment which allows us to live off earth, we will take those lessons and go with confidence, further on into the solar system. eventually, living around the moon

and then on the surface and then going even further, the continuation of tens of thousands of human exploration years, enabling technology that something over the uk next week, you can walk outjust around dusk and watch the space station go over around dusk. are you concerned that because of the tensions and diplomatic and political terms, especially between two great powers, russia and america, the kind of collaboration you have been talking about, is less likely in future? what is your view on that? there will always be tension on agendas and shortages, but meanwhile, the face of that, we have been flying the space station in preparation and now in practice for 20 years, with a decade before that of getting ready, we have been working hand in glove with 15

nations of the world, including russia, the united states, every single day, 24 hours a day, for 20 yea rs, single day, 24 hours a day, for 20 years, and that is a difficult thing and yet it is achievable. i think we need counterbalancing examples like that where we rise above the daily muck and show ourselves and everyone what we can actually do. somewhat humbling task of exploring the rest of the universe. not the only thing going on, for me, it is a terrific example of what we can do together when we do things right. a few years ago when we spoke you talked about the privilege and wonder of talking to young people about your experience in the space station, and the kind of excitement and curiosity that young people show, is that still true. these years later, do you still get the same response? more so than ever, i am lucky enough to work with students all the time, iam tied to work with students all the time, i am tied in using skype to talk to classrooms yesterday, all around the

world, and if you getjaded with age, a little bit overwhelmed with the daily onslaught of noise passing as news, then i think it is good to go to as news, then i think it is good to gotoa as news, then i think it is good to go to a grade six classroom, spend time looking at the hopes and dreams and aspirations and desires and refreshing news that is actually our future. we tend to get a little hard and as we get older, but they are just the same as anyone ever was at that age, and they have more opportunity now than ever. so, i think we get a little bit biased, as you get as old as i am, but i am lucky enough to teach at university and work with young people around the world, it is rejuvenating, every single day, and the space station is pointing the way for the type of thing they can do in their lives. as ever, great pleasure to talk to you. my ever, great pleasure to talk to you. my pleasure, and happy birthday to the space station. commander chris

hadfield, thank you to him for contributing. millions of children have enjoyed cbeebies book at bedtime over the years but last week, for the first time, it was told using makaton sign language. six—year—old tom mccartney, who's deaf, watched it with this mother. his reaction was filmed as he understood the story for the first time. he was so excited that she posted the footage online it has since gone viral as our correspondent lorna gordon reports. bedtime story. hello, i'm rob... it's become part of the bedtime routine for many parents and their children but when actor rob delaney recently took on cbeebies storytelling duties, it led to a very special reaction from one young boy. as soon as he saw rob come on and he was using makaton, hejust, yeah, he wasjust so engaged and excited by it. although tom doesn't have any speech, he has a very expressive little face and he uses, he doesn't

just sign, as you can see, but he uses his entire body, as you saw, including standing up in his chair, to be able to get across how excited he was. six—year—old tom has complex medical needs. during one of his trips to hospital, his mum and dad started using makaton sign language to help communicate with their son. there is something like! million people using makaton out there today as we speak to help their communication, ranging from those with learning disabilities, as we saw with tom, but also helping babies to acquire speech, looking at developing wider literacy skills and even working with people with dementia. the young boy's joyful response has been shared thousands of times online. it even caught the attention of the storyteller himself, who said tom's response was beautiful. rob delaney's own links to the language came about after he learned makaton to communicate with his own son, henry, who had been seriously ill with a brain tumour, and who died earlier this year. i'm so glad that it was him

that they chose to do it, i think because he has a personal connection to makaton, with his son, henry, that made it even more specialfor us, knowing what he had been through, and the kind of personal journey with makaton. mum laura said her son's reaction had left her in tears. the family's hope now — that makaton will make it into more children's television, so tom can enjoy more of his favourite programmes in a language he understands. lorna gordon, bbc news, falkirk. the former australian prime ministerjulia gillard has spoken of her shock at the level of sexist abuse she received while in government. she was in power between 2010 and 2013 and was the country's first woman to hold the office. ms gillard, who was confronted by opponents with the slogan "ditch the witch", said she had not been prepared for the abuse she faced. she was speaking to yalda hakim as part of the bbc‘s 100 women series

which asks a hundred influential and inspirational women around the world every year to share their experiences. julia gillard made history when she became the first female prime minister of australia but her time in office was no easy ride, it overshadowed banned was overshadowed by misogynistic and sexist attacks. since leaving office, she has sought to advance women and girls through education. in the special interview i asked her to draw on personal experience, as well as give advice to women globally who are trying to break through their own professional glass ceilings. —— since leaving office she has sought to advance the causes of women and girls through the promotion of education. you were australia's first female prime minister and then since leaving office you said to lot of women who want to go into politics, go for it but you've repeatedly said there is this about that, the misogynist and sexist and bit, don't pretend it isn't there.

were you prepared for the kind of attack she came under? no, i wasn't and i sort of entered into parliament not having really felt in a personal way sexism or misogyny, of course i knew it existed, i was an active feminist at university but i didn't go into a law firm which was overwhelmingly male at the leadership level but even with that i did not really feel i reckon we sexism. so by the time i was prime minister and the sword of gender abuse was flying it did take me back that it could get as bad as that and there was still so much sexism lying under the surface of our society and i think many other societies around the world and went it came to me becoming leader it look through. —— so, by the time i was prime minister and the sort of gendered abuse was flying it did take me back that it could get as bad as that and there was still so much sexism lying under the surface of our society and i think many other societies around the world and went it came to me becoming leader it look through. it was the kind of go—to gender insult that signs outside parliament has seen each which meaning me,

referring to me as a "bitch", the way in which there were pornographic cartoons circulated about me, the incredibly vile and often violent and is set on social media, the fact that much of the imagery that was ruled burma woven around me in parliament and media was gender , that is to say, gendered at its centre, all of that was more than i was expecting. perhaps most famous moment in politics was when you stood up against your opponent tony abbott and called him out for misogyny and sexism you faced in parliament daily, it's had 3 million views, or something like that on youtube. it's gone viral. i will not lectured about sexism and misogyny by this man, i will not! order! and the government will not lectured about sexism and misogyny by this man, not now... do you wish you were remembered for doing something else? yes, and i used to, particularly as i travelled, you would get women who would rush over to talk to you about that speech and that

still happens and there was a period when i was immediately post—politics that i would think to myself... "i was in the parliament for 15 yea rs, "i was deputy prime minister for three, "i was prime minister for three, "we did some incredibly big things nation changing things" and apparently it all comes down to one speech but i am at peace with it now in this sense that i know that speech has come to mean a lot to many women. is there something about your old job that you miss? yes, there are things that i miss, there is no greater capacity to put your values into action than politics and that's one of the reasons that i do talk it up to young women and girls to think about as a career. you get to change, things you care about. prime minister gillard, thank you for your time. thank you very much.

very interesting, julia gillard speaking about her experiences as the first female prime minister of australia. i will be back at 10pm, coming up, the news at six. australia. i will be back at 10pm, coming up, the news at sixlj managed to find a little bit of brightness in among the gloom, some sunshine in western parts, particularly, but for many more, cloud and we have seen some showers. you can see them on the radar picture. where you see you showers turning white, that shows that there is lead and snow mixing in, it has all been brought in this direction on the key easterly wind, heading out and about, thermometer may read three or 4 degrees, 5 degrees, add on the wind, it will feel more like freezing in cardiff, birmingham, plymouth, norwich. chilly start of the evening, stained chilly through the evening, stained chilly through the night as we consider the

strength of the wind, and we will bring areas of rain north and west, and mixed in, sleet and snow over high ground, tops of the pennines, over the scottish mountains, temperatures two to 5 degrees, a little lower than that across the far south—west. into tomorrow morning, this is the rush eight o'clock, you can see this area cloud, patchy rain, still snow over the mountains, working across scotland, blowing in on this cold, raw, easterly wind, across northern ireland, some showers. perhaps a bit of snow over the welsh hills, maybe even some four the moors and tours of the south—west, cluster of heavy downpours here. this will drift into east wales and the west midlands as it goes on. showery rain, snow mixed in over high ground. windy in the north, not as windy as today further south, six to 8 degrees, bit of sunshine through the afternoon,

actually will feel a little bit better, with more clear skies, lighter winds as well, greater chance of overnight frost, you can see the blue on the temperature chart, chilly start to thursday morning. actually, a quieter day than the last couple, lots of cloud and the odd spot of rain, the best of the brightness will be in the we st of the brightness will be in the west and south. temperature wise, eight, 9 degrees, 11 in the far south—west, temperatures nudging up. that is a sign of what is to come, low—pressure, that is a sign of what is to come, low— pressure, and that is a sign of what is to come, low—pressure, and instead of the cold easterly wind at the moment, bringing in more of a southerly wind and not such a strong wind. as we head into the weekend, things will turn a little bit less chilly, rain at times, not all the time. millions of people are now waiting longer for cancer treatments, routine operations and in a&e,

amid warnings the nhs is on the backfoot. one in five local hospital services all over the uk is now consistently failing to meet any of their key waiting time targets and it's taking its toll. i'm very, very frustrated that my mum's not got the quality of life. she can't do anything and, you know, she's just suffering. nhs leaders say the health service is facing a very difficult winter. also tonight: the cabinet meets for the first time, since last week's resignations as the prime minister pushes on with her brexit deal, despite deep divisions in the party. survivors of terror attacks head to downing street to call for more long term support for those who struggle to cope. millions in debt and desperate — now the government plans to give greater legal support to those struggling to keep