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 up with repayments. hello, i'm rob. and the wonderful reaction from this 6—year—old deaf boy as cbeebies bedtime story is told

using a form of sign language for the first time. all of a sudden, his face lit up and as soon as he saw rob coming on and using makaton, he was just so engaged and excited by it. and coming up on bbc news... crunch time for scotland — they take on israel in a nations league decider at hampden tonight. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. millions of people all over the uk are having to wait longer than they should for crucial treatment for cancer, for routine operations and to be seen in a&e. for the first time, every part of the uk has missed its key targets for a whole year, according to analysis by bbc news. out of 157 hospital trusts

and boards in england, wales, northern ireland and scotland, 29 have not hit a single target for a whole year. those targets are a maxiumum four—hour waiting time at a&e and waiting times for routine operations and cancer treatments. the government insists the health service is ready for winter, but the royal college of nursing says the nhs is going into its most challenging period "on the back foot". here's our health editor hugh pym. maria, who is 84, is in constant pain because of swollen feet and ankles. she's endured constant delayed nhs appointments. in august her daughter told me what they were going through. you just can't get through to people, it is answer phones, you are just banging your head against a brick wall most of the time. but now, after eight months, it's still not resolved.

one appointment was cancelled, apparently because of a lack of medical staff. i'm very, very frustrated that my mum has not got the quality—of—life. she can't do anything and she's just suffering. and i don't like to see anybody suffer, and i don't see why she should be suffering all this time. suman works in intensive care and is also a representative of the royal college of nursing, which has done a report warning that the nhs has been so stretched in recent months, there could be serious problems ahead. we are really concerned that because we've had quite a bad winter last year, and we've not really had much respite in the summer months, and we are now heading into winter. this is the concern that we have. and the reason is that the workforce is a key issue for nursing in particular, so we have 42,000 nurses vacant posts in england, alone. on the three key waiting time targets, a&e, routine operations and cancer treatment, 16 out of 131 trusts in england

missed everyone over the year, and in northern ireland it was every one in five, and in scotland, three out of 14 boards missed the targets. in wales, five out of seven. some hospitals did meet most of their targets over the whole year like north tees and hartlepool. managers say they are constantly looking at ways to improve things, for example, putting on extra clinics of there are surges in patient referrals. so is hitting the target achievable? at senior levels of the nhs in england there is now a review under way to see if the targets might be rewritten to reflect the different ways patients are treated. ministers have said they will look seriously at any proposals that nhs leaders come up with. and some health experts agree there is a case for looking at how hospital performance is measured. i do see a case for revisiting some of these targets. medicine moves on. are we getting the best out of them? what i don't see a case for is simply saying, well, because hardly anybody is meeting the targets, we should

abandon them. i think what we needs is a proper analysis of why that is. the department of health covering england said more patients were being treated and there was a long—term funding plan. the scottish and welsh governments have launched plans to speed up progress. nhs leaders in northern ireland conceded waiting times were unacceptable. carol's mother is still waiting, after eight months, meaning more pain and frustration that the system is letting her down. and hughjoins me now. very difficult for patients, demoralising for staff. if the nhs can't meet these targets, why not just change them? the targets are there for a reason, principally to reassure patients they won't have to wait weeks and weeks for routine surgery wait weeks and weeks for routine surgery in pain or hours and hours in a&e, waiting to be seen. they are there to hold hospitals to account but as we have heard, the nhs has not delivered at national level at all in the last year. although governments say that's partly because there are more and more

patients coming into hospitals and they are still being seen. nhs england is looking at seriously proposing a review of these targets, coming up with something they think is more realistic, reflecting different ways people go through a&e. but it will look as if they can't hit the target so they are coming up with something easier, politically very difficult, it will look like changing the goalposts. it will be a difficult decision for ministers as to whether or not to go along with this proposal or actually say the targets are there for a reason, even if they appear to be unachievable at the moment. thank you. if you'd like to find out how your local services are performing, you can find out using the bbc‘s nhs tracker at bbc. co. uk/nhstracker. the prime minister's chaired the first meeting of her new cabinet since a series of ministerial resignations last week. they met as theresa may appears to have seen off attempts by backbenchers to mount an immediate vote of no confidence in her leadership. but her critics in the conservative party and her allies

in the democratic unionist party warning that they will not vote for her brexit deal when it comes to parliament, expected in a few weeks' time. our political editor, laura kuenssberg reports. downing street can probablyjust about rely on the cat. at least as long as it gets let back in out of the rain. for a long as it gets let back in out of the rain. fora moment, it long as it gets let back in out of the rain. for a moment, it seemed even relations with the chief mouse catcher had broken down. beyond that, theresa may is suddenly looking for friends. can you get this deal through? a restless cabinet, the chief whip, though, firmly onside. she'll get the deal done and in a few weeks' time, i've got a job to do in parliament. but hisjob, all theirjobs, is enormous in an atmosphere that is far from friendly, when the government's official allies, whose votes it desperately needs, they are now phones instead. we will be voting along with many others in the conservative party and the opposition parties against it. ——

now foes. these are united remain as and leave it in the conservative party, that is how bad it is. it was hardly good morning to theresa may from this man. good morning! once he had found his brolly, jacob rees—mogg, the leader of the eurosceptics had this to say. rees—mogg, the leader of the eurosceptics had this to saym rees—mogg, the leader of the eurosceptics had this to say. it is very ha rd eurosceptics had this to say. it is very hard to find anybody who wishes to see theresa may remain leader of the party at the next general election. although while he was able to put together a press conference to put together a press conference to talk about customs, he's not so far been able to get together support to oust the pm. if you can't persuade 47 of your colleagues to write letters in the way that you have to try to concede the prime minister, why should the public think that you got the first idea of how to organise brexit? actually what we are seeing from the government is a deliberate decision not to deliver a proper brexit. as for letters, patience is a virtue and virtue is a grace, etc, we shall see whether letters come in due time. five days, though, since they created a frenzy by calling for a

vote of no—confidence. is the brexiteers power now in doubt? you have a reputation of being a fearsome organiser. with respect, do you feel daft? i don't at all. this group has a talent for causing a fuss but less ability it seems to sweep the prime minister from office. they are not enthusiastic about theresa may's deal but it's ha rd to about theresa may's deal but it's hard to find anyone who is. the first minister was in westminster‘s corridors of power today, trying to create a coalition of opposition. the snp, plaid, the lib dems and labour all hate the prime minister's deal. can they find a common cause instead ? deal. can they find a common cause instead? we are fairly certain that there is a majority against the deal, there is certainly a majority against no deal in the house of commons and that takes us so far but it only takes so far. it's now really important that we work together to come up with an alternative. is there a building sense among the talks you have had of something you could gather round? another referendum for example? of something you could gather round? another referendum for example ?|j

think it is possible and we are starting to see the momentum grow behind that. but mps wondering how to vote and the rest of us wondering what to think. we'll hear plenty of these warnings about no deal. this would be a large negative shock to the economy, no deal, no transition. we should be in no doubt about that. the referendum itself was a shock to most of westminster‘s system but right now the prime minister can only hope her deal won't turn into a nasty surprise. laura kuenssberg, bbc news. a father broke down in tears in court today as he denied he had anything to do with the death of his young daughter and her friend 32 years ago. barrie fellows was called to give evidence in the second trial of russell bishop for the murders of nine—year—olds nicola fellows and karen hadaway. the children disappeared while playing near their home in sussex in 1986. daniela relph reports from the old bailey. barrie fellows arrived at court knowing he'd face difficult questions about his daughter's death and his relationship with her. nicola fellows was nine years

old when she was murdered in 1986. earlier in this trial, the defence told jurors that barrie fellows was involved in the sexual abuse and murder of his own daughter. today, he got his chance to reply. barrie fellows was asked by the defence barrister if he had been complicit in the sexual abuse of his daughter and if he had had anything to do with her murder. he replied firmly, "no". barrie fellows then broke down in tears, as he described identifying his daughter's body. as he did so, he told thejury that he placed 50p in her hand, which would have been nicola's pocket money that week. russell bishop, an acquaintance of both girls‘ families, denies murdering the nine—year—olds. barrie fellows today told the court, in october the court, in october 1986 his daughter, nicola, and her friend, karen, had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

daniela relph, bbc news, at the old bailey. the commissioner of the metropolitan police, cressida dick, has said she's appalled by a video, which was shared on social media, showing police officers being attacked in south london. the footage, taken in merton on saturday, shows a man kicking a female police officer. her colleague is then dragged across the road, as he tries to stop a suspect. a warning, this report from our special correspondent, lucy manning, contains footage some people may find disturbing. everybody‘s fighting, look. they've got him. saturday evening, south london, and two police officers stop a car and are then attacked. a flying kick knocking the policewoman to the ground. oh, dear me! just kung fu kicked her! in the head! as she lies in the road, the man filming this appears to find it entertaining. look! i'm getting this all live. i'm getting this live, boys and girls! some people do eventually assist the officers, but those representing the police now say the public needs to think about stopping

the filming to start helping. i'd like the public to intervene if they want to, to ask the individuals to stop behaving in the way they are. to ask the police if they're ok. but not to film us and put it out in the media circles they are doing. just last night, at st pancras station, another policewoman attacked. there was a confrontation. one of these individuals head—butted a member of my staff who was just back from maternity leave. she suffered a cracked tooth. both individuals were arrested. sometimes, mobile phone pictures can help police investigations, but not the way the latest video was taken. i was shocked. i thought it was sickening to see the violence that my officers were subjected to. i was honestly appalled that someone should be filming that and laughing about it. so, should the public intervene? it depends on the circumstances, and it depends on who you are, how fit and able you feel,

and what in fact is unfolding in front of your eyes. and i would encourage people to be involved. the law has been tightened to try and protect the police. just a few months ago, the maximum sentence was doubled, so anyone assaulting a police officer, or any a police officer, or any emergency worker, can now face a year in prison rather than six months. the officers in this video were left very shaken with cuts and bruises. lucy manning, bbc news. the time is 6:15 pm. our top story this evening. one in five local hospital services all over the uk is now consistently failing to meet any of their key waiting time targets. and still to come: there were two in the bed. and the little one said. find out why six—year—old tom got so excited while watching children's television. coming up on sportsday on bbc news. find out why six—year—old tom got so excited while watching a four—year ban for british olympic

sprinter nigel levine — punishment for taking a banned asthma drug. if you're caught up in a terror attack and survive it, what impact can it have on you long term and how much help is out there for those who struggle? tomorrow, survivors will travel to downing street, to hand over the results of the first ever nationwide survey of victims. it paints a picture of a strong first response from emergency services, but a severe lack of support later on. out of almost 300 people who responded to the survey, only 16% said the immediate response from emergency services needed improvement. but 76% said that longer term, mental health services weren't good enough. and more than half of mental health services for survivors needed to improve dramatically. judith moritz has been to talking to some of those trying to come to terms with terror. when terror strikes,

there's a rush to rescue. attacks have killed, maimed and wounded, but there are thousands whose injuries are invisible. that's a happy darren, that. people like darren. he used to enjoy going to the football with his son. but now, i'd be different, because of the anxiety and anxiousness. darren went into the lobby at manchester arena when the bomb exploded. now he has post—traumatic stress disorder, or ptsd. he says he's not had enough help. nobody can see any injuries on me. because i physically don't have them. mentally, i've got hundreds. i get people saying, come on, darren, it's 17 months ago, get over it. what's been the lowest point for you? not wanting to be here. that's very bleak. yeah. in manchester, a special screening programme was set up to identify people who needed help, but counselling treatment is offered by individual nhs trusts.

there's no uk wide arrangement for the mental health response to terror attacks. david foulkes was 22 when he was killed in the 7/7 london bombings. his father graham now campaigns for terror victims. he says guidelines on making help available quickly enough are not being followed. i've been overwhelmed by stories of people from 7/7, bataclan, tunisia and london, who have been left feeling suicidal, isolated and without support and help. we don't seem to have a national plan. learn anything from the previous attack. we don't seem to have a system that says, oh, my gosh, we have had an attack, this is what we do. bonfire night has been around, and the fireworks have been very triggering. some of them sound exactly like the bomb sounded on the night. 15—year—old natalie harrison was at manchester arena with her

mum, valerie. they have both found it very difficult to get enough nhs counselling. val‘s sessions were stopped after seven weeks and natalie is on a waiting list. i want to open up to someone and i feel like i am being stopped from doing that. i need it now rather than in eight months‘ time. don't hesitate to call us again if you need it. with nhs services stretched, charities like victim support are stepping up. their helpline was extended to 2a hours a day after last year's terror attacks. we were still taking calls for westminster when the manchester arena event happened. since then we have really never had the opportunity to pull back our hours, and don't now intend to, because we recognise the need for immediate emotional support. in manchester, the nhs resilience hub, which screens arena victims for mental health care, says they are aware of problems around the country. i think there is variability in the offer nationally.

we have seen it ourselves, but we would encourage people to contact the resilience hub, because we are able to facilitate quicker access. a government spokesman said some rate the support is highly unable work with victims to assure support in future is swift and coordinated. a suicide bomb attack on a meeting of religious leaders in the afghan capital kabul has killed at least a0 people. dozens of others were wounded when the blast went off at the gathering of muslim clerics, who were marking the birthday of the prophet muhammad. no group has yet claimed it was behind the explosion. president donald trump has said that the united states intends to remain a "steadfast partner" of saudi arabia even though he said "it could very well be" that saudi's crown prince, mohammed bin salman, had knowledge of the killing of the journalist jamal khashoggi. he said the us intelligence agencies are continuing to assess the case, although the full story may never be known.

our washington correspondent, chris buckler, joins us from the white house. a long statement that starts with the world is a very dangerous place, so why is he standing by saudi arabia? amid reports that the cia has concluded that mahamed builds album ordered the murder of jamal khashoggi, many will find it a remarkable statement. president trump says it might be that the crown prince knew what was planned and maybe he did or didn't, but no matter what he says, america intends to stand by saudi arabia and part of the explanation for that is down to the explanation for that is down to the hundreds of billions of dollars of goods and arms the country intends to buy. what is all so shocking in the statement and what people will find shocking is that at one stage some in saudi arabia regarded jamal khashoggi as an enemy

of the state. he goes on to say that this was an indefensible and terrible crime but it gives you a sense of donald trump wanting american interests first above global concerns and he even ends the state m e nts global concerns and he even ends the statements with the words america first. the bbc has launched a consultation on the future of tv licences for people over 75. in 2020, the corporation takes over funding of the licence fee, at an estimated cost of £745 million a year. the bbc says maintaining the exemption for older viewers could cost around a fifth of the bbc‘s budget and would impact programme making. millions are thought to be struggling with debt in the uk — every month spending more than they earn. now the government is planning to give people in financial difficulties greater support by introducing legal protection from creditors for two months while they sort out their finances. our consumer affairs correspondent colletta smith has been looking into how the new breathing space scheme might work. four years ago, denise had to leave herjob

because of a knee operation. on sick pay, she just could not keep up with her bills. it's horrible. you don't sleep, because you're frightened of somebody coming to the door of a night, and the slightest noise you hear, you justjump. if you‘d been given two months‘ breathing space, what kind of difference would it have made? a big, big difference. i wouldn‘t have been as isolated, i don‘t think. but with the help, that breathing space, you think, i can get out of that, i can open my curtains again, i can answer my door, i can answer my phone and just try to get a normal life back together. grab a seat. denise is now debt free after getting help from the charity christians against poverty. they are delighted with the government‘s new plans but want debts to local councils and the taxman included. often it‘s these debts that have some of the more aggressive collection

procedures, so to know that you won‘t be chased for the credit cards you own and the overdrafts you own for a 60— day period, and maybe the council tax debts and also inland revenue debts, the whole thing needs to be in place for it to be truly breathing space. lots of people are in significant financial trouble. in fact, 4 million people in the uk aren‘t keeping up with regular payments of their debts. and at christmas, it‘s a particularly difficult time when there is more and more pressure to spend. there‘s already a similar scheme running in scotland called a debt arrangement scheme, but charities there want to do more. westminster are introducing a 60—day period and we more than welcome that because it‘s longer than it is scotland and we would welcome the ability to extend that, so that people can continue with their protections from the breathing space period over to the statutory debt management plan. denise hopes others will be helped too. the relief, it was like a boulder had been lifted

off my shoulders. the debts won‘t go away but two months might be enough to give thousands of others that crucial gulp of air. coletta smith, bbc news.? millions of children have enjoyed cbeebies‘ book at bedtime over the years, but last week, for the first time, a story was told using makaton, an alternative to conventional sign language. it caught the attention of six—year—old tom mccartney, who‘s deaf, when he watched it with his mother. lorna gordon has more. 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. for many people, it's their bread—and—butter and their language. that is what they use to understand and be understood. and actually it enables them to access communities and enables them to access life and have that ability to have that independence, to be understood, as you and i would. 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 a tracheotomy while 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. time for a look at the weather. here‘s ben rich. and that has made it into the weather and the warning sign you need today from makaton is this one, the cold, and it has been cold across the country and pretty gloomy and that was how it looked in the middle of london earlier today. a lot of cloud streaming in from the east, cold easterly winds bringing outbreaks of showery rain and not just rain as some of it has turned

wintry in places with sleet and the odd flake of snow mixed in. this area of rain and hill snow continues to drift north west accompanied by cold, brisk easterly winds. temperature wise, between two and 5 degrees but across the far south—west we could get cold enough for a touch of frost. the south—west could seek hefty showers with hail and under drifting into east wales and under drifting into east wales and the west midlands. northern ireland and scotland contending with the cloud and patchy rain and snow over the high ground but the many, down towards the south and the east, drying up and lighter winds in the south so it will feel a little bit better and the wind will ease further north in the early hours of thursday morning. so we are likely to start thursday on a very chilly note with a widespread frost but after the cold start it is a quieter day with a fair amount of dry weather, fair amount of cloud which might be thick enough to produce the

odd spot of rain and those temperatures, you have to squint to make it out but they are just starting to nudge upwards and that isa starting to nudge upwards and that is a process that will continue as we head toward the end of the week. low— pressure we head toward the end of the week. low—pressure spinning down to the south bringing us more southerly wind instead of the cold easterly from the last few days, so the weekend a bit less cold, some rain at times. that‘s all from the bbc news at six. so it‘s goodbye from me, and on bbc 1, we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. imight go i might go and get an umbrella. good evening. latest headlines: the first cabinet meeting has taken place since last week ‘s resignations over brexit, the prime minister prepares for more talks in brussels. president trump says the united states wants to stand by saudi arabia, even if the saudi brown prince mohammad bin salman knew about the killing of the

journalist jamal khashoggi. a judge blocked the us president‘s donald trump executive order barring the legal in from claiming asylum as a migrant caravan reaches the mexican city of tijuana. —— a judge locks the us president donald trump‘s executive order. coming up in a moment, sportsday, but first, a quick look at what else we have for you: we will be watching parliament closely tonight, two the budget votes this