this is bbc news. i'm simon mccoy. the headlines at 2.00 — an increase in hospital parking charges. new data suggests four in ten nhs hospitals in england put up their fees in the last year. my friend's mum is dying. i've been in to drop some stuff off. and it has just cost me three quid. britain's most senior police officer says a no—deal brexit would potentially put the public at risk. we would hope that we will have as much as possible of the instruments we currently have, or something very similar, as quickly as possible in order to be able to keep our public safe. the price of a single—use carrier bag in england will double to ten pence, in an effort to reduce plastic use. the defence secretary voices grave concerns about the chinese firm huawei's involvement in upgrading the uk's mobile network. the search continues for the british cruise ship entertainer who's missing after going overboard on christmas day. and later in the hour on bbc news, join us for review 2018, the year in sport.

and what a year it has been. yeah, we had the winter olympics and paralympics in pyeongchang, we've had the european championships, the commonwealth games, and of course the world cup in russia, when many truly believed that football was "coming home". breaking news — a four—wheel drive carrying seven british tourists has crashed while crossing a bridge in iceland, killing three including a child, and critically injuring the others. reports suggest that four other

people were in the vehicle, this is according to icelandic police. we will bring you more on this as we get it. three british tourists confirmed killed, one of them a child, and for others seriously injured. —— four others. any money is that, we will it to you. —— any more on that, we will bring it to you. more than a third of nhs hospitals in england have raised the cost of parking over the past year, with some patients and staff now paying double the price. several trusts have defended the higher costs, saying some or all of the money went back into patient care or maintaining car parks. car park charges have been abolished in wales and most of scotland, but still remain in england and northern ireland. duncan kennedy is in guildford for us. this is an incredibly divisive issue. this is the main hospital in guildford, where it will cost you in a minimum of £4 to park your car here. the hospital says it is not one that has raised its prices this year, it says its money goes to

front line services like nursing. but many other hospitals have raised prices, in fact, four in ten of them in england. hospitals are saying they need the bulk of this money to pay for front line services, but many members of the public we have spoken to do not agree. hospital car parks, a place for health or wealth? that is the question posed by today's figures showing many hospitals have raised their prices over the last year. this one in guildford tops the list in england, one of dozens of hospitals who made a total of over £226 million from parking fees. the hospital here says the money goes to front—line care and maintenance for all of the car parks, but what about visitors? what do you think about the parking charges here? they are expensive but like everywhere else, you have to pay it. the system is complicated and you don't come here through choice. you know this is the most expensive hospital that there is in terms of parking?

yes, typical surrey. 43% of hospitals admitted prices have gone up over the past year for visitors or staff or both. the royal surrey county hospital is already charging for stay of one hour making it the most expensive in england. ——charging £4. the airedale nhs foundation trust in west yorkshire saw the cost of a 24—hour stay more than double to £8, something locals have strong views about. i think it's atrocious. i have been into... my friend's mother is dying, i have been into drop some stuff off, and it has cost me three quid. it does work out expensive — it could be £10 per day. are the charges fair? i don't think so. they should be free because people turning up to the car parks cannot necessarily afford it.

the department of health today said it is very clear that patients, their families and hard—working staff should not be subject to parking charges. the charges have been abolished in most of wales and scotland but they remain in england bringing an additional pain that many people that come into hospital would rather do without. asi as i said, this hospital like many others did not raise prices this year. they say the fees they did raise paid for the equivalent of something like a0 full—time nurses. they also say they have to maintain the car parks, and that also costs money. but i think really, there are three main objections from the public on all of this. first of all, hospital car parking is expensive. secondly, the publics and pleaded not have a choice of the argument to make a visit, they have got to bring their car. and thirdly, there is

this model objection, the idea that you can link health and the paying for car parking. any people find that particularly objectionable, though as i say, many hospitals say at least most of the money goes to front line services. as i said at the top, it is a dilemma for the health service. duncan kennedy, thank you very much. britain's most senior police officer has said a no—deal brexit would be costly for her force and could potentially put the public at risk. the metropolitan police commissioner, cressida dick, said the scenario would be very difficult in the short term as changes are made to databases and the extradition process. we work very closely with our european colleagues through a variety of instruments, legal instruments, at the moment. if we come out without a sort of immediately obvious replacement for those incidents, we will have to work incredibly hard on a bilateral

basis with countries to try to get in place some kind of way of working together. you doing that already? we are already talking to colleagues. is it right that you have a no deal safety deal unit? we have set up an eu coordination unit, absolutely, which is to help local forces to understand how to work most effectively across europe after we exit the eu, under whatever circumstances. of course, we would hope that we will have as much as possible of the instruments we currently have, or something very similar, as quickly as possible, in order to be able to keep our public safe, and at the same sort of cost. so the consequences of not having those things is that we will be less safe ? those things is that we will be less safe? the consequences are that we will have to do place, and if there was a no deal scenario, that would be very difficult to do in the short—term. we will have to replace some of the things we currently use, in terms of access to databases, the

way in which we can quickly arrest and extradite people, these kinds of things. we will have to do place as effectively as we can, which will undoubtedly be more costly, slower and potentially put the public at risk, no doubt about that. but i understand that this is just one risk, no doubt about that. but i understand that this isjust one of many things that the politicians who are deciding what to do next have to think about. but do you have time in the time remaining to do enough bilateral deals, do you think, to make those replaced once properly? we can talk about how they might happen, but whilst so much is unknown, unknown unknowns, nothing can be put in place and it would be improper to do so. but my senior colleagues across policing and i are doing that all the time. dr alison wakefield is chair of the security institute and a criminologist at the university of portsmouth. at the moment, if there is a no—deal brexit, at that moment of departure

from the e0, what do you think the police, the shaqiri forces, would have access to that they did in the moments before? —— the security forces. we would lose the immediate exchange of criminal records, those are the two databases that have been seen as the areas of highest priority. we have got membership, oui’ access priority. we have got membership, our access to the schengen database, which is something that we use regularly as a system of alerts. in terms of preparation for this, i read talking about a pragmatic approach which will get round most of this, or is cressida dick right to be concerned about public safety? i think she is right to be concerned in that this is something she does not have control over. we are talking about uncertainty, and leading it to the politicians. 0bviously leading it to the politicians. obviously we are dealing with an

increasing threat of terrorism, organised crime, cybercrime, and we wa nt to organised crime, cybercrime, and we want to have this cooperation, it is in the interests of both sides. we do not want security to be used as a bargaining chip, so there are obviously arguments from both sides to deal with this as quickly and efficiently as possible. we have put forward proposals for a bespoke treaty that allows us to keep everything that we use. but there is no precedent for that. however, there is no precedent for a country like ours leaving the eu, and the eu losing the expertise that we have. but what we know about the eu, of course, is that its bureaucratic treaties take time, all those countries have to ratify the street is, so for instance, norway and iceland and switzerland have access to the european arrest warrant, but

that took years to agree, and then yea rs that took years to agree, and then years to that took years to agree, and then yea rs to ratify. that took years to agree, and then years to ratify. so we are trying to do something that has not been done before. that phrase bargaining chip, you can understand it when we are talking about trade, political negotiations, but when it comes to security, surely it is in everybody‘s interests that things stay as they are. i would agree with you, but this isjust stay as they are. i would agree with you, but this is just an area of uncertainty. we do we do not know what is happening. i think we can ta ke co mfo rt what is happening. i think we can take comfort in the fact that this is an area of great strength ferguson. —— for britain. we even have our commissioner holding the security portfolio in the european commission. so we have a very important relationship now, but it is up to the politicians who are negotiating the brexit arrangements to get arrangements in place that do

not disrupt the cooperation that we have. and if we are looking at other exa m ples of access have. and if we are looking at other examples of access to european databases, examples of access to european data bases, countries like examples of access to european databases, countries like the united states, they have arrangements, presumably, that we would be looking at in terms of a new relationship if we had to build one. there are existing structures from third countries. we are just asking for something that goes over and above anything that any country currently has. so you could say we are being extremely bold in asking for that. but at the same time, as i said, there has not been a situation before of a country like ours, with such strength in the security side of things, in actually leaving the eu and having to undo an arrangement. so there are some positive reasons to be helpful, but it is just an area of uncertainty. thank you so much real time this afternoon. the 5p cost for single—use plastic carrier bags in england will be doubled to 10p,

and will extend to all shops, under plans set out by the environment secretary. the change is contained in a government consultation aimed at further reducing the plastic used by consumers, and could come into effect in january 2020. smaller retailers, who are exempt from the current levy, supply an estimated 3.6 billion single—use bags annually. earlier i spoke to our business correspondent theo legget on this subject and began by asking how effective the original 5p charges have been. the charges were not popular but have proved effective. the government says that 15 billion plastic bags have been taken out of circulation as a result. and looking just at the big supermarkets, they say the number of bags they have been handing out has gone down by 85%. so it has made a substantial impact. and now the government says it wants to go a step further. this may be partly because there is a lot more awareness of how much harm

plastics do to the environment as a result of programmes like blue planet ii, for example. but there is an increase of awareness, so now the government wants to increase the charge to 10p, and also expanded to cover small retailers, because in england, small retailers did not have to implement that charge at the moment, which means that 3.6 billion bags are being handed out by small retailers alone. so these proposals would cover that as well. the defence secretary has reportedly said he has "very deep concerns" about the chinese firm huawei's involvement in upgrading the uk's mobile network. australia, new zealand and the us have restricted use of huawei technology in 5g mobile networks, and mr williamson said the uk would look at their example. 0ur defence correspondentjonathan marcus says there are fears about the company's possible involvement in espionage. there could be ways in which chinese

espionage agencies could siphon off harvest huge amounts of data. that is the principal concern, notjust words, it is also actions, companies such as btl this month, pulling a lot of huawei equipment from a planned emergency communications network for the police and other emergency services. as you mentioned, other countries have concerns, too. and if you look at this in the round, there is an element, china's dominance in the international telecommunications market, it has very advanced technology, it is part and parcel of china's rise to global prominence. china's rise to global prominence. china is a country with which the world is good to have to content, not just world is good to have to content, notjust in marketplaces, but in strategic issues as well. and i hate to bring in brexit, but it is a factor they are, too, britain trying to do trade deals with china, but also kind of keep some of its

technology at arm's reach. it is going to be a very difficult and problematic thing. a man has been killed following an explosion which destroyed a house in hampshire. the blast happened in the early hours of this morning in andover, police and firefighters said. rescuers are continuing to search the area, and a number of neighbouring properties have been evacuated. police are investigating after a double decker bus crashed into a house in south london. the bus, travelling between morden and brixton, ploughed through a fence and hit the building on streatham vale late last night. three people have been treated for minor injuries. police say no—one has been arrested, but they're continuing to investigate the circumstances behind the crash. the headlines on bbc news — three british tourists — including a child — are killed in iceland. four others are critically injured. new data suggests four in ten nhs hospitals in and have increased parking charges in the last year.

britain's most senior police officer says a no—deal brexit would potentially put the public at risk. in the past year, a new law tightening controls over sexual behaviour was passed in france, but only when plans to introduce an age of consent were dropped. sex with someone under 15 is illegal, but a child's supposed consent carries weight in court. there've been several high—profile cases, leading some to argue that french culture encourages predatory sexual behaviour. lucy williamson reports from paris. designer looks much the same at any age in every park on every bench. sex with somebody under 15 is illegal in france, but unlike in britain, there is no age of consent. last year, britain, there is no age of consent. last yea r, state britain, there is no age of consent. last year, state prosecutors refused to charge a 29—year—old man with rape after he had sex with an ii—year—old rape after he had sex with an 11—year—old girl, arguing that the girl's consent pointed to a less

serious charge of sexual assault. another man was cleared of rape after having sex with an 11—year—old girl he had met in a park. she then became pregnant. the court ruled that she, too, had consented. from the age of 13, sabine's daughter stephanie had a long—running sexual relationship with her 58—year—old pe teacher. error this year, relationship with her 58—year—old pe teacher. errorthis year, he relationship with her 58—year—old pe teacher. error this year, he had received a six—month jail sentence with a further 18 months suspended, though he is unlikely to actually serve any time behind bars. translation: i thought it was outrageous. the headteacher at the school described it as a love story, which i found revolting. but to hear the same thing from a prosecutor and for that to be by the judges, the same thing from a prosecutor and for that to be by thejudges, that is more scandalous. the trial was a miscarriage of justice. is more scandalous. the trial was a miscarriage ofjustice. cases like these have sparked demands for change. earlier this year, the french parliament toughened the law around underage sex, increasing the maximum penalty to ten years in

jail. but the plan to introduce an age of consent was dropped. labelling sex with under 15 is as statutory rape, some felt, would devalue genuine relationships. translation: our president and his wife when he met was very young. —— met when he was very young. we have a duty to protect our model of a traditional relationship. a lot of jobs for people of different ages together. these age differences are the fabric of our society, and it is wonderful. we are not all going to marry people who are the same age as oui’s. marry people who are the same age as ours. the story of how the french president met his wife hangs over the current debate in france. president macron's wife was originally his drama teacher, a married mother of three, and the story of how he won her heart against all odds is to some a sign of french openness to love. to others, an exception that normalises teacher— pupil relationships. desire

in france has long been something to be celebrated by the individual, not controlled by the state. but a year on from the #metoo movement, the goal of a new generation is not to guarantee more to this it when it comes to seduction, but for equality and respect. a search is taking place for a british cruise ship entertainer, who went overboard in the caribbean on christmas day. the us coastguard was alerted after 20—year—old arron huff failed to turn up for his shift on harmony of the seas, where he'd been performing in a musical. monika plaha reports. it's one of the world's largest cruise ships, longer than the eiffel tower, with the ability to carry 8,000 passengers. one of them was 20—year—old dance and musical theatre graduate arron hough, who was working on board the harmony of the seas before he went missing on christmas day. injuly, arron's talent agency tweeted that he would be joining the cast of grease: the musical. harmony of the seas is currently

sailing on a seven night itinerary, which departed from florida last sunday. the ship was 267 miles north—west of aguadilla, puerto rico, at the time arron went overboard and is due to call at haiti before returning back to florida. a spokesperson for the ship's operator, the royal caribbean, said that after a review of the ship's camera footage, arron was seen entering an area on deck five at around aam. and wasn't seen again. they say their team is providing support for arron's family and friends through this difficult time. the harmony of the seas will complete its scheduled itinerary as the us coastguard continues to lead the search. the foreign office say they are providing assistance to arron's family. monika plaha, bbc news. another nine people have been handed over to immigration officials

in kent after crossing the channel from northern france. two lifeboats and the coastguard helicopter were launched shortly after midnight to intercept two small boats. the french authorities say they intercepted another group trying to reach the uk in an inflatable boat. president trump and first lady melania trump have arrived back in the us after their unannounced christmas visit to troops in iraq. it was the president's first visit to the region, and he used it to defend his decision to withdraw us forces from syria. he said he had no plans to pull troops out of iraq. earlier this month, his defence secretary, jim mattis, quit over mr trump's strategy in the region. earlier i spoke to cbs correpsondent tom hanson in new york, who explained that this visit by donald trump seems to have been well received. this was a surprise trip which caught many people off guard. it caught many people off guard. it caught washington off—guard as well.

president trump made a speech, he made it clear he wants to put an end to broad scale us involvement overseas. he said that america should not be doing the fighting for every nation on earth. given the trip, he took selfie ‘s and signed autographs with people, soldiers who are serving in iraq. so overall, a warm reception, a smooth trip, and something that was completely secret and completely caught the united states off—guard. the population and people in washington. this decision to pull us troops out of syria, how do troops respond to that? because many of them will feel, that is our job and that is what we do. certainly a mixed reaction. 0n job and that is what we do. certainly a mixed reaction. on one end, pulling troops out of any sort of words is viewed as favourably by the united states population. but also, it provides a very complicated

kind of situation on the ground when it comes to off—loading whatever government you're talking about. pulling out troops from syria, president trump did say that he would maintain a troop presence in neighbouring iraq, which allows them a chance to head share the surveyor —— to hedge if the situation in syria deteriorates. it also allowed the president to claim victory over isis within seven, if he takes as a big victory. —— within seven, which he takes. but james big victory. —— within seven, which he takes. butjames maddison steps down over this, so there are a lot of military personnel who do not necessarily agree with the troop removal and do not think that syria is able to fend for itself when it comes to the fight against islamic

say. a four—wheel drive carrying seven british tourists has crashed while crossing a bridge in iceland, killing three including a child, and critically injuring the others. we're joined now by adolf ingi erlingsson, a tour guide who arrived at the scene shortly after the crash occurred. where did this happen? in the south of iceland, along a main road. it is bya of iceland, along a main road. it is by a river, about half an hour east of the town on the map. this is a one track bridge, and it crashed through the villains? —— railings. yes, very strange, but the driver

must have lost control of the car and went through the railings, and crashed down onto the bank, which is kind of sandy, there is no river, so it was not submerged in water or anything, just landed there on a sandy bottom and flipped over. it was total destroyed. sandy bottom and flipped over. it was total destroyedlj sandy bottom and flipped over. it was total destroyed. i don't know how soon after it happened you got there, but there was obviously some sort of rescue operation to get those out who had been injured. just before i arrived at the scene, i was overta ken before i arrived at the scene, i was ove rta ke n by before i arrived at the scene, i was overtaken by a police car with flashing blue lights, high—speed, and there were two police cars when i got there. i got out of my van and went to see if i could help. there we re went to see if i could help. there were just two police officers and me to begin with. we were trying to

assess the situation, find out who was alive and who could help, and so on, and try to get people out of the car. very difficult, and i appreciate you talking about it now, on the happening a few hours ago. how difficult was it to get the people out? how far down from the bridge was it where it came to rest? the fold from the bridge that estimate is something like five or six metres. so about 15 or 20 feet. the car was a total wreck. when i got there, four people were out of the car, one of them deceased, and then there were three people trapped in the car. i think two of them were deceased, the driver was alive, and

trapped more or less under the dashboard. i could not see his face, but we will try to get the people out of the car and help them. it was a very difficult situation. we understand that we took about seven british people. were they able to talk? did you talk to any of them? yes, outside of the car, there was one adult and two children, semiconscious. i talked a little bit to the adult, and then i tried to talk a bit to the driver and calm him down. as i say, he was trapped inside the car, i was trying to tell him to save his energy and try to be patient, we would try to get him out of there. and to give you no indication as to what had happened, why the car had, the road? no. is

this a popular tourist area? yes, this a popular tourist area? yes, this is the most popular tourist area. this road leads to, amongst other things, the glacial lagoon where i am right now. and my guess is they were on the way here. this is they were on the way here. this is they were on the way here. this is the most popular destination on the south coast, so probably they we re the south coast, so probably they were on their way here. a horrible thing for you to see, and clearly did everything you could for those that were still alive. yes, of course. we just that were still alive. yes, of course. wejust did that were still alive. yes, of course. we just did what we could, and then more risky people came —— rescue people, and when i had been there for about half an hour, there we re there for about half an hour, there were enough rescue people and professionals there, so i left at that stage. but then they were starting to cut the carbon and try to get the driver out. we had turned

the car over a bit, soon after i arrived, we had a winch and we used it to sort of like the carpet little bit to alleviate the pressure on the driver and try to get him out. and we will —— they were just continuing with that work when i left. presumably with an incident like this everybody will be in shock. of course. the road is closed and it has been since the accident and it will be presumably for a couple of hours more and i know they had two helicopters flying in