this is bbc news. i'm shaun ley. the headlines at eleven: no ships and now no contract — the government cancels a controversial agreement for extra ferries in case of a no—deal brexit. new allegations of sexual and racial harassment by former employees of the retail tycoon, sir philip green are published — he denies any crime or misconduct. counting the cost of knife crime — the number of young victims admitted to hospitals in england has risen by more than 50 per cent in five years. also coming up — we'll look ahead to another day of six nations matches. scotland will be hoping to build on their victory against italy as they host ireland at murrayfield. and coming up on dateline london — we'll discuss what the state of the union address told us about president trump's next intentions. the department for transport has cancelled a controversial

contract awarded to a firm with no ships to provide ferry services in the event of a no—deal brexit. the deal has been torn—up because one of seaborne ferries‘ main backers has pulled out. labour has described the situation as a ‘national embarrassment‘ and demanded the transport secretary, chris grayling, resigns. the government says it is already in advanced talks with a number of companies to secure additional freight capacity in the event of a no—deal. with me now is our news correspondent simonjones. simon, seaborne no more? simon, seaborne no more7m simon, seaborne no more? it was a company that had no fairies and had never operated any, operating out of ramsgate, which did not operate as a port for several years. they were

going to sail to ostend, who said they weren't ready to receive ferries. the government insisted this service would be ready by brexit, and the idea was this could be used if there were problems between dover and calais, but things have changed dramatically overnight. the department for transport says that seaborne ferries was backed by an irish firm with a decent track record. they had confidence in that irish firm. but they had made the contract with the other firm? they knew this irish firm was behind it. the firm from ireland had been working to try and establish this route from ramsgate to ostend even before any talk of brexit contingency plans. we have heard overnight that the irish firm has backed away from the deal and the government has admitted it no longer has any confidence that seaborne ferries could get this service up and running by brexit day. which ta kes and running by brexit day. which takes us back to dover — calais.

and running by brexit day. which takes us back to dover — calaism france decides to increase checks after brexit, there could be miles of tailbacks, so the government has been looking at what alternative routes could be used, so they had this idea of using the port of ramsgate, but the local council were saying it would need hundreds of thousands of pounds to make the scheme viable to get ramsgate up and running again as a proper ferry port, and there has been a huge amount of political reaction. from the time when this was announced just after christmas, people were saying, what is chris grayling doing? he said at the time, and i remember this in an interview, i make no apologies for backing a new british business. he presumably will remain bullish about this. it was a new company trying to set up, we gave them support, in the end they couldn't deliver, so we will look for something else. a british firm but backed by irish cash in this case. chris grayling is facing calls

for his resignation, but it is being pointed out that due diligence was done and that the irish firm does have a track record. when the irish firm said they would not put in money any more, that effectively ended this deal. it depends what the explanation is for pulling the plug in this way. we haven't heard from them orfrom in this way. we haven't heard from them or from seaborne in this way. we haven't heard from them orfrom seaborne freight. we have tried to contact both this morning. the department for transport are keen to point out that no government cash has been handed over to seaborne freight. the deal was, when you get these ferries up and running at various stages, you will get money. the deal was for £14 million, which is why eyebrows were raised, given their track record as a company. they are not closing the door on using ramsgate in the

future. if another ferry company, perhaps one with a better track record, came forward, that could still be an option. getting that up and running in the next few weeks is pretty unlikely. i spoke to the shadow transport secretary, labour's andy mcdonald, who said he was disappointed but not surprised at the news. the due diligence process that we we re the due diligence process that we were told about was clearly in tatters, totally and utterly deficient. i do ask, what on earth has chris grayling got to do before he is sacked? this is, yet again, another episode in a long catalogue of catastrophes on his watch, and this is quite ridiculous. it isjust that a weakened prime minister hasn't the ability to sack one of the very few friends she has in government. but this is a national embarrassment. it's not as if we are saying it now. we were saying for months that this would not work. we said when this first raised its head

some months ago that this would not work. and that has been proved to be right. he didn't even think to communicate with ramsgate itself and find out if it was doable, and he has been banned from calais, and i think he should be banned from the department for transport because he is keeping humiliation upon humiliation for our country and it is time for him to go. you would presumably be pressing this case in the house of commons next week, but in the meantime, the issue is one of ensuring that there is some kind of deal on brexit. this potential crisis we are talking about, it is in labour's hands to sort this because if you gave theresa may your votes, she could get this through the house of commons and there would be no issue of extra controls being imposed at dover. and that is why jeremy corbyn wrote to theresa may and set out very clearly a very

rational, coherent plan to secure a deal with the eu, and you have heard the noises from brussels that they see a great deal of merit in what is being said. conservative mps, nick bowles and others, have said that this is the basis for a sensible discussion. so, if she removes her red lines and starts to try to garner a consensus in the house of commons, it is there for her, and she should be doing that right now instead of digging her heels in and telling the world that nothing has changed. is there a danger that your rhetoric about chris grayling and this seaborne freight contract might put off other companies from wanting to be involved ? put off other companies from wanting to be involved? i don't think there's anything i could say that could damage chris grayling's reputation any more. this is a national embarrassment for us and people will not have confidence in us asa people will not have confidence in us as a nation. he should be looking at alternatives, if necessary. there

is capacity elsewhere, harwich amongst others, so why on earth is he not having conversations where there is the ability to take roll on ferries and i'm afraid that due diligence lies in tatters. a former executive at sir philip green's arcadia group was paid more than £1 million after accusing him of groping her, according to new claims in the daily telegraph. the newspaper says several other former employees received six—figure payments after alleging inappropriate behaviour. sir philip categorically denies he is guilty of any unlawful sexual or racist behaviour. caroline rigby reports. sir philip green, the boss of topshop, is one of britain's best—known businessmen. yesterday, a judge allowed him to drop his injunction against the daily telegraph after a legal battle lasting six months. today, more claims about his conduct appear in the newspaper. the telegraph says one senior female executive

at sir philip green's arcadia group was paid more than £1 million after he called her "a naughty girl", slapped on the bottom, and groped her. another executive, who's black, received around £1 million after sir philip allegedly made derogatory remarks about his dreadlocks and told him he was "still throwing spears in thejungle", the paper claims. the paper says two other women received 6—figure pay—outs after complaining of inappropriate behaviour. the telegraph still hasn't named the five complainants, who are still bound by nondisclosure agreements or ndas. it claims some of the events were witnessed by other staff and reported to hr. sir philip has accused the newspaper of pursuing a vendetta against him and his employees, as well as harassing staff. he denies any of his behaviour amounted to any kind of crime or misconduct. caroline rigby, bbc news.

earlier, i spoke to an expert in ndas — mark stephens, from the howard kennedy lawfirm — who explained what ndas are and how he thinks they should be regulated. their original purpose was that you could keep trade secrets, so your customer lists, if you were an employer, you could gag someone from talking about that. if you worked at coca—cola, you couldn't tell the formula to pepsi, for example. in those examples, commercial secrets, one understands the importance of them. of course, what has happened is that ingenious and highly paid lawyers, and as one, i can speak with authority, have expanded that, and now what they are used to do is to cover up inappropriate behaviours, often where there is a power imbalance, and that is where the vice is, really, because the people signing up to these are people signing up to these are people who have been abused and just wa nt to

people who have been abused and just want to get out, and they want to leave. they'll sign anything to get out, and that is where the problem lies. i was listening to the former solicitor general saying he is not convinced by that because actually all those people have a voice too and it is down to the lawyers to negotiate with the other lawyers and there is no evidence that the lawyers negotiating on behalf of people who are victims of bad behaviour from their employer are losing out. i am very fond of edward garnier, but he has missed the point. i suspect it is because he hasn't sat in a room with people. it is not about the quality of the lawyers. you can have expert lawyers on both sides, but if your client is saying, look, just sign anything, i wa nt to saying, look, just sign anything, i want to get out, this is an abusive situation and i cannot work there, i need money to tide me over to a new job, do the best you can, and that is the instructions you are getting, whereas on the other side, if you are acting for the abuser, acting for the employer, they are saying,

shut this person up. there is a reputational risk here, gag them. we don't want them speaking to the press at any cost. as a consequence, thatis press at any cost. as a consequence, that is what we are seeing and we are seeing people effectively being gagged. what about sir philip green's argument that this puts unfair pressure on people who already signed ndas in his case because the telegraph have made the story public? they will come under pressure to talk, even though one of the things about a third mic is that they want to forget it and get on with their lives and they won't want future employers to know about it in case they think they are trouble. there were cases involving harvey weinstein, why there will be producing ndas on a photocopier, there were so many of them. some of there were so many of them. some of the women have made it abundantly clear that they do not wish to speak, and have not, but some of the people hadn't realised that there

was the large number of nondisclosure agreements, and as a consequence, they do now want to speak up. this really leads me to one of the issues for reform. there is no transparency reporting. it is important that if there is just one case, that perhaps that can be dealt with, but if there is, if you like, a hotspot or cluster of ndas affecting one individual. that should be reported ? affecting one individual. that should be reported? that should be reported. hr should know, and the remuneration committee on any company should know that. we are seeing that kind of reporting in america. at the americans can get it right in terms of employment law, we certainly should. just over a thousand stabbing victims, aged between 10 and 19, spent at a least one night in hospital in the 12 months to last march. there's been a 54 per cent rise in the number of young people treated for knife wounds in england over the past five years,

according to nhs figures. our home affairs correspondent danny shaw reports. the youngest victim to die in a knife attack this year, jaden moodie, was stabbed to death after being knocked off a moped. an 18—year—old man has been charged with murder. jaden wasjust 14. doctors say they're treating increasing numbers of people for knife wounds and the victims are getting younger. what has changed is that we are seeing a lot more adolescents and young people who have severe injuries. that used to be an occasional occurrence and it is now the norm. i expect to admit somebody of school age in the care of our service this week as a matter of course. the figures for hospital admissions for injuries from knives or sharp objects show there were almost 5000 people treated for stab wounds last year. over 1000 of them were aged 10—19. that's a rise of 54% compared with five years earlier. another trend doctors have observed is more girls are involved in knife crime.

some victims face threats that footage of their stabbing will be posted online. there's a shift in what we're seeing. i'm seeing young women who have come in having had their mobile phones taken off them in an attack and having the attack filmed. it is part of a humiliation and this is what will happen to you — if you say anything, we will put it on the internet. doctors say the rise in knife crime is putting extra pressure on emergency services. the home office has set up a serious violence strategy to tackle the problem and has launched a review of the links between violent crime and the trade in illegal drugs. danny shaw, bbc news. earlier i spoke to patrick green, he's ceo of the ben kinsella trust, who work to reduce knife crime. he says he's particularly concerned about the early age of some of these victims. it's the number of young people,

10-19, that it's the number of young people, 10—19, that are shown in these figures coming through from trauma units. they are nearly doubling, so we are seeing a real crisis at that very early age, and that's the worrying trend. we do far —— might we need to do far more to stop young people carrying knives. 0ur ethos at the trust is that no child is born carrying a knife. it is a learned behaviour, and we need to do far more to help young people unlearn bad behaviour is to good ones and stop carrying knives. what is happening in terms of the popularity of carrying knives? as it learned behaviour from siblings? what is driving it? there are a number of issues driving night for crime, not just one issue. —— driving knife crime. protection is the most common a nswer we crime. protection is the most common answer we get from young people. behind that is fear. young people

are fearful. if you feel there are more knives out there, you feel the only thing you can do is protect yourself. if you endow your friends, and you are carrying a knife, i will probably carry a knife, and it grows and grows. what do you make of the government's talk in the early stages of this about crime prevention? —— knife crime prevention? —— knife crime prevention? we would need to see more about what that means. for habitual knife carriers, giving extra police powers is a good thing. we would have some questions of use on younger people, 12 years of age, no criminal record. with that group, early intervention and prevention has been shown to be very successful, helping young people make those decisions and turn their lives around. there are other measures that are really successful and can be put in place.

the headlines on bbc news: the government has cancelled a controversial agreement to provide extra ferries in case of a no—deal brexit. new allegations of sexual and racial harassment by former employees of the retail tycoon sir philip green have been published in the telegraph — he denies any crime or misconduct. the number of young victims of knife crime admitted to hospitals in england has risen by more than 50 percent in the past five years. seven people have been sentenced to life in prison for two jihadist attacks in tunisia in 2015. 21 foreign tourists were killed at the bardo museum in tunis. 38 people died — 30 of them british — when a gunman attacked a beach resort near sousse. police have shot a man as they arrested a group for allegedly holding a woman captive. the man, thought to be in his twenties, was taken to hospital with a gunshot wound after an officer opened fire near blackheath

in south—east london in the early hours of this morning. he was arrested along with a further six men. the wounded man's injuries are not thought to be life—threatening. the us envoy stephen biegun says he's held three days of productive talks in north korea to prepare for the second meeting between president trump and kimjong—un. speaking after arriving in south korea, mr biegun said the us and north korea still had some work to do before the summit which, it's been announced, will be in the vietnamese city of hanoi later this month. new york fashion week is under way. it's an excuse for designers, models and lovers of haute couture to get together and enjoy some very expensive clothing. but a fashion show with a difference has already taken place in the big apple — and the models were a little on the small side — as the bbc‘s tim allman explains. who needs a catwalk when you've got

this many dogs? every year they come for new york's pet fashion show. the theme for 2019, a masquerade ball for animals and owners alike. this is flora. we are originally from italy and we live in miami beach, and she is a rescue. a senior of 12 yea rs and she is a rescue. a senior of 12 years old, and she is my baby. he is a tax on chihuahua mix, blind and deaf, —— ——, and we ended up keeping him. this is considered to be the largest pet fashion show in the world, although to be honest, there aren't that many other contenders.

none of the models look that impressed, at least not the four legged ones, but it is all in a good cause. the event is a big money raiserfor animal rescue cause. the event is a big money raiser for animal rescue charities. all of this is a precursor to the famous westminster kennel club dog show which begins on monday. although for that, there probably won't be as much glitter and sequins. and they call it puppy love! sport, and for a full round up, let's head to the bbc sport centre. that's dreadful! hello there. it's the second round of matches in the six nation's championship this weekend. england face france tomorrow, there are two matches this afternoon, first up it's scotland against ireland at murrayfield 0ur sports correspondent katie gornall is there for us. what a game this could be — scotland looking to stay top of the table, but they know the irish will be out to prove a point after their defeat last weekend.

it's a very eight by —— a very exciting prospect. ireland know that two defeats would be no way to start a title defence and they will be keen to put in a performance after that bruising defeat to england and will want to show the sort of rugby that has seen them rise to second in the world rankings and have the world player and coach of the year amongst their ranks. they know this is no easy place to come, murrayfield. scotland have their tails up, not having lost here for the last 76 nations games, not since 2016, and they come into this after a buoyant win over italy. a little sloppy at the end, you have to say. you have to feel for blair king, who scored a hat—trick against italy, who has been dropped in favour of the more experienced sean maitland, but experience will count, because the conditions will be tough. it is very windy at murrayfield. they beat the irish at home two years ago. wiles had that stirring comeback against the french in paris. they

are in rome. lots of changes for the match against italy. that comeback against the french, from 16 points down, the biggest half—time comeback in six nations history, but you're right, warren gatland has made ten changes. george north is rested, george davies will be captain of wales for the first time, but even with all those changes, you would still fancy wiles to win this one. italy certainly have their work cut out for them. katie at murrayfield ahead of scotland against ireland this afternoon, live on bbc one, kick off at 2:15pm. in the women's six nations — wales are down in lecce for their match against italy this evening, last night ireland beat scotland in glasgow after a big defeat to england last week, ireland bounced back with a bonus point victory. they ran in four tries

against a tough scottish defence — prop leah lyons powering over for their second. 22—5 the final score. it's a busy day in the premier league with seven matches. black armbands will be worn in all games this weekend following the recovery of the body of the cardiff striker emiliano sala. there will also be a minute's silence at st mary's where cardiff play southampton. manchester united, still unbeaten under 0le gunnar solskjaer, are at fulham in the early kick off. with manchester city playing tomorrow, all eyes are on liverpool, at home to bournemouth. a point would take them back to the top of the table but they've drawn their last two, and the manager knows that they need more than that. i don't think anybody thought we would be top of the league with 12 points between us and the other teams with three games to go, they thought it would be the end of

april. it was clear it would be tied until the end. the good news is that we are still in it, and it is a chance to improve our position, which is a good position, and we do that by winning football games. we are in the middle of a six day shutdown of racing because of an equine flu outbreak. five more meetings cancelled today. three more cases have been confirmed at the stables of trainer donald mccain to make it six in total, including one that raced on wednesday. over 170 yards are in lockdown. racing won't resume until wednesday at the earliest. england's third and final test against the windies starts this afternoon in st lucia. they've already lost the series but will be looking to avoid a whitewash. ben stokes is expected to be fit, but ben foakes, the wicketkeeper, has been dropped in favour of keatonjennings. that's all the sport for now.

now for the weather. an improving story today. the winds are easing down, because our storm, which was to the north of scotland earlier, is heading to scandinavia, taking the worst of the winds with it. the next system is pushing in the cloud and turning the sunshine hazy across the south of the uk. still sunshine around elsewhere, one or two showers as well, and gusty winds this afternoon of 50 mph or more in northern england, especially in the pennines. some strong to gale force winds, plenty of sunshine. showers also might, mainly in the southwest and english channel. some rain in the far north of the country. decent temperatures today, 9-12dc, but country. decent temperatures today, 9—12dc, but we still have gusty winds. the cloud thickens in the southwest this evening, and it turns

wet here, the rain developing more widely, pushing north and north wales and across towards the wash. north of that, the cloud will be broken and it will be colder with a touch of frost and icy patches. we still have wet weather in the far north of scotland, and that system will move down towards northern ireland tomorrow. for england and wales, a messy start to the day with that first weather system, cloud, outbreaks of rain, snow showers over the hills in wales. the wet weather and cloud drifts down to east anglia and cloud drifts down to east anglia and the south—east. rain, heavy wins for northern ireland. elsewhere, a lot of sunshine around. it will feel chillier, with temperatures around seven celsius. we still have rain for northern scotland. that weather system for northern scotland. that weather syste m m oves for northern scotland. that weather system moves south, bringing gusty winds and wet weather down across wales. 0n winds and wet weather down across wales. on monday, a chilly start to

the week, a touch of frost. stronger winds on the north sea coast, bringing the threat of a shower, but the winds will be lighter and we will have plenty of sunshine. it should be dryjust about everywhere. temperatures away from the south—west will be rather low, 5-7dc. south—west will be rather low, 5—7dc. high pressure dominates next week, meaning a lot of fine and dry weather. we will be drawing in milder southerly winds. a state of the union address at last, but what did it tell us about president trump s next two years and plans on fighting for four more? and seven weeks to go till b day. is anyone going to blink and if so, who? with me today: polly toynbee, columnist for the guardian newspaper american writer and broadcaster jef mcallister, agnes poirier of weekly french news magazine marianne. and stefanie bolzen of german daily newspaper die welt. to fire and fury, locked and loaded we can now add

greatness or gridlock?and revenge, resistance and retribution or co—operation, compromise and the common good. beyond the presidents passion for alliteration, what did we learn from the state of the union? well, i think we learned that he actually does have speech writers. they must have been relieved that he read it. finally, it was competently done, it was a little too long, especially for him. there were moments that looked like other presidents, which for donald trump is probably unimpressive —— and impressive achievement. it seemed to