hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... 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 are 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% in the past five years. the democratic senator elizabeth warren is about to launch her bid to become the party's candidate for 2020 with a speech in massachusetts — this is the scene live. the rapper blaine cameronjohnson — who was known as cadet — has died in a car crash on the way to a gig in staffordshire. this week the uk's chief medical officers issued recommendations on screen time for children —

advising families to ban phones at bedtime and keep them away from the dinner table. and instagram pledged to take urgent action to stop images relating to suicide and self harm appearing on their site. victoria derbyshire brought together a group of teenagers, parents, politicians and experts to discuss the issues. new official advice on how your children should use screens has been issued by the uk's four chief medical officers for the first time. we've brought together teenagers, parents, experts, politicians and social media influencers, as you can see, to talk about the effect other devices are having on us. hi, i'm elizabeth, i'm14 and i use my phone every night. but i think the advice to put my phone down before i go to bed is a good idea. my name's emily lavinia, i'm a social media influencer and it's easy for my followers to think that my life is perfect. but, behind—the—scenes,

i've always struggled with mental health issues. hi, i'm alisha cowie. i'm miss england 2018/2019, and instagram led me into a downward spiral of anorexia and self—harm. we'll be talking about all these difficult subjects today. if you're affected, you can find organisations that may be able to help you at bbc.co.uk/actionline, or by calling 0800 066 066. let's speak now to emma and chelsea 0liver, mum and sister of daniel long, who took his own life after researching suicide online. also with us, victoria, who has in the past self—harmed after seeing images of self—harm on social media. and alisha cowie is the current miss england, she's had anorexia and says instagram drove her to self—harm. welcome, all of you.

thank you very much for talking to us. victoria, you ended up cutting yourself because of, you say, you say, what you came across on social media. tell our audience about that. so it was so easy to find, i don't remember how i came across it but i definitely wasn't looking for it. how old were you? i was 11, so i'd never heard of self—harm before then and then i came across it and so all these people who were feeling the same way that i did and were using it as a way to cope, so it seemed like a good idea at the time. so did you see visual images of people self harming, or did you see descriptions? it was both, descriptions and very graphic images of self—harm. and are you saying that encouraged you or lead you to cut yourself? it definitely encouraged me, those feelings were there before but that made me even more prone to be encouraged by those images, and it felt like the only way to cope, because so many other people were doing it at the time. right.

alisha, you were looking at fitness accounts, i think, on instagram. and what kind of things came up? so i was very into fitness, i was on sports teams, quite athletic, and ijust wanted to tone up. but then it suggested a post for weight loss, and i came across this post where this girl had lost an incredible amount of weight. and in the caption was a hashtag, so i clicked on that hashtag to see what it was about, and that led me to images of self—harm. and what happened after that? so the same, really. it was very poetic, it was made to sound very beautiful, and as if you had control over the situation if you started to self— harm. so i took that into my own hands to see if it would work, and it became thisjust destructive habit that i couldn't stop. and when you look back, both of you, now, about what you did and what you felt led you to do that, what do you think? i think it's really awful,

especially how easy it is to come across and how common it is online, especially with a young mind and how easily that can be shaped and influenced. there definitely needs to be better controlled. iagree. i was vulnerable at the age of 13, i didn't know that i was ill, so seeing images like that, i didn't know that i was sick, i didn't know that i was poorly, and itjust let me into believing that this was the right thing to do. and let me bring in emma and chelsea, mum and sister of daniel, who took his own life after researching suicide online. what did you discover after his death? disturbing graphics. step—by—step pictures of how to do it. there was a forum that you could access. so basically it were people that could log in and set up a username and they could talk in between themselves and get advice on how to do it properly. what you think of the stuff that you realise daniel was looking at?

well, it shouldn't be on the internet. there is no reason for that to be on the internet, is there? it's like, you know, why would you have that on there? it's just... there is no need for it to be on a social media site. and he obviously didn't know what to do neither. he didn't... he didn't know what to do. so he's gone for that advice, and because of that advice he is known what to do. in 2017, daniel died in 2017, 226 schoolchildren took their own life. daniel was one of them. and i can guarantee most of them went on social media to find out how to do it. a google spokesperson told us, we wish to send out the deepest condolences to daniel's family. when people in need to turn to the internet for information and advice and search for queries relating to suicide, we share the samaritans‘ 24—hour helpline number to connect people who are depressed, suicidal or in distress with the help and advice they need to, and we urge anyone in this position to contact

the number, which is 116 123. that's on there, but... do children know what that is? and notjust that, but they're in that frame of mind already, so they're not going to pick up the phone and contact and stranger. i mean, daniel was 15. i don't know whether he'd know what the samaritans was. and, you know, if you've put that in the internet, that's not the first thing you see. the first thing you see is what you've put in, you don't see that number. and why can't google just take it off? remove it altogether? there's no point having a number at the top and then having a step—by—step at the bottom. what is the point in that? it useless to me, you know? it's a waste of time. who else has seen disturbing content on social media? my friend... well, i didn't witness it, like, there was a stabbing of my friend that i knew and, like, someone sent it to me on instagram four months ago. a video? yeah, a video of him getting stabbed. and it was really distressing for me, because i was close to him, i knew him.

and my emotions were... i was angry, sad. i was angry because i want to know who did it and why did they do it? and sad because i didn't want to get involved with the video, i didn't want to get involved. i didn't want to do anything with it. what do people think about the kind of content that can be accessed, deliberately or inadvertently, online? what would you say? i mean, i'm going to come from a slightly different angle of this, so i'm a director of time to change and today is our time to talk day. and we work with lots of young people and adults who have personal experience, and we use that to really help challenge stigma and discrimination. so we definitely let young people who we talk to say that they use the internet as that kind of connectivity and being able to kind of have a platform that's supported. so definitely our research that's out today for time to talk day does

suggest that oftentimes we use social media and its quite surface level, and today we're calling on everybody to think about making more meaningful conversations about mental so that we can be aware of it. —— about mental health. we know one in ten young people will experience a mental health problem. do you think disturbing content online can contribute to people having mental health issues? well, it's a bit of a mix of both, isn't it? so i think if you're susceptible, and i think this is probably the case in daniel's case, and you go searching for that, then clearly that's going to be a contributory factor and we absolutely would say that we'd want that to be controlled. and there's no place, really, for really disturbing step—by—step guides to be on the internet, of course not. emily, go ahead. so i actually have had a really up and down relationship with social media, because in some ways it has enabled me to connect with so many people that are like—minded and build a community, but on the flip side i have really struggled with comparing myself to other people, it's

it's really affected my sense of self, my self esteem. they look like they're having a great time? it is kind of a compare and despair thing. it's not necessarily even that they are having that experience, it just seems that way. and the content might not even be distressing, it mightjust be that everybody else seems that their living their best life and meanwhile you're experiencing anxiety, depression, you're struggling with your own sense of identity. were talking today about children's use of mobile phones, teenagers' use and, indeed, parents‘ use of mobile phones, and what we access on those devices because, for the first time, the uk's chief medical officers have published their advice on social media and screen use. those top doctors acknowledge, as we were just saying, time spent online can be of great an effect, providing opportunities for learning and skills development as well as allowing people to find support and information. but parents are being given several steps which they say will help keep children safe and healthy.

these include not using phones and mobile devices at the dinner table because talking as a family is important for development, keeping screens out of the bedroom at bed time, talking as a family about keeping safe online, about cyber bullying and what children should do if they are worried, and making sure children take a break from screens every two hours by getting up and being active. to step short of something the health secretary said he wanted, a limit for the amount of time that kid should be looking at their screens. kid should be looking at their screens. i want to ask other stu d e nts screens. i want to ask other students from saint matthew academy in south east london, which i view is about a phone in your bedroom at night? all of you? no? how late do you use it? around untili had to go

to sleep. then i either hand it in or leave it by my bedside for my alarm. in the morning i don't really use alarm. in the morning i don't really use it, but after noon i use it for three others, then i go out to youth clu b three others, then i go out to youth club and stuff, get activities and stuff, but on the weekend it is a different story, i spent maybe all day on it, because i have nothing better to do. on saturday and sunday. eight hours, ten hours? grin six. kgb messaging in the middle of

the night? google no. that's good. what about notification messages? a good eye don't really get notifications. my phone is on silent. neat and my mum have trust, she knows i will not be on my phone from the minute i laid down to the minute i wake up. ricardo? the trust is still there, but i agree with molly, when my mum sees me texting on my phone, she will take it, that i respect my mum's orders and most of the time i leave my phone for a way for me in my bedroom. of the time i leave my phone for a way for me in my bedroomlj of the time i leave my phone for a way for me in my bedroom. i and alastair, my company makes educational films that try to help out with tricky subjects like this. we just recently did a film called my myselfie and i, it is less about the content and the addiction levels. when you talk about taking breaks, it is a habit like smoking, gambling or anything like that, it needs regulation. you can't monitor everything, it is ultimately about open dialogue, that is what the

films hope to do, to encourage people. a lot of young people feel a pressure to perform online and sometimes the online persona can ta ke sometimes the online persona can take over and you may feel your behaviour changing, it is educating parents to be able to spot better and to set a good example, not to be oi'i and to set a good example, not to be on their phones themselves so often. easier said than, my excuse to my boysis easier said than, my excuse to my boys is that i am working, reading an e—mail or boys is that i am working, reading an e—mailora boys is that i am working, reading an e—mail or a brie. boys is that i am working, reading an e—mail ora brie. it boys is that i am working, reading an e—mail or a brie. it does not matter to them. bet your children may be doing their homework. no, seriously they are playing fortnite! but there is great communication within those games, you learn how to do sportsmanship and gaming safely. we know there are risks in terms online and offline, we have to be able to manage those and have conversations around what would you

do, how do you stay safe, making sure your child knows they can go to you if they have a problem, worry all concerned. max, go ahead. it is about having a real—world space where people are imperfect, your parents are imperfect, you are spending time with and experiencing them. ithink spending time with and experiencing them. i think when people get completely lost in the online world, social media is a game, we have to rememberthat, social media is a game, we have to remember that, you score points, likes, retweets and shares but it is only a game. there is great connection, information and entertainment that we need perspective about some of the stuff. it doesn't matter many followers you have, what matters is your relationships. they can be online, but we need to focus on relationships. we have a vice—chair of the conservative party, you have five—year—old twins, you might have a stricken, but what you think of

sally's advice? i am delighted the chief medical officer has given pa rents chief medical officer has given parents this guidance, lots of this is making sure that parents make sure their children use mobile phones responsibly and i would encourage schools to advise parents to limit screen time, and for children under about 13, they should not have smartphones at all. from some of the people who spoke earlier about the way things like instagram, facebook and pinterest have pushed out messages really disturbs me. there is no way instagram should be actively pushing content promoting self—harm. actively pushing content promoting self-harm. you talk about algorithms, then you are offered more content in that particular subject area. it is the responsibility of those companies not to respond to searches of self—harm and cutting by sending images that promote them. they can do it, this is one of the things dame sally said, they need to develop better algorithms that push

positive content to users. this has been for users who search for content which could potentially radicalise them, so instead of being fed material promoting terrorism they get content that aims to deal. harry, would you welcome match? yes, i come from the angle of vice—chair of papyrus, the national charity for the prevention of young suicide, i come from the angle of saving lives. 224 children died in 2017, four to five children are dying every week in the uk by suicide. when we worked with ian russell, as we have done, and brought a story forward for the bbc, on our national helpline, helpline uk, we had no fewer than 30

families who had lost a child to suicide who were all convinced that social media had played a significant part. and i think my feeling is you can't really tell whether social media are affecting mental health of young people, but what is happening is if a disturbed young person, somebody vulnerable, perhaps as self harming, might be seeking some sort of normalisation of their behaviour and they go on to one of these sites, as you discovered, alisha, you are confronted by the supporting material. we don't have to wait for the evidence. we have to impose a legal duty on these companies and they have to act so they know there

are consequences if they fail to meet their duty of care. are consequences if they fail to meet their duty of carelj are consequences if they fail to meet their duty of care. i and a labourmp meet their duty of care. i and a labour mp but also an a&e doctor who sees things when families come in desperate and i and a parent of young girls. thank you for those of young girls. thank you for those of you who have told your real heartfelt stories, i can't imagine what it must feel like. we are in the middle of a perfect storm, social media companies are not taking accountability for their responsibility, a duty of care to protect young people. you have parented desperately love their children, who are trying to navigate a system, social media had seen this explosion, parents do not know what

to do to protect their children. then you have mental health services, there has been a lot of rhetoric from government about what they are going to do better mental health resources have been cut, i see this on the front line as a doctor. we need to cut it off at the source, doctor. we need to cut it off at the source , we doctor. we need to cut it off at the source, we need to make sure social media companies are held responsible. do you accept there is a link between the adolescent mental health crisis that experts say we are experiencing at the moment, and cuts to mental health services since 2010 under the conservative and lib dems correlation? nhs spending including mental health has gone up in that period, demand has increased as well. the life negative mental health services. nhs spending has gone up, but demand is growing even faster, which is why more money is going on. be honest, there have been cuts. the why is nobody looking up the rich cause? daniel was stressed out with his gcses. he was so stressed, it was unbelievable. the pressure and kids doing gcses. he felt there was no worried. why don't you put money into the rich cause?

you have young children search i know, because we run a facebook group, there are kids on there who are ten years old who are stressed out about their set, crying. there is no need. galba need to change up thinking, the department for education is to work with the department of health to look at what we can do. this is about saying we have young people dying everyday unnecessarily, what can we do collectively to really accept the issues and listen to young people and ask what you need from us. andy burrows is head of online safety at the nspcc and she met the head of instagram earlier today? yes, and the message we gave him was that, really, we had seen a decade in

which instagram and other platforms have failed to take the most basic steps to protect children online, and the story we see at the nspcc is that it and the story we see at the nspcc is thatitis and the story we see at the nspcc is that it is the larger sites that have the greatest resources to tackle these problems, they had the biggest problem in terms of risks. every year we have children if they had seen inappropriate content like self— harm and suicide had seen inappropriate content like self—harm and suicide material, we read facebook is high risk across every category. the largest sites have the resources, know—how every category. the largest sites have the resources, know— how and expertise to get on top of these problems. presumably you asked why you are not doing more, what did they say? i think they recognise they say? i think they recognise they had not done enough, we push them really strongly to commit to go much further and faster to get on top of this problem, the issue is we have seen i think 13 examples of self—regulation over the last decade. social networks will not ta ke decade. social networks will not take the necessary steps by themselves, which is why the white paper about to come out as a landmark opportunity to make sure we see a statutory regulator, a duty of

ca re see a statutory regulator, a duty of care imposed on these platforms. unless there is a legal requirement to take these issues seriously, then we had seen that the platforms will not do this. let me ask the audience, would you like there to be laws that would mean social media companies have a duty of care to somebody like you when you are run instagram, not to show you disturbing and harmful content? definitely, it is a huge thing people need to focus on, not necessarily just talking about people need to focus on, not necessarilyjust talking about cyber bullying, it is about what people can easily see and search and almost magically pop up as if they wanted it to be there, but it is not, it is what they recommended, something may have happened or they had just seen it. would you like legislation? blow i think the idea of sensitive content is not enough, i would still have clicked on the post because it intrigues you, it is likely big red

button, not to press that, you want to see what it is about, and it is not enough for me, because the content and the graphic knows of what i was seeing is not to be online. soviet union laws? it needs to go online. soviet union laws? it needs togoa online. soviet union laws? it needs to go a lot further than just online. soviet union laws? it needs to go a lot further thanjust not promoting images, you mentioned the sensitivity warning, the people he will be the most sensitive are the ones who will click on it. it is people who neglect to live on their own community standards, which is why influences like myself take great pains to show that we promote positive content and take advantage of algorithms to talk about mental health, body positivity etc in a positive light. at the algorithms work against us, the focus should be on the social networks. if you would like help or support, then do go to the bbc action line website. that is

bbc.co.uk/actionline. 0r website. that is bbc.co.uk/actionline. or the phone number is on screen. thank you so much, everybody. we really appreciate it. hello. storm erik brought widespread gales across the uk yesterday, and the area of low pressure responsible is now centred across the northern isles. you can see this swirl of cloud here on the earlier satellite picture. keeping an eye on this bank of cloud to the south—west of the uk, that will be increasing through this evening and should bring some outbreaks of rain overnight. and, for a time, to end the afternoon, still some strong winds, gusts of 40 or 50 mph across northern scotland, but slowly starting to lose their strength. so through this evening and overnight, we see rain settling into parts of wales, central and southern england. a few showers across northern ireland, north—west england, parts of wales, may be wintry over the hills. some more persistent rain for 0rkney. clearer skies across eastern scotland, north—east england, we'll see a touch of frost here as temperatures fall below freezing but much milderfurther south in the cloud and the rain.

and it's all tied into this frontal system slowly pulling away eastwards through sunday. so it's quite a wet start across many central and southern parts of england, parts of wales, too, but that rain will be gradually easing the eastwards through the day. could well linger for a time across parts of east anglia. elsewhere, we'll see some outbreaks of rain across northern scotland slowly sliding their way southwards, perhaps bringing some wintry precipitation over the hills. some more persistent rain across northern ireland in south—west scotland for a time through the afternoon, with some squally winds particularly along irish sea coasts. and by tomorrow afternoon, they are north—westerly in direction, so it will be a much cooler feel again. temperatures not much higher than at six or seven celsius for many, maybe eight or nine across southern parts of england. as we go through sunday night, this little feature here could introduce some wintry showers across parts of the peak district, the hills of wales, for example, but as it clears away through, behind it we see this area of high pressure developing. so we start the new week on a mainly dry note. the winds will be lighter, we'll see good spells of sunshine, maybe one or two wintry showers

for the highlands of scotland, but for most it's a dry and fine day. temperatures recovering slightly compared to sunday, eight to 10 celsius the top temperature on monday afternoon. now, this area of high pressure is a dominant feature through much of the week ahead. as it moves away south eastwards, it enables this milder air to flood across the uk, so midweek, by day, it's going to be feeling much milder. still chilly at night, with a touch of frost, also some patchy mist and fog, but away from north—west scotland it should be mainly dry. goodbye. this is bbc news. the headlines at 5pm. 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% in 5 years. tens of thousands of people are demonstrating in paris, for the 13th consecutive saturday of the so—called "yellow vest" protests. also coming up, an outspoken critic of president trump makes her opening pitch for the white house.