hello, it's thursday, it's 10 o'clock, i'm victoria derbyshire. good morning. one of britain's most prolific female paedophiles, vanessa george, is due to be released from prison next month. in exclusive interviews, we hear from a dad whose child was at the plymouth nursery — he still doesn't know if george targetted his child — and also to one of the nursery staff who worked with vanessa george at the time. tell us the truth, tell us the names. she has still got that hold on us. names. she has still got that hold on us. we, as workers, were close to the children. and you were very protective of them, but you've let

them down and you've let yourself down. everything we were taught about safeguarding, and she fooled us about safeguarding, and she fooled us all. this mp is urging the home secretary to prevent vanessa george's release from jail. we'll talk to labour's luke pollard, live. a post—mortem has revealed teenager nora quoirin who was found dead in malaysia after vanishing from a family holiday died from internal bleeding. police in malaysia say there's no evidence of foul play. jeremy corbyn has written to the leaders of the other opposition parties and tory rebels to ask them to make him a caretaker prime minister in order to stop a no—deal brexit. that would mean a caretaker government, led by labour, which would be a government in order to prevent a no—deal brexit and bring about a general election so the people of this country can

decide their future. and a—level results are out this morning for more than 300,000 sixth formers in england, wales and northern ireland, with the proportion of students achieving the top grades falling to its lowest level since 2007. hello. welcome to the programme. we're live until 11 this morning. what do you think of the home office planning to put knife crime stories on the inside of fried chicken boxes? they'll feature true stories of young people who have chosen to pursue positive activities, such as boxing or music, instead of carrying a knife. shadow home secretary diane abbott said it was "crude" and "offensive" while other commentators have gone further, describing it as racist. so what do you think? will this work? we're going to talk

about that later. first, rachel schofield has the news. police in malaysia say nora quoirin, the 15—year old girl from london whose body was discovered earlier this week, died from from internal bleeding probably caused by prolonged hunger and stress. a post mortem examination revealed no signs that she'd been abducted and no evidence of foul play. nora — who suffered from a brain disorder and had special needs — went missing 11 days ago while on a family holiday. her body was found about a mile and a half from the resort where they'd been staying. the proportion of a—level entries awarded an a grade or higher has fallen to its lowest level for more than a decade. 25.5% of uk entries were awarded an a or a—star grade this summer. that's the the lowest it's been since 2007 when it was 25.3%. more than 300,000 a—level students in england, wales and northern ireland are receiving their

results this morning. jeremy corbyn has urged mps to make him caretaker prime minister to stop a no—deal brexit. he's written to the leaders of the other opposition parties, and tory mps opposed to no deal, asking them to back a temporary labour—led administration in the event of a vote of no confidence in boris johnson's government. he'd then ask the eu for another brexit delay and call a snap general election. it would work that i would hopefully get support for the no—confidence motion i would put which would ensure that the government cannot continue with this headlong pursuit of a no—deal brexit and that would mean a caretaker government, led by labour, which would be a government in order to prevent a no—deal brexit and bring about a general election so the people of this country can decide their future. the independent mp, sarah wollaston, has joined the liberal democrats. dr wollaston, who left the conservatives in february to

help form the new party, change uk, and then resigned from change uk injune, said joining the liberal democrats was the best way for her to fight for the uk to remain in the eu. the family of a british woman who died in barbados, after being set on fire as she lay in bed, say they are "shocked and devastated" by her death. natalie crichlow was in barbados to look after her disabled brother. an intruder broke into the house where she was staying, doused her with a flammable liquid and set her alight. she died in hospital last week after suffering 75 % burns to her body. a father who believes his child was sexually assaulted by a convicted paedophile, nursery worker vanessa george, has told this programme he is "tormented" by her unwillingness to admit which infants she abused. george was jailed for a minimum of seven years in 2009 after pleading guilty to seven sexual assaults on children and making 124 indecent images

of children but she refused to identify her victims. she's now been ruled eligible for parole. and you can see more on that story with victoria in a few minutes' time — including an interview with the father who's called the decision on george's eligibilty for parole "disgusting". a government campaign to put warnings on takeaway chicken boxes about the dangers of carrying a knife has been labelled embarrassing and borderline racist. real life stories of young people, who chose not to carry a weapon, will be printed inside more than 300,000 boxes and distributed to takeaway restaurants across england and wales. shadow home secretary diane abbott said the plan was "crude" and "offensive", but home secretary priti patel defended the scheme, and said labour was "playing politics with knife crime." that is your summary. back to victoria. we really want to hear your views on that last story and we will talk about it more later in the programme.

the home secretary is being urged to prevent the release from jail of vanessa george, a convicted paedophile who abused babies and young children in her care at the little ted's nursery in plymouth. george, who is due to leave prison next month, pleaded guilty to seven sexual assaults on children in 2009. in a moment, we'll talk to the local mp who wants her release blocked. but first, in a tv exclusive, we're going to hearfrom a dad and an ex—colleague of george's. the father whose child went to the nursery tells us he's ‘disgusted' she's being released and he'd ‘kill‘ george if he ever met her, and he's urged her to finally reveal the identities of those children she abused. and speaking for the first time publicly, her ex—colleague reveals how much george talked about sex at work, making them feel uncomfortable. she's one of the uk's

worst paedophiles. vanessa george was a nursery assistant at little ted's nursery in plymouth, where instead of caring for the children, she abused them in the worst possible way. it's torn my family apart. it's torn the community apart. every day is a living nightmare. people would jump in saying, they must have heard those children scream.

why did they do nothing? we all felt, how did we not know? even hardened journalists were shocked at the sheer audacity and wickedness of the sexual depravation. some of the families sobbed and swore when they heard that george could be freed from jail in seven years. i know one day the question is going to come. my child is going to ask the question about whether they went to the nursery, and i don't know what i'm going to tell them. in a matter of weeks, vanessa george is due to be released. feelings are running high ahead of vanessa george coming out of prison.

for the first time ever, one of vanessa george's colleagues from the nursery wants to speak out, alongside the father of one of the suspected victims. their names and voices have been changed to protect their identity. i want to ask you, simon, why as a parent of a child who was at the nursery a decade ago, why you want to speak out nowjust ahead of vanessa george's release from jail? i don't think she should be released. no one's asked the parents what they're feeling. well, they've asked seven sets of parents, by the sound of it. ten years is not enough for what she's done. she's been rehabilitated. we've had nothing. we were promised help from day one. we haven't received anything. the only way we've got where we are is through us contacting people. we've been forgotten. it's disgusting. she's getting better treatment than we are.

what do you recall feeling when it became clear that she'd been sexually abusing babies, young children in the nursery where you worked, and recording the images and sending them to another paedophile? we as workers were close to the children. you know, some were there most days. you were very protective of them but you've let them down. you've let yourselves down. everything we were taught about safeguarding. and she fooled us all. people think you, because you worked in the same nursery as vanessa george, must have known something. yeah. i don't think she should be released. we were cold shouldered or stared at and made uncomfortable. people would jump in, saying they must have heard those children scream, why did they do nothing? we all felt, how did we not know?

every single member of staff. how can you learn from something you didn't know was happening? i don't feel any wiser now than what i did then. police found 124 sexual images of the children on her phone. their faces weren't shown and she has still never named any of her victims. effectively she would be in a toilet cubicle, changing a baby or a child with her back blocking the doorway. is that right? did you see her doing that? yes, i had seen her doing that. i think her sheer size would have blocked the view more than anything else. it didn't look suspicious because it was a deep window ledge and you could comfortably do that, but you wouldn't have seen past her body, really. no one could have known. the only people who could have known were her little ring. vanessa george wasn't acting alone. a married mum of two with no history of abuse, she started sending images to colin blanchard, a paedophile she met on the internet.

angela allen was also sending photos to blanchard. both women claim they were manipulated by him into abusing children. all three were jailed. simon, your child was at the nursery when vanessa george worke there. a decade on, how would you say your child is? i've kept my child shielded from everything. but i know one day the question is going to come. my child is going to ask the question about whether they went to the nursery and i don't know what i'm going to tell them. after the abuse was discovered, the mums and dads were called to a meeting at a church hall. they split the parents into two rooms, a room where the child was unlikely to have been abused, a room where their child was, could potentially have been abused, which seems the most extraordinary brutal and crude way of doing things.

you ended up in the room where your child was likely to have been abused. do you remember, simon, how you reacted then? the way they told us was just disgusting. you've one group of parents overjoyed, rightly so, and then you have the other lot, myself included, who've just had their hearts ripped out. i was angry, so angry. do you know for sure, even now ten years on, whether your child was sexually abused by vanessa george? no, no names have ever been released. do you want to know with absolute certainty? yes. why? i'd rather hear bad news than no news so i can deal with it. what's your instinct, simon? i think my child was. you said the day's coming when your child will ask if they went to that nursery. have you thought about what you would say, if,

when that day comes? yeah. i'll explain what happened at the nursery and say no—one knows, but i'd rather tell my child what happened and explain. does that then not potentially give your child years of torment? all my child has to do is look at the local reports. vanessa george is all over youtube as well. have you ever considered that you might say to your child, you went there, you weren't abused? i have. but... i don't want to lie to my child in case it ever comes out. if i don't tell them, and someone else does, they could lose trust in me. according to the serious case review

by the plymouth safeguarding children board, vanessa george talked at work in the nursery about sex a lot. she talked about affairs she'd had, she was having despite being married with children, she made explicit sexual references in her conversations. they were described as, that was normal. i know there was a reference in the serious case review that that should have been a flag. i don't know how you'd go from being someone wanting men to someone wanting children. she would show colleagues in the nursery images on her phone of men's penises. obviously not in front of the children. but it doesn't matter. it's not what you're there for. nobody was interested. vanessa just treated it all as a big joke. now i look back and i think, was the joke on us? did you challenge her? did you report her? i challenged her direct, as i know other staff did. when i saw another member of staff really disturbed and upset, i took it to the supervisor.

and she spoke to vanessa. i still don't think it really sunk in that it was a big deal to her. she thought it was a game and a joke. what do you think about the fact that she was doing that in that loo, in that nursery? the chances she must have took. i think she gave that phone to a parent to look at a picture once at the end of the day. if that parent had swiped one way or the other through the photos, what would they have seen? did she live on the edge and that was her thrill? i don't know. let's talk about the sentence she was given. a sentence that meant she had to serve a minimum of seven years in jail. she's served almost ten. the parole board say that the reason she's being released now is because she's not a risk to the public anymore. she took part in programmes to address her sexual offending behavior. she has, as they put it, presented as showing remorse for what she did. and all the professional witnesses

recommended she be released. 0ur sentence is still carrying on. the only time she's feigned remorse was in that first interview. i believe that woman is still a danger to children. she's had those urges before. i don't think they will ever go away. i think there's a very, very strong possibility she could do it again. is there anything about the conditions that are attached to her release that reassures you? she won't be able to work with children again. she will have to live at an approved address. she can't use social media, her movements, her contacts will be restricted. she may have to live elsewhere. she won't be given a new identity but reports suggest that she has changed her name.

she has divorced from her husband. does any of that reassure you? some would say it's better she does come out and come back here. some would say it's better she comes out and comes back to devon and cornwall? why? she'll be dealt with. would that be the right thing to do, in your opinion? i wouldn't care. i wouldn't care for her life at all. someone's going to bump into her and recognise her. it's going to happen to her eventually and someone's going to get a longer sentence that she did. if i was to bump into her, i'd kill her. seriously? yeah. we have a justice system which allows people, which punishes people for doing heinous things and which allows them, once they have served their sentence, to try to rehabilitate and continue with a life. if you had to sum up what she did, and the devastation she has caused, what would you say?

i hope we never see anything like this ever again, ever. it's torn my family apart. it's torn the community apart. every day is a living nightmare. what would you say to her, simon, if you were able to talk to her, face to face? tell us the truth. tell us the names. she's still got that hold on us. we can talk now to the labour mp for plymouth sutton and devonport, luke pollard who represents the area so devastated by george's actions. good morning to you. should have an air should george be released next month? i don't think she should. i think she should remain behind bars until she has revealed the names and

identities of the children she abused because she is going to give the parents a life sentence if she keeps that secret to herself and she needs to be able to share that information about which children she abused in which she didn't to release some parents from that life sentence and give them the truth of the matter of what she did to those babies and toddlers. so that should bea babies and toddlers. so that should be a condition of her release, in your view? i don't think you can show sufficient remorse for a climb like this unless you come clean about the identities of the children she abused —— a crime like this. the threshold that the parole board says mean she has a level of remorse, if that doesn't include the names of the children she abused, that threshold is too low and it needs to be looked at separately but i don't understand how someone can be showing genuine remorse if she's keeping the names of the children she abused a secret. you've called on the home secretary to intervene. in what way? i would like to see va nessa in what way? i would like to see vanessa george kept behind bars. realistically we are on the last row of the dice. the last thing we can

do is to ask the police investigation to be reopened and thatis investigation to be reopened and that is what i have asked for and i wa nt to that is what i have asked for and i want to make sure that every last charge where vanessa george was the primary or sole suspect has been properly investigated. we know sometimes in these really complicated child abuse cases that not every charge will be put to a jury not every charge will be put to a jury and not every charge will be sent to the crown prosecution service because sometimes complex charge sheets confuse juries. i want to make sure there is nothing left on file, no charge that we can gain justice for, nothing that can keeper behind bars for any longer. the home 0ffice tell us that the home secretary does not have the power to direct the police to reopen an investigation. what can the home secretary realistically do?” investigation. what can the home secretary realistically do? i don't buy that. the home secretary has set a context here that the police and crime commissionerfor a context here that the police and crime commissioner for devon and cornwall can look again at those files, whether it's the literature of another police force or going through every single paper in their bya through every single paper in their by a proper investigation, we have

to make sure there is nothing left in those files that could keep va nessa in those files that could keep vanessa george behind bars, and, importantly, get justice for all the crimes she has committed. we know she was only charged with a certain number of offences but there are potentially many, many more children she could have abused at that nursery and we need to getjustice for those. caroline says i think she should never see the light of day. 0nce should never see the light of day. once an abuser, always an abuser. gregg on twitter says, jaw—dropping she should ever be released from prison, let alone so soon. and sue say she should not be released until she confesses to all her crimes. in my opinion she has not served long enough. and gavin says, ijust hope all the parents know what time she is released. when i was a parent, if it was me, she would last 20 seconds. are you comfortable with comments like that, with the fact that the father we spoke to said that the father we spoke to said that if he ever met her, he said he would kill her. i can understand the strength of feeling about it. the

community where this nursery was in plymouth was a very tight community with a lot of family bonds and the idea it could have taken place discussed the community there and discussed the community there and discussed everyone in plymouth, myself and virtually the entire country as well. we need to look at what sentence she was given, because in my mind, if you abuse a child, i wa nt to in my mind, if you abuse a child, i want to know that the child is safe from that abuser going anywhere near them for the duration of their entire childhood. the babies that we re entire childhood. the babies that were abused are still children now and she will be released while they are still kids and that is something that offends the sense of natural justice we have. it does not seem right she can be coming out where there are still kids and the parents can still have the uncertainty about what happens if she breaks out pa role what happens if she breaks out parole restrictions. well, she would go straight back to jail. but what happens if she interacts with children in the meantime. she is banned from working with children and banned from the area, banned from devon and cornwall. it's good that she is banned from devon and

cornwall and the thing is, when you speak to parents about it, it's the uncertainty and risk and fear she might do that and that's why i want to see her kept in for the duration of all of the kitschy abuse. it seems like a decent thing to do to ensure that every one of those kids has the certainty of being free from bumping into or having any possibility seeing vanessa george again. feelings are running high in the area ahead of the release. what would you say to the people there?|j would you say to the people there?” think we need to recognise that what va nessa think we need to recognise that what vanessa george is was disgusting but there is child abuse in every single one of our communities and we need to root out all of it but we also need to recognise that for the families going through this, it's not just something happening families going through this, it's notjust something happening again now, this has been a life sentence for the last ten years and the duration of their kids lives to come and i think we need to look at the way that the government communicated this. far too many of

those parents found out not by being communicated with by the authorities or the parole board or the probation service, but from the local paper and facebook. that seems utterly horrifying, that something so horrifying, that something so horrifying to your child should be so horrifying to your child should be so callously communicated to the people involved, so there does seem to bea people involved, so there does seem to be a fault and inhumanity in the way that this parole system is working, but also we have a decision here that has gone the wrong way. va nessa here that has gone the wrong way. vanessa george should be kept behind bars. when thejudge vanessa george should be kept behind bars. when the judge sentenced he said a minimum of seven years and sent directly to her, you should regard this as a life sentence. and i think for many parents a life sentence is not enough for the crime she has committed, but certainly being released so early into this, ten yea rs being released so early into this, ten years is not enough of the crime she has committed. and that is the view so passionately held by so many of the people that i represent and they want me as their mp to keep pushing on that and, frankly, we don't have many options left now and that's why i've made a direct appeal

to the home secretary on the new prime minister to say, do everything you can, everything you can to keep this woman behind bars and make sure that no other families go through what we've seen in plymouth and that those families have been through this in the last ten years because it's utterly sickening that it has happened, and the way in which the pa rents a re happened, and the way in which the parents are communicated has compounded it. it has made them feel like they are not part of the process and that their views don't matter, and that has to be wrong. thank you very much for coming on the programme. and we will keep you updated on this case. still to come... forced to take medication, transported in a cage, isolated and restrained — why one woman is now campaigning to change the mental health act for autistic people after she spent three years detained inside mental health hospitals. and are these boxes with their anti—knife branding "racist" or "stupid"? 0ra good or a good idea?

police in malaysia say a postmortem examination on the body of 15—year—old nora quoirin has revealed no signs of foul play. the teenagerfrom london was found on tuesday, ten days after she went missing from a jungle resort where she'd been on holiday with her family. 0ur correspondent howard johnson is in malaysia. howard, do tell our audience more about what the postmortem results have revealed. yes, i'm standing outside the police state headquarters where the press conference took place earlier today. yesterday a senior pathologist from the capital came down to conduct this postmortem examination and today the results were relayed via the police. they said there was no suspicion of foul play and that for the time being there was no element of abduction or kidnapping according to the state police chief and they say they believe that nora had died

two or three days before they found her body, and that was on tuesday this week, and the most likely cause of death was ruptured in testing because there was internal bleeding and that was possibly due to lack of food or stress and those are the details that have come out of the press c0 nfe re nce details that have come out of the press conference today from the police. thank you very much, howard johnson, reporting live from malaysia. campaigners are today handing in a petition to 10 downing street calling on the government to end the practice of autistic people being detained under the mental health act. successive governments have pledged to reduce the numbers, but the national autistic society says it continues to hear disturbing stories of people being detained for long periods of time, miles away from their family, and in some cases, restrained, overmedicated and held in solitary confinement. we will hear from alexis quinn who

was detained for three and a half yea rs was detained for three and a half years at an estimated cost of £2.5 million to the taxpayer and she says all she needed was supporting the community. it's something we've regualrly reported on on this programme. in april, our reporter noel phillips spoke to a mum whose daughter has been in secure units for people with learning difficulties for seven years. she hasn't been out of that ward for the past year. apart from once and apart from hospital visits. we haven't been able to see her for the past year. we were only allowed three ten—minute phone calls per week. ayla has spent the last seven years in psychiatric hospitals. she's currently at a medium secure unit 200 miles away from her home on the outskirts of cardiff. her mum says her prolonged stay has had a detrimental effect on her health. she's got a huge bald patch on her head now where her hair will never grow just from all the head banging that she's done. that's irreversible.

one of the doctors said possibly she's caused more brain damage through the head banging. so i don't know. i don't see a happy ending, really. we were also passed these shocking pictures of a teenager reaching their arm through a door hatch to enable contact with their parents during a visit to an atu. let's speak now to alexis quinn — she has autism and was detained for three and a half years in a mental health facility. she co—authored the petition being handed in to downing street today. she has also written a book called unbroken. also to jane harris, director of external affairs at the national autistic society, who co—authored the petition and to barbara keeley — labour's shadow mental health and social care minister. welcome, all of you.

alexis, remind us of your story, and what happened when you were detained? i went into crisis a few years ago. my i went into crisis a few years ago. my brother sadly passed away and i had a brother at —— had a baby at roughly the same time. all that changed to routine and structure meant i was unable to cope in the community, and at the moment is a sink or swim situation. you either manage or you don't and because i wasn't managing i did ask for help and it wasn't forthcoming. there was nothing in the community for me, and so nothing in the community for me, and so that meant i ended up being put into a psychiatric hospital for people with mental health problems. is autism and mental health problem? it isn't a mental health problem. why were you detained in a mental health psychiatric unit? at the moment autism is considered a disorder and it comes under the mental health act and it is in the dsm so at the moment the situation is such that people with autism, which is not curable or treatable,

people are being treated wrongly in hospitals that are designed to help people and treat them. what was your experience of being detained in various facilities over three and a half yea rs ? various facilities over three and a half years? some of it was good but a lot of it was really bad, and has really traumatised me. as soon as those doors locked and you walk through those doors it has a psychological impact, and for people with autism we need routine, structure, familiarity, predictability, and we get that at home, you don't get that in a hospital, you get a sensory charged environment with chaos and you are out of the context that you actually wa nt to out of the context that you actually want to be functioning in and adapting to the community. and you escape, in the end? this is extraordinary. to get out, you had to escape. that's absolutely right. i was locked in. i was put into a cage, cages. you know, iwas kept in seclusion rooms for hours and hours.

i was long—term segregated, fed on the floor, you know, in very un—stimulating environments, and it came to the point where i had no choice but to make that decision one morning that i had to leave the country, unfortunately, you know, i had the resources and was able to do that. but i know that so many people are not, you know, and can't do that, and we shouldn't be in that situation, victoria. some people might be sceptical that you are held ina might be sceptical that you are held in a cage. just describe it. well, it looked like what you would impound a dog in, and i was kept in theirfor impound a dog in, and i was kept in their for a impound a dog in, and i was kept in theirfor a good few impound a dog in, and i was kept in their for a good few hours, impound a dog in, and i was kept in theirfor a good few hours, being transported between hospitals. and you have to wait. people at home, think, you know, you have to wait for a nurse to bring something to you at your bedside, well, you have to wait in mental health hospitals as well and that meant for me waiting ina as well and that meant for me waiting in a cage. you are laughing with hysteria because it is

absolutely not funny. let me bring injane. i made an assumption it is hysteria, but you know what i mean, it is so absurd. shocking. how bad is this problem? that it is horrendous. we know at the moment there are over 1000 autistic people in mental health units and a third of them, professionals have said they do not need to be there, and what we need to change is to have more community services, both mental health services that understand autism and can give people help before they get to crisis point but we also need more funding for local councils to provide social care support, helping the community, but we also need a change in the law and thatis we also need a change in the law and that is why we are going with alexis today to downing street because at the moment you can be sectioned and detained in hospital purely for being artistic. you don't need to have a mental health problem as well as being autistic and you certainly don't require a medical health problem requiring inpatient treatment, and that is wrong and we wa nt treatment, and that is wrong and we want a government review and a better law in place. barbara keeley,

labour‘s shadow mental health officer, what with this change in the law do? at well, officer, what with this change in the law dwfi well, somebody like alexis could not have been detained, and jane is quite right, there are over 1050 autistic people, but this includes children, and it is absolutely tragic. this has to stop. i base this on the last day of parliament before the recess with the minister —— i raised this. because we had a debate on the mental health act, and i said autism should not be included. does anyone disagree that autism shouldn't be included? green that while the government hasn't dealt with it or done anything about it. clearly they have their own reservations. i couldn't shift the minister so the petition is clearly the right thing to do. we need to keep this on the agenda. it is very important. you estimate the fact that you are detained in various places over that three and a half year period cost how much to the taxpayer?”

three and a half year period cost how much to the taxpayer? i think, because of bed costs, between £700 and £1400 a night, i think about £2.5 million. that is extraordinary. it is, considering all i needed was some occupational therapy to manage my sensory needs and routine and structure issues, and psychology specific to autism to deal with the bereavement of my brother. could it happen to you again? yes, and in fa ct happen to you again? yes, and in fact one of the triggers was that i was pregnant at the time i went into this crisis, because of the routine changes that come with pregnancy, andi changes that come with pregnancy, and i am pregnant again i geta changes that come with pregnancy, and i am pregnant again i get a mac well then i am really concerned and iand well then i am really concerned and i and really grateful to the autistic society and people like barbara keeley bringing this to the government because we really need to do something —— i am pregnant again now and i am really concerned. you have brought this up with the mental health ministers. is anyone listening? green that it doesn't seem listening? green that it doesn't seem like it. there was a sum at the other day discussing this and we

have had lots of reviews —— well, it doesn't seem like it. local authorities are cash—strapped and don't have the funding to put in place that people like alexis needed. labour has pledged £350 million a year to fund local authorities in bringing people out of these units and supporting them in the community. they need accommodation and they need support, from care staff. i mean, much needs to be sorted out in social care but this is a priority and we are making ita this is a priority and we are making it a priority. borisjohnson is throwing money around at confetti at the moment pledging all kinds of things, and he could do this tomorrow with the stroke of a pen. finally, there was a review into the mental health act which the government said it didn't really come to a clear conclusion. do you buy that? like the review was very wide—ranging and obviously if you are doing a review into the mental health act your primary concern is people with mental health problems, but there was a small group looking at this and it didn't include any autistic people. in scotland there

has been a review specifically on autism and mental health act and thatis autism and mental health act and that is what we need, deep dive into this issue. that mental health act does not cover this in detail because it is 1000 people rather than the one in four people who have mental health problems. you all. if i may, barbara keeley, as you are labour's shadow mental health and social care minister i want to raise this issue ofjeremy corbyn's offer to become caretaker prime minister erna temporary government, and can you think of any conservative mp that would vote to putjeremy corbyn in numberten? that would vote to putjeremy corbyn in number ten? parliament is in recess and the offer was made last night well then i don't know but constitutionally and democratically it is the right thing for the leader of the opposition to make that sort of the opposition to make that sort of offer. you would need tory mps to acknowledge that, to win this vote of no confidence in borisjohnson? stopping no deal goes beyond party politics and it is right the leader of the opposition should be the one to make the offer, and people and

mps in other parties have to respond. jeremy corbyn is divisive within labour, you would acknowledge that, wouldn't you ? within labour, you would acknowledge that, wouldn't you? that idea you could get enough mps from other parties to put him in number ten is deluded. but these are not normal circumstances. but he needs the numbers. i understand that but it is the right thing for the leader of the right thing for the leader of the opposition to do, democratically and constitutionally to stop you couldn't have the leader of a small party with a very small number of mps being the one who said, i will be the prime minister of a caretaker government, but it is not... but there could be a more unifying figure in the house. yes, but that wouldn't be the right thing constitutionally. constitutionally we are the largest party in opposition so it is right our leader is the one who puts forward the offer to be the government that would just be in a situation of getting an extension to article 50 so we getting an extension to article 50 so we didn't leave and calling for a referendum, and a general election. thank you very much for talking

about that as well, barbara keeley, from labour. thank you very much, alexis quinn and jane harris, from the national autistic society. thank you for coming on the programme. we will now talk to the newest member of the liberal democrats, sarah wollaston, who announced she is joining sarah wollaston, who announced she isjoining the lib dems last night. good morning to you sarah wollaston. would you vote to putjeremy corbyn in numberten as would you vote to putjeremy corbyn in number ten as caretaker prime minister? the reality is we don't have time for this. very specifically, would you give him your vote? i will be voting no confidence in the government but what i would say is he needs to think again about who is going to be the most likely person who will be able to read this and have the confidence of the whole house. i think having a less divisive figure,

perhaps harriet harman, to head up this very temporary arrangement, that would probably be better, so i hopejeremy that would probably be better, so i hope jeremy corbyn and that would probably be better, so i hopejeremy corbyn and all party leader mikes would agree to put their own personal interest aside in their own personal interest aside in the national interest and have a different figure that can genuinely command a majority across all parties for a sort of very temporary unity government —— leader would agree. but he sounds adamant that thatis agree. but he sounds adamant that that is a kind of precondition to a vote of no confidence. he says this morning, under all normal parliamentary process in britain, the leader of the opposition takes over when the government collapses. so that seems to be absolutely in line with all the unwritten british constitution. we are not in normal times at the moment, and ifjeremy corbyn brings a vote of no confidence then i will be voting no confidence then i will be voting no confidence in the government and i'd like to see first might have a general election or a people's vote s0 general election or a people's vote so people can actually give their

verdict on this do or die brexit we are facing in 77 days' time so i hopejeremy are facing in 77 days' time so i hope jeremy corbyn are facing in 77 days' time so i hopejeremy corbyn will listen to that, step aside from personal interest, and say how can we both did macbeth get this through the commons? if he is genuine about wanting no confidence in the government. —— how can we best get this through the comments? i will be voting no confidence in the government, but the trouble is it won't work because it won't allow conservative mps to vote for it well it is much better if it is a neutral terms. that is what i am saying here. it is not about blocking it it is about saying look at the reality of the situation in the time we have left. if he won't stand aside, if you like, for someone else, what is your plan? all the people who say they want to stop and no—deal brexit. what is there one coherent strategy? the point is there are

several different ways we can get here but we are now faced with a prime minister who is saying, i don't care what parliament things, and has installed as his right—hand man someone and has installed as his right—hand man someone who frankly has been in co nte m pt of man someone who frankly has been in contempt of parliament, so he wants to ta ke contempt of parliament, so he wants to take it out, and he is saying now you would set an election date after we have already come out. that is not good enough. i think the other mechanism that my as i said, there are several possible ways forward. this is the parliamentary recess so it is much more difficult for people to get together to have a fully sequenced plan but we need to have that in place before parliament returns so lots of discussions are happening across party lines well the night we can actually say, what is the realistic and most likely to be sequence of events to stop this catastrophic crashing out in 77 days —— so we can actually say, what is the realistic... even if you say he

is someone who is not realistically going to be caretaker prime minister because he can't get the numbers, at least he has a plan. you men and women who say you are against no—deal brexit keep talking and talking and you cannot agree, all of you, and time is running out. exactly, time is running out. by the time we get back to parliament we have to have come up with a way forward for this. there has to be a clear sequence forward for this. there has to be a clear sequence we can forward for this. there has to be a clear sequence we can all get behind. it is extraordinary that you haven't done that yet, don't you agree? well, i think the point is there are a number of options and when the leader of the opposition puts forward an option that he knows can't be supported by conservative mps, because in orderfor it to can't be supported by conservative mps, because in order for it to work he has to have the numbers, and so i think these things can sometimes act asa think these things can sometimes act as a distraction. although it may look like he is the man with the plan i'm afraid he's a man with a plan i'm afraid he's a man with a plan that everybody knows won't work, and so we need to be clear about coalescing behind something

that will work before we go back to parliament. would you, sarah wollaston, describe yourself as a principled politician? well, i describe myself, yes, is principled, but also... when will you be holding a by—election in your constituency? i want a by—election in your constituency? iwantan a by—election in your constituency? i want an election in totnes so that is why i will be voting no confidence in the government. i would love to see borisjohnson call an election because the point is we have a prime minister here who has been selected and put in downing street by less than a fifth of 1%. sure, but i'm asking about you. plan for which nobody voted... i'm asking about you. yes, indeed, and i wa nt to asking about you. yes, indeed, and i want to see an election in totnes andi want to see an election in totnes and i think that election should be pa rt and i think that election should be part of a general election.” and i think that election should be part of a general election. i put it to you can't be described as a principled politician when the liberal democrats as the third party you have been in this year and you have put yourself up for by—election

zero times. the point is i do want to see a by—election —— an election and if the prime minister takes first night out with a disastrous brag then of course the people of tightness should have the chance to give their verdict, but if i was to —— people of totnes. but if i was to call an election with myself is the only mp doing so all that would happen is we would be artificially inflating borisjohnson's majority and the people of totnes would have no voice at all in parliament over the period of the next six weeks so i'm afraid it has to be a general election or a people's vote to deliver a verdict on what is being planned at this time of great constitutional crisis but, yes, of course i want the people of totnes to have a verdict on me as well as on the wider issues but at this particular point in time that should bea particular point in time that should be a general election or a people's vote. thank you very much for talking to us, sarah wollaston, who is now a member of the liberal democrats party. thank you very much for your comments on our interview

with the dad and the former colleague of victoria george, the paedophile who is up for release next month. she pleaded guilty to the assault of children in her care. one message. she can't be remorseful if she won't release the names of the children. how can they say she has been rehabilitated? what has changed? has been rehabilitated? what has changed ? why won't has been rehabilitated? what has changed? why won't she give the names? another tweet. this isjust heartbreaking. you put so much trust in nursery staff. i am heartbroken for these families. jason adds this. va nessa for these families. jason adds this. vanessa george should never be released until she reveals the names of those poor kids. it is also unfairto their of those poor kids. it is also unfair to their parents. if you are getting in touch you are very welcome. you can message us on twitter as well as getting in touch online.

as part of its aim to tackle knife crime, the home office is targeting chicken shop customers as part of its knife—free campaign. food boxes printed with anti—knife crime messages have been sent to 210 fast food outlets in england and wales. policing minister kit malthouse said it will bring home the "tragic consequences" of carrying a knife to thousands of young people — but shadow home secretary diane abbott and labour mp david lammy criticised the focus on chicken shops as "crude", "racist" or "stupid". dal babu is a former chief superintendent in the metropolitan police. what do you think of this latest measure from the home office?” think it is very patronising, it stereotypes people and you have to remember the history of chicken shops in the slave trade in america. i think we have an initiative that seeks to target chicken shops because that is where the assumption is that young black people go. i think the reality of this is that you need a coordinated programme

that puts money back into the youth service, into children's services, to support the community is going through a the devastating impact of knife crime across the country, not just london but the whole of the country. i think we have seen this initiative, along with this desire to increase the powers of stop and search, and ironically boris along with theresa may was in favour of reducing stop and search and has now flip—flopped and once more stop and search. we have seen the same around 20,000 extra police officers without any detail of how that will be achieved, and we have heard talk about more prison places. what we really need is details and a coordinated programme putting the community at the centre of any initiative. so this is racist? well, some people have called it racist andi some people have called it racist and ifully some people have called it racist and i fully understand why they think that... and i fully understand why they think that. .. do you? and i fully understand why they think that... do you? i think and i fully understand why they think that. .. do you? i think there isa think that. .. do you? i think there is a racial element to it. it stereotypes people, it is patronising. yeah, and i can fully

understand why people see it as racist. i think what they need to do, the government needs to really revisit this decision, look at what they are doing, look at the very kind of communities they need to be engaging with, who are the very kind of communities up in arms about this kind of initiative. let me be the statement from the home office. "the knife free campaign is aimed at young people aged ten to 21 from all backgrounds. we chose to partner with chicken shops as our research showed this would allow us effectively to reach young people as pa rt effectively to reach young people as part of our wider knife free campaign. we spoke to a number of groups who supported this initiative with participant stating fast—food outlets where one of the favourite places to meet with friends.". what about that? element why didn't they go to mcdonald's, to the fish and chip shop? there are a whole range of places they could have gone to and they have gone to chicken shops because it fulfils a stereotype. it is also a failure of public services

where we have reduced youth services by 85% and we have a situation where some young people will hang around chicken shops. so i think we really need to go back to the core of the problem of knife crime which is about a lack of funding on our resources , about a lack of funding on our resources, and the massive cutbacks in policing, the youth services and the public sector as a whole. which is why the government might potentially say they have plans to recruit 20,000 more police officers, they are putting more money into prisons and so on. victoria, i had absolutely brilliant training. i went from being a civilian to a police officer and i had five months of residential training with the metropolitan police before i was placed in tottenham, very tough area. what you now have, in terms of training of police officers, the vast majority of it is done online. you do an online test then once you have completed that you then join the police service and you start your training will stop it is a number of weeks, not months. so i'm not sure how the government are

going to take 20,000 civilians and turn them into police officers within three years and you have to remember, again, borisjohnson was mayor of london when police stations we re mayor of london when police stations were being shot to left, right and centre... yet he says he reduced crime by 20% in london when he was mayor. i was a borough commander and ididn't mayor. i was a borough commander and i didn't have a great deal to do with borisjohnson. i didn't have a great deal to do with boris johnson. i i didn't have a great deal to do with borisjohnson. i think there we re with borisjohnson. i think there were police officers working, the operational police officers, who are working very long hours. i think boris was a figurehead, and if there was anybody who had a handle on things it was kit malthouse on his deputy mayor of policing, who had more day—to—day contact with police officers. actually the level of crime reduced more out of london thanit crime reduced more out of london than it did in london. thank you very much. thank you, dal babu. it's a—level results day and thousands of students in england and wales have been given their results this morning. chi chi izundu spent the morning at blackpool college.

so there have been a steady stream of exceptionally happy students coming to the blackpool sixth form college this morning, but the overall headlines for the country is that a—level result pass rates have remained stable overall. there are some interesting news in those attaining — the proportion of students attaining an a* or an a grade has actually dropped to the lowest it's ever been in the last decade. but in other news girls getting science grades, or entering for science subjects like biology, physics and chemistry has increased — it's overtaken boys for the first time. 50.3% of girls have ta ken those subjects. but there is concern over the english language and literature courses because the number of people taking those have dropped, but let's first of all understand how this wonderful group of students have done because they have waited with us all morning. hannah, we will start with you. what did you study and what did you get? i studied law a—level, got an a‘, i did psychology and got an a‘, and studied sociology i got an a.

fantastic. we've just whipped you in from inside, celebrating. what's your name, what did you study and how did you do? jasmine. i studied psychology, textiles and graphics. i got a c in psychology, a‘ in textiles and a in graphics. and you feeling? so happy! i'm so happy, i can't believe it. are you happy the hard work is over? yes. so excited. can't wait to celebrate. and how did you do? what's your name? my name's alex. i studied triple btec music and i got triple distinction star. yes, because i hear that music was one of the harder exams, because you had to learn 18 pieces of music in two years? that was for a—level. i studied the btec course so it was mostly coursework but a lot of it was performance—based so we had to get into bands, learn pieces and go out and perform them on stage which was really exciting. and how are you feeling about what you've done? i am absolutely overjoyed. i put so much hard work into it, and so glad it all came together. fantastic. how are you and how did you do? i did btec sport and i got triple distinction star as well. massive congratulations.

thank you. i'm really happy that all the work's paid off. a lot of hard work over the last two years and it's all come together to get the grades so i can go to uni, and study sports science there. yourself, how happy? yeah, very happy. yeah. i did maths, further maths, history and economics, and i got four a‘s. and yourself? i did maths, further maths, physics and chemistry, and got four a‘s. and how are you guys all planning to celebrate? what's the plan? alcohol... i won't publicise that! principal gill... yeah, hi. a very happy college. really, really happy. i mean, it'sjust been such a celebratory morning this morning. we've had staff, students and parents celebrating, and in tears as well with happiness, where it's been great. we're really pleased. we've gone around and spoken to a number of students this morning and they say that actually a lot of the hard work includes the teaching staff here, not just those that teach the subjects but those that support the students as well. absolutely. it's a whole college effort, a real team effort. we've got exceptional teachers in the classroom, but of course it's everything that happens outside the classroom as well. i'm really proud to be the principle of this college,

with such a fantastic team of staff. and obviously we can't ignore the fact that budgets are a problem in education. are you hoping that you will still be able to put on this kind of education for students in the future? we really hope we are, but we are under real pressure with the funding, as well you know. things are being cut and cut and cut and all the extra things we provide for students which really give them a rounded experience, those are in danger of rounded experience, those are in dangerof being rounded experience, those are in danger of being lost over time, so we really support the raised the rate campaign the sixth form college have been doing and we hope the government listened to that and give some more money so every government listened to that and give some more money so every student can benefit from a wonderful post 16 experience. congratulations to you and all your students. well done, everybody. off you go and celebrate. some students will actually be taking part in clearing, and this year there is a bit of a change in the sense that they now no longer have to wait for the university to contact them. they can go online, click on a button that says they wa nt to click on a button that says they want to reject their chosen place

and go through clearing that way. the numbers of clearing are expected to go up, but from here in the blackpool sixth form college it is a massive congratulations to all the stu d e nts massive congratulations to all the students that have done exceptionally well. and i hope it has been an ok day for you getting your results as well. and if you've been affected by issues raised by the release of convicted paedophile, vanessa george, visit the bbc‘s actionline website at bbc.co.uk/actionline. thank you for your company today. have a good day. good morning. ithink good morning. i think many of us can agree to date a much nicer day than yesterday. persistent rain, low temperatures, not very nice really

—— today is a much nicer day. we continue with sunny spells into the afternoon. still a few show is about particularly in the north west of england but those will fade away. increasingly sunny into scotland, england and wales and northern ireland the cloud will generally increase a little later. temperatures 17—23dc, filling warmer than yesterday. cloud then increases in the west with some rain and the wind starts to pick up across western areas. further east some clear skies which may allow temperatures to fall into single figures but elsewhere staying in double figures. friday, very wet weather moving from west to east, accompanied by a strong wind particularly around wales, the south—east of england, the irish sea coast. wind gusts, look at those. for many of us, pretty breezy and wet. goodbye.

you're watching bbc newsroom live — it's11am and these are the main stories this morning: jeremy corbyn has challenged mps to install him as a temporary prime minister, as he lays out his plans to prevent a no—deal brexit. that would mean a caretaker government, led by labour, which would be a government in order to prevent a no—deal brexit, bring about a general election so the people of this country can decide their future. the labour leader has written to other opposition parties, and some backbench mps, inviting them to work with him. the liberal democrats have already rejected his idea. what we really need to do now is save our country from a catastrophic no—deal brexit, and to do that we need something that will bring people together across the house of

commons.