hello it's wednesday, october 2nd, it's 10:00. i'm victoria derbyshire. harry and meghan take the mail on sunday to court for publishing extracts from one of the duchess‘ private letters to her dad. well, i've read the letter and i really wish i hadn't been able to. i don't think it should be in the public domain. it's clearly a private letter. it's handwritten, addressed "dear daddy". and it's the duchess of sussex imploring her father to reflect on his behaviour. she describes her heartache and her anguish, and it's clearly private. i don't think it should be in the public domain. the couple are on a tour of southern africa with baby archie — here's meghan speaking to the charity action aid in johannesburg yesterday. it's been very important to me for a long time to focus on womens‘ and girls‘

rights especially empowerment. so to be able to see this from afar and now to see the work being done on the ground i think what's really key is to focus on the work that needs to be done, but also how much incredible work is being done and to be able to be here and help support those people who are actively working to champion the rights of women and girls. we'll talk to meghan suppporters around the country, a former tabloid editor, a barrister and our royal correspondent. do you support this legal aciton by meghan and harry? let me know. borisjohnson‘s "take it or leave it" message to europe as he prepares to set out his final offer on brexit. now is the time for the eu to consider seriously the proposals that we're putting forward. there will not be a delay. we are leaving on the 31st of october. and what we really, really want is for the eu to recognise that movement on their part will give us the opportunity to get a deal that we can get through the house of commons, get brexit done.

and we'll speak helen midgely who was stabbed in the neck with a corkscrew by her ex—partner in a 20 minute attack. she's now got a petition, calling for people convicted of domestic abuse to spend longer in prison. today the domestic abuse bill gets its second reading in parliament. hello, welcome to the programme. we're live until 11:00 this morning. so many message from all of you already about meghan and harry. ian says this, media moguls are free to do what they like pushing agendas that suit them. freedom of speech is

essential. someone on twitter says, this mob need to pay their own bills, instead of the taxpayer footing the bill for their weddings. they are completely out of touch with society. stuart says, very few people read the newspapers any more, they are no longer relevant, are they? sue says, i am not a royalist, but i am right behind harry and meghan on this. and richard tweets, the press should leave them alone. i have no time for the royals at all but to be hounded because of your race is wrong and what gives the mail on sunday the right to hound her or anyone else. we will talk about this with several guests we will talk about this with several gu ests after we will talk about this with several guests after the news, which comes to you from any to.

the government will submit what it calls its final proposals for a new brexit deal today with a warning there will be no further negotiations if brussels fails to engage with the offer. borisjohnson is expected to tell the conservative party conference the plan is a fair and reasonable compromise that all sides can build on. protesters in hong kong have staged a sit in demonstration of the school ofa a sit in demonstration of the school of a teenager shot by police yesterday. he was the first demonstrated to be shot by police with live ammunition after weeks of tensions in the region. there were violent clashes between police and protesters yesterday as china marked 70 years of communist rule. more than 150 flood alert remain in place in england with more rain and strong winds forecast for tomorrow. 0n the isle of man, a major incident was declared yesterday after flash

flooding trapped some people indoors. calls were submerged after heavy rain in leicestershire and landslides blocked railway lines in cumbria. a teenager accused of throwing a boy from a viewing platform from the tate modern can be identified for the first time because he turned 18 today. jonty bravery from west london has been charged with the six—year—old's attempted murder. an application to protect his identity was rejected by a judge yesterday. the family of the victim, a six year french national, who still cannot be named, says he struggles to speak, eat or move. a burger company can says they have been selling objects all weekend has been selling objects all weekend has been banned for condoning anti—social behaviour. it came after nigel faraj and other campaigners had milkshakes thrown at them. the

advertising standards agency said it had been irresponsible. that is a summary of the main story so that is a summary of the main story so far. back to you, victoria. thank you, good morning. prince harry has released an incredible statement overnight attacking the british tabloid press‘ as bullies, for waging a "ruthless" campaign against his wife meghan, while announcing that they‘re taking legal action against the mail on sunday for unlawfully publishing one of her prviate letters. here‘s some of that statment from prince harry... "my wife has become one of the latest victims of a british tabloid press that wages campaigns against individuals with no thought to the consequences — a ruthless campaign that has escalated over the past year. he goes on... the claim comes after the mail on sunday published a handwritten letterfrom meghan to herfather,

thomas markle, sent shortly after she and prince harry got married in 2018. in harry‘s statment he says of the publication of that letter... the statement ends like this... a mail on sunday spokesman said the paper stood by the story it published and would defend the case "vigorously". harry and meghan say they need your support. do they have it? do you agree that they have to stand

up to the behaviour of some newspapers becasue as harry points out it destroys poeple and detroys lives. or is this statment too much — too emotional, too much of an outburst, and why now when they‘ve had such good coverage of this tour abroad. let me know this morning — victoria@bbc.co.uk or use the hastag victoria live. we have many people to talk to about this. i will introduce you to people in the studio and then people around the country. lord falconer, a labour peer, a barrister and a former lord chancellor. mark stephens, a media lawyer. paul connew, former editor of the sunday mirror. and our royal correspondent sarah campbell. alsojoining us is tara nadi, she‘s chair of the ethnic minorities network at loughborough studetns union. micha frazer—carroll

is editor of galdem, a publication which talks about the lives of women of colour, entrepreneur william adoasi founder of watch brand vitae london. drzainab khan, the associate pro vice—chancellor of london metropolitan university. and saad salman — a royal bloggerfrom canada do you support meghan and harry on this? i think it is very important in this case we do put our support behind them basically calling out the relentless attack on megan. it is related to the fact she is a woman of colour and it is unacceptable. so in this case, i support her. why do you think it is com pletely support her. why do you think it is completely to the factory is a woman of colour? we see across media that women of colour are treated in a way thatis women of colour are treated in a way that is racist by the press. meghan, comments have come from other

papers, saying she eats avocado toast and it is because she is a narcissist and heightens the criticism towards her. do you think people have got something against her, if so, what? i would absolutely echo those comments. it is not necessarily that people have something against the duchess but the press have a consolidated effort to construct a new identity which is false and disproportionately negative, entirely based on her identity as a black woman and we can draw analogies with the experience and treatment of other women who have for example, serena williams, gina miller, received disproportionately negative coverage in the press. william, do you back their legal action against a sunday newspaper, is it wise to take on a

sunday tabloid ? newspaper, is it wise to take on a sunday tabloid? it has come to a point where we need to take a stance and people need to go beyond just words and go down hard on these tabloids. it is lazyjournalism. it is outdated journalism. they are literally bullying and picking on an individual. sol literally bullying and picking on an individual. so i wholeheartedly back it. we have a former tabloid editor, is it bullying to publish this letter? it is a very difficult one. in law, i am sure meghan will win the case purely on the grounds of copyright, if nothing else. as a former tabloid editor, is it bullying to publish this letter, a private letter which he wrote to her dad, which her dad must have given to the mail on sunday? there are two sides to this. wearing my other hat asa sides to this. wearing my other hat as a media adviser, i advise her from writing the letter because it

was a certainty her father would lea k was a certainty her father would leak it. both to the british press and the american media, with which he also has close connections. was it bullying? no. was it a good judgment call by the mail on sunday? they will have to answer that question for themselves. i thought the statement by harry went over the top. i sympathise with part of it, not with other parts of it. it will come back to bite him eventually. the old cliche is true, the royal family need the press as much as the press need the royal family. when you say it could come back to bite him, what do you mean? it was a pr exercise, either of his own battle advised by others. if you listen to the phone in programmes, they are evenly split and social media, between support for meghan and harry and criticism of them. i think there isa and criticism of them. i think there is a balance to be struck and i am not sure that harry hasn‘t gone too

far. i certainly wouldn‘t have advised him to put it in quite that vitriolic and vehement terms. sarah campbell, will this statement been run past advise else, officials, buckingham palace, the queen? run past advise else, officials, buckingham palace, the queen7m would be odd if the queen had no knowledge of the legal action. sol think we can certainly say the queen and the prince of wales would have had knowledge of the legal action. what we don't know is whether the statement, which is pretty unprecedented in the language, will have been run past them. we haven't had a statement like this before. the only similar thing we can think of is november 2016, again by prince harry and a statement which came out of nowhere. it was when his relationship with meghan was at the beginning and already then he was talking about the fact he was upset about racist undertones in some of the language in the press. what do you think about the language in this

statement? the language is strong, it doesn't mention racist undertones in this particular thing, but he talks about my wife, one of the latest victims of the british tabloid press. a ruthless campaign, which has escalated over the previous year throughout her pregnancy and while raising our newborn son. he talks about continual misrepresentation, so i think what is interesting is of that we have the legal case which is against the mail on sunday, which is one article in one newspaper, the statement is attacking the vast majority of the tabloid press.|j wa nt to majority of the tabloid press.|j want to bring in lord falconer, if i may. you are a barrister, a former lord chancellor which means effectively you are in charge of the law for four effectively you are in charge of the law forfour or effectively you are in charge of the law for four or five years, in terms of putting the legal action to one side, in terms of the kind of press coverage prince harry and meghan have had since they got married, has

it been too much? i think it has. the significance of the statement is, this is what they are feeling about it and we have had a lot of enquiries for the way the press have behaved and the theme, you are really adversely affecting people‘s lives, like milly dowler‘s family and like the mccanns, who lost their daughter in portugal. the pressure on these people goes way beyond that which is legislated. there is a difference between royals and private citizens like the people you have mentioned? the weight the press go on, on, and on means whether you are a royal or somebody who gets caught up in the most appalling story, it adversely affects your life. the question prince harry statement reveals i think, is what are the limits? are there no limits? publishing what was plainly intended

to bea publishing what was plainly intended to be a private, handwritten letter from meghan to her father, goes way beyond the limits. but sarah is right, harry is waging a much wider issue, why do you go on and on about things which are essentially private. why do you go on and on and on at the mccanns, why do you go on and on and on at lily dowler's family. why do the tabloid press not acce pt family. why do the tabloid press not accept there are limits beyond which you should not go. the law will not intervene. these days i advise people how to handle the media in many ways. but i think there is a difference, as victoria said between the royals and others. harry and william, to their great credit has spoken about the emotions and the loss of their mother. there is a question here, i think the race issue is important. but in the wild we st of issue is important. but in the wild west of cyberspace, there is, without doubt, been some appalling things said about meghan which are

racist. i am less certain... the great source, racist. i am less certain... the great soui’ce , one racist. i am less certain... the great source, one of the great soufces great source, one of the great sources for cyberspace is what the tabloids publish. i am going to bring in someone else and then i will be back with you, mark stephens ina will be back with you, mark stephens in a moment. i am just going to read a little list, a cursory google, meghan hires crisis management from those that once represented harvey epstein. meghan markle and prince harry slammed by environmentalist for taking private jets. and harry slammed by environmentalist for taking privatejets. and i think meghan markle broke royal protocol in her vogue editor. they deny issuing rules and regulations to their neighbours. this baby archie being raised on a meat free diet?

0ver £2 million spent on refurbishing the cottage. stories of a feud between megan and harry and william and kate. senior aides quitting. i could go on, on and on. what you make of those stories and why do you think there is that relentless coverage? in the past year that meghan has joined the royalfamily, there year that meghan has joined the royal family, there has year that meghan has joined the royalfamily, there has been... they are having a more high—profile role than they would normally have. she has done things in a different way. she has been, in my opinion been u nfa i rly she has been, in my opinion been unfairly criticised and most of the headline he just mentioned, unfairly criticised and most of the headline hejust mentioned, may unfairly criticised and most of the headline he just mentioned, may have been false but people still believe them as a statement against meghan.

tara, do you back their legal action? yes, absolutely. i am not a massive fan of the royal family as a general institution, but i have also been intrigued by the way meghan has been intrigued by the way meghan has been treated, pretty much ever since her relationship with harry had been announced. i think it is completely different to the way kate has been portrayed. often when i see headlines of the two, i cannot seem to think of what the real differences between the two women and what they do, besides the fact that one is black and the other is white. of course, is one of our guests in the studio pointed out, prince harry has not mentioned the fa ct prince harry has not mentioned the fact she is a woman of colour in the statement, that relevant? yes, i think it is relevant because i think thatis think it is relevant because i think that is the reason why meghan gets so that is the reason why meghan gets so much of the negative press. i feel a woman of colour in society

tend to have much less leeway given to us when we make mistakes and the press overlooked the fact that over the space of 12 months, her life changed dramatically. she moved to a different country, got married into an institution that predates her by hundreds of years and she has had a baby as well. so even if she does make mistakes, which i have not seen actually what she has done wrong, generally speaking, you know they could be a bit more forgiving about that, but they are not. if we look at the way kate was opened with open arms when she married william, the difference is astounding to me. although there was quite a lot of negative coverage about kate before she married william, weighty katie and all those. what is wrong with this country that people in the public eye cannot be left alone to live their life. this text says, the royals need to understand their place and harry need to understand he is not free to

react against any public opinion, right or wrong and his wife should be made to understand her publicly paid position. mark stevens, media lawyer, was there any public interest in publishing this letter? no, it is curious but that is all. the royal family are subject to a greater degree of scrutiny because they are the royal family, just like politicians. but every person, including the royal family is entitled to, as a basic human right, a degree of privacy and the law understands this and reflects the moral situation here. so it is very clear that there are two issues in play. one is privacy and confidentiality. this was a document, a letter which was impregnated with absolute hallmark of privacy and confidentiality. he was a confidential communication between a daughter and her estranged father. it was not intended for wider public dissemination. the second point is copyright. the

person who writes the letter owns the copyright. so meghan markle retains the copyright. she sends the letter to thomas marco, who is gifted in the process, the actual physical paper, but he gets no right to publish it. the right to publish it is that entirely of meghan markle. the lawyers at associated newspapers know this well because they know it because prince charles‘s journals were published they know it because prince charles‘sjournals were published by the same newspaper group, remembered the same newspaper group, remembered the phrase comedy appalling waxworks backin the phrase comedy appalling waxworks back in 2005. that case, they fought that case and they lost it and they took it to an appeal and they lost that too. so why are they saying they will vigorously defend this?|j cannot they will vigorously defend this?” cannot see beyond the fact that this is going to sell more newspapers. fair enough. i want to ask you lord falconer about the behaviour of the press going forward, after diana

died and prince harry references this in his statement, the press to change. you have talked about the family of milly dowler, and the mccanns, is it the same compared to the coverage of the royals? will the press change as a result of the statement? i don't think so and the trend of the press in the last month, to go back to the position before the levenson enquiry. we had the gareth thomas story, rugby player who is hiv— positive, the gareth thomas story, rugby player who is hiv—positive, a tabloid newspaper went to his parents and broke the news that he was hiv positive when he hadn't told them. you have ben stokes, distinguished critic, had an appalling family tragedy before he was born, so it doesn't involve him at all, which some published on their front page. there is no public interest and it causes huge distress. they have happened in the la st distress. they have happened in the last month. the publication of the letter occurred in february. it feels like the effects of the levenson enquiry is wearing off and

the tabloid press is going back to the tabloid press is going back to the way it was before and that is very, very dangerous. it will affect public discourse and it affects individuals, notjust the royals, as we are pointing out, but as it were, people who stumble into the public eye in some way, not of their choosing. as a former tabloid editor, do you agree that papers are going back to the way they used to behave? i have attacked the gareth thomas scenario on air. do you agree 01’ thomas scenario on air. do you agree or not? no, i don't. they are more cautious, but there will always be m ista kes cautious, but there will always be mistakes of overstepping the mark and that is a legacy of having a free press. i don't think that is right. what is happening is the memory of the levenson enquiry is being gently eroded. they know when it is private, it is clear and the law is very clear and they sometimes ignore their lawyers. editors ignore their lawyers, they are entitled to do that, but there are consequences. one has to say that appears what

happens if they get a really good scoop, they will publish it anyway and the question is, how do you deal with that kind of situation? the copyright law is clear on this one, iam sure copyright law is clear on this one, i am sure but that is the question of freedom of speech of thomas markle. that is a really good point, paul. what about the freedom of thomas markle to do what he wants with the letter from his daughter and hand it to a newspaper, if that is what he wants? it comes down to whether we look at it as an individual case of should thomas markle be able to do this or whether we look at the broader trend of how the tabloid press treats this information and what they choose to do with it. the fact that the person you in its readers would essentially delight in this information surrounding meghan because of how she has been vilified. you could argue he is free to do what he wants but it doesn't necessarily mean it is right and it doesn't mean we can disentangle it from the broader structure of the tabloid press. one

of the problems you have here, he is not entitled to publish the letter, he is not permitted to preach confidence and breach of privacy and breach copyright. what he can do is talk about it as paul says. he can give an exclusive interview to this newspaper about the troubled relationship and give his perspective. that is his right. that is his right to free expression. final word, are the public culpable in that we read the stories, so you know what the argument is, if we didn‘t read them, then perhaps the newspapers, the websites would not publish them ? newspapers, the websites would not publish them? certainly there is a broad responsibility on all of us in wider society to call out nuanced forms of racism. the conversation turns into, it is the press responsibility to root out racist acts or a particular institution or industry and actually you are absolutely right we have to reflect on the type of material that we are asking the press to produce and

actually call it out. sarah, finally to you, where does it go from here? it will increase the scrutiny of the couple? there will be a court case 110w couple? there will be a court case now so couple? there will be a court case now so it'll be interesting to see the results of that and where it from here. what we have heard, there isa from here. what we have heard, there is a huge amount of interest in meghan and harry, there always has been. that is why the stories are getting into the paper and you could have a headline every day on meghan and harry and people will still read it. that is part of the problem. it cotties it. that is part of the problem. it comes at the end of summer where stories, people might argue, are right, taking private flights, and archie is a member of the royal family and until last week we had hardly been given a glimpse of him. it is the relationship the royal family has with the press, it is a close relationship, but it is also a complicated one. appreciate your

time, thank you for your contributions and coming on the programme. i have many more contributions and coming on the programme. i have many more message from you which i will try and read before the end of the programme. borisjohnson makes his first speech as prime minister to the conservative party conference in a couple of hours‘ time. he‘ll set out details of what he says is his "final" negotiating offer to the eu to try to get a brexit deal. and later today, he‘ll put those new plans to officials in brussels. we can talk now to mark francois — tory mp for rayleigh and wickford. he‘s deputy chairman of the european research group — which is a group of pro—brexit conservative mps some of whom would be comfortable leaving the eu with no deal and he‘s at the conference in manchester. let‘s talk now to our guest. thank you for your patience. thank you for talking to us. you do not know the details of this deal, i don‘t know the details, we know a little bit, two borders forfour the details, we know a little bit, two borders for four years, the details, we know a little bit, two borders forfour years, does that sound like the kind of deal you could vote for? well, victoria, good morning. straight to your question,

reference to the previous item quickly, we should remember prince harry is a man who served his country in uniform in a war zone. he isa country in uniform in a war zone. he is a veteran and for that reason, if no other, he has my complete support. i don‘t think the country should ever forget that. support. i don‘t think the country should everforget that. coming on to your question, you‘re right, i have not seen the details of these proposals either. they appear to have important implications for northern ireland. i can only tell you whether or not i would vote for them when i have actually seen the detail. to try and assist you and the viewers, two points... one, obviously we have always been close allies of the democratic unionist party, the dup. because it affects northern ireland, we will take into account quite strongly, what the dup say. to be clear, if they were to support it, it is not automatically would do, but we would give it strong waiting. and secondly, our acid test is, whatever these

proposals are, do they mean we genuinely leave the european union? if they do, then we will support them because that is what we have a lwa ys them because that is what we have always wanted all along. so it is not just about the dup always wanted all along. so it is notjust about the dup then? how worried are you... i have tried to answer. yes, that is clear, thank you. how worried are you about the peace process, the good friday agreement, the economic and social well—being of the area with the return of custom checks between north and south? i genuinely don‘t believe that our leaving of the european union, if it is done in the right way, needs to be any threat whatsoever to the good friday agreement. no one has ever talked seriously about bringing back a hard border on the border, about checkpoints, watchtowers, that is all history. a but you know that customs checks even five or ten miles away would not be acceptable

to the irish or the eu, it is still a border, just a bit away from the actual border. well, let's see. it's actual border. well, let's see. it's a negotiation. the prime minister will table proposals. let‘s see what the eu say. if i were them, i would ta ke the eu say. if i were them, i would take this seriously if they genuinely want a deal. you can‘t keep rejecting everything and then saying the same breath that you want a deal. you either want a deal, or you don‘t. if you do want a deal, if you don‘t. if you do want a deal, if you are the european union, you‘ve got to compromise a bit. you may know that jonathan powell, got to compromise a bit. you may know thatjonathan powell, who had a big role helping negotiate the good friday agreement, told our collea g u es friday agreement, told our colleagues on newsnight last night that this was a deal designed to be rejected by the eu so that they could be blamed for a no—deal. do you agree? well, jonathan powell has, with all respect, he has not been involved in these negotiations. he is as entitled to his opinion as anybody else. of course, he famously

worked for a while for tony blair. you know, that great seeker of the truth. so, let‘s see what actually happens when the eu get these proposals. ijust don‘t happens when the eu get these proposals. i just don‘t think we should prejudge it. we are not prejudging it in the erg, i don‘t think the eu should prejudge it either. what did you say about the truth? what, tony blair, that great seeker of the truth himself? any similarities with boris johnson? seeker of the truth himself? any similarities with boris johnson? no, tony blair is a very different man from borisjohnson. tony blair is a very different man from boris johnson. tony tony blair is a very different man from borisjohnson. tony blair wants us from borisjohnson. tony blair wants us to stay in the european union for ever, borisjohnson us to stay in the european union for ever, boris johnson wants us to stay in the european union for ever, borisjohnson wants us to leave the european union. that is why i voted for him to be the leader of the conservative party.” why i voted for him to be the leader of the conservative party. i will tell you what brussels has just said, bear with me, tell you what brussels has just said, bearwith me, iam reading it on my phone, it has been reported by reuters. the latest british proposal on brexit is fundamentally flawed and will not fly. as you say, we

need to see the actual details. go on, respond to that. all i can say is, kelce —— quelle surpirse. -- quelle surpirse. do you want to borisjohnson to go around the law saying that there needs to be an extension, should that be necessary? i don‘t want the prime minister to d efy i don‘t want the prime minister to defy the law, i don‘t think he will d efy defy the law, i don‘t think he will defy the law, i don‘t think he will defy the law. the question is, what does the law mandate? the ruling here all week is that a number 10 have found something in the surrender act that means we don‘t have to do exactly what the dominic greens and the hilary benns of this world, who never want to leave the european union, trying to mandate is

to do. if there is a legal way to do this, i will be the first one of the court steps. what is the legal way around the benn act?” court steps. what is the legal way around the benn act? i don't know. you‘ve interviewed me before, victoria, i‘m trying to be frank. the rumour is that number 10 have found some legal way through this. if that is true, i honestly don‘t know what it is. if it is some secret way through, i‘m not privy to the secret. i just secret way through, i‘m not privy to the secret. ijust hope they have found a way through. because it is a surrender act, the prime minister was right to use that term. because those mps who voted for it did so to wea ken those mps who voted for it did so to weaken our negotiation position... you know that‘s not true. you know it was about stopping no—deal. you know that‘s not true. you know it was about stopping no-deal. no, no, no. this is an absolute misnomer, right? many of those members of parliament never want to

leave the european union under any circumstances. they know exactly what they are doing. including your own colleagues? people like sir nicholas soames, for example, voted to bring in this anti no—deal legislation. he wants to leave, but with a deal, he doesn‘t want to leave with no deal. well, i've known him for years, leave with no deal. well, i've known him foryears, i‘m not leave with no deal. well, i've known him for years, i‘m not sure... leave with no deal. well, i've known him foryears, i‘m not sure... nikki can speak for himself, but i‘m not sure he really does want to leave the european union, given his track record. hung on a minute, he voted three times for theresa may‘s deal, he wants to leave the european union, he said, with a deal. no! well, do withdrawal agreement kept us well, do withdrawal agreement kept us in the european union, because of the backstop. so he wasn‘t voting to leave, he was voting to stay, that is why we opposed it. you talked about language, you say it is fine, in your view, to use the term the surrender act. you have used military lang with yourself, talking

about herr junker in military lang with yourself, talking about herrjunker in the bunker. do you regret that? critics say it is not very bateman like. excuse me, john mcdonnell said that we should lynch esther mcvey. i'm asking about your language. i'm not talking about lynching anybody. why don't you regret talking about herrjuncker in the bunker? ijust want us to make our own laws and live in peace, what is wrong with that? you said that if we don‘t leave on the 31st of october, the country will explode. what did you mean?” october, the country will explode. what did you mean? i mean that there isa what did you mean? i mean that there is a great deal of anger and frustration out there, because the

public can now see clearly that hundreds of mps, who granted them a referendum, he promised to respect the result, have been doing everything in their power for three yea rs everything in their power for three years to overturn it. the public aren‘t daft. the emperor has no clothes now. they can see what mps are doing. what does explode mean? well, i think you‘re going to get a tremendous amount of anger. how will that manifest itself? well, let's see. but i don‘t think they will don yellow jackets and go see. but i don‘t think they will don yellowjackets and go to oxford street, but i think you will find lots of people letting their mps know they are unimpressed with them. at the very least, the dinner party invitations are going to start drying up. that doesn't strike me as angen drying up. that doesn't strike me as anger, but fair enough, maybe that his anger in world. i want to ask one more question, you said it is not an accident that allegations about the prime minister‘s private life coming out now. what are you suggesting? well, i believe that his

opponents will have had a grid, as we say in news management terms, on all of these stories, and they were deliberately designed to appeal at a particular time to overshadow the conference. now, the prime minister will lay out today a plan for the future of the country. i think the public are more interested in that, what he going to do with more police, is he going to do for more money in schools, what is he going to do with us for more resources on the nhs, they are more interested m, the nhs, they are more interested in, if you are the prime minister, how do you make the life of me and my family, and kids better, they are more interested in that than the media obsession with what may or not have happened have happened at a lunch in 20 years ago. thank you for coming on the programme. helen midgley had a corkscrew drilled into her neck by her ex—partner. he also stabbed her more than 70 times, using the corkscrew and scissors. but he‘s due to be released soon,

having served only around half of his eight year sentence. we‘re going to show you some images of helen‘s injuries now. and just a warning that they are graphic. you may not want children to see. then we will have a conversation with helen, and the nature of the conversation will be graphic. those injuries were so severe, helen had to spend two and a half weeks in hospital. she‘s now started a petition against the early release of prisoners serving sentences for domestic abuse related crimes. the ministry ofjustice announced yesterday at the tory party conference that the most serious violent and sexual offenders will face longer behind bars and serve two thirds of their sentence, rather than half. and today, the domestic abuse bill will get its second reading in the commons. here‘s the government‘s newly appointed domestic abuse commissioner, nicole jacobs.

so many barriers for someone who is subject to domestic abuse in terms of understanding what services are out there, having interaction with statutory services or community, their family and really understanding what they are going through and putting a name to it. these are all the kinds of things we really need to address to end this postcode lottery for victims and their families. we can speak to helen midegly now, whose ex—partner luke dowdle was sentenced to 8 years in prison for gbh, but will be up for parole after serving just 5 years. the most serious violent and sexual offenders will face longer behind bars, under plans to restore faith in the justice system. good morning. why do you want to talk about this now? it is to do with your petition? because i was coerced and controlled to the point that it was originally attempted murder. i dropped the

charges down to gbh, and whatever law was thrown at him, he got the maximum sentence law was thrown at him, he got the maximum sentence for gbh with intent. because of pressure from him? because he coerced me, i was still under his control. i never thought he would cut my throat and sta b thought he would cut my throat and stab me over 100 times. it was the most horrific thing. what do you recall about what happened ?m most horrific thing. what do you recall about what happened? it was about 20 minutes, it started in my sitting room, i had a coffee table over my head, which in the pictures, basically, he came at me with half a pairof basically, he came at me with half a pair of scissors. on seeing the pictures, to start with, i had no idea how bad my injuries were, but the pictures, where they glued my neck together, the stab wounds, and i had to be fed with a tube through

my nose because i had a barium x—ray done, to see whether he had hit vital organs, and whether i could eat or drink. that is why i was fed bya tube, eat or drink. that is why i was fed by a tube, because they weren‘t sure. i had surgical emphysema, which basically means i had air trapped in my neck and they wanted to operate on my neck. but i told them i would rather wait for the antibiotics. so i was on 15 minute obs. the police came, because the people downstairs called the police. presumably you were in and out of consciousness? i was being dragged up consciousness? i was being dragged up and down the flat. i was trying to head for my front door, realising he had put something across the door, with the wall opposite, i couldn‘t get out, it was voted top and bottom with a dead bolt. i knew the neighbours had a trampoline downstairs and i was going to try to

jump downstairs and i was going to try to jump out of the window through the glass, and hope i would get the trampoline. but i couldn‘t. when the police did eventually get in, i had the window under the door, and they shot tasers through it and tasered him. i kicked the plank out of the way and unbolted it. i was naked by this time, because all of my clothes had been ripped off. he stamped on my jaw, had been ripped off. he stamped on myjaw, i had been ripped off. he stamped on my jaw, i have had been ripped off. he stamped on myjaw, i have a joint disorder, which is very painful. i suffer migraines. i‘ve had a fall, hence my walking disabilities. it is a wonder you survived. i thought of my absolute life. i‘m a big girl. yeah. he doesn‘t fight men, but he is

abusive to women. tell us about your position and why you are —— tell us about your petition and why it is so important to you. it is about stopping early release of violent offenders. i believe it should be to stop repeat a violent offenders and he should do his full sentence, whether he has been well behaved or not. he really should do his full sentence. he should serve the full eight years, which is what he was sentenced to? yes, it would have been 16 years, it would have been life. if it had been attempted murder? yes. how worried are you about his potential release? terrified. because i know him, he is going to come for me. he‘s got a crossbow buried in the woods and he is going to come for me. and i have

had this confirmed by a few people. are the police going to look after you? yes. pc dave lyons, he is brilliant. we found him every year, and he supports me. he is the person put me in contact with you. he suggested me doing this. i'm very grateful for your time, because i know it has taken a great deal of courage for you to come on national tv and talk about this. i know you we re very tv and talk about this. i know you were very nervous. tv and talk about this. i know you were very nervous. but it is important that you speak, thank you for doing that. my petition is on the parliament website.” for doing that. my petition is on the parliament website. i will post that later on. thank you, victoria. and if you‘ve been affected by issues in this discussion,

there is a range of organisations and websites that can offer you advice and support. you can find them listed on the bbc‘s actionline website at bbc.co.uk/actionline. cani can i say one more thing? that men are also affected by domestic violence, but they don‘t come forward. this is true. because it emasculated them. i‘ve met many taxi drivers, actually, because i have to get taxis when i go to the doctors, i have a disability car now, which picks me up and drops me off, but i‘ve spoken to male drivers, and they‘ve said that they are under coercive control. thank you for raising that as well. teenagers coercing, you know, with texting, and they can‘t talk. i have a friend that gets texted all the time in her own house. yeah. thank you. thank you very much, victoria.

a 25—year—old woman who‘s set to become the nhs‘s first deaf and blind doctor has told this programme the discriminatory comments she received when she started her hosptial placements made her question her future as a medical student. "how do you expect an invalid like that to run the nhs" — was just one of the comments alexandra adams. she told me about some of the others. on my first day of placement, a senior doctor came up to me and just said, imagine you are a patient, would you want a disabled doctor treating you? absolutely not, and then i was sent home. sorry, you were literally sent home? yes. because you have a loss of vision and hearing? yes, this doctor obviously hadn‘t seen a deaf, blind medic on the ward before and didn‘t really know how to deal with the situation. so, yeah, it was a shame because obviously it was my first day of placement and as a medical student, that should be the most exciting day of medical school so far. unfortunately for me

it was the most disappointing day. it was the day that actually i came home and for the first time doubted whether i could do medicine with a disability. what other comments have you received? shortly after this comment, another doctor came up to me and said what are you doing with the patient‘s cane? so i had to explain that the cane was in fact mine because i‘m registered blind, and theyjust looked at me in disgust and said, i don‘t want you touching any of the patients. goodness me. they immediately assume that because i was a medical student, i can‘t be visually impaired or hearing impaired. then i was on a ward round and i had asked the doctor to speak a little louder and instead of sort of understanding and speaking a little clearer for me, they just walked away and went to a colleague and said, how do you expect an invalid like her to run the nhs? how do you react to those comments? i almost knew before medical school that i would face discrimination because it‘s not common for a visually and hearing impaired doctor to be on the wards. but i didn‘t expect it

to be this ignorant. but i‘m a very positive person and i sort of try to see it as just rather than people being malicious, it‘s a lack of understanding. it‘s ignorance because of these outdated... this is coming from medical professionals? i mean, how dare they be ignorant about hearing loss and sight loss! you would think in the medical field that they would be the most caring, but i think we are so in this bubble, we are clinging on to these, obviously, onto the sort of outdated stereotypes that need to change. they need to see more diversity in the nhs and they need to be more accepting of people. let me ask you, you have 5% sight in one eye and completely blind in the other. you use hearing aids to hear, can you explain to me how you can put a cannula in my hand, what would you do, can i give you my hand? yes. what would you do?

with cannulas, you rely on feeling and touching rather than seeing the veins because as you can imagine, some patients who are really sick, they have swollen hands and so on. so it‘s all about feeling for the springy ones, so you go around and say ok, that‘s not a great vein and you know, we are looking for the springy ones. obviously the technique of putting in a cannula, you have to put it in at a certain angle. at medical school actually before we were let loose on the wards if you like, we do have a simulation centre where we have mannequins of hands and we practice. so you know the technique, you know the system, if you like and then when it actually comes to finding a vein, you feel. and actually, being visually impaired, because you have naturally rely on senses your sense of feeling and touch are actually higher. so on many occasions when i had been on the wards as a medical student, i have had other colleagues, other peers of man coming up to me saying, i‘ve struggled to get this in and they‘ve asked me and i‘ve managed to because i have a little

better sense of feel for it. that interesting and i‘ve had a cannula in the top of my hand a number of times and you know, incredible nurses who can say, sometime struggled because sometimes it‘s tricky and it‘s quite a sensitive procedure isn‘t it? because of your sight and hearing loss, i wonder, do you think that gives you another dimension as a doctor, not necessarily a better doctor, but a different way of approaching patients? yeah, i mean i see my unique perspective in giving more insight, so i say to people, i have less eyesight than most of you but i have more insight. i think that‘s down to my personal experiences of being a patient. i was in hospitalfor a year and a half at the age of 16 and it was then that i kind of got to learn who the good doctors where and who the bad doctors where.

and that‘s the motivation for training to be a doctor? absolutely, absolutely. i realise i have empathy that i can give to other people that maybe the colleagues don‘t have so much of. i mean, i remember when i was in hospital for this year and a half, every single morning a bunch of doctors would come round and they would look at the notes, but not once did they look at me. would you take a test with a 50/50 chance of finding out you had an incurable disease? that‘s the dilemma that faces the children of a parent with huntington‘s disease, a rare inherited disorder that damages certain nerve cells in the brain and progressively worsens over time. in a moment we‘ll talk to hannah clarke and her sister alexia weston, who have had to face just that dilemma. alexia has chosen to be tested and has the gene, which means she will have symptoms. hannah has chosen not to find out. how difficult a decision was to say yes, i want to know, i‘m going to have to test?

decision was to say yes, i want to know, i'm going to have to test7m was quite difficult, but after my mum got diagnosed, i kind of knew then and there that i wanted to find out for myself. having an anxiety disorder, the not knowing was much worse for me. i felt kind of stuck in limbo that i could not move on with my life and make big decisions. without knowing what was going to... you know, what my outcome would be. so, for me personally, itjust made sense for me to find out, so i could make decisions for the rest of my life. has it reduce the anxiety, knowing that you have huntington‘s? ina way, knowing that you have huntington‘s? in a way, it has. even though obviously the result wasn‘t what i had hoped for, it means that i can be proactive in research. me and my husband can make decisions regarding having children, we can have ivf, which means i won‘t pass on the gene. because the embryos are screened? and gene. because the embryos are screened ? and you gene. because the embryos are screened? and you only implant ones that don‘t have the gene? screened? and you only implant ones that don't have the gene? exactly, i know even though i will become ill

at some point, i will not pass that down to my child. that was a big driving factor for down to my child. that was a big driving factorfor me down to my child. that was a big driving factor for me getting tested. hannah, sisters, but you don‘t want the test, you don‘t want to know? why? for me, i have no need to know? why? for me, i have no need to find out at all. i already have a child, i don‘t plan on having any more children at all. i think, for me, if was a positive result where i do have huntington‘s, ifeel it would get me very low, depressed, i don‘t really want to take that risk, knowing that could happen. i can‘t change the outcome. so, at the moment, i‘m just hoping change the outcome. so, at the moment, i‘mjust hoping i change the outcome. so, at the moment, i‘m just hoping i don‘t have it. i‘ve still got that hope inside that i don‘t have it. for me, not doing the test means that i still have the equal chance of not having it. and you both clearly respect each other‘s decisions? it. and you both clearly respect each other's decisions? definitely. we are at different points in our lives, and it is such a personal

decision. really, we have to do it for you, for your decision. your mother has huntington‘s, as we have said, as do your aunties. your grandmother had it, too, and so did your great grandmother. i mean, that is incredible. presumably, going back through the generations, people didn‘t know so much about it, even if they knew what it was? with my great granny, they didn‘t know she had it until my granny was diagnosed, then it made sense as to what her mother‘s symptoms were. and then, of course, our mum and aunties decided to get tested. u nfortu nately, decided to get tested. unfortunately, all three of them have it. if you wanted to start your own family... no, you have started your own family, i am so sorry, i‘ve just got that totally mixed up in my head. i have just just got that totally mixed up in my head. i havejust heard just got that totally mixed up in my head. i have just heard you say you have children, so it is fine. let me bring in cath. it is a personal decision? absolutely, and so many

things to be taken into consideration. each family is different, each individual is different, each individual is different, and they come to it in their own way. it is such a big decision, they have to be absolutely sure before going forward and being tested, because once you have the result, there is no going back. we have discovered there has been an increase in the number of people choosing to have the test. why do you think that is? i think for the first time ever there is some real hopein first time ever there is some real hope in terms of the research that has come through. we are not there yet, we are a long way away. certainly in terms of some of the research that is happening, that probably will be on people that arrive who are early symptom of people not yet showing symptoms. it is an added reason, really, for people to be tested. at the moment, there is no cure for huntington‘s. only management of the symptoms. do you feel hopeful that could change? in your lifetime? i do. ithink it has come such a long way in the last

three or five years. my decision to have ivf, there is not a guarantee. so ifi have ivf, there is not a guarantee. so if i can have a child that didn‘t have it, you know, that takes that worry away. i do hope, for hannah‘s children and my other children‘s children, that by the time they are old enough to develop symptoms there might be something for them. how is your mum and what are the symptoms? there are so many. we would be here all morning. it is mobility, isn't it, one of the main ones. when you see her, if she is standing on the spot, for example, she sways a lot from side to side on her hips. bad balance, i would say as well, that is probably one. she does a lot of hand movements, in voluntary hand movements. and then you also have the more mental side of things, where her decision making is not as good as it used to be, she is not able to drive because her decision making, her reactions are a lot

slower, which takes in people... she has become more of a recluse in that sense, her freedom has has become more of a recluse in that sense, herfreedom has been taken away in a lot of ways. my aunties have had to give up their careers. they have worked their whole lives for them. thank you all of you, thank you very much for coming on the programme and being so open about this. i really appreciate it. thank you for your company. bbc newsroom live is next. we are back tomorrow at ten o‘clock. have a good day. good morning. it‘s pretty chilly out there this morning, but a much quieter, fine a day compared to yesterday, when we had some severe flooding across the isle of man for parts of cumbria, lancashire, lincolnshire. some flash flooding

elsewhere across england and wales. this morning, one or two marker showers in the north—east and scotland, round the merseyside area, south—east england and norfolk. most of them will clear away and you can say for many of us, a dry and bright day. it‘s going to feel chilly this afternoon, maximum temperature is about ten, 11, 1a or 15 celsius, much lower than they were yesterday in the south—east in particular. through this evening and overnight, some patchy fog developing in inland areas. again, looking at quite a chilly night, come thursday night. then through thursday, the remnants of ex—hurricane lorenzo move their way close to the uk and that will give you some strengthening winds on thursday. goodbye.

you‘re watching bbc newsroom live — it‘s 11am, and these are the main stories this morning: borisjohnson‘s "take it or leave it" message to europe — as he prepares to set out his final offer on brexit. it's it‘s ideal or no—deal, as boris johnson gives the eu a ten day deadline to agree his brexit plan. —— ideal. the duke and duchess of sussex take the mail on sunday to court — for publishing one of the duchess‘ private letters to her father. the boss of tesco quits after five years in the job — he says the turnaround he led is now complete, but critics say there‘s still work to do. flash floods cause chaos across england — on the isle of man, a major incident has been declared.