you're watching bbc newsroom live. it's 11.003m and these are the main stories this morning. labour says it's been hit by a sophisticated and la rge—scale cyber attack on its digital platforms. this is the scene live in blackpool wherejeremy corbyn will shortly make a speech outlining labour's edcuation pledges, including a £3 billion strategy for adult retraining in england. and all day on bbc news, we're in bishop auckland finding out why it's notjust brexit butjobs, crime and the decline of the high street that are among the big issues for voters. a warning to those who vape. doctors say this teenager almost died after vaping caused a catastrophic reaction in his lungs. i urge everyone not to vape because i don't want you to end up how i've been because i don't wish it on anyone, not

even my worst enemies. firefighters continue to battle dozens of raging bushfires in eastern australia. officials warn residents that conditions are expected to worsen today. and coming up — hillary clinton tells the bbc that it's "inexplicable and shameful" the uk government hasn't published a report on alleged russian interference in british politics. i'm dumbfounded that this government won't released a report about russian influence because every person who votes in this country deserves to see that report before your election happens. good morning. it's november 12th. welcome to bbc newsroom live. the labour party says there has been a "sophisticated and la rge—scale cyber—attack" on its digital platforms. the party said the attack

had "failed" because of their "robust security systems" and that no data had been taken. in a statement, the party said... "our security procedures have slowed down some of our campaign activities, but these were restored this morning and we are back up to full speed. we have reported the matter to the national cyber security centre. labour is out campaigning hard both on and offline for a labour government that will bring the real change our country needs. " our digital election reporter joe tidy, who's looking at how digital and social media platforms are being used during the campaign, joins me. we had a flavour there of the statement that's been put out by the labour party so what do you know about this? we know very little but we can glean from what they have told us what may have happened here. we had some more details through which i can read to you. there were

large—scale and attacks on our platform which has no intention to ta ke platform which has no intention to take upa platform which has no intention to take up a system is entirely off—line, every attempt failed due toa off—line, every attempt failed due to a robust security systems and the integrity of our platforms and the data was maintained" so what they are saying it was an attempted attack, it failed basically. i know from speaking to the labour party just now this is what's called a distributed denial of service attack, which means what this is is attack, which means what this is is a type of attack where they flood a server or a website system with data in order to bring it down, so you know when for example you're trying to buy glastonbury tickets, and the website goes down? the sheer volume of stuff. exactly that, lots and lots of different computers pointed at her website to bring its own. labour party said this could be... they wouldn't tell me exactly what type of software but they said everything we use to campaign, so they do have specific project management systems they are using, so management systems they are using, so the bespoke campaign software affected by this, but of course, it's likely and i'm not saying it's

definitely the case, but it's likely everything affected would have been the systems they had on their own servers, so an the systems they had on their own servers, so an attacker would have got the ip addresses on the server and attack those specifically. they describe this as a sophisticated attack, but, in all honesty, every company and organisation hit with a cyber attack says that because i don't want to be seen to be in any way week, but they can be sophisticated, these attacks, depending on how big they are because in some cases you can get a kid ina because in some cases you can get a kid in a bedroom who can buy a stress toolkit, off the internet, and take down his mate ‘s website. that's a very small scale, you don't need to be technical to do that. there are other large—scale attacks which are taken down huge systems, and they involve a very, very complicated and sophisticated

network of different computers, internet enabled devices, effectively brought inside a network to be pointed at the same place, so you might have a toaster on the internet for example, and without even knowing about it, that toaster could be breached and it could be enslaved and basically constantly sending data to this website without even knowing it, and there have been incidents where these devices have attacked on such large scales they've taken down huge systems. in this instance, i don't think that's the case. i don't imagine the labour party computer system network is that large. it wouldn't necessarily ta ke that large. it wouldn't necessarily take a lot to stress it out in this way, but fair to say, take a lot to stress it out in this way, but fairto say, labour take a lot to stress it out in this way, but fair to say, labour party got cyber security in place and they have managed to stop it being taken down but it has affected systems by the sounds of things. in terms of targets, political parties and campaign groups will be aware they need to take this seriously. if you look to the usa, there have been

obviously more serious cases. absolutely, political campaigning is so on absolutely, political campaigning is soona absolutely, political campaigning is so on a knife edge, every vote cou nts so on a knife edge, every vote counts and if you look at what happened in 2016, with the democrats system, being hacked, e—mails from hillary clinton was released and the impact it had on the election, they would have known going into this that they will be a potential attack. a potential victim of this sort of thing. that's why they will have cyber security company is working hard to make sure they are safe and it looks like they did manage to thwart this. joe, really good to have your thoughts on that. thank you very much. we are waiting for a speech from jeremy corbyn in blackpool and will join him when he starts that. let's go to westminster and speak to our assistant political editor norman smith for more reaction on that cyber attack. yes, it will be interesting to see whetherjeremy corbyn, some of the questions and answers, in a speech in blackpool, gives more details

about the attack which labour believed was a significant attempt because they say it was an attempt to ta ke because they say it was an attempt to take their system is entirely off—line, so obviously a major attempt to disrupt their election campaign. and they concede it is slowed up some of their systems. so a significant move and of course, the timing of it, just as hillary clinton has stepped into the fray over that report into russian involvement, alleged involvement, in the brexit referendum and in the 2017 election when she said it was essential and inexplicable that the government did not publish that report, the timing just heightens the concern i think in all political parties about the potential vulnerability of the digital platforms, although this morning the chief secretary to the treasury was again defending the governments decision not to publish the report on the grounds there were still processor to be completed. and dismissing the idea that perhaps the

real reason was because of embarrassing revelations about the role of russian donors to the tory party. this is what he said. i can't comment on leaked reports from a classified document. all donations to the conservative party follow all the proper rules. they are all disclosedand transparent, as you would expect. when it comes to russia, i think the key thing people should be asking is who's going to make sure that britain is safe and standing up for britain's interests? we saw a russian attack on our soil not that long ago. we saw what the response from the british conservative government was and we saw what the response from jeremy corbyn was, and i think that contrast is clear for people. meanwhile, a lot of attention at westminster still focused on the aftermath of that decision by nigel virage to stand down his brexit folk in tory seats. people calculating how much of a difference that could make. nigel farage as tory mps were

hoping, they feel they will still be vulnerable in marginal constituencies if brexit candidate stands and actually nigel farage of this morning, gone wild was his humble tone of yesterday, now he was back to his defiant mode insisting it's up to borisjohnson to pull out tory candidates from some seats. it's almost comical, isn't it? i've just gifted the conservative party nearly two dozen seats and i did it because i believe in leave. now, if they believed in leave, what they would do is stand aside and some seats in labour areas where the conservative party have not won for 100 years and will never win and i think what you're seeing from this reaction is, for the conservative party, it's about them as a party, not about delivering brexit, so i'm very disappointed, though perhaps not surprised. jeremy corbyn out on the campaign trail this morning, setting up the parties policies on adult education, and boris johnson not

parties policies on adult education, and borisjohnson not on the campaign trail. he will be chairing a meeting of cobra over the floods crisis. norman, thanks very much indeed. norman smith live in westminster. we want to take you further afield, though. we want to take you further afield, though. let's get more on the election, and we're bringing you a series of reports today from bishop auckland, and geeta is there for us now. good morning. good morning and it is cold and windy and a little bit wet here in bishop auckland, but we are here in bishop auckland, but we are here throughout the day because it isa here throughout the day because it is a key seat, as you say. it has a lwa ys is a key seat, as you say. it has always been a labour seat but in the last election, the labour candidate w011 last election, the labour candidate won only by 502 votes and the conservatives are now very much looking at it as a key target seat. with me is little correspondent david rose. thank you forjoining us. david rose. thank you forjoining us. what is the chance now of a tory victory here? a good chance. you can flip a victory here? a good chance. you can flipa coin victory here? a good chance. you can flip a coin at the moment and see

which way it comes time for them that's how close this constituency is. 502 votes, vital for labour and the conservatives. for labour, they need to hold on things like this if they want to be a party of government. for the conservatives, they can win here, maybe boris johnson start looking towards having a majority in the house of commons. this is a vital seat and we will see a lot of campaign activity here in the coming weeks. this announcement by nigel farage he will stand down candidate in conservative seats, but does not apply here at the moment because of the labour held seat, but it's a marginal. as the brexit candidates are going to carry on here at the moment? yes, nick brown, local candidate from this area, his liberty all his life, as far as we understand it, they will be campaigning here but how will that affect the results i don't know. that's the simple answer. nigel for raj was talking about how brexit candidates in the south will affect the conservative party but here in bishop auckland, the brexit party

have the potential to take votes from labour and the conservatives because there's lots of voters in the north—east, a region which voted overwhelmingly to leave the european union, who wants brexit to get done and they're looking at nigel farage and they're looking at nigel farage and brexit party and considering whether to vote for him. the key question is whether you vote tribally along the lines of party which you have supported or on the brexit lines and those two things don't necessarily run concurrently. from the people i've spoken to here, they are split by it. yes, brexit is cut across party lines. bishop auckland is synonymous with coal mining and the train industry and vote rs mining and the train industry and voters voted labour all their lives but today, with brexit, that dynamic is changing. they voted 60% to leave the european union in 2016 and now with talking to labour voters who wa nt with talking to labour voters who want brexit done and when it comes to brexit they look at their parties

position, the idea they will have a new deal with the european union, and they will then put that to a second referendum and they will say that's not what we voted for back in 2016, so how labour voters come out oi'i 2016, so how labour voters come out on the 12th of december remains to be seen. brexit is cutting across party lines and ripping up the rule book that used to govern a place like this when it came to general elections. this was a new labour stronghold, tony blair, peter mandelson, so many people in this pa rt mandelson, so many people in this part of the world. a former mining area where people were die hard labour and could not consider voting anything other than that. why has that changed ? anything other than that. why has that changed? i think it's changed oi'i that changed? i think it's changed on the basis that the labour party has changed in the last ten or 15 years, and talking to labour voters in this part of the world, they say is not the labour party we remember and there are questions aboutjeremy corbyn's leadership especially with

older labour voters for the younger vote rs older labour voters for the younger voters are very keen, on what jeremy corbyn has to say on the economy, green technology, things like that, but all the labour voters in this pa rt of but all the labour voters in this part of the world, universally, not in ofjeremy corbyn, so it's going to be very interesting to see what happens in that respect. labour need to hold the seat to be a party of government and they will throw a lot of resources at their seat and having a labour candidate here who is keen to say, even though she's been the mp here since 2005, she believes she can bring real change to this area given her parties position at the moment. her majority has fallen from 10,000 to 500. if we look behind us, the castle is there, a huge amount of money wanted for regeneration but i've spoken to some shopkeepers here and it's a very different story. that sense of needing more attention is really apparent here. there is literally a

story of two halves, that side, millions of pounds going to the castle, the idea that can bring tourism to bishop auckland and regenerate the local economy through tourism, on that side high street in a dire strait. lots of empty shops. there is a real feeling community of being left behind. for example, the railway line between darlington and bishop auckland, there is one train an hour. if it gets cancelled, that's it for two hours, there is one train an hour. if it gets cancelled, that's it for two hours, there's nothing you can do about it. the bus service here, people complain about the prices going up. ifa bank complain about the prices going up. if a bank or post office closes, it impacts on communities in this part of the world and that's why this is one of the left behind towns of the north of england. we were talking earlier about how these areas voted for the labour party is while the conservatives at the moment are making a big play for areas like this promising large amounts of investment to persuade lifetime labour voters to come over to them

and back them. labour obviously traditionally have been pretty skilled on the ground here because we are one month away. what we have to rememberabout we are one month away. what we have to remember about this election is its taking place in december, even colder than it is now in the north of england, and it's going to be a case of getting the vote out so when it comes to getting the vote out, the labour party had a very, very big machine in the north of england and they know exactly where they vote rs and they know exactly where they voters are, they know exactly where they are going to be on december the 12th and they know exactly how to get them to the polling booths, so that operation is going to be very important. david, thanks very much indeed. there's still a lot to play for here in the next month and we will be speaking to people in the coming hours from all sides of the debate, and it's really clear people are still quite torn about whether to support traditional parties they have gone with before, whether to change, and how it feeds into what

they want now for brexit. people come i think are still making their minds up here. thanks very much indeed. we will you later on. it's just after a 11:15. labour says it's been hit by a sophisticated and large—scale cyber attack on its digital platforms doctors in nottingham say a teenager almost died after vaping caused a catastrophic reaction in his lungs. australia's east coast braces itself for conditions to worsen — as firefighters continue to battle raging bushfires in the sport. and in sport, raheem sterling has been dropped for england's euro 2020 qualifier against montenegro on thursday. it's after what's been described as a disturbance withjoe gomez in the team area at england's st george's park base. and in sport, raheem sterling has been dropped for england's euro 2020 qualifier the scotland captain andy roberson is out of their euro qualifiers against cyprus and kazakhstan over the next week. the scotland captain andy roberson is out of their euro qualifiers scott mctominay and ryan fraser have

also pulled out through injury. rafael nadal‘s bid to end the year as world number one suffered a setback as he lost to alexander zverev in his opening group game at the atp finals in london. nadal says he just wasn't good enough. rafael nadal‘s bid to end the year as world number one suffered i'll be back with more on those stories later. there are fresh warnings about the dangers of vaping, particularly for young people, after a teenager almost died from serious breathing problems linked to e—cigarettes. ewan fisher was connected to an artificial lung to keep him alive after his own lungs failed and he couldn't breathe. doctors have told bbc news that the case is not an isolated incident, with one warning that young people should never go near vaping. public health experts maintain that using e—cigaretts is still better than smoking. here's our health correspondent james gallagher. ewan fisher is a keen boxer, but vaping left him fighting for his life.

he was 16 when he first used e—cigarettes. getting hold of them was easy, despite being underage. but, around four months later, he started finding it hard to breathe. something in the e—cigarette vapour was causing a catastrophic immune reaction in his lungs called hypersensitivity pneumonitis. his lungs were failing fast, and he rapidly ended up in intensive care. doctors had to connect ewan's blood vessels to an artificial lung in order to keep him alive. it worked, but ewan's recovery has been slow. i urge everyone not to vape, because i don't want them to end up how i have been. i don't wish it on anyone, not even my worst enemies. around 3.6 million people in the uk vape. severe reactions like ewan's are rare, but doctors told the bbc his is not an isolated case. so how safe is vaping? it's a difficult question, because on the one hand, nobody who doesn't smoke should

consider vaping, in my view. it would be madness. but somebody who already smokes should switch. so, where young people are taking up vaping as an alternative to smoking, despite the bad experience that this particular young man has had, i would endorse that. ewan says he is back to 80% of his former self, and wants to go into accountancy. his experience is a reminder that vaping is not completely safe. with me isjohn dunne, director of uk vaping industry association. thanks very much for coming in. listening to that young man, he's saying very clearly to his friends and people of his age don't vapour. he says vaping has ruined me, don't end up like me, i don't want you to be dead. what is your response to that? first of all we got to understand what happened here in this case and it's very isolated as an incident, so when we look at what happened to you and, it's an

allergic reaction to something in the liquid, and there have been similar reports in the last ten yea rs similar reports in the last ten years but there have been 6—8 cases worldwide. when you consider 3.6 million people vape in the uk and 60 million people vape in the uk and 60 million worldwide, those are extremely small numbers however we a lwa ys extremely small numbers however we always have to look at these things. 0ne always have to look at these things. one thing that's important for people to understand is in the uk we have highly regulated industries a lot of testing, but in the small minority of cases, there may be some type of allergic reaction to this product and what i would say is if you do have problems see a health professional straightaway. when you hear from consultants who treated that man, saying the real learning point is vaping is not safe especially for young people and they should never go near it, you would disagree? young people shouldn't be vaping anyway. in this country, anybody over the age of 18 will be

buying these products illegally, so we don't recommend this for anyone who is not smoking cigarettes currently. what we do know is vaping is at least 95% safer than smoking and when you consider 220 people die every day from smoking related injuries here in the uk, this is what we need to focus on. going back to allergies, about two people die every year from peanut allergies to put that into context. you said that you wouldn't recommend that young people under 18 are vaping and its not allowed and yet the kind of flavours, syrups, are very appealing toa flavours, syrups, are very appealing to a young audience. are they designed to mimic the flavours that people see in sweets and fizzy drinks that would be alluring to teenagers? if you take a look at action on smoking and health in the nhs for instance, they monitor this ona nhs for instance, they monitor this on a yearly basis and the nhs just came out recently with their figures and less than 2% of young people in this country are vaping on a regular

basis. that is a growing number and public health england of said young people trying it, the number has doubled. no, it's actually decreased, but what they are finding is the young people who are vaping, where previous smokers, and are now doing something less harmfulfor them but if you take a look at the most important thing, young people who have never had vape before, it's less tha n who have never had vape before, it's less than 2%, the number has remained quite flat, so it's normal genes trying out similar to alcohol and cigarettes itself. this idea at the heart of it is that on the one hand health professionals are torn because they quite clearly say it's better than smoking but it's not safe. it's not totally safe. would you agree? absolutely no one is saying vaping is 100% safe. are you saying vaping is 10096 safe. are you co mforta ble saying vaping is 10096 safe. are you comfortable promoting something not safe ? comfortable promoting something not safe? i'm comfortable promoting something far betterfor

safe? i'm comfortable promoting something far better for you than smoking but nothing in this world is 100% safe and at least 95% less harmful than smoking cigarettes, and that's what we focus on. the suggestion from health professionals that we haven't had e—cigarettes long enough to know the true effects, does that have some weight? i disagree with that because we had them around for about ten years and so them around for about ten years and so there is a huge amount of data out there and research however we continue to look at that and of course we will look into the long—term effects, but what we do know is based on the evidence here of the moment, it's a far better thing for you to do if you can't give up altogether, too vape rather than smoke. 0k, give up altogether, too vape rather than smoke. ok, thanks for your time. employment suffered its sharpest decline in more than four years, in the three months to september, official figures suggest. the number of people in work declined by 58,000 in the quarter, the office for national statistics says. unemployment fell in the same

period, by 23,000 to one—point—three—million people were out of workjob vacancies also fell, but average earnings rose in september by 3.6%. more heavy rain is forecast until thursday for the north of england and the midlands which could bring further disruptions. the prime minister is to chair an emergency meeting this afternoon to discuss how the government has responded to flooding the region. 38 flood warnings remain in place on the river don in south yorkshire and five severe warnings — meaning there's a danger to life. residents of fishlake have been asked to evacuate by doncaster council. 400 homes have been flooded and more than 1000 properties evacuated in the region. travel disruptions continue with trains being diverted from doncaster and reduced services between there and sheffield. 0ur reporter ben ando has more.

during the night, more water was pumped away. forecast today is for the rain to ease, a possible respite for those in afflicted areas such as the village of fishlake on the river don in south yorkshire. dozens of flood warnings remain in place, several of them severe meaning there is a threat to life. later, borisjohnson will chair a meeting of the government's emergency committee. during the night, more water was pumped away. the cobra meeting will discuss the ongoing response to the floods. £2.6 billion is being spent forflood defences in a 6—year scheme that started in 2015. labour accused the government of not doing enough to help people in flooded areas. the cobra meeting will discuss the ongoing response to the floods. jeremy corbyn said in a letter to the prime minister that if the floods were in surrey rather than yorkshire and the midlands it was far more likely a national emergency would have been declared. the liberal democrats say they will use government borrowing to create a £5 billion fund to support council and community flood defence schemes. more on the election, and the liberal democrat leader jo swinson is campaigning in stainforth in south yorkshire —

a county which of course has been badly hit by flooding in the last week. well, the lib dems have set out plans for a 5 billion pound fund to improve flood defences across the uk, to be paid for through government borrowing. the party says it would help build resilience and ensure all communities can get the cash they need in a crisis. 0ur political correspondent tom barton is in stainforth for us. yes, we arejust yes, we are just about one mile from fishlike, one of the areas most badly affected by this flooding. they've been collecting clothes and other things for people who have been affected by the flooding of the last few days and the lib dems leader has been here meeting leaders and seeing what they've been doing. you are here, tell me what you make of what you have seen. you are here, tell me what you make of what you have seenlj you are here, tell me what you make of what you have seen. i think what we have seen in terms of the communities, those families, individuals, who have been impacted

by this flooding, it is devastating, heartbreaking, and equally what i've seen here today from these volunteers who have been spending all the hours that they can come who have been coming home from work and then coming here to volunteer, having clothes donated, sorting them out, getting them in to help the people in fishlake and the affected communities, it's a really inspiring sense of community spirit that is going on here and that does give great cause for hope, really, but it is wrong but it seems to be down to the local communities, important though this work is, this is clearly a national emergency and the government should declare it as such. you are here to make a policy announcement, £5 billion, flood defences over the next few years. some people might think you are just using the devastation which is a fa ct of using the devastation which is a fact of his people to make a political point. we have long had in out political point. we have long had in our manifesto this £5 billion

commitment for a flood and an adaptation fund because it is important ina adaptation fund because it is important in a world where the climate is changing, extreme weather events are becoming more common, that we are able to put in place those defences that are vital for peoples lives and livelihoods. of course, the events of the last few days here have shown quite how necessary that is and i'm here to listen to people and their experiences of this and, yes, to set out what we think can be done to make sure that in a few months or a few year's time, other communities in different parts of the country are not experiencing this again. the policy you are announcing, though, is just replacing money cut under austerity under the lib dems tory coalition government. this will be a new fund for flood defences, but separately we would put additional money into the environment agency because it vital work that they do. the cuts they faced a part of the middle east, where under the coalition, the lib dems. we've also

seen coalition, the lib dems. we've also seen 10% reductions since the last ten years, since the lib dems left government, so ten years, since the lib dems left government, so our ten years, since the lib dems left government, so our equipment to making sure the environment is protected and has always been evident and it's incredibly important these issues are taken seriously. we see the spotlight shine on these issues when you have a flooding event such as now, but what is vital is that the longer term policy changes are made in order to reduce the likelihood of other families going through these heartbreaking experiences in the future. thank you very much indeed for your time. so, flooding very much in the political news today. the prime minister expected to chair a cobra meeting later today. labour also attacking the government, accusing them of not taking the flood seriously enough, saying a national emergency should be called and criticising the cuts that they say have been made to flood

defences, fire service environment agency budgets over the last few yea rs. let's get a look at the weather. wet and windy at times today, staying rather unsettled as we head through the rest of the week, but there will be dry weather around. some sunshine at times. heavy showers, longer spells of rain pushing south across much of england and wales. strong gusts of wind for northern areas of wales and the liverpool bay area is where through the afternoon. eventually easing. a chilly north—westerly wind will become a bit more northerly. showers fading, temperatures only seven or eight celsius for the most part. but a better wind chill. 0vernight dry, high—pressure developing, lighter wind, cold air, all making for a frosty start to tomorrow. a dry start across the british isles.

rather chilly, keeping dry, but into the west of wales, starting to see outbreaks of rain as we head through the afternoon, turning weight as we head through thursday. keep an eye on the forecast. you're watching bbc newsroom live. it's11.00am and these are the main stories this morning. labour says it's been hit by a sophisticated and la rge—scale cyber attack on its digital platforms. a labour source says the party had been subject to tens of millions of attacks, most of which originated in russia and brazil. a teenager who almost died after using e—cigarettes has urged people not to take up vaping. doctors say she suffered a catastrophic reaction in his lungs. as bush fires continue to rage in eastern australia,

officials have warned residents that conditions are expected to worsen today amidst a week—long state of emergency. going straight to blackpool where jeremy corbyn is making a speech about education plans. thank you to gordon for what hejust about education plans. thank you to gordon for what he just said. the work that he has done at the absolute passion he has for unleashing the potential in people through education. his sense of learning and knowledge, but also his sense of the ability that is to be unleashed, gordon, thank you so much for all you have done in this incredible piece of work. applause add to the team who produced this excellent report, the future is ours to learn. this is ground-breaking

staff, something that will enrich the lives of thousands and thousands of people in years to come if we get the chance to put these policies into operation. i am very proud of the work that you have done. our whole team has done. angela, i thank herfor her work as whole team has done. angela, i thank her for her work as shadow secretary of state for education, who brings a spirit and energy and determination, a wit and humour, just about everything else, to thejob itself. she has this passion to ensure that eve ryo ne she has this passion to ensure that everyone has a chance in life, as you often makes the point that her chancesin you often makes the point that her chances in life where given because she was able to access people to help her. 0ut she was able to access people to help her. out of what had been a very difficult life as a young person. what an example, and isn't it that kind of person you want guiding our education policy in the future? someone who totally values the necessity of getting the best out of everybody and understands the

strength behind every young person, evenif strength behind every young person, even if they are immediately appearances what they are. to an education opportunity, angela brings the best out of them all. you should hear her lecturing the shadow cabinet. it is great to be here with chris, our fantastic candidate, cabinet. it is great to be here with chris, ourfantastic candidate, he andi chris, ourfantastic candidate, he and i were a post on euro together with, campaigned together, he is somebody that epitomises the spirit and hope to get investment in blackpool and improve the town for everyone, not just blackpool and improve the town for everyone, notjust visitors, those who live here. thank you for all your work. cheering and applause. ifi cheering and applause. if i may before i say anything about education, i would like to address another issue, but i will do it briefly. it is very important. that is the issue of the devastating floods that we have seen across very large part of our country. more than

1000 homes have been evacuated, and one woman, annie holcomb has lost her life. our hearts go out to her family and friends. you conservative government's respond to the flyers has been woeful. just imagine if this had happened in surrey instead of yorkshire, or the east midlands. i think it would have been a different story. when terrible floods struck the south and 2014, david cameron, the then prime minister, rightly said, money is no object in the relief effort. whatever money is needed, we will spend it. this time borisjohnson waited five days before calling a cobra meeting, i'd only after i wrote to him demanding it in the first place. we now do they guarantee from the government that the money is made immediately available to all the local authorities and areas affected by

the floods. again, back in 2014, david cameron filed, we will build a more resilient country for the future. instead, under the more resilient country for the future. instead, underthe tories, front line flood response and environment agency staff had been slashed by a fifth id fire rescue service by nearly a quarter. so here we are again. we are in the mist of a climate and environmental emergency. funding flood defences and emergency responders is an absolute priority. it isjust and emergency responders is an absolute priority. it is just plain common sense. that is what a labour government will deliver, just plain common sense to help people in an emergency, to get through what is the most traumatic and disaster time of their lives. applause.

as les was pointing out, at icom to her on herfantastic as les was pointing out, at icom to her on her fantastic work in southport, many people will know that over labour is elected, exactly one month from today, we will scrap university tuition fees and restore maintenance grants. —— liz. that is just one part of our life changing lan. a life changing plan for real change, because we will invest in a national education service free at the point of use, so that everyone can learn at every stage of their lives. it is one of the policies that i am most excited about. imagine, a national education service that is there for you as an aduu service that is there for you as an adult add in old age. so that no one is held back. i see education as an escalator running alongside you throughout your life. you can get on and off whenever you want. that is

what labour's national education service will offer people. free education has a right for all. under our plan, skills and vocational qualifications will be valued in exactly the same way as university degrees and academic qualifications are valued. so if you left school with a view gcses but now want to learn a new trade, labour will make education free for you. if you have done the same job for your whole working life, i'd want a change of direction, labour will make education free for you. if you have a lwa ys education free for you. if you have always wanted to learn new skills but cannot afford the training, labour will make education free for you. the national education service will allow you to pursue your dreams. but we do notjust benefit from our own education. we benefit from our own education. we benefit from everyone else's education also. tomorrow's jobs from everyone else's education also. tomorrow'sjobs are in

from everyone else's education also. tomorrow's jobs are in the green and high—tech industries. we need people to have skills to take on those new jobs and challenges. breathing new life into our communities. that have never recovered , never life into our communities. that have never recovered, never recovered from the destruction of industry in the 1980s by margaret thatcher's conservative government. we cannot have a 21st—century economy if we only have 20th—century skills. by ensuring the ultra rich pay their way, we can provide training to eve ryo ne way, we can provide training to everyone who needs it. personally, i would rather give a break to a worker who wants to learn than give a tax break to the billionaire who wa nts for a tax break to the billionaire who wants for nothing. applause. that is the difference between labour and conservatives. it makes

me angry when i see big multinational corporations like amazon and google who rely on a very well—educated workforce to make their millions, paying hardly any tax in our country. the national education service will actually benefit those companies by giving their workers the chance to advance they are skills. i simply say it would be nice if those multinationals to pay their share towards it. it makes me angry when i hear of schools closing on a friday because they cannot pay their bills. while the government can afford multi—billion pounds tax giveaways to corporations and the very richest. it is our children who suffer as a result. we should have the best education service in the world. what is the best? the best is a sure start centre in every

community, to offer health and welfare advice to new parents. in the best is 30 hours of free childcare to all two, three and four—year—olds. if the parent of a two—year—old, they will save £5,000 a year. the best is of primary school children learning and classes of fewer than 30. the best is a free school meal for every child in primary school. and we will put vat or private school fees to help them pay for it. the best is an education that prepares children for life, not just exams, so we will get rid of unnecessary testing. the best is every child being able to learn a musical instrument, to learn drama and dance, the things that bring us i°y and dance, the things that bring us joy through arts pupil premium. the best is a well funded school that is locally accountable, so we will end

the device of academy and free schools programme. the best is world leading further education which is so important to working—class students. and the best is university tuition open to anyone from any background for free. without racking up background for free. without racking up tens of thousands of pounds of debt in the process. the best there isa debt in the process. the best there is a national education service. you can have the best by voting labour. applause. the tories on the other hand what you to be grateful for their offer to reverse some of the cuts made to our schools by the tories. the money they say they will put in doesn't even they say they will put in doesn't

eve n cover they say they will put in doesn't even cover the money they have taken out. but they are feeble promise is the admission that there cuts are damaging and wrong. so are they going to apologise to all the children who have missed out since 2010? children only have one chance, they only have one childhood. are they only have one childhood. are they going to apologise to every child who has had their education damaged because of the cruel political choices made by the conservatives into thousand ten? they would if they cared about our country's children as much as they ca re country's children as much as they care about their rich friends. whatever statistics conservative politicians bring out, if you are a pa rent politicians bring out, if you are a parent or a grandparent, you will know the real story. teachers spending more and more time filling the gaps left by cuts to other services, and not spending enough time teaching. they are having to buy uniforms and even mattresses for

pupils whose parents cannot afford them. i have met teachers who tell me some pupils cannot concentrate on their lessons due to the hunger that they have when they come into school in the morning. and this is 2019, this is not the 1930s. let's do it right by our children, let's do it right by our children, let's do it right to give them the real chance they deserve in life. the choice at this election could not be clearer. labour will end damaging tory austerity cuts and rebuild all our pig services, from education to local government services, to the national health service. —— all our public service. we will not save money from our health service to drugs corporations as part of a

sell—out deal to donald trump. 0ur nhs is not for sale. cheering and applause. i get the feeling you have got that message. it is labour that actually values our public services. the national education service will do for education what our nhs does for help. because a labour government will be on your side. we will deliver a fairer britain that works for many, not just deliver a fairer britain that works for many, notjust a few. the future is ours to make, but only if we do it together. it is time for real change, add labour well deliver that real change. thank you very much. cheering and applause.

thank you. thank you, it is now my very pleasant duty to invite angela rayner, our brilliant shadow secretary of state for education, in wonderful woman who has achieved so much in life under such an example to so many, too, and describe the policy that gordon and her add a wonderful team and both of their offices and from many walks of life have put so much work and effort into, i don't want to record my personal thanks to all of them for the work they did stop like you for chairing the commission, a doll those who worked so hard in it. angela, please come forward. cheering and applause.

thank you, jeremy, and thank you gordon because it is an honour to be here in his constituency. gordon has been my colleague in the education team since jeremy appointed me as the shadow secretary of state for education back injuly the shadow secretary of state for education back in july 2016. the shadow secretary of state for education back injuly 2016. i have seen education back injuly 2016. i have seen for education secretaries since then. —— format education secretaries. jeremy has seen three prime ministers. you will be the next one, jeremy. cheering and applause. it is great also to have chris ware and liz who will make fantastic labour mps come december 13. cheering and applause. —— chris webb. norden has been a

labour loyalist and he is to his bones, and i proud to have the pleasure of working with them. i wa nt pleasure of working with them. i want to thank also our lifelong learning commissioners at the chairs of the commission. dave ward, an outstanding trade unionist who cannot be here today because he is on the court, fighting for his members as he does every day. estelle morris, a great education secretary of our past, who i believe has helped shape a great labour achievement of our future. because today we present a comprehensive plan to change our country for the better. what has let ours all here todayis better. what has let ours all here today is something that jeremy outlined back in 2015, the national education service. four years ago, jeremy said, a national education

service will be a lifelong service for a lifetime of opportunity. jeremy was one of the first and our movement to call for a cradle to grave education system. so it is fitting that we are all here to launch the report of the lifelong learning commission. but before i discuss our new policy, i want to say what it means in human terms. the fact is, i would not be here today without adult education. when i sat my gcses, some of my friends thought about college, they would go to, some were talking about a—levels or other employment opportunities. i was thinking about, i wasn't thinking about anything, like that, i would think about how they would provide for my baby. having my son

met more to me than any qualification in the world. but you wouldn't have been a negative think that my life at the live chat it off my that my life at the live chat it off b that my life at the live chat it off my baby have been written off. i spoke last weekend about how sure start helped me become a better mother to my boy. when we were not going to get very far if i didn't have a decent job. going to get very far if i didn't have a decentjob. that was going to get very far if i didn't have a decent job. that was where couege have a decent job. that was where college came in. that is where i had my second chance. i enrolled on a british sign language course i then a course for counselling which led me to volunteer with the samaritans. later i got a job as a home help, i returned college once again, gaining an nvq to end care. i was a different person after all this. i had felt embarrassed about my life i had felt embarrassed about my life i had myself growing up. but now i have felt confident and inspired.

education was helping me, and by helping me they were also helping my son. it is one reason why, when i was encouraged to become a trade union rep for unison, i had fully we nt union rep for unison, i had fully went for it. i went on to become the regional convener for my union in the north west unison, representing over 200,000 public—sector workers across the region, including here in blackpool. adult education changed my life. it gave me and so many others a vital second chance. but too many people today are missing out. our country faces huge and growing skill shortages, and the tories, the so—called party of business, are making it worse. they are making it worse by locking thousands of people out of the opportunity to retrain and up skill. in the years ahead, businesses will

need to hire 1.5 million more highly qualified staff stop under the tories they were not be able to do so. tories they were not be able to do so. because the very people who could fill those roles are locked out of the opportunities they need. if they want to get their skills they need, they need to take out a loa n they need, they need to take out a loan to cover their tuition. the tories' decision to impose loads is causing the number of learners to plummet each and every year. i'd if you do return to education as an adult, you will often be unable to access any maintenance support. making it even harder to those who would most benefit from a return to education to access it. for many, aduu education to access it. for many, adult education is too expensive. time—consuming or too difficult to get into. so we will throw open the door for adults to study, whether

they want to change career, made redundant or didn't get the qualifications they needed when they we re younger. qualifications they needed when they were younger. people have been held back for too long. we will extend a free education to ensure we have the skills we need to allow our economy to rise to the opportunities of the future. we will make sure that one is shot out of education by giving people the support, time and funding that they need to train. so that we have the skills we need to meet the changing nature of work. rise to the challenges of automation and to lead our record we threw the green industrial revolution. so, as part of labour's national education service, we will deliver a new fully funded right to lifelong learning. whether you have left school with no

gcses or ten, your ability to pay your willingness to take on debt but not determine whether you get the education you need. the last eight years, in the last eight years, the numberof years, in the last eight years, the number of adult achieving a qualification in english, maths has falle n qualification in english, maths has fallen by 40%. this is not therefore. we will ensure that every aduu therefore. we will ensure that every adult is supported to re—enter education, and we will give them the chance to gain the basic qualifications they need, whether it is at level one, gcse, or through functional skills, so that nobody is locked out of work or other opportunities because they did not succeed in education the first time. and if they don't already have them, we will provide the funding for everyone to access a—levels, t levels, or nvqs, whatever, level

three qualification is right for them. these are the vital skills necessary for working people across the country. but we cannot let this be the limit of our ambition. 0ur goal is a high skill, high wage economy fit for the challenges of the future. i did the tories, people are trapped in low skill, low—wage economy, unable to make into beta, having to use food banks, addressing this challenge requires a revolution in our education system. not more warm words about parity of esteem or platitudes about matching the performance of germany. we cannot simply pretend that we can copy a country with a society economy and education system fastly referred to our own. what we require is a far bolder than any attempt to imitate

our european partners. that is why the next labour government will deliver the most radical expansion of adult education in our country's history. as part of that next labour government, national education service will throw open the door to retraining, upscaling, add lifelong learning. every single adult will be able to access six years of credits at level four 26. altercations above at level four 26. altercations above a level add up to and including the equivalent of an undergraduate degree will be available to all those who need it, whenever they needed. —— level 4—6. applause. these are the whole range of

qualifications that will be necessary to equip working people for the decades ahead. high—level, specialised qualifications in fields such as engineering, digital ad construction, to name just a feud. from someone who has been stuck in low paid work or unable to progress, to those who face the risk being displaced by automation, this new entitlement will empower them to ta ke entitlement will empower them to take control of their own lives. by being able to return to education whenever they need to. they will be given the real power over their own lives, and their own careers. and their own opportunities. applause. that will transform this country. it

will put power and opportunities backin will put power and opportunities back in the hands... we say goodbye to viewers on bbc two, if you wish to viewers on bbc two, if you wish to stay with this coverage aboutjoy does over on the bbc news channel. —— pleasejoin does over on the bbc news channel. —— please join dies does over on the bbc news channel. —— pleasejoin dies on the bbc news channel. maintenance support is not an option for too many people taking other routes. this cannot be justified. it locks people out of education and creates unfairness, and eight is a sign of an education syste m and eight is a sign of an education system that privileges one form of learning overall offers. this will not be the case in labour's national education service. learners who use their entitlement to study at higher levels will also receive maintenance support on the same basis as their

equivalents and higher education. applause. with the next labour government, nobody will be unable to access and opportunity because of their own financial situation. poverty is not just about being penniless. it is about being powerless. too often workers do not have that power, that time and it is easy for their and it is easy for their employer and it is easy for their employer to and it is easy for their employer to simply say no. this does nothing for the worker trapped on low pay zero hours, looking to move from a job lot is on supporting them to a career that come. they are trapped, forced to choose between taking a chance on their education and losing

what little economic security they have. that is why labour will put this power back in the hands of working people. working with businesses and trade unions, we will give workers a new right to paid time off for education and training, enshrined in law so that they can access the opportunities that are right for them. applause. and, asi and, as i have seen for myself, sometimes the best education for workers comes from the very movement founded to represent us, our trade unions. applause. all the evidence is that the union learning fund has provided some of the most effective workplace

education and training varies. so we will restore it in full and in real terms, notjust will restore it in full and in real terms, not just ending, will restore it in full and in real terms, notjust ending, but traversing the tory cuts. applause. these measures will transform lifelong learning in this country. making it a right that is genuinely available to all. whatever their background or circumstances. and, as well as empowering working people, it is essential for our economy to rise to the challenges ahead. businesses report needing more and more people to take on skilled roles, but are less and less likely to feel confident that they can recruit the staff that they need. this has to change. 0ver recruit the staff that they need. this has to change. over a million jobs have been identified as being at risk of automation and responding

to climate crisis requires a fundamental change to our economy. it will be impossible to respond to these challenges without the radical expansion of lifelong learning that we are proposing. but lifelong learning is about more thanjust productivity. it's about the lives of individuals and our shared life asa of individuals and our shared life as a community. too often we talk about education simply as a means for people to get a job. and there is no doubt at all that this is important. but there is no true value in a strong economy if we have not given people a life worth living. applause lifelong learning has a role to play in the transformation, not just of our economy, but in our society, as

well. we know that education does notjust improve well. we know that education does not just improve peoples productivity, it improves the quality of their lives. that is why lifelong learning is about so much more than a qualification and skill shortage levels. education, formal or informal, rooted in communities, can transform the lives of people across the country. these policies are some of the most radical that a labour government will propose. education is a right for all, throughout your life, a new universal basic service, the right of every citizen to learn in the way that suits them, to meet their own needs as well as the needs of our economy and society. the conservatives say that we cannot afford to do these measures. they are wrong. we cannot afford not to do it.

applause. we cannot afford not to invest in the most valuable asset we have, the people of this country. i know from my own life that knowledge is power andl my own life that knowledge is power and i wouldn't be here today without it, but the last nine years has shown us what happens when you strip away that power. austerity. food banks. zero—hours contracts. poverty. and, as a great trade unionists and educator once said, a rat race is for rats. we are human beings and we deserve so much more. we deserve the fruits of our labour. knowledge of self is the fruit of centuries of human labour. the

discoveries of mathematics and science, the great works of literature and art, the arc of human and natural history itself, all of this is our common inheritance. because knowledge belongs to us all. notjust a few. because knowledge belongs to us all. not just a few. today, we are because knowledge belongs to us all. notjust a few. today, we are here to fulfil our historic purpose as a movement. not just to to fulfil our historic purpose as a movement. notjust to be a voice for the voiceless, but to give them a voice of their own and that is what we will do together. thank you. applause.

thank you and i think liz and jeremy willjoin me for a few questions. thank you so much. i hope everybody else found that as inspiring as i did. so we are going to take three rounds of questions in groups of three and we will start with the press. so can i ask that everybody is really, really quiet and respects our speakers when we are speaking. cani our speakers when we are speaking. can i begin with nick from the bbc, please? a question about the floods, if i may. you called for the cobra meeting today. if you were in downing street, as you want to be in

a few weeks' time, what exact measures would you take today to alleviate the suffering of people in england and, if i may, just quickly on the cyber attack on your digital platforms, how serious was it and who do you think is responsible? thom rainerfrom sky news, please. firstly, on education, jeremy, you said some of this lifelong learning programme would be paid for by vat being applied to private school fees, so can we being applied to private school fees, so can we assume being applied to private school fees, so can we assume from that that you will not therefore be committed to abolishing those very same private schools in this manifesto and, if i may, we've heard you refer to the arrangement that nigel farage has a post as the trump alliance. can you say whether you think it would help or hinder your chancesin think it would help or hinder your chances in places like pull north? and libby from itv? just want to follow u p and libby from itv? just want to

follow up on that. many people seem to think that nigel farage standing down brexit party candidates in tory held seats is doing them a favour. would he be doing you a favour if he held on and fielded candidates in labour seats to split the lever vote? —— might leave vote. 0k, there's questions for both of us there. angela may wish to comment on particularly the education point. first of all, on the floods, they are obviously appalling and i was in the don valley on saturday talking to people there, who had lost possessions. a home flooded before, badly damaged, and they couldn't get insurance for anything in the future, so they couldn't sell a place, can't move, can't get insurance. they are in very difficult situations, as many others are. what would i have done differently? first of all, convene

cobra immediately to release money. this is disaster emergency money that can be released through the formula after lord bell win. that would mean the local authorities have the money immediately. to deal with the disaster that the floods are. but, secondly, iwould be far more assertive and assiduous about flood protection, flood defences, and planning and also the role of the fire and rescue service in this. first of all, flood defences are a mixture of upstream river management to ensure that flood plains are there and work, they are there for a purpose because we are getting increasing levels of unusually very, very heavy rain at various times of the year, particularly in the north—west of britain. secondly, that the flood defences that have been so grievously cut back over the years need to be put in place and that means flood defences and

overflow systems in all the places and people are telling me they are concerned about the quality of dredging of small streams and rivers flowing into the area. and it's also about the fire and rescue service. they do an incredible job. but they've had a quarter of their staff cuts, and they were telling me of their difficulty injust cuts, and they were telling me of their difficulty in just meeting cuts, and they were telling me of their difficulty injust meeting the demands of people and we would make ita demands of people and we would make it a statutory requirement on fire and rescue service that they deal with flood protection and flood relief as well as obviously fire safety and fire relief, which goes with it, and that is something we will make very clear and bring into government. i am very determined to achieve all of that. the cyber attacks which have taken place took place yesterday against the labour party platform. it was a very serious cyber attack. we have a syste m serious cyber attack. we have a system in place in our office to protect us against these cyber attacks but there was a serious

attacks but there was a serious attack against us and as far as we are aware, none of our information was downloaded and the attack was actually repulsed because we have an developed in—house system developed by people in our party but if this isa by people in our party but if this is a size of things to come election, i feel very nervous it because a cyber attack against the political party in an election is suspicious and something one is very worried about, but a cyber attack as happened in 2017 against our national health service, it's something incredibly dangerous to the health records and health care and treatment of potentially millions of people and so we do need far better defensive arrangements against cyber attacks made against us, but as to who undertook the attack, we are looking into all that attack, we are looking into all that at the moment and we have reported the attack to the national cyber security centre. they will be investigating it as well. on the point about lifelong learning, yes,

we will use the vat vehicle which i mentioned to you. as to the other aspects of the education policy, we have our meeting this weekend to finally put together all the contents of our manifesto so i will have to ask you to contain your excitement for a few more days until the manifesto itself has been released, but i can let you into one secret. you are going to love it. laughter. applause. and the other two questions concerning nigel farage, and what he may or may not do. and i think what we have before us is an alliance between donald trump and nigel farage and boris johnson. between donald trump and nigel farage and borisjohnson. we know where that alliance is designed to ta ke where that alliance is designed to take us come into a sweetheart trade deal with the united states that will threaten all of our regulations, all of our conditions, and threaten our public services. when they talk about access to a

health market, i simply reply to them, last time i looked, it was called the national health service. applause and, you know what, i'm not really very interested in playing all these parlour games about who might do this, who might do that, whom i do that they are, we are putting forward a manifesto, a proposal that we are put into the british people, of the opportunity to end austerity, the opportunity to invest injobs for the future, the opportunity to create that a better, fairer, more egalitarian society. i approach elections and politics in a positive frame of mind. we are putting a positive message out there and, do you know what? hundreds of thousands of people are supporting us, coming out to help us, and donating often very small sums of money to our

election campaign and i'm proud of that because we are a party of the many, notjust that because we are a party of the many, not just the wealthy few. applause. there's not much more for me to add from whatjeremy there's not much more for me to add from what jeremy has there's not much more for me to add from whatjeremy has said but to say that one of the things we are absolutely clear on, our manifesto will be a manifesto for putting people first. it will be about fairness, so our national education service is about what's right by your child, what's right by everyone. we will never put ideology be for the best for your children and for your community and our national education service will deliver for everyone in this country and will not be a rigged system like the one we currently have under the conservatives. applause

liz bates, channel 4 news. just to follow u p liz bates, channel 4 news. just to follow up on your criticism of nigel farage, the reality is that you need him and the brexit party in the seats like this to split the lever vote and give labour candidates a chance to hold on here, so are you privately happy that brexit party candidates are still standing in labour marginals? hannah miller, grenada. on a similar topic, mr corbyn, you are here in blackpool south where two thirds of people voted to leave, so isn't the proof of this new can of all the education policies you like, but people are looking to other parties to take us out of the eu? i believe we have

james graves from the blackpool gazette. you promised to give every aduu gazette. you promised to give every adult free entitlement to six years of study three qualifications at level 4—6, but will this include apprenticeships and if not, what are labour at's proposals on apprenticeships? happy to go first this time. in terms of the deal between nigel farage and boris johnson, it's absolutely clear now i think for many voters in this country that you want a different path for this country, future for this country, you want to build this country, you vote labour on december the 12th. if you want a hard right deal between donald trump, nigel farage and boris johnson, deal between donald trump, nigel farage and borisjohnson, you vote brexit or you both the tories, because it's the same party. i don't

fear the brexit party. applause i have been disgusted by what some in the brexit party and in the conservatives, including our prime minister, of what you said to try and divide communities like ours in the north west. i represent 0ldham, and we know what the politics of hate can do. my community, i'm confident, will reject borisjohnson and nigel farage and will see that the labour government that they are going to go out will knock your socks off the 1945 labour government, and rebuild our communities again, so i don't fear the brexit party or borisjohnson. bring it on. cheering.

coming on to james' point, as well come in terms of apprenticeships, the apprenticeship levy is too clunky, doesn't work, the levels of the government are proposing are at risk of damaging their own policy around technical education because, quite frankly, to be honest, the conservatives further education apprenticeships and adult skills are for other people's children. they just don't get it. we will work with employers to ensure we have a decent apprenticeship scheme, an offer which we will talk about as part of our manifesto launch, which will mean that our children who go on these apprenticeships will get guaranteed jobs at the end of it and a skill that is worthwhile, that they can take forward and i think that's the best and what we should be doing to our young people. inspiring them to do what they want to do, funding it properly, to make

sure that providers can deliver quality. because if we deliver that quality, and we deliver for every young person and every person in this country, we will continue to be one of the richest nations globally and we will continue to deal with the global issues we face, whether that's through climate change, through peace across our nations, we will continue to deliver that and lead by example in the uk when jeremy corbett is the prime minister. applause studio: questions being directed at jeremy corbyn and angela rayner, ranging across a variety of topics, understandably, but of course, the main focus of this event in blackpool, labour market was education policy and jeremy corbyn outlining his plans for what he called a national education service and the shadow education secretary drawing on her own experience and talking about how life changing it was to be able to access education

later in life. it was for her a vital second chance. let's look further into those adult education pledges and how all the parties are planning on finding those policies. here is sophie hutchinson. all the parties know that their record on adult education is pretty poor. it's one of the areas which has had deep cuts over the past 15 years. this data comes from the institute for fiscal studies. you can see under the labour government from 2003/4 a drop of 32%. then after 2009/10 under the coalition and then under the conservatives, the budget plummets by a further 4796. labour now says it will reverse that and more. its proposal would come close to doubling the current adult education budget, which also includes apprenticeships from just over 3 billion taking it

to more than 6 billion a year by 2023/24. labour says that would provide free a level courses, diplomas, nvq training and degrees for around 300—thousand adults, with maintenance grants for those from low income families. the shadow education secretary explained it would be funded from income and corporation tax increases. the industrial jobs are the industrialjobs are one, the green agenda, the green deal we have got a means we have got to skill the people up to do those jobs. and the libdems also want a boost to lifelong learning — but their "skills wallet" scheme is different. providing a pot of money, 10— thousand pounds, for each working age adult to be spent on courses. it would be staggered from the age of 25 to 55. the libdems say it will be paid for through rises to corporation tax. a big question for the libdems and labour will be who will teach all these new adult learners? certainly as far as colleges are concerned, according

to their union, 90—percent say they have difficulty in attracting the staff that they need. sophie, thanks very much indeed. just want to turn to some sad news which has come into us in the last short while. the former labour health secretary, frank dobson, has died at the age of 79. mr dobson served as health secretary in the government of tony blair following labour's 1997 in the government of tony blair following labour's1997 landslide victory. he was mp for holborn and st pancras in central london for more than 40 years before standing down in 2015. labour candidates and officials are been paying tribute to him for the current health conservative secretary matt hancock also praising his years of devotion to the health service. let's join norman smith in westminster for us. norman, but announcement just norman smith in westminster for us. norman, but announcementjust coming in and tributes starting to follow.

genuine tributes, i think, because frank dobson was a well liked politician. bit of a political bruiser in his day, not in a nasty sense, but it was always making headlines, mostly at the expense of john major and senior conservatives. somewhat sort of not in tune with the tony blair agenda, so when tony blair succeeded in 1997, frank dobson, the then shadow health secretary became health secretary, andi secretary became health secretary, and i think that was a huge moment for him but he found himself out of kilter with the tony blair agenda and the plans for a greater role for the private sector and the consolidation of the internal market within the health service so he was manoeuvred out, i think, after a couple of years, and replaced by alan milburn, who was much more in line with tony blair's thinking. that always greeted with him a bit. and then, of course, he stood

u nsuccessfully and then, of course, he stood unsuccessfully to be mayor of london, the post actually he would have enjoyed enormously as a londoner and a london mp, a former council leader. unfortunately, because, he came up against ken livingstone, who were standing as an independent and was then very much in his heyday and who bounced back, so he was unsuccessful in his bid to become london mayor, and then he was never really brought back into the tony blaircamp and never really brought back into the tony blair camp and so was left, it seems me anyway, on the backbenches, and never brought back into government thereafter. so a very, very much liked traditional labour mp, big west ham fan, who served on the labour backbenchers. i think he stood down in 2015. so, a long career in the labour party. and i'm sure he will be wildly missed. indeed. thank you very much, norman

smith. tributes coming into frank dobson who has died at the age of 79. let's return to the election campaign now. throughout the campaign, bbc news will be looking closely at the places where the election could be won and lost. we will be visiting 10 parts of the uk where seats will be closely contested. today, we're focussing on bishop auckland, which is in the north east of england. this seat was labour in the last election and is bordered by three other labour constituencies, plus one conservative — and one independent. it's worth noting that the independent seat of penrith and the borders was held by the former tory mp rory stewart. he was a conservative when he won by almost 16,000 votes. he's now stood down so it's one to watch. bishop auckland itself the labour incumbent only won by 502 votes in the last election. so can labour retain the seat? the conservatives came second in the last election — and with just a few hundred votes in it

have targeted the seat. and geeta is there for us now. thank you very much. we are in the centre of the town. behind me, down there, the castle which is a lot of money in that direction, and much more rundown part of the town, the high street, where a number of businesses and shops have closed. that is part of the economic backdrop to how people are going to vote. they will vote not only on brexit but also what this election could mean for their own businesses and their own livelihoods. with me now are two people, from different ends of the political spectrum. sheep farmerjohn emerson voted remain, and will vote labour. and pauline smith who is a hairdresser around the corner from here. if i can start with you, how have you voted in the past and what

are you thinking this time?|j are you thinking this time?” usually vote labour. i don't claim to be an expert in politics. however, my vote is swaying towards the conservatives. tell me why. i feel they have given more to small businesses. understanding what they do with corporation tax, i'm not hearing anything from labour, so that's the reason i'm going that way. john, how about you? i'm going to vote labour and the reason for thatis to vote labour and the reason for that is borisjohnson is the epitome of someone who is disingenuous, jacob rees—mogg does not in any way represent myself, the conservatives are coming up here, putting a candidate forward, and the only reason for that, they have no interest whatsoever in the local area, it's to see if they can get another seat in parliament that will make the position of the people of the north of england worse, not better. you run a big farm. it's a

small farm. 400 acres of sheep and cattle. what about brexit? how without affecting your business?- the moment, it's not affecting it, but the possibility is disastrous, really. you are going to lose your major trading partners which is europe, for sheep, 40% of all sheep go to europe, and if we haven't got that trade, you will find the sheep will collapse, and that noted by the conservatives, because they have put forward certain measures to try and protect sheep farmers. it's one of the major concerns they have. so you are sticking with the labour party? definitely. pauline, are you waiting to see how each party reveals its plans in more detail or are you firmly considering moving to the tories now? firmly moving to the

tories. what about the leadership of all the main parties? how much of thatis all the main parties? how much of that is a factor for you? boris johnson, jeremy corbyn?” that is a factor for you? boris johnson, jeremy corbyn? i like boris johnson, jeremy corbyn? i like boris johnson com he appears to be quite honest. jeremy corbyn, i'm not sure. no, ithink honest. jeremy corbyn, i'm not sure. no, i think it's a personal thing with jeremy corbyn. no, i think it's a personal thing withjeremy corbyn. i don't really like the man. i don't trust him. he's not done anything for us. is not mentioned about small businesses and asa not mentioned about small businesses and as a business owner i have to look after my business. so find job not seen and of help in this area, but we have had conservative governments for some yea rs, conservative governments for some years, so your not play with the co nse rve years, so your not play with the conserve does for that. no, i am not blaming either, i don't know who i am blaming. your business is literally around the corner. the high street is deteriorating badly. why is that? i don't know, maybe

taxis, rates. so argue strongly to get customers? i think every business on the high street struggles nowadays. is there a single thing that government could do to help you? like i say, the conservatives are reducing corporation tax, we have rates in the industry which have a big impact. they have brought in guidelines on taxation and health and safety for those. you're feeling quite threatened by that? yes. what about your fellow farmers? are more of those tempted side? somewhere tempted by leeds, the ones that i know that voted to relieve have actually either sold up or cut back.

it is like a turkey voting for christmas. what the human race can do, we might be better outside europe, there is no solid basis for that. i am yet to see edward put a solid agut up for leaving europe. you're far better working together asa you're far better working together as a common community that we are split up. at —— i am yet to see anyone put a solid argument. we woke up anyone put a solid argument. we woke up as little britain, that is a tragedy. all the things put forward, none are as good as staying in europe. the alternatives, none of them. you have got to trade with your local neighbours. donald trump is wishing to take over the health service. borisjohnson will is wishing to take over the health service. boris johnson will go to negotiate with donald as a little boy, pat him on the head, not faithful. borisjohnson has staff the dup. he gave them empty promises

and he sold them off. he cannot sort the irish problem. he set about this, he promised 350 million a day, he knew that was alive. he lied to the british public, and he is perpetrating their slide now. it should be said dojail. perpetrating their slide now. it should be said do jail. office a very strong view, we are in very heated times. you can see clear labour supporter here, you are going to vote conservative. they seat is split down the middle as much of the country is. sick to present here voted leeds. do you want to leave? i voted leeds. do you want to leave? i voted rami. and you are still backing the conservatives? yes. -- i voted remaining. i don't see what labour are doing foreigners at the moment. —— i don't see what labour are doing for us. helen goodman has

served this area very well. laura has done well, she goes everywhere, they say they conservative here that does not care. they could not give a damn. john and pauline, thank you both very much indeed. just a couple of the voices here in bishop auckland. we will bring you many more throughout the day. time for a look at the weather. as we had was the middle part of the week, a brief breakfrom the middle part of the week, a brief break from the wet weather, but it will be short lived. further spells of showery rain on the card throughout this afternoon, there will be sunny intervals in between. accompanied by blustery wind as we have just seen. particularly notable along the irish seacoast and north sea coast. in 90s blustery. a tri— seat range of high pressure tonight, intending to kill off showers, most

of them, one or two feeding in, lighter winds, recipe for a widespread frost, temperatures dropping so farfurther widespread frost, temperatures dropping so far further south. for many wednesday gets off to a dry and bright start, lengthy spells of sunshine, but not long before the next weather system starts to show its hand, working to define a south—west up into wales, maybe northern ireland. i weigh from that, some sunshine but it will feel cold. parts of north—east scotland may not reach above freezing through the day tomorrow. hello, this is bbc newsroom live with rachel schofield. the headlines: the prime minister is due to chair a meeting of the government's emergency committee in response to floods in northern england as opposition leaders call for more to be done to help those affected the conservative government's

response to the flyers has been woeful. just imagine if this had happened in surrey instead of yorkshire and the east midlands. —— response to the floods. it would have been a different story. response to the floods. it would have been a different storym response to the floods. it would have been a different story. it is wrong that it seems to be down to the local communities, imported though work is, it is clearly a national emergency and the government should declaring about. also today, labour says it's been hit by a ‘sophisticated and la rge—scale cyber attack‘ on its digital platforms, but that no data breach occurred. frank dobson, who served as labour health secretary in tony blair's government, has died at the age of 79. labour candidates and officials have been paying tribute to mr dobson, and the current conservative health secretary matt hancock also praised his "years of devotion" to the health service. a teenager who almost died after using e—cigarettes has urged people not to take up vaping. doctors say he suffered a catastrophic reaction in his lungs.

let's go back now to blackpool where the labour leader jeremy corbyn has been making a campaign speech this lunchtime. (nick eardley is in blackpool. a lovely shot of the tower which we cannot do without. tell us more about what the labour leader has been saying. they pledge is on education, adult education in particular. the idea that labour haveis particular. the idea that labour have is that the country's economy will have to change to deal with things like automation, and because of that a lot of people are going to need to change their skills, go back to college are back to university when they are older. the idea is to offer six years of free education to everybody over the age of 18 to allow them to retrain whatever it happens they want to do. interesting

thatjeremy corbyn was making that pitch for what he calls a national education service, similar to the national health service, offering cradle to grave protection. when it comes to education. angela rayner, the party's education spokeswoman, made a personal plea, when she was young she had a child when she was still at school, a lot of her friends were talking about going to couege friends were talking about going to college are doing a—levels, she was thinking about raising a baby boy. had it not been for her ability to go back and study later in life, she wouldn't be the shadow cabinet now. it is an issue all the parties are grappling with. the lib dems have announced they want to put £10,000 away for every adult sar in power. the conservatives have schemes as well which are designed to give people the chance to rhys gill. it is one of those education issues that might have been forgotten about

by governments over the last few yea rs. by governments over the last few years. funding has gone down for example, but it is on the agenda this time. there are also questions about the cyber attack that the labour party have talked about this morning. jeremy corbyn is clearly taking it seriously. he said in his speech this morning that you think thatis speech this morning that you think that is very serious, he think it is suspicious that it has taken place during a general election campaign. and he says if it is a side of things to come, he is very worried. what we don't know right now is who is responsible, there had been some suggestions from security sources that this was a fairly low level attack, certainly no finger—pointing from the labour party in at any particular direction. jeremy corbyn making clear that he is taking this issue very seriously. it has been

reported to authorities and labour wa nts to reported to authorities and labour wants to make sure that this sort of thing doesn't happen in future. there are fresh warnings about the dangers of vaping — particularly for young people — after a teenager almost died from serious breathing problems linked to e—cigarettes. ewan fisher was connected to an artificial lung to keep him alive after his own lungs failed fox and he couldn't breathe doctors have told bbc news that the case is not an isolated incident —— with one warrning that young people should never go near vaping' public health experts maintain that using e—cigaretts is still better than smoking. we can talk to dr nick hopkinson, who is medical director of the british lung foundation. thank you for being weather has. what do you make of this morning today that young people in particular should go nowhere near vaping? i think certainly for anyone who isn't a smoker, it would be

crazy to take up vaping. it is likely to have long—term harm is for anybody that is doing it. the key issue for most people, is that risk relative to smoking, so we know that e—cigarettes do not contain tar, many of the chemicals that are in cigarette smoke or at much lower levels, so for any individual who switches completely from smoking to vaping, they will have done, a big health benefit, their chances of getting lung disease, heart attacks, cancer will be much lower. however, some health professionals, i thought only to a professor, make the point that although it may be safer it is not safe, and he said that the nicotine in e—cigarettes is not a harmless drug either all these other things such as flavourings that are

inhaled, and he seemed concerned about the fact that not enough is known about the effect of that.” think he has made a precisely the distinction between something being safer and safer. the general assessment is that vaping is no more than 5% as harmful as smoking, but there are likely to be some long—term risks. anyone who switches across from smoking to vaping, we encourage them to try to cut that down. add to quick vaping. but not at the expense of going back to smoking which is riskier. do you think it will be possible to ever argue that e—cigarettes are safe, as perhaps the industry might want to? it is always going to be relative. the key thing that we have in the uk is much stronger regulation, so when you look at the us where there is a failure of regulation and you have

av situation where thousands of people become ill from vaping cannabis oil, add chemicals that are specifically in that, so detoxing that seems to be causing that is something that is banned in e—cigarettes in europe and the uk. it is possible to make them safer, i don't think they can be completely safe. longs need to be the clean air. that night lungs. the key thing to remember is there are 7 million people smoking in the uk, at risk of developing major health problems and if we can drastically cut those risks by getting them to switch to a safer alternative, hopefully eventually quit, that is a big public health benefit. now, with all the business news, here is dharshini david.

the demand for workers appears to be slowing, according to the latest officialjobs figures. average earnings growth slowed to 3.6% in the three months to september, while employment fell by 58,000 boots the chemist could be about to cange hands. a its american owner, walgreens boots alliance, has reportedly received a buyout offer from the private equity group kkr. if it were to be successful, the deal would be the biggest private equity transaction on record. like many, however, boots has found the high street challenging and has said it's eyeing store closures. the start of the rugby world cup and the reailty dating show love island helped push advertising revenue up 1% for itv in the three months to the end of september. the broadcaster said it was making good progress in executing its strategy, despite an uncertain economic environment.

itv has managed to halt the decline in advertising revenue for the time being, as it attracted solid audiences for reality shows and the start of the rugby world cup. britain's biggest commercial free—to—air broadcaster said advertising revenues rose by 1% in the third quarter, at the top end of expectations, as it battles against the rise of streaming services and volatile ad spending. tom harrington is from enders analysis. not a bad set of figures. the charges for the rest of the year. not too bad, up 1%, they will probably down to 2% across the entire year, but that is good when compared to everyone else on the market. 20 to look forward to, most of the world cup, including the final, a peak of 30 million, dropping off the last eight minutes. it will go into the fourth quarter where they think october will be by 596 where they think october will be by 5% and the rest of the quarter up as well. 2% down is not bad at a time

when television advertising is shaky with all the uncertainty. it does mean they have to shift their focus towards alternative sources of revenue. yes, at the last ten years or so revenue. yes, at the last ten years or so there have been moving their influence away from television advertising and growing their studios business wages constantly increasing in growth, other there are questions about the us side of the business, a lot of unscripted hits, all organic, haven't sold much scripted staff, worrying at a time when it has never been better to sail scripted drama. we have also seen sail scripted drama. we have also seen hh in schedules going forward, with the likes of this morning. is this a way of making tv for less? the price of content skyrocketing, netflix has said it has dropped 30% for contestable drama. that is across the board in terms of talent

in front and behind of the camera. you have to make your money go further. we saw the launch of credit locks, the streaming service, bringing use of the back catalogue. how much does it success matter to itv? it is a modest service and i have never said it will be a netflix killer. it is an excellent step forward in terms of collaboration between the broadcasters and something that needed to happen, itv needs something in that subscription streaming space, but there are a lot of challenges. more negatives than positives right now, a lot of people think, why am i going to pay for something when i could be getting for free for a long time? itv are extending their window to a year, iplayer will be. it will be tough at a time when there will be a surf eight of these streaming services

all hitting at once. more business news later. throughout the campaign, bbc news will be looking closely at the places where the election could be won and lost. we will be visiting ten parts of the uk where seats will be closely contested. today, we're focussing on bishop auckland, which is in the north east of england. and geeta is in bishop auckland for us. it is cold and wet in bishop auckland, but we are here because it is crunch seat, in the top ten target seats for the conservatives, a lwa ys target seats for the conservatives, always been held by labour, they all have a majority of 502 votes at the last count back in 2017. the question of course is how are people going to vote notjust here but throughout the country? our home editor mark

easton is with me. a number of questions coming in. one from janet who has asked, how much money has been spent on brexit? quite a lot. in terms of whitehall alone, the government departments preparing for a no—deal brexit and preparing for a no—deal brexit and preparing britain for leaving the european union more generally, the figure is around £63 billion in that process. that is what it has cost government in whitehall. on top of that, public services all over the country have also had to make preparations and indeed many businesses in manufacturing, agriculture, anyone who has got any kind of involvement in trading overseas, particularly with the eu, they have to put resources into theirs, so the total bill, you could probably double it. many billions of

pounds. if we leave the eu with a deal that they are currently negotiating, they would also be a divorce bill. that would be around 33 alien pounds. but after that, once we are out of the eu, we don't have to pay to be part of that club. -- 30 £3 have to pay to be part of that club. —— 30 £3 billion. the net payment per year we would no longer need to pay is around £11 billion. it has beena very pay is around £11 billion. it has been a very substantial cost in getting as ready for brexit, whether we leave with a deal potentially with no deal. it may well be that there are quite a few costs still to come. a lot of people here are talking about the financial side at the cost on brexit and the benefits potentially that come from it. let's go to another question from neil from reading, if borisjohnson wins and has a majority, can he do a

no—deal brexit and get it through? if borisjohnson were no—deal brexit and get it through? if boris johnson were to do what he hopes to do and end up after the selection with an overall majority in the house of commons, then he would be able to insure that his deal, which he has negotiated, would get through, that is certainly his aim. idon't get through, that is certainly his aim. i don't think that he at that point would be interested in going back to any kind of no deal. he would argue, i have a deal, a good deal for britain and we should push it through. that said, having passed out no —— passing that deal, we would then enter the transition phase, that insight the end of next year. just over a year's time. unless there is an extension. that would bubbly happen next summer. it would bubbly happen next summer. it would require more expense. it is not inconceivable that those negotiations might not go particularly well. they may take much longer than the period of the

transition that exists. at which point you could conceivably get to a no deal situation. that said, i personally don't think that the government or parliament or the eu would want that to happen. having got that far with a deal withdrawal agreement through, i still think it would be unlikely that we would get to know deal but not impossible. lot of questions about finance. this one, borisjohnson lot of questions about finance. this one, boris johnson commented lot of questions about finance. this one, borisjohnson commented that hundreds of billions of investment would come to britain after brexit, from where? this goes in a way to the very central argument about what brexit will do for britain. boris johnson's but the stated view is that once we get brexit done the british economy will thrive, we will become a much more attractive place for foreign investment and that is

indeed where these hundreds of billions of pounds would come from. there are others though who are a lot more sceptical, that that would certainly in the short to medium—term be the consequence of brexit. that actually the ruptured deal with the eu would have a significant hit on the uk economy, that the political volatility and instability and uncertainty would remain as we have discussed with the transition arrangement for some time, new trade deals with the rest of the world, and during that time a lot of investors might decide that britain does not look like a particularly attractive place to go. essentially, borisjohnson's argument is that outside the eu the british economy can in time find its feet and thrive either those circumstances he would argue, yes, you will get that kind of investment. something that matters across the uk, if you finish with a

no—deal brexit, what will be the impact on manufacturing and farming? we were just speaking in the last hour to someone who runs a hill farm. what the manufacturing has been a question after the coal—mining industry. so much talk in recent years about needing to build up our manufacturing capacity. in the event of no deal, as we have discussed, we currently do have a deal negotiated by boris johnson. the labour party have said if they we re the labour party have said if they were to form the next government they would also be seeking a deal. to be not want to get to know deal. if we assume for the purposes of this that we end up with no deal, the country would then in those circumstances revert to wto rules as they have described. there are tariffs that would come in and that is where the biggest impact would be on manufacturing and agriculture. tariffs both ways. for goods from

the uk going to the eu, and some of those are very substantial stop so in agriculture generally, there would be an 8% tariff stop on some agricultural goods, particularly dairy products, the terrace are well over 40%. in animal product, it is about 18%. for farmers there is real concern that if we didn't up with no deal, they would need to be a lot of political activity to avoid those tariffs on goods going that way. manufacturing, cars, tariffs of 10% andindeed manufacturing, cars, tariffs of 10% and indeed beverages and tobacco, things like whiskey, 20%. that would be very significant. there are tariffs the other way, that is where the british comment would have some control as they asas it will try to protect manufacturing in this country. getting through some of the questions we have been said, we are here in bishop auckland, it is cold and blustery but a fascinating seat

because it is such a bellwether and both labour and tories will be fighting very hard over the next month to see who can take it. it has a ways be labour, will it swing in a month's time and go to the conservatives? we will be bringing you many more voices on the lever remain side. now it's time for a look at the weather with mel. as we approach the middle part of the week, a brief break in the wet conditions. it will be short lived. many areas still struggling with the flooded raids we have seen, severe flooded raids we have seen, severe flood warnings in force for the don valley. here is the area of low pressure bringing showers to many areas, drifting into the north you, it tries it ridge of high pressure helping to settle things down as we head towards the ceiling. plenty of showers around through this afternoon, shall rearrange, longer

spells for parts of wales. wherever you are, blustery wind are not helping the temperatures. particularly evident along the irish and north sea coasts where it feels colder. temperatures, make two high single figures, perhaps 10 celsius down towards the far south and west. this evening, high—pressure building, settling things down, when the easing, many showers fading. i do clear skies, perfect recipe for a widespread frost, particularfor do clear skies, perfect recipe for a widespread frost, particular for the northern half of the uk. further south, ten which is not dropping away quite so far. still cold, many areas waking up to scenes like this. mrand areas waking up to scenes like this. mr and fold areas waking up to scenes like this. mrand fold around, areas waking up to scenes like this. mr and fold around, but it should be too extensive. a crisp, autumnal start to wednesday morning for many places. sunshine around, it will feel cold, parts of north—east scotla nd feel cold, parts of north—east scotland will struggle to get above freezing through the day. the next weather system starts to show its

hand, heavy and persistent rain into parts of south—west england, wales, showers for northern ireland. wherever you are, it will feel cold. as we move into wednesday, rain sta rts as we move into wednesday, rain starts to edge further north and westwards, pivoting, introducing something wintry over highbrow, heavy rain and gradually moving into places like lincolnshire and south yorkshire, part of the meadows where we have already seen a lot of rain in recent days. many areas still struggling with floodwaters. another cold day, some sitesjoin struggling with floodwaters. another cold day, some sites join the further north you go away from the band of rain on thursday. looking further ahead, it remains unsettled. it will also remain cold at times there be rain but it should not be as heavy as heavy as it has been.

the government's response to the flooding in england has been criticised by opposition leaders. labour says the response was woeful while the liberal democrats have urged the government to do more for victims. the conservative government's response to the floods has been woeful. just imagine if this had happened in surrey instead of yorkshire and the east midlands. i think there'd have been a very, very different story. it is wrong that it seems to be just down to the local communities, important though this work is, this is clearly a national emergency and the government should be declaring it as such. this afternoon the prime minister will chair a meeting of the cobra emergency committee to discuss its response to the floods — five days after communities were first inundated. also on the programme. a man goes on trial at the old bailey accused