this is bbc news, i'm rebecca jones. the headlines at 8 o'clock: labour pledges to outspend the tories with extra cash for the nhs, promising an additional £6 billion a year in england by 202a. labour will end austerity to bring waiting lists down, stabilise our accident and emergency services, and deliver the quality cancer care patients deserve. as the army arrives in south yorkshire, the prime minister meets people who've lost everything in the floods but faces questions during the

visit. residents in the worst affected areas are expected to be out of their homes for up to three weeks. more rain is forecast for tonight and tomorrow in large parts of the country. since the government came in in 2010, there's been a huge amount allocated to flood defences, but it's plain we're going to have to do more. a historic task: democrats say they aim to prove donald trump's actions warrant impeachment as the first public hearings get underway in washington. severe flooding in venice leaves much of the italian city under water. the mayor says climate change is to blame. join me and chris mason in half an hour's time for tonight's episode of electioncast.

labour has pledged to outspend the tories on the nhs in england, promising an additional £6 billion a year by 2023—24 — that's on top of the £20 billion a year originally promised by theresa may. wales, northern ireland and scotland would get the same percentage increase. meanwhile, the prime minister has renewed his calls to get brexit done and promised to double investment in industrial research and development on a visit to an electric taxi manufacturer in coventry. 0ur political editor, laura kuenssberg, has the latest from the campaign trail. voters tried to take charge today. you took your time, boris, haven't you?! where have you been?! the prime minister in yorkshire, given a talking to by people whose

lives have been turned upside—down by floods. is there anything in particular that you would like us to do? no, thank you. no? no. too late, his offer of help, they said. it is a little bit too late. while... do you think the man that's going to be prime minister...? ..the labour leader was confronted on the campaign trail in glasgow. aye, he's running away! and even the lib dems‘ battlebus was blocked in... can we observe a minute's silence for the victims of austerity, and jo swinson...? ..in a well—heeled part of north london. protest at decisions they took in coalition with the tories years ago. this is the smoother side of the campaign the conservatives want you to see. promising a greener government and, again and again, borisjohnson‘s vow to take us out of the eu without delay. it is done, it is complete, it is ready to go, it is the blue peter deal, here's one i made earlier. all we need is a working

majority, all we need is a working majority in parliament to make parliament work, just nine more seats. none of his answers are good enough for one of his former colleagues, who will stand as an independent and thinks you should think about voting lib dem. traditional conservative voters like me should lend their support to the liberal democrats, but i think i'm best placed to run as an independent. today we have seen voters in yorkshire be very unimpressed by your handling of the floods and several of your former colleagues, who were even conservative ministers, suggested people should think seriously about voting lib dem. are you in control of this campaign? your second question was about the election, and all i would say there, laura, is, look, of course we need to get brexit done, i make no apology for mentioning it, because it has been paralysing politics for three and a half years. i'm afraid to say the only way

to get brexit done at this election is to vote for the conservatives and hope we can get a working majority. the trail looks the same, but this is the strangest, least predictable and most important election in a long time. all of the parties will try to stick to their favourite subjects, but, as they clock up the miles and crisscross the country, every leader is likely to be pushed well beyond their comfort zone. labour wanted to concentrate on the extra big cheque they would write for the nhs. with a labour government, there will be £26 billion extra in real terms for our nhs. change is coming for patients and nhs staff. vote labour for our nhs, thank you very much. but there was confusion, too. thejohn on the left said this morning that nhs staff would not be part of their promise for a four—day week, but thejohn on the right? at the labour conference, mr mcdonnell, you suggested a huge

and ambitious policy to purge everybody on a four—day working week. this morning, john said it was nonsense to suggest that could include the nhs, which is it? we work to live, we don't live to work. cheering and applause. that will apply to everybody, because as you grow the economy... it is early in this campaign, the official party manifestos will not emerge for another week, but all sides have been forced to go off the script already. as we heard there, labour are promising to increase spending on the nhs in england. but what difference could it make? 0ur health editor, hugh pym, has been taking a look at the figures. once again, the nhs is front and centre in the run—up to polling day, with the parties vying to outspend each other. the conservative government's already promised an extra £20 billion a year after inflation

by 2023 in england. labour have said they will add another 6 billion to that, bringing the annual increase to 26 billion, and spend some of that on cutting waiting times for patients. are you ready? that's it. here. frances has arthritis. she's finding life a lot easier after a hip replacement, but she had to wait more than six months to get it done, two months longer than the official nhs target. she says the delay affected her in many ways. waiting that extra time was hard. i mean, i was deteriorating. almost week by week, i could do less and less and less, so, not only had i problems with my left hip, but, basically, my right hip and right knee were taking an awful lot of the strain. and they were playing up, big time, as well. so, i was in a really bad physical shape. whether it's a hip operation or managing a long—term health condition, the big challenge for the nhs is keeping up with increasing demands for patient care. and finding the money

for that is never easy. government spending this year on the health service in england is £139 billion — that sounds like a lot, and has been an upward trend for total spending over the last decade. but spending per person actually fell for a while, once you've adjusted for the needs of a growing and ageing population. that's the bottom line. it's only started picking up in the last couple of years. and as a percentage of gdp — that's the uk's national income — you can see here that uk health spending has actually fallen over recent years. spending is all very well, but longer—term workforce planning with more done to retain staff what many in the nhs say is the biggest priority. laura, who's a matron on a children's ward, told us the pressure was relentless. from a stress perspective, it really is quite clear that nurses are right up at the top there. and it's horrible to see,

especially when you see really, really good nurses leaving the profession on the advice of gps, because, you know, theyjust can't handle it anymore, working in the nhs. the politicians will have to persuade us they really are serious about supporting the people at the heart of the nhs. hugh pym, bbc news. let's take a look at some of today's other election news: the liberal democrats are promising a £500 million per year increase in funding for youth services in england to help tackle what their leader, jo swinson, called an epidemic of knife crime. the hope is to stop young people falling into violence and gang culture by co—ordinating help from teachers, health professionals and social services. scotland, wales and northern ireland would also receive extra money. nigel farage, who also chose a boxing theme for his campaign speech, has once more refused to stand down brexit party candidates

in labour marginal seats. he's been under pressure to withdraw from some constituencies where conservatives fear he could split the leave vote. earlier this week, he withdrew brexit party candidates from all of the seats won by the tories at the last election. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, has been forced to clarify his position on a second referendum on scottish independence as he took his campaign to scotland today. the party had said it could support a second vote as long as it wasn't in what it called the formative years of a labour government, but today mr corbyn said he would not allow one during the entire first term of a labour government. here's what the snp‘s nicola sturgeon had to say in response. the reason i thinkjeremy corbyn keeps getting into a mess on this question is because he knows that it is not democratically acceptable or democratically sustainable to block the right

of the scottish people to choose their own future. it is absolutely legitimate for him to oppose and argue against independence, but not to say that westminster would cast a veto over a right to choose. and i think it's his discomfort in trying to suggest that that veto would be acceptable that constantly leads him into muddled positions like this one. and throughout the election campaign, we'll be putting your questions to all of the main parties. tomorrow, we'll bejoined by kirsty blackman from the scottish national party. so if you have anything you want to ask, please do get in touch using the contact details on screen, and we'll put those questions to her. the army has arrived in south yorkshire to help with flood relief as people in some of the worst—hit areas have been told it could be weeks before they can return home. hundreds of people in the village of fishlake near doncaster were flooded out of their homes six days ago. the prime minister has visited some

of the worst affected areas, getting a robust response from some local residents fed up with how long it's taking to get help. 0ur north of england correspondent, judith moritz, is in fishlake, and has this report. you should have been there, saturday morning, having a meeting, making sure these people get the help and the support... he may have hoped to win hearts and minds, but it was not that easy for the prime minister, visiting stainforth five days after flooding began. we expected rain on thursday. and we want to know, you're coming into here, they're getting the money that they need and those people know that they matter. pam webb was determined to show borisjohnson how hard it has been. she wanted him to visit nearby fishlake where she has lost her home and business. i made a direct appeal, to say, "please, mrjohnson, come and see what is happening, i can tell you but you cannot see and feel it for

yourself." she got her wish and steered the prime minister towards the fishlake relief centre, and inside he saw something of the community response. there have been people who have been angry today, mrjohnson, can you understand that? of course, i have got massive sympathy with people who... whose lives have been so badly affected, and... you know... clearly, we are going to do everything we can to help them. £500 per household, from the council, is that enough, 2,500 for businesses? it's not much. there will be more available, i have made that point, i have made that clear to people today. he has given a pledge in front of national press that no one will suffer as a consequence of this. believe me, i will hold him to task. she will as well! she will. extra reassurance with the arrival of troops, drafted into shore up flood defences ahead of more forecasted rain. people here tell me that they are just thankful

that the army have come in because some of their homes have been underwater now since the weekend, and the thought of further flooding as more rain comes down is unbearable. 200 soldiers have been working since first light, laying up to three kilometres of new flood barriers to protect this village in the coming days. the community here has already suffered so much, they cannot afford to take any chances. judith moritz, bbc news, fishlake. the headlines on bbc news: labour pledges to outspend the tories with extra cash for the nhs, promising an additional £6 billion a year in england by 202a. borisjohnson insists voting conservative is the only way to get brexit done during a visit to an electric car factory in the west midlands. a historic task: democrats say they aim to prove donald trump's

actions warrant impeachment as the first public hearings get underway in washington. good evening. manchester city's bernardo silva has been banned for one match, given a £50,000 fine and ordered to complete a face—to—face education course. it's after the fa charged him over a tweet that the anti—discrimination group kick it out said enforced a racist sterotype. silva compared team—mate benjamin mendy to the character on a packet of chocolate available in spain and portugal. the fa did accept that silva didn't intend the tweet to be racist. the fa have said today that bernardo silva's twitter following,

650,000 people, was so big that they could not ignore the fact that other people may see racism within the tweet, so they have not punished him as heavily as some racial sanctions they hand down, but that one match ban has annoyed manchester city a little bit because they feel as though it is obvious that he was having a joke with a team—mate, and they do not feel the punishment fits they do not feel the punishment fits the crime. arsene wenger is back in football. he's taken a seniorjob at fifa. the 70—year—old is their new chief of global football development. there had been rumours that he would take over at bayern munich until the end of the season. wenger hasn't worked in football since leaving arsenal 18 months ago after 22 years in charge. gareth southgate has defended his decision to drop raheem sterling for tomorrow night's euro 2020 qualifier against montenegro.

southgate's been accused of overreacting by leaving sterling out after that bust—up with joe gomez at england's training base. everybody will view it differently. people will fall into every camp on every decision you make. you have to do what you believe is the right thing and, if you are only prepared to make decisions that attempt to keep everybody happy, then that is not a route that will work either because it is impossible to keep everybody happy. first and foremost i have to do what is right for the country, what is right for the team, and all the while trying to look after the players. the australia captain, sam kerr, who's widely regarded as one of the best strikers in the world, has signed for women's super league leaders chelsea. kerr is all—time top scorer in both the american and australian leagues. lots of european clubs were chasing her, but she's chosen to come to london, signing a two—and—a—half—year

deal with chelsea, who she'll join in january. rafa nadal has produced a stunning comeback to keep himself in contention for the semifinals of the atp finals in london. the world number one was 5—1 down in the deciding set against danil medvedev and had to save a match point too. he then went on to take the third set into a tie—break, which he then won. if he had lost, he would have been out, but he will now progress to the last four if he beats stefanos tsitsipas on friday. and alex zverev‘s playing stefanos tsitsipas right now. they've just started, we'll bring you that result and all the day's sports news in sportsday at half past ten. the hearings in president trump's impeachment inquiry, which so far have been behind closed doors, are now taking place on live television for all to see. this is only the fourth

impeachment inquiry in us history. donald trump is accused of pressuring ukraine to dig up damaging information onjoe biden — a possible presidential rival in next year's elections. the process could eventually see president trump removed from office. 0ur north america editor, jon sopel, has been watching. history in the house... this is like the super bowl for politics, the daily impeachment hearings go public and, coast—to—coast, all the us tv networks gearing up for an unfolding drama that could be the decisive moment of the trump presidency. inside the committee room, it's a scrum one hour before the hearing gets under way. first up, this man, george kent, a senior state department official, overseeing ukraine affairs. i do not believe the united states should ask other countries to engage in selective politcally associated investigations or prosecutions

against opponents of those in power because such selective actions undermine the rule of law. at the heart of this, the allegation that the president ordered a halt to military aid to ukraine until it agreed to dig dirt on a gas company that hunter biden, the son of former vice presidentjoe biden, and donald trump's potential 2020 rival, was a director of. next up, bill taylor, the acting ambassador to ukraine, and he says there was such a quid pro quo. by mid—july, it was becoming clear to me that the meeting that president zelensky wanted was conditioned on the investigation of burisma, an alleged ukrainian interference in the 2016 us elections. the republican strategy seems to be to cast doubt on everything and everyone involved in the impeachment enquiry, including the undermining of these lifelong public servants. ambassador taylor, mr kent, i would like to welcome you here and congratulate you for passing the democrats star

chamber auditions held for the last weeks in the basement of the capital. it seems you agreed, wittingly or unwittingly, to participate in a drama. impeachment is the mechanism by which a sitting president can be removed from office for high crimes and misdemeanours. the first stage is a vote in the house of representatives, which has to be carried by a simple majority. if that is carried, the articles of impeachment go to the senate, and here, the president is put on trial, with 100 senators acting as the jury. for donald trump to be removed from office, two thirds of senators would have to find him guilty, a threshold that has never been reached before. on this blockbuster wednesday, donald trump is meeting the president of turkey, president erdogan. i am too busy to watch it. it is a witchhunt, it is a hoax. i am too busy to watch it, i am sure i will get a report. mr trump has railed

against the unfairness of the process and has insisted repeatedly he has done nothing wrong. let's now speak to us political commentator and economist laurie laird. can you put this into the wider context? can you put this into the wider co ntext ? why can you put this into the wider context? why does all this matter? will donald trump be impeached? this is pretty big stuff. it is only the fourth time that has happened in american history. jump ahead a little bit, it's unlikely he will be removed from office, he would need a two thirds majority in the senate which is dominated by republicans, but why this is important is because donald trump is accused of acting above the law. the democrats did not wa nt to above the law. the democrats did not want to get to this point, they did not think it would play that well in public opinion, but the democrats

are saying, we need to make sure no president can act with impunity. so therefore, there are risks for both sides on this? i think that the democrats probably face the bigger risk. nancy pelosi, the top democrats on capitol hill, has publicly suggested she is not behind this until this disputed phone call of the 25th ofjuly to establish the possibility of a quid pro quo between ukrainian aid and other favours. until that day, between ukrainian aid and other favours. untilthat day, nancy pelosi was saying, let's net not pursue impeachment, let's let voters kick him out. what you make of what we have heard so far today? have we learnt anything we did not know before? we have learnt a little bit of new information. we learned that an aide to bill taylor overheard a

conversation in which donald trump was done the end of the line, asked the us ambassador to the eu, what does donald trump think of all this? he reportedly said, all he is interested in is in the investigation. that was the only bit of new information. and you have to really be looking to get that. today was the first step in the trial of public opinion. this is both sight seeing how their witnesses play, and the democrats started with the most convincing witnesses, put them on display, how do they speak to the american people? does their testimony excite the american people who have not had a great deal of interest in these proceedings so far? you said ultimately you think it is unlikely this will result in president trump being removed from office, but could have an impact on the 2020 election? that is how we have to view this, through the prism ofa have to view this, through the prism of a big event coming injust have to view this, through the prism of a big event coming in just under

a year's time. there are risks for both sides on this. the republicans have very successfully painted the democrats as trump haters, is having a vendetta, as being in cahoots with what the republicans call the corrupt media, so there is a risk the democrats push this too far, but there is another risk on the other side which is republicans who are lu kewa rm side which is republicans who are lukewarm about supporting donald trump say, this has been the most exhausting presidency in recent memory, and i will not vote this time around. every election here in the us, we talk about turner and how important it is, but this is america in 2019, there is no changing anyone's mind, so the election will be which side gets out there and votes. the mayor of venice has said climate change is responsible for the worst flooding in the italian city for nearly a century. he said the highest water levels in the region in more than 50 years will leave a permanent mark

on the city. popular tourist sites were completely flooded and people had to wade through the streets after a major storm. dr shouro dasgupta is a researcher at the euro—mediterranean center on climate change in venice. hejoins me now. we are very grateful for your time. are you able to give us an update of what the latest situation is in venice? yes, pleasure to join you. more than 85% of the city was flooded last night. this morning, we had another round of flooding. tonight, we are expecting hundred and 30 centimetres above normal. it is the third day in a road that we have had very high tide levels, and things are nowhere near coming down. tomorrow morning, we are expecting very high levels, up to

hundred a0 centimetres, and this is expected to go on to the weekend. venice is a world heritage site. give us a sense of the impact that this is all having, not only on the historic monuments, but on the people who live in venice and tourists.“ monuments, but on the people who live in venice and tourists. if i could just provide a bit of history? venice provides a very interesting example to the interaction between man and the environment. due to its geographical position and proximity to the sea level, it is extremely sensitive to climate change. to put into context, records of sea levels in venice started in 1872. the mayor put 1950 as an example. if i could give you a number before moving on to the impact. between 1872 and 1950, venice only had one severe event, severe as in

more than three centimetres above sea level. since 1951, we have had 20 such events. we have had 11 severe flooding events since 2000, six of which have been since 2000, six of which have been since 2012, and we have two in the last two days. that is scary but also puts into context, the impact climate change is having on tide levels. give us a sense of the impact that is having. i am sorry to russia but we do not have too much time. almost 90% of russia but we do not have too much time. almost 9096 of the city was flooded. saint mark's basilica. it was only flooded for the sixth time in 1200 years but it is the fourth time in the last two decades. venice is almost wholly dependent on water—based transport. all of the transport system had to be shut down last night as wind gusts

reached more than hundred kilometres per hour. tourists are unprepared for such events. businesses had to be shut down, hotels face massive damages, and some of the businesses will remain closed for quite a long time. i am so sorry, time is always tight, and this is a very serious situation, i'm sorry not to give you more time to talk about it, but thank you so much for what you have been able to tell us. wednesday offered respite from the recent rain but not for all. the next weather system showed its hand across south—west england and wales. you can see this bank of rain bearing clouds. it has also produced no over south wales and south—west england, and it will work its way further north and westwood says the night progresses. further north of that, clear spells but also

showers feeding in, and across eastern scotla nd feeding in, and across eastern scotland the risk of ice first thing on thursday morning as temperatures drop below freezing. they will not drop below freezing. they will not drop so far the further south you come. here is our rain band through the morning, stretching up to south—west england into wales and across to east anglia. it is heavy, persistent and slow moving. bristol and gloucestershire could see quite and gloucestershire could see quite a bit of rain on thursday, and the risk as it will move into areas that have seen recent flooding. to the south of that, sharp showers, brightness the further north of it, but further showers moving in with a brisk wind which will make it feel cold. borisjohnson boris johnson wants to borisjohnson wants to get a majority in parliament to get through his brexit deal, then all of the other parties decided it was in their interest as well. can brexit

be done by the end ofjanuary?m theory if there is a majority of the deal in parliament. there will be more negotiations with the eu after that. why are you walking backwards? everybody does in these videos. what's the most surprising thing you found about broadcasting brexitcast. rates on the news channel website. who is your favourite band. girls aloud. screen grabs of tweets on instagram, you name it, and you get targeted adverts, which means you might see something other people don't. how do i register to vote? go on this website, type in your details, you have until the end of the 26th of november, and it is earlierfor the 26th of november, and it is earlier for postal vote. what is the most overused phrase in politics right now? it's for

the birds.