this is bbc news. i'm martine croxall. the headlines at 11:00: labour promises to give every home and business in the uk free full—fibre broadband by 2030, if it wins the general election. hospital waiting times in england hit a new low. a&e departments miss their targets again. it's their worst performance since 200a. one woman says her father died after waiting for six hours on a hospital trolley. ido i do believe that if i had been listened to and he was seen, then he would still be here. the conservatives say they'll seek to "control" immigration if they win the election, but stop short of promising a cut in numbers coming to the uk. still submerged almost a week after the floods began, tonight 130 flood warnings are now in place across england and wales

with more rain on the way. england qualify for euro 2020 in style, thrashing montenegro 7—0 at wembley tonight. and at 11:30 we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers, george eaton, the assistant editor of the new statesman, and the spectator‘s deputy political editor, katy balls. stay with us for that. in the past hour labour has announced it is to promise every home and business in the uk free broadband by 2030 if it wins the general election. the party would nationalise part of bt to deliver the policy and introduce a tax on tech giants to help pay for it. shadow chancellorjohn mcdonnell has been speaking to our political editor laura kuenssburg. he said that apart from the major

cities, everywhere he has been, people and businesses have been telling him that they don't have broadband at the speeds they need. the government has come forward with £5 billion of investment, but actually it is nowhere near enough. so we're saying it is going to cost about £20 billion. we will put the extra £15 billion in. we will start with a more difficult to reach areas first and then worked through. but the way that we will do it is, if we are putting a scale of taxpayer money in, we want to ensure the owner as well, and that means ringing parts of bt into public open ship that ownership, 0penreach in particular. another big nationalisation with a big pricetag? what we will do, in the normal way, first of all we will issue bonds for shares. what we're doing is introducing a new tax. we have already it publicly, which is on multinationals. so particularly those internet multinationals, the

ones that gained their income from the internet, the apples, googles and amazons of this world, and in that way we will pay for the day—to—day costs. that way we will pay for the day-to-day costs. political editor laura kuenssberg described the pledge is a big offer to the public. the labour party thinks this is a big, bold offer which may well prove popular with millions of voters. but it could well be very controversial, too. there are questions about its credibility and who would really pick up the tab. and a reminder, if any was really needed, that although both the main parties are promising to spend more on public services in this election, but there is fundamentally a dramatic difference of opinion between the conservatives and the labour party on how big the role of the state should be, and how much they should get involved in the markets. but for the labour party, i think no question, in this campaign so think no question, in this campaign so far, this is the boldest promise yet but they are making to the public. our business editor simon jack has spoken to bt.

he says that bt claim the initiative would be far more expensive than labour has suggested. they also say that they would nationalise it by buying bits of it ata nationalise it by buying bits of it at a price that parliament decides. now, it is very unlikely that parliament would decide to pay above market value. it could well be quite a steep discount. that could mean a head to millions of savers, millions of her mood —— own bt shares through their pension funds. 0ne of her mood —— own bt shares through their pension funds. one of the last things to think about is, if you look at the share price of bt tomorrow, it will be very interesting. they were not on the list were nationalisation, now they are on the list for part nationalisation, you are going to get a very clear view of what the market considers the chances are of a corbyn government buying it. accident and emergency departments in england have recorded their worst performance since current records began in 200a. one in six patients waited longer than the four hour target in october and the target for starting cancer treatment was missed for the 46th month in a row. the total number of people waiting for routine operations is now nearly 11.5 million. the labour leaderjeremy corbyn described the figures as "disgraceful" and blamed

the problems on a lack of staff and funding. but the prime minister said they were a result of the huge demand being placed on the national health service. here's our health editor, hugh pym. that was when i thought, right, 0k, something's not right. donald, who was 84, died after sliding off a hospital trolley. he'd been waiting six hours in a&e. from 8.15 up until the time he died, nobody came to see him, no pain relief was offered. his daughter, who's a former nurse, said he might still be alive if calls for help had been acted on. i can appreciate how busy nurses are, how busy a&e can get. however, come ten o'clock, 10.30, when i was speaking to nurses and a doctor saying that my dad needs to be seen, and i wasn't listened to, i was very angry. the hospital said it offered sincere

sympathies to donald's family and was investigating the matter thoroughly. the nhs is under intense pressure as patient numbers rise year by year. from 2012, the 95% target for up to four tower in a&e was being hit but from 2015 it started declining to its lowest last month. for routine surgery 92% of patients should be treated within 18 weeks and that hasn't been hit for nearly four years. in october 2014 there were just under 470,000 emergency hospital admissions, but last month there were more than 560,000. five years ago, around 105,000 had to wait more than four hours in a&e. borisjohnson was challenged on the declining performance of the nhs. this is basically caused by the huge demand that there is on the nhs and that's why now in the last three months we have done the biggest investment in the nhs in modern times. as it happens, the last labour government increased spending on health in some years more than the conservatives now plan. today, labour and the lib dems

attacked the government's record. the worst performance ever in our a&e departments. so many patients will be languishing on trolleys waiting longer and longer and longer for treatment and care in our overcrowded hospitals. this comes after a decade of cuts in our health services. i'm appalled by these figures today. they are the worst figures on record. it's devastating for patients that need help and support and treatment. it's devastating for those people that work in our health service. in england, 83.6% of patients were treated or assessed in a&e within four hours in october. for the rest of the uk, the latest figures are for september. in scotland the level was 89.3% in that month. in wales, the number was lower, at 75%. in northern ireland, just 59.6% were treated or assessed in four hours in major a&e units. there were similar pressures on health services across the uk. they're illustrated by the experience ofjill,

aged 88, who has dementia. she was on a trolley in a&e for six hours and her family say they witnessed severe stress in the hospital. it was bedlam. there were trolleys in the corridors, there were trolleys in doorways, they were bringing trolleys in, moving your trolley and pushing you further and further and further, meaning you could fit in two more people. if they were moving a trolley they had to move trolleys out of the way to get trolleys by. you are not being neglected, but you feel like you are being neglected. her family sayjill should never have been sent to a&e and she was let down by local community care. the hospital's apologised but said a significant increase in the number of very poorly patients meant services were under considerable pressure. the conservatives say they will seek to control immigration by introducing a points based system that would be firm but fair, if they win the election. but the home secretary, priti patel, did not set a specific target

for reducing overall numbers. the prime minister said immigration could come down in some sectors but he didn't want the uk to be closed to the rest of the world. here's our home editor mark easton. people have called lowestoft home since the stone age. its name from the old norse means "homestead," but not enough people want to come and live here these days. if lowestoft has an immigration problem, it's not that there are too many migrants coming to the town, but too few. the national immigration figures explain the problem. since the brexit referendum in 2016 net migration into the uk has fallen. still historically high, but down 20%. within that change is a more dramatic shift. net migration from outside the eu has gone up 21%. but from inside the european union

it's down by more than two thirds injust three years. that huge fall in overall eu migration to the uk has seen some sectors that have relied on european workers struggling to adapt. in this part of the world, that's led to insurmountable recruitment problems. being at the end of the line, and at the edge of everything, we don't have people that just pass through... as chief executive of a community trust in lowestoft, emma rapson knows how desperate staff shortages can be for the town's most vulnerable citizens. we don't have much immigration out here, which will be, you know, good news to hear for lots of people, but, actually in terms of finding people to fill social worker posts, gp posts, teaching jobs, it's actually a real problem for us. health is a significant concern. there have been moves to bring in gps from abroad. care homes are closing, there aren't enough willing people locally to fill the vacancies. and it's that problem that lies behind confusion today as to what a conservative government would do about immigration. a statement from party headquarters this morning quoted the home secretary saying...

but by this afternoon, she couldn't say whether it should go down or up. the conservative party wants to control immigration. i'll ask again, do you want immigration to go up or down? well, we'll be controlling immigration. does that mean it goes down? well, we'll be able to control immigration numbers. do you want to reduce the numbers of immigrants that come to this country? we want immigration that is fair. the suggestion is you want to lower immigration, is that right? we will be able to control who comes to our country, and also the reasons as to why people are coming here. in middlesbrough on teesside, one can find the other side of the argument, that migrants put extra pressure on public services. local children recently couldn't access school places in the town because of unexpected foreign arrivals. well, i think they do need to bring down the population. we haven't got enough spaces. yeah, i think they should bring it

down, because obviously it's taking ourjobs and that. when it is concentrated, it has an impact on the town. all the parties give you all the spiel, what they are going to do, what they are not going to do, and then at the end of the day you don't see any difference with any of them. it's the different experiences of places like middlesbrough and lowestoft that explain why the parties won't be clear about immigration. labour's talked of extending free movement, the liberal democrats want a system that works for the economy, and the snp wants more immigration for scotland. but in truth, britain still doesn't know what controlling our borders should look like. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn has refused to say whether he would want to increase or decrease immigration if he became prime minister. but he has hinted that labour would make it easierforfamilies to bring relatives to live in the uk from overseas and for foreign workers to come to the uk to fill skills shortages. he was talking to our political editor laura kuenssberg as part of a series of interviews with party leaders.

jeremy corbyn, if you become prime minister, would you like to see immigration go up or down? i want to see immigration being fair and we will see what the outcome of that is but the principle has to be that there are many families in britain that want to bring relatives here and families should have a chance to live together but can't because of the income levels they are required to do. and also, we have to be realistic that in this country we have not trained enough people so there will be immigration in the future. as a point of principle would you be happy if it went up or would you rather see it go down? i want people to be able to be united with their families and i want british people to be able to work across europe as they are at the present time, and i think putting arbitrary figures on it, as successive governments have done, simply doesn't work. you don't have a strong view on whether immigration should be higher or lower? i want our system to be decent, to be fair and our services to be properly run and properly staffed. in september, your party voted to extend freedom of movement. some of your biggest backers,

including the leader of the unite union len mccluskey think that isn't manageable. what do you think? the conference motion was passed. it doesn't necessarily form part of the manifesto but i think we have to recognise there are many people in britain who have partners who are from europe or the other way around and have children, and therefore children of both. we cannot stop them moving about. your manifesto in 2017 said you would end freedom of movement. it sounds like your manifesto in 2019 will say something very different. we are meeting this weekend to decide the contents of our manifesto and that will come to a decision. the 2017 manifesto also said, "labour accepts the referendum result. " now you are offering people another referendum. doesn't your change of heart on brexit undermine people's trust? i think what we have done is a sensible approach. 40,000 nursing vacancies,

we have a great shortage of doctors, i recognise why people voted remain at why people voted to leave. don't you think there are some people listening now who voted leave and voted labour, you told me in 2017 that you accepted the referendum result was done, now you are saying it is not done. doesn't that have consequences for people's trust in you? we're doing everything to ensure that the trade relationships, jobs and the rights that accompany eu membership are retained in the future. and those very large numbers of people that demanded a referendum have also got the opportunity to make their views known in a final say on it. labour also used to say they couldn't be another referendum in scotland. now you say perhaps there might be. isn't that again a question of trust? no, it's a question of trust? no, it's a question of trust? no, it's a question of realism. the question is, scotland has poverty, has bad housing, has a need for infrastructure investment. labour's

position was in the last general election that would not be another scottish independence referendum. that's a promise you gave to scottish voters. there is no priority to have a scottish referendum, or an independence referendum. we want the early years of the labour government to be com pletely of the labour government to be completely dominated by the investment we will put into scotland. you have also set in the last couple of years that you are doing everything you can to stamp out anti—semitism in the labour party, yet in this election your party has selected candidates who have been found to express some anti—semitic views. again, isn't this a question of trust? i have introduced very strong procedures into the party. we go through it, we go through due diligence on candidates, and where there are questions they are brought before a group to answer those questions and then decisions are made. in some cases candidates are removed. what would you say to voters listening to you today who are just not sure who to trust in this election and they are not sure if they can trust you, whether on brexit, anti—semitism or where the party is on immigration?

we have an opportunity here to elect a government that will and austerity. we have an opportunity here to elect a government that will invest in the future of this country. an opportunity to elect a government that will start to readd ress government that will start to readdress the gross levels of income inequality across britain. and if your determination gets you to no 10, will you live above the shop or will you move into downing street? well, i will do whatever is necessary to ensure there is sufficient government of this country, and yes, of course. jeremy corbyn, thank you very much. jeremy corbyn speaking to laura kuenssberg. brexit party leader nigel farage has claimed his party's election candidates have been coerced into standing aside in some constituencies. mr farage has also suggested some of his colleagues had been offered jobs by the conservatives in exchange. the brexit party leader has been speaking ahead of a party rally in lincolnshire this evening. let's hear a little more of what he had to say. we have had a funny day. we've had never before in the history of british politics have people who

wa nt to british politics have people who want to stand for election, one of our rights as free citizens and intimidated out of standing. 0ur candidates today have been subjected to thousands of phone calls and e—mails and threats all over the country. i think we are at about 285, some have dropped away, most have held very firm. but also inducements at all levels. at number ten downing st, wringing our candidates offering our people jobs, it is quite astonishing. so they tailored intimidation and i think political corruption at the same time. well, earlier i spoke to our political correspondent helen catt about farage's accusations. this is in the context of nigel farage having stood down his candidates in conservative seeds, seeds that the conservative one at the beginning. 0riginally he said he would only do that if borisjohnson had decided to drop his brexiteer if the conservatives had agreed to

stand down in some seeds against him. so this was a bit of a climbdown by nigel farage earlier this week. he said he did it for the good of the country, not to split the leave vote. but then the focus shifted to where should he be standing candidates in seats where conservatives were a close second. it isn't enough borisjohnson and the conservatives to win the same seeds they did last time, to get a majority he needs more of them. so there had been disagreement and from there had been disagreement and from the brexit party there had been passive for them to not stand in some of those seats too. but these specific claims that nigel farage is making of inducements ofjobs and peerages, they are worrying. if proven they could have severe consequences. the conservatives this evening i denying this saying neither the conservative party nor its officials have offered brexit party candidates jobs or peerages and they don't do elect oral pacts.

they went on to stress the only way to ensure you get a brexit done is to ensure you get a brexit done is to vote for your local conservative candidate. the brexit party doubling down on their claims this evening. and that 4pm this afternoon was the deadline for parties to say who was going to stand for them? it is known as close of nominations. there has been intense scrutiny about what people might be standing in, more so than normal because of elect oral pacts, we saw action by the greens, plaid cymru and others. constituencies are usually split along brexit lines. so we will now see if any of those have come to fruition and that will probably take a couple of days because this being a couple of days because this being a general election it is still

organised at a local level. so individual councils are nominating our assembling lists of nominated people and we will get those in the coming days. helen catt reporting from westminster. there are around 130 flood warnings in place tonight across england and wales with more rain on its way. in 0xfordshire, emergency services have rescued a number of people trapped in their cars. parts of the east midlands have already been hit by heavy rain this afternoon. 0ur north of england correspondent judith moritz has spent the day in south yorkshire — one of the worst—hit areas. we have had heavy rain here all afternoon and evening and it has been water falling on water and extending that anxiety for people here who frankly have already had enough. and the disruption, though, doesn't seem to have gotten any worse. the flooding has an extended in south yorkshire that it isn't the same across the country. in england under than the very south coast of

england up to the north—east of yorkshire. the cavalry has arrived in fishlake bearing not arms but sandbags. the light dragoons going door—to—door shoring this village up against the threat of more flooding. these soldiers have been working flat—out. and inside the old butchers cafe, the locals have been showing their gratitude, keeping the troops fed and watered. the community have been fantastic and they have got a really difficult set of circumstances here. it's just amazing how supportive they are being to our guys when their livelihoods and lives have been turned upside down in the last week. some streets have now been underwater for nearly a week. this house belongs to the howsam family.

they tried to save their belongings. today, they were salvaging what they could, knowing they won't be living here again for many months. we've got somewhere to stay, that's fine. it's just a case of getting everything out the best we can, stuff that we've saved that we've got up in the air, and then just wait. emergency crews have come here from all over the country, equipment brought from as far away as cornwall. they're pumping a ton of water per second from the village into the river don, trying to keep ahead of the weather. we're worried about the rainfall that has just started here and it's moving through the midlands, and the flood—affected areas from last week. we need people to take action. by rush—hour, other areas were suffering, too. this is the herefordshire—worcestershire border where some cars were struggling and others got stuck altogether. there was flooding in the centre of nottingham, and across the west midlands children were sent home from more than 100 schools. there has also been heavy snow in south and mid wales. and tonight

dozens of roads are closed in east yorkshire with the rain still falling and the disruption continuing. judith moritz, bbc news. in italy, the government has declared a state of emergency in venice following the worst flooding the city has experienced in more than 50 years. 0ur correspondent jenny hill is there. yes, they're keeping an anxious eye on the weather and conditions denied. and the water levels. high tide is expected to peak in the next hour or so. these floods, the worst in decades, have really shaken this city and also forcing its inhabitants and authorities to consider a fundamental question. how best in the long—term to protect venice from the water with lies all around it? even as they clear up, the flood alarms are going off. in a few hours it is feared venice will be deluged again. it's a disaster for our family, for all the venetian people.

a really, really, really big storm. they haven't seen anything this bad since the 1960s. 0ne couple filmed as they tried and failed to keep the water out. water coming from everywhere, we found ourselves surrounded by water. the beauty of this ancient city — fragile now. inside st mark's basilica, they are still assessing the damage. the crypt was filled with water. venice lies low, prone to floods, vulnerable to the effects of climate change, a planned flood defence scheme delayed for years by corruption, scandal and overspend. little comfort for those watching as the tides rise, fall, and rise again. jenny hill, bbc news, venice.

young children who rely on voice technology to speak will be able to hear their own accents for the first time as a result of work being done in scotland using artificial speech. the company behind it hopes to develop accents from all over the uk, giving thousands of youngsters a better chance to express themselves. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordon reports. so we'll be doing different activities... 12—year—old lachlan has quadriplegic cerebral palsy. what would you like to learn today? big numbers. he uses technology to communicate. until recently, the voice lachlan used was that of an adult. now it's much closer to those of his friends. how did the old voice make you feel? a bit boring. how does it feel to have a new voice? i feel great. communicating like this takes a lot of work. lachlan uses his eyes to operate the software to choose every single letter or phrase. every word is precious. has it made a difference? yes. i can talk to other people.

i think all children, when they're starting high school, really want to fit in and i think for lachlan, a different voice just makes him sound like other children. he has done so amazingly, we forget what an awesome journey he's been on, so we are super proud of everything that he's achieved. many thousands of people require communication aids, and while the technology isn't new, the voices available have been limited. this is the first time an accent like this has been constructed for a child. i'm an artificial voice. i sound good and exactly like a 12—year—old scottish boy. in the uk we're merged in accents and regionality that accents mean a lot to us. i think you can't separate our voice from our personality. the accent's part of what we are, so being able to communicate, especially when you have communication difficulties with something which helps retain your identity is really important, really crucial. and there are more

accents on the way — more opportunities for children to sound like the children they're growing up alongside. what do your friends think of your new voice? they love it. his mum and dad love it, too. he's a very bright, outgoing child. he obviously has difficulties but, within the capability that he has through the technology, he's able to shine. i think he's a wonderful guy. and its technology that could have the power to transform lives. for this family, it's let a little boy's personality burst through. lorna gordon, bbc news. art thieves tried to steal two paintings by rembrandt, worth around £100 million each, from england's oldest public art gallery last night. but police managed to stop them after alarms went off at the dulwich picture gallery in south london. an intruder was chased, but they managed to get away. a british inventor, who calls himselfjetman has smashed his own record

for the fastest flight inajet suit. richard browning shot through the sky above brighton beach at more than 85mph. ian palmer was there. we have lift—off, but can he make the jet propelled record ? i've started so loudly i've been heard over major and is annoyed —— over thejet engine noise heard over major and is annoyed —— over the jet engine noise on the go pro on may had just because of the unparalleled level of excitement, it is super fun. can he go any faster? the british inventor didn't just is super fun. can he go any faster? the british inventor didn'tjust go faster, he obliterated his own world

record. reaching types needs of more than 85 miles an hour. it did start out for no practical reason at all and it is still not how you will ta ke and it is still not how you will take the kids to school. but it is a stepping stone to a new way of transport it might inspire? these our guards travelled from northamptonshire to witness this extraordinary event does make our scouts. it's a wonderful chance to be able to come down here and watch it. we are passionate about aviation but this is something really different. this is great. i was really surprised to see the gay take off and go. today is guinness world record day, with more than 56,000 people taking part worldwide. what is certain is that none of them will have stimulated the imagination quite like the british inventor, jetman. ian palmer,