you're watching bbc news at 9:003m. the headlines... your questions will be answered with the prime minister borisjohnson. over the next hour he will be taking your questions on anything from brexit, the economy, the nhs and the conservative campaign as a whole. he will be in the studio shortly. he's there already! earlier he reiterated his pledge to get brexit done and unleash the potential of the country. if we can get brexit done, which i hope we can, byjanuary, then we will be able to get on with lifting the living wage by the biggest ever amount and making the biggest ever amount and making the biggest ever amount and making the biggest ever investments in the nhs, which we can all see is so absolutely vital.

bring in the uk up to speed is the message from labour, as they aim to bring ultrafast broadband to eve ryo ne bring ultrafast broadband to everyone in the uk over the next ten yea rs if everyone in the uk over the next ten years if they win the general election. good morning — and welcome to the bbc news at 9:00am. you join us for a special your questions answered programme where borisjohnson will be taking questions from members of the public in an hour—long live phone in on the bbc news channel, radio 5 live. we will be heading to our studio in salford shortly. it's not too late to send in your questions. over the

course of the election campaign we hope to put questions from you to the leaders of all the political parties. but first a major policy announcement from labour, who planned to deliver fast and free full fibre to every household and business by 2030 and will part nationalise bt to deliver that and tax tech giants to cover the costs, which labour estimates at £20 billion. here is shadow chancellor john mcdonnell. billion. here is shadow chancellor john mcdonnell. this is hard-nosed economics. if we don't get on and do this, we are already falling behind global competitors and we will fall even further behind. future generations will not forgive us. it is visionary, i accept that, but other countries are having these visions and we are not. we are being held back. in response, the bt chief executive told the bbc he wanted to

help build a digital britain but the plans from labour needed to be carefully thought through. you have a big capital investment of 30—40 billion. if you give it away for free, that's probably another £5 billion a year that outreach currently gets from its customers. —— that openreach. it's important to me that my colleagues at bt and our customers and shareholders and pensioners, remembering that the bt group has over 100,000 people working every single day and also hundreds of thousands of people who used to work for bt that have pensions they rely on. we have time for a quick word on this from the business newsroom. a couple of lines of analysis? it's interesting. any politician of any party will tell you on the doorstep the idea of rolling out broadband across the

country plays very well indeed. the question is, who picks up the tab and how do we do it. the labour plans you heard about bt raised its questions. bt says the cost of roll—out alone could be about twice as much as labour thinks. the bt share price is down by around two or 396 share price is down by around two or 3% this morning on the back of that proposal coming out from labour. other questions as well, as you heard bt say, how will shareholders, from employees up to people with pensions be compensated, and labour say they will swap shares for bonds ata say they will swap shares for bonds at a value set and determined by parliament. reaction from the city this morning saying if we see this kind of thing we could see investment in innovation and technology suffering. thank you. let's now go over to join rachel technology suffering. thank you. let's now go over tojoin rachel for your questions answered with boris johnson.

welcome to this special election programme on radio 5 live and the bbc news channel. for the next hour we will give you the chance to put your questions to the prime minister borisjohnson. in the course of the next 55 minutes we will hear from listeners to 5 live and take questions submitted online and social media. you can get in touch while we are on air using the hashtag bbc your questions and by e—mailing your questions. you can also text in. texts will be charged at your standard message rate. call this this morning from across the uk with a whole range of views who have

shown an interest in participating in bbc programmes. we have also asked some questions about their backgrounds and experiences. this is the first in a series of programmes where we invite the leaders of the main political parties to take your questions. good morning and welcome, prime minister. good morning, rachel. thank you for being the first person to do this with us. looking forward to it. our mission todayis looking forward to it. our mission today is to try to offer listeners as much clarity and information as we can. i will do my best. thank you, because a lot of plastic comes with a general election campaign.“ i can't answer something i will follow up. it's ok to say i don't know. i'm giving you that want to start with. thank you, rachel. so many people have got in touch this morning and people have a huge range of questions to ask. we will try to get through as many as we can. how many do you want to do? there a

challenge, let's try 10—15 and more if we can manage. let's start with craig in crewe. the prime minister is listening, what's your question? good morning, prime minister. i is listening, what's your question? good morning, prime minister. lam is listening, what's your question? good morning, prime minister. i am a small business owner in fish and chips. my question would be, fish and chips is the nation's favourite dish, great value and nutritious and it's proven as one of the healthiest takeaway options. post brexit, how do you plan to help business owners such as myself come through issues like vat and labour skills shortages. thank you, craig, i love fish and chips. i will do everything ican to fish and chips. i will do everything i can to support your industry. first of all, post brexit, once we get brexit done we will have access

to our entire marine wealth and fisheries of the uk. it will be under our control again. a basic point is that your raw materials, your haddock and cod and scampi, whatever, cod roe, all the stuff you sell, the fish, we hope, will be more readily available through a stronger uk fishing industry particularly in scotland. we want to help small businesses with business rate relief and we will talk more about that later in the campaign. with staff shortages and skills, i think that you make an extremely important point. what i want to see is people having the confidence to work in all kinds of businesses and industries in the uk, so we are putting... iam industries in the uk, so we are putting... i am a great believer in university education, it's fantastic, but we also have to train up fantastic, but we also have to train up young people to do all kinds of great jobs,

up young people to do all kinds of greatjobs, so we are putting £2 billion into improving ourfurther education colleges, which will train people up for retail of all kinds. the last point, craig, what we want to do is help high streets and help the townsend look and feel of towns and revitalise our towns, notjust supporting businesses, but supporting businesses, but supporting how towns are. we have a better towns fund we are putting on but we also want to have better connections for every town to drive footfall connections for every town to drive footfa ll for connections for every town to drive footfall for you, craig, so more people coming to your shop. what did you want to know specifically about vat? at the moment the vat threshold splits the sector in a considerable way in terms that many shops feel it is more business sense to stay under the vat threshold which prevents growth in the sector and also makes it unfair in terms of the playing

field where a certain number of shops are under and a certain number are over. and obviously the level of vat then, we feel as a sector that if the level was reduced and the threshold is reduced, then it would bea threshold is reduced, then it would be a much more level playing field. obviously, the bigger items that we purchase, potatoes and fish, and most of our industry is actually purchasing fish from iceland and norway, so brexit will be a factor in that will stop it's about making it more of a level playing field, that's what we hope to achieve. first of all, on your vat point, craig, i get that very much. we will ta ke craig, i get that very much. we will take that away. we will see what we can do to help small businesses so you don't have an incentive to stay under the vat threshold. i think i

understand that you want to expand. don't forget that when we leave the eu, as! don't forget that when we leave the eu, as i hope we will injanuary, certainly if we are lucky enough to be elected with a working majority, we will come out injanuary and control our vat and be able to cut it under areas we can't under vat rules under the eu. sanitary products, you name it, we will be able to do that. you have capacity to do it at the moment. we can't cut it on sanitary products. but across the board on most products you have the board on most products you have the capacity to cut vat. we do on a lot of things but many things we currently can't. i will look at the point craig specifically makes about the level of vat, which i think he's saying is deterring his expansion. on norway and iceland, they not members of the eu and we will continue to have very good relations with them as well as with eu partners. craig, thank you. we can go to portishead and speak to

annette. the prime minister was there yesterday. i was in weston—super—mare, very close. there yesterday. i was in weston-super-mare, very close. you should have come to portishead, it's much nicer! i was at a fish and chip shopin much nicer! i was at a fish and chip shop in weston—super—mare, i was at papa's. i was told it was the best in weston—super—mare. papa's. i was told it was the best in weston-super-mare. it was all over social media, you were having two lunches. my conservative election candidate has failed my town of portishead, which is the second largest town in the county. but i support your tory attempts to ta ke but i support your tory attempts to take us out of europe. what should i do on election day? i hope very much you will support us. what we are

doing is taking the country forward. we have a great, great programme, a vision for the country, but we need to get brexit done and get it done by january. we have to get brexit done and get it done byjanuary. we have been held up by parliament and we want to get on with an agenda that involves uniting and levelling up the country. looking at somerset, looking at what is happening in the west country, i ama is happening in the west country, i am a fervent believer in the great southwest, i believe in improving infrastructure, the a roads, which deserve improvement around the west country. there is a lot of talk about broadband today. a slightly fantastical proposal from the labour party. we have a costed and sensible proposal to put in gigabit broadband for everyone, we want to extend it around the country. we want to take that forward. so what we have,

annette, is an agenda for expanding our educational provision, massive investment in the nhs, lifting up the living wage by the biggest ever amountand the living wage by the biggest ever amount and doing it sensibly and prudently and taking advantage of the opportunities that brexit will bring. i hope you will go with us as a one nation party. you have mentioned transport, but our conservative candidate, who was our formermp, conservative candidate, who was our former mp, now conservative candidate, who was our formermp, nowa conservative candidate, who was our former mp, now a candidate, conservative candidate, who was our former mp, nowa candidate, he has promised for more than 20 years to get a portishead railway. people who have lived here for years can never see it because the funding has never been guaranteed. will you, prime minister, guarantee money fora portishead rail link into bristol? what i can tell you, annette, is today we are announcing £500 million at least as a proposal to reverse the doctor beeching cuts. i don't know whether it cut the portishead

to bristol... it did. ithought doctor beeching might have done that. i'm afraid i can't promise, as much as i would love to, i'm not going to promise that the portishead to bristol route would be amongst the first, but i will certainly look at it. when i was running london i built a huge amount of rail. i believe in railways and mass transit andi believe in railways and mass transit and i believe the people in this country need to get to their place of work as cheaply, conveniently and co mforta bly of work as cheaply, conveniently and comfortably as possible and you do that with mass transit. you also failed to build a garden bridge and an estuary airport. hang on a minute! sorry, annette, i'm being interrupted by the producer. minute! sorry, annette, i'm being interrupted by the producerlj minute! sorry, annette, i'm being interrupted by the producer. i am the presenter last time i checked and you had finished your sentence. ido and you had finished your sentence. i do believe passionately in mass transit. whether you think the garden bridge qualifies as mass transit, is a moot point. on that,

rachel, forgive me, presenter, on that i would humbly point out that it was the current mayor of london who put another £17 million into that project and then scrap it. it was a great project and it should have gone ahead but he scrapped it. hs2, are you fully behind it? have gone ahead but he scrapped it. h52, are you fully behind it? on hs2, h52, are you fully behind it? on hsz, i h52, are you fully behind it? on hs2, i think the difficulty is... i came into power three months ago, and you have a project that is really mounting in cost, going up to about 88 billion now and probably north of 100 billion by the time it's through. it is only responsible to look at whether that money is being sensibly spent and the profile of it, should you be spending it all on the london to birmingham route, orare on the london to birmingham route, or are there other ways of turning the spend around... can you clarify, are you fully behind it or not? does it need to be revised or scrapped altogether? what we have done is ask

the brilliant pioneer of the hong kong airport and was the chair of crossrail to begin with, a fantastic expert in civil engineering projects, i have asked him and collea g u es projects, i have asked him and colleagues to look at hs2 and report back. that will not happen this side of the election of a stop to give you a feeling of where i am, because people need to know my instincts, i helped to deliver crossrail and massive tube upgrades and expansion of public transport. i believe in it. when it comes to a big choice for our country about whether or not just to scrap something that is a potential thing of massive importance nationally, and it's a big piece of infrastructure i really do hesitate. people need to understand, that is my instinct. for absolute clarity, at the moment you are not 100% behind it.|j

absolute clarity, at the moment you are not 100% behind it. i am absolute clarity, at the moment you are not 10096 behind it. i am not 100% behind it because the costs are very, very high. what about heathrow and a third runway? you were kind enough to mention my efforts to build a wonderful 24—hour four ru nway build a wonderful 24—hour four runway airport in the estuary, but never mind. let's get back to a third runway at heathrow. the third ru nway third runway at heathrow. the third runway at heathrow is a very controversial project and has been for a long time. it is a private sector project. all i can say about it really and you will know that i have opposed it before but parliament voted by a large majority... you missed that boat and conveniently arranged a trip abroad when it was taking place. can you tell us now whether you personally support it or not. personally i think the promoters of a third ru nway think the promoters of a third runway at heathrow have yet to satisfy the courts, the law, when it comes to our very stringent

standards on noise, pollution and air quality. surely you have the power to pull the plug if you wanted to. as! power to pull the plug if you wanted to. as i say, there is a way to go through the courts before the promoters of heathrow have satisfied the law on those counts. annette, thank you. enjoy your day. portishead, a beautiful part of the world. we have done two. we need to push on. we are talking to you on bbc 5 live and on the news channel. a couple of quickfire questions that have to be quick. before we get back to brexit. what are you doing to secure the release of nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe? secure the release of nazanin zaghari-ratcliffe? the fca is working round the clock to try to secure the release. i have every simply for her family. and secure the release. i have every simply for herfamily. and to secure the release. i have every simply for her family. and to secure the release of all due national prisoners held in tehran. it's

outrageous they continue to be held. have you any regrets about the language you used around her and her role in iran and have you apologised to the family? are of course i have made it clear to the iranian authorities that they have no business detaining her in my view. did you apologise to her family? you can take it to that i have apologised to her family for the distress they have gone through. the fco and consulate officials are working nonstop on these cases. this isa working nonstop on these cases. this is a quick one, apparently. have you, your party, or anyone associated with your campaign promise nigel farage a peerage for stepping down? no. what is this nonsense? i think it's on the front page of the daily telegraph. normally they are on your side because you were in their pay. it talks about corruption at the worst level. it says he has been offered

eight peerages and it's like living in venezuela. many thousands of phone calls have been made to the remaining 300 brexit party candidates still standing. you say no calls have been made from the conservative party command to the brexit party? that would be a big thing for me to... i'm sure conversations have taken place between politicians of all parties. but certainly nobody has been offered a peerage and i wouldn't do that. i will take you at your word. those are both listeners questions, i hesitate to point out. just so you understand, rachel, the conservative party doesn't do deals of this kind. it's just not the way we operate.“ isa it's just not the way we operate.“ is a choice for our listeners and viewers this morning, do we believe borisjohnson or viewers this morning, do we believe boris johnson or nigel viewers this morning, do we believe borisjohnson or nigel farage and that's a dilemma for some. all i can say is we don't do deals and i think that's pretty obvious from what has happened. we have made no undertakings. we have had your

a nswer undertakings. we have had your answer and i want to go to callers now. emma is in belfast. how are you today? i'm doing good, thank you. the prime minister is here. good morning, mr prime minister. my question for you is that your current withdrawal deal essentially puts a border down the irish sea and many unionists and loyalists in northern ireland see this as a betrayal. how will you show your commitment to maintaining the union and are you committed to maintaining the union with northern ireland? first of all, i am 1,000,000% committed to maintaining the union with northern ireland. i believe in it passionately. there will be no border down the irish sea. the whole point of our deal was to allow the entire uk to come out of the eu, whole and entire. what the eu wanted was to offer a northern ireland

backstop, a northern ireland only backstop, a northern ireland only backstop, which they refer to a task, which would keep northern ireland in the customs union and single market forever. but northern ireland is in its own customs zone so there is a border down the irish sea. absolutely not, if you read the treaty we have done with the eu, the deal that is ready to go, northern ireland, it says explicitly, northern ireland is part of the uk customs territory. a customs union is an area with a perimeter where ta riffs is an area with a perimeter where tariffs are charged. and the tariffs that northern ireland will charge on goods with third countries around the world, whether it is japan, india, where ever, will be the ta riffs india, where ever, will be the tariffs that the uk charges, not what the eu charges. this is a nonsense, northern ireland will operate within the eu customs zone. with great respect, you are wrong.|j will check that. i think you should. northern ireland will be offering for free trade northern ireland will be offering

forfree trade deals northern ireland will be offering for free trade deals around the world the same tariffs as the rest of the uk. northern ireland will be coming out of the eu along with the rest of the uk for customs purposes, and that is a fantastic thing. what ican and that is a fantastic thing. what i can also say is that i, you know, this deal has been attacked by the labour party and they say it threatens the union. it doesn't at all. there will be no checks on goods going from northern ireland to the rest of the uk, to great britain, absolutely not. we will not do that at all. i take it a little bit awry, frankly, to be lectured about my commitment to northern ireland byjeremy about my commitment to northern ireland by jeremy corbyn, about my commitment to northern ireland byjeremy corbyn, who for decades has actively sided with the ira, who want to break up the united kingdom. but if i may... ira, who want to break up the united kingdom. but if! may... emma? under

no circumstances i am i a jeremy corbyn supporter. in our community we are well aware of the history he has. but we are concerned... you said there there would be no checks between northern ireland and the re st of between northern ireland and the rest of the uk, but can you commit that there will be no checks and no additional fees that citizens will be charged. and what will citizens encounter when dealing with the rest of great britain? i absolutely can't commit. this is a matterfor the uk government and we will make sure businesses face no extra costs and checks for stuff, whatever is being exported from northern ireland to great britain. we have had mixed m essa g es great britain. we have had mixed messages on this because you said no forms, throw them away, to guests of yours in northern ireland last week, but brexit secretary stephen barclay said there would have to be an exit declaration form filled out for goods going out of northern ireland to great britain. we have asked

customs experts can you definitively say there will be no checks and no extra administration required and they have come back and said, there is no way anyone can say that absolutely will not be necessary because it will be subject to approval by the joint committee. so it is not just approval by the joint committee. so it is notjust in the gift of the uk government. the joint committee, the uk is on thejoint government. the joint committee, the uk is on the joint committee, government. the joint committee, the uk is on thejoint committee, and i am saying, as the government of the uk, that we are part of this... i have explained the customs union.“ is not for you to decide on your own so there could be checks. furthermore, we will make sure not only are there no checks between northern ireland and great britain, and that is in our power to do, and also there will be no cost, and this is the key thing. emma will know this, but if, for some reason which i don't believe, but if for some reason these arrangements are not found to be working for the people of northern ireland, then their elected representatives in stormont can simply vote it out and they

automatically, automatically, joined the whole of the uk for every possible alignment. if stormont is operational, of course. we haven't had a stormont for 1033 days. we are without any elected official making decisions. i take your point that our officials will have the power to change that, but unfortunately none of them want to do that. emma, thank you for your time this morning for topjoe in you for your time this morning for top joe in glasgow. good morning. the prime minister is listening to you. my question is, iwork in the prime minister is listening to you. my question is, i work in one of the fastest growing industries in the uk, worth more than 30 billions that we have a large talent pool from france. what will happen to peoplesjobs after from france. what will happen to peoples jobs after brexit? we will make sure that everyone in every

sector of the uk economy is able to attract workers from all over the world, whether it is france or anywhere else, so they can come and work here. what we won't have is an uncontrolled immigration system. that's what we have had for the last few decades or more, really since the maastricht treaty, which opened up the maastricht treaty, which opened up the idea of completely uncontrolled immigration. you now have an eu that is 500 million people plus. i am in favour of immigration, and! people plus. i am in favour of immigration, and i am infavour of people coming to this country and it isa people coming to this country and it is a wonderful tribute to the country that so many people want to come, but it has put pressure on public services and it has in some sectors helped to keep wages down. what we will have his a controlled system whereby we remain open to beauticians from france, or scientists from india orfrom america or wherever. we will continue to be open to the world,

but we will do it in a way that is subject to democratic control. you plan to vote snp, has that convinced you? i will still vote for the snp. this will be the first time i vote for the snp because they are very clear on what their policies are with regards to immigration. and i believe them. all i can say is that the snp, their policy, as i understand it, is to go for an independent... what the snp want to do is to forcejeremy corbyn to go toa do is to forcejeremy corbyn to go to a second referendum on scotland's next year and i don't thinkjeremy corbyn would have any power to resist that, so next year you would have two referendums. one on independence for scotland. and their plan is, i don't know whether you know this, their plan is to take scotla nd know this, their plan is to take scotland back into the eu

independent of the rest of the uk, so they would have to adopt the euro and be part of the schengen area... i think this is pure speculation for stop i don't want to get into misinformation. i want to stick with the facts and what you know. have you ever heard an snp spokesman? jeremy corbyn said this week he had no intention of supporting an independence referendum within the first few years of a labour government. that is not their policy first up let's talk about what we are up to with you. he said in the formative years of a labour government he didn't want to do it, but nicola sturgeon made it absolutely clear that the price of her commitment to a coalition, and there would have to be a corbyn and nicola sturgeon coalition, would be a 2020 referendum, that's her condition. we will have nicola sturgeon and jeremy corbyn on this programme later to answer for themselves. do you know what proportion of people coming into the uk according to the latest figures this year came from within the eu?

of the net migrants? total numbers that came from within the eu? from memory, the total net migration proportions are about 50—50. but i might be wrong. you are wrong. according to latest official statistics, according to the 2019 statistics, according to the 2019 statistics, around 59,000 people came from within the eu. you talk about ending freedom of movement. that is a change on previous years. it has gone down since the brexit folk. you may not know that we have a record number of eu nationals working in our country today. what is the greatest contribution eu nationals have made in a country? they have been wonderful. speaking as someone who used to run london,

and it was absolutely incredible to see the contribution made by people from all nationalities. why stop it? because the arrangements we have with the eu are particular and don't apply to the rest of the world and are discriminatory in favour of people from the eu and discriminatory against people from other parts of the world. we think there should be fairness towards eve ryo ne there should be fairness towards everyone and think you should have a points—based system like australia where you control it. lets bring in pamela from cardiff. good morning. iwould lets bring in pamela from cardiff. good morning. i would ask parliament why they want to stay on the titanic, the eu, because it is sinking fast and were doing very well in britain we have been hundreds of years on our own. they forget that we would a very good country. democracy seems to have gone out of the window opened if i we re gone out of the window opened if i were in your shoes, i would go back to the eu and say, we need a fair

trade deal or a no deal and be taking no deal off the table is tying your hands behind your back. it is beyond stupid miss in parliament as far as i'm concerned. the intelligence is not there at all, or common sense, and they're not fit for purpose, as oliver cromwell said 500 years ago. why we did not have the canadian deal went theresa may was minister i don't know because that seems to be very good. they need us far more than we ever need them. we seem to be running into their court all the time and it should be the other way around what is your question, pamela? i think i have around what is your question, pamela? i think! have got around what is your question, pamela? i think i have got the gist of the point and thank you very much. good luck to you. obviously i'm ina much. good luck to you. obviously i'm in a large measure of agreement with you because i think parliament has been senselessly blocking brexit and the will of the people but you are also right in a way about the evolution of the eu because it is

changing and has changed a lot in the last ten or 20 years in a way that the british people did not bargain for. you listen to what emmanuel macron who is a brilliant quy: emmanuel macron who is a brilliant guy, but what he set about creating a banking union, a proper european army, these are interesting concepts but they are not ones that are necessarily attractive to widespread democratic support in this country. and what we want to do, i think you put yourfinger on it, is and what we want to do, i think you put your finger on it, is to and what we want to do, i think you put yourfinger on it, is to be supportive of our friends and partners, we are a great european power, possibly the greatest if you look at what military contribution and cultural impact, but what we also want to do is get out and look to the world and do free—trade deals. thank you very much, pamela. let me tell you if you are joining us, you're listening to a special election programme and hopefully watching as well on the bbc news

channel over this our would your chance to put questions to the prime minister, borisjohnson, chance to put questions to the prime minister, boris johnson, hearing from listeners and taking questions online and through social media to your questions answered and you can get in touch using #bbcyourquestions and by e—mailing us. you can also text, is charged at your standard message rate. callers from across the uk with a range of views who have shown an interest in participating in bbc programmes we have asked them questions about their backgrounds and experiences it is the first in a series of programmes where we invite leaders of the main political parties to ta ke of the main political parties to take your questions. another couple of quick fire once and let's be quick if we can, this is from flow but i like to know what the new tory government plans for a mental health services, lack of funding is concerning as art waiting times for treatment. we are investing massively in mental health services along with the whole of the nhs what i want to see is a proper wraparound ca re

i want to see is a proper wraparound care for mental health patients. i think we are not sufficientlyjoined up think we are not sufficientlyjoined up as think we are not sufficientlyjoined upasa think we are not sufficientlyjoined up as a government think we are not sufficientlyjoined up as a government at a local or national level in dealing with mental health. particularly mental health of young people put on this one, can we have free broadband? asking for a friend? what we are going to deliver is gigabyte broad banned for all and what we won't be doing it some crackpot scheme that would involve many tens of billions of taxpayers money nationalising a british business which, by the way, ifi british business which, by the way, if i give you the ultimate paradox... i want to talk about conservative party policy... let me in ivan in leicester. the question is about free broadband. i want to hear from is about free broadband. i want to hearfrom ivan. is about free broadband. i want to hear from ivan. my question is, on the back of cuts historically how is the back of cuts historically how is the government going to support grassroots community to empower themselves to address the rise in

crime writing thank you, ivan and i think there are two metal parts we need to be investing in youth centres and we will be putting a huge amount into them around the country. we are investing in further education for young people, giving them hope, ways out of the gangs that they unfortunately get sucked into but we also have to have a proper law and order a response, but the key to the county lined drugs gangs and the rise in knife crime. we have a big new unit to crack down on county lines drugs gangs can arrest the kingpins who are putting kids' lives in danger but also being tougher on kids, young people, i'm afraid young men, who carry knives on the street. i do believe an expanding stop and search and giving the police the support to do it. i

think it is a kind and loving thing to ta ke think it is a kind and loving thing to take a knife away from a young person on the street rather than allow them to endanger themselves and others. thank you for that and you touched on the community part but not as much as i'd hoped. we know that youth services were cut andl know that youth services were cut and i understand the need to be a law element to it but communities are crying out for support so how are crying out for support so how are we helping those families that are we helping those families that are going through these issues? there was a huge amount we are doing to support youth centres and outreach projects around the country to engage with families and support mentoring schemes, particularly, i'm afraid for these gangs, it tends to be young men although there are many young women also dragged into it could mentoring schemes make a huge difference. to try to take the weight off families who often feel that they are powerless when they see what their kids are getting up

to. you meet parents who simply feel there is nothing they can do, they can't understand how their kid, such a wonderful kid, could have got involved in all of this. we do need, asa involved in all of this. we do need, as a country and a society, to reach out to them and to try to take the weight off them. i'm totally on your site in understanding the need for more outreach and engagement and supporting kids and giving them different pathways but you also have to have a law enforcement response and that is vital. thank you very much. studies have shown there is no correlation necessarily between increasing stop and search and bringing down knife crime.|j hesitate to disagree with you but... i have direct experience of this because 12 years ago in london was facing the same thing we had a massive spike in knife crime, about

30 kids dying a year to i came in as mayor and we instituted a big programme. . . mayor and we instituted a big programme... i have looked at this and stop and search numbers have shown from official data went down under your mail ship, shown from official data went down underyour mailship, up shown from official data went down under your mail ship, up one year and then down. i'm afraid that's not... i don't want to disagree but we took, in the first couple of yea rs we we took, in the first couple of years we took about 11,000 knives off the streets of london. that had a dramatic effect on the murder rate and on knife crime. we reduced the murder rate by about 50% in london. we got the deaths of young people from knife crime down to fewer than ten a year from knife crime down to fewer than tena yearand from knife crime down to fewer than ten a year and obviously that is ten too many but we got down to fewer than ten for several years running. and london, when i was running it, became one of the safest big cities on earth with a murder rate down to fewer than a hundred a year across the whole city which is pretty amazing for a city the size of

london. you manage that in one year. fewer than a hundred for several yea rs fewer than a hundred for several years running and that is pretty amazing products it's not true according to the stats i read. good morning, sarah. good morning, prime minister put the nhs needs more money. the running of the nhs needs to be looked at and dealt with first. firstly, the numberof dealt with first. firstly, the number of middle management on high salaries and procurement throughout the nhs. will you be looking to fix the nhs. will you be looking to fix the running problems orjust throw money at it to provide a plaster temporarily? sarah, thank you for that point and we will obviously be doing both, putting a huge amount into the nhs and we can only do that because we have a strong economy. we are putting £34 billion in which is the biggest amount in recent memory but also insisting on proper reform and improvement. simon stephens, who

ru ns and improvement. simon stephens, who runs it, has a big programme to do that but i will be insisting that we get it done i want to make a point. this kind of stuff needs the government really focused on reforming and improving all public services. and we can do that, and procurement is an important issue. we spent around £250 billion on procurement and we could spend it better, we could save money. definitely. it needs a government that focuses and if i might say so, that focuses and if i might say so, thatis that focuses and if i might say so, that is the choice we face. we have a chance to get brexit done and move the country forward and tackle things like the waste in public procurement and the needless expense that sometimes crops up and put that money into front line services. and we wa nt money into front line services. and we want to do that put up the labour party wa nts we want to do that put up the labour party wants to spend next year into metric referendums... out yesterday

we re metric referendums... out yesterday were terrible one on scotland and one of the eu. the worst wedding comes in a&e since waiting times began, none of the targets met, the head of the royal college of nursing said we had reached a new low. you feel any sense of shame that the nhs had been brought to its knees by yea rs of had been brought to its knees by years of conservative government? actually, i think the nhs does an amazing job. it does under difficult circumstances. rachel... we are putting a huge amount in... go—ahead. putting a huge amount in... go-ahead. i've actually been diagnosed with ms about five years you're eyeing i can honestly say that the way i have been treated has been fantastic, it was very quick and i'm now on medication product thatis and i'm now on medication product that is why the nhs is a must where we have to cut out this money wasted on high salaries and procurement

which is being completely wasted. that is what most people want and they want more nurses, more doctors. quite . in what were putting in, just... do you feel any sense of responsibility questioning a massive sense of responsibility, i take responsibility for everything, that is myjob everything the government does. let's be in no doubt and i'm proud of what the nhs does but i'm acutely conscious we need more funding and were putting in 34 billion. there are 17,000 more nurses now than there were when this government took over, when the coalition government took over in 2010. we are putting in at 6000 more gps, tens of thousands more nurses and we can only do that because we are running a strong economy and it would be absolutely crazy to waste next year with two referendums, one on the eu and one on scotland, when

we need to be focusing, as sarah says come on tackling all the priorities of the british people. let me bring in, thank you, sarah, let me bring in alex in sheffield. good morning, try minister. what plans do have in place to prevent the repeated la rge—scale plans do have in place to prevent the repeated large—scale flooding in the repeated large—scale flooding in the north of england in the future? thank you, alex pandit we are investing massively in flood defences, about 2.6 billion —— you, alex. we have big plans to continue that infrastructure spend on flood banks and defences of all kinds. the way we can do it is because we can keep interest rates low we manage the economy sensibly. i'm afraid that the spending plans of the opposition would put those interest rates in great jeopardy. opposition would put those interest rates in greatjeopardy. in the long term, i think we have also got to think as a country about how we

manage water. looking at the ground, it is supersaturated in so many parts of the country. we need to think about planting more trees in the long term and thinking about how to retain water on the higher ground and doing much more working with nature to come up with the right solutions that are not only beautiful for the landscape but also protect against flooding. thank you, alex in sheffield. more questions coming through, #bbcyourquestions, thank you for engaging with us and sending them through. from georgie, why are you not publishing the rush of files and documents before the election? because i see absolutely no reason to change the normal procedures for publishing isc reports just because there is an election pundit this is the intelligence services committee. exactly, i see no changes.

i understood it had been cleared by the security services by october so why the delay question that they are not normally published at that pace. is the to hide? absolutely not and there's no reason to change the procedures. how many russian oligarchs donate to the conservative party? frankly, all donations to the conservative party are properly vetted and publicised. do you know? i think all donations to any party are properly vetted and publicised andi are properly vetted and publicised and i leave it to your teams of researchers to bring that fact before us. it's all there in the public domain. surely you should know. it is all in the public domain. are you interested? can we make a serious point? this is, it is about russian interference in uk politics. there is no evidence for

that. i think you have to be very careful before you simply cast aspersions on everybody who comes from a certain countryjust because of their nationality. nine russian oligarchs is what the papers have been reporting donating serious money to the conservative party. is that about right? i don't know. you don't know who gives money to your organisation? they have all been properly vetted and it is open, these donations are open to challenge and if people think they are not fit and proper persons then they are not allowed to donate. that is the rule. but i don't think we should be hostile to people simply because of the country they come from. and it is very important that we should balance and fairness in this. we have been talking about the fa ct this. we have been talking about the fact that you were suggesting the labour party would be susceptible to agreeing some kind of deal around a

second independence referendum for scotla nd second independence referendum for scotland if there were some kind of deal needed to be done in terms of a minority government next year. at the moment that is still speculation, the labour party have said, to clarify for our audience, the labour party have said one thing about it and the snp have made their own demands conduct the snp have said it is a condition of their support. if i said it was misinformation, i should correct that, it is part of the discussions that, it is part of the discussions that might be... i'm correcting myself here. i'm so sorry! don't apologise, i'm happy to do that, feel free to do so yourself at any time! we have a nursery owner in nottingham. good morning, prime minister. my question is, as a small business owner, many people rely on me to be able to work, i run a

nursery and provide childcare to working families. i also employed 19 staff. in the last few years there has been an increase in the minimum wage which is fantastic, more money in peoples pockets, there has been a reform of the workplace pensions and that's great that my staff are able to save for their future and we have made that easier for them. but the problem i have is that the funding that i'm being given by the government does not actually cover my costs. for every child who is being funded, i'm making about 40p an hour loss per child per hour. i'm really worried that with the future increases that the figures don't add up increases that the figures don't add up and that my business is in jeopardy. we will make sure that we protect your business and do it in two ways. firstly we will be funding

childcare and in the manifesto announcement that we will be making fairly soon, we'll be talking a lot about what we want to to support childcare. is there going to be an increase in the funding rates because the rates we have at the moment are based on very old figures? has recently been submission for freedom of information to the department for education for information on how they calculate the rates and yesterday the department for education have refused to disclose the figures and they put in an appeal to the ico so they won't say how they came up with the rate. unfortunately, costs have risen a lot so the problem i have is that i had to charge my parents extra and childcare is so expensive for them. it is. it breaks my heart that it

makes it hard for working families. asa makes it hard for working families. as a nursery makes it hard for working families. as a nursery owner makes it hard for working families. as a nursery owner from i need the government to listen. thousands of nurseries have closed in the last two years and there is a danger that mine could close, that all the private nurseries that we have around the country who are working ha rd around the country who are working hard to provide amazing childcare notjust so hard to provide amazing childcare not just so parents can work, but also to enable children to have amazing life chances as they get older. we are really struggling and nobody is listening to a spud is your party going to listen?“ nobody is listening to a spud is your party going to listen? it is andi your party going to listen? it is and i want to thank you for everything you're doing and the care you provide. good childcare and affordable childcare is the holy grailand if we affordable childcare is the holy grail and if we can get that right it isa grail and if we can get that right it is a massive benefit... ifi can just ask, do you know how much the government pays per child on average to local authorities? i can't give you that figure. £4 98 per hour and

17% of childcare providers in the most deprived parts of the country expect to close in the next 12 months. is a real crisis, boris. and millie billy —— months. is a real crisis, boris. and millie billy -- i months. is a real crisis, boris. and millie billy —— i really believe that what i do, i want it a lot of this is to do with the fact that it is women, is proportionately affected by this. in my industry is over 90% women. we care and get on with it and do things. we are providing... it is women who are unable to work by the job i do, providing that care. , just make a point since you mentioned it. we have more women in the workforce than ever before. and actually the gender pay gap between men and women is closing. of course there was much more work to do and i totally accept

that childcare is the crucial thing, i absolutely get that. what we are going to do in the manifesto is we will be seeing a lot more about what we will do to fund childcare and rachel makes the point about that and also about the ages at which we think it should be funded because i understand the incredible difference that a company like yours can make to peoples lives and have the light of the children put it we will also do what we can to support businesses like yours through business rate cuts and other measures. thank you very much indeed, you make a very good point. when it comes to child ca re good point. when it comes to child care in general, you have a very different experience as a child is going through a private education system to most people in the country. i was actually at the same primary school as ed miliband, i'm proud to say, and david miliband. you also went to eton. can you foresee a situation where state school to have the same resources as

private schools? i want all our schools to be superb and i want every kid, every young person to have the same opportunities and i believe passionately in that. what gets me going and what i want to achieve if i'm lucky enough to be re—elected in december, what i want to achieve is a fantastic programme to achieve is a fantastic programme to unite and level of the country. spending on education across the country will give everybody the chance to express their talents and we are starting... while collecting some of the real term cuts that governments have made. and if your children have been to state school, asi children have been to state school, as i understand it. sorry, i don't comment about my children. do you have any children currently school age? i'm not going to comment on my children if that's right. ok, let me put it in a theoretical way, if you don't want to tell us about your

children, and a lot of people have been asking to ask how many children the prime minister has, it does come up the prime minister has, it does come up frequently and people find it odd that someone who is a public figure cannot answer that question. or i will say is that your assertion that none of my children have been to state schools is wrong, that's all i wa nted state schools is wrong, that's all i wanted to say. let's go to holly in the high peak. good morning, prime minister. until recently i was the head teacher and an executive head teacher and it's a job i love and i'm passionate about but after all my years as a head when i was very supported by my governors and i trust i was finally beaten by the system. i didn't see my young family and up as a result of working long hours and i was exhausted by high—stakes accountability could i continue to work in challenging schools and our coach and mentor heads among other things but i'm not alone ought unique my question therefore is very simple. what are you going to do to ensure that we

look after and retain experienced leaders in education? holly, thank you very much and thank you for everything you have done. there is no doubt that a great head makes all the difference to a school. what we're doing is massively in education and i want to continue to do that and took a team to make sure that heads get the proper support they need but also that their lives are not constantly oppressed with form filling and policy writing to comply with. talking to a teachers, we have to find ways to make sure they are able to get on with the things they love and are good at, leading their schools and teaching. we wa nt leading their schools and teaching. we want to support them in that way as well. time is against us but thank you very much to everyone who has got in touch point a final question, where are you spending christmas? sorry, i wasjust thinking how many we had done! i have not had time to plan for christmas because i'm so determined

to get brexit done! come on! give over! i literally i haven't had a chance to think about it. but i'm sure the whole nation do not have a nice christmas. and to you. you have been listening to this election special on bbc radio 5 live and the bbc news channel, putting your question to the prime minister and our callers from all across the uk had a great range of views who showed an interest in participating in bbc programmes. we asked him questions that make asked them questions that make asked them questions about their background and its appearances and the debate continues online, #bbcyourquestions, and you can listen to the whole programme again on bbc sounds and you can pick it up on the bbc i player in the course of the day but it is the first in a series of programmes where we invite the leaders of the main political parties to take your questions so stay tuned to radio 5 live and the news channel for much more in the coming weeks. thank you very much.

hello, it's friday, it's10 o'clock, i'm joanna gosling. the prime minister has this morning denied claims by brexit party leader nigel farage that the conservatives offered his candidates peerages to try to get them to stand down. imean, i mean, that would be a big thing for me to investigate. i'm sure conversations take place between politicians of all parties, but certainly nobody has been offered a peerage and i wouldn't do that. we'll be talking to brexit party candidate anne widdecombe, who has told us she was approached by the conservatives and asked to step aside. more than 22,000 young people face homelessness this christmas, according to a charity which has analysed new figures