this is bbc news, i'm geeta guru—murthy. the headlines at ten. jeremy corbyn says he would remain ‘neutral‘ in the event of another brexit referendum — which he promised a labour government would deliver. the british medical association will lobby nhs england to stop gp home visits being a contractual obligation, as doctors say they "no longer have the capacity" to offer them. as hong kong prepares to go to the polls, pro—democracy campaigners have their chance to vote. and at 10:30, the travel show visits an eco—friendly ski—slope in copenhagen — a city aiming to become the world's first carbon neutral capital.

jeremy corbyn says he would remain ‘neutral‘ in the event of another brexit referendum, which he promised a labour government would deliver. he was speaking as the leaders of the four main westminster parties faced tough questions from the public in a special episode of the bbc‘s question time. borisjohnson, jo swinson and nicola sturgeon were also challenged on a range of topics including the nhs, the economy and a second scottish independence referendum. our political correspondent helen catt was watching. four leaders, two hours, and a lot of seriously tough questions. forjeremy corbyn there were concerns about business, about his personal handling of anti—jewish racism, and,

what's made the headlines, a clear answer on a question that has dogged him throughout the campaign. will you campaign to remain or leave in the eu if elected? why would anyone vote labour without knowing the answer to that question? my whole strategy has been to try to bring people together. we will negotiate a credible leave deal with european union... laughter. let me finish, please! i'm trying to answer the gentleman's question. secondly, we will put that alongside remain in a referendum and i will adopt, as prime minister, if i am at the time, a neutral stance so that i can credibly carry out the results of that to bring our communities and country together. mr corbyn was also grilled or scottish independence and said labour would not back a referendum in the first two years it was in government. not what the next leader up wanted to hear. but nicola sturgeon says she thinks he would change his mind of her party ends up having the power to make him prime minister. i lead a minority government in scotland, so i know the compromises that you have

to make to govern in that situation. of course he's putting a manifesto forward. but if he's in the position of needing the support of the snp then i think he will choose to do some of the things that are in his manifesto and i don't think he'll turn his back on that in order to block the right of the people of scotland to choose their own future. and i ask you to make your own minds up on that. next up, lib dem leader jo swinson, her party's policy is clear — stop brexit. but is it democratic, she was asked. is revoking article 50 confirming to 17.4 million people that you think we're stupid and didn't know what we were voting for? you want to leave. and i don't think that that makes you a bad person. and i want to remain in the eu and i hope you think that doesn't make me a bad person. you can disagree with me, but you lost. i haven't changed my view on whether i think we're better off in the european union. the liberal democrats standing on a manifesto to unilaterally cancel brexit — and the electoral pact — has absolutely cost you my vote. this is the essence of democracy.

i am standing here and telling you honestly what i would do if i was elected as prime minister. i would revoke article 50. she was also challenged on her party's five years of coalition government with the tories. when borisjohnson took the floor, it was trust that came up. how important is it for someone in your position of power to always tell the truth? i think it's... i think it's absolutely vital. laughter. applause. i think it's absolutely vital and i think that the issue of trust in politics is central to this election and fundamental to the corrosion of trust in politics, at the moment... so why do you think you were being asked that question? ..let's be clear, is the failure politicians to deliver brexit. mrjohnson was also asked to say sorry for his language in newspaper articles he'd written which one audience member had said contributed to racist rhetoric. he didn't — but said he'd never intended to cause hurt or pain. helen catt, bbc news. meanwhile, the conservatives have promised to double the funding

tom barton is here with me thatjust a couple of other lines coming out today. meanwhile, the conservatives have promised to double the funding for dementia research over the next decade. the extra £83 million a year has been described by the party as the ‘largest boost to dementia research ever‘. more than 850,000 people suffer from dementia in the uk, with that number due to rise to more than a million over the next five years. labour will set out measures today to tackle what it calls "tax and wage cheat culture" of multinational companies. the party would charge offshore companies and trusts an extra 20% on buying property in the uk. labour says the extra £6 billion raised will go back into funding vital public services. with me is our political correspondent, tom barton. it has been an interesting 2a hours. on the debate last night, they all

got a pretty tough time. jo swinson seems to get the toughest, some of the questions were quite aggressive? absolutely, she was given the ha rd est absolutely, she was given the hardest time, from lead voters and also those who backed remain. calling into question her decision to campaign on this platform, of stopping brexit altogether without even holding another referendum if the liberal democrats were to become the liberal democrats were to become the next government. she did concede that was an unlikely outcome and in the more likely outcome that they would power broker, if there is potentially a minority government. she said they would absolutely be pushing the case still for another referendum as they have been. there we re referendum as they have been. there were difficult questions for all last night. jeremy corbyn faced a ha rd last night. jeremy corbyn faced a hard time over anti—semitism. and, over his position on another referendum. he made news last night, and many papers, with a bit of a

scoop for the question time audience, with the promise that he would stay neutral during another referendum campaign if he were to become prime minister after negotiating this new deal with the eu. that he would not pick a side during the referendum that followed. presumably a preplanned position?” do not think it was a surprise announcement to him that something he had not said before. his hope there is that he will, as he puts it, be an honest broker. that he could come out the referendum campaign, not in the position that david cameron did in 2016 having campaigned and lost but instead saying i will now implement what you have said because i have not taken a position. he is, no doubt, also hoping that he will be able to put this question behind him. he has been asked time and again during this campaign that he will hope to be able to tell people that he has

a nswered be able to tell people that he has answered it. his critics will argue on the biggest position of the day, the only position he has taken, they say, is a position that involves sitting on the fence. and in terms of what boris johnson was sitting on the fence. and in terms of what borisjohnson was asked about, he was asked about trust and people laughing to a degree at his answer. the conservatives talking about doubling funding for dementia research. playing to an older audience, they may be more concerned about that right now. how do you think the prime minister came out of it? boris johnson's biggest challenge last night, you may or may not believe the opinion polls, they put the conservatives in front. so, arguably he had the most to lose. his biggest challenge was to not trip over because any big headlines 01’ trip over because any big headlines orany damaging trip over because any big headlines or any damaging headlines. by that measure, i think it is fair to say that he succeeded. but, the biggest

win last night was the audience. an incredibly strong and tough, sometimes angry, questions. but very eloquent as well. it is a demonstration that at times like this, during election campaigns, it isn't the pundits or the politicians who matter but the people. i think there is a very strong demonstration from the audience of that last night. barclays has become the latest big company to withdraw support from prince andrew's business mentoring scheme. the duke has faced a growing backlash since his interview with the bbc‘s newsnight last weekend. our correspondent, simon jones has been outside buckingham palace. yes, prince andrew is on the front of many of the newspapers once again this morning. one calls him the duke of nothing, following his decision to step back from public life. the interview broadcast a week ago was examining his friendship with the disgraced financierjeffrey epstein,

a convicted sex offender. yesterday, the duke was seen out riding with the duke was seen out riding with the queen. but a number of organisations wishing to disassociate themselves from the prince is continuing to grow. the royal philharmonic orchestra is saying that he is no longer a patron there and barclays have said they will no longer support the picture palace scheme, designed to give support to new enterprises. if the prince is hoping this may all blow over, that could be difficult. the bbc says it is about to broadcast at the start of next month a documentary by panorama, examining the friendship. that is also going to hearfor the friendship. that is also going to hear for the first time on a british tv interview from a woman called virginia roberts, the woman who alleges she was. to have sex with prince andrew. that is something he has always denied. in the interview he says he could not

recall having ever met her properly but this programme will cause further consternation at the palace. it is believed the queen and prince charles were fundamental in getting the prince to agree to step back from public duties. gps have voted to reduce visits to patients' homes, saying they "no longer have the capacity" to offer them. doctors supported the proposal at a meeting of english local medical committees in london yesterday. it means the british medical association will lobby nhs england to stop home visits being a contractual obligation. an nhs spokesperson said gps would still visit patients at home where there was a clinical need to do so. let's talk to the editor of "pulse magazine", the magazine for gps. people will be alarmed to hear this? yes, but if you are an elderly or vulnerable patient, you will receive home visits no matter what. vulnerable patient, you will receive home visits no matter whatm vulnerable patient, you will receive home visits no matter what. if the

bma is successful in lobbying to change the contract, there will still be home visits. but you may not have your favourite gp coming to see you. but there are very few patients that do have that kind of doctor finlay coming out to see you at the moment, the gp they have known for the last 20 years. but i do not think there will be a massive amount of change. it's a cry for help from gps who say they have too much on at the moment and there's no way they can give patients the care that they need without looking at what they are doing at the moment. matt hancock has said to the bbc this morning that this change is not going to happen. it's up to the nhs to approve it and with an ageing population the need for home visits is presumably more, not less. you do not want out of hours emergency services with us. with gps that do not know you? at the moment we have an out of hours service, it is similarto an out of hours service, it is similar to that. but what gps are saying is we need to have a look at what we are doing. for example, the

conservative parties election ma nifesto conservative parties election manifesto said they will go for seven day access. they are saying is they need to look at exactly what they need to look at exactly what they are offering, may be we should put this funding into routine care so gps can offer vulnerable patients the care they need. there is no suggestion they will not receive home visits. if you are vulnerable and cannot get to a gp practice, it is who will be delivering your care. what do gps suggest will change? they suggest we commission other services to do this, like out of hours. until 2004 it was gp practices offering this but after then, you would be seeing a gp you do not know. a similar service to that. that will be during the daytime. all the way from nine to five. you see a gp you do not necessarily know or from your own practice. it can be hard to get a gp home visit anyway. you talk about

seeing someone for some thing small ona seeing someone for some thing small on a sunday. there's no way i can get that where i live. the gp practices not open at the weekend at all. when many of us would like them to be? i think all areas in england do have saturday and sunday open 110w. do have saturday and sunday open now. i have been to a sunday appointment myself, i was the only paper in there. i want is in... appointment myself, i was the only paper in there. iwant is in... -- the only person in there, i walked right in. government funding is £6 per patient. services. there are some open across the country. but how often it is used, not many patients use it or want it, i don't think patients want to spend their sundays for a routine check. people wa nt to sundays for a routine check. people want to use the in our services. if you see a gp on monday to friday, you see a gp on monday to friday, you will probably will make —— you will probably be waiting to to three weeks. it is about where we put the

resources . weeks. it is about where we put the resources. jamie, thank you so much for explaining that to us. the headlines on bbc news... jeremy corbyn says he would remain ‘neutral‘ in the event of another brexit referendum — which he promised a labour government would deliver. a day of calm in hong kong — ahead of elections which could indicate just how much support the pro—democracy campaigners have. the british medical association will lobby nhs england to stop gp home visits being a contractual obligation, as doctors say they "no longer have the capacity" to offer them. time for a look at the sport now. time for a look at the sport now. john watson is here. good morning. a big day ahead forjose mourinho, taking charge of tottenham for the first time since his appointment as the club's new manager this week. they are taking on west ham in the london derby in the lunchtime kick—off today, he has made winning

sta rts kick—off today, he has made winning starts with every premier league clu b starts with every premier league club he has managed in the past and turning tottenham's fortunes around isa turning tottenham's fortunes around is a challenge that he says he is embracing. i'm relaxed, motivated and ready. i think the players, they felt that in today. that i am ready, and i'm ready to support. this is not about me. lets have a look at that record. he won his opening match with chelsea 15 years ago. slightly more fres hfa ced chelsea 15 years ago. slightly more freshfaced at the age of 41! beating manchester united at stamford bridge. his second stint with the blues, getting off to a flying start and beating hull 2—0. blues, getting off to a flying start and beating hull2—0. he blues, getting off to a flying start and beating hull 2—0. he beat bournemouth 3—1 in his first match, a good omen for the tottenham fans on what is to come today. fulham had their striker to thank for their win over qpr. scoring twice as they fought back from a goal down to win

2-1. it's fought back from a goal down to win 2—1. it's his second start for the clu b 2—1. it's his second start for the club having been brought into the side to replace aleksandar mitrovic, who was suspended. caretaker coaches lee miller and david mccracken have made the perfect start at falkirk, beating the lithgow rose 4—1 in the scottish cup. paul dixon finished the amateur side, to book their place in tomorrow's fourth round draw. the manager ray mckinnon was sacked last saturday. it turns out ben stokes is human after all, dropping new zealand batsmen bj watling on 41 before he went on to make an unbeaten century in the first test. england were 209 runs ahead over nine but only took two wickets on day three. henry nicholls was one of those, having bowling off joe root but the innings from bj watling made the difference, as they moved on to 394 for six at the close, with a lead of 41. given the

nature of the pitch, which has played very placidly. very the line quicker benign, —— very benign, england are the ones who need to watch out and if they lose a couple early, they will come under pressure. traditionally, they do not like batting in a style that is attritional and backs to the wall. they want to play in a more aggressive style. hundreds of fans have responded to an da and the lta's offer for free tickets to watch the davis cup semifinal to watch the davis cup semifinal to watch spain in madrid this evening. he posted on social media the following... —— responded to andy murray's and the lta's offer. the lta say that all 500 of their tickets they bought to give away have now gone so there

should be a decent gb contingency in the crowd to watch him face rafa nadal‘s spain. here is that tennis correspondence. dan correspondence. da n eva ns correspondence. dan evans produced the finest davis cup performance of his career as britain reach the semifinals for the first time since 2016. kyle edmund led the charge, leading from the front again in the absence of andy murray, putting in a clinical performance to beat philipp kohlschreiber in straight sets. evans kohlschreiber in straight sets. eva ns ha d kohlschreiber in straight sets. evans had twice won the first set and lost matches in three sets, again he won the first set. conceding seven inches in height and a couple of weight divisions but he came through, and he won the first set tie—break by seven points to two. it was relief more than anything! the guy in the chair has done so much for me with the davis cup and without it. to have him on the chair, and have everybody on the bench, good friends in the crowd, they took over. i will remember that

for a long time. it seems unlikely andy murray will feature over the weekend, if both kyle edmund and dan evans remain fit. as the davis cup captain said, times have changed a little and now edmund and evans are playing better than andy murray. ulster move top of their champions couple with an 18—13 win over clermont auvergne thanks tojohn cooney who scored a try. eight more points for him. that's all from the bbc sport centre for now. i will be back with another update in the next hour. to hong kong, where a relative calm reigns as a record number of people have registered to vote ahead of local elections on sunday. more than four million citizens have enrolled to vote in what is being seen as a crucial barometer for embattled chief executive carrie lam. the vote comes amid months of pro—democracy protests

in the city and tense standoff within one of the city's universities , which is continuing. stephen mcdonnel is in hong kong. a day before crucial district council elections here in hong kong, candidates and their supporters are out canvassing for votes. i say crucial district council elections because they are being interpreted as something of a referendum on the performance of carrie lam and her administration in terms of its handling of a political crisis in the city, now in its sixth month. the pro—democracy camp is hoping to do well, given what seems to be a general dissatisfaction with the way in which the government has handled this crisis. however, the probation camp would also be hoping people come to the ballot box and express support for their candidates following what could be seen as concern and the chaos, as they see

it, created by the crisis in hong kong. all of this is happening at the same time that a small group of students, still holding out at the polytechnic university, and in spite of the police saying they should leave the campus and surrender themselves to be arrested for rioting. one week after the violent clashes there. stephen macdonald in hong kong. a group of orphaned british children, caught up in the war in syria, are said to be in good spirits, after they were brought back to the uk. they're the first to be repatriated from an area in the north east of the country, which was formally controlled by the islamic state group. charities say there could be another 60 british children still stranded in the region. an investigation is due to start, after a fire severly damaged a victorian seafront hotel in eastbourne yesterday. flames spread from the basement of the grade—two listed claremont hotel in eastbourne, and engulfed much of the building.

six people were treated for minor injuries and one person was taken to hospital with breathing difficulties. as we've been reporting — the conservatives launch their manifesto this weekend, and one policy area that may come under scrutiny is, social care. in 2017, the party were embroiled in controversy after theresa may u—turned on their last manifesto promise around the so—called ‘dementia tax‘. earlier this week the conservatives said they would invest an additional £1 billion per year to recruit staff to deal with the issue — but will this be enough? our reality check correspondent sophie hutchinson has been looking at why social care poses such a problem. there is no question that social ca re there is no question that social care is a growing issue. in the past decade, the number of older people asking for help with washing and dressing, with eating and taking medication, has risen. but, unlike with the nhs, social care is means tested and there are different rules across the uk. when it comes to paying for a care home, the most

generous policies are in scotland. in terms of getting help at home, in wales and northern ireland, those expenses are capped and england has the least generous system of all. have a look at this. this graph shows the number of people in england receiving long—term support from councils, from 2010 three to 2019. you can see a sharp decline here. it was 600000 and it comes down to around 400,000 people. after that, the way the data is collected changed so we cannot really compare. this is what age uk had to say about it. there are around 1.5 million older people who have unmet needs for social care. in a lot of cases these people have significant needs, help getting out of bed and getting dressed and washed and having something to eat. all of those fundamentals we take for granted to live a decent life, and in many cases we know people are receiving

help, often from family friends doing everything they can to support but it isn‘t enough. people cannot do it on their own and they are being utterly let down by a failing system. so is the problem all about the money? have a look at this graph. this is spending by local authorities in england on adult social care going back from 2006 all the way up to 2019. you can see there is a slight decline but on the whole, spending levels have remained pretty static. what isn‘t static though are the costs. listen to what their think tank the health foundation has to say on this. let a large part of providing care is to do with wages of staff and they have been going up, particularly since around 30% of people around the national living wage. although that has been increasing, it puts pressures on ca re has been increasing, it puts pressures on care providers. and look at these costs. the nhs estimates in 2016—17, the average weekly cost of residential care for

a pensioner was £565. if we move just one year on, it becomes just £604. quite a hike. if you look at the numbers of elderly people, from 2009-2018. the the numbers of elderly people, from 2009—2018. the numbers in the population rose by 16.3% for those aged 65 and over. in terms of the very elderly population, throughout the same time period, 2009—2018, the increase was 17.4%. with the population getting very elderly, their needs are more complex and, of course, more intensive care is needed so it becomes more expensive. age uk is saying that if the current situation continues and there isn‘t an improvement, then we risk having more than 2 million elderly people without their social care needs met in the next ten years.

christmas is a time for family, presents and goodwill, but this year many children will go without those ideals, that‘s according to barnardo‘s and a survey of hundreds of the charity‘s front line workers. in the survey, 43% of barnardo‘s staff said people they support who celebrate christmas were unlikely to receive any presents, or enjoy a traditional meal. i‘m joined now by barnardo‘s director of fundraising, jennie york. thank you for coming in. every year, we see pre—christmas appeals by all of the big charities. what are you finding at the moment, what are staff saying about how children are faring? in the survey that you reference, a lot of front line staff who work with children and young people everyday are concerned that a lot of the children they work with who would normally celebrate christmas will not receive presents this year or a hot meal on christmas day. in addition to that, they are

concerned about increases in mental health issues and loneliness. with children and young people. people may wonder why a child cannot get access to a hot meal even on christmas day, if they are being cared for by the family, and if there is supposed to be a normal level of support around that. can you explain what people are living with? a lot of parents we work with are struggling to access the benefits they need to support their families. we have seen from recent reports from the trussell trust, they run food banks, that there is a 2596 they run food banks, that there is a 25% increase in people accessing food banks. one third of those people are children and young people. they are living in a range of setups? many live at home but there are in number of young people

living in care. also, there are over 10,000 young people who leave care every year. they will not have a supportive network of a family. so, they will be lonely and potentially alone this christmas. we see these appeals yearly. is nothing improving? we see that child poverty is on the increase. over one third of children in the uk are in poverty. there is much more that needs to be done. barnardos have worked with over 300,000 children and young people in theirfamilies that there are many more that we need to reach. notjust at this time of year but throughout the year. it is important for us to raise more vital funds to reach those vulnerable children. if people want to help, what are you asking for this year? we have launched an exciting christmas campaign, asking people to come together with friends and family. have fun, be silly. it is an important time of year. people say they are worried about the over

commercialisation of christmas and they are concerned about children and young people not receiving the done presence at this time of year. we are asking people to throw kidsmas parties or build an online slow man. a fundraising page where you can ask people to donate to you. —— snowman. you can ask people to donate to you. -- snowman. thank you very much for talking to us. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with sarah keith—lucas. we have more rain in the forecast, tomorrow looks like the drier day of the weekend but with some of that rain falling on saturated ground, there is potential for travel disruption. specially for the south of england, south wales and later on for eastern scotland. we have an area of rain working across and pushing into eastern scotland, there could be flooding in eastern scotla nd could be flooding in eastern scotland and north—east england. further heavy showers towards the south—east. we had a inch of