this is bbc news, i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 8pm: the health secretary says he'll block any attempts by gps to have home visits removed from their contracts. it isn't going to wash, it isn't going to happen. they say they want to negotiate to end home visits, but of course gps need to do home visits. the conservaitves and lib dems attackjeremy corbyn, for saying he'll stay ‘neutral‘ in any future brexit referendum. but the labour leader says it's the right thing to do. i think being an honest broker and listening to everyone is actually a sign of strength and a sign of maturity. the authorities in hong kong threaten to suspend voting in tomorrow's local elections — in case of serious disruption at polling stations. back on track — the model display destroyed

by vandals now on show once more, thanks to help from sir rod stewart and thousands of other supporters. and coming up at 8.30pm, a bbc investigation has found vulnerable children are increasingly being placed in unregulated homes in britain's care scandal exposed. 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 yesterday. but the health secretary matt hancock said the idea of taking home visits out of gps‘ contracts was a complete non—starter.

jenny kumah reports. family doctors say their workload is on the rise and this, coupled with falling gdp numbers, mean something has to give. and his surgery in leeds this doctor is bellamy of the challenges facing surgeries like his. one of the daily pressures that gp practices are under is the obligation to do home visits. what would be much better is if we had a dedicated home visiting team with people with the time to be able to do this throughout the day, rather than gps having to squeeze it in. under the proposals home visits would not be scrapped completely but delivered by a separate service. similar to the way out—of—hours care has been contracted out. sometimes a gp has to go and see someone and they might be too frail to travel. and that has always been part of the vocation of being a gp

and it will continue. so these proposals won't go any further, but what we will do is train, fund and recruit more gps. meanwhile, labour is promising more cash to help out. they are saying, as a point of desperation, they can no longer continue those home visits. this is a siren call to all of us, that the funding of the nhs has to be increased so that gps can undertake those home visits. doctors say they recognise that vulnerable, complex and end—of—life patients will need home visits. theyjust want to see a change of policy to ensure patients get a suitable service. jenny kumah, bbc news. and we'll find out how these stories and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers. our guests joining me tonight are evening standard home affairs correspondent martin bentham and broadcaster lynne faulds—wood. jeremy corbyn has defended his decision to remain neutral

in any future brexit referendum if labour wins power. he told last night's bbc question time leaders' special he wouldn't campaign to leave or remain in the eu. the labour leader said it would allow him to "credibly" carry out what voters then decide. prime minister boris johnson, questioned how mr corbyn could be indifferent on the issue. 0ur political correspondent nick eardley reports. whatever your priority at this election, brexit is one of the biggest issues facing the country. for months, labour has walked a political tightrope, trying to keep everyone leave and remain happy. ifjeremy corbyn wins power, he's promising a new deal and another referendum. but he's now confirmed he won't pick a side. you're telling us tonight you will remain neutral on the issue of whether or not we should remain within the eu.

first heard hear. here on crossfire today,. some see that as weak, others indecisive. mr corbyn says it's the opposite. i think being an honest broker and listening to everyone is actually a sign of strength and a sign of maturity. our country has to come together. we can't go on forever being divided by how people voted in 2016. borisjohnson faced pressure, too, on the question of trust, and he would love to keep the election focus on brexit, saying his deal is ready to go. and after months of bitter splits, his party is uniting around it. 0n the critical question of our times on brexit, we've got a clear plan agreed with the eu ready to go. and in sharp contrast to what we saw in this debate last night ofjeremy corbyn saying that he has decided to be indecisive on brexit. absolutely. yeah. she agrees even if she is on the other side of the debate. jo swinson says she'll stop brexit right away in the unlikely event she wins power. last night, she faced pressure

from some who'd branded that anti—democratic, but the lib dem leader says she did not. jeremy corbyn is the champion of laws who want to cancel brexit. they want a leader, not a bystander. i think it is just beggars belief that somebody who is standing for the rule of leading our country can then say that on the biggest issue that we have faced for generations they're not going to take a position for a total abdication of leadership. the snp, who could be crucial in a hung parliament, are scathing too. i do think people have a right to expect from somebody aspiring to be prime minister, say where they stand on the issue of should the uk be in or out of the european union? and i think that sort of statement of so—called neutrality will simply feed the suspicion that maybe people have that jeremy corbyn actually wants the uk to be out the european union, but simply isn't willing to say that. because we know whose side we the labour party are on. jeremy corbyn has been taking

sides on many issues, promising to take on the elite on behalf of what he calls the many. but on brexit, the labour leader is keeping his cards close to his chest. well, nick told me more about lays behind the timing of jeremy corbyn‘s announcement to stay neutral on brexit. he has that a lot of pressure over the last week, he was asked repeatedly what he would do if there is a referendum. it was an uncomfortable question for the labour leader because by not answering it he looked equivocal on what is perhaps the biggest issue facing the country but at the same time he has been walking a tightrope for some time and is essentially continuing with that balancing act and what he has announced. we know many labour candidates including some of his closest allies in the shadow cabinet, people who will be central and a labour government effort

is one, they want to remain, they have made clear they will back remain matter what, they are not going to change their mind. at the same time there are others at the top of the labour party including in the shadow cabinet who have made clear they think we need to see through the result of the 2016 referendum, they don't want to be seen to betray voters by turning their back on that. jeremy corbyn has the same balancing act when it comes to the electorate, he wants to win the votes of people who want to stay in the eu, perhaps those in the south of england for example who are desperate for another referendum, offering them that but at the same time doesn't want to alienate those people and live voting leave supporting areas who do not want to have a leader who is turning as they see it telling them back on the referendum results. it is a continuation of that policy, the danger some in the labour party think as mr corbyn looks uncertain.

the tory manifesto will be revealed tomorrow. i was on borisjohnson‘s campus bus last week and time again here the message of get brexit done and an alicia britain's potential. here the message of get brexit done and and unleash britain's potential. that is the camping message and you will hear in what one of that tomorrow. it will be borisjohnson saying ephedra not deliver on the referendum, for do not leave the eu be able to talk about all those domestic priorities every party is talking about. we'll be hearing new things? i suspect we will.

it's a manifesto launch, always something new but watchable be hearing new is a big pledge on national insurance which some thought would be a centrepiece of the manifesto launch but which managed to find it's weird through the medium of mrjohnson on wednesday instead. in other election news... labour has pledged to put an extra tax on foreign companies and trusts buying property in the uk. if it wins the general election, the party plan to impose an additional charge of 20% on a purchase. labour estimates it would raise £35 billion a year. 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.

the promise of more investment in dementia research from the tories follows another pledge earlier this week — to spend an additional billion pounds per year, on social care in england over the next five years. 0ur reality check correspondent, sophie hutchinson, has been looking at why social care is now attracting so much additional attention. social care is means tested and there are different rules across the uk. when it comes to paying for a ca re 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,

and you can see a sharp decline here. it was 600,000, it comes down to around 400,000 people. after that, the way the data is collected changed so we can't really compare. but this is what a uk had to say about it. there are about 1.5 million older people who have unmet needs in social care. these people sometimes have significant needs, help getting out of bed, getting washed, having something to eat, all of those fundamentals that many of us of those fundamentals that many of us take for granted to live a decent life. 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, other gusts. listen to what

the think tank the health foundation has to say about it. obviously a large part of providing care is to do with wages of staff and they have been going up, since 30% of people at the national living wage, and though that has been increasing, that puts pressure is on care providers. the nhs estimates that in 2016, 17, the average weekly gust of residential care for a pensioner was five under £65. every move just one yearon, it five under £65. every move just one year on, it becomes £604. quite a hike. if you look at the numbers of elderly people from 2009 to 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 to 2018, the increase was 17.4%. and with the population

getting very elderly, their needs are more complex and of course a more intensive care is needed and so that becomes more expensive. millions of people in hong kong, are preparing to vote in local elections on sunday. the vote is being seen as an important measure of public feeling, after almost six months of pro—democracy protests. earlier this week, there were more violent clashes between demonstrators and police outside hong kong's polytechnic university. the authorities have threatened to suspend voting if there's more violence. earlier, our correspondent stephen mcdonnell gave us this update. it is pretty quiet in hong kong this weekend. apart from that truck. as people prepare to go to the ballot box rather than the barricades, candidates and their supporters are still out in the streets asking for people's support in crucial district council elections tomorrow. they are

being seen as a barometer of sentiment in the city which is now in its sixth month of political crisis. those candidates backing the protesters, those calling for broad democratic reforms are hoping to do well because of an upset with the way the administration has handled this crisis. however, those in the pro—establishment and are saying they are fed up of the chaos, choose us. they are fed up of the chaos, choose us. the government says if any polling places is sufficiently disrupted then averted will be suspended there and for that reason, people are trying their best to not give the authorities an excuse to call off the elections and it is more peaceful than it has been four months here. the headlines. the health secretary says he'll block any attempts by gps to have home visits removed

from their contracts. the conservaitves and lib dems attackjeremy corbyn for saying he'll stay ‘neutral‘ in any future brexit referendum. but the labour leader says, it's the right thing to do. the authorities in hong kong threaten to suspend voting in tomorrow's local elections — in case of serious disruption at polling stations. sport, let's get a full roundup from the bbc sport centre. jose mourinho's reign at tottenham has got off to the perfect start... after they beat west ham in the day's early premier league game. spurs took the lead just after the half hour mark through son heung min, lucas moura added a second goal before harry kane got their third. despite a late fight back from west ham, spurs held on for a 3—2 victory. it is not about me, it is that the players in the club. very important.

victory away. too long without a victory. i think too much pressure on the boys or so, in relation to that. it is very important, three points. we have a littlejump on the table and it is more important than thatis table and it is more important than that is for the players to have that smile, for the place to go to the dressing room, music on, smiling, happiness, and that is very, very important. liverpool won a thrilling game against crystal palace. 2—1 the final score. an 85th minute goal from roberto firmino means the league leaders maintain their eight point advantage at the top of the table. crsystal palace had looked like coming away with a point after wilfred zaha had equalised a few minutes earlier. liverpool's victory means they have now gone 30 games unbeaten in the premier league. you cannot have the run the boys have had so far if you only when

brilliant games. i liked a lot of the performance, not everything, but i know why some things went there. and we will work on that. manchester city responded to liverpool's win by coming from behind to beat chelsea 2—1 at the etihad. riyad mahrez struck the winner to move the champions above chelsea into third place. but they're still nine points off the top of the table. pressure continues on arsenal head coach unai emery after arsenal rescued a point to draw 2—2 with southampton. everton‘s struggles continue — they lost 2—0 at home to norwich — who move off the bottom of the table. elsewhere there were wins for wolves, leicester city, and burnley. celtic thrashed livingstone 4—0 at celtic park to extend their lead the top of the scottish premiership. leigh griffiths made his return for celtic. the scotland striker played the final 22 minutes, three months on from his last appearance having ta ken time away from the sport struggling with depression.

elsewhere hibernian beat motherwell 3—1. st mirren moved off the bottom of the table with a 2—1 win against ross county. and struggling hearts were beaten by kilmarnock 3—0. great britain have won the first rubber of their davis cup semi final against spain. kyle edmund beating felicaino lopez in straight sets. with captain leon smith, deciding to rest andy murray again, edmund, the british number 3 played a storming first set taking it 6-3. the second set went all the way to a tie break. edmund winning 7 points to 3 — and taking the match. british number one dan evans' is facing world number one rafa nadal in the second singles match. nadal has won the first set in that match. nadal currently leads

3—0 in the second. to rugby union's european champions cup, and holders saracens returned to winning ways with a bonus—point victory over 0spreys. the london side were beaten in their opening game, a 44 points to 3 victory over 0spreys. exeter built on their opening weekend win with a 34—18 victory over glasgow. winger tom 0'flaherty scored the pick of the tries with this surging run in the second half — that secured exeter the bonus point for getting four tries. england's women scored 10 tries as they crushed italy 60—3 in bedford to complete a clean sweep of victories from their autumn internationals. world player of the year emily scarratt was on the scoresheet. england finish the year with 12 wins from 13 games and extend their run of victories on home soil up to 17. england's cricketers take to the field in a couple of hours for day four of the first test against new zealand. new zealand have a first innings lead by 41 runs. that's all the sport for now.

a fight invoving more than 100 people some reportedly armed with machetes has been broken up by police in birmingham this evening. west midlands police say that a dispersal order has ben issued and a number of arrests have been made. they were called to the star city cinema complex at twenty five to six. the force says several of its officers were assualted during the disturbance. choleigh mcguire was at the cinema tonight when the fight broke out. shejoins us on

she joins us on the phone. listen, tell me what happened. so, we were waiting in the queue, me and my little sister, we went to watch frozen. it was a fight between three girls but it wasn't made out to be. the fight was broken up by security and when the police arrived, i think and when the police arrived, i think a lot of kind of youths took it upon themselves to try and get into the cinema for free so they all kind of ran into the cinema room along with these girls that had this fight, and then when the police came, they got their tasers out and started throwing the around so my sister who is only 11 had a taser pointed into herface. it was is only 11 had a taser pointed into her face. it was very, very scary. we've got reports of people with machetes. did you see that? no, not at all. you just saw three girls?

tell me a little bit about star city. what is it? it is a family place. there were so many girls dressed up in their frozen outfits. we were so excited to see it. it was full of children. i don't know if you had seen any of the videos that have come out, there are just children screaming and crying. how long did it take the police to get there? they were there immediately. they got there really quickly. we've got a video on the screen here. you've got people looking on, some people running around. yes. it is described as being on lockdown now. tell us about how long it took to evacuate it? so, by the time the police... i wouldn't say it took long. five minutes. we were thrown out, push to go. and then we just

went straightaway. but the amount of police that turned up, i'd say there was at least 20 cars. ok, and has everybody left the place now? are you aware of that i'm not sure if there are still people stuck there because i'm guessing there were lots of people already watching the film. all of these young kids ran into another cinema room. i don't know what has happened to those. there are reports of some people that were heard. did you witness that for yourself? i saw a young girl get hurt. two girls hit one young girl, and that is what the fight was. i saw her get hurt. thank you very much forjust sharing your experience with us here at bbc news. do take her. —— do take care. rachael is on the film —— on the phone. she filmed what we can see

110w. phone. she filmed what we can see now. take us through what happened. i was standing in the queue to get snacks and the next thing you know, a fight breaks out right in front of myself and my brother. 0ne a fight breaks out right in front of myself and my brother. one girl punched this girl in the face, started slapping her. the audience watching was getting involved. this man held the girls are back in the next thing you know, the police rushed in with their batons, telling eve ryo ne rushed in with their batons, telling everyone to get out. and stay away. so, what can you tell us about this report of machetes? i can't confirm machetes. but i can confirm there we re machetes. but i can confirm there were laser guns. they dare taser guns, were laser guns. they dare taser guns, sorry, they held taser guns in their hands. what happened was the police arrive? the police came in, through their batons and their taser guns with in their hands, telling eve ryo ne guns with in their hands, telling everyone to please evacuate the cinema. and it took a good ten

minutes for everyone to come out of the actual cinema. a guard dog came in, there were still people lingering around, just hanging around. and they were also consoling young kids, they were kids crying on the floor with their mums, because obviously, frozen was out, it was really sad to say. i take it at that time and add to being a finely value, it was crowded. there were loads of people there. thousands, as you can see other tv. a lot was going on all at once. but the police reacted very quickly and i don't know how well the young people take it because it wasn't as if... i don't think they realised what mayhem they were causing as well. do you think this is just a fight between young people that then escalated? there were reports that we re escalated? there were reports that were fights that then turned on the police? i can't say they were fights

on police. but i witnessed, it was young people fighting young people. i reckon it wasjust young people fighting young people. i reckon it was just arguments between themselves, young kids with nothing to do, you know, the lack of youth centres that they are today, kids arejust youth centres that they are today, kids are just hanging around youth centres that they are today, kids arejust hanging around on youth centres that they are today, kids are just hanging around on the streets, this new film is out, so it could have been going to see that. it isa could have been going to see that. it is a shame. i suppose you are home now. the video you have got there, we saw a lot of police cars around star city. are they still there? yes, i'm home now but as i was leaving, there were still more police cars arriving. i definitely saw at 20 police cars, guard dogs everywhere, and the kids were still hanging around on the streets. at one moment, while i was waiting in the queue, a bunch of kids started running towards the bus station and police were following them, so i

don't know if there was another fight happening which i didn't witness. but there was just so much going on all at once. rachael, how would you feel about going back there again? i don't know. i didn't get the chance to see the film. i pre—booked my tickets. i will be getting a refund and going to another cinema because it just getting a refund and going to another cinema because itjust seems like a hang about area. ok, rachael allison, will leave it there for now, thank you for sharing that video. just update you, the last information we have had from the west midlands police via their twitter feed is that a dispersal order has put in place, which effectively gives officers the power to move on groups of people and arrest those who failed to leave. 0fficers remain at the scene and are liaising closely with management at the venue. motorists are urged to avoid the area because of traffic build—up. more on that as and when we get it. time for the weather now.

much of the rain across england and wales will tend to ease. this is the focus of the heaviest rain overnight, still some met office warning is in place. away from it to scotla nd warning is in place. away from it to scotland in the final taste of england, things turned dry but with a lot of cloud, some poor visibility as well, best and patchy fog developing, temperatures above freezing, four to eight celsius the overnight low. tomorrow, we have a brief and weak ridge of high pressure before the next atlantic system pushes them through their south—west through the evening. we'll get off to a grey and murky start tomorrow, mr and patchy fog, that will be slow to clear. heavy rain across eastern scotland. quite wet. elsewhere, it is looking mainly dry, albeit cloudy. eastern and southern counties, highest, ten to 13 celsius.

this is bbc news. the headlines. the health secretary says he will block any attempts by gps to have home visits removed from their contract. it isn't going to watch, it isn't going to happen. they say that they wa nt to going to happen. they say that they want to negotiate to end home visits but of course gps need to do them.

the conservatives and lib