this it's 10 o'clock. good morning. in our exclusive story today we reveal how more than i million diazepam pills brought illegally online were seized by the ukfour —— illegally online were seized by the uk four —— border force last year, more than double the previous year. looking at that, that's got three tubs in there. it looks like they could be skin cream. whatever this is, they've tried to describe it. what would you think these are? that's diazepam. yes. we will talk to this mum in her 30s who at the height of her addiction was taking 250 milligrams per day of diazepam. she had bought them illegally online and from drug dealers in the street. that was risking up to two years in

jail. also today, if you have an hsbc bank account you will soon have to pay a fee of almost 40% of what you borrowed to use your arranged overdraft. one analyst warns that steep overdraft rates could now become the new normal. and in today's brilliant election blind date, to people who've been thrown out of their respective parties go for dinner. such a joyless election. it's different. yes, i've always been labour, left of centre. i've always describe myself of right of centre. i'm a discontented conservative. kenneth clarke and alistair campbell. and a question for you, have you heard of something called saltomophobia. i'm going to tell something that there was a medical condition, and you were health secretary, and you should know this and it's called saltomophobia. ah, bowled middle

stump. i don't know many people with that. it's an irrational fear of ketchup. it's true. i have my doubts as to whether that isa i have my doubts as to whether that is a true thing. we are live until 11 is a true thing. we are live until ii this morning. really want to hear from you if you have bought diazepam pills online. you may not know it, perhaps you do, but you are breaking the law and one of the reasons people say they are doing is because they are addicted to these pills, they are addicted to these pills, they help treat anxiety. michael contacted us on twitter and said he had been prescribed these in emergencies only. i suffer with anxiety on a daily basis and he goes on to say that diazepam is useful for when you are extremely on edge but not so good when done co nsta ntly. but not so good when done constantly. david said, i was prescribed 30 mil grams of diazepam a day, put on it for pain and spasms

undeveloped anxiety and mental health issues from the withdrawals. it is an epidemic that needs to be looked at. we will explore it later on this morning. also today, stormzy makes it into the national portrait gallery a gun. where is the picture? we are going to talk to one fan about why she thinks this image is a perfect one to defy negative stereotypes about black men. before that, let's bring you the news, here is anita. with a week to go until the general election, the conservatives have set out plans for theirfirst 100 days, if they win a parliamentary majority. they're promising a tax—cutting budget as soon as brexit is delivered, and a law to guarantee rises in nhs funding. the tories say they will also begin the recruitment of 20—thousand police officers, and start cross—party discussions on social care funding. labour is campaigning

on education today, saying it will cap class sizes at 30 pupils across all schools in england. the party had already promised to reduce the size of primary school classes. it also wants to recruit almost 20,000 teachers over five years. the liberal democrats have accused labour of trying to copy their own education policy. 70 serving and former labour officials have given sworn statements to an independent investigation examining the pa rty‘s handling of anti—semitism allegations. the documents, seen by the bbc, are part of a submission from thejewish labour movement to the equality and human rights commission. labour says it's committed to rooting out anti—jewish prejudice. research by the bbc has found that thousands of mental health patients in england are facing long waits for treatment on the nhs's talking therapies services. in the past year, half of patients waited more than 28 days, and one in six longer than 90 days, between their first and second sessions. nhs england says it's providing financial support to cover the cost

of training extra staff. flights and eurostar services to france are being severely disrupted this morning by one of the biggest strikes in france for many years. transport workers, teachers and lawyers are among those walking out in protest at planned changes to pensions. and finally, matt baker fought back tears as he announced his departure from the one show last night, after nine years. the presenter, who will step down in spring, added that he was looking forward to being able to put his kids to bed. iam going i am going to be leaving this green sofa in the spring. it's time to give somebody else the opportunity to see how bighearted and generous you our viewers really are. it's something i get to witness every year, when you help to change the lives of so many vulnerable youngsters with the rickshaw challenge for children in need. all the support you show us, you will

never understand how much that means to me, so i'd like to thank you and i'd like to pay you a huge tribute to all of those who who have written in over the last nine years. it always makes me want to cry when i see someone it always makes me want to cry when i see someone else it always makes me want to cry when i see someone else crying on tv. good morning, hello, it's thursday and this is our exclusive story today. over i million and this is our exclusive story today. overi million pills of the drugs diazepam were seized by uk border force officials last year, thatis border force officials last year, that is more than double the figure in 2017 and we can exclusively reveal that today. diazepam is a tranquilizer, as you probably know, often marketed as valium. it is illegal to be in possession of it without a prescription. it's often used to treat anxiety or insomnia but it is addictive and it is dangerous, particular when taken with alcohol and other drugs. figures released to our programme

under a freedom of information request found that in 2017 the number of illegal pills being seized was just over half a million. in 2018, that figure had gone up to well over 1 2018, that figure had gone up to well over1 million will 2018, that figure had gone up to well over 1 million will stop 2018, that figure had gone up to well over1 million will stop vicky spratt has the story. diazepam can be prescribed for anxiety, but it's highly addictive. i don't remember most of my 20s. it's stolen what's supposed to be one of the best decades of your life. when people can't get what they want from their doctor, some are turning to illegal websites to get what they need, often not knowing whether what they're buying is real or fake. it's terrifying, and ijust think, when you're in that bubble, when you're taking them, you don't really care. exclusive figures show that the amount of real but illegal diazepam being seized by the border force has doubled in the space of a year. in 2018, more than a million doses of illegal diazepam were intercepted. that figure doesn't include the fake diazepam pills that are also being discovered.

prescribed drugs appear to be making more of an impact on illegal supply and usage with fatal consequences. in the uk, diazepam is a class—c drug. possessing it without a prescription is illegal and carries a maximum prison sentence of two years. this is emma. that's not her real name because herfamily has no idea that for nearly a decade she was addicted to diazepam, which she bought online after initially being prescribed it for anxiety. i went to the doctor crying and wanting to kill myself, and she gave me some pills and i had no idea what they were, but within about half an hour of taking the first one, i realised i'd stopped crying and didn't want to die any more.

public health england say that 12 million — that's one in four people — were prescribed potentially addictive drugs like diazepam last year. emma stopped taking diazepam a year ago, but struggled to come off the drug. when people like her can't stop or get it from their gp, it's just a few clicks away online. i went to the doctor and they said, "we're not going to prescribe that alongside antidepressants." then instead of going to another gp and explaining the situation, i started buying them on the black market. the problem of people buying diazepam illegally online to self—medicate for their mental health is now so big that this clinic, the addiction to online medicine service, has been set up by the nhs in west london. the main drug that we've seen in the clinic so far has been a drug called diazepam, which is perhaps more commonly known as valium. so, the internet, in my view, has been a game changer.

people are experiencing high anxiety or severe depression or sometimes chronic pain, and they find that these drugs, a when they take them, make them feel better. but actually, over time, their dose goes up and up and up. coming off those high doses of diazepam can be more dangerous than heroin withdrawal. if people are addicted to diazepam and they stop suddenly, then they are at risk of having a seizure. and, of course, that could potentially be life threatening. potentially life you like emma, 31—year—old jasmine also bought diazepam online for her anxiety. her loved ones aren't aware of how bad things got and she fears talking openly would affect her career, so she's chosen to remain anonymous. jasmine became addicted in her early 20s. a year ago, she accidentally bought a batch of fakes and went into withdrawal. this forced her to get help. what symptoms did you have in withdrawal? i mean, the worst anxiety you can think of. i couldn't sleep, i was being

sick, i was sweating. i was depressed, i was, like, lying on my sofa, crying. i couldn't speak to anybody, couldn't go out. i tried to force myself out of the house at one point and it was terrifying, like, you know, kind of seeing things. it was just horrendous. we don't know exactly how many people are buying illegal or fake diazepam online, but it's enough for the medicines and healthcare regulatory agency — the mhra — to have made seizing it a priority in the last year. so if we go and have a look, see what we've got in here. maggie is one of the front line officers at the border force. it's herjob to identify packages that might contain these drugs, both the real ones and the fakes. exclusive figures obtained from the mhra show that over the last year officers like maggie

have seized more than 1.3 million doses of diazepam. that figure has more than doubled since 2017. i'm looking at that. that's got three tubs in there. looks like it could be skin cream. whatever this is, they've tried to disguise it. what would you think these are? i mean, that's diazepam. yes. that tablet might have 30 milligrams in it, that tablet there might have nothing in it. it is not quality—controlled. this is the problem, because you could be taking super—strength diazepam and not know. without realising it, yeah. and how many do you reckon are here? 8,000, 8,500. they may not be what you think they are, because there have been instances recently where diazepam has been laced with fentanyl. fentanyl is a painkiller which is 100 times more potent than morphine. hardyal dhindsa is the national lead on drug and alcohol abuse for the association of police and crime commissioners. online, it requires better legislation, better monitoring.

it's hard to see how we are actually going to tackle this, because availability online is so easy. more needs to be done through the health services, through enforcement agencies, through public health departments. numerous agencies are clearly trying to crack down on these drugs. i decided to buy diazepam illegally from three different rogue online pharmacies. so, i've found this website on the first page of google. i didn't have to go far to find it. it looks pretty professional. it's got a little help line, a little chatbot you can talk to. and it's offering me ten milligram pills of diazepam, 1a of them for 24.99. i've clicked through and said i want to buy them. i've had a confirmation email which is telling me to make up my payment by a bank transfer. and it says, as soon as i make the payment, my pills will be dispatched. so let's give it a go.

these websites are nothing short of window dressing for an online drug deal. all three of the batches arrived in the post two days later. morning. hi. the next step was having them tested by experts at st george's university hospital in south london to see what was actually in them. two of the batches we ordered did contain diazepam, but one was actually a completely different drug. so, this one is not diazepam. no, that's flualprazolam. flualprazolam isn't licensed anywhere in the world. it's stronger, faster—acting and more potent than diazepam. i mean, it looks like it matches the box. yeah, it's the same name. but it's completely fake? mm—hmm. we just don't know the true extent of this problem because figures only reflect the parcels that the border force successfully intercept. that's why this is still such

a priority for the mhra. selling prescription—only medicines outside of the legal supply chain is a serious criminal offence. prescription medicines are, by their very nature, potent and must be prescribed by a health care professional based on their clinical judgement and access to patient records. but what about those pills, like the ones i ordered, that slip through the net? what we do know is that the people who are buying diazepam online are taking serious risks with their health. it's terrifying, and ijust think, when you're in that bubble, they dampen down your anxiety so you don't think about it, and that's the really scary thing — when you're taking them and you don't really care. we can talk to sarah and we are changing her name to protect her

identity. she is a mum in her 30s and at first she was prescribed it but quickly became addicted, and here is lorraine maiden, who worked with sarah to get her the help she needed. and the head of the police and crime commissioners drugs department. sarah, this is clearly an issue we saw in the film, but i wa nt to an issue we saw in the film, but i want to ask you, how did diazepam help you initially? i'd just come out of a domestic violence relationship, so i was not in the best place, and when i started taking diazepam it made everything feel lifted. i did not have that feeling of hurt, stress, itjust made me calm and ijust carried on wanting that feeling because it made me feel so good and that nothing mattered. after about 12 months or

so mattered. after about 12 months or so you asked again for another prescription from your mental health tea m prescription from your mental health team who you had been referred to. at which point they said no. so what did you do then? i started buying it online, just type it into google, diazepam and loads of pharmacists came up. in this country or abroad? this country. did you know it was illegal to buy it that way?” this country. did you know it was illegal to buy it that way? i didn't realise it was illegal to buy so i would buy it to make sure i would have more ready to take. officially the longer it went on, the more i needed and obviously costs would go up needed and obviously costs would go up and up. did you know you were addicted? i don't think i thought i was addicted, i think ijust needed it to help me. how much were you taking at the height of your addiction? the most was 250 mg per day. 250 mg a day? a day. my

goodness, the usual dose is two mg, three times a day which goes up to ten mg three times a day. yes. it just made me feel so much better. i was not in a great place and ijust wa nted was not in a great place and ijust wanted to get through each day and diazepam was the answer to that. and you were just buying it online, you we re you were just buying it online, you were going out into the street and searching for drug dealers to buy it off them? was that nerve—racking? yes, i've never done that before. when you get an addiction it might be those people know people and they know it is not safe. i've given people money and they've walked away with my money and not even give me the diazepam. how much were you spending per day on it? depending on where i bought it, sometimes i would

pay hundred pounds a day and on the street i would pay between £1 50 and £3 per pill. online it is more expensive. could you afford that? no, asa expensive. could you afford that? no, as a mother, my money should be spent on children that i think the longer it went on, the money side got harder on my addiction got higher and i got myself into a place where i just higher and i got myself into a place where ijust did not know what to do. were you able to look after your kids at the height of your addiction? i don't think i kids at the height of your addiction? i don't thinki gave kids at the height of your addiction? i don't think i gave them hundred and 10%. and i have nearly lost them through my addiction. but thankfully, getting my help through the charity, i would not have my children to day if it were not for the support i had, so i think, when you are in addiction, you do not put

your children first, and they should be your priority at that time. let me bring in lorraine. lorraine, your organisation helped sarah come off diazepam, and you have been clean for a year, maybe that's the wrong adjective, but how did you help her? the first thing is we made sure that people realise they are not the only one affected and we can support them and we have people who understand and we have people who understand and have been through the process themselves and then what we do is talk them through how to gradually reduce but we also put in other things that are needed because people have often become dependent because of other things going on in their life. nearly every time there is anxiety and depression and there might be continuing pain, so we give support on that side, it's notjust about the medication and prescribing and we help people reduce themselves

overtime, very and we help people reduce themselves over time, very gradually and it's important to reiterate to anyone watching this you feel affected, please don't stop suddenly because you could have a fit. please seek medical advice and we have web chats at the charity. let me read messages from people watching you, and debbie says, i've been prescribed diazepam for the last two years for extreme anxiety attacks. it should never be used daily for any longer than a week or two at the absolute most. it isa week or two at the absolute most. it is a shame that many patients don't get the appropriate advice and guidance. when you were first prescribed it, did anyone say to you, this is a temporary help for you, this is a temporary help for you, and once we reach another state we need to look at counselling or something else? no, they literally prescribed it. i had been someone who tried to commit suicide and honestly i wasn't in the best place and itjust gave me a pill to try

and itjust gave me a pill to try and help, but nothing. this text does not leave her name. and help, but nothing. this text does not leave her namelj and help, but nothing. this text does not leave her name. i have a friend who is prescribed diazepam and gives it to her boyfriend who has his own prescription too. she persuaded her gp that she needed it. and another person says, my doctor is not interested in helping me. i've spent two years suffering with this. i want to ask you as a police and crime commissioner, is there actually any legislation that could stop websites setting up from wherever they are in the world selling diazepam illegally, either real diazepam or fake, because selling diazepam illegally, either real diazepam orfake, because our figures arejust real diazepam orfake, because our figures are just about the real ta blets, figures are just about the real tablets, online? the illegal selling of prescribed medication is a challenge, as it is for other things, online selling is even more important. we are still trying to catch up in legislation. i'm not sure there is any legislation that

could catch them. we've talked about synthetic drugs a lot on the programme. they make something illegal, add it to a classy category where it breaks the law and another website pops up calling it a different name and it's the same drug and they carry on. there are two things, one is legislation and the second is about police activity, the second is about police activity, the national crime agency at local level in derbyshire and we need to have people who are experts at chasing criminals online as much as off—line and that uniformed officers who are it savvy and go on a website, find out what they are selling and then catch the criminals. but the it savvy officers in this country are online searching for child abusers, aren't they? well, policing has to commit to all priorities so child sexual expectation is important but illicit drug supply is important so we need expertise, it experts in policing

who can chase criminals, whatever mode of commercial gain they are trying to make. i fell into diazepam addiction, says sarah, when i met someone addiction, says sarah, when i met someone who could get ten mg pills i ended up taking about 20 a day for months. they made me ill and my life fell apart. lorraine, you talked about what should happen and, presumably, it is telling patients and being straight with them, beginning that this is temporary and this can ruin your life. do you want to hear medical professionals saying that? there's a way you phrase and set up conversations and we are doing work with health care professionals around the country as are other organisations but we go and have conversations with gp practices and say this is the way to set this up and make them aware but also think about what else you will offer to the people because they need that extra support. when that strip ends in two weeks, what is going to happen christmas and those who are continue to be prescribed, how to identify those patients and how to identify those patients and how you will support them and then

reduce. don'tjust how you will support them and then reduce. don't just suddenly stop because that won't work and it's very dangerous. thank you, really appreciate your time. lorraine, hardyal came and also the drug and alcohol lead for the association of police and crime commissioners, and sarah, thank you so much. really powerful story and i'm glad you are off it. yes, thank you. thank you. the action line website is there if you need help and there are loads of organisations listed there, and the charity who can help you. still to come, what do you think of this new portrait of storms e? it's been hung in the national portrait gallery and is to publicise his new album —— stormzy. it is the cover of his new album and we will talk to one u tube user who think it's the perfect

image to defy stereotypes. and the latest in the brilliant election blind date series, i'm using the word brilliant, because i watched it, so what happens when two people who'd been thrown out of their own parties are brought together for dinner? around 90 million office in the uk use an arranged overdraft, which is when your bank has agreed you can borrow for a fee, but the bad news is that those charges are going up, at least if you are an hsbc customer. let's talk to our community affairs reporter, kevin. what are the figures, and why are they doing it? the regulator, the financial regulator in the summer and announced what it called the biggest overhaul of overdraft regeneration, so out by april next year going on daily or monthly fees and out are going the difference between arranged and unarranged overdraft charges, so now hsbc has said it will charge a simple one—off rate which will be the same as

everybody and it will be 39.9%. of what? so if you borrow £100 for a year, you will be paying, after a £25 buffer at the start, you will be paying £40 in interest. so this is the same as nationwide which also announced it is doing it, and it won't affect the students, but the bank said it will make the majority of people with overdraft better off, but clearly others are going to be worse off. of course they are. do you think this is going to spread? will this be the new normal? £2.5 billion per year is what the banks make an overdraft. say that again. £2.5 billion a year that they make from overdraft fees. my gosh, 2.5 billion. that is an incredible start. they will try to make some of that money back, and they have to set this simple, single fee on what the regulator will say is that that will make it easy unless com

petition, so if you don't like the fee of your bank, you can move to another one. we will see if that transpires. thank you, kevin. jen says, as somebody who lives hand to mouth every month and i'm always in my overdraft, this is horrifying. jason on facebook, you figure budgeting your money to avoid an overdraft fee would be common sense. if only it were that easy, jason. when you use your overdraft you are essentially spending money you don't have. there is a famous phrase i would like to use, but i can't, because it would be swearing, but it ends in sherlock. sam on twitter, says, they are doing this because a large number of people live on their overdraft. it's just another way for the banks to screw people over. thank you very much. next, a portrait of stormzy has made it into the national portrait gallery, again. it's from the cover of his

new album, heavy is the head. # searching every corner of my mind. # searching every corner of my mind. # looking for the answer is i can't find. #i # looking for the answer is i can't find. # i have my reasons, and life has its lessons. # try to be grateful and count all my blessings, heavyis grateful and count all my blessings, heavy is the head... there are already two images of stormzy and the permanent collection, and one is on loan to a place in croydon, which is west he is from, as you know. —— where stormzy is wrong. let's talk toa where stormzy is wrong. let's talk to a cultural commentator. you adore this image. i do. tell us what it signifies, apart from it being the

cover of its new album, what does it signify for you? i saw the image and i adore stormzy for what he stands up i adore stormzy for what he stands upfor i adore stormzy for what he stands up for politically, socially, and i think he uses his platform, and what he's doing in the correct way, but when look at this, to me, itjust defines everything, he is holding that stab proof vest he held at glastonbury and then the crown, and it shows what he has overcome and the tough background, the background he has come from and where he is going to, and him having that crown on his head, i always call stormzy the king of popular coculture because he uses his platform in the correct way and i think he speaks up on things that we need to and especially in a time when there is a lot of negative stereotypes, especially around young black men, what we see in the papers with the stabbings, having someone likes stormzy as a positive role model is what these young black boys need.

he himself has said this is nothing but an honour to be exhibited in a gallery which exhibits incredible portraits of those from british history. i mean, whati portraits of those from british history. i mean, what i love, i haven't been down there to see it but what i love is this image will be alongside politicians, sporting heroes, figures from the victorian era, it's the juxtaposition, heroes, figures from the victorian era, it's thejuxtaposition, isn't it? exactly that, and a lot of schools go there on school trips. did you ever see an image like this when he went on a school trip?|j when he went on a school trip?” wish i did, i was always talking about representation, you need different representations, we are such a multicultural society and we need to go to these places and see people that look like you and they become from the same background issue. the gallery director said stormzy has undoubtedly had a significant influence on british culture, both for his music and his work with minority groups and young people. do you think there's anyone

who would disagree with that? no, andi who would disagree with that? no, and i think anyone that does, they are going out of their way to be difficult. he definitely has, even what he's done with his scheme with cambridge, and the scholarship and with the publishing come up with penguin, all of those things, using his platform to put back into the community and people may be from underprivileged backgrounds and ethnic minorities, i think that is the best thing and i don't think anybody else is more deserving of this land stormzy, in my humble opinion. thank you very much for coming on the programme. let's hear more from stormzy, it reminds me of christmas. # although i'm not worthy. # you'd fixed me. # i'm broken. # you came and saved me.

thank you. next, three brexit party meps, breaking news, have quit the party to back borisjohnson and the conservatives at this election. let's talk to norman smith, tell us more. the brexiteer backlash against nigel farage builds and builds because we have three of his own mps saying, you know what? your decision to stand in the selection is wrong, damaging boris johnson and to stand in the selection is wrong, damaging borisjohnson and putting at risk brexit itself. three of his own mps including jacob rees mogg ‘s sister, in seattle, have announced they are not prepared to do it, not appeared to be stand of a party campaign against boris johnson. another mep was sacked after he said he was going to do that, or that of course, after nigel farage forced to backtrack and he said he would not

stand candidates in loosing a trickle of brexit party candidates, you get a sense of the squeeze on nigel farage over his decision to stand in this election, becoming ever more tighter. norman, thank you more reaction to come, perhaps we'll talk to one of those meps and the brexit party before the end of the programme. staying with politics, something specific, how dangerous has it been in this election campaign if you are a canvasser? activists from all parties have faced abuse, threats and in some cases physical balance when knocking on doors and out in the street. conservative candidate johnny on doors and out in the street. conservative candidatejohnny mercer has taken to confronting people who abuse ca nvassers working has taken to confronting people who abuse canvassers working for him, here he is speaking to a voter who allegedly spat in the face of one of his canvassers. don't shout out young females who work for me. we brought together ca nvassers from parties who have had various

experiences. in one experience, a 75—year—old woman thrown across the bonnet of a car. and the conservative party activist canvassing in ilford south he was verbally abused by a member of the public. welcome to you both. let's look straightaway at what happened, you recorded it. you are sick in the head, if you are voting for conservatives, you are a bloody idiot. thank you. go somewhere else. . you were incredibly calm. it's best not to retaliate or get a reaction. it's only going to make matters worse. you want to give a message of, not have a fight with anyone. you must have been, did you feel under threat, it was very aggressive and it was racist.” feel under threat, it was very aggressive and it was racist. i was surprised nobody helped me because in my town everyone is helpful, coming together and asking you if

you are ok but i was quite scared at that time that something might happen, that's the time i took my phone out and recorded him in case he backed away and he did but he ke pt he backed away and he did but he kept following me. what is it like for you when someone describes you asa for you when someone describes you as a coconut? very, very sad. that's not who i am, i have views and at the end of the day, i'm no different to anyone else who is of similar colour or something to me. but it was a man he was a similar colour to you calling you a coconut. he cold out to me earlier, not in the video, but earlier. you were in a high street, as it happened, what happened with the people we were working with? normal saturday of campaigning. we had a little stand, we we re campaigning. we had a little stand, we were stopping people, asking them their views on politics. i had to say the majority were fine but there was one incident, a lady came up and started scrolling on our banner, i pushed her away from the banner, she

was devising it. what did she write? she was attempting to write marxist across the front. and she entered into a tie rate of abuse and saying we are all effing marxists, get out of my county, you blank and it upset some of us and she crossed over the road and went down into the high street and she had another verbal co ntrete m ps street and she had another verbal contretemps with one of our elderly supporters, if you like. she was 75. and at this point she got into a physical spat and through our lady over the bonnet of a car and onto the floor. how old this was this woman? she was about 45 and she picked up a 75 it doesn't matter what size she is, my goodness. picked up a 75 it doesn't matter what size she is, my goodnessm was over, it was awful. is this

worse than 2017, 15, ten?” campaigned in 2017, i definitely think generally people are fine but i've had incidents i've not done a door, a gentleman a couple of years ago was visibly shaken, he was an elderly gentleman, he said my dad fought in the first world war and my uncle fought in the second world war andi uncle fought in the second world war and i voted brexit and he said you come along and anyway, we entered a little bit of a conversation. why do you think it's worse? the rhetoric from the media has a lot to do with it. which media? the right—wing media, the daily mail, the express, the sun newspaper, polly headlines. but i think the bbc has to take some blame. selective coverage of certain things is not good. we've had this anti—semitism thing smeared across our party, the last three years. i've never seen it in the headlines. it doesn't mean it's not real

though. it doesn't mean it's not real and doesn't exist but i don't believe it's as bad as its made out. made out. we are not going to go down this route, made out, we talk to jewish members of down this route, made out, we talk tojewish members of the labour party that tell us there is a selector broadcasting. there was an incident this week, rabbi was physically attacked on the streets of london, high—profile rabbi. the only leader that contacted this rabbi to offer its support and condolences was jeremy corbyn, rabbi to offer its support and condolences wasjeremy corbyn, was not covered by the media, no. it wasn't, we've had it again this morning, this thing about anti—semitism and the labour party, it's one—sided all the time. anti—semitism and the labour party, it's one-sided all the time. did you hear at the chancellor at sajid javid being interviewed on bbc radio four and he was asked about islamophobia, it's not one—sided, i'm just going to put that out there, thank you for saying that. is it worse this time and if you think it worse this time and if you think it is, why? as an aspiring politician i felt you were always

told, you are bound to expect abuse and these nasty comments but i felt in recent days, because of the political confrontation on politics has become too confrontational, the language in westminster and the way politicians are treating each other is sending a message to the general population, it's making them think, because someone population, it's making them think, because someone has a different rosette, they are different to them and because of that they start attacking them and i think in this election, because of brexit and how it's become very hostile over the past few months, people are angry and taking it out on campaigners and candidates. it's worse now? definitely worse. ok, stay safe, thank you very much, thank you for coming on the programme. now, for the third in our special election blind date series, we send to people with opposing political views on a blind date. today alistair campbell, once tony blair ‘s spin doctor and campaigning fora once tony blair ‘s spin doctor and campaigning for a second referendum on brexit, meets ken clarke, a conservative mp for nearly 50 years,

who is stepping down this time. he's worked underfour who is stepping down this time. he's worked under four conservative prime ministers and has had some of them are seniorjobs in government, including cancer, secretary, he is a lifelong conservative, alistair campbell a lifelong labour party supporter but they've both been booted out of their respective parties. but they find they have far more in common than they ever thought? let's find out. oh, that's better. so i can now see myself. my name is alastair campbell. i think people will know me as having worked for tony blair. i'm kenneth clarke, a health secretary, home secretary and chancellor of the exchequer, lord chancellor and justice secretary. right... corbyn orjohnson? such a joyless election. it's different.

so, yeah, i've always been labour. i'm left of centre. bit of a spectrum, left of centre. record skips. i've always described myself as right of centre. i'm a discontented conservative. i'm about to have a meal, lunch. in the main, i refuse to have lunch. oh, my god! ah! i was taking your name in vain in a conversation earlier on. were you? good to see you. what were you saying? forgive me for not leaping to my feet — i'm rather lame nowadays. what were you saying? i thought, who had moved away from parliamentary politics towards public relations politics started... 0h! ..when tony brought you. so you're blaming me? you got rid of all the civil service press officers... oh, rubbish! ..and it all became more media based. i don't think that's true. i'm sure you would defend your media—based. .. what are you going to vote?

well, i've voted every election in my life. so far, i've been conservative, but i'm a discontented conservative. i know a lot of people in the major government not quite sure who they're going to vote for. there is a spectrum, ok? corbyn is there and farage is there, and johnson's just inside farage. so where are you? i'm centre right, about there... right, ok. so... and where are the lib dems? the lib dems? well, they're a protest, they‘ re a vehicle for protest votes. so are you going to protest against that lot? well, that's what a protest vote is. right. i am a conservative. your party has become the brexit party. well, we always had a right—wing fringe. now they've taken over. yeah. and, well, i've got to make my mind up. you haven't decided yet? no. i'm having a ham, egg and chips, i think. oh, are you? cheese omelette. chips? no, no chips. i'm an athlete. i'm going to tell you something that i've told very, very few people. did you know there is a medical condition...? you were the health secretary once — you should know this. there's a medical condition

called saltomophobia. ah... bowled middle stump. i don't know many people with that. it's an irrational fear of ketchup. it's true. so is there a miracle cure? there isn't. the only cure is you have to... would you mind...? do you mind? do you want ketchup? no, thank you. no, no. good man! because i have an irrationalfear of ketchup — i don't like the taste of it. how are you voting? i've basically decided i'm going to back the people who have been early supporters of a people's vote. and in terms of my own vote, i'm going to vote for keir starmer. so you are campaigning for the labour party? iam. er. . . no. yes. and... you know what, the trouble is... and i'm going to go and help dominic grieve, if i can. and david gauke, i think. i've endorsed people like david gauke and dominic grieve and anna soubry. you and i, for the first time

in our lives — although we get on perfectly well personally. but you're definitely a labour man and i'm definitely a conservative. both of us, in our ways, actively supporting the same candidates in particular seats. parties are polarised. labour's gone left, tories have gone right. in both cases, the left and the right have not purged the parliamentary party as they wanted to. i was booted out for voting lib dem, yeah. didn't you know that? i had no idea. ages ago. i knew when i lost the whip ijoined distinguished company. cos i thought that was... i didn't know you'd been kicked out. i got an expulsion email 24 hours after saying on television i'd voted lib dem in the europeans. well, well, the trouble is, you see, we're busily reinforcing each other‘s moderate views, we think. have a chip. yeah, there we are.

i don't thinkjeremy can win a majority. jeremy could never become prime minister in a thousand years. he was close last time, though, wasn't he? close—ish. he's a bogey man. he's been successfully portrayed as a bogey man. boris' best argument for voting for him is to say, you've got to vote for me because otherwise you'll getjeremy corbyn. i know. i think what boris does, he does blurt it out. i mean, he uses these boris phrases, these rather schoolboy phrases and he larks about. i remember you said, when is he going to realise he's actually, for the first time in his life, got a seriousjob? can he start taking it seriously? stopped treating it all as a game, yeah. yeah, well, and that's... he still hasn't taken it seriously — he still does treat it as a game, i think. jeremy is genuinely left wing. i likejeremy‘s naive sincerity, he believes it all. boris isn't really a right—wing brexiteer. he became a brexiteer by accident. he's an opportunist. it's notjohn major against tony blair, is it?

brexit is doing so much damage to the country, so much damage to our politics. i genuinely worry that ifjohnson gets a big majority, we are doing ourselves enormous damage. and i think the only way to keep the idea of a second referendum even remotely alive is for nobody to get a decent—sized majority. i know you've not been in favour of a second referendum... yeah, i get quite rude about referendums. i know you do — and i understand that. if it was the only way of stopping leaving with no deal, i would... yeah. it's a hugely complex, technical subject. i think to subject that to a yes—no opinion poll doesn't tell you... i agree. i don't know a labour mp i think of who i think is genuinely anti—semitic. anti—semitism, we know what it is and it is very nasty, and there is anti—semitism in the country, unfortunately, still. they are so fanatically

against the government of israel and they spill over. yeah. it encourages more anti—semitism in those sections of the public who might previously have been a bit embarrassed and not lose. i think corbyn's problem with anti—semitism is he's more... it's almost like a capacity and competence question, that he didn't see that this was developing as the kind of issue that it has now become because he's got these fellow travellers that... similarly islamophobia. yeah. there isn't a conservative mp who's islamophobic. it's interesting you say you don't think there is a single tory mp who's islamophobic. i couldn't point you to anybody, but i kind of fear there might be. there is a certain tendency to going for dog whistle racism in the brexit campaigning. johnson is a journalist — that's what he did. yeah, i thinkjohnson's not too bad on race and immigration, really. one or two of his allies, the reason they went on about turks,

which was a plain lie... and effective. ..in the referendum... quite effective. because they didn't think people were worried enough about white immigrants. yeah. so if you started conjuring up millions of turks — "wink, wink, they are brown and muslim, you know? "we've got a lot of those already." boris stuck to all this stuff about millions a week for the nhs. he didn't campaign on the turks — that was gove. so whenjohnson was taken to task, you know, the stuff about burqas and letterboxes and all that sort of stuff, if you are a senior level politician, you can argue that you're not an islamophobe, but you know that your words are being welcomed by people who are. and you also know that's going to have an effect on people who are sitting on the top of a bus wearing a burqa. i think he's either conscious of the power of his words and doesn't care about the impact, or he's actually not conscious of the power of his words.

i regularly quote it to people what you think your biggest mistake was. speed humps. the only one i ever admit to. road humps! every time i'm going over a road hump with a taxi driver and my back goes, and i will say, "that is ken clarke's bloody fault..." quite right. the biggest mistake a politician could make is to own up and admit to a mistake because you will never forget it for the rest of your career. so that's not the real mistake? i will carry my mistakes to the grave. i do think the really important big mistake in the blair government was the invasion of iraq, which even i never thought its consequences were so tragic and long lasting. so certainly the government with which you are most associated, i'm sure, with hindsight, you agree that was a terrible mistake? i'm sure, with hindsight, i agree with your assessment that you should never necessarily... i might pick you up at health of having been a bit slow on the uptake

about the tobacco lobby. well, i'm a lifelong smoker... and the public health agenda more generally, maybe. i used to have an amusing relationship with the public health lobby. are you still smoking? cigars nowadays. are you still? i gave up cigarettes. but you're quite right, you know... i'm getting old, so i always tell the same stories. but when i returned as secretary of state for health and went into the room, the first question i asked was, "what's happened to the ashtrays?" what are you going to do with the rest of your life? you sound like my children asking those questions! i think in terms of your career as a whole, i bet there isn't a single conservative alive that has more people viewing you as the tory prime minister they could have tolerated. oh, that's a great club to belong to. the best prime minister... the best prime minister we never had. you know, nobody will ever know how bad you would have been if they'd ever given you the chance.

i can't be accused of not trying. what are we now supposed to be doing? we're two old men that are going to stand up and walk out still talking. right. lovely to see you. see you again. all the best! are they hush puppies? never hush puppies! i don't think hush puppies make any suede shoes. that is a romance if ever i saw one. the nspcc accuses facebook are becoming ... instances the nspcc accuses facebook are becoming instances were facebook, instagram or whatsapp were involved in obtaining child abuse images. it comes as facebook prepares to launch encrypted messaging like they've done on whatsapp, across facebook messenger and instagram which means facebook won't be able to see the content of

the messages. last year, our reporter spoke to two parents about their sun who was groomed online from the age of 13 and blackmailed. it's really shocking. the threats obviously came through skype stop the made him do things. all the time he was bottling up, there was nowhere to turn. the man then fed the information to other predators which ended up causing a ring. it was five altogether. at that point he was scared to tell us, embarrassed or whatever. so he tried to take his own life.

they investigated and came and knocked on our door and that's when we find out. they came to tell us they had looked at his laptop and he was being groomed. that's when our life turned around. let's talk to doctor stephanie hare, technology researcher who thinks this isn't only a take issue and andy burrows from the nspcc, good morning. explain what encryption is. it's a mathematical way of ensuring that communications between people or more are kept private and they can be broken and no one else can read them. argue for facebook introducing encryption across instagram and facebook messenger? this is a really troubling question. facebook is trying to respond to public demands that it doesn't spy on your data and your data is protected and secure but that leaves open the issue of abuse so i think we have to have a conversation as a society which is do we want encryption on platforms

that children use? first of all. facebook isn't just for that children use? first of all. facebook isn'tjust for adults, children aren't supposed to even be on these platforms if they are under the age of 13. ben was 13, he was groomed. you're right, they shouldn't be on facebook or instagram until the age of 13 but they are. you are not going to give me an opinion on whether you are for it? i think probably there's an argument about encryption on products children use, banning encryption across all platforms won't work, we use encryption to secure financial transactions as well as all sorts of other things journalists, human rights activists, etc, there is a bigger question about why grooming occurs in society, how we help children speak to their parents and teachers and other protected adults to help them understand what it looks like and how to spot it. andy, you would endorse, but i want to know clearly, are you against facebook introducing encryption for instagram and

facebook messenger? we are not anti—encryption as long as facebook and demonstrated won't go ahead with this until and unless there are safeguards in place which mean children won't get and will be at any greater risk compared to when they log onto the site. what safeguards could be introduced if they will bring in encryption because facebook will be able to see the messages? we are absolutely setting a challenging bar, the fear with encryption if facebook rushes ahead ina with encryption if facebook rushes ahead in a cavalier fashion as the existing tool of products they have to be able to detect child abuse images, proactively identify and disrupt grooming overnight, those will disappear. can they develop new products that can ensure children 's safety is in compromise? that's what we are asking them and the message is clear, unless and until they do that they shouldn't go ahead because the consequences here for children are huge. this is what facebook say, we work closely with child protection authorities in the uk and are consulting with experts in the best ways to implement safety measures before fully implementing

end—to—end encryption. measures before fully implementing end-to-end encryption. does that satisfy you? we haven't had a single substantive conversation with facebook about what medications they propose. you would expect to, being the nspcc? absolutely, this is been expressed clearly by child protection bodies against the world, governments, the stakes are so high. sorry to interrupt, let me read the figures in terms of the data you found, police figures pertaining to child sexual exploitation, 22% and instagram, not yet encrypted, 19% on facebook or facebook messenger not yet encrypted, 3% on whatsapp. that's the only service of the three thatis that's the only service of the three that is encrypted, doesn't that show that is encrypted, doesn't that show that encryption at the very least makes it hard to detect the predators? encryption is going to make it hard to detect predators and this is something that even if we were, i think if you want to look at how to solve it, look at your user group which in this case is kids, one where you could potentially workaround as you don't have to deal

with encryption at all, simply say anyone who is a child cannot be on this platform unless they are somehow linked to an account with their parent or guardian. for instance. that parent and guardian would have the right, that's a privacy issue for the parent but that's a security issue and it links the family together. it still isn't going to 100% solve it because grooming isa going to 100% solve it because grooming is a very difficult issue, it's a societal issue we need to discuss how to empower kids. we do talk about it a lot on this programme, iam talk about it a lot on this programme, i am not cutting you off but we are coming to the end of the programme. thank you both so much. have a good day. hello, good morning. i could spend all morning showing you the fantastic photographs we've had this morning of the sunrise, does like this behind me but unfortunately, there's more severe weather in the forecast today. we got some wet and windy conditions across the

north—west of the uk, it is turning milder however, temperatures for many of us into double figures but if the rain across scotland which will be relentless, you can see the greens are cropping up, some really heavy rain here, the rain edging into northern england, into wales. further south and east are staying largely right with sunshine, it's the wind as well gusting 50, 60 miles an hour, especially around the north and west of scotland throughout the morning come into the afternoon. temperatures for many up in double figures as we mentioned, chillier towards the south—east of england but the temperatures in the south—east rising throughout the night tonight, more cloud and rain spreading south and east, but the manager air spreading to all areas, by friday morning, those temperatures are starting off at 9-12dc. temperatures are starting off at 9—12dc. goodbye for now.

you're watching bbc newsroom live — it's11am and these are the main stories this morning: with a week to go before the country goes to the polls, the main parties push their big election pledges — the tories on tax, labour on schools and the liberal democrats on business. but in a blow for nigel farage and the brexit party, four of his meps have now quit to back boris johnson. i'm geeta guru—murthy live in croydon, where one of the london borough's key seats here is a battle ground for the conservatives and labour. half of eurostar trains are cancelled as a huge nationwide strike in france causes travel chaos across europe. we'll have all the latest here and in paris.