you're watching bbc news at nine with me, carrie gracie. the headlines: at least five people have died in a volcanic eruption in new zealand. several others are missing but police say the situation on white island is too dangerous for rescuers to land. with just three days to go until polling day, the parties make a final attempt to win over voters with their key messages. senior health officials accuse politicians of misleading voters and making election promises that are not enough to improve the nhs. shortly we'll be joining bbc radio 5 live for a special your questions answered programme with the leader of the liberal democrats. jo swinson will be taking questions from members of the public in an hour long live phone—in here on the bbc news channel,

5 live and online. good morning and welcome to the bbc news at 9. at least five people have died and several others are missing after a volcano erupted at a popular tourist site in new zealand. the eruption on white island happened just after 2pm local time. one tourist who was leaving the island, filmed the eruption as it sent a thick plume of ash and smoke into the sky. other footage showed a group of visitors inside the crater. new zealand police say that around 50 people were on or near the island at the time, including travellers from overseas. both new zealanders and overseas tourists are believed to be involved. we believe a number of these

tourists have come from the ovation of the seas cruise ship. we cannot confirm the nationalities of these people involved. due to the current risk, emergency services are unable to access the island. samantha olley is a reporter for nz—me and joins me from north island. i know you have flown over in a helicopter and you can bring us the latest from the authorities there? yes, i flew over the latest from the authorities there? yes, iflew over the island earlier this afternoon around two hours after the eruption. obviously, we weren't allowed to go directly over the cloud, but we were allowed to go around the island and what i can say is that it was covered in light green, greyish ash, it was very hard to tell where any landmarks where. we couldn't tell where the helipads were, where the container was and still we hear that it has been very

ha rd to still we hear that it has been very hard to at least even get on to the island to find out what remains. there are still many people unaccounted for. close to 50 were expected to be there at the time. what is the latest from the authorities, we are expecting some words from the prime minister, jacinda ardern soon, what are the authorities saying in terms of rescue effort. we understand she is landing as we speak. i am waiting at a road block close to the airport. we are waiting for her car to come past and hopefully stop and speak to us past and hopefully stop and speak to us with more of her plans and what she knows. we will let you get on with what you need to get to. thank you forjoining us. party leaders are making their final push for votes in the last week of the general election campaign. the prime minister will visit labour—held seats in the north of england, promising to deliver brexit.

labour will promise to deliver a budget to "end austerity", in a speech setting out its priorities for its first 100 days in government. top health officials have accused the main parties of misleading voters and making unrealistic election promises over the nhs. chris hopson, the chief executive of nhs providers, which represents trusts in england, says politicians have ducked the big issues in regard to health and social care. and the royal college of physicians says manifesto promises were not "physically possible" because of a lack of people in training to fulfil them. the world anti doping agency will decide today whether russia should receive an unprecedented four year ban from all major international sporting events. it follows an investigation which found the country s authorities had tampered with computer data showing athletes had cheated. if the ban is imposed, russia's flag will be removed from the tokyo olympics and the 2022 football world cup.

and now it's time for your questions answered with the liberal democrat leader jo swinson presented by 5 live's nicky campbell. welcome to this special election programme on five live and on the the bbc news channel. we are giving you the chance to put your questions tojo swinson you the chance to put your questions to jo swinson of the you the chance to put your questions tojo swinson of the liberal democrats and we will hear from listeners from five live and questions submitted to your questions submitted to your questions answers on the bbc, you can get on touch using the hashtag bbc your questions or texting 85008. our callers are drawn from across the uk and people who have been participating in bbc programmes and we have asked them questions about their backgrounds and experiences. it is the sixth of a series of programmes where we invite the leaders of the main political programmes to take part. we have

heard from borisjohnson, adam pryce of the plaid cymru and nicola sturgeon of the snp and nigel farage from the brexit party and we hope jeremy corbyn willjoin us tomorrow. welcomejo swinson. jeremy corbyn willjoin us tomorrow. welcome jo swinson. good to be here. do you enjoy the opportunity to take questions directly from people? absolutely. i think it is really important. let's start with jan in deptford. what would you like to ask? i would like to know what do you think is the price of the national sovereignty, what do you think it means? jan, i think that it is important our sovereignty, what do you think it means? i think that we have a united kingdom that we can be proud of and i also think that we managed to do better for the thing we wa nt managed to do better for the thing we want in this country if we work

closely with other countries. and i think that is true for scotland, england, wales and northern ireland coming together as a united kingdom andi coming together as a united kingdom and i also think it is true of the united kingdom working with 27 other countries in the european union and iimagine countries in the european union and i imagine from your question you perhaps take a different view about the balance of those benefits, but... canl the balance of those benefits, but... can i give you an example. at your conference in september you invited... there seems to be a problem with jan's line. we will see if we can resolve that and get back to our question. jan we will try and get back to you. now mike from way mouth. what would you like to ask? why did the liberal democrats take the step of moving from their

original position of a second referendum when people would be better informed to revoking article 50 completely? so as you know, we area 50 completely? so as you know, we are a party that believes in remaining in the eu and that means we wa nt remaining in the eu and that means we want to stop brexit. and we have for three and a half years campaigned to do that through a people's vote, where we put the final brexit deal to the public and we would be still be happy to achieve that outcome. we found ourselves facing a general election that might be the last opportunity that might be the last opportunity that people would have to stop brexit and we were straight forward and said in the event, albeit unlikely event, that the liberal democrats secured a majority government in that general election, we would stop brexit by revoking article 50. ijust we would stop brexit by revoking article 50. i just think that is straight forward about what we would genuinely do in that circumstance.

yeah, itake genuinely do in that circumstance. yeah, i take your point, but do you not think that is rather alienated from some would be liberal democrat vote earps. it does feel like it maybe a strategic error. do you acknowledge that? the benefit about being honest, there is a lot to be said for that. if we did have that liberal democrat majority situation and the liberal democrat prime minister, the thought that we would be negotiating brexit doesn't make sense. theoretically you should be a majority of mps in parliament and not have majority support in the country soshs ry so there would be a democratic deficit. there is a democratic deficit. there is a democratic deficit. there is a democratic deficit with the system. . you could be elected with 30% and demolishing 50% support of the

referendum. people would accept it would be an electoral earthquake if that happened. but in the vast majority of circumstances, it is unchanged, the liberal democrats wa nt unchanged, the liberal democrats want a people's vote and we will work to put a vote to the public to have their say. we have tried to make that happen in parliament. our preference was to resolve it through a people's vote on the brexit deal that boris johnson a people's vote on the brexit deal that borisjohnson went and negotiated, rather than a general election, because it would be more specific and it would be one question you were asking people and ina question you were asking people and in a general election, there is a lot of different factors. do you relish the prospect of a people's vote, mike. yes i voted to eleven and leave and when i became better informed, i thought it would be

better to remain and i would relish a people's vote and vote to remain. wonderful to hear you say that. i'm interested and i suspects other might be, what was it that changed your mind, what are the specific things that led you to think differently. briefly if you can. it is difficult. with things like security, jobs, the nhs all the usual things that have been pa that have been paraded in the press. a text here, i'm politically homeless and was a labour member, and can't put borisjohnson and i voted remain, but your policy to revoke article 50 is the reason i can't vote for you. let me bring in funmi in london. can you hear me? yes. you have a question about

brexit. hi, jo, so... basically i, as somebody who does think it is important that there is some... you know there is some solidarity on the left as well, do you think your putting your career above actually making sure that a remain party of some sort is in power to make sure that you know boris johnson doesn't just have the ability to push through which ever brexit he wants? not at all. i think i'm very open to have been working with people from all different parties on this issue of stopping brexit. what we did twice this year and in particular in the autumn, we took action you know, labourmps, the autumn, we took action you know, labour mps, work with liberal democrat mps and conservative mps and nationalist mps and independent mps, to stop a no—deal brexit and

i'm proud of that cross party working that we have achieved and it is the way i do my politics. i have been outspoken about jeremy is the way i do my politics. i have been outspoken aboutjeremy corbyn and that is important, because the differences i have withjeremy corbyn are not just differences i have withjeremy corbyn are notjust a policy difference, i'm genuinely appalled with his... totalfailure to deal with his... totalfailure to deal with the issues of anti—semitism, we saw more revelations in the papers yesterday and this is a fundamentalishure fundamental issue about equality and making sure people's rights are respected and we have to listen to people in the jewish community where they tell us how frightened they are of the prospect ofjeremy corbyn being prime minister and so from my per peck spective i'm not going to apologise for being firm with that.

i think working with other people in parliament is the right thing to do andi parliament is the right thing to do and i should be up front about liberal democrat votes not going to put borisjohnson liberal democrat votes not going to put boris johnson orjeremy liberal democrat votes not going to put borisjohnson orjeremy corbyn into no 10. would you like to respond to that? yeah, because and i agree with you on anti—semitism, i'm not a corbyn fan, but as somebody who seems to have placed their whole career on who seems to have placed their whole career on this idea that brexit would be the worst thing to ever happen with repercussions for generations and that is alongside the charge against potentially corbyn empowering some elements of society who are anti—semitic, i wonder which is more important to you and which is the big pest risk? -- biggest risk. why do i want to

stay in the eu, it is not because of some love of eu institutions or the parliamentary processes, it is because of the kind of country i wa nt because of the kind of country i want us to be, i want us to be open and inclusive and working with others and standing up for the values of equality and human rights and our membership of the eu not only guarantees much of that and is a fundamental underpinning, we have seen a fundamental underpinning, we have seen the conservatives they want to water down human rights legislation, and the fundamental values of equality, you can't just and the fundamental values of equality, you can'tjust say, but you can just turn a blind equality, you can'tjust say, but you canjust turn a blind eye equality, you can'tjust say, but you can just turn a blind eye to jeremy corbyn‘s record on anti—semitism. jeremy corbyn‘s record on anti-semitism. the problem for voters, you're saying vote for us to be part of a coalition, that is what you're saying, you're acknowledging... no i don't think coalition is the only outcome. well, vote for us to be some kind of arrangement to get a people's vote,

so you're not being transparent on who you would work with. you said you won't work with jeremy corbyn, so who, for voters to be clear, who would their next prime minister to be in they vote liberal democrat. can you give us guidance. we don't know what will happen on thursday. we know we are going into an election, where both the main parties are setting out to try to win that election outright. and if we end up in a scenario where there is no majority, i don't think it is a safe assumption that both leaders remain in their parties. we know there are a lot of people in the labour party who are unhappy with the way... you're a democratic party, jeremy corbyn has 63%, that is what he was elected to his position. sure. but i have been clear about the problems with jeremy

corbyn and how he stands in opposition to values that are incredibly important. i will always and liberal democrat mps will always vote for legislation to implement a people's vote. but i'm not going to compromise those values by supporting something who has...“ it isa supporting something who has...“ it is a hung parliament and the labour party does require your support and you won't supportjeremy corbyn, where does that leave us?|j recognise that the lack of leadership from the labour party on this issue, you know, is... putting our country in a very difficult situation. we have a leader of the labour party who on the biggest issue of the day is saying that he issue of the day is saying that he is neutral. i'm looking for leadership from who you would like to lead the country. let me bring in finlay, who is in bonnyrigg. you wa nt to finlay, who is in bonnyrigg. you want to address this question as well? do you rule out a coalition

with other parties. you said you won't support the labour party, if not him, and you hold the balance of power, would you support the conservatives? the conservatives have moved to a situation where they are indistinguishable from the brexit party and liberal democrats fundamentally want to remain in the eu. sol fundamentally want to remain in the eu. so i think that... is inconceivable at the moment. you know, i think you know... we are in you know this country is in a mess, nobody can look at what has happened over the last three and a half years and thing brexit is going well. part of that is because of promises made by people like borisjohnson and michael gove during the campaign in 2016, promises have that come to nothing. borisjohnson will say anything to advance his own

interests. as liberal democrats we are standing up for people who want to remain in the eu and the more liberal democrat mps the more likely we can stop brexit. with a small number of mps we were able to be effective in doing that and there are circumstances where that happens in the other parliaments. does that a nswer in the other parliaments. does that answer your question, finlay? just to clarify, you're ruling out a coalition with the conservative government 100%? yes, they are absolutely full on hard brexit no—deal brexit, you know wreck the economy, that is where they are at. i don't see them changing from that any time soon. they have got so far

along that path... they're in bed with nigel farage. we have tommy robinson endorsing boris johnson with nigel farage. we have tommy robinson endorsing borisjohnson to be prime minister. if the conservative party did not win a majority and there was a change in leadership and a change in tone of brexit, you're going to give yourself leeway. you're talking about so many hypotheticals. we will a lwa ys about so many hypotheticals. we will always as liberal democrats be working to stop brexit and pursue the values that we hold true to that we ca re the values that we hold true to that we care about and you know at the moment, both labour and the conservative parties have gone to the extremes. whether or not that will change in the future it is difficult to get involved in hypothetical discussions about and it is part of why our politics is in such a mess. gavin in winchester. jo, you said if we release £19

billion to the eu which will get 50 billion to the eu which will get 50 billion back. but that says it is over five years. but we will be paying 19 billion a year in membership fees skwlchlt s. paying 19 billion a year in membership fees skwlchlt! we come to that figure by taking the, taking a cautious view of the assessments made by the department of fiscal study. obviously if we left in a no deal scenario, the bonus for remaining would be bigger. we take off, that is a net figure, we have taken into off, that is a net figure, we have ta ken into account off, that is a net figure, we have taken into account the money we spend on the eu membership, so this is the extra money that would be available to invest in public services. it is entirely likely it would be more. based on forecasts. i

find is this a strange line of questioning, each time a chancellor announces a budget they have done it based on forecast. each party puts forward plans for what they will spend based on forecasts. what else are you going to base it on? gavin. i was referring to your line of questioning about forecasts. gavin was asking about the nuts and bolts of numbers. the thing is if you're saying that we are going to get 50 billion bonus, but were paying 100 billion bonus, but were paying 100 billion to get the bonus. the whole thing is, we are wasting 50 billion for nothing. why don't we just keep the 100 billion and leave the eu?

just to be clear, the 50 billion is what we have after we take into account money that we would spend to the eu and pay to the eu and we have done all the costings. this is the extra money. so we have taken into account that money that you say that we pay to the eu and we have already deducted that. where is the money coming from? is it savings, or cost cuttings, scrapping things or what? it is purely the fact that if we remain in the eu, there is wide agreement that the economy will be bigger and because the economy will be bigger, there will be more taxation receipts, the government will get more money in tax, and... can you prove that? can you break down and publish the figures to say the economy will grow under the eu, from what i have read the exports

from what i have read the exports from us to the eu is shrinking from 1.6to 3%. from us to the eu is shrinking from 1.6 to 3%. so where are you numbers coming from. from the independent institute for fiscal studies and they have said that they think if we remain in the eu over the course of the five years our economy would be growing 2%. we have assumed 1.8% and if we leave with a deal the economy will grow by only 1.4%. that is an independent body and it is in line with what you get is you get differences in the size of what people predict, but people don't say if we put up trade barriers you are going to get a boost from that, because bluntly we are not. it will mean the economy will be doing less

well and as a result the government will get less in taxes to be able to spend. gavin thank you. sorry we will leave tlit. —— it there. can you offer clarity on one thing, the i have asked you this before, if there was another referendum, if you did secure your people's vote and the country again voted to leave, would you accept that result? yes. i'm not going to change my view about whether i think it is better to remain, but i would have confidence that the public had genuinely, a majority of the public genuinely, a majority of the public genuinely wanted to leave on a specific brexit deal. would you continue to campaign to rejoin the eu? i'm not going to stop being pro—european or stop thinking that is the right thing for our country and for ourfuture, is the right thing for our country and for our future, but is the right thing for our country and for ourfuture, but i is the right thing for our country and for our future, but i would have confidence that the public had a

majority in favour of a specific brexit... majority in favour of a specific brexit. .. you wouldn't be agitating for another referendum. of course i would want the closest relationship and still be pro—european, but i would have confidence and we could all have confidence that this is the what the majority of the population wa nted what the majority of the population wanted and i don't think there is any reason to believe there is a majority in favour of the specific ha rd majority in favour of the specific hard brexit deal that borisjohnson has put forward that means we might crash out with no deal. some texts. our listeners have been aski why you are choosing to ignore the will of people. one liberal democrat voter saidi people. one liberal democrat voter said ifeel people. one liberal democrat voter said i feel betrayed people. one liberal democrat voter said ifeel betrayed byjo people. one liberal democrat voter said i feel betrayed byjo swinson's policy. i will be voting conservative on thursday. joe says demi means doing what was voted for in the referendum. democracy seems to have gone. andy, what a shame the country is in a mess, how have the

liberal democrats managed to mess up so badly, revoke article 50 alienated many remainors. ifeel you have miss an open goal. first, can you still become prime minister?m is less likely i would say. was it a mistake to have been so bold in your ambitions? i'm not going to apologise for being ambitious and bold. the reason for it was this, so when we started the campaign, we had four political parties that were all similar in the polls. you were around 20% similar in the polls. you were around 2096 p. the brexit party and labour had been about the same and the polling showed if you have a first past the post system, it is

very unpredictable to say what would happen. you said i intend to be prime minister and we will revole voke article 50 and the poms went down. we encourage politicians to be honest and acknowledge where they haven't made the right decision. do you think that was the right decision? there is time to review what happens in the campaign and the best time to do that is not three days before polling day. we will look at the election and do it in the context of broader information. there is also what happens is a squeeze, there is also what happens is a squeeze, you had the deal between the brexit and the conservative party, which has united the leave pa rt party, which has united the leave part of the electorate and that has made a massive difference. it doesn't mean it was wrong to be

ambitious. this from margaret, how will you lift children out of poverty? there is not a quick answer to it, bit is crucial. there is various things we need to do. there needs to be more money put into the universal credit system and the liberal democrats plans to invest billions more, particularly to alleviate those who are in poverty and are working hard, they're doing the right thing and doing what they're supposed to be doing and they're supposed to be doing and they're still in poverty. this is reversing the welfare cuts you voted for. and being more generous with the work allowances and allowing allowa nces for the work allowances and allowing allowances for when there are two people work. and the foundation, run by former labour staffers shows the liberal democrat plans are the most progressive and will help the poorest people the most, even more than the labour party's plans, because that is important, we need

to make sure we are investing more in those... poorest children and school and early years, so additionalfunding to school and early years, so additional funding to support children in early years setting and extending free school meals and making sure that investment goes in and we have an economy that is thrive soing if ing so people can also be... and work that will pay. and repairing the damage done by the austerity you supported in your time in government with the conservative party. we need to make changes, because i have accepted there were changes that were wrong. sarah and cheltenham would like to ask about the environment. good morning. jo swinson is listening to you. good morning. good morning, jo.

isjust like to you. good morning. good morning, jo. is just like to ask you. good morning. good morning, jo. isjust like to ask in light of the climate emergency, is it time we rethink economic growth?|j climate emergency, is it time we rethink economic growth? i mean, i think that is a great question you ask, sarah, and i think we all want to have an economy that is working for people are making us prosperous. i think what we need to think is whether or not the things we measure are actually a good proxy for making people lives better. so we become obsessed as a country with the figure of gdp. it is a helpful indicator telling us some things but it doesn't tell us everything. and when i hear the government coming out and sing gdp growth has done this and employment figures at the highest ever and yet you hear people talking about their experiences of struggling to make ends meet, and it is getting harder and harder to put food on the table, to pay the bills, it becomes clear to me thatjust

focusing on that one indicator and thinking if you make sure that is going up then everything is fine, actually it's not capturing the full picture. would you abandon gdp because you i wouldn't abandon it. jacinda arden is doing exactly the same thing by focusing on building because you have to have a range of indicators because one of the thing so many of our economic figures don't take into account is the impact on our natural environment and it is harder to quantify the value of having species of bees that pollinate our food. value of having species of bees that pollinate ourfood. nobody value of having species of bees that pollinate our food. nobody puts a financialfigure on pollinate our food. nobody puts a financial figure on that but if they all died out, we would quickly have all died out, we would quickly have a problem. there is a figure on that, the production of honey, it is $100 billion. the numbers are out there. exactly, so can you try to quantify some of that in financial terms or other different indicators you can also use so that when government is making its decisions, it is much more aligned to making

peoples lives better now and for future generations. are we taking the decisions to be good stewards of our natural environment, to make sure we pass on a planet that isn't poisoned, that we are not saddling our children with catastrophic climate change... let me ask sarah in cheltenham. how would you measure these things, sarah? well, i absolutely agree that gdp is not a good core measure but my real concern at the moment is, with the brexit scenario, we are tied into this idea of which scenario will give us the biggest growth but growth is the antithesis of what we should be striving for at the moment. we need balance. so, we need an element of growth in order to fund some of the changes but, actually, may be more of a deep and very harsh in some situations

response to reconfiguring society in the way we actually operate. thank you very much indeed. thank you, sarah in cheltenham, asking about the climate crisis. the last accurate measurement i have of economic value of bees, for example, to the us economy they contribute more than $24 billion. to the uk economy, in 2015, it was calculated at £651 million, the value of bees. fascinating to look at things in those terms. jo swinson is with us until 10am on 5 live and on the bbc news channel answering your questions. get in touch while we are on air. our callers this morning are drawn from across the uk who have shown an interest in participating bbc programmes and have asked them about questions about their backgrounds and experiences. this is the sixth in a series of programmes where we invite the needs of the

main parties to take your questions. we've had from the prime minister, played comrie, the greens, nicola sturgeon leader of the snp, and the brexit party nigel farage. we are in conversation with the labour party aboutjeremy conversation with the labour party about jeremy corbyn conversation with the labour party aboutjeremy corbyn joining us tomorrow. it is 9:35am. let's go to anna in warwickshire. what would you like to ask? thank you. jo, my question for you, it's great your body promotes women's rights but can you tell me what a woman is? well... i know i am you tell me what a woman is? well... iknowiama you tell me what a woman is? well... i know i am a woman. and i think... we know what we are and i think all women are important and their rights need to be protected. whether they are black, asian, white, whether they are gay or straight, whether

they are gay or straight, whether they have a very privileged upbringing or they don't have much money, whether they are cis or trans, whether they have a disability, we are all important in all of those different ways. how can you tell what a woman is? well, i mean... i'm trying to understand what you are getting at. i think we know when we engage with each other. we know if we are a woman, right? i can tell you i am, right? so, you know, we are not going to start a scenario where we go and perform inspections on people, are we? what ifa man inspections on people, are we? what if a man wears a dress twice a week, is hea if a man wears a dress twice a week, is he a woman? not necessarily. but could he be ? is he a woman? not necessarily. but could he be? i think people can understand their own identity, and i think it is right to respect people in terms of their gender identity. so, if you dress as a woman twice a week, you count as a woman for the

gender pay gap ora week, you count as a woman for the gender pay gap or a man? well, clearly, in terms of the gender pay gap, members of staff will identify their gender in company records to hr, typically, and the company will produce the statistics accordingly. cani produce the statistics accordingly. can i explain why this has become a talking point within the lib dem campaign, it is because you have promised reform of the gender recognition act and remove the need for medical tests, that individuals will be able to self identify. we largely can currently. and i think this formalises that. and it removes what our existing barriers are that end up creating discrimination on a very vulnerable group of people. whilst we acknowledge there is a group of people that are vulnerable, need support and need certain protections, there is a significant body of women who feel that they

will be deprived of spaces. would you like to pick up on that point, anna? obviously, everyone has the right to express themselves, peoples choice of partner, spouse, that shouldn't be affected anyway but under self idea what is to stop the male sex offender walking into the changing room, and saying i identify asa changing room, and saying i identify as a woman. shall we be kind and let him? so, in a sense, i've gone into gym changing rooms, right, and i've never been asked for a certificate. i've never been asked. that isn't what you currently have right now. if anybody goes in to a changing room and is acting in a way that is in anyway or anti—social, the institutional gym, your swimming pool institutional gym, your swimming pool, they should be able to take action on that basis. it is

safeguarding, isn't it? we have women spaces that are safeguards from men, don't we? i wasjust going to say, like, the way in which this debate plays out, i've heard from people who are women who might be women who look more masculine or women who look more masculine or women who look more masculine or women who might dress in a particular way, who have found over the last months and years, with the way this debate has been playing out, they've suddenly in a way they handled before being challenged just for being in a woman's lose, for washing their hands at the sink. we get into very dangerous territory if we start assuming... women are having to police their own spaces, we have women spaces as a safeguard from men because we know men murder

women, rape women, so from men because we know men murder women, rape women, so people put cameras in changing rooms which is why we have women only spaces. the feelings of a small number of people don't reduce the threats which is why we need to think, discuss and talk openly about this, which is why we need to talk about the reforms you're suggesting, and people like me are talking about this. even if every single trans person in the world is a fantastic and wonderful person, but doesn't reduce the threat from men in any way. i suppose the argument, if you like, is what is the best way to provide that protection? at the moment we are making it women's unisex toilets. that isn't a solution. are making it women's unisex toilets. that isn't a solutionlj toilets. that isn't a solution.” will letjo swinson toilets. that isn't a solution.” will let jo swinson answer that. toilets. that isn't a solution.” will letjo swinson answer that. i had a passion in your voice and then will have to get on. as i say, at the moment, i've never been asked for a certificate to prove my gender whenever accessing any women spaces.

so it isn't as if that is the way we will resolve this issue, it isn't as if with the law at the moment, that's fine, every time you go to the loo, you have to swipe to a card related to your birth certificate, that isn't our society and it's not won any of us won. we need to make sure there are proper protections in place, and, obviously, ifa sure there are proper protections in place, and, obviously, if a man wa nts to place, and, obviously, if a man wants to go into a woman's place in a changing room, we have all seen the male operatives on duty go in with a bucket and be cleaning the loos, right? if there is people who wa nt to loos, right? if there is people who want to act in that way, they should be dealt with. i don't buy the idea we need to further marginalise a group of vulnerable people, that gives us any further protection, i don't think it's the right way to deal with those concerns raised. you've also said you've wanted to introduce gender neutral uniforms, does that apply to religious schools as well? why should we be forcing

children into a particular requirement... headscarf is not gender neutral. it isn't about saying you can't wear a headscarf. it is about saying you can't say only one gender can't wear that. so have a uniform policy. if a girl wa nted have a uniform policy. if a girl wanted to turn up without a headscarf but school policy was all girls must wear a headscarf, that would be problematic for you, wouldn't it? i think children should have choices. i think children should be able to express themselves and if they choose to do that, that is fine. if they want to wear trousers, they want to wear a skirt, it should be up to them. clare is on the isle of wight. goodman, claire. talking of young people and schooling, you want to ask a about activity. yes. so, at present only 1496 activity. yes. so, at present only 14% of girls aged 5—16 achieve recommended levels of physical activity dropping to 10% among 13—16 —year—olds, what are your plans to

address this issue and the wider issue of gender inequality in sport? it is an issue close to my heart as a runner. iwas it is an issue close to my heart as a runner. i was one of it is an issue close to my heart as a runner. i was one of those girls at school that didn't particularly enjoy pe. it was only in my 20s that idida enjoy pe. it was only in my 20s that i did a race for life, which was my way in to running, which was an amazing atmosphere. i enjoyed it so i kept going and it was more fun than running around in cross country in the middle ofjanuary, which is funny that we do that at school. pa rt funny that we do that at school. part of me thinks we should have more choice in terms of pe at school, different types of activities, so that people can find the thing they enjoy. part of this is about role models. it is about celebrating women athletes as well. i think we see more of that right now. i recall in the past taking the

bbc to task when they had sports personality of the year, some years ago now, but it was almost exclusively male as if we didn't have amazing women athletes as well. one of the campaigns i very much was a supporter of in government, which i think is brilliant, is dead? this goal can campaign. it is about celebrating every single one of us that goes for a jog, cycle to work, or gets involved in boxing whatever the way of keeping fit is that you enjoy and works for you if you're doing it with a group of your friends, if you are playing in a team. to make that's normalised. and to encourage girls to have confidence. it goes into everything about the objectification of women's bodies as well because when the message we sent to young girls is what is important about your body is how it looks and how thin you are and all of those things, that is a contrary message to what they need

to hear. clare, you might love what you're hearing from jo swinson. problem is you don't have the opportunity to vote for her party, do you? that's one thing. i don't have the opportunity to vote lib dem because nobody is standing on the isle of wight. you've told me what you think but you're not telling me what you'd do if you are elected. we have identified extra funding through public health to make sure more children have access to different sports clubs and, as i say, when i was in government, this was something i worked on and helped make happen because some of this is cultural, this is about changing the perception is within society although some of it is access to sports club and that is about funding. thank you, claire. the reason there is no lib dem candidate in isle of wight, that is because of the prey remain aligns with the greens which some people feel that has denied them the opportunity to express their genuine political affiliations in this election. let me take you through some quickfire

questions now. thank you for the sentin questions now. thank you for the sent in by viewers and listeners. alf texts, would you be part of a future eu army or would you prefer nato? nato is incredibly important andi nato? nato is incredibly important and i think the eu is important for our defence where we are able to have agreements. we wouldn't always agree with 27 other countries but where we have agreed on foreign defence policy, the eu has been able to use its diplomatic weight with real effectiveness. if there was a european army, would you prioritise that over nato? i don't think moving towards a european army is the right thing but there are, whether it is peacekeeping missions or different nato missions, sometimes ourforces will be working alongside other forces from other countries and international missions which is a positive thing. richard says, what are the three top reasons why a party should have my vote? the first one is to stop brexit, to remain in

the eu. the second one is we are extremely committed to tackling the climate emergency and have a bold plan vow to do that. the third one i would say is we recognise the challenges that families are facing, particularly where the cost of childcare which has an impact on family incomes, it has an impact on the gender pay gap, it has an impact on the workplace which is why we have a bold plan for free childcare from the point at which people go back to work when paid parental leave and is. when did it all go wrong, says ryan? maybe you think it has all gone wrong but i don't share that view. what i like is to be higher in the polls? absolutely. but iam very higher in the polls? absolutely. but i am very proud to stand up for the things i believe in. i want our country to be better, i believe we can be better than what is on offer from borisjohnson can be better than what is on offer from boris johnson and jeremy can be better than what is on offer from borisjohnson and jeremy corbyn andi from borisjohnson and jeremy corbyn and i get in this voting system there is a massive squeeze going on but i'm not going to be deterred from standing up for the things i believe in and being true to myself

in this campaign. 9:47am. nikki from croydon, good morning, what would you like to ask? so, i have a disabled freedom pass because i have schizophrenia and other mental health issues but i can't use it before 9:30am because people are going to work or whatever the reason is. what are you going to do to ove rco m e is. what are you going to do to overcome this because i can't use it to go to appointments or work or college, anything. nikki, thank you for raising this particular issue about the timing of the disabled freedom pass. i'm going to be straightforward with you and say it isn't something i know the detail of right now but i'm happy to go and look at it further. it seems like it would be something that makes sense to change. in terms of the general, wider issues, you're talking as somebody who is expressing mental health challenges. and i think it is shocking the way in which mental health has been ignored in our country for far too long, and it is

why we as liberal democrats are saying we need to have a massive investment in more mental health services. £11 billion we've identified over the course of the next parliament, to make sure we can have more talking therapies, more professional staff, whether that is mental health nurses, there is still huge shortages in terms of co nsulta nt huge shortages in terms of consultant psychiatrists and so on so we need to have better planning on how to get the staff we need for our mental health services. i think we have made progress in reducing stigma in recent years and that is to be celebrated but there is still much more that needs to be done so you get the proper treatment you should and there is help when you needin should and there is help when you need in the same way if you break your arm need in the same way if you break yourarm and he need in the same way if you break your arm and he went to hospital you'd get it fixed their there and then. nikki, i give you a chance to respond. we've come a long way in terms of stigma with conditions like depression and anxiety but what are you going to do to overcome the stigma of lesser— known conditions of personality disorders and schizophrenia? nikki, we have to move on to some other call is now

but you raise a very important point that i hope jo but you raise a very important point that i hopejo swinson will take on and consider. let's go to romford. cam, good morning, what would you like to ask? good morning. why are you going against the issues of the 5296 you going against the issues of the 52% of the people who wanted to leave? are 52% of the people who wanted to leave ? are you 52% of the people who wanted to leave? are you being hypocrites? we wa nt to leave? are you being hypocrites? we want to give people a democratic choice and it is important people have a choice and the ability to express their wishes. let's face it, 6 million people earlier this year signed a petition saying they wanted to revoke article 50, hundreds of thousands of people have marched on the streets to try to stop brexit and not everybody that voted the way in 2016 voted leave still takes that view. we heard earlierfrom mike who voted leave but now wants to remain. we are in an election right now and i think it is important that people who want to remain in that you have someone who want to remain in that you have someone who is standing up for the making that case rather than those people being denied any kind of

voice, any kind of person who is advocating for what they want. i appreciate you might take a different view from this but we are in an election and it is right that the different arguments are put forward , the different arguments are put forward, and i'm standing upfor the different arguments are put forward, and i'm standing up for the course of remaining in the eu.” left the silence there for you to fill. yes, sorry. ok. so, you don't think being democratic is a priority for yourself? we are in a democratic event at the moment, right? we are in an election, giving people a choice. democracy didn't end in 2016. and we know people have changed their mind, and we've heard from one of them this morning, and we know and we now can see what leaving looks like isn't what was promised in 2016, and, so, it is fairwe are able promised in 2016, and, so, it is fair we are able to check with people whether knowing what that deal looks like, whether that is

something they want to go ahead with. can i ask you quickly, what is more important to you, remaining in the eu or maintaining the united kingdom as a union? that is like asking me to choose which of my children i love more. which of your children i love more. which of your children do you love more? laughter. imean, you laughter. i mean, you know... iam passionate about the united kingdom. i am a scot a brit, i am a european, those are all important things, and it is because we are better when we work together. we all have a favourite child, wejust don't together. we all have a favourite child, we just don't admit it. you can't say that! thank you very much, cam.james is in can't say that! thank you very much, cam. james is in nottingham, good morning. good money, how are you? very well, what would you like to say tojo very well, what would you like to say to jo swinson? my question is with regard to diversity. i knowjo has stood against affirmative action policies with regard to gender equality. i change my mind on that

in 2016, though. i wanted to understand how you aim to tackle the underrepresentation of people from ethnic minority backgrounds in our society? i mean, it is a massive issue. without getting too technical about it, it is a structural issue. let's get rid of this notion there is an equal playing field. there is sexism and racism that people face ona sexism and racism that people face on a daily basis. i've never been racially abused just for walking down the street. but if i had black skin or if i wore a hijab, i'm pretty sure that wouldn't be the case. i've never been stopped and searched by police but if i was a young, black man, i'm sure that would be a different story. we know from the statistics there is a pay gap between people from black and minority backgrounds and people from white background so we should be in the same way i brought in gender pay gap reporting, i won the fight to introduce that, we should extend

that to bame reporting and we need to make sure we get many more people in positions of power and leadership from bame backgrounds. what about class reporting as well? the socioeconomic element is also incredibly important which is part of the equality act that should be activated. every single one of us has some things about us that give usa has some things about us that give us a bit of power and privilege and other things which might be more difficult. i am a middle—class, white woman. being white, that gives mea white woman. being white, that gives me a privilege. being a woman means i will face sexism. different people will have different combinations. we should treat everyone as individuals but not pretend we live in a meritocracy because we really don't. does that answer your question, james? to some extent, yes but i'd love to know more exactly how, if you were to hold some sway, in

whichever party would come to power, how would you... sort of implement your policy of increasing people from bame backgrounds? answer that very quickly. in politics and in favour of having shortlists on that basis, to have bame shortlists for political parties. this might be dreadfully unpopular but one of the thing theresa may did that was a good thing was starting to gather the data in government services by race so we can stop the data in government services by race so we can stop with that information to identify where problems are because you need to do a proper analysis, is it the number of people that are implying, is it worse in the justice system, what are the health inequalities, so that each different institution can look at their problems and develop solutions to those but the first step is to have information which is why gender pay gap reporting has been so successful. acknowledging there is a problem in many cases. anna is in braintree in essex, you have a question about farming, go

ahead. good morning. iwould like have a question about farming, go ahead. good morning. i would like to hear how you will protect british beef farms from cheap, unsustainable, substandard foreign imports. well, i mean, the farming sector is incredibly important in our economy. and in ourfood supply and it is also important in terms of our sustainability of the environment. farmers are the guardians of looking after our natural environment. it is about making sure that british farmers are able to access markets elsewhere, and i'm very worried about what happens if we leave the eu and suddenly we have huge tariffs imposed, and the disruption that will cause to the food chain i think will cause to the food chain i think will be very difficult for farmers, from people i've spoken to. do you think we should cut back on the amount of red meat we eat? these are decisions for individuals to make. some people have a huge issue... and the climate crisis. it is about

doing it more sustainably and some people will decide to change their inta ke people will decide to change their intake for different medical reasons, for health reasons. and change the mix but it's also about trying to make sure we have good animal welfare standards, that can again, farming is done in a sustainable way so i wouldn't be in favour of a blanket ban but obviously we need to work with... i visited a farm just a couple of weeks ago and some of the changes they were putting in place to get to net zero were interesting. scrubland, making sure grass was planted which was acting as a carbon sink, different ways of managing livestock. they also had sheep that shed automatically their fur which i thought was quite amazing. time is running short for us! a final word from you, anna. here at our farm, we are part of life farm, so we are 100% grass fed, sustainable as well so we

100% grass fed, sustainable as well so we have a solution for climate change locking carbon into the ground. our customers come to the farm, to the butchery and farm shop. so there is 100% traceability. customers who don't have a farm shop near them customers who don't have a farm shop nearthem and customers who don't have a farm shop near them and don't have access to direct meat from farms... they don't have that choice, do they? we will have that choice, do they? we will have to say goodbye but thank you.” am all for sustainable farming. have to say goodbye but thank you.” am all for sustainable farmingm swinson, thank you very much. over the past four weeks we've been joined on this programme by six of the main party leaders. a heard from borisjohnson, the main party leaders. a heard from boris johnson, adam the main party leaders. a heard from borisjohnson, adam price, the main party leaders. a heard from boris johnson, adam price, jonathan ba rtley, nicola boris johnson, adam price, jonathan bartley, nicola sturgeon, nigel farage and jo swinson. despite repeated invitations, only jeremy corbyn remains outstanding in this commitment. we have only one possible programme left now, tomorrow morning. mr corbyn, we would love to hear from you and we are available on all the usual numbers. from all of us for now, thank you, jo swinson and good

morning.

hello it's monday, it's 10 o'clock, i'm victoria derbyshire and today we're live in crewe. four days to go until you vote in the 2019 general election. and today we talk to people who say they haven't yet decided who they're going to vote for. hi, i'm leanne, from birmingham, i'm a stay at home mum with two children, i have voted for the conservative party, but at the moment i'm undecided, because i'm not sure i can trust borisjohnson. i'm from london and i'm torn between labour, liberal democrat and conservatives and i feeljeremy

corbyn is promising