hello, this is bbc news with lu kwesa burak. the headlines: the chancellor, sajid javid, says there will be no alignment for businesses with eu regulations after brexit — companies warn food prices could rise and jobs may be affected as a result. contenders in the race to replacejeremy corbyn as labour leader call for unity — as they take part in the first hustings of the contest. answering questions from party members in liverpool. police demand an urgent meeting with the commander of the us base, close to where teenager harry dunn was killed — after two more incidents involving cars being driven on the wrong side of the road. heavy rain and thunderstorms dampen bushfires in eastern australia, but bring flooding to some areas. british scientists suggest the number of people already infected by a new virus emerging in china is far greater than official figures suggest.

and now on bbc news, victoria derbyshire looks back at some of the highlights from her programme this week. hello and welcome to the programme. over the next half an hour, we will bring you highlights from our show in the last seven days. this week, we reveal that more than 100 different types of mesh devices to treat hernias by nhs trusts in england and scotland, are being sewn into patients and some haven't been properly tested. it has led to the claim that patients are being treated like guinea pigs. because certain types of mesh implants, which are permanent, are being used based on little or no medical evidence. here's our reporter. a hernia mesh repair

is supposed to be a simple procedure, but once a permanent device has been implanted, it can be extremely dangerous to remove. this means if something goes wrong, many patients have to live with the complications, like chronic pain. i hope that somebody can fix me, somebody can help. if i was told this was the life of me and there was nothing i could do, i don't think i would want to live it. a scrubbing brush. which ijust took from my sink. experts are now warning that basic household appliances now undergo more tests than some types of mesh devices. that is how irresponsible this is. people are putting more thought into these disposable cups and they are putting into the mesh. these vacuoles are actually where the mesh fibres used to be. we have been leaked shocking footage that shows that mesh making manufacturers are aware of the possible complications, but have kept selling it anyway, including to the nhs. and as we exclusively revealed, the nhs has purchased more than 100 different types of mesh, experts are warning that the trust is using too many implants

with little or no medical evidence. but surgeons who use mesh insist that these fears are nothing more than scaremongering, and that the majority of patients live healthy lives, complication—free. hernia repair is one of the world's most common surgical procedures, most often in the groin. using mesh has been surgeons' preferred choice for over decades because it is cheaper than previous methods and requires less time in hospital. it also appeared to reduce complication rates and the chances of a hernia returning. more than 20 million operations are performed globally every year. in england, it is around 100,000. the majority go well. the hernia mesh industry is worth billions of pounds, but as the number of devices has rapidly increased, regulation has not. hi, chris! hi, anna. how are you?

i am good, thanks. chris is a chemist who focuses on plastics. he has been an expert witness in vaginal mesh suits in the us, where he lives. what happens when the mash is implanted in the human body? the first thing that happens as it gets rejected. your body says, hey, there is a foreign part. just like what would happen if you have a splinter, you will get inflammation and your body tries to react to this foreign body and to take care of that, and in the best case, remove it. for most, this initial reaction subsides, but for some like david ellis, who we interviewed in 2018, the reaction continues. 0ver months or years, the mesh can weaken. it can become sharp, cutting into tissue and nerves, making the simplest of movements extremely painful. most mesh products are made from plastic polypropylene. part of chris's job is rigorously testing plastics to see that they are suitable and safe to be used in household items.

he was stunned when he discovered how little long—term testing had been done on some mesh devices. if you design dishwashers or vacuum cleaners or automotive parts, you go really nuts with your test. you have your brand reputation and the safety of your customer in mind, so to think that that wasn't done in the medical cases is especially shocking. why should people listen to you when you talk about mesh? two reasons. one is i have spent my whole life in plastic materials and i am considered a world expert in it. and secondly, i have no motivation to favour one side or the other. i am speaking to you unpaid because i think the public deserve to know the truth. this programme has been contacted by nearly 300 people who have experienced problems following a hernia nash repair. complications include include chronic pain, infections, mesh erosion and organ perforation. 100 of those people volunteered to answer a series of questions about their experiences, and to be part of the victoria derbyshire programme's hernia mesh data base. 0ur100 contributors

come from across the uk. the youngest is just 12 years old. the oldest, 79. we have had some really distressing cases. athletes who can no longer compete, parents who can't carry the children, and people who were once active now housebound, lonely, and have told us they often feel suicidal because of the pain. rosanna's story was one of the most shocking. she had a hernia repair in 2015 and had no idea doctors had used mesh on her. she said she was told recovery would take weeks. the mum of two delayed her wedding for two years, hoping the pain would go. instead, it got worse. when you thing about that day, what is the word that springs to mind? pain. just pain. it got to a point when i was attending hospitals and people were saying it was in my head and i was psychosomatic. i had discussed

with my husband that i wanted to end my life, i couldn't live how i was looking any longer because nobody was listening and i knew there was something not right. that in september 2018, it was and i watched our and saw a man called david ellis talking about his hernia mesh complications. his symptoms were to hers. ,similar. i was so many times close to ending it because of the pain. and so after that, i started to investigate. and then on the 10th of october, i got an e—mail confirmation from my second opinion surgeons' secretary, confirming that i had the same as what david had. the show and david is why i am here and why and fighting. she is nowjobless, housebound and registered as disabled. my kids have wrote a letter saying that theyjust want their fun mum back, which...

sorry. it's hard. my husband wrote a supporting letter, stating he married a wife and became a carer. i am only 36, and i was 33 when i had the mesh put in. i shouldn't be living the life i am living. 100 people who have experienced complications took part in our database. chronic pain is a common complication, that 92 that doctors never warned them it could be a side—effect. 28 out of 100 have had suicidal thoughts because of the complications. one of them was rosanna. when we asked how many times they visited their gp or surgeon, many different phases came up. but there was often an overriding theme. but despite the problems, only a quarter had been able to have their mesh removed. most have been told there are no

trained removal surgeons or that removing it could lead further complications. the hernia mesh complication rate is much debated, but international guidelines say it is between 10% and 12%. that is one in ten patients who will experience significant chronic pain. rosanna didn't know the complication rate. this was her reaction when we told her. that's, that has shocked me, sorry. can you explain what you're thinking, can you talk me through it? we know that one in ten people... sorry. so they are playing a lottery with our lives. it is a risk that they want to take. we found the mesh used to treat rosanna's hernia is one of the most commonly used by the nhs. it was approved off the back of several other meshes, which go back more than a0 years. for decades, there has been a loophole in medical device regulation, where if one mesh comes on the market and is similar to another mesh device, it is assumed it will be at least as safe.

this is known as substantial equivalence. this graph is like a mesh family tree. it shows just how many products can be approved off the back of others, based on the assumption that the previous ones are safe and underwent suitable testing. like rosanna's mesh, all of these products link back to a handful of older devices, like the one circled at the top here. there is a lot of secrecy surrounding the mesh approval process. even doctors can't access the clinical data. but we do know rosanna's mesh was probably only required to be tested on animals, like mice or rats, for a short period of time. they can't speak, they are animals and they don't have a voice, so how how would they know what complications the animals are having? like chronic pain? how would they know an animal

is in chronic pain? currently, to get approval, hernia mesh implants are not always required to go through clinical human trials, a concern for some who work with medical devices. there might be something like five rabbits, and you have taken a bit of the mesh, you have thrown a bit of the mesh inside the rabbit and left it there for five days and if there is no immediate reaction, you have passed the test and that is it. all of these concerns surrounding the mesh industry got us thinking. what mesh devices are being used by the nhs and how many? we should be using only two or three. where we are clear, that right now, these should have been shown to have clear benefits and have been shown to have reductions in complication. but it is far, far higher. we found nhs trusts in england and scotland have purchased more than 100 different types of nash to treat hernias. can you explain why more than 100 meshes is a concern for patients? there is no chance 100 can

have evidence of effectiveness, not least because there just isn't 100 trials in this area. therefore, some of these have no evidence attached to them whatsoever, and they have to go immediately. not having an understanding of the different types of meshes you are using and the evidence that goes with each individual one is, in terms of the numbers we are talking about, is of the scale in terms of concern. there are many mesh manufacturers. ethicon is one of the biggest. we should be clear, rosanna's mesh was made by another manufacturer. an anonymous source sent us this promotional video that had been made for doctors and was funded by ethicon. we understand the video was made around ten years ago, and in it, a surgeon criticises an older, heavyweight match, claiming a new lightweight mesh is better.

the surgeon says this is what a heavyweight mesh looks like it what enters the body, and this is what it looked like around a year after it was removed from a patient. and looking at it, you can see how broken it is. they shrank, they become more brittle... what may shock you is that ehticon has carried on producing and selling heavyweight mesh, despite knowing that these risks and complications for more than ten years. what you're going to see next is a piece of heavyweight mesh that has been removed from a female hernia patient. and you can see how stiff this material is. this is a mesh tumour, and you can see what it looks like in the back table. how hard this mesh is. you can picture why she could feel this mesh in essentially every bowel movement. we can also reveal that ethicon heavyweight mesh is still being sold to the nhs. in a statement, ethicon didn't comment on the video, but says it stands by the safety and performance of all of its products, which it says undergo rigorous testing and monitoring. it goes on to stress

the importance of looking at all the clinical and scientific data before drawing conclusions about a product's performance. the manufacturer also quoted a study that compared lightweight and heavyweight mesh, saying no real advantage between the two was found and in some cases, the heavyweight mesh was the preferred choice. ethicon finished by saying, a patient and surgeon should always discuss all available treatments. risks and benefits before surgery. we have spent months trying to show our findings to leading hernia mesh surgeons to surgeons and health officials. the nhs, the medical device watchdog the mhra, the royal college of surgeons and the british hernia society are just some of those who have repeatedly refused to be interviewed by us. 0ne surgeon who uses mesh did agree to speak to us. he cancelled our interview 90 minutes before it was due to start. we were all set up and ready to go. this development will be extremely upsetting and frustrating for the hundreds of people who have shared their stories with us. they already feel abandoned by the medical

community. this will be just another blow. but it also raises questions about why we are finding it so hard to find someone to sit down and go on record to defend mesh. the medical device regulator, the mhra, says there is a clinical need for mesh devices, but it has recognised the system needs strengthening. new regulation is due in may. many people say that mesh plays a vital role in fixing hernias, but there is too much reliance on it. nash repairs are suspended for most women in england, and ifand repairs are suspended for most women in england, and if and when the surgery in england, and if and when the surgery is reintroduced, they one specialist removal experts to be brought in. the government has ordered a review into vaginal bacteria, and they have content of this programme that any updates made will be also be relevant for hernia

mesh. this baroness pole report is due out in march, and she has asked to see ourfindings, due out in march, and she has asked to see our findings, so she due out in march, and she has asked to see ourfindings, so she can take them into account. medical experts hope this will lead to better treatment for hernias, a condition that one in ten of us will have. we can't produce a system that is risk—free, but what we can try and do is say we have a system that understands the risks and informs you assume is the risk outweighs the benefits. unfortunately, that is not a case at the moment. and if you wa nt to a case at the moment. and if you want to get in touch with the bbc‘s action, please do. here is the website now. there are loads of organisations that can help you. the green has agreed to allow harry and meghan back to step back from royal duties, after this important royal gathering at sandringham, where harry, charles and william joined the green to talk about the future of the couple. i spoke to author and

journalist about why she believes the reaction to the couple, particularly inaudible i think ever since they first announced their relationship, there has been a very racialised undertone, if not overtone, to a lot of the media narrative. and i actually don't think this is about the reaction of the british people 01’ even the reaction of the british people or even senior members of the royal family. i have no evidence to say that people in general feel hostile towards her or members of the royal family have been racist towards her, maybe with one or two exceptions. i think it is the tabloid press who have taken a particular tone with meghan mack, and for the very beginning, wanted to allude to the fa ct beginning, wanted to allude to the fact that she had african heritage and this was something that really threatened continuity within the royal family. threatened continuity within the royalfamily. and threatened continuity within the royal family. and when they decided that they didn't like her, their co nsta nt that they didn't like her, their constant attacking of her, as a very physical minority, as the only person in my lifetime of african

heritage to occupy a position of a senior member of the royal family, embodied so much of the unconscious racism on ideas about crime, and her having to cast some kind of spell over harry. even this has been discussed, that she is dragging him away from his family. when i hear that, i hear a history of black women being regarded as having dark magic powers. let's bring in some of the press quotes then. this is from the press quotes then. this is from the justice mccann daily the press quotes then. this is from thejustice mccann daily mail sent harry‘s girl is straight out of compton. let's just explain the significance of that, from your point of view. meghan markle grab in south central los angeles, which is an area known for multiple things. 0n the one hand, it is home to one is the most famous gangs in los angeles, but on the other hand, one

is america's best universities, is a bit of a community that has a historic academic community, but also in african—american community. it is to be a very middle—class african—american area, and in recent decades, has also suffered from crime, like many inner—city areas all over the world. so why would they pick out the gang sign that, bearing in mind she is non—white? there is no suggestion that she personally has anything to do with gangs, this was simply the tabloid press alluding to the fact that she is biracial and has a part of the same heritage as other people who happen to come from the same part of the city who are in gang violence. i would really challenge any tabloid newspaper to find an example where they have taken a white person from they have taken a white person from the south—central los angeles and described than in the same way. this kind of gas lighting, by running these very racialised stories and then denying there is anything racist about them, characterises the

tabloid press at the moment. and as you said, they have got their information wrong. she is from crenshaw, not compton. i got this written by journalist about crenshaw, not compton. i got this written byjournalist about meghan markle. i have done my due diligence on her and this is where i stand. if there is an issue about her union with harry, they will sicken her they're blue blood with some rich and exotic dna. it is the use of the word exotic. it is. iactually and exotic dna. it is the use of the word exotic. it is. i actually spoke to the journalist when she wrote this column, and this is actually not an example of something that was intended to be hostile. she was trying to say it is good to diversify the gene pool at the royal family, but it is just as uncomfortable in this country, when we have such a recent history of categorising people as different species, based on their race and their dna. a very recent history of regarding africans as savage and primitive, based on the genetic inheritance, where we are still exotic sized as black women,

co nsta ntly exotic sized as black women, constantly in the way we are associated with music and sexuality. this is something that all little black girls in britain have to deal with growing up. is that racist? it is inseparable from the history of racism, so as a black woman, i experienced that in a way that is very problematic, so it is very sad for me to see this biracial woman into a previously uninhabited space in our country and our institutions and be singled out by these people and be singled out by these people and is this kind of language. that is why prince harry, who has not got a history of particular anti racism, stood out and said this is unacceptable racist language. com pletely unacceptable racist language. completely unprecedented thing is seen you completely unprecedented thing is seen you wail to do. it is reported that meghan mack was told what life would be like as part of the royal family. the kind of scrutiny you would be put under. she said as much in that itv documentary. is that enough that she was warned what it would be like? i don't think anybody could have told her what it would be

like to be a biracial woman in the royalfamily like to be a biracial woman in the royal family because there hasn't been one in royal in modern times. it is not just been one in royal in modern times. it is notjust a heritage, it is the fa ct it is notjust a heritage, it is the fact that she has owned her heritage and not sought to downplay it. she has said my mother is african—american and i'm proud of that heritage. similarly, her feminism, which i think is also a big part of the hostility from the tabloid press. she hasn't swept it under the carpet, she has said i am a feminist and i want my activism to relate to how i am as a feminist. it is that owning a vet that is different from anything we have seen from royals before and that was what was refreshing and inspiring to me, but i fear that is what has been threatening to part of the british establishment. finally, it is one of the most bizarre shows for a while, the most bizarre shows for a while, the mast singer. they have people wearing nature themed costume singing classics to a panel who try to work out who is behind the mask.

the latest behind a mask is a singer from the darkness. music plays # the true players are beautiful! # the true players are beautiful! # chameleon who is behind the mask, take it off! take it off! take it off! take it off! take it off! take it 0ff! take it take it off! take it off! take it off! take it off! take it off! take it off! take it 0ff! take it off! take it take it off! take it off! take it off! take it off! take it off! it is justin it isjustin hawkins it is justin hawkins from it isjustin hawkins from the

darkness! good morning. how was it for you? earle exhilarating. why do you say that? because you are on your own, just totally on your own and you can't. .. your own, just totally on your own and you can't... there is no connection to the outside world and you are just connection to the outside world and you arejust in connection to the outside world and you are just in there doing that stuff. and you weren't lewis hamilton, he went to storm the,... , because there is the suggestions? i can see that actually. when they first approached you, what was your honest immediate reaction about whether to take part or not? honestly, i had reservations about it being a saturday night tv show, but i was comforted by the surreal nature of the format and the fact that it comes from korea and it is new and thrash and exciting. because you can imagine it is going to be easierfor the guestbook you can imagine it is going to be easier for the guestbook are in

series two because we will have all seen series two because we will have all seen it. no one had seen it and eve ryo ne seen it. no one had seen it and everyone thought it was the most bizarre phenomenon. everyone was talking about it, but for you to actually go through it and say, yeah i want to be a part of this.|j actually go through it and say, yeah i want to be a part of this. i spoke to the band about it because the timing couldn't be better. we had an album out just before timing couldn't be better. we had an album outjust before christmas, and we've got a single coming out this week, just after i had been unveiled, so they are all happy that it didn't interfere with anything. 0rundermine it didn't interfere with anything. 0r undermine anything. the only thing was to do it properly, i needed to pay attention to the local coaches and things because when you're wearing a paper papier nash a at that and you can't see anybody, the experience of performing is com pletely the experience of performing is completely different what i'm used to. i need to interacting with audiences and reacting to rooms, and all i had was my, just like a, just actual darkness. and so, when it

comes to their moment of the reveal, you don't see that many people in the audience because they had actually taken a lot of them out to keep the whole thing secret, haven't they? yes. it was 18 months ago when we found that, but it felt like about 20 odd people there, something like that. and they had taken most of the audience that, taking peoples phones... i think they took out people they couldn't trust, because they had a really restrictive nondisclosure agreement for the people who are named. you have to keep the secrets... yeah, i still haven't told my mum. i haven't spoken to her since it was broadcast. because my mum is one of those people you can't tell anything to because the whole world would find out about it, so i wasn't able to tell her. she watches tv, and it would have been... de do not speak to her saturday night?|j would have been... de do not speak to her saturday night? i tried to call her this morning, but i haven't got through to her yet. so you have

not picked up the phone and said i got! no i don't think she knows. that is us it from us this week. you can that is us it from us this week. you ca n co nta ct that is us it from us this week. you can contact us on twitter, day or night. we will be back soon. high pressure has replaced low pressure and bringing wet and windy mild conditions to our shores. for the next few days, some dry weather with sunshine and light winds, but it will stay cold with overnight frosts. this is the area of high pressure that building over saturday. it has pushed this area of low pressure saturday. it has pushed this area of low pressure wave saturday. it has pushed this area of low pressure wave in the north of the country, so you should continue to see showers clearing away for the northern isles, although just to see showers clearing away for the northern isles, althoughjust a to see showers clearing away for the northern isles, although just a few showers clipping the south—east of england. a cold night to come, with clear skies of light wind and widespread frost, particularly out of town. high pressure still with us

on into sunday, still looking fine and sunny for most. more isobars and weather fronts just flirting with the north—west corner of the country, we get here through the day, introducing more cloud to the north west of scotland and because see a little bit of rain for the northern isles. temperatures reaching nine or 10 degrees. in a way, but elsewhere, after a cold start to sunday with mist and fog, a dry afternoon with temperatures of 6 degrees. 0n into monday, high pressure still with us as these weather fronts and isobars close together across the north and continue to bring a difference in temperature to monday, 9 degrees in the north and more cloud, but a cold, frosty start to the central and southern parts of the uk. here, once the frost lifts for the morning, plenty of sunshine. for northern ireland and the west of scotland, more cloud and a breeze

here too, but warmer. 10 degrees, as opposed to six or 8 degrees, which is more normalfor the time of opposed to six or 8 degrees, which is more normal for the time of year. 0urarea of high is more normal for the time of year. 0ur area of high pressure still goes on into tuesday, that we will see one weather fronts just toppling across the north of the country and spread southwards. that could introduce one or two spots of rain, and behind it the sunshine will return, but as the weather front spread southwards it will introduce a band of cloud and perhaps as few spots of drizzle. it still stays pretty cold, those temperatures in single figures. coolerfor pretty cold, those temperatures in single figures. cooler for the north—west of scotland too. high pressure will dominate the scene throughout the week, saying largely try with a variable cloud and spells of sunshine. cold overnight.

this is bbc news. the headlines at 5. the chancellor, sajid javid, says there will be no alignment for businesses with eu regulations after brexit. business representatives warn food prices could rise and jobs may be affected as a result. senior south yorkshire police officers ignored sexual abuse of girls in rotherham by asian men, for fear of causing racial tensions, according to the police watchdog. contenders in the race to replace jeremy corbyn as labour leader call for unity, as they take part in the first hustings of the contest, answering questions from party members in liverpool. police demand an urgent meeting with the commander of the us base, close to where teenager harry dunn was killed, after two more incidents