you're watching bbc news at 9 with me, joanna gosling. the headlines. president trump makes his state of the union speech and hails "the great american comeback", just hours before he's expected to be acquitted in his impeachment trial. jobs are booming. incomes are soaring. poverty is plummeting. crime is falling. confidence is surging. and our country is thriving and highly respected again. the democrat house speaker, nancy pelosi, clashes with president trump. she's seen ripping up her copy of his speech. at 9.15, we'll hearfrom us political watchers both here and in the us about the president's annual speech and his quest for a second term. a second and final flight will be

chartered to fly any remaining britons who want to leave wuhan amid the coronavirus outbreak. more than a0 people are arrested as police crack down on courier fraud, with thousands of vicitms in the last two years. and in sport, liverpool's youngsters beat shrewsbury to reach the fa cup fifth round. good morning and welcome to the bbc news at 9. in dramatic scenes in the us congress overnight, president trump has set out his case for another four years in office, and hailed what he called "the great american comeback". republicans chanted in support at the annual state of the union address.

but the democrat speaker nancy pelosi was seen ripping up her copy of the speech. the economy was at the core of the president's speech. he cited deregulation, tax cuts and new trade agreements as his recipe for prosperity. he also highlight his success on immigration — saying that the wall along the south border continued to be built. he also highlighted how his policies had helped minority groups. it was night of a tension, with his rival nancy pelosi tearing up her speech, president trump refusing to shake her hand and a number of democrats either walking out or not showing up at all. for a state of the union speech, the moment marked significant displays of disunity. from washington, our correspondent ben wright reports. even before president trump spoke, this felt more like a republican party rally than a solemn state of the union address. "four more years," chanted

republican lawmakers, while democrats looked angry and glum. in a striking snub of the most senior democrat in the chamber, president trump refused to shake nancy pelosi's hand, someone who pushed hard for his impeachment. donald trump then fired out lines that will form the crux of his re—election campaign. jobs are booming. incomes are soaring. poverty is plummeting. crime is falling. confidence is surging. and our country is thriving and highly respected again. applause. the speech was bombastic, boastful, and partisan. my fellow americans, the best is yet to come. thank you. and then, at the end — this. nancy pelosi ripping up the president's speech in disgust. washington has rarely looked so bitter. because it was a manifesto

of mistruths. and what do you think about him not shaking your hand? we always extend the hand of friendship. if he takes it, that's up to him. and the partisan divide will only deepen later on today when, as everybody expects, the republican—led senate clears president trump of abusing his power and obstructing congress. in this election year, the next nine months will be fiercely fought and this may not be president trump's last state of the union address. ben wright, bbc news, washington. meanwhile, democrats are finally getting a clearer understanding of who won the first caucus of the primary season that will decide who runs against president trump in november. the first stage, the iowa caucuses, has been a fiasco with results delayed more than 2a hours. with about 71% of the vote in iowa declared, the youngest candidate,

38 year—old pete buttegieg, is leading, closely followed by leftwinger bernie sanders. mr buttigieg is the first self—indentified gay candidate to try and win the presidency. he described the result as an astonishing victory. we don't know all of the numbers but we know this much, a campaign that started a year ago with four staff members, no name recognition, no money, just a big idea, a campaign that some said should have no business even making this attempt, has taken its place at the front of this race to replace the current president with a better vision for the future. cheering and applause the former us vice presidentjoe biden was considered by many to be the frontrunner but he's trailing in fourth place. speaking earlier in new hampshire, he joked about the delay in results from iowa. you know, 2a hours later, they're still trying to figure out what the heck happened in iowa.

at this rate, new hampshire might get the first vote after all. our correspondent nick bryant has been in iowa and has this analysis of the results. these returns are very good news of course for pete buttigieg, the former mayor of south bend, indiana, a man who is hoping to become the first openly gay occupant of the white house. the youngest candidate in the field, but a candidate with a very strong cv, a graduate of harvard, a graduate of oxford, a man who was in the us military as well. it sometimes feels as though he's been preparing for this moment all of his life. the other leader in the polls right now is bernie sanders, the left—wing candidate in the field, the 78—year—old, a man who only in october had a heart attack, but who has this appeal for the young. he offers them free college tuition, he offers to legalise marijuana,

he offers free health care for everyone and that is a very compelling message, especially for young people. the person who's had a very disappointing iowa caucus clearly, whatever the rest of these results is, because they won't really significantly improve his standing, isjoe biden, the former vice president for eight years, of course, the deputy to barack obama, the moderate in this race, the man who says he is the man capable of beating donald trump in november. he has always claimed this electability is linked to his likeability, but here he has performed very poorly. and for those who have seen joe biden here, delivering his stump speech in a very halting way, in ways where he often does not finish sentences, he often doesn't finish his thoughts, they will think whether he has the capability to really mount a serious and viable long—term challenge. he will move on to state where he stands a better chance in terms of the demographics.

he is popular amongst african americans, such a key constituency in the democratic party. he knows he will do better in states like south carolina. but a lot of veteran and seasoned commentators looking atjoe biden here in iowa, as the iowans have themselves, will be wondering, you know, hasjoe biden done his dash? joining me now is our correspondent ben wright who was watching it all. really quite extraordinary timing, we had the iowa chaos then the state of the union and today will be the final result of the impeachment trial against president trump. how has the state of the union speech gone down? it is a remarkable day, a week of crunch political drama, you are right. the state of the union speech was pretty extraordinary. i mean, we're used to talking about the polarisation of american politics, but this was completely toxic. it was surreal in many ways

that donald trump was there, in the same chamber, the house of that had impeached him only seven or eight weeks ago. he didn't actually mention impeachment at all. instead, this was an absolutely brazen real election pitch from donald trump, who knows that in a few hours, here, the senators on capitol hill will acquit him and throw out the charges come the charges they how sent over of him abusing his power and obstructing congress, the republican—led senate will give him the all clear and then he hopes to bounce on until full throttle re—election campaign mode. you heard all of the themes that he is going to be relying on over the next nine months spelt out today. at the centre of it, the economy. america does have a pretty buoyant economy, the unemployment rate is at a 50 year low. he talked about a blue—collar boom, a pitch directly to his face. he thinks that the economy will get him a second time

in the white house. and how much of an advantage does the incumbent have, particularly when you see he's got this platform to talk about the record of his last four years and what is happening in iowa with the democratic campaign obviously coming a bit unstuck at that point and it is going to be some time before we know who will be taking on president trump? yes, i mean, there is clearly some chaos at the moment in the democratic party, it is not at all clear which way they are going to 90, clear which way they are going to go, if they are going to go for a candidate on the left, bernie sanders, or an elizabeth warren, pete buttigieg or evenjoe biden or even a bluebird, there's so much uncertainty on the democratic wing. i think that is a degree of chaos and uncertainty that president trump is clearly going to exploit. i think the view is, for an incumbent president fighting an election with an economy in the state it is at the moment, which is very good and americans feeling optimistic about the economy, it is a pretty hard election to lose in normal

circumstances. but you know, nothing in american politics is very normal at the moment. president trung's approval rating is never more than 50%, it is about 48 at the moment, he has not really increased his support base very much at all and i think for him to guarantee victory, he needs to find new supporters. i think he attempted to with some of the themes he was talking about here. he talked a lot about african americans and the help that he said he was giving to hispanic workers in the economy. i think it is going to need more than that to broaden his base. but i think he feels, going into the election year, that he is ina into the election year, that he is in a relatively strong position and he certainly looked confident today. but the state of the union will be remembered for nancy pelosi tearing up remembered for nancy pelosi tearing up the speech and donald trump refusing to shake her hand, absolutely symbolising the polarisation running through american politics. thank you for joining us. and later i will be talking to a political analyst here and in the us for their response to

all of those events. british citizens are once again being urged to leave wuhan, the chinese city at the centre of the new coronavirus outbreak. the foreign secretary says a second and final flight is being chartered to help those wishing to leave. 94 uk nationals and family members have already been evacuated. the death toll has risen to 490 with over 20,000 people infected. in japan, 10 people on a cruise ship have contracted the virus, and in the past minutes, hong kong have announced that all visitors from mainland china will be quarantined for 14 days. let's take a closer look at the decision to instruct britons to leave china due to the spread of the virus. the foreign office estimates there are just under 30,000 britons leaving in china, with 600,000 visiting each year. in nearby hong kong, 35,000 britons

currently live there, with 570,000 brits visiting each year. the hong chief executive carrie lam has confirmed this morning, there are 21 confirmed cases of coronavirus. well, this morning health secretary matt hancock has said the government is doing all it can. the principle that we are taking is that we want to take no chances with this virus. we want to take a science led approach. the approach we have been taking has very much been driven by the advice of the chief medical officer. this is a very serious virus, and has a very serious impact in china will stop as you say, there are two cases only here in the uk but we expect more. we are taking no chances. wuhan is the epicentre of this epidemic, and for those who we have brought back from wuhan, we are putting them into quarantine. there are almost 100

people in arrowe park on the wirral andi people in arrowe park on the wirral and i want to thank all the staff there who have done an amazing job in supporting them. but the current likelihood of getting a case of coronavirus in wuhan itself is much, much higher than in the rest of china. so because of that difference in risk, we think that it is appropriate that if you are brought back by the government, because there are no flights out of wuhan, then you need to go into quarantine. but we recommend that people come back from the rest of china and that they don't go to china unless it is absolutely essential, because... then they should self isolate if they have symptoms and make sure that, as i say, anybody with a concern should dial 111. the health secretary, matt hancock.

let's get more on that cruise ship injapan where ten passengers have tested positive for the virus. british tourist david abel remains on—board the ship where a strict quarantine is being enforced. the last 24 hours, it has changed quite considerably. having enjoyed a wonderful cruise, when we arrived in 0kinawa, four or five days ago, wonderful cruise, when we arrived in 0kinawa, four orfive days ago, we had to go through a quarantine procedure, and since then, it has been really downhill with regard to what is happening to passengers on the ship. 6:30am japanese time today, so nine hours ago, we were informed by the captain that every passenger had to remain in their cabin. i would passenger had to remain in their cabin. iwould imagine in passenger had to remain in their cabin. i would imagine in the next five days, every passenger is going to be tested again to see whether anyone is proving positive for the virus. until then, we are all confined to our cabins. we are one of the fortunate folks, well, one of the many fortunate folk in that we have got a cabin with a balcony so

we can open the door and get fresh airand enjoy we can open the door and get fresh air and enjoy the view. the people i am feeling really bad about are the passengers who have inside cabins. they have got no natural light, no windows to look out of, and all they have got is the air—conditioning. for them, it must be hell on earth. i would say there's a wee bit of anxiety, because what i don't want to hear is that another passenger has gone down with it, certainly not me or my wife, so there's the anxiety over that. the passengers that got off that were infected, have they passed anything onto other people on board 7 have they passed anything onto other people on board? wejust don't have they passed anything onto other people on board? we just don't know yet. that is why i think there will be more testing. yes, there's anxiety. i think there's going to be quite a bit of boredom coming up. if you were to talk to me in 14 days' time, you perhaps might not see the same smile as today. that is a british tourist stuck on the cruise ship injapan. let's get the latest on the

coronavirus from robin brant in shanghai. it is a constantly evolving situation so bring us up with the latest developments. let's talk about the death toll as we have done almost on a daily basis. it continues to rise at a percentage that we are seeing every 24 hours, roughly, 490 now confirmed dead according to those official figures from the chinese government, an increase of some 15% on this time yesterday. and the number of cases is now at 24,000, just over 24,000, up is now at 24,000, just over 24,000, up about 20% on yesterday's numbers. we are seeing this daily, consistent increase in terms of those low double—digit percentages. meanwhile, china is now a country almost unbelievably given that it has 1.4 billion people in the population, that the british government is telling any brits he had to get out of. i think you heard matt hancock in the clip earlier, reiterating that point. they are organising a second charter flight from wuhan on sunday morning, which will leave in the early hours, we understand. bbc

has been told there are around 108 britons in wuhan at the moment who say they want to be on the plane. the foreign office is trying to clear up some confusion with the previous flight last week. it was quite distressing for many people in wuhan, about who could go, british nationals if they have chinese nationals if they have chinese nationals who are their partners and children. according to the guidance, according to the decisions of the chinese authorities on the ground, british nationals with chinese national partners will be able to stay together and get on the plane and depart together. thank you. the headlines on bbc news. president trump makes his state of the union speech and hails "the great american comeback", just hours before he's expected to be acquitted in his impeachment trial. the democrat house speaker, nancy pelosi, clashes with president trump. she's seen ripping up her copy of his speech. a second and final flight will be

chartered to fly any remaining britons who want to leave wuhan amid the coronavirus outbreak. and in sport... wayne rooney sets up a meeting with his old club manchester united in the fa cup, capping off derby's victory over northampton to reach round five. the premier league's new boss says var is here to stay, but he admits it does need improving, after criticism from clubs and fans alike. and england cricket captain eoin morgan says they were "way off the mark" in their heavy defeat to south africa in their first one—day international since lifting the world cup last summer. i'll be back with more on those stories after half—past. how should the bbc be funded? at the moment, tv services are covered by the licence fee and if you don't pay, you could be fined or even sent to prison. but this morning, the government is looking at whether that should change. breakfast'sjohn maguire has been

out and about in bristol to see what you think. got a problem with bringing you that u nfortu nately got a problem with bringing you that unfortunately so got a problem with bringing you that u nfortu nately so let's got a problem with bringing you that unfortunately so let's go to our political editor norman smith. explain what they are looking at. this is an eight—week consultation to see whether the licence fee should be decriminalised, in other words, people should not be prosecuted for not having a licence fee. the viewing government i think is simply this, they think it is anachronistic that people should be prosecuted in an era when more and more people are watching services like netflix or amazon, maybe they don't use the bbc, particularly younger viewers. there is a feeling that it younger viewers. there is a feeling thatitis younger viewers. there is a feeling that it is heavy haddad, over punitive to prosecute people for not having a licence fee and there is a view that it is a waste of court time. the bbc‘s take is that this was all looked atjust a few time. the bbc‘s take is that this was all looked at just a few years ago, ina was all looked at just a few years ago, in a government commissioned inquiry which concluded that

actually, the licence fee was perhaps the fairest and most equitable way to fund a public service broadcaster. but let's be honest, it's not just service broadcaster. but let's be honest, it's notjust about the licence fee. this is really paving the way for a much bigger debate about the future, the survival of the bbc. culture secretary nicky morgan is pretty open about that, she writes in the daily mail today, say the government wants to look at "the relevance" of the bbc, and once the corporation could end up like blockbuster, the high street video store which we used to go to, ten or so years ago and now no longer exists. i suppose the problem is, there are plenty of people on the government side who are not very fond of the bbc nowadays, a good number take the view that the bbc‘s role in the brexit referendum and at the general election raises questions about its political impartiality and there is i think an undercurrent of political payback on here. on the other side, the labour

party are warning that if the government does go down the road of decriminalising the licence fee, then, yes, that could put at risk then, yes, that could put at risk the very survival of the bbc. this was the shadow culture secretary tracy brabin. looking at the statistics, it would cost the bbc millions of pounds in order to go through the civil courts, it would cost the public more in an increase in licence fee. when only five people last year went to prison for nonpayment of their tv licence, and it is probably part of a larger package of debt, i do think that the government two years ago hired a qc to look into this and their conclusion was that the best way to fund the bbc is through the licence fee. of course, there are challenges to the bbc, but i really believe that we need to protect public service broadcasting. that we need to protect public service broadcastinglj that we need to protect public service broadcasting. i guess the big question is, if you decriminalise the licence fee, what do you put in its place? the bbc

cannot do what services like netflix or skye do, turning off the subscription service. we can't turn off people's radios and tvs, so that sanction is not open to us and if you move to a substructure model, so the bbc becomes like netflix or sky, you the bbc becomes like netflix or sky, y°u pay the bbc becomes like netflix or sky, you pay to tie up the service, then you pay to tie up the service, then you wave goodbye to a universal public service, it is no longer available to everyone. the other option, and i think this is where the government is going, is for the bbc to pursue people who don't pay for the licence fee themselves, through civil action. that seems to me really a political nightmare for the bbc because the idea of the bbc recruiting teams of lawyers that chase people through the county courts, it is notjust a huge waste of the bbc‘s time and money, itjust politically looks a most impossible, i would think, for the bbc today.

that then brings you back to the question, so the licensee may not be perfect, but what is the alternative? thank you very much, norman. more now on president trump's state of the union address. it was his last one before november's election. mr trump used it to declare that the us is thriving again after what he called the great american comeback. he was speaking on the eve of his expected acquittal on corruption charges in his impeachment trial. but his political rival, the democratic house speaker nancy pelosi, ripped up a copy of his speech behind him. that was after he had apparently refused to shake her hand. elex michaelson is the anchor of the issue is, which broadcasts nightly on fox affiliate channel 11 across california. he's in los angeles. also i'm joined by nathasha lindstaedt, professor of government at the university of essex. welcome to both of you. alex, the timing is quite incredible, these

events timing is quite incredible, these eve nts o n timing is quite incredible, these events on successive days in the us, with the iowa caucus, the state of the union and of course, the impeachment result today. what is your overall take on everything going on? i mean, it is a remarkable moment and all of those things are not isolated. they all kind of go together, as you mention, president trump refusing to shake the hand of nancy pelosi, the speaker of the house, who just impeached nancy pelosi, the speaker of the house, whojust impeached him nancy pelosi, the speaker of the house, who just impeached him 49 days ago. she ripped up his speech stop it just points days ago. she ripped up his speech stop itjust points to the incredible bitterness. 0ften stop itjust points to the incredible bitterness. often in the state of the union, it is kind of a moment where they try to be above politics, where there would be a lot more pomp and circumstance and more respect, and like so many things in the drum era, the rules are out. —— in the trump era. you had the reality tv president in full effect, doing surprises for the audience at multiple times, and really putting onatv multiple times, and really putting on a tv show in a way that no politician in american history ever has, completely rewriting the rules of what the state of the union is

and it is a preview of what could be and it is a preview of what could be an incredibly dramatic campaign. meanwhile, democrats are trying to figure out what to do with the iowa caucus that happened the day before and could not even get a result for the first 24 hours, so it shows a real contrast between where the two parties are, and then, you know, in the next day, you will see this acquittal of president trump, and he will say it is an exoneration and a vindication. natasha, does this all leave the president looking hard to beatin leave the president looking hard to beat in the elections?” leave the president looking hard to beat in the elections? i think that is what trump wants to project and thatis is what trump wants to project and that is what the state of the union was about. it was about all of his accomplishments. he was talking about how well the economy was doing. he was talking about the unemployed rates. and then he really pivoted to focusing on his base, by giving a medal to rush limbo —— to

rush limbaugh, a very conservative and polarising talk radio host, and by focusing on immigration. he knows what his base wants, but the state of the union was very polarising. it was not something that united people. you may see that the base is more fired up than ever but at the same time, just looking at the way nancy pelosi responded to it, by ripping up the pages of it, i have never seen that before, you are also going to have the democratic base being more energised than ever as well. the democrats are not off to a great start with the way the caucus went. however, they will try to regroup after super tuesday and try to get behind one candidate and then try to focus on beating trump. alex, who is the candidate who might be able to beat president trump? well, that, of course, is the big question. you see in all of the polls, the number one issue that democrats care about most is who is the best person to beat donald trump. there are two basic thoughts on that, you know, some democrats think about "we have tried the

moderate candidate before, we tried hillary clinton and john kerry and some of these candidates that are nextin some of these candidates that are next in line as the person who is opposed to when and that does not work". trump was not the most moderate, he got his base out, so some on the left think if the right can do that, they can as well and thatis can do that, they can as well and that is what people that want bernie sanders or elizabeth warren are saying. some in the centre of the democratic party think they need a moderate because if they put a leftist up, they will lose the election. those are people that are behind joe biden orb pete buttigieg, potentially mike bloomberg. that is the former mayor of new york who has got $52 billion to spend. that is throwing a wrench in the whole thing because he said yesterday he is going to put twice as much money into the race, he's already put $200 million into the race. so what will that do? so that question, who is the best person, is the most important question that we will hopefully have an answer for in the next couple of months. we don't have

the results from iowa still, natasha, 71% of the vote counted but pete buttigieg is there one out in front. is that a surprise for you?” was completely surprised by that because the poles coming into the caucus were showing that bernie sanders was ahead, joe biden was second, and then there was a big drop before you got to pete buttigieg and elizabeth warren so pete buttigieg came out of nowhere and he seems to be grabbing joe biden's photos. we thought that in the second round of voting, people who had not reached the 15% threshold, when they would realign themselves, they would do it with joe biden but instead, this really benefited pete buttigieg and he also benefited pete buttigieg and he also benefited from the fact he's got a lot of support in rural areas, which are apportioned with more delegates than voters. he is declaring a victory and think he has a lot of momentum going into new hampshire and he's probably going to do really well in new hampshire because part of his problem was selling himself

to the american public as somebody who can actually win. with this big surprise win, he is demonstrating that he is a very viable candidate. thank you forjoining us. now it's time for a look at the weather. good morning. for some of us, a foggy start to the day but generally the weather for the next few days is settled. but by the time we get to saturday night and sunday, it looks very much like we will have some heavy rain and some very strong winds, fails, possibly even severe gales coming our way. first thing this morning, some fog across parts of england especially. some of it will slowly lift. some of it will only lift into low cloud and if that happens where you are, it will suppress the temperature. but more or less across the board, we are looking at some hazy sunshine. thick cloud across the north—west of northern ireland, north—west england and the north and west of scotland. that means we will see few showers here. but the wind is lighter than yesterday, not feeling quite as cold. tonight, we are more likely to

have problematic fog across parts of england and wales and it is going to bea england and wales and it is going to be a chilly night as well, with locally some frost and potentially some freezing fog. like today, tomorrow, the fog will be slow to lift but for many of us, it is going to be another dry day with some hazy sunshine. goodbye. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: president trump makes his state of the union speech and hails "the great american comeback" and made his case for a second term. the president spoke on the eve of his expected acquittal on corruption charges in his impeachment trial. jobs are booming, incomes are soaring, poverty is plummeting, crime is falling. confidence is surging and our country is thriving and highly respected again.

the democrat house speaker, nancy pelosi, clashes with president trump — she's seen tearing up her copy of his speech behind him. ms pelosi first launched formal impeachment efforts last year. a second and final flight will be chartered to fly any remaining britons who want to leave wuhan amid the coronavirus outbreak. 94 uk nationals and family members have already been evacuated. just 3% of councils are happy with government progress on local finances, forcing nearly all councils to raise council tax and increase charges to make ends meet. councils say it's to pay for things like children's services and adult social care. with me now is dr jonathan carr—west, chief executive of the local government information unit — a group of experts who provide advise and ideas on economic problems facing councils. how many councils are having to put

up how many councils are having to put up the cost in the community? 9796 of council tell us they are going to be putting up council tax and 90% of those are going to be putting it up by the maximum amount that they are allowed to. which is 396? it is 296 for all councils and if you are a cancer with social care response that he is, it is an additional 2%. so many people will be seeing their council tax bills go up by 4%. so many people will be seeing their council tax bills go up by 496. is it unavoidable? i think it is unavoidable. in the last ten years, government funding to councils has been slashed by 40% or more. at the same time, the way in which councils are funded has changed so that instead of being funded by central government grant, they are funded by local taxes, council tax and retained business rates. how much does council tax going up or down impact on residents in terms of satisfaction with what they get in return? well, it is notjust council

tax because charges are also going up. 97% of councils say they will be increasing fees on everything from parking to swimming pools to cremations. at the same time, service levels are being cut to the bone. councils are barely able to provide the statutory services that they are legally obliged to, like aduu they are legally obliged to, like adult social care or children's services. so many people will feel that they are paying more, but seeing less in return. and what has been cut? over the last ten years, we have seen councils make huge effo rts we have seen councils make huge efforts to absorb massive cuts while protecting front line services. we are seeing huge numbers of staff laid off, we have seen back of his mergers, we are seeing buildings sold, assets disposed of. there has been a huge effort to make councils as efficient as possible, but we are getting to the end of what can be done with that. we now have one in ten councils saying that they are worried they won't even be able to cover basic statutory services. one

in seven councils say they anticipate some form of legal challenge to whether they are providing those services at a sufficient level. so what would it look like if one in ten councils couldn't cover the statutory services? well, we have never got to that position before because councils have made a huge effort to make sure they do. but in reality, you will see people getting fewer hours of care, fewer social workers working across more vulnerable children, really stretching the system. what do you think should happen? we need to look at all of this again. the government plan is that councils should be funded by locally retained business rates, but we don't know how or when that system is coming in. we have a one yearfunding system is coming in. we have a one year funding settlement that patches it together. 75% of council tell us they don't think business rates are a sustainable solution. so we need to look at this afresh. there are loads of ideas out there in local government, local governments talking about whether they could have a share of income tax or the

new digital sales tax. could we have a new hotel tax? 75% of councils are making commercial investments locally to bring in money. could we have different rules around borrowing? there is a range of ideas out there, all done in other comparable economies like the us, france and germany. they are not on the table here. we have a new government with a majority, here for five years. they need to look at this, listen to councils and take a new vision on this. dr jonathan carr—west, chief executive of the local information unit, thank you. time now for the morning briefing, where we bring you up to speed on the stories people are watching, reading and sharing. firstly, more on our top story which has got a lot of people talking online — donald trump's state of the union address. as we've been hearing, the democratic speaker nancy pelosi tore up a copy of the speech after the president finished speaking. reacting on twitter,

she said: the former vice—president joe biden — who's in the running to be the democratic presidential candidate ahead of the election in november — tweeted: there was also some positive reaction to the address on social media — the secretary of state mike pompeo said: and closer to home, the brexit party leader nigel farage tweeted:

another story that has got a lot of you talking is the online treatment of the labour mp tracy brabin after she wore an off—the—shoulder dress while speaking in parliament on monday. 0ne tweet questioned whether her outfit was "appropriate". it prompted a barrage of comments online, including many offensive sexist comments. speaking to bbc breakfast this morning, ms brabin said social media gave people an avenue to make personal attacks. they are often anonymous people, keyboard warriors sat in a bedroom eating pot noodles and having a pop at people that they don't know anything about. but i would reiterate, please listen to what we have to say because it's a really important time in the media for the press and certainly with boris johnson deciding who he will and won't speak to. we need to press the government again and again to make

sure that your viewers and my constituents understand what is going on as we go into the negotiations with the eu. another story that's generating a lot of conversation are the calls for better access to medicinal cannabis. the decision to make it available on the nhs was seen as "life—changing" for thousands of children with severe epilepsy. but now campaigners are heading to parliament, demanding access to different types of the drug because it could be more effective. tim muffett has been looking at the issues. alfie dingley has a rare form of epilepsy. he used to suffer more than 100 seizures a month. his family say medical cannabis, prescribed by the nhs in 2018, transformed him. he's now able to live a pretty much normal life. but other families who want access to the same medical cannabis by the nhs for their epileptic children have been left frustrated and angry. some are having to pay thousands of pounds a month for it. that's because although medical cannabis has been legalised,

critics say the guidelines issued by the national institute for health and care excellence are too confusing and to restrictive. the medical cannabis used by alfie has two key ingredients, cbd, which is known to reduce seizures, and thc, the psychoactive compound in cannabis which makes people high. some nhs specialists are worried about its effect on the brain. so the medical cannabis recently licensed by the nhs doesn't contain thc. some say it's less effective as a result. the nhs insists it will make a real difference, benefiting thousands of people with severe epilepsy. tim muffett, bbc news. new research suggests the vocal patterns of penguins follow the same principles as human speech. the study of 28 adult african penguins in italian zoos found that, as with people, the syllables used most often were the shortest.

researchers say it's the first time that the principles of information compression in speech were observed in animals other than primates. and a quick look at the most popular stories on the bbc news website. number two, overly sexualised pretty little thing and band. there is the picture of it, featuring a woman wearing exposing lingerie. it has been banned for being offensive. the youtube advert presented the advert in overly sexualised way. pretty little thing has said it in no way meant to cause any offence. the third most read story is this one. it isa third most read story is this one. it is a serious one, but you can only imagine the shock of someone who walks into a toilet on a plane and discovers a fully loaded gun there. apparently the bodyguard for

david cameron left the gum on the transatlantic plane. a terrified passenger found the gun and gave it to staff on the british airways flight to staff on the british airways flight from new york to london on monday. as former prime minister, david cameron is entitled to continued security provided by the metropolitan police. there's other stories you are looking up at home. time for the sport. here is sally. good morning. it turns out you can win with kids. liverpool fielded the youngest side in the club's history last night — and they made it through to the fifth round of the fa cup, beating shrewsbury1—0. it was a really unfortunate own—goal that decided it, ro—shaun williams under pressure and fluffing his clearance. with their first team and manager away on the winter break, the under—23s were on the field — althouthurgen klopp was sending messages throughout the game.

some words of advice and support, which is fantastic. at half—time and the end, he was delighted with the performance and the result. it was a bit of a message to the players before the game that chelsea away could be an opportunity for one or two more of you to play in a game like that. wayne rooney helped set up a meeting with his old side manchester united, scoring the last goal in derby county's 4—2 win over northampton town. they'll be at home to united, the 12—time fa cup newcastle were leading oxford united 2—0 but the league one side pulled level and pushed the game into extra time, allan saint—maximin clinching victory for newcastle, who're into the fifth round for the first time in 14 years. also through are birmingham and reading. love it or hate it,

var is here to stay, according to the premier league's new chief executive. richard masters admits that it does need improving, but he denies it's been damaging to the game. he's been speaking to our sports editor dan roan. 0bviously, obviously, there are issues with consistency of decision—making and delay. would you scrap the system? i don't think that is an option. we have to make var better. we have discussed that with clubs and there are certain things we have already done. for example, we have tried to improve the communication in the stadium by using different methodologies to communicate to fans about what is going on. we will have about what is going on. we will have a debate with the clubs in april about what sort of var they would like next season. the former tottenham midfielder chrisian eriksen has told the bbc that he felt he was blamed for their poor form towards the end of his time there, and he paid the price for his honesty.

he spoke to a danish newspaper and he was very open in wanting to leave, after they lost the champions league final to liverpool last season — hejoined inter milan last month, ending six and a half years with spurs. if you have a short contract, you will be the black sheep. i did the interview and i was very honest. i didn't want to hide stuff like a lot of players do. they work in their own way, everyone is different, but i was honest. i wanted to try something new. buti i was honest. i wanted to try something new. but i did get the blame for a lot of stuff. i didn't read all of that stuff. in the end, you are still the same player. the fa cup is the main focus on the back pages this morning. "no jurgen, no problem" is the headline in the daily mail. that's harvey elliott celebrating liverpool's win there. the guardian have a fantastic picture of allan saint—maximin being grabbed

by matty longstaff, after his extra time goal gve them victory over oxford united. the express also features those fa cup replays, but also reports on plans that golf‘s governing bodies are trying to put in place to reduce hitting distances in the game. let's look at that in more detail now — golf chiefs have launched a report, two years in the making, which says measures are needed to prevent players hitting the ball further and further, and threatening the future of the sport. this is how it's changed over the last quarter of a century. in 1995 the world's top 20 were driving the ball, on average, 278 yards off the tee. but throw that forward to last year, and it's up to a massive 310 yards. ware is hitting distance going and where is it likely to go in the future? there was a concern about

the need to keep expanding golf courses and the balance between skill and technology. those two issues lay at the heart of the report. england's cricketers were brought back down to earth with a thump, losing heavily to south africa in their first one day international since they won the world cup. there was a familiar collapse as they struggled to 258—8. quinton de kock then hit a century in his first match as south africa's 0di captain. and temba bavuma added 98, as south africa safely took victory by seven wickets. england captain eoin morgan said they were "way off the mark". they play again on friday. how's this for bad luck? barrow are top of the national league and they lost for the first time since october last night. but it gets worse. their team bus broke down and they needed to get home from dover, about 400 miles and 7 hours away!

so they hitched a lift back with their supporters. i'm sure they were very happy to have them on board. there's one more fa cup replay to come tonight. totte n ha m against southampton is live on radio 5 live and on the bbc sport website. there's commentary on motherwell against celtic in the scottish premiership. that's all from me but there'll be more sport throughout the day here on bbc news, with sportsday at 6.30, sojoin us then if you can. more than 40 people have been arrested during a crackdown on courier fraud. it's where people are tricked into withdrawing large sums of money to then hand it over to someone posing as a courier or police officer. city of london police say there have been 3,000 victims over the last two years, many of them elderly people. our home affairs correspondent, danny shaw reports. early morning in central london, police are out in force for a raid on a flat in kings cross. shouting.

it's part of an operation targeting criminal gangs involved in courierfraud. a sniffer dog is brought in to find items that may be hidden like mobile phones, sim cards, and memory sticks. carol norton was a victim of courierfraud. she was tricked into handing over £4,000 in cash after being phoned by a man who said he was a detective and needed her help on an undercover investigation. i believed every word he said. he really sounded... he was concerned about me. he did say he was concerned about my husband and he just seemed a genuine police officer. when you learned that it was a scam, how did you feel? what was your reaction? i just cried, it was awful. i really felt upset because i'd let my husband down. police believe courier fraud is a growing problem across england and wales. in the past two years, there've been over 3,100 victims and £12 million have been stolen, with some people losing hundreds of thousands in

pensions and savings. in police raids since november, 44 people have been arrested, including two men at the flat in london. they've since been released while investigations continue. 14 others have been charged as police continue to tackle what they say is a despicable crime. danny shaw, bbc news. the leaders of the three largest parties in ireland have clashed in a tv debate — before this weekend's general election. the current prime minister, leo varadkar, is behind in the polls in spite of having had a major profile in the brexit negotiations. 0ur ireland correspondent, chris page, reports. ireland is a nation on the edge of europe, and the frontline of brexit. it is the only country which has a land border with the uk. after a financial crisis a decade ago, it has recovered strongly, and now has the fastest growing economy

but opposition parties are highlighting issues like housing issues, hospital overcrowding, and the cost of living. in the last major tv debate before the election, the prime minister emphasised his role in the brexit talks, and claimed a change of government would be a risk. it's only half—time. brexit isn't done yet. the next big step is to negotiate a trade deal between the uk and the eu. that's absolutely essential for the 200,000 people who work in export industries in ireland, our rural economy, our agri—food sector, and our fishermen. but the leader of the main opposition party said he was up to the task, because all parties had the same approach to brexit. the idea that you can't change a government because of brexit, i think, makes absolutely no sense. governments change all of the time in europe, and there's always many key issues facing the european union and member states. both mr martin and mr varadkar‘s parties are in the political centre ground. they have dominated irish politics for many decades. but they are being challenged by a left—wing party, sinn fein, which is performing strongly

in opinion polls. the theme of this election that has emerged is a thirst for change. i am very clear what that change means. everywhere that i have gone, people have said to me that they recognise that fine gael and fianna fail are essentially identical parties, have had it all their way now for almost a century. the other leaders said they would not go into a coalition with sinn fein, mainly because the party had links to paramilitary violence during the conflict in northern ireland. sinn fein emphasises its role in the peace process. no group is expected to win an overall majority of seats in the irish parliament. complex negotiations to form a government are set to follow the general election, which will be held on saturday. more than 340,000 primary school children are in "literary poverty", research shows.

that's a term used by the charity booktrust for children, who are read to for less than 15 minutes a week. the study conducted by the charity reveals that1 in 7 parents say they never read to their children before bed. the research also shows that around just1 in 3 children are reading for more than one hour a week. former children's laureate anne fine described reading as "the bedrock of education in all subjects", encouraging parents to share books with their children. however, many parents and carers do still consider reading with their child to be important, with nine in ten valuing their child reading for pleasure. let's speak now to gemma malley, director of booktrust, the charity responsible for the research. gemma, ican gemma, i can hear parents saying all the reasons why they don't read with their kids as they are listening to that. it is a busy time, i have been there. it's one of those things people know they should do, but it's ha rd to people know they should do, but it's hard to fit in. of course, and i empathise. i have three children and it is incredibly hard to fit it in.

their worry is that if we don't make the time, it willjust disappear and the time, it willjust disappear and the benefits of shared reading and reading for enjoyment are so huge to children. it is notjust educational attainment, although it is important for that. it's also confidence, communication skills, empathy, resilience, all the things that as they grow will become more and more important. if we don't get that reading habit in when they are young, it won't happen when they are older. if that right, it is not something that can be picked up at any point? well, we know children who are red with are more likely to become readers and if they read when they are young, they are more likely to read as they grow up. if you see yourself as a reader, if books are the thing you turn to and they become the fun thing at the end of the day, you are much more likely to have that same relationship with books as you grow older. their worry is that more and more families, as soon as children go to school, the lovely, cuddly bedtime story is being replaced by phonics homework, which is important is that learning

to read is critical, but if we only do that, then reading goes from being something we enjoy to something that we have to do, which is hard and then it's easy to push it away and go for the screen —based activities which are a lot easier. what is your advice to somebody juggfing what is your advice to somebody juggling household duties, work, homework, all the different activities that need to happen to set aside time for it being a pleasure? as you say, when something becomes a chore, it is hard to see it as something to do for pleasure. of course. 0ur it as something to do for pleasure. of course. our advice is to try and find that ten minutes. bedtime is a great time, partly because reading is also soporific so if you have children and you want them to go to sleep, reading is a good way of doing that. that is the extra incentive. but the ten minutes a day can be any time. we are really big on the bedtime story. we are

launching a massive event in schools called pyjamarama where we want children to come to school in pyjamas and celebrate the bedtime story. we hope if children are demanding the bedtime story, that will make it easier for parents, who get so many demands for screen time or watching a tv programme, if children are asking for a bedtime story, it will probably incentivise us story, it will probably incentivise us to give one. and at what age should you be reading to your children until? there is no stopping age. but we find that as children get older, that is often when pa rents get older, that is often when pa re nts sto p get older, that is often when parents stop reading. children might develop the reading ability, but they won't always have the understanding of what they are reading. sometimes they will be reading. sometimes they will be reading books and they don't quite understand what is going on and it's so great for parents to dip in and out. so when they are little, it might be reading to them every day but as they get older, you might just read a chapter of their book with them or have them read to you so you can talk about the themes and it then becomes a nice shared

activity. i did something unexpected with my 15—year—old the other day. i was reading a short story and she was reading a short story and she was next to me and i said, would you like me to read this aloud to you? and it did take me back. it is lovely, and i don't think anyone doesn't like to be read. even the most boisterous child, once you start reading, everyone is mesmerised. schools used to do much more reading at the end of the day. it is lovely and a nice way to end the day. is there a risk of it feeling a bit off—putting? could it sound like a bit of a middle—class pursuit and some people might feel guilty if they don't do it? that is the last thing we want, for people to feel guilty and to add another thing to the to—do list. what we are trying to say is, if you make that bit of time, we often find we get to the end of the day and we have barely spoken to our children. if you work shifts, it may not be a

bedtime, it may be another type. there is no right book. it doesn't have to be complicated. it can be the simplest picture book. it doesn't have to have words. it can be read backwards if that is what your child wants. it doesn't matter what it is. just find that time to sit with your child, turn the pages ofa sit with your child, turn the pages of a book and enjoy it. thank you, gemma malley. we have got some sunshine around. it has been quite chilly first thing this morning, but there will not be a great deal of change with the weather today. if you had the fog this morning, it will lift up. it may stick around as low cloud this afternoon. a bit of sunshine for the east of scotland and east of northern ireland. where you keep

some cloud, those temperatures may not be above four or five celsius. tonight, there will be more fun developing, particularly in the central and southern areas. throughout the day, that will develop again and there will be sunny spells.

hello, it's wednesday, it's ten o'clock, i'm victoria derbyshire and we're live from new broadcasting house. the uk government is chartering a final flight to bring british nationals back from wuhan, the chinese city at the centre of the coronavirus outbreak. this is a very serious virus and having a very serious impact in china. as you say, there's two cases only here in the uk but we do expect more and so we are taking no chances. a mum who contacted us after we revealed that at least 20 ex—jehovah‘s witnesses are suing the organisation over historical sexual abuse, says the church told her to confront her abuser. the first thing that i was told by the elder was to see the best