today at five — severe flood warnings and evacuations as river levels continue to rise in some parts of england and wales. more rain is forecast and some rivers are reaching their highest point ever recorded. here in worcester, the river levels are going down slightly at the moment but but they are going to come back up tomorrow as we see moment but but they are going to come back up tomorrow as we see some of the worst flooding this region has ever seen. we'll have the latest from the affected areas. the other main stories on bbc news at 5pm: a british couple on board a cruise ship quarantined injapan say they've tested positive for coronavirus, as the foreign office says it's working to get all brits affected back to the uk. my mum, she breaks into tears

frequently when we call her. and my dad's short—tempered. but this is all because of the situation. they're not doing any communication from our country. 35,000 jobs are to go at hsbc after the bank's profits fell by a third. film producer harvey weinstein back in court, facing charges of rape and sexual assault. thejury are due to be sent out today. life on the red carpet of the brit awards. it is louis capaldi leading denominations and billie eilish will be debuting the bond theme alive.

it's 5pm. our main story: people are being evacuated in shropshire and herefordshire as severe flooding continues in parts of the uk. one woman died after being swept away in worcestershire at the weekend. hundreds of homes have been flooded after the rain caused by storm dennis, and the river wye in monmouth has reached its highest level on record. there are six severe flood warnings in place — all in england — meaning there is a danger to life. and there are 164 flood warnings in place across england, wales and scotland, which mean immediate action is required. -- 162. 0ur correspondent phil mackie joins us from the banks of the river severn in worcester. yes, iand yes, i and on top of one of the flood barriers. this is holding back the river. it has dropped of the day but it is going to come back up tomorrow and if you look across the other side of the flood barriers, these are the properties it is

protecting. as you can see, water seeping through the drains and getting up towards those properties, which have been safe, one of thousands because of flood preventions. but there were people who have been flooded around here, especially over the last couple days. there's water everywhere. this is where the river team and the river severn meet. and over the past few days, it's been as high as anyone can remember. it came through the village of powick with such force, it knocked down this wall and left mayhem in its wake. this is the river team. as you can see, it's still a raging torrent. that is the flood plain, miles and miles of water at the moment. that green bank is the flood defence that protected the village of powick. unfortunately, it came over the top of that. the environment agency is now pumping the water out to allow people back into their properties. water came up to about here... chris has been flooded before but not this badly — and not since flood defences were built. this was footage he shot

yesterday morning, when it was at its highest level. we were told when they built that flood defence, if it had been there before 2007, we wouldn't have been flooded. and they said that was a one—off. so we really thought we were safe. and although there'd been a couple of near misses over the last few years, we were still confident we wouldn't get flooded again. roads are beginning to reopen, but it's still not easy to get about. in worcester, they're used to this kind of thing — this row of houses has been flooded five times this winter — but it doesn't make it any easier. quite a lot of the properties we can see have lifted their floors, they've got ceramic tiles, they've got wash—proof plaster. so when the flood water is gone, they can wash down, sanitise and try and get on with normal living. there have been calls for even more money to be spent on flood defences because of their increasing regularity. we've got to realise now

what we called 1—in—100—year floods when they happened 14 years ago have now happened three times in 21 years. we've got these incredibly high levels of the severn here which are akin to what we saw in 2007, but elsewhere, we've been seeing all—time record highs, and we've got to plan for that. ten miles south in upton—upon—severn, they feared the defences may have been breached last night. it was close but the properties were saved. the river levels have fallen. but we are not out of the woods yet. there are still properties flooded, and now we start to move into recovery stage. however, there is more water, more rain due. that could lead to further flooding. so our advice is still heed the warnings, still make preparations — and particularly for journeys, plan yourjourney and don't drive into flooded rivers. further up the severn, there's another peak making its way down the river. in ironbridge in shropshire, they've had to evacuate properties. in herefordshire, residents have been rescued from a care home. and while things may be beginning to look better, there's more bad weather forecast and the danger won't past for several more days.

yeah, and that whether, we have at a rest bite. we have got the worst to come. i asked the minister whether or not we need to be spending more money on flood defences to protect more properties. in this area and the whole of the severn area, we have seen record flooding, it is unprecedented. but i would say is it is absolutely tragic for those people have been flooded and that is about between 501,000 homes, and my heart goes out to those people, but if it wasn't for the money that this government and successive governments have invested in the last 20 years on a flood of the scale, one would have expected between 7000 and 10,000 homes to be flooded, so the work that's been going on consistently with the money

going on consistently with the money going up in every spending round is definitely protecting increasing numbers of properties, and that's what we should be doing. in the olden days, back in 2007, many more poppies would have flooded but defences like this have helped things since then. but we are in a really unprecedented flood event. i can't member it lasting as long as this and being as bad as this since maybe 2000. and there are, as i said earlier, fears there will be a new peak coming down the river severn tomorrow. there is a yellow warning for rain especially in north wales under tomorrow of another hundred millimetres. and a lot of that will flow into the river severn and come back this way in a couple of days' time at. phil, thanks for that. and let's go further downriver to upton—upon—severn and our correspondent kathryn. how are those defences holding up? very well. i know there were worries

that would not be the case yesterday. you can see the difference between the river level here. the river level has been dropping the look of the difference between there where we are standing, it's about up to my waist, and as we look at the properties here and properties all in this area, they would've all been underwater if these flood barriers had not have been here. flood various consist of this super wall that's been put in place and the class structure here. yesterday, the water was reaching around here on that last marker. now and even since we have been here this afternoon, the river level has been dropping. it's a limit brickwork. lots of places across the country saying, what do we need you to get some of these? they don't come cheap. £4.5 million, these costs. it did mean that although some people were told or asked whether they wanted to evacuate from upton yesterday, most people said they did not, including ralph

thompson, who is the landlord of the swa n thompson, who is the landlord of the swan hotel just behind thompson, who is the landlord of the swan hoteljust behind me. why not evacuate? you've got to be here to make sure stuff is moved. if you are not here, everything it's ruined it. instead, you had a night of moving everything from the bottom floor to the top floor. regulars and locals removing stuff upstairs, tables, chairs, any soft furnishings we could get hold of. and then a sleepless night? 0h, could get hold of. and then a sleepless night? oh, yeah, got to keep an eye on it. how far could you see the night—time? keep an eye on it. how far could you see the night-time? going down rather than up. we are looking at a peak here tomorrow, more on the way. a town on tenterhooks. yell. furniture upstairs. i don't know what the 5.7 metres means on this

wall, if this wall is going to break. mark is a resident along here. you have been flooded here before? i have, yes. and is more than a hassle? more than a hassle... so these flood barriers with every penny? they are. they keep us dry. yesterday was a bit of a shock. we we re yesterday was a bit of a shock. we were not going to move out. we helped ralph clear his premises out and help to the boathouse on the road clear there's out. business stay safe. now it'sjust a case of closely monitoring everything tomorrow. absolutely. we will see what happens. i don't think it will come over. he did not come over yesterday. i'm fairly confident we will be safe. there you go. they we re will be safe. there you go. they were still too severe flood warnings in place for upton

—— for upton—upon—severn. the environment agency is warning that people come tomorrow. what people are waiting for here's how much water will come and whether these will hold out. fingers crossed. kathryn, thanks for that, and we will have the latest on the weather report with darren. a british couple on board a quarantined cruise ship in japan say they've tested positive for coronovirus. sally and david abel from northamptonshire are among 7a britons on the diamond princess, which was quarantined in the port of yokohama two weeks ago. more than 500 people on board have contracted the virus. they're due to be transported to specialist hospitals from tomorrow. 0ur correspondent nick beake sent this report. for two weeks, the diamond princess has been a floating prison. more than 3,000 people quarantined to prevent the coronavirus spreading on shore. but all the time, more and more passengers have been testing positive on board.

british tourists david and sally abel have been documenting their experience and pleading with the government to help them leave the ship. we had a message from the embassy to say there's possibilities, there might be things happening, there could be things. but there was nothing constructive. there certainly is no aeroplane on the way to japan to pick up the brits. not to the best of our knowledge. we have not been informed of that, 0k? but this morning in a facebook post, david revealed the couple had both tested positive for the virus. their son says britain has treated them appallingly. i've seen the cracks in the armour, they're coming down. my mum, she breaks into tears frequently when we call her. and my dad's short—tempered. but this is all because of the situation they are in. they're not getting any

communication from our country, which is terrible. following america's lead, south korea is among the countries preparing to fly its citizens home, using its presidential plane to do so. the uk foreign office now says it's working to organise a flight back. but an evacuation is unlikely to happen today. all this as china released findings from the biggest study so far on this corona outbreak. health officials in china looked at more than 40,000 cases of the coronavirus and concluded that more than 80% of them were mild. unsurprisingly, the elderly and the sick were most at risk. the research also highlightsjust how dangerous the virus can be for doctors and nurses on the front line. as medical director of a hospital in wuhan, where the outbreak began, dr liu zhiming led the fight against this invisible killer. but he has now died after contracting the virus in himself.

back in the port of yokohama, where so many are so desperate to leave, the britons on board are among those who must wait longer for their misery to end. nick beake, bbc news, hong kong. jimmy whitworth is a professor of international public health at the london school of hygiene & tropical medicine, specialising in infectious diseases and epidemic responses. thank you so much for coming in. can ijust pick thank you so much for coming in. can i just pick up thank you so much for coming in. can ijust pick up on the last segment of nick's report there? can use plain what is perplexing some people, why doctors who are not elderly and who don't have underlying health conditions are also dying in china? we know that this is a really serious virus for some people, and just because you're young and apparently healthy doesn't protect you from this. it is clear that there are some people who are a p pa re ntly that there are some people who are apparently healthy who are dying.

that there are some people who are apparently healthy who are dyingm it's not a question of the viral load the doctors might be exposed to in treating patients? think it probably is not. i think having that close exposure to patients makes you more likely to get infected but i think that's the limit of it. going back then to the cruise ship which is obviously at the heart of the british government's concerns right now. we have seen such increase in the number of infections on board the number of infections on board the ship. do you think those individuals should have been hospitalized sooner? we hear many of them are going to hospital tomorrow. what i would expect in that situation like this, where you have a quarantine situation, is when you have somebody who has infection, you get them out and you get them into specialist hospital care where they can be treated and they are not going to be infecting other people. and yet in this situation, clearly, some have infected other people. the numbers are now over 500. do you think this has raised questions

about the virus spreading in ways we had not previously understood?” think this virus is more transmissible than we had expected. i think it was absolutely the right thing to do to quarantine the ship because we need to protect the health of the general public. but it is clear that the measures have not stopped all transmission. we need to remember that most people on that ship are still uninfected, so etiquette has been successful to some extent, but when you have got a respiratory inspection commack —— a respiratory inspection commack —— a respiratory infection like this, you have confined conditions, it is difficult. and that raises questions about the british citizens we expected —— expect to be flown home shortly. should they be in quarantine on return even if they are not currently infected with the virus? and do you feel confident that the

quarantine arrangements in a hotel near heathrow, if that indeed is what comes to pass, that those are sensible arrangements?” what comes to pass, that those are sensible arrangements? i do think thatis sensible arrangements? i do think that is sensible. the people who are coming back who are apparently u naffected, coming back who are apparently unaffected, they should go through a quarantine period when they come back to the uk and i think the type of situation we have seen at hospital accommodation in the uk and then in this hotel by heathrow does sound appropriate to me. professor whitworth, thank you so much for coming in. let's take a quick look at our headlines now on bbc news. severe flood warnings and evacuations as river levels continue to rise in some parts of england and wales. a british couple on board a cruise ship quarantined injapan say they've tested positive for coronavirus, as the foreign office says it's working to get all brits affected back to the uk. 35,000 jobs are to go at hsbc, after the bank's profits fell by a third.

and in sport: tottenham could find themselves in difficulty for the rest of the season — it's been confirmed forward son heung min broke his arm in the match against aston villa after scoring twice on sunday. he'll have an operation later this week. liverpool continue the defence of their champions league trophy tonight. jurgen klopp's side take on atletico madrid in the first leg of their last 16 tie. they'll play in the stadium where they won their sixth european cup last season. and england's mako vunipola will miss this weekend's six nations match against ireland. the prop has returned to tonga for family reasons. the rest of eddiejones‘ squad is unchanged. that's it. i'll be back with more on those stories after half—past. europe's biggest bank, hsbc, has announced plans to cut 35,000 jobs after profits fell by a third last year. it's not yet known how many

positions will be lost in the uk. our business correspondent ben thompson explains what it means for the bank. hsbc does employ more than 40,000 people in the uk, where it has its headquarters. but, so far, few details about where the axe will fall. we do know it will slash 35,000 jobs over the next three years, taking the bank's global workforce to around 200,000. the cuts are much deeper than forecast, and they did take the city by surprise. one in seven jobs will go. it's expected the european and us investment banking businesses will bear the brunt. but the bank hasn't been specific about where the cuts will come. all of this as the bank reported pre—tax profits ofjust over £10 billion. that is down by more than a third on the year before, blamed on several key issues. well, chief executive noel quinn blamed the impact of the coronavirus, given that hsbc makes most of its revenues in asia. he's also blamed uncertainty over

the uk's withdrawal from the eu, with consumers and businesses putting off spending until there's more clarity. and historically low interest rates around the world have made it more difficult for the banking giant to generate profits. analysts say the cuts will mean a smaller bank, one that's more focused on stronger economies in asia. it all depends on where those staff numbers are being lost. if they're in non—profitable parts of the business, then, naturally, you could argue that actually is a benefit because you're not only not losing money any more, but you're also saving therefore on the headcount. investment banking is an example — not only is this capital intensive, so it requires a lot of funding, so the return on that is lower than other parts of the business. but the salary count for the headcount is much higher than other parts of the business, so you could quite easily argue that it is actually better for the business, rather than worse. so a three—year plan, a smaller bank and an anxious time

for the firm's 40,000 uk staff. but the one job that hsbc is looking to fill is the top job — hsbc says it will make a permanent appointment of a new chief executive within the next 6 to 12 months. he'll inherit hsbc‘s third major overhaul in less than a decade. ben thompson. a jury has started deliberations in the sexual assault trial of harvey weinstein. seven men and five women will have to decide whether or not to find the disgraced film mogul guilty of rape and sexual assault. if found guilty, he could face a maximum sentence of life in prison. 0ur correspondent nada tawfik is in new york. a hugely anticipated outcome for this trial. yeah. absolutely. i don't think is an understatement to say the world is watching to see how thejury will rule say the world is watching to see how the jury will rule in this case and whether they will be able to come to a unanimous decision or not. it was very interesting before the jury went off, they are to liberating

currently. there was a bit of fireworks. the prosecutor had complained about an opinion piece that the defence lawyer donna right to know —— donna rotunno had done. they say they are inappropriate and poured her on swaying the jury. the judge cautioned the defence about their interviews, saying the tentacles their interviews, saying the te nta cles of their interviews, saying the tentacles of their public relations juggernauts could affect the case. it just shows juggernauts could affect the case. itjust shows how contentious this is all been, that this ultimate he comes down to who the jury believes, harvey weinstein or the two accusers and the four other women who have to side alongside of them to bolster their case. and i suppose another issueis their case. and i suppose another issue is the attempt by the prosecution to build a picture of a pattern of behaviour beyond those two accusers. yes, absolutely. we

saw in the bill cosby case the test money of additional women did make a difference in his retrial and here, not only of prosecutors put forward a sexual predator charge, they have argued that these other four women have had strikingly similar accounts. they painted the same picture of harvey weinstein using his power in hollywood, dangling job offers and then inviting women to his hotel or home under the guise of it being a business meeting to only then allegedly attacked them. using his power and influence to silence them because they fear any reprisal on their careers and they say that he isa on their careers and they say that he is a seasoned sexual predator, serial rapist who has done this cou ntless serial rapist who has done this countless times, that the jury should believe these six women have come forward. the defence on the other hand poking holes in that case of the prosecution. they put forward e—mails showing that one of the

women had stayed in touch with harvey weinstein and they tried to argue that that showed that it was a consensual loving relationship. prosecutors on the other hand said this was just harvey weinstein staying in touch with these women to try to make sure they stayed silent. again, really interesting here because there is no necessarily forensic evidence in this case but it is about how far we have come in this country but understanding things about consent, about how a victim shoulder should not act and how a jury understands all of that and whether they find in favour of harvey weinstein or the women. we shall see. thank you. harry styles was mugged... scotla nd scotland yard has confirmed they are looking into a knife—point robbery, saying the victim was not injured but cash was taken from him.

a government adviser has resigned, after a wave of criticism about past comments he made about eugenics and race. andrew sabisky suggested black people have lower iqs than white people. he's also alleged to have said compulsory contraception could prevent creating what he called "a permanent underclass". he was drafted in to number 10 after the prime minister's chief adviser, dominic cummings, called for "misfits and weirdos" to apply to advise the government. andrew sabisky has accused the media of selective quoting and hysteria. 0ur political correspondent jessica parker reports. andrew sabisky, hired to work at the heart of government after dominic cummings, the prime minister's senior aide, said he wanted to recruit "misfits and weirdos." reporter: why did you hire sabisky? today, not an apology from mrcummings, but a reading recommendation. reporter: have you got any more weirdos? read philip tetlock's superforecasters, instead

in iraq and afghanistan, our troops fought bravely... andrew sabisky, seen here in a 2017 bbc programme, is a self—described superforecaster — someone who can supposedly predict future events. but it was past comments online in his name that caused controversy. he's reported to have said that... also... and... so are applications to work at number 10 being properly screened? i think we should prevent racists from coming into number 10, or wherever he was working.

i think we do need to look at these processes. but the fact is his remarks have been identified and now he's very quickly been pushed out. andrew sabisky may be out, but downing street's refusal yesterday to condemn the remarks attracted searing criticism from opposition mps and caused disquiet, too, on tory benches. i think his comments were racist, they were deeply unpleasant towards women and disabled people, and that is why yesterday i had to call out the fact that number 10 were not distancing themselves from his comments. announcing his resignation, andrew sabisky claimed he'd been selectively quoted, saying...

this number 10 operation has repeatedly signed a willingness to take on its critics, but even though power does undoubtedly lie behind this door, mr sabisky‘s departure shows that downing street isn't immune to political pressure. jessica parker, bbc news. well, stay with us. atjust after 5.30pm, we'll be talking to a former downing street adviser to theresa may. now, staying with governments news. the new chancellor rishi sunak has confirmed that the budget will go ahead as planned, on the 11th of march. there had been speculation that it would be postponed after sajid javid's resignation in friday's reshuffle, but the chancellor has said he is cracking on with preparations for the statement next month. the founder of amazon, jeff bezos, says he's committing $10 billion to a new fund to tackle climate change. he said the money would be spent on scientists, activists and non—governmental organisations to help protect the natural world.

hundreds of amazon staff signed a blog last month, saying the company didn't have enough environmental policies. —— wasn't doing enough on environmental policies. time for a look at the weather with darren bett. everybody watching closely for rivers rising, rivers falling. it's interesting, isn't it? we have changed the weather in the last couple of days. we have seen some record river levels on the severn, on the wye and on the trend as well and we still have a number of severe flood warnings of course. we have had showers today, quite heavy as well, but actually overnight most of them are going to fade away. we are gonna keep some showers wintry over the hills and here, we have got some threat of icy conditions as well. if

we look to the southwest, it's not quite so cold here because quickly in the morning, we have got rain coming in. that will arrive into wales, into northern ireland through the morning. after a bright start, you'll see some patchy rain. it's certainly going to be much wetter further west. peppers will be nine or10 further west. peppers will be nine or 10 degrees. a stronger wind as well. looking at more rain on the way. not just for wednesday well. looking at more rain on the way. notjust for wednesday but i could continue overnight and into thursday. two main areas of concern, northwestern pa rt of thursday. two main areas of concern, northwestern part of him than and wales, where the rain will be heavy over the hills, topping up what we already have had. the chance of some more flooding.

this is bbc news. the headlines: severe flood warnings and evacuations as river levels continue to rise in some parts of england and wales. a british couple on board a cruise ship quarantined in japan say they've tested positive for coronavirus as the foreign office says it's working to get all brits affected back to the uk. 35,000 jobs are to go at hsbc, after the bank's profits fell by a third. the jury has begun deliberating in the trial of film producer harvey weinstein, who is facing charges of rape and sexual assault. and we'll be live on the red carpet at the 2020 brit awards.

and now for the sport. good afternoon. jose mourinho says he's concerned that tottenham will be without son heung—min for the rest of the season after the forward broke his arm in sunday's 3—2 win at aston villa. he'll have surgery this week, but it means that son will definitely miss the champions league last—16 tie against rb leipzig tomorrow. managerjose mourinho is already missing harry kane and as they challenge for a top 4 spot for next season this latest injury comes as another blow. when we arrive, we were in the —12 floor. we got the stairs and we start climbing, but immediately in the beginning, the stairs, they broke, so we were trouble, lots of work, lots of effort, and we start going and going and going, and when we are arriving

on the fourth floor, somebody come and took the stairs away. so, now we are in trouble. now, we have two options. one option is to get up and fall and normally die because it is the fourth floor. another way is to fight with what we have. no stairs. but arms. so we are going to be on that balcony, fighting with everything we have. as for tonight's football, champions league holders liverpool are in spain as they prepare to face atletico madrid, where they'll have fond memories of lifting the trophy last season. jurgen klopp's side are on form — domestically they're 25 points clear at the top of the premier league. and, while they're the defending champions of the european trophy, he isn't getting carried away about the potential of reaching a third consecutive final.

we don't feel like the winners of last year was mike champions league tournament, we feel like one of the contenders for this year pop. we wa nt to contenders for this year pop. we want to show that and be get istanbul if possible. historically, are only three in general, you have to work your socks off. you can hear live commentary of the last 16 tie on five live sport with all the build up from 7 o'clock. to womens football and the england head coach, phil neville, has named everton striker chloe kelly in his squad for the shebelieves cup. kelly is everton's top scorer this season and has only made 0ne senior appearance for england. grace fisk also gets her first senior call—up. england face spain, japan and the hosts america in the four—team tournament, which starts on the 5th of march. you know, in football and in management you're going to get times when things are going well

and you are going to get times when things dip. and, after the world cup, things dipped. we all need to take responsibility and accountability for that, but the excitement is we have got a really fantastic group of players that want to get better, want to learn and want to develop and want to challenge to win things. and now is the challenge for the next 12 months. wales have called up cardiff blues back hallam amos to their six nations squad for saturday's game against france. he initially missed out on selection because of an ankle injury, but returns to the squad with 0wen lane ruled out of the france game, with fellow wingerjosh adams also a doubt. meanwhile, england will be without mako vunipola for this weekend's six nations match against ireland at twickenham. the prop has returned to tonga for family reasons. now, its fight week and tyson fury says deontay wilder can only beat him by knocking him out. the pair meet in las vegas this weekend, nearly 15 months

after their controversial draw. both are still unbeaten. to knock out a knockout artist, you've got to back them up, make them go back, because wilder's used to coming forward his whole career, knocking people out. he's never knocked anyone out on the back foot, ever. so his momentum is forward. so all bullies, when they are backed up and stood up to, fold. and wilder is no different to any other bully, a playground bully. we'll have more for you in sportsday at half past six. more now on one of our top stories and government adviser andrew sabisky has resigned, after a wave of criticism about past comments he made about eugenics and race. he was drafted in to number 10 after the prime minister's chief adviser, dominic cummings, called for ‘misfits and weirdos' to apply to advise the government. let's speak now to will tanner who was a special advisor to theresa may and deputy head of policy in 10 downing street.

thank you forjoining us. we have heard today some urging from porters loyal to the government that they ramped up vetting. do you think that it was the issue here?” ramped up vetting. do you think that it was the issue here? i think when people are going into government, it is reasonable to expect that the government and number ten make sure that there aren't any difficulties with everything we have done in their past and things that might bring the reputation of downing street into disrepute. i think vetting is clearly a part of this. i do think that this case exemplifies some of the risks of the government's strategy of opening the recruitment pool. usually a special advisers are known and come from newspapers or otherjournalistic outlooks. dominic cummings has cast the net quite wide to bring in

people from different spheres of life who have skill sets that could be vital to government, but that does create some risks as to what those people might have said or done in previous lives and gives a bit of a premium for the government checking their histories before entering number ten. that was good to be my next question, fresh thinking ad misfits and super forecasters, if you're going to have a new culture bringing in outliers, i suppose you have got to expect that some people will have a questionable or difficult past? yes, i i actually have a lot of time for what dominic cummings did with his casting the net weight, which means that we are getting more people to could tv ecb scot was on the government who would know normally not apply to be sort of things. it requires that the government be slightly more wary on the

backgrounds of those people and to make sure that they are doing to diligence in the way that the public would expect. when i went into government, i was subject to significant checks about my finances, things might have said online, my family history. that was particular, i was going into the home office, so there were security risks, but some of those checks would be appropriate across government and would normally be performed for most roles in government. do you think that his views formed at one point in life should entirely disqualify him from this rule? andrew sabisky has said that he was selectively quoted, there is hysteria in the media, he is 27 now and said this earlier. none of us are simply through our entire lives. do you think use is disqualified and what he has said gas mark is always in the courts and the media. i have not seen the

source material. i cannot comment on everything he has written or the subject matter of his remarks. but i do think we get into a dangerous place where we start disqualifying people entirely on the basis of the marks they have made ten or 15 years ago. we need to bring in people with good skill sets that perhaps are not found in the civil service at the moment, that does require taking risks. the key thing is that making should be vetting and due diligence is correct. we cannot risk the reputation of number ten as it is important to preserve. waders this episode leave that new culture of dominic cummings as chief strategist adviser? does it leave it damaged or will be shrugged off gas mark dominic cummings will probably shrug off this type of media captivity. this is a number ten that want to do things differently and we want to

bring in different types of people and do the machinery of government ina and do the machinery of government in a slightly different way to previous administrations. it is clear that if they are going to achieve their political agenda they are going to need to do that. i do not think this will significantly impede those efforts but clearly they need to continue being in serious people with good backgrounds and skill sets they would not otherwise find in the civil service. thank you. next week, voting will begin in the labour leadership and deputy leadership contests. over the next three days we'll be looking in depth at the three candidates hoping to become leader of the opposition. today, our political correspondent iain watson looks at the career of the shadow business secretary, rebecca long bailey. what i'm talking about is real aspiration. it's called socialism, and it's what we believe in. cheering. aspirational socialism, that's rebecca long—bailey's pitch. firmly in the left of the party,

she is certainly a socialist. but, as for aspiration, well, shejoined labour in 2010, became an mp in 2015, wants to lead the party in 2020 and become a potential prime minister by 2025. the daughter of a docker, she did a whole range ofjobs before being elected to represent salford. mostly, though, she was a solicitor, working on nhs contracts. but she also did this. i worked in a pawnshop, that's p—a—w—n shop. laughter. she is backed by the left—wing grassroots group momentum and the big unite trade union. her critics call her the continuity corbyn candidate, and certainly she rated his leadership ten out of ten. she's the candidate closest to his politics but, unlike the current labour leader, she wouldn't rule out pressing the nuclear button. if you have a deterrent, you have to be prepared to use it. she thinks too much was crammed into the 2019 manifesto, but she doesn't distance herself from the contents.

she said she didn'tjust agree with the policies, she's spent the last four years writing them and as shadow business secretary she is particularly proud of her work on her party's environmental stance. it was a great set of policies, both for our quality—of—life but also for our industries, and we need to recognise that we didn't really do enough to sell that in the election campaign. 0n brexit, unlike some of her rivals, she's said she'd been against a second referendum and the party's offer of a new public vote had simply baffled the electorate. we talked about having a vote on the final deal, and the next question that came was, well, are you going to vote for your own deal, if you get a deal? and then the answer to that was, well, we're not sure, because we'll have to see what it looks like. and that was a bit of a disastrous position for us to be in. but what does she do to relax? well, she says she's pretty down—to—earth. no—one gets the way of my netflix and chinese takeaway on a friday night. apparently i wasn't exciting enough when i said that. i don't know what they expect me to do. start, like, paragliding

on a friday night or something? but perhaps some of her leisure pursuits have a bit more edge. well, i'll leave it up to you to decide why i was in amsterdam. it's either my inherent love of flower markets or it was to partake in the local delicacies. rebecca long—bailey is working hard to rally the labour left. but the big question is whether she can reach out to other members of her party and then to the country. iain watson reporting there. drugs charities say it's shocking that young people can have drugs delivered to their door faster than a takeaway. they say the speed of delivery makes it increasingly difficult for users to break the cycle of addiction. home office figures show that 53% of young people say they could get illegal drugs easily within 24 hours. an undercover bbc investigation found that dealers in some parts of the country are now handing out business cards to attract new customers, with deliveries made in under 7 minutes — as alasdair gill reports. yeah.

just what ever. you deliver it, yeah? all right, man. people willjust pull over in cars, it is what you expect. they will roll down the window and say something like, do you guys do coke? do you guys do weed? and if you say yes they will give you a card. that is a business card from a drug dealer. in leeds, students say they get given them all the time and, using hidden cameras, so did we. sorry? oh, yeah? just ring you up, yeah? bud is cannabis. md is mdma, better known as ecstacy, a class a drug. do you deliver it, or...? i have been given loads of these now, all apparently from different dealers, all offering everything from cannabis to cocaine,

delivered wherever you want it. this is drug dealing for the on demand generation. they never say "drugs", they always say "whatever you need". they advertise it as something that you know what it means. cards like these are not just been handed out in leeds. there are reports of them in manchester, london and liverpool as well. according to the home office, more than half of 16 to 24—year—olds say they find it easy to obtain illegal drugs within 24 hours. what we have discovered is that you can get mdma and cocaine even quicker than that. we texted the dealer in the white car at half 7 one night, 20 minutes later he replied. and then this.

that was incredibly fast, from getting the first message to the dealer from having these in my hand. just seven minutes. lab tests of both substances confirmed they were cocaine and mdma. young people are getting to the point that they see buying drugs as not very different to buying anything else that you buy on the street. when you see a nice and shiny business card, it is quite easy to forget that you are actually buying something that can potentially be risky and do you harm. young people have always found ways to get a hold of drugs. what has changed is how easy it has become and how fast you can do it. some transgender people are self—medicating with hormones bought online from unregulated sources. they say it's because of long waiting times for nhs specialists. michael cowan has been investigating. kara is a 20—year—old law student. she's been on the waiting list for a gender identity clinic

for two years so far. last summer she started self—medicating with oestrogen pills she bought online. she's aware of the dangers, both physically and mentally. but with all risks considered, for kara and many others, she saw it as her only option. i was so low before that it basically felt like a choice between suicide or self—medicating, because i couldn't deal with the thought of further masculinisation, in my case. data obtained exclusively by the bbc has found every trust in england is consistently missing their target of 18 weeks. in northern ireland, their target is to be seen within 52 weeks, but patients will wait over three years. wales and scotland don't have targets but the highlands are home to the uk's shortest waiting time, at 32 weeks. london's tavistock clinic weren't

able to provide accurate figures, but anecdotal evidence points to patients waiting up to two and a half years to be seen. nottingham has the longest wait in england atjust under three years. dr grainne coakley at sheffield's gender identity clinic acknowledges wait times contribute to self—medication, but would caution against it. if you take testosterone, there is a risk of a condition which can lead to spontaneous clotting of the blood. again, there's increased risk of clotting if you take oestrogen. if that's not being monitored by a gp, somebody isn't having regular blood tests, then they are putting themselves at risk. we bought hormone projects from unregulated websites ——products. based outside the uk. we sent them to a lab to test their authenticity. the oestrogen products appeared to be authentic, but the testosterone we received contained only one out of the four ingredients it claimed to, meaning it's a counterfeit product

and potentially unsafe to use. is it fair that you had to make that decision? it obviously was my choice, but i feel like i've been basically forced into it, because in no way, shape orform do i want to be taking hormones not under the guidance of a medical professional. michael cowan, bbc news. if you've been affected by the issues in this report our actionline website is bbc.co.uk/actionline — there are organisations listed there who can help. or you can call the number on your screen right now - 0800 015 5998. now, she's only 18 and she's already won a clutch of grammy awards and has a no.1 album. billie eilish is also the youngest artist to perform a title song

for ajames bond movie — and tonight she'll sing ‘no time to die' at the brit awards. she wrote the song with her brother and in the run—up to tonight's performance they've both been speaking to louise minchin. you made history at the grammys, you played at the oscars, you are right on your way to having number one here in the uk. how does it feel to be finneas and billie right now? 0verwhelming. it feels... yeah, it's insane. it's super crazy. we just feel really lucky, mainly, ithink. it's a surreal thing, our lives, as a whole, but it... we are very grateful for it. # i'm the bad guy... # duh!# take us back a bit, for those who don't know a lot about you. you collaborate together, you are brother and sister, you are best friends... mmm—hmm. is that true for both of you? yes! i know it's true you say that, yes?

oh, yeah. undoubtedly, yeah. how did you start working together? it was, like, 2015. i was 13, he was 17. and... it was kind of... i don't... it wasn't a joke, but we kind of had this, like, i don't know... i remember finneas one time was like... i said this in an interview a couple of months ago, he wasjust, like, literally, this was a joke, he said this as a joke, "dude, i'm going to make you the biggest pop star in the world!" name? bond. james bond. # i've fallen for a lie... so, the bond song... correct. no time to die. does somebodyjust give you a call? how does it work? i don't actually remember. i do know that we've been wanting to make a bond song for years, and i rememberat the beginning of last year it was like we kind told our whole team that we were like, "hey, if any bond things come,

we want to be involved if we can possibly be. whatever we have to do, we will do." # you were never on my side...# who does it matter most? your mum's point of view, or daniel craig's? my mom's point of view or daniel craig?! she is actually in the room with us. i think you'd better say mum. what are you going to say? wow, it's a really hard one. well, this is the first song i know daniel's opinion of, of ours. oh, you know the opinion? what has he said? well, he had to like it. if daniel doesn't like it, you don't get the job. he's got a big say in it. we learned that from this. ididn't... i didn't think that would happen, but he's really involved. he could have vetoed it, wow. absolutely. # no time to die# you have a huge amount of instagram followers.

yeah. do you still read everything that's on instagram? no. i stopped, like, two days ago. just... literally two days ago. have you stopped stopped? i stopped reading comments, fully. because? because it was ruining my life. was it? once again. yeah. it's weird, like, the cooler the things you get to do are, the more people hate you. it's crazy. so you're playing at the brits tonight... crazy. yeah, so that's crazy for you, even at this stage? yes! do you feel nervous? i'm just nervous to hit the belt, to hit that high note. i'm terrified. first time ever. billie eilish speaking to louise minchin there. we can cross over live now to our entertainment correspondent colin paterson who is on the red carpet at london's o2 arena for tonight's brit awards. hello! iam hello! i am alive. all the stars are arriving, billy eilish is here but i am joined here by the rapperfrom

manchester. what we need you to get this nomination because might excited. i was very happy. not much excites me or hits in the face but what i find i was nominated, i was happy. what i find i was nominated, i was happy- i what i find i was nominated, i was happy. i was proud of my team around me. it was quite a surreal moment, soiam me. it was quite a surreal moment, so i am happy. you are up against some tough names, lewis capaldi, santander, how do you make your chances? i reckon, if i am santander, how do you make your chances? i reckon, ifi am honest, ifi chances? i reckon, ifi am honest, if i was on the panel, i would give it to lewis capaldi. he has had an amazing year. you are not voting for yourself? i am, but not to be biased, lewis ca paldi yourself? i am, but not to be biased, lewis capaldi had a sick year. i haven't met him but he has had an amazing year. he has turn out to be one of the biggest about. usa

number one. is that some new info? hundred percent. i'm trying to go global and to the us and in the world. it is at work, work, work and try and take over as many places as possible. this is like the brits will help you, because people on the new channel might not have heard of you. yeah, do the research. would you. yeah, do the research. would you do any freestyle for me now? i am not literally spies right now, i have some sick stuff that will come up have some sick stuff that will come up soon. plenty of music coming this year. i would advise people to stay locked in and listening. wejust heard from billy eilish on the programme. how big is it for her to be previewing the bond theme year?” would like james bond tonight, but obviously billy eilish really is

going james bond. you have got to break up and she is just smashing it. she is on the next planet when it. she is on the next planet when it comes to music. i've got nothing but respect for her. thank you for joining us. we almost got bars, not quite. time for a look at the weather. serious news no. flooding is still a major concern, even though we have turned off the heavy and persistent rain. but floodwaters are still rising, river levels rising. still some severe flood warnings are in place. the worst conditions are on the severn. there have been evacuations. this is the scene on ironbridge, taken by one of our weather watchers. you can see the extent of the flood defences and this is the trent in

nottinghamshire. 0nce of flooding. we have seen a few showers in these areas today, wintry ones across scotland, this is some heavy showers moving down into the south—east of england, was that goes away the showers further north will become fewer. many places will become dry. wintry conditions in scotland, risks of icy patches, because like last night temperatures will turn to freezing for many others. signs of change in the south—west. we have got more rain coming. after a bright start, east of england and scotland will see patchy light rain in the afternoon. it will be wetter in the worst, particularly in the hills, temperatures around nine or 10 degrees. more rain is not good news. heaviest rain or come across the north—west of england and wales over the hills. given what we have got already, it increases the risk of more flooding. another spell of rain

coming into thursday night, it will be active with heavy rain. with the temperature contrast we have on either side of this front, cold air coming in behind it. there is rain, may be snow, across scottish hills, but the rate will head towards the south east very quickly. the wind direction will change, sun comes out, it turns wintry over the holes in scotland, it gets colder and cha pters in scotland, it gets colder and chapters will be going or 6 degrees. strong and gusty winds. early on to friday we have got more rain and wind. at the moment most of the arena will be from north wales northwards, not much in the midlands. as work will be windy. we have got strong to gale force winds widely. it is a south—westerly wind so it will be at least mild. temperatures will be 11 or 12 degrees. more rain on friday it was

showers on saturday and perhaps more rain on sunday. no sign of the weather settling. nationwide. in shropshire residents are told they could endanger themselves and the emergency serivces if they stay in their homes in their homes. the aftermath of storm dennis is taking its toll on businesses. some farmers face a catastrophic spring season. the level of water we are talking about is actually quite humbling. it's quite phenomenal. i mean, 160 acres, by four foot of water, it's millions and millions of tonnes. in tewkesbury, they know all about the damage flooding can do, and tonight there on tenterhooks yet again. also tonight — more pressure on the government to bring back the british nationals stuck on a cruise ship

stricken with the coronavirus.