this is bbc news. the headlines at 12.00: the most senior civil servant in the home office, sir philip rutnam, resigns and says he'll sue the government for constructive dismissal after a public dispute with home secretary priti patel. i have been the target of a vicious and orchestrated briefing campaign. it has been alleged that i have briefed the media against the home secretary. this, along with many other claims, is completely false. the uk's 20th coronavirus case is the first to catch it on british soil. a gp surgery that he visited in surrey is closed for deep cleaning. a surge in south korea, with nearly 800 new cases reported on saturday, bringing the total to more than 3,000, the largest outside china.

more than 80 flood warnings in place across england and wales, as many already struggling communities brace themselves for storm jorge sweeping in from the west. and in half an hour, the newest mobile phone technology, announced at a major conference — via big screen — with most companies choosing not to travel due to coronavirus. that's in click at 12.30. the most senior civil servant at the home office, sir philip rutnam, has resigned, saying it's because of what he describes as a vicious, orchestrated campaign against him. sir philip says he intends to sue the government for constructive dismissal. his decision follows reports of tensions between him

and the home secretary, priti patel, over allegations she mistreated officials. she's denied those claims. sir philip explained his decision to reporters in london this morning. i have this morning resigned as permanent secretary of the home office. i take this decision with great regret after a career of 33 years. i am making this statement now because i will be issuing a claim against the home office for constructive dismissal. in the last ten days, i have been the target of a vicious and orchestrated briefing campaign. it has been alleged that i briefed the media against the home secretary. this, along with many other claims, is completely false. the home secretary categorically denied any involvement in this campaign to the cabinet office. i regret i do not believe her. she has not made the efforts

i would expect to dissociate herself from the comments. even despite this campaign, i was willing to effect a reconciliation with the home secretary, as requested by the cabinet secretary on behalf of the prime minister. but despite my efforts to engage with her, priti patel has made no effort to engage with me to discuss this. i believe that these events give me very strong grounds to claim constructive, unfair dismissal and i will be pursuing that claim in the courts. that statement from the sir philip rutnam in the last couple of hours and we have just had a statement from the head of the civil service, who says he has received and accepted with great regret the resignation of sir philip rutnam. i

thank him for his long and dedicated career of public service. the public secretary at the home office, responsible for boarders, will become acting permanent secretary. we will work to keep our country safe and secure, uninterrupted. let's speak to our political correspondent, helen catt. this is a huge move and a very difficult moment for the government isn't it? it is and this is unusual territory. as a rule, civil servants do not resign in front of the cameras and they certainly do not say they are going to sue the government for unfair dismissal, and they certainly don't effectively accuse government ministers of lying on their way out. so this is incredibly strong and incredibly unusual to see this and happening in this way, and you are right, it does throw scrutiny back on the government. there seems to be increasing scrutiny in what is happening behind the scenes. we have seen for example in recent weeks,

the former chancellor, sajid javid being told to resign and to sack some of his... we also saw late last year, a treasury aide who was escorted out of downing street, so there has certainly been tensions and this does seem to throw much greater scrutiny onto those tensions and how that relationship is working oi’ and how that relationship is working or not. what is the sense of reaction we are getting at the moment? we have got that very measured reaction —— from sir mark, who is head of the civil service. i think because sir philip rutnam says he is going to sue the government forunfair he is going to sue the government for unfair dismissal, i would expect there to be a reasonably muted official reaction. we haven't had anybody really come out on either side yet, so we'll have to see what happens over the course of the day. 0k, happens over the course of the day. ok, thank you very much. let's speak to the whitehall correspondent for the financial times, sebastian payne. (os)

this is an extraordinary moment, and we have seen this breathing war in recent days, but to come to this is very, very unusual. absolutely, for a civil servant to publicly resign in this way, and essentially what sir philip rutnam has done is to accuse priti patel of bullying and line. those are two very grave allegations and we should say miss patel does deny the allegations of bullying that have been reported in the media. but what we have seen is an unsustainable relationship between the politician who runs the department and the civil servant who i’u ns department and the civil servant who runs it there, and the home office isa runs it there, and the home office is a very important department for this government, well for any government, but particularly for this man because it is in charge of borders, of immigration, of terrorism obviously, counterterrorism, and the immigration element is going to be huge when we get to the end of this year. we have got a new immigration machine come again and a whole new system when they leave the eu transition period. it looks like sir

philip and many other civil servants are under huge pressure to deliver those changes and it was very much a culture clash. the establishment civil servant that is the campaigning changed maker with priti patel there. normally, there would be questions about priti patel‘s future here, but i think the government really is going to move quite quickly to protector and isn't really going to think about removing her. is that sustainable though because this is such an unusual news and is the civil servant, if civil service is unnerved by this and others feel that they can and should stand up to unreasonable demands of government, the government can't function without that support, can it? absolutely and i think there will certainly be conversations from downing street with cabinet ministers, including pitt priti patel, about how they are operating because this is not the sort of story the government wants to be talking about. it would much rather be talking about preparations for

the budget and other policy preparations here. that, you have got to remember that borisjohnson has got a decisive parliamentary majority. that essentially means he can do what he wants. he can do what he wants, even if he has got a minister who is widely criticised for her behaviour and perhaps for not being up to the job? that is the allegation put against priti patel here, but i do think you have got to remember that the people around the pan ona remember that the people around the pan on a star campaigners. they are the people from the 2016 vote leave referendum operation and they'd see themselves as constantly trying to battle the establishment. they probably see the civil service as pa rt probably see the civil service as part of that establishment. we saw that in the breathing war. there we re that in the breathing war. there were reports in the papers today of some people saying that, you know, sir philip rutnam is a lifelong civil servant and part of the establishment. that is why priti patel‘s future is not a question here. but clearly, for a sustainable

government you can't have that sort of thing happening. not any home office, such an important department, particularly for this government. do you know exactly why this has come to a head? is it about departments being asked to deliver their brexit policy to quickly? or ina way their brexit policy to quickly? or in a way that the civil service were not happy with? or is it a clash of personalities? i think it was very much a clash of personalities here. that was definitely what we heard from sir philip in his statement when he said he wants to ensure good government, he wants things to be done properly, within a good working environment. on the other hand, you have priti patel, who has got the own very serious allegations being made against her, and the fact the home office has so much to do and it is always a very stressful environment. the home secretary and the permanent secretary can always bea the permanent secretary can always be a difficult one. if we think back to theresa may, she clashed with her permanent secretary, who eventually left the home office and went to

head up the national trust, but not ina public head up the national trust, but not in a public manner. one thing we should look out for is this tribunal because sir philip has said he is going to sue the government for unfair dismissal and he didn't exactly the pay—out that was offered by the cabinet office. a lot of things could come out in a tribunal, not least these allegations about priti patel. we will hear whether they are true or not and what they home secretary's responses. thank you very much. health officials are trying to trace anyone who's been in contact with the latest victim of coronavirus in the uk — a man from surrey. it's thought that he's the first person to catch the virus on uk soil. it comes as another patient, who'd been quarantined on a cruise ship injapan, became the first briton to die from the illness. the respiratory disease, which causes pneumonia—like symptoms, has now infected nearly 84,000 people in more than 50 countries. and although the vast majority of cases remain in china, the virus is now spreading faster outside the country. the world health organization says most, if not all countries, should expect outbreaks. here in the uk, 20 people now

have the coronavirus, with wales reporting its first patient. meanwhile, the government is expected to publish emergency legislation next week in response to this outbreak. well, as we've been reporting, it's understood that the latest case here is a man who went to a gp surgery in haslemere feeling unwell. yesterday, haslemere's health centre was temporarily closed for cleaning as a "precautionary measure". our reporter, briony leyland, is in haslemere. what do we know about what has happened and this new case? well, haslemere health centre has reopened this morning. it was closed for a deep clean yesterday. that followed a man coming in to see a doctor. he had been feeling unwell and he was subsequently diagnosed with coronavirus. he is being treated at a specialist centre in london. in terms of his contacts and how he may have contracted the virus, we know he got it in the uk. he had not

travelled abroad and health officials are working hard to find out how that happened. and also to trace any contacts he may have been in touch with in recent days. in terms of people in the local area and their reaction, the health centre has reopened this morning and people have been coming and going, business as usual. there have been an out of hours surgery this morning and people we spoke to any local area had a mixed reaction to what has happened. i think it is quite scary, but i think we all panic a bit, maybe a bit overly, but i think it is quite scary the way it isjust come out of nowhere. i think they are doing what they can really, i mean, obviously it is a bit unusual to think that haslemere could be the first place it has been transmitted without obvious cause. but life goes on, doesn't it? and as long as you ta ke on, doesn't it? and as long as you take precautions, i'm not too worried, to be honest. i'm not panicking or anything. a little concerned, but what can you do? just continue as you were. wash your

hands, do all the sensible things you've been told to do. that is my response. well, we know that one local primary school has written to pa rents, local primary school has written to parents, saying that one of their families have been in contact with someone families have been in contact with someone who tested positive for coronavirus in haslemere. the family are self isolating for two weeks. no one unwell and the school will reopen as usual on monday. the local mp here is jeremy reopen as usual on monday. the local mp here isjeremy hunt, the former health secretary. he has tweeted his support for clinician staff and patients here at the surgery. he says he knows this is a worrying time, but the nhs and surrey county council are doing all they can and all that is possible to keep people safe. back to you. and a further nine guests held in quarantine in a tenerife hotel have now left.

this brings the total to 53 guests who have been allowed to leave since the quarantine order was approved by the local courts. the canarian health minister teresa cruz has said that departures will be slow and discreet to give guests privacy. our correspondent, fiona trott, is in tenerife. we saw some of those people leaving this morning and they were wearing face masks. they would have been screened and told to self—isolate at home. the advice here at first was that the people who would start to leave were pa rt that the people who would start to leave were part of the 130 people who were considered low risk because they arrived after the impacted italian guests left. but there has been a letter that has been given to guests overnight from the foreign office, which says that, following a visit by public health england, all british nationals here at the hotel are considered to be low risk now. we know that there are about 232 staying here. so you get a sense that the priority now is to just get

these guests here tested for covid-19. let me these guests here tested for covid—19. let me explain why. you remember the travel company, jet2, said that despite what officials here were saying, it could not fly people back to the uk unless they had finished a quarantine period of two weeks here or tested for covid-19. so they two weeks here or tested for covid—19. so they have overcome that barrier to get them home, they are just waiting to have that test. here is what the letter from the foreign office has. to provide reassurance to you and the flight carrier, you will be asked to have a covid—19 test. if the result is negative and you remain well and don't show any symptoms at the airport, you will be able to fly home. on your return, you are asked to self—isolate, even if you don't have symptoms, until march the 10th. so there will be guests inside this hotel nowjust wanting this test to happen soon. health officials here are also telling us they are carrying out further tests on people who have suspected sentence. so far, all of

them are negative. six guests though, are still confined to their rooms because potentially they had more contact with those italians who tested positive. thank you very much. the online supermarket ocado says it's experiencing an increase in customer demand. the bbc understands that this might be because of customers stocking up in case of any fallout from the coronavirus. the company sent an email to its customers yesterday, advising them that it is experiencing higher than usual demand for its delivery slots. i'm nowjoined by our business correspondent, katie prescott. not surprising as people are stocking up, given all the warnings. yes, possibly not, and ocado is very keen to stress this isn't about food at all, it is just about demand for its lots. it has been saying to its customers, if you are used to booking one day ahead, you might need to look a bit further ahead. i have been speaking to major supermarkets this morning and none of them would be drawn on whether they are things changes in customer behaviour, but certainly anecdotally there is a sense that this is

happening. and no advice on government or anywhere else as to whether we should be stocking up? not at present. we have been reporting for a while there are certain products that are becoming quite difficult to get hold of, for example hand sanitiser and antibacterial wipes. i spoke to one of the major manufacturers of those products today, who said they are starting to see shortages and they are not sure whether they are going to be able to meet demand. we have also seen huge stock market falls globally and some new information from china to what this is doing to their economy. that's right. we've got the first data from china about how their factories have been doing since coronavirus started. as you would expect, it is not good and it is actually worse than analysts had expected. that is because we have seems so much lockdown in china, people not being able to move around, that many of the factories have had to close because couldn't get the staff in. that obviously doesn't just have get the staff in. that obviously doesn'tjust have an impact in china, but because it is the manufacture of the world, it had an impact on companies like jaguar land

rover, volkswagen, apple, who really depend on china's manufacturing, and they are suffering as a result of this. just finally, we don't want to predict or scaremonger people, but if this does go on, the economic impact could be bigger around the world. that can affect people's jobs and especially if you are a small business. that is what investors are so scared of and it is why we have seen those dramatic stock market falls this week. we just don't know how long this will go on for, but it does seem to be spreading. we have had a credit investor look at this and say that it does become a global global pandemic, they could be a big global pandemic, they could be a big global recession. thank you very much. and on monday on bbc one in the evening we have a special programme on the outbreak — that's coronavirus: everything you need to know at half past seven on monday. the headlines on bbc news: the top civil servant in the home office — sir philip rutnam — resigns and says he'll sue the government for constructive dismissal after a public dispute

with home secretary priti patel. the uk's 20th coronavirus case is the first to catch it here — not abroad. a gp surgery the man visited is closed for deep cleaning. but it has reopened now. in the next hour, an agreement is to be signed to set out a timetable for a phased withdrawal of us troops from afghanistan, in return for security guarantees from the taliban. the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, will be in qatar today for the signing of the document. the taliban is reported to have ordered all its fighters to ‘refrain from any kind of attack ahead of the agreement‘. our correspondent in kabul is secunder kermani. where does this leave the governance of the country? the governance in afghanistan? here in there afghanistan, has been a cautious sense of optimism that has been building, particularly over the last

week, where there has been a partial truth in places. many afghans, including those who are in support of the government, see this as a historic opportunity, but they want to see it translate into lasting peace on the ground. this agreement, the us— caliban agreement, went to do that by itself. it is just the thermostat in a process. it sets out a timetable for the withdrawal of american forces from afghanistan, in exchange we guarantee is funny tell a band that they won't allow groups like al-qaeda to operate in territory that they control. the caliban will then for the first time start formal, separate discussions with other afghan political leaders, something that so far they have refused to do. those political leaders will of course include representatives on the government. now, those discussions will talk about, people will be talking about about, people will be talking about a ceasefire, which is what many afg ha ns wa nt to a ceasefire, which is what many afghans want to see declared as soon as possible. they will also be tackling the huge topics about the future of the country. we'll be

caliban accept current legislation about women's rights, other example? could they accept democracy? as you say, we are expecting deciding to ta ke say, we are expecting deciding to take place within the next hour. we are also expecting a declaration from us — afghan officials here, pledging their support from america to the afghan government. one thing many afghans will be looking out for, is to see if the partial truth that has been in place for the last week will be extended, and if so, for how long. we have seen the caliban apparently boasting over their victory over the us withdrawal, and people will look back over what had happened in the last few years there. will they think the efforts by the us has com pletely think the efforts by the us has completely failed ? they think the efforts by the us has completely failed? they have put the caliban back in so much power, with huge influence from others as well —— the caliban. huge influence from others as well -- the caliban. this is a key question, how much have the caliban changed since they were in power in

the 1990s, when they didn't allow women to work or go to school. when you speak to the caliban, as i have now done, they say they will allow women to now be part of public life, but they caveat it as well. they now say we will give women all the rights as they are entitled to in islam. the question is, what is their interpretation of islam? is it their interpretation of islam? is it the same interpretation as they had backin the same interpretation as they had back in the 1990s, so there are major concerns and they will be thrashed out in his interim talks between the tap taliban and other political leaders. that they will be taking place later in march. they are not part of the us — taliban agreement that is being decided today. this is just agreement that is being decided today. this isjust the agreement that is being decided today. this is just the first phase of the agreement and some would say, the easier part of this peace process. thank you very much.

tear gas has been fired and stones thrown in clashes at one of greece's land border crossings with turkey. greek police again fired tear gas at people seeking to force their way across the border. around 4,000 migrants are estimated to have arrived at the border, a day after turkish officials said it would let refugees head towards europe because of the worsening situation in syria. the greek government is holding an emergency meeting in athens, as it seeks to reinforce border security. turkey hosts nearly four million people in camps, and is concerned the fighting in and around the syrian city of idlib may lead to many more fleeing. a new research item led by the university of east anglia has found that omega—3 fats do not protect against cancer. increased consumption of omega—3 fats is widely promoted globally because of a common belief that it will protect against, or even reverse, diseases such as cancer, heart attacks and stroke. but two systematic reviews published today find that omega—3 may slightly reduce coronary heart disease mortality and events,

but slightly increase risk of prostate cancer. for more on these findings, i'm nowjoined by lead author dr lee hooper, from the uae‘s norwich medical school. just tell us more in the key findings here. we were carrying out a systematic review and went to look through all the trials that have been carried out, where people had been carried out, where people had been randomised to either have more omega—3 or the normal of omega—3. over a year, these trials where very long, a huge amount of evidence here from over 1000 people and ease with these. what we found, looking at health differences between people who were taking omega—3 and you weren't, basically there was a very little difference and help. that was the oath finding. they were a couple of small differences. where these we see the small differences is a little bit of a difference in terms of heart disease, including heart attacks and angina, and in terms of prostate cancer. to give you an idea

of the scale of that, if 1000 people took additional omega—3 for about four years, then about six people will be protected from having a heart attack or angina, of whom three would have died, so we present three would have died, so we present three deaths. but they would be an extra three diagnoses of prostate cancer, so they are very small attacks, and actually they balance each other out a bit. so overall, there is really very little effect on our health. would you recommend that people should continue taking omega—3 or not? that people should continue taking omega-3 or not? well, it doesn't seem harmful, so if people want to ta ke seem harmful, so if people want to take it and i don't see any reason why they should stop. but they could also think about spending their money in other ways that might be more useful to their general health, so may be saving their money on a supplement and buying a pair of trainers to go for a nice walk or some fruit for a lovely meal. those sorts of things, which we know will be protected for their health. sorts of things, which we know will be protected for their healthm this research, as you say, isn't definitive. it does need further

investigation. really, there are huge numbers of these of people involved in these trials, it is a big pulling together of evidence and i think it is a really clear, definitive answer. both in the cardiovascular side and on the prostate cancer side. with prostate cancer, does it suggest that if you are going to take it, take it if you are going to take it, take it if you are women but not if you are a man? to be honest, the risks are there is small. as i say, 1000 men would need to ta ke small. as i say, 1000 men would need to take it for three men to develop an extra prostate cancer diagnosis, so we are talking about very small effect here. i would honestly suggest that maybe people don't need it, and to think about spending their money elsewhere, whether you are male orfemale, but it is a personal choice and the harms are not big. 0k, thank you doctor for joining us. let's catch up with the weather now. another weekend and another storm,

this time storm jorge. we look to the west to see the damaging winds that will affect northern ireland initially, squeezing the isobars for the afternoon and transferring across the irish sea into wales and northern england later on. the afternoon will continue dry and bright bright behind that rain band, lots of showers in southern and western areas, merging together for longer spells of rain and some sleet and snow for northern ireland, settling snow for the halls of scotland. a chilly afternoon, much colder than the out the morning. chilly gust of wind spreading across the irish sea, affecting northern and western wales, up to 80 miles an hour gusts. through the night, those gusts will ease down, but it will stay breezy for all, with further spells of rain in the north and settling snow in the hills. it will be chilly, temperatures o—ad.

a new hello this is bbc news . the headlines: the most senior civil servant in the home office — sir phillip rutnam — resigns and says he'll sue the government for constructive dismissal after a public dispute with home secretary priti patel. i have been a target of a vicious orchestrated briefing campaign. i have been a target of a vicious orchestrated briefing campaignfi has been alleged that i have briefed the media against the home secretary. this, along with many other claims, completely false.

the uk's 20th coronavirus case is the first to catch it on british soil. a gp surgery that he visited in surrey is closed for deep cleaning. a surge in south korea, with nearly 800 new cases reported on saturday — bringing the total to more than 3,000, the largest outside china. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's mike. watford play liverpool today, who are all but assured of of the premier league title, but today they could equal the longest winning league run, in the history of the top five european leagues. victory against watford would be their 19th in a row, set by bayern munich back in 2014. but, their boss is taking nothing for granted. this nothing for granted. game will be tough, 100%. w1 will this game will be tough, 100%. we will not win 6— nil, it will not

happen. wejust will not win 6— nil, it will not happen. we just have to fight for eachinch happen. we just have to fight for each inch of ground in that game. if we do that, we are difficult to play, if we are different to play, we have a chance to win. that's it. hibernian are into the semi finals of the scottish cup after a beating inverness caledonian thistle in a seven—goal thriller last night. the visitors had pulled a goal back to make it 3—1, before stephane omeonga scored a fourth for hibs. it finished 5—2. rangers play hearts this evening and holders celtic take on stjohnstone tomorrow. britain's laura kenny says she was determined not to give up after crashing at the track cycling world championships. kenny — seen here in white in the middle of your screen — was taking part in the opening race.. she was one of five riders to crash, with just over a lap to go. she was able to walk off the track with a cut near her right eye. she had to have stitches and a concussion check but was allowed to carry on. the two—time olympic and world onmium champion finished 12th.