this is bbc news — these are the latest headlines in the uk and around the world. after the british opposition leader sir keir starmer is harassed by protestors shouting the name of paedophilejimmy savile, downing street says there'll be no apology. there's pressure on the prime minister to withdraw false allegations about sir keir when he was head of public prosecutions. words have consequences. and although there were people talking about anti—vax conspiracy theories and mentioning other things, without a doubt, thejimmy savile issue was brought up. we are looking at the fact that somebody at the top of an organisation has responsibility for what happens in it, that's the point the prime minister's making. i think that's a fair and reasonable point. there is no excuse for people to behave the way they did last night. oil giant bp announces profits

of £9.5 billion pounds last year — its highest for eight years. calls that uk consumers should benefit as the cost of living crisis deepens what kind of energy bills are you facing and in the light of the bp profits — should the government do more to help customers with these costs? do get in touch with me at @annitabbc using the hashtag #bbcyourquestions. after meeting vladimir putin in moscow, french president emmanuel macron heads to kyiv for talks with ukraine's president, amid continuing tensions on the border with russia. websites that publish pornography will be legally required to verify the age of their users — under new plans announced by the uk government. health experts call for urgent research to find out why black women are at higher risk of miscarriage than white women are. specialists say the situation is unacceptable.

hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. downing street says borisjohnson will not apologise for his false claim that sir keir starmer, who used to be the director of public prosecutions, failed to prosecute the paedophile jimmy savile for sexual assault. the prime minister has faced calls to apologise from across the political spectrum, including from some of his own mps after sir keir was targeted by anti—vaccine protestors in central london last night — they were heard accusing him of "protecting paedophiles". our political correspondent chris mason reports. shouting: where's jimmy savile?! abuse hurled at the labour leader as he walks through westminster, a false claim that he protected the paedophilejimmy savile. keir starmer bundled

into a police car... ..two arrests were made. it happened outside parliament, where the prime minister made a false link between the two. we know exactly how this plays out, because we've seen it in the united states of america. if borisjohnson keeps on doing this, we will see exactly the same as in the united states of america. mps will be hounded on their way into parliament and there will be people on the steps of parliament, just as there were on the 6th of january on congress in the united states. the prime minister wrongly suggested the labour leader had been involved in the decisions not to prosecute savile when he was the boss of public prosecutions. after a huge row, borisjohnson rather changed what he was saying, but he did not say sorry. a lot of people have got hot under the collar, and i understand why. let's be absolutely clear — i'm talking not about the leader of the opposition's personal record when he was dpp, and i totally

understand that he had nothing to do personally with those decisions. the prime minister says... but others in his own party want him to say much more. julian smith, who used to serve in borisjohnson�*s cabinet, said... but, this morning, downing street has no intention of apologising for the prime minister's remarks. chris mason, bbc news, at westminster. let's talk to our political correspondent chris mason. he is in westminsterfor us. despite downing street saying the prime minister will not apologise, how

much pressure do you think there is on him to do that?— on him to do that? there are plenty who wanted — on him to do that? there are plenty who wanted to _ on him to do that? there are plenty who wanted to apologise _ on him to do that? there are plenty who wanted to apologise including i on him to do that? there are plenty i who wanted to apologise including on his own side, who think he should go to the house of commons and say sorry. there is absolutely zero chance of him doing that in the coming hours, it will not happen, and the argument those in downing street make to justify what they are doing is to say that if the prime minister is going to take, as he has, loads of heat for parties and government during the pandemic that he was not out, we should mention he was at some of them, but for those he wasn't at then it is legitimate to ask questions of sir keir starmer about the organisation he used to lead, the crown prosecution service, when he was director of public. the prime minister has somewhat changed his tune on what he said eight days ago when he said that keir starmer was responsible for the prosecution —— for not prosecuting jimmy savile, he acknowledges now that was not a

direct responsibility faced by sir keir starmer, but he is making a point of organisational responsibility when it involves the head, they claim there is a comparison between the prime minister and the government and sir keir and the crown prosecution service. clearly a bolts one of the greatest of crimes and said jimmy savile, which for many leads a very bad taste in the mouth, many conservatives think it is horrendous that the prime minister should not have dinner —— clearly it involves the gravest of crimes. but the government and the supporting boris johnsonjuggling term, here is the northern ireland secretary, speaking in the last hours —— are doubling down. i think it is absolutely fair to draw a complete comparison between when somebody is saying as the head of an organisation you should take responsibility for that, then they need to take responsibility for the organisation they were head of, as well. keir starmer, to be fair, has done that, and made the apology. the prime minister was making that comparison, which i think is a fair

comparison. it does not excuse the kind of behaviour we saw from thugs last night. that is a striking thing you have heard from mr lewis and others in government in the last few others, they said there is no connection between what happened last night and what the prime minister said eight days ago. let's unpick that, there was a demonstration going on in westminster anyway, primarily anti—vax protesters who do not like covid—i9 vaccinations. when they saw keir starmer and harassed and in the street, a mob descending upon him, some shouted allegations relating to jimmy savile. this is what labour said this morning. he holds the highest office in the land and people do listen to what he says and it is trumpian—style politics and legitimises the sort of discourse that isn't what we like or deserve in this country. and i believe he should come to the house of commons and apologise unreservedly for the slurs that he made last week, which is exactly what many of his conservative mps

are asking him to do. it is precisely what the prime minister will not do today. he is chairing cabinet rant about now, his most senior ministers gathering in downing street —— rant about now. in 26 others, to be precise, it will be prime ministers question time. one would think it might be possible that sir keir starmer, the labour leader, will return to the subject then. leader, will return to the sub'ect then. . ~ leader, will return to the sub'ect then. ., ~ i. , leader, will return to the sub'ect then. ., ~ , ., then. thank you, chris mason, our olitical then. thank you, chris mason, our political correspondent. _ well, baroness smith, the labour leader in the house of lords, was also with sir keir starmer and david lammy at the time of the disturbance yesterday. earlier she spoke to bbc essex about what the experience was like. there was screaming, pretty vile screaming, and shouting. they certainly started shouting keir�*s name, blew whistles, cheered, gh. it became hard to talk even though they were some distance away and next

thing we knew we were surrounded by them and some of the things being said were pretty vile, i don't look at the things on the internets but i gather there are pretty vile things on the internet of conspiracy theories that most people dismiss as nonsense but some people believe. they were screaming those kinds of things and it was just pretty horrible, i had to say. to brs, at the time you just get on with it, it is only one i have looked back at the footage that i understood why i had so many texts and messages from people asking if i was ok, it shows that kindness outweighs unpleasantness every time but it was not nice, it was unpleasant. baroness smith. i'm joined now by our specialist disinformation reporter marianna spring. i guess fundamentally we're looking at the question of what political leaders say and what the real world consequences of that might be. we have heard a government minister

saying there was not a link between what boris johnson saying there was not a link between what borisjohnson said, his false claims last week about sir keir starmer, and what we saw happening in westminster to the labour leader yesterday? in westminster to the labour leader esterda ? ., , , ., ., ., yesterday? there has been a lot of conversation _ yesterday? there has been a lot of conversation about _ yesterday? there has been a lot of conversation about the _ yesterday? there has been a lot of conversation about the false - conversation about the false allegations made byjohnson alleging that starmer had personal responsibility for failings that starmer had personal responsibility forfailings in prosecuting savile, those conspiracies have found their way into our houses of parliament from the fringes of the internet, they have been circulating in conspiracy circles on media for quite some time so it does not come as that much of a surprise that some activists, anti—vaccine activists in this case who were outside parliament yesterday have grabbed the claims, run with their manager making allegations against starmer, calling him a traitor, mentioning savile, calling him a paedophile protector, as well as promoting conspiracies about the coronavirus vaccine, some

had canada flags because they are trying to replicate protests happening in canada at the moment. so it shows is how a hotchpotch of conspiracy theories can be promoted by movements online and off, and these aggressive tactics have been further inspired by what they are hearing from politicians.- hearing from politicians. some --eole hearing from politicians. some people likening _ hearing from politicians. some people likening this _ hearing from politicians. some people likening this to - hearing from politicians. some people likening this to one - people likening this to one president trump was in power and the wild theories that went around on the dark web, qanon theories and so on. is that a fair comparison? those false allegations _ on. is that a fair comparison? those false allegations about _ on. is that a fair comparison? those false allegations about starmer - on. is that a fair comparison? turn false allegations about starmer had been circulating in groups in the uk that are in many ways copycats of all not dissimilar to the qanon conspiracy in the states, an unfounded belief that donald trump has been waging a secret war against satanic paedophiles in government, media and business. you can see how this political disinformation campaign seeks to smear his opponents by accusing everybody who opposes him of abusing children or

protecting child abusers. this is sensibly looks quite similar and what is perhaps most concerning is there is a very committed minority of conspiracy activists who will seize on this and in some ways he had legitimising of a conspiracy with no base to wait, these activists for months have threatened politicians, doctors, journalists like me, saying they want people to be handed, prosecuted, accusing them of corruption and protecting child abusers and all kinds of other things which muddle legitimate political criticisms with false allegations —— saying they want people to be hanged. they are saying things that are quite scary. what things that are quite scary. what more to be _ things that are quite scary. what more to be noah _ things that are quite scary. what more to be noah balta _ things that are quite scary. what more to be noah balta protesters are and their motivations? the canadian flag, and allusion to the self—styled freedom convoy causing chaos in ottawa at the moment, some were talking aboutjulian assange,

some were talking about vaccinations and alluding tojimmy savile too, quite a mixed bag? a, and alluding to jimmy savile too, quite a mixed bag?— and alluding to jimmy savile too, quite a mixed bag? a very next bag and many present _ quite a mixed bag? a very next bag and many present at _ quite a mixed bag? a very next bag and many present at this _ quite a mixed bag? a very next bag and many present at this rally - quite a mixed bag? a very next bag and many present at this rally are l and many present at this rally are people who regularly attended anti—vaccine and under lockdown rallies in london in the uk promoted false claims about the vaccine, but like you say there is avionics of online conspiracies being promoted at these rallies, notjust about vaccines, notjust about rallies happening in canada that oppose vaccine passports the mention of the magna carta, that was mentioned because of the so—called sovereign citizen movement. you may or may not have heard of it, it is basically anti—vaccine activists who have decided to serve fake papers to teachers, doctors, politicians who they accuse of committing genocide in vaccine and who they believe should be prosecuted in some way —— committing genocide by vaccine. i have received these papers myself, you start to understand how complex and extreme this mentality has

become and the concern is the length they committed minority are willing to go to, shouting and threatening people in this way.— to go to, shouting and threatening people in this way. marianna spring, our specialist — people in this way. marianna spring, our specialist disinformation - our specialist disinformation reporter, thank you. the oil giant bp has reported its highest profit for eight years. the company made £9.5 billion for 2021 and saw its profits surge in the final quarter of the year after oil and gas prices started to climb. the global increase in energy prices has pushed up gas and electricity bills for households and has led to calls for a windfall tax on big energy firms. earlier i spoke to our business correspondent dharshini david. i asked her what bp are saying about these profits? p, i asked her what bp are saying about these profits?— these profits? a few months ago, bp's own these profits? a few months ago, iw's own boss — these profits? a few months ago, bp's own boss referred _ these profits? a few months ago, bp's own boss referred to - these profits? a few months ago, bp's own boss referred to as - bp's own boss referred to as operational as being like a cash machine at this point, it has benefited from the high global costs for gas, five times what it was before the pandemic, oil almost double, research and demand, constraints apply. when you look at the likes of bp it is as much as bp

who is seeing higher profits, at the same time bp is saying they will give money back to shareholders in share buy backs and they will reap over £1 billion worth of rewards. that has raised eyebrows but many commentators have said when you look at this cash machine, sometimes it runs dry because it is hugely dependent on what happens to the energy prices, so bp has swung from a loss to this massive profit but it will raise lots of eyebrows and people are saying, as we have heard, where is the windfall tax to help people struggling with the bills? the contrast is unavoidable between the profits and the cost of living crisis that people face, energy bills being a huge chunk of that. labour has certainly called for a windfall tax on energy companies, in other parts of europe they are putting constraints on how much profit the energy firms can make in order to give money back to

consumers, so how far will this go? is a winterfull—time consumers, so how far will this go? is a winter full—time desirable? when you look at the numbers and look at how much people are suffering. —— is a windfall tax desirable? analysts say these companies could make £40 billion worth of profits, a nifty paid energy bills for the majority of households this year, it is not to be sniffed at, but the chancellor is very reluctant because he is concerned it could damage investment in renewables and you could say that the energy companies would say that, but bp for its industry has very ambitious plans to run perp investment on renewables. we know this is an area we have to focus on because this crisis has shown into —— thrown into sharp relief the fact that we need a secure, wholesale, lower carbon form of energy which needs to be invested in, and in the meantime we need to make sure we are more self—sufficient with gas because we are importing more than

half of that, so it is a question of whether it is desirable or workable, how do you go about taxing the profits of energy companies which would make money the world over, and at the same time when we talk about money returned to shareholders, some of that includes pension funds up and down the country that also shareholders are bearing the good times as well as bad and we are always very keen to say that i can believe lean times too. joining me now is kate blagojevic who is the head of climate at greenpeace. ge think oil giants like bp should be paying the so—called winter full tax to ease the pressure on consumers at this point? == tax to ease the pressure on consumers at this point? -- do you think? bp — consumers at this point? -- do you think? bp did _ consumers at this point? -- do you think? up did a — consumers at this point? -- do you think? bp did a calculation - consumers at this point? -- do you think? bp did a calculation that - consumers at this point? -- do you think? bp did a calculation that a l think? bp did a calculation that a windfall tax could bring in around

£4 billion, and in the longer term investing in warming up homes with insulation and energy efficiency measures. this creates jobs, cuts emissions and also reduces the demand for expensive gas in the long run, it should be win—win for the chancellor, but so for the chancellor's response has been to protect big oil and gas companies the row profits while offering completely inadequate support for vulnerable households. you have to ask in the end, whose side is he on, it feels as though these profits are an absolute slap in the face for millions of people. and meanwhile bp and shell are raking in billions from this gas price crisis, these are the same companies responsible for pushing our world closer and

closer to catastrophic climate change and the government is doing next to nothing and it is just not right. next to nothing and it is 'ust not riuht. ~ ., ., ., �* ., right. we have heard from bp and other oil companies _ right. we have heard from bp and other oil companies who - right. we have heard from bp and other oil companies who say - right. we have heard from bp and other oil companies who say they| right. we have heard from bp and i other oil companies who say they are in the process of converting to each cleaner, greener targets, they say there olly murs as well as obviously bumpy years like they had last year for profits, but one of the most interesting questions is why some governments, if we look to the rest of europe, are capping energy bills for consumers, for example the french government is making the state energy company edf sell electricity at well below market price and it is taking an 8.4 billion euros hits as a result, spain has introduced a windfall tax on electricity and gas companies so while some governments doing that and in the uk it is not happening? i really think we can see from the

examples of the countries you have just mentioned that it is absolutely possible to have a fair taxation system for these companies making huge profits. the uk is one of the most generous countries in the world for oil and gas companies to operate in in terms of the tax they have to pay, and i think we really need to see that the government is on the people who are having to deal with the crisis and pay huge amounts in terms of the increase in the bills. but where do you stop? some people say businesses are in business to make a profit, some people depend on their pensions for those businesses to make a profit and so forth, so where do you draw the line between saying to a company we will bring in a windfall tax at certain times

inserted years but not every year? how do you decide? —— certain times in certain years. i how do you decide? -- certain times in certain years-— in certain years. i think when we are seeing _ in certain years. i think when we are seeing record _ in certain years. i think when we are seeing record profits, - in certain years. i think when we are seeing record profits, a - are seeing record profits, a windfall tax on those huge profits at a time when people are really struggling, i think that would be an excellent time to bring in a windfall tax. we need to be clear, we have heard from bp this morning he was saying we will transition, but we don't have the luxury of time for bp to make a leisurely transition to renewables, we need to see an immediate phasing out of all—new oil and gas projects now, that needs to happen now and it will not happen by itself, it needs the government to step in and make that happen, it needs to do that so we are tackling the climate crisis but at the same time supporting the oil workers, for example, but also

people to make the transition within their own homes, to turn their homes from these draughty, cold homes into warm homes fit for the future, that would reduce our custom answer which would reduce our custom answer which would lower our bills, and our homes and buildings actually emit a lot of carbon and by insulating them, rigging and electric heating, it would really cut the carbon nations, and we need the government to step in and really support those industries, it would create hundreds of thousands of newjobs and we need to see the government really getting on the side of the people but also really looking to the future and making sure the country as a whole is able to transition in terms of being fit for the future and tacklin is able to transition in terms of being fit for the future and tacklin- the is able to transition in terms of being fit for the future and tackling the climate is able to transition in terms of being fit for the future and tackling the climate crisis. is able to transition in terms of being fit for the future and tackling the climate crisis. thank ou ve tackling the climate crisis. thank you very much. _ tackling the climate crisis. thank you very much, kate _ tackling the climate crisis. thank you very much, kate blagojevic, | tackling the climate crisis. thank - you very much, kate blagojevic, head

of climate such greenpeace. just to bring in another of your tweets on the subject of energy bills, in light of those huge profits posted by bp, do you think the government should be doing more, sarah fisher says i am in fuel poverty, disabled and unable to earn more yet iron expected to find more for energy bills and food when these countries make so much profits, it is inhumane, they must tax them. you can get in touch on that issue all on any of our other stories, you can do that using the hashtag bbc your questions. breaking news, the original host of bbc�*s university challenge, tv presenter and author bamber gascoigne, has died at his home in richmond. he was 87 years old. we understand he died at home after a

short illness, and as you can say from the images we are showing you, thatis from the images we are showing you, that is what he is best known for, as being the original host of bbc�*s university challenge. newsjust as being the original host of bbc�*s university challenge. news just in the bamber gascoigne has died at the age of 87. president macron of france is visiting kyiv for talks with ukraine's president, volodymyr zelensky, on the tensions along the border with russia. the french president is the latest in a series of european leaders to lend mr zelensky public diplomatic support. yesterday, mr macron held five hours of talks with president putin in moscow, but the talks failed to resolve the crisis, as paul adams reports. how are you? fine, just fine, how are you? emmanuel macron believes he can prevent war. on the back of several phone calls, a face—to—face meeting in the kremlin. the french leader says mr putin wants an historic agreement on the future of europe.

translation: we are aware today, both of us, _ of the gravity of the situation. and of the urgent and imperative necessity, in the interests of everyone, to find a path of peace and stability in europe. but now the focus is back on kyiv. mr macron coming to ukraine's capital to brief the government here on his talks in moscow and, perhaps, to reassure ukraine once again that nothing is being done behind its back. translation: it looks like we are supported. | i mean, it looks like that, but we will see. the result is what matters, but we don't see it clearly yet. translation: i think - the west is supporting us. because they supply us with weapons. of course i'd like them to support us if the russians invade. but that's their business. if an invasion comes, ukraine says it's ready, carrying out drills in a region bordering russian—annexed crimea. american officials say russia

could launch an attack any time. but it is still not clear what vladimir putin intends to do. and while the world waits, ukraine's capital gets on with life. hoping as presidents, prime ministers and government officials come and go, that a war already eight years old will not escalate, but end. pauladams, bbc news, kyiv. well, earlier i spoke to our correspondent james waterhouse , who is at the ukrainian capital with the latest. the diplomatic treadmill has not been slowing here, there have been endless foreign ministers and world leaders visiting for the last couple of weeks, as you know. does this meeting feel a bit more significant? yes, because of his recent meeting with vladimir putin and the follow—up call that president macron is going to have. you will notice the quotes from president putin last night that he gave to reporters about should ukraine be accepted into nato and try to reclaim crimea, which russia illegally annexed eight

years ago, if they try to reclaim it by force there will be a european war. that will irritate ministers here. president macron will find president zelensky with his own red lines, that ukraine's territory is not up for debate, that the occupied territories in the east of the country, the so—called people's republic of donestk, occupied by russian backed militants, but there is no political dialogue between kiyv and them. said this goes directly against what russia wants, it will be a tricky negotiation. james, that is the diplomacy, what about what is happening on the ground and certainly

along the border between ukraine and russia? we have got these continued military drills to the north, which are causing security concerns. there are a number of russian units moving closer to the border. we're seeing more warships being mobilised in the black sea to the south by both russia and the us. the uk is moving 350 troops to eastern europe, to poland. germany, 350 to lithuania. and we have seen the first of 3000 us troops that were announced move to eastern europe this week. notably none in ukraine itself as it is not a nato member. and we have seen president biden today talking about wanting to shut down nord stream 2, the controversial gas pipeline running between russia and directly to germany. it is ready to go but hasn't been given final approval. that would double russia's gas delivery to europe but controversially bypass ukraine, which historically had russian's gas move through it, ukraine used to make money from that

and once upon a time it used to get gas at a discount price from russia when relations were better. that is very much a sticking point, president biden has said it will be blocked completely should there be an invasion, so the debate of what to do in the event of conflict rumbles on, along with diplomacy here in kyiv. james waterhouse, thank you. canada's prime minister, justin trudeau, has said protests by truckers in ottawa, against covid restrictions, have got to stop. the capital has been paralysed for twelve days now by hundreds of parked trucks. ottawa's mayor wants 18,000 more police officers to tackle the demonstrations. our correspondentjessica murphy sent this report. horn honks. they were told to get theirjab or get into quarantine, and this was the response. most canadian truck drivers crossing the border into the united states

regularly have already been vaccinated, but those who haven't are adamant they won't ever be, and their cause has fed into larger concerns about covid—i9 restrictions in canada, with thousands of supporters joining the truckers over the last two weekends. the chaos has prompted the city's mayor to declare a state of emergency. we have a serious emergency where we have to put all options on the table, and that may include some violence. we want to minimise that, but at the end of the day, if the people are not going to leave, they are going to have to be forced to leave. but that warning hasn't stopped the nearly 500 trucks from continuing their protest. it's important for me to come down here to fight for my freedoms. i don't want to be told what to do, to get injections if i don't want an injection, to wear a mask if i don't want to wear a mask. i don't want... i don't want people telling me what to do. some of the businesses here downtown have closed down, others say they've lost foot traffic. you can see behind me,

though, there are trucks that going back blocks, there are barbecues, even bonfires. it is clear that they plan to stay here for the long haul. residents say they are tired of the noise and disruption. today a judge granted a ten—day injunction seeking to stop the truckers from honking their horns. i don't want them here. they have no right to be yet. ——to be here. they have done their protest, they should have been sent home a long time ago. people living down here, i run a thrift shop and we can't open because of them. police have tried to clamp down on fuel coming into the main protest area. for now, an impasse remains, with a gap between what the protesters want and what the government is willing to do. jessica murphy, bbc news, ottawa. the headlines on bbc news... after the british opposition leader sir keir starmer is harassed by protestors shouting the name of paedophile �*jimmy savile', downing street says there'll be no apology. there's pressure on the prime minister to withdraw false allegations about sir keir when he was head of public prosecutions. words have consequences. and although there

were people talking about anti—vax conspiracy theories and mentioning other things, without a doubt, thejimmy savile issue was brought up. when we are looking at the facts, somebody at the top of an organisation has responsibility for what happens in it. that is the point of the prime minister is making. i think that is a fair and reasonable point. there is no excuse for people to behave the way they did last night. oil giant bp announces profits of £9.5 billion pounds last year — its highest for eight years. calls for uk consumers to benefit as the cost of living crisis deepens. after meeting vladimir putin in moscow, french president emmanuel macron heads to kyiv for talks with ukraine's president, amid continuing tensions on the border with russia. and the original host of the uk television quiz show university challenge, bamber gascoigne, has died at the age of 87.

websites that publish pornography will be legally required to verify the age of their users under new plans announced by the government. ministers say the draft online safety bill will be strengthened to include the measure, which would also see sites fined or blocked if they fail to act. among them is digital minister chris philp who says it is too easy for children to access pornography online. we are going to be introducing a new requirement on all online platforms, whether those are social media platforms or commercial pornography sites to prevent children under the age of 18 viewing pornography. we think that is really important, because a shockingly high proportion of children have viewed and are viewing online pornography. 51%, over half, of ii to 13—year—olds have viewed online pornography, which i think is a horrifyingly high figure for children so young. and the police tell us that they are concerned that this is fuelling the increase in sexual assaults we are seeing amongst school aged children.

that is what it is important we take compressive action. that is what this change being announced today and implement it in a few weeks' time via the bill is intended to do. for more on this, i am joined by andy burrows. he is the head of online safety for children at the nspcc. andy, thank you forjoining me. we have talked on a number of occasions about this online safety bill, and now there is this focus on websites that publish pornography. how easy is it for children to stumble across pornography online as things stand? good morning, well, the answer is it is all too easy for children to stumble across really age inappropriate pornographic and sexually explicit material. and there is a two main ways in which that can happen firstly. that can happen firstly there is a two main ways in which that can happen firstly through commercially available pornography

websites, and the government has tried to address that issue, that is welcome but overdue, because there has been legislation on the statute booked but not accessed for five years. but there are user generated sites like only fans and social networks like twitter and tiktok, where we know it is easy for children to stumble across the material, but algorithms kick ken and will start to push more and more of this age inappropriate content to children before they are ready to access it. ., ., , access it. you said there was legislation — access it. you said there was legislation that _ access it. you said there was legislation that has - access it. you said there was legislation that has been - access it. you said there was legislation that has been on | access it. you said there was i legislation that has been on the statute books for five years but has not been enacted, why not? the diuital not been enacted, why not? tue: digital economy act not been enacted, why not? tt2 digital economy act was passed back in 2017, but then it never enacted, it has never come into force. the government decided to drop those previous proposals shortly before the election in 2019, and what we saw over an extended period was a campaign that was trying to stoke up

concerns that introducing age verification would lay lead leg lead to privacy hacks. —— age verification would lead to privacy hacks. those claims were disingenuous and were designed to sow the seeds of doubt, which is so important to protect children. the issue here is really that children stumble across this age inappropriate material before they are ready for it, so it is vital we see action, because it can go on to distort children's views of sex and relationships, of consent, and when we have seen concern over the last 12 months or so with everyone's invited and the epidemic of misogyny that we know teenage girls in and out of secondary schools, there is an imperative to act. abshd out of secondary schools, there is an imperative to act.— out of secondary schools, there is an imperative to act. and i'm sure and , an imperative to act. and i'm sure andy. you — an imperative to act. and i'm sure andy. you would _ an imperative to act. and i'm sure andy, you would want _ an imperative to act. and i'm sure andy, you would want to - an imperative to act. and i'm sure andy, you would want to see - an imperative to act. and i'm sure andy, you would want to see this | andy, you would want to see this backed up by strong enforcement, where sites do not comply. absolutely. it is good news the government has acted to plug one of the big loopholes in the draft

legislation. there are a number of other areas they must act to make sure this is robust too, but it is not enough to simply bring forward these measures and then not ensure that we have off, the regulator being given the powers, the teeth, the resources it needs to then take on companies that continue not to comply. because this is a problem when we are thinking of online safety, it is a problem affecting children up and down the country every day. today is a day we can all take stock of what we can do to protect children online and effective regulation is at the forefront of what we must do to ensure children are no longer continue to face the barrage of inappropriate content and online home state do today. share inappropriate content and online home state do today.— inappropriate content and online home state do today. are there other opportunities — home state do today. are there other opportunities to _ home state do today. are there other opportunities to protect _ home state do today. are there other opportunities to protect children - opportunities to protect children online that could be in the spill that are not currently? this online that could be in the spill that are not currently?- online that could be in the spill that are not currently? this bill is nowhere near _ that are not currently? this bill is nowhere near robust _ that are not currently? this bill is nowhere near robust enough - that are not currently? this bill is nowhere near robust enough if i that are not currently? this bill is nowhere near robust enough if it| that are not currently? this bill is. nowhere near robust enough if it is going to meet the nspcc�*s clear objective that it should be doing everything that is necessary to protect children from what is inherently preventable harm or stop

inherently preventable harm or stop in particular, we have significant concerns that the bill simply is not understanding and then responding to the dynamics of the child sexual abuse, that it will not tackle grooming and the ways in which a are child abusers are able to its exploit social networks —— which child abusers are able to exploit social networks. we are also concerned the bill is not going to be a fairfight, concerned the bill is not going to be a fair fight, because what we are not seeing is a dedicated user voice to represent the interests of children. this is a david and goliath battle between some of the largest companies in the world, such as facebook and google, and bodies representing children on the other side of that equation. we see in lots of other sectors, whether that is energy or post public transport, a dedicated user interface, but the government is refusing to give children at risk of online harms and sexual abuse the same protection as passengers on a bus or users of the post office. passengers on a bus or users of the post office-—

post office. andy, thank you very much for talking _ post office. andy, thank you very much for talking to _ post office. andy, thank you very much for talking to us _ post office. andy, thank you very much for talking to us about - post office. andy, thank you very much for talking to us about all. post office. andy, thank you very | much for talking to us about all of this andy burrows, head of online safety for children at the nspcc. in northern ireland — the police ombudsman has found what's been described as "collusive behaviour" by police in ii loyalist paramiliatary murders in belfast in the 1990s. the ombudsman examined the killings of five catholics at a bookmakers' shop and six other fatal shootings. the report also found there was an unjustifiable use of informants involved in serious crime. assistant chief constable jonathan roberts — from the police service of northern ireland — said officers had greatly improved policies and procedures. here's our ireland correspondent chris page. on a wednesday afternoon in 1992, there was an act of sectarian carnage at this bookmaker�*s shop. the loyalist group the ulster freedom fighters shot dead five catholics. families have long claimed there was collusion between paramilitaries and the security forces. at the weekend, they marked the 30th anniversary of the atrocity.

it is not the people who walked in the bookies 30 years ago, it's the people who put the guns in their hands and the people allowed to act with impunity, and were never ever prosecuted. the report published today identifies significant failures in the police investigation. some records were destroyed. police donated the rifle used in the murders to the imperial war museum. the security forces had informers in the loyalist organisation who were involved in serious crimes, including murders. but police intelligence officers didn't pass on relevant information to detectives investigating the shootings. the conflict largely ended later in the 1990s, but northern ireland is still haunted by its history. the question of how killings from the past should be investigated is complex and contentious, and it cuts particularly deep for thousands of bereaved families. the government is planning to end all prosecutions for paramilitaries and former members of state forces.

but that is opposed by most victims, including the relatives of those who died here. chris page, bbc news, belfast. health experts are calling for urgent research to find out why black women are at higher risk of miscarriage. the royal college of obstetricians and gynaecologists says the situation is unacceptable. one study found that black women were 40% more likely to have a miscarriage than white women. ministers say they're committed to tackling disparities in maternity care. our global health correspondent tulip mazumdar has been investigating. these women are sisters in loss. it's the name of their organisation, created to help give black women a voice when it comes to maternal health. all have suffered pregnancy loss. i had my loss at 12

weeks, this was in 2018. natrice told me she was inconsolable when she was scanned and told there was no heartbeat. ijust, you know, collapsed. i got sick right there, and then she asked me, "why are you throwing up? did you come in here sick?" and i had to explain to her, "ma'am, you just told me my baby no longer has a heartbeat." so there was no compassion. i woke up, was having really bad back pain, and i was told by my doctor when i called that i wasjust constipated. they told me to come back in a few hours for an ultrasound. i never even made it back to that ultrasound because i miscarried at home. all four women described numerous occasions when they didn't feel their concerns were taken seriously by clinicians. i just don't feel that we are being listened to and heard in the spaces. do you think it is about the colour of your skin? absolutely. yes.

i mean, it really is a struggle all around when it comes to our maternal care. doctor schreiber is an obstetrics and gynaecology doctor in philadelphia and is working to improve maternal outcomes, with a focus on black women. a black woman's risk of miscarriage after ten weeks of pregnancy is double that of a white woman's risk of miscarriage at that stage. now, the reason behind this disparity is probably multifaceted and still remains unclear. race is socially constructed, so it is probably not a risk factor, but racism and gender bias, these are at the root that underlies most of these health disparities that we see in maternal health. there is your baby's heart beating, so that's nice and reassuring. 3000 miles away, in coventry in the uk, professor quenby runs a recurrent miscarriage clinic at university hospital. she is also a leading researcher in this field.

she is currently trying to get funding to investigate some of the many unknowns around why black women are at higher risk, including looking into any potential biological factors. we know, for example, if you are black and asian then you handle glucose less well, so we know you're at a much more increased risk of gestational diabetes. we also know that the balance of bacteria in your vagina is different in black and asian women to white women, and we know an imbalance in the bacteria in your vagina has been associated with miscarriage and preterm birth, so that's another area we can look at. there is clearly a myriad of complex and difficult issues at play here, but the longer we don't have answers to some of these key questions, the longer so many women will continue to suffer needlessly. one idea professor quenby and her team is already working on is an app where women in the uk will be able to input their clinical details like ethnicity and weight, and whether they have had any previous miscarriages.

they'll then get specific evidence—based advice on how to lower their risk of a loss. i feel very optimistic, because more conversations are occurring about it and the more exposure this gets, then other women feel more comfortable asking the questions. i'm joined by professor arri coomarasamy, director of the tommy's national centre for miscarriage research. professor, thank you very much for joining us today. and i know that you have looked at a number of studies, about 19 studies, you have looked at a number of studies, abouti9 studies, i believe, that show a 40% higher risk of a black woman having a miscarriage impaired to a white woman. but as i understand it, there is not an answer as to why that is yet. is not an answer as to why that is et. . , ~ is not an answer as to why that is et. ., , . ., is not an answer as to why that is et. . , . ., ., , yet. that is right. we do not yet know why _ yet. that is right. we do not yet know why it _ yet. that is right. we do not yet know why it is — yet. that is right. we do not yet know why it is that _ yet. that is right. we do not yet know why it is that black - yet. that is right. we do not yetj know why it is that black women yet. that is right. we do not yet - know why it is that black women are at greater risk of miscarriage.

there are three areas that we are pursuing in terms of why this may be the case. the first is, is there an increase in genetic predisposition that gives black women a greater risk of having miscarriage? we know black women are more likely to have certain conditions like fibroids, a condition called sle diabetes and so on, and these can increase the risk of miscarriage. the second area we are pursuing is whether the cause could be the increase in risk and could be the increase in risk and could be the increase in risk and could be related to social and lifestyle factors such as diet and housing and so on. the third is, of course, access to health care. we know black and other ethnic minority women have difficulties in terms of accessing health care and that could compromise their chances of having good outcomes. so there are many avenues that need to be pursued, answers are not there yet, we need

to find them through research, and this is an upmost priority at the moment. d0 this is an upmost priority at the moment. , ., ~ this is an upmost priority at the moment. ,., ~ .,, .,, ., moment. do you think, as was alluded to in this report. _ moment. do you think, as was alluded to in this report, that _ moment. do you think, as was alluded to in this report, that this _ moment. do you think, as was alluded to in this report, that this is _ moment. do you think, as was alluded to in this report, that this is to - to in this report, that this is to do with gender bias perhaps with institutional racism even? t do with gender bias perhaps with institutional racism even?- institutional racism even? i think tender institutional racism even? i think gender bias _ institutional racism even? i think gender bias would _ institutional racism even? i think gender bias would certainly - institutional racism even? i think gender bias would certainly have| institutional racism even? i think. gender bias would certainly have an effect on the experience that women have with health care provision. but in terms of whether it is causing the miscarriage itself, i think it is unlikely. the miscarriage itself, i think it is unlikely-— the miscarriage itself, i think it is unlikel. �* , , ., ., is unlikely. and the suggestion that institutional racism _ is unlikely. and the suggestion that institutional racism may _ is unlikely. and the suggestion that institutional racism may be - is unlikely. and the suggestion that institutional racism may be at - is unlikely. and the suggestion that institutional racism may be at playl institutional racism may be at play here. what do you make of that. t here. what do you make of that. i think that is certainly an important issue. we know that is a real problem. at the moment, the royal couege problem. at the moment, the royal college of obstetricians and gynaecologists has a task force that is looking at this particular issue given how important it is. so i think it does have a part to play, but in terms of the increased risk of miscarriage, i think we need to

look for biological reasons, other reasons that are amenable to treatment and research is desperately needed to unearth answers here. so desperately needed to unearth answers here.— desperately needed to unearth answers here. ,, , . . answers here. so wireless research is happening. _ answers here. so wireless research is happening, what _ answers here. so wireless research is happening, what can _ answers here. so wireless research is happening, what can be - answers here. so wireless research is happening, what can be done - answers here. so wireless research is happening, what can be done inl is happening, what can be done in the meantime? what sort of targeted care can there be black women who want to have a child, who are pregnant, to make sure that they can carry their babies to full—term? t carry their babies to full—term? i think it is really important to individualised care. so we know that ethnicity has a contribution to make in terms of risk of miscarriage, but there are many other factors might female age, body mass index, smoking, lifestyle factors and so on, so all of these need to be factored in. and the software, the tommy's app you mentioned earlier, that would have a definite role in terms of particular rising individualising care for a

individualising care for a individual woman. individualising care for a individualwoman. so individualising care for a individual woman. so all this practice will need to be factored in and individualised approach should be put in place for women. fight! be put in place for women. and makin: be put in place for women. and making sure — be put in place for women. and making sure they _ be put in place for women. and making sure they feel heard. because if they feel heard, they are more likely to engage with the advice being given. likely to engage with the advice being given-— being given. absolutely right, unless women _ being given. absolutely right, unless women are _ being given. absolutely right, | unless women are encouraged being given. absolutely right, i unless women are encouraged to being given. absolutely right, - unless women are encouraged to seek health care, we will not be able to make any difference. so i think breaking down the barriers that women generally have, but particularly ethnic minority women have,is particularly ethnic minority women have, is absolutely vital. to making things better. have, is absolutely vital. to making things better-— things better. professor, thank you for our things better. professor, thank you for your time _ things better. professor, thank you for your time today. _ back now to the news that the tv presenter and author bamber gascoigne has died at his home in west london after a short illness. the broadcaster was best known for being the original host of bbc�*s university challenge. david sillitto looks back on his life.

university challenge tournament. back on his life. _ asking the questions, bamber gascoigne. . it began in 1962. bamber gascoigne, a 27—year—old eton—educated theatre critic, was chosen to be the host of a new quiz show, university challenge. st hilda's, evans? picasso. picasso, ten points, st hilda's. we all thought, i think, that it was a job for about three months. had anyone known that the first run was going to last for 25 years, and we were talking about a job for 25 years, i think we would have all been so frightened we could hardly have read the card. let's go straight into the game, here's the first starter for ten. a big one coming up, here's your starter for ten. before each programme, he'd go through the questions, learning just enough to give the impression of being all knowing. i didn't want to let them down by revealing gross ignorance. dear sir, your astonishment�*s odd. i am always about in the quod. he was also rather posh.

yours faithfully, god. his family tree had more than a smattering of generals, politicians and aristocrats. and the show had a certain oxbridge heartiness to it, punctured only by manchester's moment of student rebellion, answering questions with the names of revolutionary leaders. che guevara. karl marx. trotsky. starterfor ten, fingers on the buzzers. who is the richest person in the world? and then there was also the famous parody. now, i'll have to hurry you, i have to hurry you. who is the richest person in the world? footlights, snot? it's... its me, isn't it? but by the late 80s, it no longer seemed to fit in the itv schedules and was dropped. so that's the end of this one. still, another time, perhaps. there was the short lived and even more highbrow series connoisseur... we have questions ranging from painting and architecture to ceramics and furniture. university challenge | pro—celebrity match. and he did return for a celebrity special. bamber gascoigne! cheering and applause. but he turned down the bbc revival,

choosing instead to devote himself to writing — his history website, and latterly restoring a large country house he inherited. your first starter for ten. starter for ten. but starterfor ten, fingers on the buzzer... two minutes to go. ..his place in history is behind the desk of one of tv�*s most challenging quizzes. bamber gascoigne. a host of stars have lined up to read a children's book on the bbc programme "cbeebies bedtime stories", reece witherspoon and tom hardy amongst them. now the duchess of cambridge will take on the role this week, to raise awareness of children's mental health. tim muffett reports. the latest famous face to read the cbeebies bedtime story. this sunday, the duchess of cambridge will read the owl who was afraid of the dark byjill tomlinson as part of children's mental health week. cbeebies bedtime story. hello, my name's ed.

ed sheeran. hello, my name is reese. reese witherspoon. hello, my name's tom. tom hardy. just a few of the household names who have previously signed up for the bedtime story. hi. hello. the duchess of cambridge has also been a keen supporter of early years education. two years ago, she was involved in the bbc�*s tiny happy people campaign, which was aimed at developing children's communication skills. sort of 90% of our adult brain grows before the age of five. and itjust shows what a precious time this is and what an amazing opportunity us as parents have got to really nurture their minds. the theme of this year's children's mental health week is "growing together". the story read by the duchess is about a baby barn owl who is helped by others to grow in confidence.

her appearance also coincides with the 20th anniversary of cbeebies and cbbc. tim muffett, bbc news. in a matter of hours, we'll find out which actors and film—makers are nominated for this year's oscars. lady gaga could see a nomination in the best actress category for her role in �*house of gucci', while will smith is predicted to be in the line—up for the best actor award for �*king richard'. this year, ten films will be nominated for the academy's top category — best picture. among the favourites is sir kenneth branagh's memoir of childhood — �*belfast�*. clayton davis, the awards editor at variety, has this assessment of the favourites. belfast is definitely the favourite right now to be denominated, ——nominated, possibly even win the category. kenneth branagh, who wrote, directed and produced the film, is likely to make history tomorrow. he would be the first person that

would ever have been nominated in seven different oscar categories, surpassing walt disney and george clooney, who have been nominated in six. but some of the big favourites — dune is likely to lead the nomination tally, with 10 or 11 nominations — that is really great for the science fiction genre and seeing it lead that tally. on top of that, power of the dog from netflix, that is another favourite. that could do about nine or ten nominations. jane campion would be the first woman ever to be nominated in best director a second time. as we know, there have only been eight women nominated for that category — two have won, kathryn bigelow and chloe zhao, she could join the fold there. on top of that, we have west side story from steven spielberg, who jane campion faced the first time in 1993 for the piano and schindler's list. he has directed west side story and is expected to do very well, especially for the actress ariana debose, a favourite

for best supporting actress. and be sure tojoin us later on bbc news for special coverage of this year's oscars nominations. tracee ellis ross and lesliejordan will announce the nominations from los angeles. you're watching bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. hello again. over the next few days, the wind across the north and west of the country in particular is going to be a feature, but today it's the temperatures that are more likely to be a talking point. once again we are looking at mild conditions in the south and although it is colder in the north than it is going to be in the south, temperatures here, too, are still above average for this stage in february. we have got a weather front which is producing some cloud and also some outbreaks of generally light rain. now, that's the dividing line between the colder air in the north where we have got some wintry showers, mostly on the hills, a fair bit of sunshine and gusty winds blowing to gale force across the northern and western isles, whereas to the south of that,

we have got some sunny spells, particularly the midlands into the south—east, a bit of cloud thick enough for spots of drizzle in wales and the south—west. as you can see, across the board today, it's going to be breezy, those were our gusts. and temperatures, we are looking at 5—10 in the north, 11—14 as we come farther south. as we head on through the evening and overnight period, this weather front here will pep up for a time across north—west england and also the pennines. still windy across the north and the west. again, gusting to gale force, and the snow showers getting down to sea level across northern scotland. as we come further south ahead of our weather front, we still are in the mild conditions. could be the risk of ice on some untreated surfaces in the north. through the course of wednesday, then, our weather front slips a little bit further south, so more of us get into the cool air, and as you can see from the isobars, it still is going to be windy across the north and west of scotland, especially so with the exposure, where we could have gusts up to 70 mph. some snow at sea level at times.

there will be a lot of dry weather, a fair bit of sunshine, but where we have got a weather front in the south of england, southern wales, here there will be more cloud, but temperatures still higher for this stage in february. now, moving further into the week, eventually wednesday night into thursday our weather front does push down to the south, so we are all in the colder air. we are keeping an eye on a little area of low pressure scooting across the north of the country. that could bring some gales, possibly severe gales, and also some snow. until we get into the weekend and we start to see high pressure come our way. so, for thursday itself, once again, we have the strong winds, possibly gales in the north. there will be some snow as well, so there is the risk of blizzards, but turning colder.

this is bbc news. i'm joanna gosling. the headlines at 11: after sir keir starmer is harassed by protestors shouting the name of paedophilejimmy savile, downing street says there'll be no apology. there's pressure on the prime minister to withdraw false allegations about sir keir when he was head of public prosecutions. we are looking at the fact that somebody at the top of an organisation has responsibility for what happens in it — that's the point the prime minister was making. i think that's a fair and reasonable point. it's no excuse for people to behave the way they did last night. oil giant bp announces profits of £9.5 billion last year — its highest for eight years. calls that uk consumers should benefit as the cost of living crisis deepens. french president emmanuel macron has arrived n kyiv for talks with ukraine's president, amid continuing tensions on the border with russia.

a report by a police watchdog says officers colluded with loyalist paramilitaries in a number of murders in belfast in the 1990s. and bamber gascoigne — the original host of the tv quiz show university challenge — has died at the age of 87. downing street says boris johnson will not apologise for his false claim that sir keir starmer — who used to be the director of public prosecutions — failed to prosecute the paedophile jimmy saville for sexual assault. the prime minister has faced calls to apologise from across the political spectrum, including from some of his own mps after sir keir was targeted by anti—vaccine protestors in central london last night.

they were heard accusing him of "protecting paedophiles". our political correspondent chris mason reports. shouting: where's jimmy savile?! abuse hurled at the labour leader as he walks through westminster, a false claim that he protected the paedophilejimmy savile. keir starmer bundled into a police car... ..two arrests were made. it happened outside parliament, where the prime minister made a false link between the two. we know exactly how this plays out, because we've seen it in the united states of america. if borisjohnson keeps on doing this, we will see exactly the same as in the united states of america. mps will be hounded on their way into parliament and there will be people on the steps of parliament, just as there were on the 6th of january on congress in the united states. the prime minister wrongly suggested the labour leader had been involved in the decisions not to prosecute savile when he was the boss of public prosecutions.

after a huge row, borisjohnson rather changed what he was saying, but he did not say sorry. a lot of people have got hot under the collar, and i understand why. let's be absolutely clear — i'm talking not about the leader of the opposition's personal record when he was dpp, and i totally understand that he had nothing to do personally with those decisions. the prime minister says... but others in his own party want him to say much more. julian smith, who used to serve in borisjohnson's cabinet, said... but, this morning, downing street has no intention of apologising for the prime minister's remarks.

chris mason, bbc news, at westminster. let's talk to our political correspondent damian grammaticus. number 10 doubling down on the keir starmerjimmy savile remarks? weill. starmerjimmy savile remarks? well, what they are — starmerjimmy savile remarks? well, what they are saying, _ starmerjimmy savile remarks? -tt what they are saying, absolutely no intention of apologising for that and saying that they don't believe there is a direct link between their remarks and the scenes we saw yesterday with those protesters. now they were out there on the embankment, these are anti—vaccine protesters. they had anti—vax messages. they saw keir starmer and surrounded him and in that confrontation, there were these shouts aboutjimmy savile that were made before sir keir was bundled away. downing street says, well, if you are talking about organisational

responsibility of the prime minister what happens in downing street, then sir keir was director of public prosecutions, overseeing the cps and this was back when the prosecution was not brought againstjimmy savile. but it was worth saying that was in 2008— 09. sir keir had no part in that decision and it was only a couple of years later when sirjimmy died, jimmy savile died, and then all of the history of sexual abuse came out. at that point keir starmer apologised on behalf of the cps. this is what the northern ireland secretary said today. i think it is absolutely fair to draw a complete comparision between when somebody is saying as the head of an organisation you should take responsibility for that, then they need to take responsibility for the organisation they were head of, as well. keir starmer, to be fair, has done that and made the apology.

the prime minister was making that comparison, which i think is a fair comparison. it does not excuse the kind of behaviour we saw from thugs last night. is brandon lewis by saying, sir keir made the apology and there was that inquiry. if you look, the prime minister has also made some apologies. if you look at his apologies. if you look at his apologies on the 8th of december about the christmas parties, he said he apologised for the offence and the impression it gives. on the 12th of january when the the impression it gives. on the 12th ofjanuary when the summer garden parties had been revealed as well, the prime minister's apology at that point was, there were things we simply did not get right, i must take responsibility. i went into the garden, i believed implicitly this was a work event. so the prime minister apologising for things we did not get to write. labour today though, have been saying he absolutely should withdraw the comments and apologise for the comments and apologise for the comments he made about sir keir starmer because they are untrue and

drawn from online conspiracy sites. this is what labour has been saying. he holds the highest office in the land and people do listen to what he says and it's trumpian—style politics and legitimises the sort of political discourse that isn't what we like or deserve in this country. and i believe he should come to the house of commons and apologise unreservedly for the slurs that he made last week, which is exactly what many of his conservative mps are asking him to do. 0f of course, that is what downing street are saying he will not do. the prime minister will not apologise for those and will not comment any further, they are saying. comment any further, they are sa inc. . ., comment any further, they are sa inc. . ~' , comment any further, they are sa in. . , . well, baroness smith, the labour leader in the house of lords, was also with sir keir starmer and david lammy at the time of the disturbance yesterday. earlier, she spoke to bbc essex about what the experience was like. they were screaming, pretty vile screaming things and shouting. then they suddenly started shouting out keir�*s name,

blew whistles, cheered, jeered, all those kinds of noises. we carried on. it got quite hard to talk, even though they were some distance away, and next thing, we knew we were surrounded by them. and some of the things being said were, you know, pretty vile, and kind of the sort of thing — now i don't look at the things on the internet — but i gather there's pretty vile things on the internet of conspiracy theories that most people dismiss as nonsense but some people believe them. they were screaming those kinds of things and it was just pretty horrible, i have to say. to be honest, at the time, you just get on with it. it's only when i've looked back at the footage, i saw it on tv last night, that i understood why i had so many texts and messages from people asking if i was ok. itjust shows that kindness outweighs this kind of unpleasantness every single time. but, you know, it wasn't very nice, it was unpleasant. our specialist disinformation reporter marianna spring said the false claims aboutjimmy savile have been circulating on the internet for some time.

there's been a lot of conversation about those false allegations that were made byjohnson, alleging that starmer had some personal responsibility for failings in prosecuting savile. and those conspiracies have actually found their way into our houses of parliament from the fringes of the internet. they're claims that have been circulating in conspiracy circles on social media for quite some time. so it doesn't come as that much of a surprise that some activists who have regularly protested outside parliament, anti—vaccine activists in this case who were outside parliament yesterday, then grab these claims and run with them and are making allegations against starmer, calling him a traitor, mentioning savile, calling him a paedophile protector, as well as promoting other conspiracies about the coronavirus vaccine. they were actually there with a canada flag because they're trying to copy rallies that have been happening in canada, freedom protests that are against the vaccine. so it gives us a little bit of an understanding, i guess, into how a hodgepodge of conspiracy theories can be promoted by movements online and then off and the quite violent rhetoric

and aggressive tactics being used by these activists, further inspired by what they're hearing from politicians. let me tell you there is going to be a statement in the commons that 12.30. a statement on the recovery update. 6 million people are waiting for non—urgent surgery and hospital treatment in england and nhs england has been formulating a recovery plan for elective surgery. the aim of it is to get closing times closer to the 18 week maximum enshrined in the nhs constitution. it was supposed to happen yesterday but we are hearing it will happen today at 12.30. we will bring it to you when it happens. the oil giant, bp, has reported its highest profit for eight years. the company made £9.5 billion for 2021 — and saw its profits surge

in the final quarter of the year after oil and gas prices started to climb. the global increase in energy prices has pushed up gas and electricity bills for households and has led to calls for a windfall tax on big energy firms. our business correspondent dharshini david, told us what bp are saying about these profits. a few months ago, bp's own boss referred to as operational as being like a cash machine at this point, it has benefited from the high global costs for gas, five times what it was before the pandemic, oil almost double, research and demand, constraints apply. when you look at the likes of bp, it is notjust bp who is seeing higher profits, at the same time bp is saying they will give money back to shareholders in share buy backs and they will reap over £1 billion worth of rewards. that has raised eyebrows but many commentators have said when you look at this cash machine, sometimes it runs dry

because it's hugely dependent on what happens to the energy prices, so bp has swung from a loss to this massive profit but it will raise lots of eyebrows and people are saying, as we have heard, where is the windfall tax to help people struggling with the bills? president macron of france is visiting kyiv for talks with ukraine's president, volodymyr zelensky, on the tensions along the border with russia. the french president is the latest in a series of european leaders to lend mr zelensky public diplomatic support. yesterday, mr macron held five hours of talks with president putin in moscow, but the talks failed to resolve the crisis, as paul adams reports. how are you? fine, just fine, how are you? emmanuel macron believes he can prevent war. on the back of several phone calls, a face—to—face meeting in the kremlin. the french leader says mr putin wants an historic agreement on the future of europe. translation: we are aware today, both of us, _

of the gravity of the situation. and of the urgent and imperative necessity, in the interests of everyone, to find a path of peace and stability in europe. but now the focus is back on kyiv. mr macron coming to ukraine's capital to brief the government here on his talks in moscow and, perhaps, to reassure ukraine once again that nothing is being done behind its back. translation: it looks like we are supported. | i mean, it looks like that, but we will see. the result is what matters, but we don't see it clearly yet. translation: i think - the west is supporting us. because they supply us with weapons. of course i'd like them to support us if the russians invade. but that's their business. if an invasion comes, ukraine says it's ready, carrying out drills in a region bordering russian—annexed crimea. american officials say russia could launch an attack any time. but it is still not clear

what vladimir putin intends to do. and while the world waits, ukraine's capital gets on with life. hoping as presidents, prime ministers and government officials come and go, that a war already eight years old will not escalate, but end. pauladams, bbc news, kyiv. our correspondent in moscow is caroline davies. what is the word from the kremlin after that meeting with emmanuel macron? that after that meeting with emmanuel macron? �* ., ~' macron? at the moment i think the kremlin is still— macron? at the moment i think the kremlin is still keeping _ macron? at the moment i think the kremlin is still keeping their - kremlin is still keeping their powder dry about this yes, there were certainly president words from president macron and the kremlin spokesman when he addressed his conference call earlier talked about president putin putting a high value on the fact president macron came to moscow to have these talks. however, there is not a resolution as we know from the talks from yesterday,

despite these warm words. the kremlin said they thought that macron had some seeds of rationale in his idea but crucially they still feel that many of the issues that they've raised previously with the us and addressed and they don't necessarily feel like they are being taken seriously at the moment. the kremlin also talked about the fact they wanted things de—escalate that on their side they are blaming the west for the escalation, saying the west are sending troops and ammunition to ukraine. however of course from the us, nato, the west's side, any escalation has been coming in response to whatever russia is doing and they are saying russia is continuing to build up its troops on the ukrainian border. 50 continuing to build up its troops on the ukrainian border.— continuing to build up its troops on the ukrainian border. so given that context, the ukrainian border. so given that context. how _ the ukrainian border. so given that context, how should _ the ukrainian border. so given that context, how should we _ the ukrainian border. so given that context, how should we take - the ukrainian border. so given that context, how should we take those words from us: de—escalation? t words from us: de—escalation? i think given the fact these talks are continuing on the fact there is still diplomacy, it seen as a positive thing. the fact president

templer mcgrath had a warm response with president putin yesterday, that that can be taken as a positive as well. but at the moment we are still stuck in this limbo where there has not been a resolution found and it's a very thorny issue that neither side particularly seem to be budging on at all, which is the issue of nato and to potentially expanding in the future. russia wants a cast—iron guarantee that it went and nato and the us have repeatedly said that thatis the us have repeatedly said that that is not something that is on the table. how do you get around that particular issue to find a diplomatic solution? particular issue to find a dilomatic solution? ., ~ , ., , diplomatic solution? thank you very much. caroline _ diplomatic solution? thank you very much. caroline davies _ diplomatic solution? thank you very much. caroline davies in _ diplomatic solution? thank you very much. caroline davies in moscow. l the headlines on bbc news: after sir keir starmer is harassed by protestors shouting the name of paedophilejimmy savile, downing street says there will be no apology. there's pressure on the prime minister to withdraw false allegations about sir keir when he was head of public prosecutions.

the oil giant bp announces profits of £9.5 billion for last year — its highest for eight years. french president emmanuel macron has arrived in kyiv for talks with ukraine's president, amid continuing tensions on the border with russia. a report by a police watchdog says officers colluded with loyalist paramilitaries in a number of murders in belfast in the 1990s. the northern ireland police ombudsman examined the killings of five catholics at a bookmakers' shop and six other fatal shootings. the report also found there was an unjustifiable use of informants involved in serious crime. assistant chief constable jonathan roberts — from the police service of northern ireland — said officers had greatly improved policies and procedures. here's our ireland correspondent, chris page. on a wednesday afternoon in 1992, there was an act of sectarian carnage at this bookmaker�*s shop. the loyalist group the ulster freedom fighters shot dead five catholics.

families have long claimed there was collusion between paramilitaries and the security forces. at the weekend, they marked the 30th anniversary of the atrocity. it is not the people who walked in the bookies 30 years ago, it's the people who put the guns in their hands and the people allowed to act with impunity, and were never ever prosecuted. the report published today identifies significant failures in the police investigation. some records were destroyed. police donated the rifle used in the murders to the imperial war museum. the security forces had informers in the loyalist organisation who were involved in serious crimes, including murders. but police intelligence officers didn't pass on relevant information to detectives investigating the shootings. the conflict largely ended later in the 1990s, but northern ireland is still haunted by its history. the question of how killings from the past should be investigated

is complex and contentious, and it cuts particularly deep for thousands of bereaved families. the government is planning to end all prosecutions for paramilitaries and former members of state forces. but that is opposed by most victims, including the relatives of those who died here. chris page, bbc news, belfast. websites that publish pornography will be legally required to verify the age of their users under new plans announced by the government. ministers say the draft online safety bill will be strengthened to include the measure, which would also see sites fined or blocked if they fail to act. among them is digital minister chris philp who says it is too easy for children to access pornography online. we are going to be introducing a new requirement on all online platforms, whether those are social media platforms or commercial pornography sites to prevent children under the age of 18 viewing pornography. we think that is really important,

because a shockingly high proportion of children have viewed and are viewing online pornography. 51%, over half, of 11 to 13—year—olds have viewed online pornography, which i think is a horrifyingly high figure for children so young. and the police tell us that they are concerned that this is fuelling the increase in sexual assaults we are seeing amongst school aged children. that is what it is important we take compressive action. that is what this change being announced today and implement it in a few weeks' time via the bill is intended to do. health experts are calling for urgent research to find out why black women are at higher risk of miscarriage. the royal college of obstetricians and gynaecologists says the situation is unacceptable. one study found that black women were 40% more likely to have a miscarriage than white women. ministers say they committed to tackling disparities in maternity care. our global health correspondent tulip mazumdar has

been investigating. these women are sisters in loss. it's the name of their organisation, created to help give black women a voice when it comes to maternal health. all have suffered pregnancy loss. i had my loss at 12 weeks, this was in 2018. natrice told me she was inconsolable when she was scanned and told there was no heartbeat. ijust, you know, collapsed. i got sick right there, and then she asked me, "why are you throwing up? did you come in here sick?" and i had to explain to her, "ma'am, you just told me my baby no longer has a heartbeat." so there was no compassion. i woke up, was having really bad back pain, and i was told by my doctor when i called that i wasjust constipated. they told me to come back in a few

hours for an ultrasound. i never even made it back to that ultrasound because i miscarried at home. all four women described numerous occasions when they didn't feel their concerns were taken seriously by clinicians. i just don't feel that we are being listened to and heard in the spaces. do you think it is about the colour of your skin? absolutely. yes. i mean, it really is a struggle all around when it comes to our maternal care. doctor schreiber is an obstetrics and gynaecology doctor in philadelphia and is working to improve maternal outcomes, with a focus on black women. a black woman's risk of miscarriage after ten weeks of pregnancy is double that of a white woman's risk of miscarriage at that stage. now, the reason behind this disparity is probably multifaceted and still remains unclear. race is socially constructed, so it is probably not a risk factor, but racism and gender bias,

these are at the root that underlies most of these health disparities that we see in maternal health. there is your baby's heart beating, so that's nice and reassuring. 3000 miles away, in coventry in the uk, professor quenby runs a recurrent miscarriage clinic at university hospital. she is also a leading researcher in this field. she is currently trying to get funding to investigate some of the many unknowns around why black women are at higher risk, including looking into any potential biological factors. we know, for example, if you are black and asian then you handle glucose less well, so we know you're at a much more increased risk of gestational diabetes. we also know that the balance of bacteria in your vagina is different in black and asian women to white women, and we know an imbalance in the bacteria in your vagina has been associated with miscarriage and preterm birth, so that's another area we can look at. there is clearly a myriad of complex

and difficult issues at play here, but the longer we don't have answers to some of these key questions, the longer so many women will continue to suffer needlessly. one idea professor quenby and her team is already working on is an app where women in the uk will be able to input their clinical details like ethnicity and weight, and whether they have had any previous miscarriages. they'll then get specific evidence—based advice on how to lower their risk of a loss. i feel very optimistic, because more conversations are occurring about it and the more exposure this gets, then other women feel more comfortable asking the questions. the tv presenter and author bamber gascoigne has died at his home in richmond after a short illness. the 87—year—old was famous for being the original host of bbc�*s university challenge.

david sillitto looks back on his life. university challenge tournament. asking the questions, bamber gascoigne. . it began in 1962. bamber gascoigne, a 27—year—old eton—educated theatre critic, was chosen to be the host of a new quiz show, university challenge. st hilda's, evans? picasso. picasso, ten points, st hilda's. we all thought, i think, that it was a job for about three months. had anyone known that the first run was going to last for 25 years, and we were talking about a job for 25 years, i think we would have all been so frightened we could hardly have read the card. let's go straight into the game, here's the first starter for ten. a big one coming up, here's your starter for ten. before each programme, he'd go through the questions, learning just enough to give the impression of being all knowing. i didn't want to let them down by revealing gross ignorance. dear sir, your astonishment�*s odd. i am always about in the quod. he was also rather posh. yours faithfully, god.

his family tree had more than a smattering of generals, politicians and aristocrats. and the show had a certain oxbridge heartiness to it, punctured only by manchester's moment of student rebellion, answering questions with the names of revolutionary leaders. che guevara. karl marx. trotsky. starterfor ten, fingers on the buzzers. who is the richest person in the world? and then there was also the famous parody. now, i'll have to hurry you, i have to hurry you. who is the richest person in the world? footlights, snot? it's... its me, isn't it? but by the late 80s, it no longer seemed to fit in the itv schedules and was dropped. so that's the end of this one. still, another time, perhaps. there was the short lived and even more highbrow series connoisseur... we have questions ranging from painting and architecture to ceramics and furniture. university challenge | pro—celebrity match. and he did return for a celebrity special. bamber gascoigne!

cheering and applause. but he turned down the bbc revival, choosing instead to devote himself to writing his history website, and latterly restoring a large country house he inherited. your first starter for ten. starter for ten. but starterfor ten, fingers on the buzzer... two minutes to go. ..his place in history is behind the desk of one of tv�*s most challenging quizzes. i will get the thoughts of a contestant on university to challenge in 2017. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. hello again. it's been a mild start to the day for the time of year and generally speaking, although today's very mild in the south and colder further north, temperatures are above average for this stage in february. we've got a weather front which is a dividing line between the mild and the cooler air and that weather front is producing

some cloud and some rain. the rain not particularly heavy at this stage across northern england, it will move a little bit further north through the day. we've got some showers, wintry over the hills in scotland, gusting to gale force across the northern and western isles. thick enough cloud in wales and the south—west for some drizzle but some sunny spells across central and south—eastern parts of england. as we head on into tomorrow, you can see how our weather front sinks south, so more of us will have cooler conditions coming our way. the wintry showers across scotland will be falling to low levels and, once again, we're at gales even severe gales in the far north. the mildest conditions will be once again in the south.

hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... after sir keir starmer is harassed by protestors shouting the name of paedophilejimmy savile, downing street says there'll be no apology.

there's pressure on the prime minister to withdraw false allegations about sir keir when he was head of public prosecutions. when we are looking at the fact that somebody at the top of an organisation has responsibility for what happens in it — that's the point the prime minister was making. i think that's a fair and reasonable point. it's no excuse for people to behave the way they did last night. oil giant bp announces profits of £9.5 billion last year, its highest for eight years. french president emmanuel macron has arrived in kyiv for talks with ukraine's president, amid continuing tensions on the border with russia. a report by a police watchdog says officers colluded with loyalist paramilitaries in a number of murders in belfast in the 1990s. and bamber gascoigne, the original host of the tv quiz show university challenge, has died at the age of 87 sport now and a full round up,

from the bbc sport centre. good morning. it's day four of the winter olympics and team gb are still waiting for that first medal. teenager kirsty muir was in sensationalform, and finished an impressive fifth, in a brilliant big air ski final, as the mixed curlers missed out on a bronze. joe lynksey reports. the wait for british medals goes on. they feel it hardest in curling. bruce mouat and jen dodds were in a match for bronze and faced a swedish pair they beatjust last match for bronze and faced a swedish pair they beat just last week. match for bronze and faced a swedish pair they beatjust last week. very quickly, at olympics, teams find fault. really well played.- quickly, at olympics, teams find fault. really well played. that's a shot. sweden _ fault. really well played. that's a shot. sweden scored _ fault. really well played. that's a shot. sweden scored four- fault. really well played. that's a shot. sweden scored four points | fault. really well played. that's a . shot. sweden scored four points with one shot. shot. sweden scored four points with one shot- in — shot. sweden scored four points with one shot. in this _ shot. sweden scored four points with one shot. in this sport _ shot. sweden scored four points with one shot. in this sport on _ shot. sweden scored four points with one shot. in this sport on the - shot. sweden scored four points with one shot. in this sport on the ice, . one shot. in this sport on the ice, that a mountain to climb. when gb went 7—1 down it was too much. they will get more chances in team events, but still this felt cruel. yesterday, they were so close to the gold medal match. now they had

missed out on bronze. got gold medal match. now they had missed out on bronze.— gold medal match. now they had missed out on bronze. got off to a bad start and _ missed out on bronze. got off to a bad start and that's _ missed out on bronze. got off to a bad start and that's what - missed out on bronze. got off to a j bad start and that's what punished us most. just had to fight back from there. they made a really good shot for four, there. they made a really good shot forfour, fair there. they made a really good shot for four, fair play to there. they made a really good shot forfour, fair play to her in such there. they made a really good shot for four, fair play to her in such a big game, it's a great feeling for her i'm sure. wejust big game, it's a great feeling for her i'm sure. we just have to console ourselves because we have got a big week with both teams. in the big air, the ski in cooling tower shadows but in this event they go for the spotlight. kirsty muir is just 17 but took on the trick of her life. . . . just 17 but took on the trick of her life. ., . ., ., just 17 but took on the trick of her life. . . ., ., ., , , ., life. immaculate! that the way you want to start _ life. immaculate! that the way you want to start a _ life. immaculate! that the way you want to start a final! _ life. immaculate! that the way you want to start a final! that - life. immaculate! that the way you want to start a final! that took - life. immaculate! that the way you want to start a final! that took her| want to start a final! that took her to the top of _ want to start a final! that took her to the top of the _ want to start a final! that took her to the top of the standings. - want to start a final! that took her to the top of the standings. at - want to start a final! that took her to the top of the standings. at the end, she was happy to come fifth. china is one contestant is just 18. she did this. this she china is one contestant is 'ust18. she did this. thi— she did this. this she has got to ut it she did this. this she has got to put it down! _ she did this. this she has got to put it down! 1620 _ she did this. this she has got to put it down! 1620 is _ she did this. this she has got to put it down! 1620 is 4.5 - she did this. this she has got to put it down! 1620 is 4.5 turns i she did this. this she has got to put it down! 1620 is 4.5 turns in j put it down! 1620 is 4.5 turns in that ear

put it down! 1620 is 4.5 turns in that year and — put it down! 1620 is 4.5 turns in that year and one _ put it down! 1620 is 4.5 turns in that year and one of _ put it down! 1620 is 4.5 turns in that year and one of these - put it down! 1620 is 4.5 turns in i that year and one of these games's biggest story. she learned to ski in california but switched to china three years ago. now she leaves the home nation on the greatest stage. it was a dream, i was scared to think_ it was a dream, i was scared to think about _ it was a dream, i was scared to think about it— it was a dream, i was scared to think about it because - it was a dream, i was scared to think about it because i- it was a dream, i was scared to think about it because i did i it was a dream, i was scared to think about it because i did not| think about it because i did not want _ think about it because i did not want to— think about it because i did not want to let _ think about it because i did not want to let myself _ think about it because i did not want to let myself down - think about it because i did not want to let myself down but i think about it because i did not- want to let myself down but before dropping _ want to let myself down but before dropping in — want to let myself down but before dropping in i— want to let myself down but before dropping in i kind _ want to let myself down but before dropping in i kind of— want to let myself down but before dropping in i kind of thought- want to let myself down but before dropping in i kind of thought like ii dropping in i kind of thought like i was going — dropping in i kind of thought like i was going to _ dropping in i kind of thought like i was going to land _ dropping in i kind of thought like i was going to land it. _ dropping in i kind of thought like i was going to land it. i— dropping in i kind of thought like i was going to land it. i was - dropping in i kind of thought like i was going to land it. i was in i dropping in i kind of thought like i was going to land it. i was in the i was going to land it. i was in the zone _ was going to land it. i was in the zone all— was going to land it. i was in the zone all day _ was going to land it. i was in the zone all day. all— was going to land it. i was in the zone all day. all the _ was going to land it. i was in the zone all day. all the stars - was going to land it. i was in the l zone all day. all the stars aligned for me _ zone all day. all the stars aligned for me today _ zone all day. all the stars aligned for me today. she _ zone all day. all the stars aligned for me today-— zone all day. all the stars aligned formetoda. . ,., ., .y for me today. she is one more symbol ofthe for me today. she is one more symbol of the diplomatic _ for me today. she is one more symbol of the diplomatic challenges. - of the diplomatic challenges. watching her when gold was the chinese tennis player who went missing for some weeks last year. beijing's is, now china hopes the focus stays on their skiing staff. we can join andy swiss now, live from zhangjiakou. disappointment for gb, but there's still optimism in the camp, with medal prospects still to compete?

that's right, such disappointment for the curlers, bruce mouat and jen dodds. they come to these games with such high hopes. they are the reigning world champions, one of britain's biggest medal hopes at these games butjust never got going in that bronze medal match against sweden. perhaps a hangoverfrom their semifinal defeat yesterday. they both still have medal chances in the men's and women's team event, but that will be... the in the men's and women's team event, but that will be. . .— but that will be... the disgraceful behaviour of _ but that will be... the disgraceful behaviour of yesterday, _ but that will be... the disgraceful behaviour of yesterday, that i but that will be... the disgraceful behaviour of yesterday, that was | behaviour of yesterday, that was directed — behaviour of yesterday, that was directed at the right honourable member— directed at the right honourable member for holborn and st pancras. i deplore _ member for holborn and st pancras. i deplore the _ member for holborn and st pancras. i deplore the fact that members of this house were subjected to intimidating and threatening behaviour whilst simply doing their jobs _ behaviour whilst simply doing their jobs i_ behaviour whilst simply doing their jobs. i know the whole house will 'oin jobs. i know the whole house will join you _ jobs. i know the whole house will join you in— jobs. i know the whole house will join you in saying we stand with our colleagues — join you in saying we stand with our colleagues in condemning the behaviour they and the police experienced. while i do not comment in detail— experienced. while i do not comment in detail on—

experienced. while i do not comment in detail on security matters of the floor of— in detail on security matters of the floor of the — in detail on security matters of the floor of the chamber, steps must be in place _ floor of the chamber, steps must be in place to— floor of the chamber, steps must be in place to keep pass—holders secure as they— in place to keep pass—holders secure as they enter and leave parliamentary estate. i have requested a situation report from the metropolitan police via our security— the metropolitan police via our security team on how this incident occurred — security team on how this incident occurred i— security team on how this incident occurred. i understand that arrests have _ occurred. i understand that arrests have been— occurred. i understand that arrests have been made following yesterday's incident _ have been made following yesterday's incident and so it would be appropriate to not comment in detait — appropriate to not comment in detait i— appropriate to not comment in detail. i know it has been reported that some — detail. i know it has been reported that some abuse was directed for the film that some abuse was directed for the right honourable member of the opposition yesterday related to claims — opposition yesterday related to claims made by the prime minister in this chamber. regardless of yesterday's incident, i made clear last week— yesterday's incident, i made clear last week that while the prime minister's words were not disorderly, they were inappropriate. as i disorderly, they were inappropriate. as i said _ disorderly, they were inappropriate. as i said then, these sorts of comments only inflame opinions and generate _ comments only inflame opinions and generate disregard for the house and it is not— generate disregard for the house and it is not acceptable. our words have consequences and we should always be

mindful— consequences and we should always be mindful of— consequences and we should always be mindful of that fact. and i will be taking _ mindful of that fact. and i will be taking point of order and we move on to the _ taking point of order and we move on to the business. we now start with questions — to the business. we now start with questions for the secretary of state forjustice — forjustice. studio: that was a bit of a forjustice~ — studio: that was a bit of a rebuke from the speaker lindsay hoyle for borisjohnson after from the speaker lindsay hoyle for boris johnson after what from the speaker lindsay hoyle for borisjohnson after what happened yesterday with sir keir starmer, the scuffles, that mob shouting paedophile at sir keir starmer is, arrests have been made that reference was made by the mob to the comments made by the prime minister in the commons last week, suggesting keir starmer was responsible for charges not being brought against jimmy savile and the distinction has been made that of course sir keir starmer was the head of the cps at the time the charges were not brought, but he was not involved in the decision—making and apologised subsequently for the decision that the cps had reached on it. there was

an inquiry and it was found that the decision had been made in good faith and sir keir starmer was not responsible for that, but it was brought up last week by boris johnson in the commons. there has been a huge amount of fallout from him making that claim last week and the head of his policy unit at number ten munira mirza resigned as a result of the prime minister refusing to apologise for those comments and we have just heard from the speaker lindsay hoyle saying that he had previously made clear that he had previously made clear that the prime minister's words were not appropriate and he said, "our words have consequences." he said he deplores the behaviour that was seen yesterday against sir keir starmer and he condemned that behaviour. the duchess of cornwall has arrived at her first public engagement since the queen paved the way for her to become queen camilla.

andrew plant is in bath. more interest in the visit today after the news that she will be queen? t after the news that she will be cueen? ~ . after the news that she will be cueen? .. . . after the news that she will be tueen? ~' ., , . ., , queen? i think that is certainly true. queen? i think that is certainly true- lots _ queen? i think that is certainly true. lots of _ queen? i think that is certainly true. lots of excited _ queen? i think that is certainly i true. lots of excited schoolchildren here in bath, a couple of hundred lining the driveway either side that leads down to the entrance of their school, all of them waving flags as camilla arrived this morning, walking down an saying hello as she made her way to the entrance of the school for what is a more significant to visit, giving the extra significance after the queen made it clear recently that her sincerest wish was that when prince charles becomes king charles, camilla be known as queen camilla. she has a fairly packed schedule, she is only here for 45 minutes, inside at the moment but she will go to a language class with three—year—olds and then a bit of tree planting, we havejust seen her

do that, she added some soil to the base of that tree behind me. she will be a will reading room and then getting together with eight—year—olds to make smoothies for lunch. busy schedule for the hour she is here in bath. there is no significance to this because the queen effectively put to bed any speculation about what camilla's royal role might be after charles takes the throne. suggestions she might be known as princess consort that the queen has effectively said it has her sincerest wish should be known as queen camilla, she has removed any barriers and given guarantee of that full royal role after charles takes the frame. she has 20 minutes left inside, her final engagement comes into parts. the school has written and learned a brand—new song on her behalf and have also had a plaque put up. her final tack will be to unveil that

plaque in herfirst royal engagement since the queen said she wished camilla to be known as queen camilla after charles takes the stone. last week we reported about the energy price cap rise, which will add an extra £700 to the average household energy bill. those who use pre—payment meters could face even steeper rises. around 4.5 million homes in england, scotland and wales have a prepayment meter, and these customers are protected by a different energy price cap. coletta smith reports. jenny pays for her gas and electricity in advance. it is all done through an app now, topping up her metre in regular small chunks. get the chef in behind you. that careful budgeting has helped her work her way out of debt and get the family back on two feet. but being a prepayment customer means she is charged the highest rate for her energy.

where £10 could have lasted you three, four days, two weeks later, it can last you two days. so it is difficult to budget because you are like, "hang on, i thought i had £15 on there, now i've just checked and i've only got £7 left, there should be this." and you are watching the balance go down and you think, "there is nothing i can do." when that goes, there is no electricity, there is no gas. the regulator says it understands it is very difficult for prepayment customers, but they have to let companies charge more, because it costs more to run a prepayment system. the government have announced extra money to soften the latest price cap rise, but the boss of the biggest dedicated prepayment company says it is not the right kind of support to help his customers. the measures that they have announced in total is probably about right, it isjust not targeted enough. it needs to be targeted on the 7

or 8 million households who are going to be really stretched ratherthan, you know, subsidising eve rybody's energy consumption. how is that going to work for prepayment customers, then? customers do all kinds of things, particularly in the rented sector, and you are going to potentially be putting a debt on a prepaid meter, possibly one person gets the benefit of the £200 subsidy, they then change tenancy and somebody else ends up picking up the bill for the £40, and that is not fair. utilities figures show more customers are running out of money in their accounts than ever before. charities helping the most vulnerable say they expect that will get worse when this latest price rise kicks in. if you are on monthly billing i and you are struggling financially, that day, you can still turn on your light and you will. have a light come on, whereas if you don't have money

to put in the metre, _ there is no access to power that day, so i have often gone - into people's homes and found i that the lights are off, the houses are cold, because they're having to wait until payday, _ a few days away, until they are actually able | to have access to energy. most people don't tend to choose to be in a prepayment meter- and if you have debt on a meter, you can opt out of that. - so people do feel quite stuck on it as well. i there are some safety nets for customers likejenny, as the major suppliers do have emergency funding available. but those with the least will be charged the most for their energy in the months ahead. coletta smith, bbc news, in manchester. joining me is karl who is a pay—as—you—go energy customer. thanks forjoining us. tell us how your situation is?— thanks forjoining us. tell us how your situation is? good morning. i'm really worried _ your situation is? good morning. i'm really worried about _ your situation is? good morning. i'm really worried about the _ your situation is? good morning. i'm really worried about the next - really worried about the next winter, the problem with pre—pay is you cannot budget ahead like if you

are on a credit metre. obviously in the summer months, none of us you to our homes, so you do not top up for the coming winter so i'm really worried about people being hit who are on prepay with the next winter's bills. i'm looking at perhaps as much as £180 a month during the next winter and the prepayment system isn't fit for purpose and i'm really worried that a lot of people who are not very good at managing their money who are on prepay are going to find themselves in a really tricky situation, come next winter. you are not worried — situation, come next winter. you are not worried for _ situation, come next winter. you are not worried for the _ situation, come next winter. you are not worried for the situation - not worried for the situation currently?— not worried for the situation currentl ? , ., , , ., ., currently? obviously we are all worried about _ currently? obviously we are all worried about prices _ currently? obviously we are all worried about prices rising i currently? obviously we are all worried about prices rising in i worried about prices rising in april, but we will be coming into the more mild months of the year. people on prepay don't have that ability to pay every single month to the same moment to build up that

credit. on a prepayment metre you can only top up a maximum of £250, it won't allow you to in advance than that. why? why is it that when you go to a newsagents, you have to use cash to prepay, to top up? you cannot use it bank card. why is it only £49 per transaction? it's not fit for purpose. in only £49 per transaction? it's not fit for purpose-— fit for purpose. in the bigger icture fit for purpose. in the bigger picture of — fit for purpose. in the bigger picture of having _ fit for purpose. in the bigger picture of having the - fit for purpose. in the bigger picture of having the money| fit for purpose. in the bigger- picture of having the money anyway to actually be able to spend on the increased costs of energy, what is your situation? increased costs of energy, what is yoursituation? t’m increased costs of energy, what is your situation?— your situation? i'm disabled, i'm housebound _ your situation? i'm disabled, i'm housebound a _ your situation? i'm disabled, i'm housebound a lot _ your situation? i'm disabled, i'm housebound a lot of— your situation? i'm disabled, i'm housebound a lot of the - your situation? i'm disabled, i'm housebound a lot of the time, i your situation? i'm disabled, i'm| housebound a lot of the time, my heating bill is very high. i'm very disappointed the warm home discount didn't go up. a lot of people were with an energy supplier that went bust and there is no obligation for your new supplier to or not your

warm home discount so i had to get my mp involved to pressure my new energy company to honour that warm home discount, may be many people who are entitled to that extra help we did the right thing by applying for it because it's not automatically added, you have to apply, are now approaching their new supplier and being told the scheme is closed and that is money people badly need right now. for their energy bills. {in badly need right now. for their energy bills-— badly need right now. for their ener: bills. y., ., energy bills. on the point you made about the logistic _ energy bills. on the point you made about the logistic issues _ energy bills. on the point you made about the logistic issues of - energy bills. on the point you made about the logistic issues of topping | about the logistic issues of topping up, each month for your supply, we heard in our report about the concerns of one woman saying that basically if it runs out, you are not going to have power the next day. is that, is this part of that picture? day. is that, is this part of that icture? . , ,. day. is that, is this part of that icture? . , y., ., ., picture? certainly if you are not aood at picture? certainly if you are not good at managing _ picture? certainly if you are not good at managing your - picture? certainly if you are not good at managing your money. picture? certainly if you are not i good at managing your money and a lot of people on prepay, that is why they are because they have not

managed their money very well. i was not in that situation, i inherited a flat that had a prepaid metre in already, and my supplier at the time, you actually have to pay to have that metre changed which was a barrier to having it changed. a lot of people actually should not be on prepayment metres but have inherited it. but it's going to be very tricky for a lot of people to manage their money, especially when it is not being spread over the year, like you would be on a direct debit. thank ou for would be on a direct debit. thank you forjoining — would be on a direct debit. thank you forjoining us. _ would be on a direct debit. thank you forjoining us. thank- would be on a direct debit. thank you forjoining us. thank you. i would be on a direct debit. thank| you forjoining us. thank you. this let's return to the story that's linked to energy costs, prompting calls that uk consumers should benefit as the cost of living crisis deepens let's speak to the leader of the liberal democrats, sir ed davey. thank you forjoining us. you have been saying that this is a reason for their to be a windfall tax. what

would you set it at and when? lib dems would you set it at and when? l j dems believe we could raise £5 billion at least from the huge profits that the oil and gas companies are making and use that money to cut peoples energy bills, the people on prepayment metres we were just hearing about. liberal democrats have put forward an ambitious package and we want to fund it sensibly and responsibly with a windfall tax. contrast that with a windfall tax. contrast that with a windfall tax. contrast that with a conservative approach, rishi sunak last week put forward a very meagre package which did not provide much help and it was a loan to people. i don't think that's a way to run a country, it does not provide enough help and this is ultimately a question of fairness. how can it be fair that oil and gas companies are making huge profits at the expense of millions of people who are having problems paying their heating bills?— heating bills? when you say that the windfall tax would _

heating bills? when you say that the windfall tax would raise _ heating bills? when you say that the windfall tax would raise £5 _ heating bills? when you say that the windfall tax would raise £5 billion, . windfall tax would raise £5 billion, the cost of one of the elements of what rishi sunak announced which was that £200 rebate for domestic energy users later this year that would get them paid back overfive users later this year that would get them paid back over five years, users later this year that would get them paid back overfive years, the cost of those taxpayer backed loans for that is 6 billion. it's not very different from the amount you are talking about. are you saying you would write off those loans? that's what should be done? tithe would write off those loans? that's what should be done?— what should be done? one of the roblems what should be done? one of the problems with — what should be done? one of the problems with rishi _ what should be done? one of the problems with rishi sunak i what should be done? one of the i problems with rishi sunak proposals is that it tries to help everybody. it doesn't help people who need them most. lib dems proposals would sure that nine million households at least two are the most vulnerable, disabled people, people on though incomings, people who are struggling, that they get support too. i think rishi sunak�*s package provides very little for those people who are really struggling... i want to be clear, on what you are saying. if you were in power, you

would stick with that for everyone but then there would be this windfall tax that would provide extra help for others? our proposal is based on — extra help for others? our proposal is based on the _ extra help for others? our proposal is based on the when _ extra help for others? our proposal is based on the when full _ extra help for others? our proposal is based on the when full tax i extra help for others? our proposal| is based on the when full tax paying more money to help more vulnerable people with their energy bills. we would look at whether we include rishi sunak�*s's package but it's very poor package and i think people want a more responsible approach which provides much greater help this for the people who need it most. rishi sunak really his arguments are very weak. he is saying... t arguments are very weak. he is sa inc... ., ., ., saying... i want to find out where ou're saying... i want to find out where you're coming — saying... i want to find out where you're coming from. _ saying... i want to find out where you're coming from. you - saying... i want to find out where you're coming from. you are i saying... i want to find out where i you're coming from. you are talking about a £5 billion windfall. the £6 billion cost of what rishi sunak is an ounce would mean £200 per household. you are looking at spreading 5 billion amongst fewer households. how do you envisage it working? what would be the threshold and what would people get? brute

working? what would be the threshold and what would people get?— and what would people get? we have su: nested and what would people get? we have suggested the _ and what would people get? we have suggested the warm _ and what would people get? we have suggested the warm homes - and what would people get? we have suggested the warm homes discount| suggested the warm homes discount should be paid by the treasury and it should be more than doubled so some people will be getting over £300 off their energy bill and we have said that afterjust £300 off their energy bill and we have said that after just 2 £300 off their energy bill and we have said that afterjust 2 million people getting that we should extend it to 7 million people. we have said the winterfuel it to 7 million people. we have said the winter fuel allowance should be more than doubled to help pensioners, that would mean some getting more than £6 off their heating bills. ours is a more generous package but it goes to a huge number of people but people who need this help the most. t 12?th huge number of people but people who need this help the most.— need this help the most. i want to turn to the — need this help the most. i want to turn to the prime _ need this help the most. i want to turn to the prime minister's i turn to the prime minister's comments onjimmy savile and sir keir starmer and we have just heard from lindsay hoyle in the commons a short while ago. " our words have consequences" something of a rebuke for the prime minister. what do you think should happen now? t

for the prime minister. what do you think should happen now?- think should happen now? i agree with the speaker. _ think should happen now? i agree with the speaker. the _ think should happen now? i agree with the speaker. the scenes i think should happen now? i agree with the speaker. the scenes we | think should happen now? i agree i with the speaker. the scenes we saw yesterday were appalling and have no place in our politics. i really feel for kier and his team and i think the prime minister does bear some responsibility for this. words of our leaders to have consequences. he took this false light from right—wing social media, repeated it and now right—wing mobs are using it to attack politicians. this is shocking. it reminds me of donald trump and the worst excesses of the far right in america and if boris johnson is trying to encourage that, he should be ashamed, he should apologise, he should withdraw those words. the apologise, he should withdraw those words. ,.,, ., apologise, he should withdraw those words. ., ., , words. the position from number ten is that itoris — words. the position from number ten is that boris johnson _ words. the position from number ten is that boris johnson basically - words. the position from number ten is that boris johnson basically said i is that borisjohnson basically said it's about taking responsibility for an organisation as a whole when you are at the top of it and when asked

specifically about whether there will be an apology today, downing street said he has got other stuff to get on with today. do you see any sort of equivalence? to that argument have been made in a different way? is it like to talk about doesn't because the point the lib dems and labour are making and others are that borisjohnson is at the top of number ten, therefore he is responsible for what went on. do you see an equivalence?— is responsible for what went on. do you see an equivalence? there was a slot against — you see an equivalence? there was a slot against the _ you see an equivalence? there was a slot against the leader _ you see an equivalence? there was a slot against the leader of _ you see an equivalence? there was a slot against the leader of the - slot against the leader of the opposition which was based on no evidence and was completely untrue and let's remember why prime minister did this. it's distract attention from his own mistakes which are legion. you say he has things to get on with, he has got to get on with telling the truth for once. he has misled the parliament, the british people and broke rules

on covid. lockdown rules which the rest of us were obeying. he is trying to distract attention from that. it's a classic donald trump fake news attempt, to tell people to look elsewhere when really they should be looking at the prime minister. the prime minister of our country is actually bringing our democracy into disrepute. i think people around the world are quite shocked that a british prime minister should this lie on an industrial scale, minister should this lie on an industrialscale, break minister should this lie on an industrial scale, break rules that the rest of us have two obey, and then he will not fester up to it. it's quite shocking and i hope conservative mps, when they see the prime minister making these slurs against people, refusing to apologise for misleading the house, refusing to admit he broke the rules, i hope the conservative mps stand up and if they don't stand up and get rid of this appalling prime minister, frankly, they are guilty by association and the whole conservative party should be seen by the british public is responsible

for this appalling way of governing our country. for this appalling way of governing our country-— for this appalling way of governing our country. let's return to the news that the former presenter of university challenge, bamber gascoigne, has died at the age of 87. let's speak now to bobby seagull, maths teacher and writer who of course appeared on university challenge himself in 2017. welcome. thank you forjoining us. how do you see bamber gascoigne? when we think about the uk and our great cultural exports, wimbledon, the beatles, the queen, talking about the weather, quiz shows are something we should be proud of as a nation and if you think about our great game show host, i think he sits at the top because at the pinnacle, the godfather of quizzing i think is bamber gascoigne. brute pinnacle, the godfather of quizzing i think is bamber gascoigne. we quiz show host you _ i think is bamber gascoigne. we quiz show host you mention _ i think is bamber gascoigne. we quiz show host you mention are _ i think is bamber gascoigne. we quiz show host you mention are very i show host you mention are very different with very specific characteristics. what is it about bamber gascoigne that stands out for

you? bamber gascoigne that stands out for ou? ., ., ., , , , bamber gascoigne that stands out for ou? ., ., ,., bamber gascoigne that stands out for ou? ., ., .y you? nowadays, there is a tendency for cuiz you? nowadays, there is a tendency for quiz show— you? nowadays, there is a tendency for quiz show host _ you? nowadays, there is a tendency for quiz show host to _ you? nowadays, there is a tendency for quiz show host to be _ for quiz show host to be confrontational, getting into an adversarial battle. what stood him out was that he was a gentleman, scholarly, had a gentle area addition about him. when students approached this cauldron of university challenge, he was there to make you reach your potential and one lovely fact i heard in a documentary is that he had this on the scene is that he knew everything and partly the reason behind this is because before every episode he would look to the question cards and make annotations or notes on things. for example if the question is the answer the poet shelley, he would write in his notes, keats died in 1821. the team went by keats and he will say i can see why you are thinking because he was one year apart from shelley. hoot

thinking because he was one year apart from shelley.— thinking because he was one year apart from shelley. how much, how knowledgeable _ apart from shelley. how much, how knowledgeable was _ apart from shelley. how much, how knowledgeable was he? _ apart from shelley. how much, how knowledgeable was he? if _ apart from shelley. how much, how knowledgeable was he? if you i apart from shelley. how much, how knowledgeable was he? if you have | knowledgeable was he? if you have the answers written down, you can work stuff out. this what was his background? what were his real strengths? it’s background? what were his real strenuths? �* , a, background? what were his real strengths?— strengths? it's a combination of two. as strengths? it's a combination of tw0- as a _ strengths? it's a combination of two. as a teacher, _ strengths? it's a combination of two. as a teacher, your- strengths? it's a combination of two. as a teacher, yourjob - two. as a teacher, yourjob sometimes you need to be a bit stern, students are not getting on, he had his trademark phrases but that marriage of being gentle and warm, because it can be intimidating. i went on it, but when you are on that chair knowing the nation will be watching, it can feel like a grilling. hisjob nation will be watching, it can feel like a grilling. his job was nation will be watching, it can feel like a grilling. hisjob was he thought let me get the most out of these young students. we talked about the level of knowledge he brought. you can think i've got questions and read it out but he really embedded himself in the role and later on went on to write his

own encyclopaedia. he was a fountain of knowledge and he might not have known everything but gave off an hour that knowledge flowed through his veins and voice.— his veins and voice. thank you very much. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol. hello again. it's been a mild start to the day for the time of year and generally speaking, although today's very mild in the south and colder further north, temperatures are above average for this stage in february. we've got a weather front which is a dividing line between the mild and the cooler air and that weather front is producing some cloud and some rain. the rain not particularly heavy at this stage across northern england, it will move a little bit further north through the day. we've got some showers, wintry over the hills in scotland, gusting to gale force across the northern and western isles. thick enough cloud in wales and the south—west for some drizzle but some sunny spells across central and south—eastern parts of england. as we head on into tomorrow, you can see how our weather front sinks south, so more of us will have

cooler conditions coming our way. the wintry showers across scotland will be falling to low levels and, once again, we're at gales even severe gales in the far north. the mildest conditions will be once again in the south.

this is bbc news. the headlines at midday: after sir keir starmer is harassed by protestors shouting the name of paedophilejimmy savile, downing street says there'll be no apology. there's pressure on the prime minister to withdraw false allegations about sir keir starmer when he was head of public prosecutions. these sorts of comments only inflame opinions and generate disregard for the house and it is not acceptable. our words have consequences and we should always be mindful of that fact. words have consequences and although there were people talking about anti—vax conspiracy theories and mentioning other things, without a doubt the jimmy savile issue was brought up. when we are looking at the fact that somebody at the top - of an organisation has - responsibility for what happens

in it — that's the point— the prime minister was making. i think that's a fair. and reasonable point. it's no excuse for people to behave the way they did last night. - the health secretary, sajid javid, will make a statement to mps at 12.30 on plans to tackle the nhs waiting list backlog in england. we'll bring you that live. oil giant bp announces profits of £9.5 billion last year — its highest for eight years. the duchess of cornwall meets schoolchildren in bath on herfirst public engagement since the queen expressed her wish that camilla be known as queen consort when prince charles becomes king. and bamber gascoigne — the original host of the tv quiz show university challenge — has died at the age of 87.

good afternoon. downing street says boris johnson will not apologise for his false claim that sir keir starmer — who used to be the director of public prosecutions — failed to prosecute the paedophile jimmy saville for sexual assault. this morning, the prime minister has been warned by the commons speaker that his false claim is "not acceptable", and that "words have consequences". borisjohnson has faced calls to apologise from across the political spectrum, including from some of his own mps after sir keir was targeted by anti—vaccine protestors in central london last night. they were heard accusing him of "protecting paedophiles". our political correspondent chris mason reports. shouting: where's jimmy savile?! abuse hurled at the labour leader as he walks through westminster — a false claim that he protected the paedophilejimmy savile. keir starmer bundled into a police car... stay back! ..two arrests were made. it happened outside parliament, where the prime minister made a false link between the two.

we know exactly how this plays out, because we've seen it in the united states of america. if borisjohnson keeps on doing this, we will see exactly the same as in the united states of america. mps will be hounded on their way into parliament and there will be people on the steps of parliament, just as there were on the 6th of january on congress in the united states. the prime minister wrongly suggested the labour leader had been involved in the decisions not to prosecute savile when he was the boss of public prosecutions. after a huge row, borisjohnson rather changed what he was saying, but he did not say sorry. a lot of people have got hot under the collar, and i understand why. let's be absolutely clear — i'm talking not about the leader of the opposition's personal record when he was... when he was dpp, and i totally understand that he had nothing to do personally with those decisions. the prime minister says...

but others in his own party want him to say much more. julian smith, who used to serve in borisjohnson's cabinet, said... but, this morning, downing street has no intention of apologising for the prime minister's remarks. chris mason, bbc news, at westminster. in the commons earlier, the speaker sir lindsay hoyle made a statement to condemn the abuse aimed at sir keir starmer, describing it as "disgraceful behaviour." i deplore the fact that members of this house — i deplore the fact that members of this house were subjected to intimidating and threatening behaviour while simply doing their jobs _ behaviour while simply doing their jobs i_ behaviour while simply doing their jobs. i know the whole house will 'oin

jobs. i know the whole house will join me _ jobs. i know the whole house will join me in— jobs. i know the whole house will join me in saying we stand with our colleagues — join me in saying we stand with our colleagues in condemning the behaviour day and the police experienced. while i do not comment in detail_ experienced. while i do not comment in detail on— experienced. while i do not comment in detail on security matters on the floor. _ in detail on security matters on the floor. steps— in detail on security matters on the floor, steps must be in place to keep— floor, steps must be in place to keep members secure as they enter and leave _ keep members secure as they enter and leave the parliamentary estate. i have _ and leave the parliamentary estate. i have requested a situation report from _ i have requested a situation report from the _ i have requested a situation report from the metropolitan police, via our security team on how this incident — our security team on how this incident occurred. i understand that arrests— incident occurred. i understand that arrests were made following yesterday's incident and it would be appropriate not to comment in detaii — appropriate not to comment in detaii i— appropriate not to comment in detail. i know it's been reported that some — detail. i know it's been reported that some abuse was directed at the i’ili'it that some abuse was directed at the right honourable member, the leader of the _ right honourable member, the leader of the opposition, yesterday, related — of the opposition, yesterday, related to claims made by the prime mmister— related to claims made by the prime minister in _ related to claims made by the prime minister in this chamber. but regardless of yesterday's incident, i regardless of yesterday's incident, i made _ regardless of yesterday's incident, i made it— regardless of yesterday's incident, i made it clear last week that while the prime — i made it clear last week that while the prime minister's words were not disorderly— the prime minister's words were not disorderly they were inappropriate. as i disorderly they were inappropriate. as i said _

disorderly they were inappropriate. as i said then, these sorts of comments only inflame opinions and generate _ comments only inflame opinions and generate disregard for the house and it is not— generate disregard for the house and it is not acceptable. our words have consequences and we should always be mindfui— consequences and we should always be mindful of— consequences and we should always be mindful of that fact. our political correspondent, damian grammaticas, gave the latest from on those comments from downing street. absolutely no intention of apologising for that and saying that they don't believe that there's a direct link between the remarks and the scenes we saw yesterday with those protesters. now they were out there on the embankment, these are anti—vax protesters. they had anti—vax messages. they saw keir starmer, they surrounded him and in that confrontation, there were these shouts aboutjimmy savile that were made before sir keir was bundled away. now downing street says, well, if you're talking about organisational responsibility of the prime minister for what happens in downing street,

then sir keir was director of public prosecutions, overseeing the cps and this was back when the prosecution was not brought againstjimmy savile. but it is worth saying that was all 2008—09. sir keir had no part in that decision and it was only a couple of years later when sirjimmy died, jimmy savile died, and then all of the history of sexual abuse came out. at that point sir keir instigated an inquiry and apologised on behalf of the cps. but this is what the northern ireland secretary was saying today. i think it is absolutely fair to draw a complete comparision between when somebody is saying as the head of an organisation you should take responsibility for that, then they need to take responsibility for the organisation they were head of as well. keir starmer, to be fair, has done that and made the apology. the prime minister was making that comparison, which i think is a fair comparison. it does not excuse the kind of behaviour we saw from thugs last night. as mr lewis was saying,

sir keir did make the apology and had that inquiry. if you look, the prime minister, of course, has also made some apologies. if you look at his apologies on the 8th of december about the christmas parties he said, "he apologised for the offence and the impression it gives." on the 12th ofjanuary when the summer garden parties had been revealed as well, the prime minister's apology at that point was, "there were things we simply did not get right, i must take responsibility. i went into the garden, i believed implicitly this was a work event." so the prime minister apologising, he said, for things that we did not get right. now labour today, though, have been saying he absolutely should withdraw the comments and apologise for the comments he made about sir keir starmer because they're untrue, drawn from online conspiracy sites. this is what labour's been saying.

he holds the highest office in the land and people do listen to what he says and it's trumpian—style politics and legitimises the sort of political discourse that isn't what we like or deserve in this country. and i believe he should come to the house of commons and apologise unreservedly for the slurs that he made last week, which is exactly what many of his conservative mps are asking him to do. of course, that is what downing street are saying he will not do — the prime minister will not apologise for those and will not comment any further, they're saying. it seems there is a mini reshuffle going on according to the bbc�*s laura kuenssberg. likely the chief whip and jacob rees—mogg will be moved. she says no official confirmation that looking at the candidates for chief whip, she

suggests the likely candidates... jacob rees—mogg touted for a brexit related role. we can go to our political correspondent alex forsyth. what are you hearing, alex? there is no reshuffle that has started yet but as we know there has been quite a lot of speculation about moves in the prime minister's ministerial team and the people in charge of discipline in the party, that chief whip role, after what has been such a difficult and to multi—os period in the conservative party. it's been widely expected this is going to happen and i think there is an expectation we might hear some moves in the next couple of hours. as you say, the roles people really are looking at are the role of chief whip, currently hold a mirror held by mark spencer, the guy who has been trying to maintain some discipline in the parliamentary party. although we know that has beenin party. although we know that has been in short supply with a number of conservative mps openly saying they have no confidence in the prime

minister. so it could be mark spencer is shuffled elsewhere and someone takes on that role of the chief whip. as you say, there is speculation around jacob rees—mogg's role, he currently holds the position of leader of the house of commons. some speculation he might be moved elsewhere and perhaps even a new role, as you say, along the lines of brexit opportunities or something similar. no confirmation of any of this yet. it is very much eyes on the downing street door to see who might come and go in the next few hours if that reshuffle does happen. find next few hours if that reshuffle does happen-— next few hours if that reshuffle does ha en. . ., does happen. and what impact might it make? it does happen. and what impact might it make? it is — does happen. and what impact might it make? it is not _ does happen. and what impact might it make? it is notjust _ does happen. and what impact might it make? it is notjust these - it make? it is notjust these figures that are being reshuffled, there has been a wholesale reshuffle in terms of the advisers around the government as well. and meanwhile, of course, that thing that triggered a lot of this, what happened with parties at downing street, the subsequent comments last week from borisjohnson aboutjimmy savile,

boris johnson aboutjimmy savile, that continues to cause problems. and most recently we've just had in the commons the speaker sir lindsay hoyle saying directly to the prime minister, words have consequences. it is not the first time the speaker hasissued it is not the first time the speaker has issued such a warning about the use of language but it comes directly in the wake of the comments that boris johnson directly in the wake of the comments that borisjohnson made, those false claims that keir starmer had something to do with a failure to prosecute jimmy savile, something to do with a failure to prosecutejimmy savile, which we know had no basis in evidence i know the prime minister has retracted to some degree but not apologised for. you are right, this reshuffle, this mini reshuffle we are expecting, is part of a wider change up of the way downing street works, in the wake of all of those allegations about lockdown parties, in the wake of all that discontent within the conservative party and more broadly, really, with several conservative mps saying there has to be a change in the way the number 10 operation runs. i think there are a lot of

conservative mps who are watching really closely to see whether any changes that are made in the number 10 operation but more broadly with io operation but more broadly with the people surrounding boris johnson, including in his ministerial team, whether that satisfies them that the prime minister is getting a grip of what many conservative mps see as a real problematic period in the downing street operation, which is where all of those reports are parties during lockdown originally came from. so reshuffles are always important of those people that are shuffled but there is quite a lot riding on what happens today because the tory mps they want to be convinced the prime minister is taking their concerns seriously and a lot of them are waiting to see if he can get a grip on the operation before they make any decisions about the prime minister's fate.— any decisions about the prime minister's fate. thank you very much, minister's fate. thank you very much. alex- — minister's fate. thank you very much, alex. we _ minister's fate. thank you very much, alex. we will— minister's fate. thank you very much, alex. we will be - minister's fate. thank you very | much, alex. we will be keeping minister's fate. thank you very - much, alex. we will be keeping an eye on what is happening at number 10 and keep you updated if we get any more news on that apparent

reshuffle. also coming up sajid javid will be making an announcement about the nhs backlog plan at 12.30 and we will bring you coverage live from the commons when that happens on the bbc news channel. the oil giant, bp, has reported its highest profit for eight years. the company made £9.5 billion for 2021 — and saw its profits surge in the final quarter of the year after oil and gas prices started to climb. the global increase in energy prices has pushed up gas and electricity bills for households and has led to calls for a windfall tax on big energy firms. with me is harpreet kaur paul who is a human rights lawyer, and phd candidate at the university of warwick law school. welcome, thank you forjoining us. potentially, how could the windfall tax work? . ~ potentially, how could the windfall tax work? ., ,, , ., potentially, how could the windfall tax work? ., ,, . ., tax work? thank you so much for havin: tax work? thank you so much for having me- _ tax work? thank you so much for having me- at — tax work? thank you so much for having me. at the _ tax work? thank you so much for having me. at the moment, - tax work? thank you so much for. having me. at the moment, around tax work? thank you so much for- having me. at the moment, around 6 million households in the uk are likely to face the all stress as bills double. choosing between eating or heating and bp has reaped

the rewards of prices soaring. they have made around 35 times more than this time last year and a windfall tax could really redirect those profits to those communities, hard—working families that are facing escalating costs of living. but on top of that, the uk is an incredibly generous place for north sea oil and gas companies like bp to operate and the uk signed on to a global agreement to tackle climate change in 2016 but it has given around £190 million of public money to bp. given that communities from lincolnshire to london are facing increased flooding and other risks from climate change and globally we are seeing the consequences of reliance on coal, oil and gas, resulting in more extreme and

regular heatwaves, storms and sea level rises more, the cost of which is in the billions annually, the failure to tax north sea oil and gas companies is really impossible to justify given the cost of living crisis and the climate crisis. 50 crisis and the climate crisis. so the government's view and the view of the chancellor is he is apparently concerned that a windfall tax would potentiallyjeopardise the investment that the oil companies, the energy companies are putting in renewables. bp is going to be spending ten times more on low carbon technologies, almost a third of its budget, in ten years. is there a direct link between the potential impact of a windfall tax and that investment? and i suppose the other part of the picture is the profits of the oil companies can vary dramatically from huge losses

one year, as we saw last year for bp, and then huge profits this year. i think in a context where you had schoolchildren coming home from schoolchildren coming home from school and parents having to decide whether or not to put the lights on so that they can do their homework or not, given the cost of living crisis, these share profits that these corporations, shell and bp have made this year, should be subjected to a windfall tax. in terms of the oil and gas from the north sea, around 80% of it is for global energy market and it's really doing nothing to address the fact that we need very little to address the fact we need localised, democratic renewable energy within communities, within the uk. what a windfall tax could do is both promote that, help communities get access to the renewable energy in

very localised ways, and be allocated to help communities become more resilient in the face of climate change impacts. harpreet kaur paul. _ climate change impacts. harpreet kaur paul, thank _ climate change impacts. harpreet kaur paul, thank you. _ sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. good afternoon. it's day four of the winter olympics and team gb are still waiting for that first medal. but what a debut for undoubtedly a huge star of the future. teenager kirsty muir — who is just 17 years old — was in sensational form, and finished an impressive fifth in a brilliant big—air ski final. that was won by chinese skiier eileen gu. and bitter dissapointment for the mixed curlers, bruce mouat and jen dodds, who missed out on a bronze. they lost 9—3 to sweden. they both get another shot at a medal in the team event. just got off to a bad start and that's what punished us most. just had to fight back from there. they made a really good

shot for four, fair play to her in such a big game, to make those shots it's a great feeling for her i'm sure. we just have to console ourselves because we have got a big week with both teams. premier league side west ham united have "unreservedly condemned" their defender kurt zouma after a video emerged of him abusing his cat. the video shows the france defender kicking the cat across the floor and slapping it in the face. he has apologised and the club say they will deal with the incident internally. in a statement zouma said... and in cricket, england suffered another crushing defeat to end the women's ashes series without a win for the first time. australia had already wrapped up the ashes before play in today's final one day match, and theyjust carried on were they'd left off,

winning by eight wickets with captain meg lanning finishing things off with a six. alex hartley says england have to make some changes.— alex hartley says england have to make some changes. england have to no awa , make some changes. england have to go away. ten — make some changes. england have to go away. ten days _ make some changes. england have to go away, ten days quarantine - make some changes. england have to go away, ten days quarantine in - make some changes. england have to go away, ten days quarantine in new| go away, ten days quarantine in new zealand, think about where they can improve, maybe some tweaks in the batting order and the england camp which will have to be made moving forward because things are not quite going right for them. they will have to bring someone else into the world cup squad. mlm made her test hundred. but they will have to just re—evaluate and i think it's more about confidence. when you look down the batting order, they have phenomenal players, match winners within that batting line—up. they just haven't performed during this odi series. . , . support from us for now. more for you in the next hour, see you then. thank you. the french president, emmanuel macron, is in ukraine for talks with president volodymyr zelensky, as part of a wider initiative to try to de—escalate the crisis with russia.

mr macron has travelled from moscow, where he had five hours of discussions with president putin yesterday. both leaders said there had been points of agreement. mr putin hinted that progress had been made during his first moscow summit with a western leader since russian troops massed on ukraine's border. let's go back to the story that bp's announced full—year profits of almost £10 billion — its biggest in eight years. the news has prompted opposition politicians to renew calls for a windfall tax on business to help consumers struggling with record bills. we can talk to rachel reeves, labour's shadow chancellor. so you have been saying for a while you want a windfall tax, how would you set it, how much should it be and when should it come in?- set it, how much should it be and when should it come in? thank you very much- — when should it come in? thank you very much- with — when should it come in? thank you very much. with people _ when should it come in? thank you very much. with people struggling| when should it come in? thank you i very much. with people struggling at the moment, families and pensioners, with these record increases in gas and electricity prices from april, it is only right and fair that those companies who have done very well

out of these spikes in prices are asked to pay a little bit more, to help keep bills for everybody else. that's why i have proposed a 10% surcharge for one year on the profits of the north sea oil and gas companies and using that money directly to lower bills for everybody else, with a cat in vat from 0.5% to 0% and extra support forfamilies and from 0.5% to 0% and extra support for families and pensioners on the most modest and low incomes with extra support through the warm homes discount. that is the proper thing to do right now. it is a fully costed plan to keep bills low during these incredibly difficult times for people. 50 these incredibly difficult times for ..eole. ., these incredibly difficult times for --eole. ., . ., '::f people. so how much would the 1096 surchar: e people. so how much would the 1096 surcharge actually _ people. so how much would the 1096 surcharge actually be? _ people. so how much would the 1096 surcharge actually be? when - people. so how much would the 1096 surcharge actually be? when i - surcharge actually be? when i announced — surcharge actually be? when i announced at _ surcharge actually be? when i announced at the _ surcharge actually be? when i announced at the beginning i surcharge actually be? when i j announced at the beginning of january, we estimated it would bring in £1.2 billion but in addition, the extra taxes that those companies are

already paying because their profits are forecast to rise would bring in just over £2 billion in addition to that. so in total, around £3.5 billion. but given how high the profits have risen, it may indeed even bring in more money than that because the profits that we saw last week from shell of $19 billion and the profits we have seen from bp today have exceeded even market expectations of how much money these companies are making. 50 expectations of how much money these companies are making.— companies are making. so the combined _ companies are making. so the combined profits _ companies are making. so the combined profits alone, - companies are making. so the combined profits alone, 21, i companies are making. so the| combined profits alone, 21, 20 companies are making. so the . combined profits alone, 21, 20 £2 billion, so when you are talking about a windfall tax of £3.5 billion in the context of those two companies it doesn't sound like much at all. so are you saying you will look at your figures again and increase what you think the amount should be? ijust spoke to sir ed davey for the liberal democrats and he said he thinks it should be delivering £5 billion.- he said he thinks it should be delivering £5 billion. well, these numbers have _ delivering £5 billion. well, these numbers have come _ delivering £5 billion. well, these numbers have come into -

delivering £5 billion. well, these numbers have come into day - delivering £5 billion. well, thesej numbers have come into day and delivering £5 billion. well, these - numbers have come into day and the profits have exceeded expectations. but what we are proposing is a 10% surcharge on top of the taxes that are already paid by north sea oil and gas companies. so it would take up and gas companies. so it would take up their effective corporation tax from 40% to 50%. this is something that has been done by chancellors in the past, it was done by george osborne, by gordon brown and indeed by margaret thatcher when she was prime minister. at times when oil and gas prices spike, it is right that we ask those companies who benefit from those surprise spikes to pay a bit more into the system and then use that money to keep bills low for everybody, which is why we have proposed the cat leave cut vat and the additional support through the warm homes discount. under the chancellor and government�* scheme like a buy now and pay later, you get £200 off your bill this year but then you pay additional money on your bill for the next five years.

under labour�*s plans, you would tax the north sea oil and gas companies and use that money to keep people�*s bills low are not asked them to repay that money in years to come. but the cost of what the chancellor has announced that £200 upfront rebate that gets paid over five years is actually 6 billion. so you wouldn�*t be able to offer the level of help to everyone that he is talking about. we of help to everyone that he is talking about.— of help to everyone that he is talkin: about. . ., , ., ., ., talking about. we have put forward a full costed talking about. we have put forward a fully casted plan _ talking about. we have put forward a fully costed plan that _ talking about. we have put forward a fully costed plan that would - talking about. we have put forward a fully costed plan that would use - talking about. we have put forward a fully costed plan that would use the l fully costed plan that would use the additional vat receipts that are being paid at the moment because inflation is so high, along with these taxes on north sea oil and gas to do two things. to take £200 of every one�*s bills and £400 in addition of the bills of those on low and modest incomes. it is a bigger package and a more generous package but it also is fully funded because we are asking those companies who have done well from the surge in prices to pay more into the surge in prices to pay more into the system to keep bills low for everybody else. this chancellor is

taking money off bills this year but whacking it on their bills in the years to come. it�*s a buy now and pay later scheme from this chancellor, unlike labour�*s plan, which is to get the north sea oil and gas companies to pay a one—off windfall tax to keep bills low for everybody else. windfall tax to keep bills low for everybody else-— windfall tax to keep bills low for eve bod else. ., everybody else. turning to the prime minister because _ everybody else. turning to the prime minister because my _ everybody else. turning to the prime minister because my comments - everybody else. turning to the prime | minister because my comments about jimmy savile in relation to sir keir starmer, this morning downing street said when asked whether the prime minister would apologise directly for those remarks, that he has other stuff to get on with today. the downing street position is that... the point i was being made was about taking responsibility for leadership of an organisation that you are heading up. do you see an equivalence between what downing street is saying about sir keir starmer�*s role at the crown prosecution service versus what

labour is saying about borisjohnson taking responsible for what happened at downing street? what taking responsible for what happened at downing street?— at downing street? what i see is a prime minister _ at downing street? what i see is a prime minister with _ at downing street? what i see is a prime minister with absolutely - at downing street? what i see is a prime minister with absolutely no| prime minister with absolutely no shame. he has deeded into the deepest and darkest recesses of the far right on social media and parroted those lines in the house of commons. it is the lowest of the low and it resulted yesterday in protesters and thugs shouting at keir starmer and other members of the shadow cabinet on the street and the shadow cabinet on the street and the police having to be involved. the prime minister and everybody associated with him should be ashamed of themselves and they should call out this thuggery and apologise for the language that they have used in the house of commons. he did call out the thuggery, he said he absolutely condemns those actions and has clarified what he said. he wasn�*t saying that sir keir starmer directly was responsible for

what happened around jimmy savile, he said that�*s not what he meant at all. i he said that's not what he meant at all. ~ , ., he said that's not what he meant at all. ~ i. ~ ., ~ ., ., all. i think you know, i know and all. i think you know, i know and all of your— all. i think you know, i know and all of your viewers _ all. i think you know, i know and all of your viewers know - all. i think you know, i know and all of your viewers know exactly | all of your viewers know exactly what is going on here. the prime minister has used slurs and lies, things that he knows are not true, to smear the leader of the opposition and then those smears and lies are repeated by thugs on the street. they parroted exactly the same lines that the prime minister used in the house of commons. the prime minister should be ashamed of himself is that he should apologise properly. this is notjust about the prime minister, this is now about all of those who refuse to condemn and parrot the lines of the prime minister. this has got to stop. our politics should be better than theirs. we need honesty, we need integrity and decency in politics. after what we have been through as a country the last few years, we deserve an awful lot better than what we get from this prime minister. .. , ., ~ what we get from this prime minister. .. , . ~' , ., minister. rachel reeves, thank you ve much minister. rachel reeves, thank you verv much for— minister. rachel reeves, thank you very much forjoining _ minister. rachel reeves, thank you

very much forjoining us. _ the duchess of cornwall has carried out her first public engagement since the queen paved the way for her to become queen camilla. the duchess was welcomed at roundhill primary school in bath, where she toured classrooms and joined a range of lessons. it�*s the first time the 74—year—old duchess had been out on royal duty since the queen expressed her "sincere wish" that her daughter—in—law would one day be the queen consort. the tv presenter and author bamber gascoigne has died at his home in richmond after a short illness. the 87—year—old was famous for being the original host of bbc�*s university challenge. david sillitto looks back on his life. university challenge tournament. asking the questions, bamber gascoigne. . it began in 1962. bamber gascoigne, a 27—year—old eton—educated theatre critic, was chosen to be the host of a new quiz show, university challenge. st hilda's, evans? picasso. picasso, ten points, st hilda�*s. we all thought, i think, that it was

a job for about three months. had anyone known that the first run was going to last for 25 years, and we were talking about a job for 25 years, i think we would have all been so frightened we could hardly have read the card. let�*s go straight into the game, here�*s the first starter for ten. a big one coming up, here�*s your starter for ten. before each programme, he�*d go through the questions, learning just enough to give the impression of being all knowing. i didn�*t want to let them down by revealing gross ignorance. dear sir, your astonishment�*s odd. i am always about in the quod. he was also rather posh. yours faithfully, god. his family tree had more than a smattering of generals, politicians and aristocrats. and the show had a certain oxbridge heartiness to it, punctured only by manchester�*s moment of student rebellion, answering questions with the names of revolutionary leaders. che guevara. karl marx. trotsky. starterfor ten, fingers on the buzzers. who is the richest person in the world? and then there was also

the famous parody. now, i�*ll have to hurry you, i have to hurry you. who is the richest person in the world? footlights, snot? it's... its me, isn't it? but by the late �*80s, it no longer seemed to fit in the itv schedules and was dropped. so that�*s the end of this one. still, another time, perhaps. there was the short—lived and even more highbrow series connoisseur... we have questions ranging from painting and architecture to ceramics and furniture. university challenge | pro—celebrity match. and he did return for a celebrity special. bamber gascoigne! cheering and applause. but he turned down the bbc revival, choosing instead to devote himself to writing his history website, and latterly restoring a large country house he inherited. your first starter for ten. starter for ten. but starterfor ten, fingers on the buzzer... two minutes to go. ..his place in history is behind the desk of one of tv�*s most challenging quizzes.

the government is confirming there will be a mini reshuffle this afternoon. a spokesman for the prime minister said we can expect the prime minister to make a small number of ministerial changes today. speculation is that the chief whip, mark spencer, will move. he would potentially replace jacob rees—mogg as leader of the house of commons, that�*s what the times was reporting this morning. that�*s something to look forward for potentially and amongst those who might move into the position of chief whip, chris pincher is one that has been mentioned. also nigel adams and chris heaton harris. those are the key names to look for in terms of what is expected to be a small

number of ministerial changes confirmed now by the spokesman for the prime minister. we will be live in the commons shortly. the health secretary will make a statement on getting the backlog of the number of people waiting for operations on the nhs dealt with. to reduce the numbers that have built up over the course of the pandemic. we will be straight back to the house of commons as soon as the health secretary stands up to make that announcement. a report by a police watchdog says officers colluded with loyalist paramilitaries in a number of murders in belfast in the 19905. a report by a police watchdog says officers colluded with loyalist paramilitaries in a number of murders in belfast in the 19905. the northern ireland police ombudsman examined the killings of five catholics at a bookmakers�* shop and six other fatal shootings. the report also found there was an unjustifiable use

of informants involved in serious crime. assistant chief constable jonathan roberts — from the police service of northern ireland — said officers had greatly improved policies and procedures. here�*s our ireland correspondent, chris page. on a wednesday afternoon in 1992, there was an act of sectarian carnage at this bookmaker�*s shop. the loyalist group, the ulster freedom fighters, shot dead five catholics. families have long claimed there was collusion between paramilitaries and the security forces. at the weekend, they marked the 30th anniversary of the atrocity. it�*s not the people who walked in the bookies 30 years ago, it�*s the people who put the guns in their hands and the people who allowed them to act with impunity, and were never, ever prosecuted. the report published today identifies significant failures in the police investigation. some records were destroyed. police donated the rifle used in the murders to the imperial war museum.

with permission, i would like to make a statement on a new ambitious elective recovery plan, the nhs�*s delivery plan for tackling the covid—19 backlog of elective care. the nhs has responded with distinction, caring for over 700,000 people with covid—19 in hospital in the uk. delivering a vaccination programme that�*s helping this country to help live with the virus while at the same time doing so much to keep non—covid care going. nobody, no institution felt the burden of the pandemic more than the nhs. there have been 17 million cases of covid—19 and the nhs has had to respond to the original variant, the alpha wave, the delta wave, and most recently of course, the omicron way. even in spite of these pressures, we had one of the

fastest vaccination programmes in the world and that includes the fastest booster programme, one of them, in the world. sadly as a result of focusing on urgent care, the nhs couldn�*t deal with nonurgent care as much as anyone would have liked. the british people of course have understood this. despite these exceptional efforts, there is now a considerable covid backlog of elective care. 1600 people have waited longer than a year for care before the pandemic. the latest data shows that this figure is now over 300,000. on top of this, the number of people waiting for elective care in england now stands at 6 million. that�*s up from 4.4 million before the pandemic. sadly this number will

continue rising before it falls. a lot of people understandably stayed away from the nhs during the heights of the pandemic and the most up—to—date estimate from the nhs is that number is around 10 million people. but i wanted people to know that the nhs is open and as health secretary, i want them to come forward for the care they need. we don�*t know how many will now come forward, we don�*t know whether it will be 30% or 80%, because no country has faced a situation like this ever before. so in developing this ever before. so in developing this plan, the nhs has had to make a number of assumptions. even if half of these people come forward, this is going to place huge demand on the

nhs and we are pulling out all the stops so that the nhs is there for them when they do. we have already announced we are backing the nhs with an extra £2 billion of funding for elective recovery this year and £8 billion on top of that over the next three years. in addition we are putting almost an additional £6 billion towards capital investment for new beds, equipment and technology. today, we are announcing the next steps. it shows how we will help this country�*s health and care system to recover from the disruption of the pandemic but also how we will make reforms that are so important for the long—term. it will allow the nhs to perform at least 9 million extra tests and checks and procedures by 2025 and around 30% more elective activity in each year him three years time then it was

doing in the pandemic. this vision has been developed with input from clinical leaders and patient groups. it won�*t reset the nhs to where it was before, but build on what we have learned was before, but build on what we have [earned over the past two years to transform elective services and make sure they are fit for the future. this plan focuses on four key areas. the first is how will we increase capacity? on top of enormous levels of investment we are doing everything in our power to make sure that we have even more clinicians on the front line. we now have more doctors and nurses working in the nhs than ever before. a record number of students at medical school and applying for training as nurses. the plan sets out what more we will be doing, including more health care support workers and the recruitment and a of nhs reserves.

we will also be making greater use of the independent sector which formed an important part of our contingency plans for covid—19, so we can help patients access the services they need because of this high demand. second, as we look at the background, we will notjust drive to get numbers down, but also prioritised by clinical need and reduce the very longest waiting lists. assuming half of the missing demand from the pandemic returns over the next three years, the nhs expect the waiting list to be reducing by march 2024, addressing long waits is critical to the recovery of elective care and we will be actively offering longer waiting patients greater choice about their care to bring these numbers down. the plan sets the ambition of eliminating weights in elective care by march 2025. within this, no one will wait longer than two years byjuly this year and the

nhs aims to eliminate the weights of over 18 months by april 2023 and over 18 months by april 2023 and over 65 weeks by march 2024, which equates to 99% of patients waiting less than one year. i have heard the concerns some people have rightly raised, including many honourable members about the impact of the pandemic and cancer care. on friday, world cancer day, i launched a call for evidence that will drive a new ten year cancer plan for england. a vision of how we can lead the world in cancer care and the selective plan too places a big focus on restoring cancer services. the nhs has done sterling work to prioritise cancer treatment throughout the pandemic and we have consistently seen record levels of referrals since march 2021. waiting times have gone up and fewer people came

forward with cancer symptoms during the pandemic. the plan shows how we will intensify our campaigns to encourage more people to come forward, focusing on areas where referrals have been the slowest to recover, like lung and prostate. it comes from stretching ambitions to how we will recover improved performance for cancer care. returning the number of people waiting more than 62 days from an urgent referral back to the pre—pandemic levels by march 2023 and ensuring that 75% of patients who have been urgently referred by their gp for suspected cancer are diagnosed or have cancer ruled out within 28 days by march 2024. i am determined we tackle the disparities that exist within this backlog just as i have been determined to tackle the cis disparities of any kind

across this country. an analysis from the kings fund shows that on average you are almost twice as likely to experience waiting over at uf you live in a deprived area. as part of our recovery work we are tasking the nhs with analysing waiting list data according to factors like age and deprivation, ethnicity, to help drive detailed plans to tackle these disparities. third, this new chapterfor the nhs provides an opportunity to radically rethink and redesign how services are delivered, to bust the backlog and deliver more personalised care for patients. the pandemic has shown beyond doubt the importance of diagnostics. although over 96% of people needing a diagnostic test received it within six weeks prior to the pandemic, the latest data shows that number has fallen to 75%.

our aim is shows that number has fallen to 75%. ouraim is that shows that number has fallen to 75%. our aim is that we will get back to this, back to 95% by march 2025. a major part of this will be expanding the use of community diagnostic centres which have already had a huge impact. these are one—stop shops for checks and scans and tests that will help get people a quicker diagnosis and therefore the treatment they need much earlier on. 69 community diagnostic centres are already up and running and the plan shows our intention to have at least 100 in the communities, local communities, high streets, overthe next three years. we will also keep expanding the use of surgical hubs that will be dedicated to carrying out planned elective surgeries. they will allow us to do more surgeries in a single day than typical outpatient settings so we can fast—track operations and make sure patients are more likely to go home

on the same day. we have already been piloting these hubs and we will now be rolling them out across the country. finally, we will improve the information and support for patients. i know the anxiety that patients. i know the anxiety that patients feel when they are waiting for care. especially if they feel like they don�*t have the certainty about where they sit in the queue. i am determined to make sure that as we enter this next phase, we will be open and transparent with patients. we will be launching a new online platform which will go live this month offering patients and their carers tailored information ahead of their planned surgery. they will be able to see waiting times for the provider so that they can better understand their expected weight. one third of on the day cancellations are due to people not being clinically ready for treatment. this new platform will

link patients to the most appropriate personalised support ahead of their surgery. this shows the approach that we will be taking in a the years that lie ahead, putting patients at the heart of their care and giving people the support they need to make informed decisions. we will also put in place a payment system that incentivises strong performance and delivers value for money for the public. just as we came together to fight this virus, now we must come together on a new national mission to fight the virus, what the virus has brought with it. it will mean waiting lists falling by march 24, strong action to reduce long waiting times and stretching targets for early diagnosis for cancer care. this file vital diagnostic shows notjust how we will recover about how we will reform and make sure the nhs is

there for all of us, no matter what lies ahead. i commend this statement to the house. i lies ahead. i commend this statement to the house-— to the house. i thank him for advance sight _ to the house. i thank him for advance sight of _ to the house. i thank him for advance sight of his - to the house. i thank him for. advance sight of his statement to the house. i thank him for- advance sight of his statement but it falls seriously short of the scale of the challenge facing the nhs and the misery affecting millions of people stuck on record high nhs waiting lists. we have been waiting sometime for his plan, we were told it would arrive before christmas, we were told it would arrive yesterday, and it�*s not clear from his statement to today that the delay was worth the wait. there is no plan to tackle the workforce crisis, no plan to deal with delayed discharges and no hope of eliminating weights of more than a year before the general election in 2024. i wonder if they will be putting that on their election leaflets. the only big new idea seems to be a website that tells people they are waiting a long time,

as if they did not already know. i wonder if the secretary of state can confirm whether the plan contains two other measures that have been floated in the press. the cancellation of patients follow—up appointments whether they need them or not and the other being an offer that people can seize the opportunity to travel hundreds of miles around the country if they can find a hospital in england that doesn�*t already have a waiting list crisis of its own. what we did here was a series of re—enactments including some perfectly sensible proposals about community diagnostic and surgical hubs. the secretary of state cannot pretend that they meet the scale of the challenge. he did reaffirm the prime minister�*s announcement on cancer. he announced announcement on cancer. he announced a target that no one would wait longer than two months for cancer diagnosis but it is already a target for the vast majority of patients to be treated within two months of referral. can the health secretary

tell us which he is aiming to meet. the target which has not been met since 2015 order one yesterday which lowers standards for patients because they consistently fail to meet them. the pm also announced three out of four patients should receive a diagnosis within 28 days but this is an existing target which has never been met and nothing the secretary of state announced today gives me any confidence that it will be in the future. indeed, with half a million patients not being seen in time, it seems the secretary of state declared a war on cancer after more than a decade of disarming the nhs and is sending them into battle empty—handed. it�*s hard to believe this is the announcement the secretary of state wanted to make. one government official briefed robert peston that it was being brought by the chancellor who is "reluctant to rescue the prime minister." putting to one side the appalling spectacle of the tory leadership crisis impacting the

life—and—death decision—making in government, it seems from the statement the chancellor has won the day. what other expedition can there be for a plan to recover the nhs and bring down waiting lists that does not contain a workforce plan? the single biggest challenge facing the nhs is the workforce challenge. there are 93,000 staffing vacancies in the nhs today. it�*s understaffed, overworked, and if he is not careful, he will lose more people than he is able to recruit. this is not a new development and it should not a new development and it should not be news to him. in april, the nhs called for a national workforce plan, polling from the health foundation found the public want more staff with your workload pressures the secretary of state told the committee in november it would include a strategy for the workforce crisis. we know the nhs what a workforce plan, the public, he promised a workforce plan, where is it? that is not even a budget for health education england, let alone

a serious plan to recruit and retain the workforce we need. instead he is proposing new nhs reserve lists. who are they? where are they coming from? how many will there be? how does he imagine they will make a dent in the 93,000 vacancies? it seems more dad�*s army than sas. then there is the wider social care pressures that impact directly on waiting lists. pressure and gp practices that see people ringing the surgery at the crack of dawn in the surgery at the crack of dawn in the hope of getting through before the hope of getting through before the appointments are gone. on social care that lead to delayed discharges from hospital. as we saw in more than 400,000 cases in november alone. the missed opportunities in wasted money that comes from the failure to invest in community services that leads to people turning up at a&e at greater cost to patient health and greater cost to the taxpayer. this plan falls well short of the challenge facing our country. 6 million people are waiting for care. cancer care is in

crisis with half a million patients with suspected cancer not seen in time. heart and stroke victims waiting over two hours for an ambulance when every minute matters. it's ambulance when every minute matters. it�*s clear from what the secretary of state said today what his colleague the minister said yesterday no doubt what will be heard repeated in the tory scripts in the days ahead, that the conservatives are hoping to blame the state of nhs waiting lists on the state of nhs waiting lists on the pandemic. the covid waiting lists they called them but this is not a covid back door, it�*s a tory backlog. after a decade of tory mismanagement, the nhs had record waiting lists of 4.5 million before the pandemic, staff shortages of 100,000 before the pandemic, 17,000 fewer beds before the pandemic and 112,000 vacancies in social care before the pandemic. it�*s notjust that they did not fix the roof while the sun was shining, they dismantled the sun was shining, they dismantled the roof and remove the floorboards

and with a ceiling of their ambition the secretary of state outlined today, being to go back to where we were before the pandemic, it is now clear that the longer we give the conservatives in office, the longer patients will wait.— conservatives in office, the longer patients will wait._ mr| patients will wait. hear, hear. mr seaker, patients will wait. hear, hear. mr speaker. i— patients will wait. hear, hear. mr speaker, i have _ patients will wait. hear, hear. mr speaker, i have to _ patients will wait. hear, hear. mr speaker, i have to say, _ patients will wait. hear, hear. mr speaker, i have to say, i - patients will wait. hear, hear. mr speaker, i have to say, i am - speaker, i have to say, i am surprised with the argument and the tone of the honourable gentleman. it is 2022, not 2024. we have all come to expect the scaremongering we have just heard from the labour benches at election time, and it has happened in every election campaign since the war but what i did not expect is this scaremongering from the honourable gentleman on the plans to recover in the wake of a deadly pandemic. i have to say quite frankly i am astonished and i am disappointed that the honourable gentleman is willing to stand there and claim that there is no covid backlog. i think that�*s what he just

said. hejust said there is no code backlog. he is aware that this country has just gone through its biggest health challenge in history. and he is well aware that there has been a national mission across the nhs to deal with that challenge and recover from that. as i said nhs to deal with that challenge and recoverfrom that. as i said in nhs to deal with that challenge and recover from that. as i said in this house just last week, i recover from that. as i said in this housejust last week, i pay recover from that. as i said in this house just last week, i pay tribute to the honourable gentleman then but i was a bit too early, when he stood up i was a bit too early, when he stood up and supported the nation�*s vaccination programme because he understood just how important, but perhaps some of his backbenchers have got to him and instead of standing upfor have got to him and instead of standing up for the british people he is just thinking about his own leadership prospects in his own party! perhaps that�*s what�*s actually going on. mr speaker, today, today, instead of doing the right thing, the honourable gentleman, instead of backing the

nhs, backing the hundreds of thousands of doctors and nurses and everyone working heroically across the nhs, he has decided to play party politics. he hasjust the nhs, he has decided to play party politics. he has just heard the nhs, he has decided to play party politics. he hasjust heard me a moment ago talk about the 10 million people, 10 million people that the nhs estimates stayed away from the nhs. those people need reassurance, they need reassurance across the house that the nhs is doing them, i would just say he should reconsider his approach to this and work together in the national interest. studio: the statement by the health secretary sajid javid. if you want to carry on watching it, you can on bbc parliament. for the bbc news at one you need to switch on bbc one. and be sure to join us here on the bbc news channel for special coverage of this year�*s oscars nominations.

tracee ellis ross and lesliejordan will announce the nominations from los angeles just after 1.15pm. now it�*s time for a look at the weather with susan. plenty of sunshine to be found across the uk today and thank you to our weather watchers for these clips as of the sky where you are. similarly bright blue skies across kent, patchy cloud drifting through on the breeze. big difference in the way things have felt. arctic air across scotland and northern ireland, atlantic is clings on to the south but the cold airing further south, the south but the cold airing furthersouth, behind the south but the cold airing further south, behind this band of cloud and rain which is a weather front separating them. more rain this evening for north england, getting into north wales and north midlands as beasts front sinks. south, very mild, frost to the north

of the front. wednesday, it continues south, such that for some parts of northern england and wales and the midlands temperatures will come down through the day as the sky is clear and the front carries its cloud down to southern counties of england. to the south of the uk it will feel mild but it will be when the across—the—board and the strength of those winds will add to how chilly it�*s going to feel especially across northern most reaches of the uk. temperatures for scotland down the lower end of single figures in many areas. by thursday the front is off to the continent and we are all in the arctic air. this is something we have to watch closely. an area of low pressure will deal a glancing blow to scotland, heavy and persistent snow showers possible, certainly widespread gales, wind gusting up to 50—60 four some of the most exposed spots. chilly across—the—board. factor in the wind when you think about how you will step outside and for aberdeen and

stornoway, likely to feel below freezing. thursday into friday, that feature off towards the continent, high pressure builds and the wind will fall light. still start to friday, widespread frost, the risk of ice where there will be showers in the early hours of friday. friday, faultless blue skies for the majority of the uk. light wind, might feel lighter but overall cold end to the week.

downing street says borisjohnson has no intention of apologising for his false claim that keir starmer failed to prosecute the paedophile jimmy savile. it comes after the labour leader was jostled and jeered by an angry mob, who shouted at him aboutjimmy savile. the prime minister was making that comparison, which i think is a fair comparison. it does not excuse the kind of behaviour we saw from thugs last night. he holds the highest office in the land and people do listen to what he says and it is trumpian style politics and legitimises the sort of political discourse that isn't what we like or deserve in this country. we�*ll be live at westminster, where a mini reshuffle of ministers

is expected this afternoon, after a turbulent few