today at one: the nhs in england is to get thousands of extra hospital beds and hundreds of ambulances in a bid to tackle delays in emergency care. but there are questions about who will staff the extra resources — with one in ten posts in the nhs unfilled. we have 100,000 vacancies in the nhs, more than 150,000 vacancies in social care, so staffing really becomes the absolutely critical constraint about whether some of the ambitions and improvements in today's plan will be able to be delivered. we'll be looking at what today's announcement means for patients. also on the programme... rishi sunak defends his handling of allegations about nadhim zahawi's tax affairs, saying he "acted pretty decisively" in sacking him. what i've done is follow a process, which is the right process. integrity is really important to me.

borisjohnson says that vladimir putin threatened him with a missile strike in a phone call in the run—up to russia's invasion of ukraine. after decades of calls for greater scrutiny of the family courts, journalists will be able to report proceedings in a pilot scheme. and coming up in sport on the bbc news channel: rory mcilroy produces a brilliant final putt to secure victory over patrick reed at the dubai desert classic. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at 0ne. ministers and nhs leaders have announced plans to provide hundreds more ambulances and thousands of hospital beds in england by next winter.

£1 billion of existing funding is being allocated and there are also measures to try to reduce the number of patients who turn up at a&e and then stay overnight. but there are questions about how the extra resources will be staffed — and some health experts warn they will be undermined by a "burnt out" workforce. 0ur health correspondent katherine da costa has the details. hi, are you? nice to see you. after weeks of unprecedented strain on the nhs and criticism over record delays in a&e... it's incredibly complicated, actually, managing the flow through. ..the prime minister and health secretary were keen to hear what's working well at north tees hospital... it's a model that we need to make sure we can do more of across the country. thank you. ..ahead of setting out new plans in front of an audience of health staff. more beds, more ambulances, more staff, better social care, and if we can deliver on it, if we can deliver on it, then i think we will see, in fact, i know we will see the largest

and fastest ever improvement in emergency waiting times in the nhs's history. that is the ambition of our plan that we set out today. by next winter, there should be 5000 more per hospital beds in england, an increase of around 5%. 800 new ambulances purchased, around half of those to replace older vehicles. and there will be a new push to get people who are well enough out of hospital more quickly. hello, sir, how are you? the plan builds on work to care for patients in their own homes by monitoring them remotely. it includes greater use of rehab and physiotherapy to avoid overnight stays in hospital. the money to pay for this will come out of funds already promised last autumn. health experts broadly welcomed the proposals to boost capacity, bring down waiting times and improve patient care, but they stress you can't achieve that unless you have got the right number of staff in the right departments.

really important that the government publishes a long—term workforce strategy for the nhs, a plan that has now been promised and delayed quite often, because that's absolutely critical. we have 100,000 vacancies in at the nhs, more than 150,000 vacancies in social care, so staffing really becomes the absolutely critical constraint about whether some of the ambitions and improvements in today's plan will be able to be delivered. labour has accused the government of watering down standards by lowering ambulance and a&e targets. the government says it will publish a plan to boost the workforce in england. there is still a long way to go if we are to avoid long queues and waits like this next winter. katherine da costa, bbc news. let's get more with our health correspondent nick triggle. and nick, can this plan really tackle the problems in the timescale being talked about? it would be astonishing in the short

term if there is not at least a little bit of improvement. as we get closer to spring, the rates of covid and flu are falling. it's also worth bearing in mind the ambition that is set in this target, the scale of that ambition, by march 2024, the government wants 76% of patients who come to a&e to be seen within four hours, that is still well short of the 95% target. as we are hearing, the 95% target. as we are hearing, the key to getting real progress is ensuring there is a staff in place and with one in ten posts vacant in the nhs, those vacancies are greater for nurses, the ability to make the most use of these resources is hampered. the workforce plan was meant to be published in october to rectify some of these problems but we're still waiting for it. we are hearing perhaps by the end of march it will be published. and also as we heard, social care. 0ne it will be published. and also as we heard, social care. one of the big problems facing hospitals is their ability to get patients out quickly enough because of a lack of care

organised by councils, and the vacancy rates are as bad if not worse. that's why many are arguing a reform plan for that service is long overdue. well, one of the simplest ways to ease pressure on the nhs is to keep people out of hospital in the first place — and a community in devon is trying to do that by focusing on keeping them warm. 0ur social affairs correspondent michael buchanan has been to see how it works. winter in north devon. on days like this, it's best to stay indoors, hopefully in the warm. good morning. mr adams? yes. my name is mel. mel is an energy adviser who's been sent to visit roger adams by his gp. i understand you've got some health conditions that you feel the cold more. the pensioner takes 15 tablets a day for a variety of health problems, including asthma. these are energy efficient light bulbs.

basically, if you had led light bulbs throughout the whole house, you would save money annually. she hopes to improve his health by warming his home and cutting his bills. roger has six children and 20 grandchildren and has been married to carol for over 50 years. they have £45 a week to spend on food. she buys everything - from the reduced section. i go look for the bargains. that's what i do, i look for the bargains. with the money we got, we spread it as best as we can. and that's it. it don't allow for days out or holidays or abroad like that. but we get by. there's a lot of people worse off than us. have a nice weekend. mel departs with a promise to return to help the couple claim a benefit they may be entitled to. she's off to another client. gps in northern devon have identified hundreds of people like roger who have respiratory problems and live in fuel poverty.

a year—long scheme sees them visited by advisers who try to improve each home's energy efficiency. living in cold, damp, dark homes is really bad for you if you've got pre—existing respiratory illness. in the severe group, they often have medical devices that need electricity, such as oxygen concentrators, which they can't afford not to run. and so that's one of the reasons why we chose this population. lots of old, poorly insulated homes, combined with low incomes, means that fuel poverty levels are higher in devon than nationwide. mel eyers has been shocked by some of what she's seen. i've been in houses where they've got a selection of candles and they're telling me that that's where they get their heat from. they refuse to open their post because they're too scared to, so theyjust don't put the heating on. why won't they open their post? because they're too scared to find out what their energy bills are going to be. i know it's. .. health is not something that we can all control, but certainly,

having the heating on, we should be able to do that. mel eyers ending that report by michael buchanan. and michaeljoins me now — michael, there have been some results released today from a survey about the impact of winter pressures on adults. this is carried out by the office for national statistics, they surveyed just over 4500 people across great britain in the four weeks to the 18th of december, but they were looking at was the impact of rising prices and nhs pressures and what they found perhaps will not be a surprise to many of these communities in devon, they found that nearly one in four people were struggling to heat their homes comfortably. 0ne struggling to heat their homes comfortably. one in seven were worried about running out of food before the next wage cheque for the next benefit payment actually came through. that was understandably leading to some health problems through really have the people said they were having symptoms of depression because of the pressures they were under. every time they're trying to get into the nhs perhaps,

nearly one in four of them said they had difficulty getting a gp appointment, nearly one in five or waiting for a hospital test. as you travel around the country, you see what that means in practice. foodbanks being overwhelmed, crisis loans and charities and local authorities being overwhelmed. little things that perhaps do not hit the headlines as well, one woman i was talking to said she had to buy new glasses so that meant a new bill which meant she couldn't top up our energy meter, she couldn't get a haircut. the type of people living in rural communities with no buses, they can no longer get a taxi to go out for the day, that might be the only time in the week they were leaving their homes so there is a huge number of consequences to what's going on. huge number of consequences to what's going om— huge number of consequences to what's going on. rishi sunak says he "acted pretty decisively" when the former conservative party chairman, nadim zahawi, was found to have broken the ministerial code. labour has called on the prime minister to clarify exactly when he became aware that mr zahawi had paid a penalty to hmrc. 0ur chief political correspondent,

nick eardley, joins us from westminster now. has rishi sunak now drawn a line under this matter?— has rishi sunak now drawn a line under this matter? that's certainly what is heping _ under this matter? that's certainly what is hoping this _ under this matter? that's certainly what is hoping this morning. - under this matter? that's certainlyl what is hoping this morning. telling journalists he had acted decisively, that as soon as he got that report yesterday morning, he had taken the decision to sack esther zahavi, it only took the prime minister a couple of hours from receiving it to us all knowing that nadhim zahawi was no longer in hisjob. but there are those who think that the minister could have acted sooner. there are conservative mps who think that mr sunak waited too long to start the investigation into the tory chairman in the first place. 0pposition parties are saying the promised probably didn't need an investigation to tell him that mr zahawi had fallen foul of the rules that ministers have to follow. at

the perimeter�*s argument this morning was due process here was essential —— but the prime minister because my argument. he had to wait for the full facts. what i've done is follow a process, which is the right process. integrity is really important to me. all of you guys want to see that government is run properly, that it's run with integrity and there is accountability when people don't behave the way that they should or if something doesn't go right, and that's what we've done. the prime minister also argued he could only be held responsible for things that happened under his watch and i think that will sound reasonable to some. the problem for rishi sunak is that he will be also held account that happened before him. his deputy premier mr dominic raabis him. his deputy premier mr dominic raab is still facing an investigation for bullying allegations. borisjohnson is still facing a very high profile privileges committee investigation that will be playing out in public in parliament over the next few months. so although mr sunak does

want to draw a line under this and tell us all that integrity and professionalism are key for him and that's why he took the decision to sack mr zahawi, some of those questions about probity are hard to shake off. a 16—year—old boy has appeared in court charged with the murder of a teenage girl who was stabbed to death in northumberland. holly newton, who was 15, was fatally wounded in hexham on friday afternoon. the boy, who can't be named, is charged with murder, attempted murder and possessing an offensive weapon. he will appear before crown court on february 1st. at least 32 people have been killed in an explosion at a mosque in the pakistani city of peshawar. the blast happened when the mosque was packed with worshippers and more than 140 people were injured. a section of the building was destroyed, and officials say people are buried under the rubble. the cause of the explosion is unclear — but the country's prime minister has strongly condemned what he called the "menace of terrorism".

the former prime minister, borisjohnson, has told the bbc that vladimir putin personally threatened him in the run—up to russia's invasion of ukraine. in a documentary series about mr putin's leadership, he described how the russian president told him it would "only take a minute" to hurt him with a missile. a kremlin spokesman has called mrjohnson�*s claim a "lie". more from our diplomatic correspondent, james landale. kyiv, last february — a city on the brink of war. borisjohnson arrives in a show of support for a president who is yet to replace his suit and tie with army fatigues. alongside other countries, we are also preparing a package of sanctions and other measures. the prime minister publicly urges russia not to invade, prompting an astonishing reaction from president putin. i get back from kyiv and, the following day, i've got putin on the blower again.

and this is a very long call and a most extraordinary call. he was being very, very familiar. mrjohnson told him invading ukraine would mean more nato forces on his border. he said, "boris, you say that ukraine is not going tojoin nato any time soon." he said it in english — "any time soon". "what is any time soon?" and i said, "well, it's not going to join nato for the foreseeable future." and then this. you know, he threatened me at one point and said, you know, "boris, i don't want to hurt you, but with a missile, it would only take a minute" — or something like that, you know. you know, jolly. but i think from the very relaxed tone that he was taking — the sort of air of detachment that he seemed to have, he was just playing along with my attempts

to get him to negotiate. the following week, the defence secretary flew to moscow to meet russian military chiefs, where, he says, they lied to him about their plans for ukraine. i remember saying to minister shoigu that they will fight. and he said, "my mother's ukrainian — you know, they won't." he also said he had no intention of invading. i think that would be "vranyo" in the russian language. vranyo, i think is a sort of demonstration of bullying or strength, which is "i'm going to lie to you. you know i'm lying. i know you know i'm lying and i'm still going to lie to you." it was the fairly chilling but direct lie of what they were not going to do that, i think, to me, confirmed they were going to do it. and he was right. within days, the invasion began, as russia unleashed a barrage

of missiles on targets across ukraine and its tanks and troops stormed across the border. james landale, bbc news. the first episode of the bbc documentary putin versus the west will be broadcast tonight on bbc two at 9pm, and all three episodes are available on the bbc iplayer. our top story this lunchtime... the nhs in england is to get thousands of extra hospital beds and hundreds of ambulances in a bid to tackle delays in emergency care. and still to come... five years after it first launched, bbc radio 5 live's award—winning podcast you, me and the big c is returning for one final special episode. coming up in sport on the bbc news channel... ahead of the transfer window closing tomorrow night, brighton reject a bid of £70 million from arsenal for midfielder moises caicedo, insisting

he's not for sale. for the first time, reporters are to be allowed into family courts in england and wales as part of an experiment to promote more openjustice. journalists will be given access to three court centres in cardiff, leeds, and carlisle, where they will be able to report on what they see and hear and speak to families provided they keep their identities anonymous. 0ur correspondent sanchia berg, who has reported widely on the family courts, has been speaking to one mother who went through the process. actor's voice: he's my best friend. like, it sounds bizarre to say that when it's your child, but ijust don't know what i'd do without him. i absolutely love him. caitlin has a young son and two older children who were taken into care several years ago when they were very small. i've missed out on everything because i've never taken my older two children to school. i don't get to tuck them in bed at night and read them stories.

i've lost a lot of time. social workers advised but it was a judge in the family court who decided her children's future. a teenage mother, she says now she was unable to take in what was happening. when i first went to court, the only way that i can explain this is, it's like, i can see everything, i can see people, but i can't hear anything that anyone's saying, and it's all a bit of a blur. and when i heard those words "adoption", it was like everything just stopped, there was nothing happening, i couldn't hear anyone any more, i couldn't see anything, i couldn't breathe. every year, there are over 200,000 cases in the family courts in england and wales. most are separating parents, a small minority are care cases, like caitlin�*s. today, for the first time, journalists will be able to report

these cases in three court centres as long as they keep families anonymous. it's very significant. for decades this has been talked about it has been put in the, "too difficult" box because of the need to open up but at the same time keep closed the identity of the family. so, this is the first time that we've actually experimented with allowing journalists to report what they see and hear. the archie battersby case in the family division of the high court captured the headlines last year. supporters of openjustice hope more family cases of all kinds will be reported through the pilot. most enthusiastic are parents like caitlin. people behave better if they think that this information could go outside. i also think that i probably would have understood what was happening a little bit better if someone was reporting it.

but also i just think that the courts have been so closed and so private for so long, it's so old—fashioned. 0ne mother's story of dealing with the family court, as told to our correspondent sanchia berg. union leaders are to meet the education secretary gillian keegan in what they call a last chance to avoid wednesday's planned strike action in england and wales. teachers in scotland are continuing their industrial action. for most working parents this week's strikes will mean taking a day off, working from home, or seeking alternative childcare. fiona lamdin has been talking to families about their plans. we want 10%! these are becoming all too familiar scenes in scotland... ..where they are already in the middle of a 16—day wave of rolling teacher strikes. and on wednesday, it's expected that over 100,000 teachers in england and wales will strike in a pay dispute. three, two, one, go! at this bristol parkrun, families are still working out the logistics.

wednesday currently is unsure, but one of us will need to take half a day's pay to look after this one. 0ur eldest daughter is allowed to go into school, but adelyn needs to stay home with us. how will you feel about being at home for the day? really happy, because if there's no school, you canjust lie in bed. i'm a teacher, and i've got two children in primary school- who, we don't yet know whether their teachers i are going to be striking — - but i am going to be striking. the decision to close or not will be made by each school. this head has decided it's only safe to open for vulnerable pupils or those with an education, health and care plan. so, for head teachers up and down the country, it's a challenge as to whether we open the doors of the school to students or whether we have to close down certain year groups or indeed the whole school. as heads, we don't know

which members of staff will be striking, and indeed which ones will come to school and which ones won't, and obviously, logistically, that's extremely challenging. the department for education says these strikes are highly damaging to children's education and is urging schools to try and stay open for key year groups facing exams. 15—year—old nancy is taking her gcses in four months, but despite this, she will have no lessons on wednesday. obviously i'm in year 11 now so it is quite a big problem because lessons from now until summer actually count, and they go towards our final grade, some of them. so, it's quite important that we're in school, and we've missed a lot of school due to covid already, so... we have to weigh up the short—term disruption of these strikes with what's going to be the longer—term disruption being caused by funding cuts and the recruitment and retention crisis. for many pupils and their families, it will be a four—day week, with more disruption coming later. fiona lamdin, bbc news.

thousands of nhs staff across the uk are facing pay cuts as temporary covid sickness rules come to an end. they were introduced to support workers if they caught the virus. analysis by bbc panorama suggests that between 5,000 and 10,000 nhs staff could currently be off with long covid. our health correspondent catherine burns reports. we clapped for them every thursday. now, some health workers say they feel abandoned. for me, it's a living, breathing beast. we've had to sell the family home. | i look to the future and i think, | is this going to be me for ever? rachel hext is a nurse at a community hospital in devon, but she's not been to work for more than two years. there are days when i honestly can't even get out of the house. rachel has long covid, with symptoms ranging from chest

pain and brain fog to hearing loss and heart issues. she coughs. when the pandemic first started, new sick pay rules came in for many nhs staff. if they got coronavirus or long covid, they could be paid in full until they got better. but that has changed. now, they're being treated like anyone else, and some face going onto half pay in march. rachel says she'll lose £1,000 a month. so, how worried are you about money? really worried, really worried. i do appreciate the nhs can't pay us for ever, but there's hope we can actually bring something back to the nhs again, you know? the torbay and south devon nhs foundation trust says it can't comment because there's a legal claim. it says it's extremely grateful to staff who worked tirelessly during the pandemic. bbc panorama has tried to assess how many staff are off sick with long covid.

the nhs in england and wales don't record this. northern ireland does, and says 0.6% of its workforce is off with it. for scotland, it's 0.3%. if those rates were reflected across the uk, it could mean between 5,000 and 10,000 nhs staff absent. we have this group of people, they're just in a no—man�*s land. we don't have the support for them. and actually that genuinely makes me angry. a cross—party group of politicians are calling for compensation for health workers with long covid. we are falling behind our peers in our recognition of this as a real disease that needs proper recognition and compensation. nhs guidelines encourage managers to test all options to get staff back to work. the government says it will respond openly to the covid—19 public inquiry. it could take years to complete. catherine burns, bbc news.

and panorama's forgotten heroes of the covid frontline is on bbc one at 8 o'clock tonight and on the bbc iplayer. it was billed as "the coolest club you never want to be a part of" and "a candid guide to all the highs and lows of cancer". now, after five years of laughter, tears and honesty, the podcast you, me and the big c has reached the end of an era. hosts lauren mahon and steve bland have recorded their last episode, and it was a very special one. tim muffett was there. we are three friends, we're also bloggers, we all have one thing in common — we all have or we have had cancer. rachael bland, lauren mahon and dame deborahjames. the original presenters of you, me and the big c. launched in 2018, it was funny... i'm not going to look at you. i'm going to... a crying poo is not what we need right now. laughter.

it was heartbreaking. all the way home, i was just saying to freddie, i'm so sorry, i'm so sorry. oh. don't, because you're going to make me... i sorry, it's the first thing that's made me cry in the whole 12 episodes. now, a very special episode. you, me and the big c, we're going live to a studio audience. and we're very, very excited. cheering. dame deborahjames died last year. rachael bland died in 2018. her husband steve then became one of the presenters. hello, everyone. hello, everyone, good evening. welcome to you, me and the big c live! it was never reallyjust meant to be in a studio talking to a microphone. it's bringing people here who, i imagine most of them have got experience, or something to do with cancer, and, you know, sharing the podcast with them. i've listened from virtually the first episode, - and they've totally altered the perception of cancer. i i do encourage everyone to get a colonoscopy if you've been scheduled for one.

don't be scared of them because they are quite funny at the same time. i mean, you talk about shining light in the dark. i really felt an affinity, particularly with rachael bland, because i had exactly the same type of breast cancer as her. and it gave me hope. he is now officially in remission. yeah! cheering. you, me and the big c has made people laugh, it's made people cry, but most importantly it's been informative. both the nhs and the institute of cancer research say it's given a major boost to the number of people checking potential cancer symptoms early. lauren and steve are now stepping away from the podcast. it's been a massive privilege. you've been like our therapy group, our best mates, our support group, our everything. so, it's been... oh, it's going to get all teary now, isn't it? applause and cheering.

by talking, listening and sharing, the impact of this podcast has been profound. tim muffett, bbc news. you can watch that special episode of you, me and the big c on the bbc news channel at 8.30 this evening and you can listen in on bbc sounds. barrett strong, a pivotal figure in the history of motown records, has died at the age of 81. he sang the label's first major hit, money, in 1959, and went on to co—write classic songs like i heard it through the grapevine, war and papa was a rollin�* stone. time for a look at the weather. here's stav daneos. this afternoon will be a good

representation— this afternoon will be a good representation of— this afternoon will be a good representation of what - this afternoon will be a good representation of what the l this afternoon will be a good - representation of what the weather is likely— representation of what the weather is likely to — representation of what the weather is likely to be — representation of what the weather is likely to be for—