tonight at 10:00, firefighters across the uk have voted to strike over pay for the first time in 20 years. there are no dates announced yet. the union wants talks with employers, but an overwhelming majority of members voted for action. while they love theirjob, they are proud of serving their communities, they've also got to pay the bills and they are increasingly struggling to do that. we have got firefighters being sent to food banks. and on wednesday, hundreds of thousands of teachers, railway workers and civil servants will be taking action in the biggest wave of strikes for years. also tonight... visiting a hospital in darlington, rishi sunak announces more beds and more ambulances to tackle long nhs delays in england.

in a mosque in pakistan, at least 59 people have died and more than 150 have been injured in a suspected bomb attack. three years to the week when the uk left the european union, is it now possible to measure the economic impact of brexit? # well, i heard it through the grapevine...# and we remember barrett strong, the man behind much of the motown magic. and coming up on the bbc news channel... jarrod bowen on target for west ham against derby county in the fa cup with the winner taking on manchester united in the fifth round. good evening. for the first time in 20 years, firefighters and control room staff in england,

scotland, wales and northern ireland have voted to go on strike. the main dispute is over pay, and the result of the ballot was overwhelming. the fire brigades union said while the mandate was very clear, it would not announce any dates for strike action until it had held talks with fire service employers in all parts of the uk. it's the latest in a series of pay disputes in the public sector. on wednesday, hundreds of thousands of teachers, railway workers and civil servants will be among those withdrawing their labour in the biggest wave of strike action seen in years. 0ur employment correspondent zoe conway reports. a victorian church, destroyed by fire last friday, despite the best efforts of the london fire brigade. in just over three weeks�* time, this service, along with fire brigades across the uk, are set to go on strike. while our members are very proud of the job that they do,

they have voted overwhelmingly all across the uk that they are willing to take strike action. that reflects the anger of our members of falling living standards, ten years of attacks on pay from employers and central government, at a time when the services being cut to pieces, with station closures, fire engines axed, and record numbers ofjob losses. firefighters on the picket line in 2003 — the last time they went on strike. the dispute went on for months. firefighter salaries range from £20,000 for a trainee firefighter, to £40,000 for a station manager. the union says pay has fallen by i2% the union says pay has fallen by 12% since 2010, because it has failed to keep up with rising prices. it's calling for an above inflation pay rise this year. inflation is currently 10.5%. the government is offering a rise of 5%. the union has

given the government ten days to improve on their 5% pay offer, to stop the strikes from going ahead. downing street has responded by calling on the fb you to reconsider taking this action and to keep on negotiating. but there is no sign tonight that when it comes to public sector pay, ministers are ready to move. pay attention — woo! in scotland, a strike by teachers has entered its third week. teachers in england and wales willjoin this industrial action on wednesday, after talks between the national education union and the education secretary, gillian keegan, failed. we sincerely regret the disruption on wednesday. but we are doing it to try and get the government to invest in our children's education. more than 100,000 teachers are expected to be involved in the walk—outs, which are planned over seven days in february and march. it's really disappointing, it really is.

it's so disruptive. it's not a last resort. they have chosen to have the strike, obviously in conjunction with many others. but it isn't a last resort and we are still in discussions. and i'm always in those discussions in good faith. wednesday will see industrial action on a scale not seen for more than a decade. 500,000 workers are expected to strike. in so many of these disputes, there is no end in sight. speaker the latest official figures from the office for national statistics reveal how millions of households have been fair in recent months. 24% - that's almost a quarter of adults surveyed, reported they find it hard to keep warm in their homes. 15% are worried their food will run out before they have money to buy more. 18% are now eating smaller portions.

and nearly half of those surveyed said that their situation was negatively affecting their physical and mental health. 0ur social affairs correspondent, michael buchanan reports from wrexham in wales. shirley 0'connor spends much of her days — her weeks — alone. her husband died in 2018. covid meant she had to stay at home. now, rising prices have further limited her life. last week i had to buy new glasses. it cost me nearly £150. and then, i went to get my gas this morning. i couldn't afford to put the 75 in as i normally do. so at the moment i've got heating on, but tonight i'll be in bed by 6:00 to keep warm. the 66—year—old, who has multiple health conditions, spends her day watching tv or doing word searches. how often do you think about money? never ending. if you want new shoes or new boots, you think, "well, what can i do

without this week to buy them?" my hairwants doing, but i've got to let it go for now. i can't do it any more. shirley is not alone. today's figures show that more than a third of welsh households have struggled to heat their homes, almost 50% higher than the british average. i love pen—y—cae community. i have only ever known pen—y—cae community. i grew up here. carla lovell works for a charity supporting older people in these hills around wrexham. a lot of my ladies would go and get taxis to cafes and have a cup of tea and natter with their friends. they can't do that any more, because they can't afford to do that. people just stay in one room all day, every day. they heat that one room because it's all they can afford to do. penny evans is one of carla's regular clients. she spends most of her days in this one room. how often do you put the rest of the heating on, in the house? when i'm having a shower, which is once a week, because of the expense with the gas.

a talented artist, she struggled to make ends meet, even restricting how many christmas cards she sent to save money. this is not how retirement was meant to be. to be honest, yes. it's not fair. i've worked hard all my life. all right, we're scrimping and saving now, but how long for? it is a worry. carla lovell encourages and cajoles her clients to engage and stay positive. but communities that have long struggled with poverty and isolation are being strained further by rising prices. michael buchanan, bbc news, north east wales. the prime minister has denied claims that he was slow and weak in his handling of the tax controversy surrouding the former chancellor nadhim za hawi. mr sunak said he'd sacked mr zahawi from his post as conservative party chairman

after following the right process. an investigation by the prime minister's ethics adviser found mr zahawi had repeatedly breached the ministerial code by failing to disclose that hmrc officers were investigating his tax affairs. labour said the prime minister should have sacked mr zahawi long ago. mr sunak was speaking to nhs staff in darlington today. it relates to things that happened well before i was prime minister, so unfortunately i can't change what happened in the past. what you can hold me accountable for is, "what did you do about it?" you know, what i did as soon as i knew about the situation was appoint somebody independent, looked at it, got the advice and then acted pretty decisively to move on. because that is what i think live to westminster and our political editor chris mason. can we start with mr zahawi and the fact that the prime minister clearly wants to draw a line under this? but will he be able to?—

will he be able to? number10 are deserate will he be able to? number10 are desperate that _ will he be able to? number10 are desperate that this _ will he be able to? number10 are desperate that this fizzles - will he be able to? number10 are desperate that this fizzles out, . desperate that this fizzles out, and quickly. and speaking to conservative mps privately, so our day. they think it has been an attention snatcher at westminster fourth far too long. in the words of one seniorfigure, if it is fourth far too long. in the words of one senior figure, if it is obvious one senior figure, if it is obvious on day one of a problem at the end point will be, don't faff about. the thing is, conservative mps fear that is exactly what was happening. because mr zahawi wasn't resigning, then an inquiry was launched. the fear was that it would go on for ages. but downing street is emboldened tonight. they say the report came back quickly and the outcome of it was decisive. it is worth looking into the undergrowth of what is to come. a big staffing question that still lingers for the prime minister around his deputy, dominic raab, facing accusations of bullying in multiple departments that he has worked in. accusations, i should say, that he denies. plenty of his colleagues wonder how well that end up? i of his colleagues wonder how well that end up?— of his colleagues wonder how well that and up?— that end up? i think it is fair to sa that that end up? i think it is fair to

say that the — that end up? i think it is fair to say that the government - that end up? i think it is fair to say that the government is - that end up? i think it is fair toj say that the government is not that end up? i think it is fair to - say that the government is not short of challenges or problems this week, with a really big wave of strikes coming up in the public sector as well. how is that affecting things? it is worth taking a step back and pondering this thought. as we look around the uk, and its different political make—up and the different nations, look around europe and beyond,isit nations, look around europe and beyond, is it worth thinking that if you have soaring inflation, is it highly likely, maybe even inevitable, that you will end up with some strike action? perhaps it is. but it is also inevitable that incumbent governments, wherever they are, will face big questions, and electorates will demand answers. as things stand, head of this unprecedented scale of strikes in terms of the winter industrial action coming up on wednesday, both sides are not budging. the government at westminster says the focus has to be on driving down inflation, there is not loads of money to pay out to striking workers. so the big question will be, the other side of disruption for millions of people in the next 48 hours, where will the sympathy live?

many thanks again, chris mason with the latest analysis at westminster. rishi sunak says his government will deliver the largest and fastest improvement in emergency waiting times in the history of the nhs in england. he's set out plans to use a billion pounds of existing funding to increase the number of ambulances and create new hospital beds. labour says the plans are nowhere near the scale needed to tackle the crisis in the health service. 0ur health editor hugh pym is here to tell us more. the new plan is aimed at avoiding next winter some of the long a&e waits and ambulance delays seen in recent weeks. nhs england has earmarked £1 billion from existing funds. some of that will go on creating 5,000 more hospital beds, that's up 5% on the current total. and buying 800 new ambulances, some to replace old vehicles — up 10%. today, the prime minister set out his ambitions in a briefing for nhs staff.

more beds, more ambulances, more staff, better social care. and if we can deliver on it, 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. but here's the challenge — theres a target of 95% of patients seen or assessed in a&e within four hours of arriving. but recently performance has plunged to a record low of 65% the nhs says it can get back to 76 % next spring. and for category 2 ambulance calls, including heart attacks and stokes, crews are supposed to get there within 18 minutes — but last month the average was an hour and a half. there's now a pledge to get that back to half a hour by next year. so, how is that going to be achieved? i have spent time at one

major hospital where there are measures in place to speed up the flow of patients, which could be rolled out further as part of the new plan. so we currently have 24 patients in the department who are waiting for beds. here today at the royal free hospital, to ease pressure patients are diverted away from a&e when possible. senior doctors and nurses in a special unit treat and get them home on the same day, so they don't need a hospital bed. there are a lot of clinical conditions that can be treated by using same—day emergency care strategies. it's actually a preferable option to most patients, rather than being admitted to hospital. it also means that we can free up inpatient capacity- for the patients who need it most. and that has an overall benefit to the whole i of the health care system. so, what about workforce? there are more than 133,000 vacancies in the nhs in england. with a vacancy rate of 9.7%, higher than before the pandemic.

the question is — will existing staff be able to deliver the plan for this winter? overall, it's a good plan. but it's a plan that requires a good and healthy, and engaged workforce to be in place to deliver it. and with the current levels of staff vacancies and staff burn—out that we are seeing, it's hard to see how we can get to next winter and the implementation of the plan. there's been unprecedented strain on hospitals and ambulance services in recent weeks. the pressures have eased a bit. but nhs staff are concerned about what the next coupls of months might bring, never mind the next winter. thanks to hugh pym, there. in pakistan, at least 59 people have died and more than 150 have been injured in an explosion at a mosque in the city of peshawar. the attack is thought to have targeted members of the police force. no one has yet admitted responsibility.

0ur pakistan correspondent caroline davies reports from the scene. a violent act that destroyed a place of prayer. the explosion ripped through the mosque in a police compound in peshawar when it was filling up for lunchtime prayers. hundreds were inside. some survivors crawled from the rubble. rescue workers used their bare hands to try to find others. ambulances were still arriving at peshawar�*s lady reading hospital well into the evening. the families who had waited hoping for better news, now distraught as instead, their loved ones arrived lifeless. inside the hospital, waiting in a corridor, we found zohaib nawaz, his arm in a plaster cast and his back injured. he told us that he remembers a white flash, and was blown five or six feet back by the force of the blast. then the rubble fell on him. he spent more than an hour trapped beneath it. still in his police uniform,

sitting with his wife, javed khan tells us that he had just walked into the mosque when the blast happened. he fell down with the force, and has a severe head injury. it was a hectic situation. there were so many patients, so many attendants who were here, so many injuries who were here. it definitely makes me afraid. i am a human being. these are my brothers and sisters who are here. i do care for them. my heart bleeds for them. people here have, some of them have severe burns, others have got broken bones from falling rubble. the number of people coming in still keeps rising. the death toll too has been going up. this evening, funeral prayers for the dead. pakistan has seen a growing number of violent attacks by groups who want sharia law implemented in the country. pakistan's army had claimed that they had broken the capabilities of these groups, but today's explosion and the damage it has caused will make many fearful that more attacks are to come.

caroline davies, bbc news, peshawar. the kremlin has accused borisjohnson of telling a lie when he said that president putin had threatened him with a missile strike. mrjohnson makes the claim in a new bbc documentary. he says the apparent threat was made during a phone call between the two leaders, ahead of moscow's invasion of ukraine. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james landale reports. kyiv, last february — a city living in fear of invasion. borisjohnson arrived to show support for a clean—shaven president yet to don the green garb of war. shoulder to shoulder with his ally, the former prime minister's message was clear. i hope very much that president putin steps back from the path of conflict. a hope which prompted an astonishing response from vladimir putin. 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 to join 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.

a spokesman for the kremlin denied mrjohnson�*s account, saying there had been no threats to use missiles. translation: what mrjohnson said is not true. more specifically, it is a lie. a week after the phone call, the defence secretary flew to moscow to meet russian military chiefs, where he said he lied to him where he said 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. 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.

tomorrow will mark three years since the united kingdom formally left the european union. since then, the pandemic and the invasion of ukraine have both had a significant effect on the economy. so to what extent is it now possible to measure the impact that brexit has had on our economic performance? 0ur economics correspondent dharshini david has been investigating, and she joins us now. love it or loathe it, brexit is three years old. it's still in its infancy, but the economy does appear to have taken a hit, though maybe not in the way some had feared. stripping out the impact of the pandemic and the energy crisis isn't easy, but we've pored over the data from the latest official sources and analysis from academics. let's look at trade, investment and jobs. first, trade — brexit meant extra paperwork and checks for goods crossing borders since 2021.

there was an initial dip in the amount exported to the eu, according to official statistics. that recovered as teething problems were resolved. the same is broadly true of imports from the bloc, although the checks and paperwork may have added to some prices. but the variety of goods has shrunk. red tape may have overwhelmed some smaller businesses. and what about the new trade deals britain is now free to make? 71 have been struck so far, but mostjust copy what britain had when it was in the eu. then there's the tariff—free deal we agreed with the eu itself. we've new trade deals with australia and new zealand, but the impact is likely to be very small. together, the government's own analysis suggests may add about 0.1% to the uk's income, and that'll take a decade. some uk farmers actually

fear they'll lose out. others, with india and the gulf states, for example, which remain under discussion, may also have a small impact, although they're growing in importance. however, without deals with the biggest players — the us, which accounts for a sixth of our trade, and china — we're unlikely to see brexit leading to a major boost to the amount we sell abroad any time soon. everyone traded less during the pandemic, but other rich nations�* trade has bounced back more quickly than the uk's. so, for now at least, global trade has become a smaller part of our economy. then there's investment — this is where it could be if it had continued growing at the same rate as before the referendum, according to academics at kings college, london. but in reality, it's stalled. some economists, such as those at the international monetary fund,

claim brexit—related uncertainty is deterring spending on things like factories, training, equipment. other analysts at the briefings for britain think—tank claim the uk has simply resumed a longer—term pattern of under—investing. ultimately, it all reduces our chances of being a more efficient, higher earning country. as forjobs, the end of free movement equals 330,000 fewer workers in the uk, just 1% of the workforce, but the absence of eu workers is hitting some sectors harder. it's equal to as many as 8% of transport workers, 4% of hospitality staff and 3% of retail workers, causing shortages. all of this may be one reason why the uk is the only major rich economy that's smaller and poorer than before the pandemic. but it's still early days,

and there much yet to be settled. notjust the northern ireland protocol, but also permanent arrangements for industries like financial services, fishing and electric vehicles. there are potential gains there. how much we achieve will be up to politicians. many thanks once again. dharshini david, there, with analysis of the impact of brexit. a bbc investigation in egypt has revealed how dating apps and online activity are being used to abuse and blackmail people for their sexuality and gender identity. criminal gangs are targeting vulnerable people online, and the state police are also using similar tactics. this report by bbc arabic�*s ahmed shihab—eldin features some distressing scenes from the start. a group of friends ambushed by someone they thought they could trust, naked, terrified, and forced to dance at knife—point.

the whole humiliating ordeal was filmed and posted online. it was viewed more than 2 million times. these are the victims of gangs targeting lgbtq people in egypt. translation: they were the most . disgusting six hours of my life. . i could have died. i was scared to death. leila, who identifies as transgender, was in the video. sharing her story with us is risky, so she has chosen a 3d face tracking mask to conceal her identity. we have also changed her name. being exposed as transgender leaves leila open to targeting by the police. there is no explicit law against homosexuality in egypt. but our investigation has found that the law against debauchery is being used to criminalise the lgbtq community. it was originally a charge guarding sex work.

queer is an offensive word to some, but for the people i spoke to, it was their preferred term to describe their sexual orientation or gender identity. any positive depiction of homosexuality is banned in the media here. on this call—in show on state tv, the presenter tells a mother worried about her gay son that he needs treatment. this stigma and the way the law is being used leaves people like leila vulnerable to attack. by interviewing other victims and through online research, we were able to confirm the identity of one of the leaders of the gang. his name is yahia. he is the man with the knife in the video. we have evidence that his gang has carried out at least four similar attacks. sahid is just 18 and another of yahia's victims. translation: he asked for money, which i didn't have, _ so he called my parents and the video spread all around egypt. he wanted to report the attack

to the police, but his lawyer advised him against it. translation: he said, - "both of you will be jailed." because i am a gay man and because he stole. he said his offence isn't as big as mine in egyptian society. we found the police themselves have been impersonating users on dating apps to find and arrest members of the lgbtq community. we have been given exclusive access to extraordinary police transcripts and investigation records that show in detail exactly how street level police are targeting people online. have you slept with men before? in some of the exchanges, the police seem to be pressuring people into offering sex for money. but in others, there is no mention of any financial transaction, so the transcripts appear to show

evidence that people are being arrested for their sexuality. police forces in egypt receive training from the uk via the un. the egyptian interior ministry did not respond to the bbc�*s request for comment. yahia denied involvement in any attacks. lgbtq people in egypt are forced to hide their sexuality to survive. leila and sahid hope their stories can help break the silence. ahmed shihab—eldin, bbc news. and you can watch the full investigation on bbc iplayer, just search for the title and you will find the full investigation there. before we go, there are tributes today to barrett strong, who's died at the age of 81. he was the name behind some of the greatest songs released by the motown record label. # your love give me such a thrill

# but your love don't pay my bills # i need money # that's what i want...# he wrote and sang on the label's first major hit, money, in 1960. # you should have told me yourself # that you loved someone else # instead, i heard it through the grapevine...# along with longtime collaborator norman whitfield, he wrote this classic for marvin gaye. # heard it through the grapevine...# and this one for the temptations. # papa was a rollin' stone # wherever he laid his hat was his home...# the motown founder, berry gordy, said that barrett strong's songs were revolutionary and captured the spirit of the times.

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