canada's prime minister justin trudeau is to make a public statement this hour following speculation he will shortly announce his resignation. we will bring you that live. and the brutalist, baby reindeer, shogun and emilia perez top the golden globes�* winners list. hello, i'm annita mcveigh. britain's prime minister has defended his record on tackling sex abuse gangs operating in the uk. it follows calls from opposition parties for a national inquiry, and condemnation on social media from the tech billionare, elon musk. sir keir starmer accused the far right of spreading poison, lies and misinformation, because, he said, they were �*desperate for attention�*. our political correspondent

damian grammaticas reports. he is the world�*s richest man, with the ear of the us president, now disrupting politics here, too. elon musk has attacked sir keir starmer, calling him a national embarrassment, saying he should be in prison, claiming he was complicit in crimes committed by grooming gangs responsible for child sexual abuse. he attacked the safeguarding ministerjess phillips, saying her behaviour had been utterly disgusting, she was a rape genocide apologist, should also be in prison. the prime minister clearly felt he could no longer ignore the interventions and waded in today, defending his record as director of public prosecutions, saying he was the first to tackle the gangs head on. that is why i reopened cases that had been closed, and supposedly finished. i brought the first major prosecution of an asian grooming gang in the particular case in rochdale, but it was the first

of its kind, or many that then followed that format. we changed, or i changed, the whole prosecution approach. rochdale was just one town of many. over several decades, thousands of young girls were groomed and abused by gangs, many of the men involved of pakistani descent. nervousness about inflaming racial tensions meant some cases were not investigated. the controversy over grooming gangs, and what government, police and others failed to do, goes back many years. elon musk�*s interventions are helping whip it up anew, and now others have waded in. kemi badenoch and the conservatives said there should be a new national public inquiry. nigel farage says he supports that too. elon musk will in a few days become part of the american administration, so he has an important international role. some of his language has been completely unacceptable, the fact that some politicians in this country are now under greater protection as a consequence is also unacceptable.

but in many ways, that is a distraction. the spotlight should be on the failure of this government to have a nationwide inquiry into these grooming gangs. there was an independent inquiry set up a decade ago which spent seven years investigating abuse in england and wales. two and a half years ago, it produced 20 recommendations. its chair is now working with a new group, whose mission she says is not to call for new inquiries, but to advocate for the full implementation of the original recommendations. and her group says the original inquiry, which heard from over 7500 victims and survivors, provided a clear road map for action. yet two years later, none of its recommendations have been fully implement it. have been fully implemented. jess phillips, who has a long record of protecting women and girls, was attacked by elon musk because she has recently said in oldham a local inquiry would be better than a government led one. when the poison of the far right leads to serious threats tojess phillips and others, then in my book a line has been crossed.

he said conservatives had done nothing in government and labour would make it a crime not to report child sexual abuse if you were aware of it. the conservative party have accused the prime minister of �*disgraceful�* smears and repeated their calls for a national inquiry. let�*s speak to our political correspondent harry farley. hello. so there is the row over the tweets from elon musk, we will talk about that in a moment, but then there is this domestic political row. how problematic is that? $5 domestic political row. how problematic is that?- problematic is that? as you heard there, _ problematic is that? as you heard there, keir _ problematic is that? as you heard there, keir starmer l heard there, keir starmer accusing the main opposition party, the conservatives, over jumping on the bandwagon over this issue and looking to get attention when they had spent 14 years in government, in his words, doing nothing to tackle child sexual abuse. and we heard from that report there that his criticism of the conservatives very much focuses

on the report that was done into child sexual abuse across the uk, published its recommendations in 2022, and the prime minister arguing that they should be the focus implementing them should be the focus. and as you mentioned, the conservatives accusing the prime minister of a disgraceful smear against them. this is the first day that parliament sits here in westminster after the christmas break and politics very much back with a bang. i thought it was interesting in particular, you were going to come under elon musk, but it was very interesting that in his response that we heard there, keir starmer, his answer was scripted and the autocue came up after his speech, came back on when he was giving his answer about elon musk, this was a very carefully worded intervention from the prime minister, who... presumably, har , minister, who... presumably, harry. with — minister, who... presumably, harry. with an _ minister, who... presumably, harry, with an eye _

minister, who... presumably, harry, with an eye to - minister, who... presumably, harry, with an eye to the - harry, with an eye to the relationship with the incoming us president donald trump? well, exactly. elon musk is not only the world�*srichest man, not only the owner of the social media platform x, but he is also going to play a key part in the incoming us administration, donald trump�*s inauguration in two a week�*s time, and elon musk will be a pivotalfigure in his white house. and i think that�*s exactly right, keir starmer is walking a tightrope here. he clearly felt like he had to respond to the increasingly provocative remarks by elon musk over the last few days but it was very carefully scripted, very carefully worded response. he did not mention elon musk by name in the main answer you gave,in name in the main answer you gave, in the main response to the question on elon musk, his interventions, he did not mention the billionaire by name. he said those who have been spreading lies and misinformation are only interested in themselves. and

clearly, the sceptre of elon musk and his role in donald trump�*s incoming administration looms very large in 2025. qm. looms very large in 2025. ok, thanks very — looms very large in 2025. ok, thanks very much _ looms very large in 2025. ok, thanks very much for - looms very large in 2025. ok, thanks very much for that, harry. meanwhile keir starmer is promising to cut the number of nhs patients in england who are waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment. the government wants to reduce the total by nearly half a million by the end of march next year. ministers say better patient choice, and extra access to community diagnostic centres and surgical hubs, are key parts of the plan. our health correspondent jim reed reports. getting checks and tests closer to home and more quickly. at least, that�*s the idea. the government is promising more community diagnostic centres, some in car parks, shopping centres, with extended opening hours so more can be done outside hospital. it�*s all part of a plan to cut into near—record waiting lists for planned treatment in england.

another ia specialist surgical hubs will also be opened byjune to carry out a simple routine operations. speaking to an audience of health care workers, the prime minister said reform is needed to stop the nhs becoming a national money pit. this is the year we roll up our sleeves and reform the nhs. a new era of convenience in care, faster treatment at your fingertips, patients in control, an nhs fit for the future. at the moment about 59% of patients are getting their appointment or treatment or being given the all clear within the 18 week target. 3 million are waiting longer. the government says it wants to get back to 92% by the end of this parliament, and a first milestone has now been set at 65% by march 2026. officials say that would mean a reduction of 450,000 from the waiting list.

the nhs app will also be upgraded to allow more patients to book appointments directly and a new deal has been struck with the private sector to perform more complex operations for the nhs. some doctors, though, have questioned what can be achieved without a big increase in staffing and resources. it�*s really good news that people are investing more —— it�*s good to have a plan and it�*s great to see the investment announced but of course the need is now, and money can disappear very quickly into the private sector when what we need is proper funding of general practice and more doctors, nurses, more beds. others are concerned that planned treatment is being privatised at the expense of emergency care. ministers deny that but the pressure on most hospital a&e departments right now is certainly concentrating the minds of health leaders.

let�*s speak to the chief executive of the nhs confederation, matthew taylor. i appreciate your time today. so previous efforts to deal with waiting lists have tended to concentrate on the areas with the biggest weights. —— the biggest waits. this plan seems to take a broader approach, coming at it from all sorts of different angles. is that the way forward? h0 sorts of different angles. is that the way forward? no one should underestimate - that the way forward? no one should underestimate the - that the way forward? no one i should underestimate the scale of this waiting list challenge. when we think about waiting list, we think about a few, i don�*t know, waiting outside the stadium or a shop. what you need to recognise is notjust that she waiting to get in, waiting to get an appointment, but it�*s also the people, all the time, joining that queue, and because we have an ageing population, many people long term and multiple conditions, more and more people are joining the queue, so you�*ve

got to deal with the queue and also deal with the demand that is continuing to flow. if you do that simply by targeting the longest waiters, it�*s pretty expensive way of doing things, and it means you�*re putting more money into acute hospitals when wes streeting the secretary of state has emphasised his desire to try to shift the pattern of investment from acute into primary and community. so this plan is an interesting plan, multifaceted, looks at this problem from a number of different angles. and i think the thing the nhs will welcome in particular is that it doesn�*t contradict the shift wes streeting has talked about for the ten year strategy, this is a plan that does seek to undertake more activity outside the acute sector, as i�*ve hospitals, in community and primary. hospitals, in community and rima . �* hospitals, in community and rima .�* primary. are you concerned about the — primary. are you concerned about the use _ primary. are you concerned about the use of _ primary. are you concerned about the use of capacity i about the use of capacity within private hospitals, or do you see this as a smart way of easing pressure on the short

term to allow the nhs to recalibrate, to make itself fit for the future? i recalibrate, to make itself fit for the future?— for the future? i don't think there should _ for the future? i don't think there should be _ for the future? i don't think there should be any - for the future? i don't think there should be any kind i for the future? i don't think there should be any kind of| there should be any kind of ideological problems about using the private sector. we work very closely in the nhs with the private sector, pharmaceutical companies, most gps are self employed private contractors, so that isn�*t the issue. you have to be pragmatic about this. in many parts of the country independent sector does bring extra capacity and thatis does bring extra capacity and that is very welcome. there are other parts of the country where the danger is that if the independent sector grows, it draws stuff away from the nhs, which doesn�*t really increase capacity. and there are also some issues about supply driving demand, part of the country where, were private sector is able to offer something, then patients use that service and it can distort clinical priorities. so there isn�*t a problem in principle, it�*s a good thing to do, we already do it, but it needs to be implement it with some care. and thenjust a be implement it with some care. and then just a couple of points that were brought up in

jim reed�*s report, questions over staffing and other resources, and also what is going to happen to emergency care, which we know from the headlines for years now has been a big part of what the public has a wood is concerned but with the nhs, if they have an emergency, candy turn up and expect to be seen within a reasonable time? —— can they turn up? reasonable time? -- can they turn up?— turn up? there is no question as i speak _ turn up? there is no question as i speak to _ turn up? there is no question as i speak to you, _ turn up? there is no question as i speak to you, in - turn up? there is no question as i speak to you, in the - turn up? there is no question as i speak to you, in the first| as i speak to you, in the first week ofjanuary, as i speak to you, in the first week of january, there as i speak to you, in the first week ofjanuary, there is as i speak to you, in the first week of january, there is a immense pressure on emergency departments and the government was clear before christmas that it wasn�*t going to put insignificant extra resources. and i think this is linked to what keir starmer has said, that money will be linked under this government to reform, they are not going to pour money into a system they don�*t think it�*s working, even if that means things don�*t change in the immediate term. so, yes, there are real challenges in emergency foot up though it�*s important to say that the nhs has learned over recent years how best to manage that demand but it is still difficult and we all hope by the time we get

to next winter we have put in place things to make it a bit easier. and in terms of style yes, because there are staffing challenges, we have had long—term work first planned, the government is committed to updating that long—term workforce plan, that is in the context of the ten year plan and the strategic spending review, the complains of spending review. so yes, there will be big issues later this year but the overall funding that the nhs gets and staffing is at the heart of that. qm. is at the heart of that. 0k, matthew — is at the heart of that. 0k, matthew taylor, _ is at the heart of that. 0k, matthew taylor, chief - is at the heart of that. 0k, matthew taylor, chief executive of the nhs federation, thank you very much. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

the political crisis engulfing south korea has deepened, with police saying they will not carry out a warrant to arrest the impeached president, yoon suk—yeol. the warrant expires later today. it was issued by a court in relation to mr yoon�*s short—lived declaration of martial law last month.

corruption investigators have been blocked from arresting mr yoon at his residence in seoul by the president�*s security team. photos of the compound show it now surrounded by barbed wire and barricaded by buses. mr yoon�*s legal team claims the arrest warrant is illegal. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, is in the country as the impasse continues. let�*s speak to the former us ambassador to south korea — harry harris — whojoins me from colorado. thank you very much forjoining us today. this is an extraordinary situation. how do you see it evolving, with the impasse potentially being broken —— or the impact potential being broken? figs broken -- or the impact potential being broken? as you sa it is potential being broken? as you say it is an _ potential being broken? as you say it is an extraordinary - say it is an extraordinary situation. i don�*t know how it will end. as your reviewers know, president yoon has been

impeached and that impeachment is waiting to be upheld by the constitutional court. those hearings will start to take place probably as early as next month. and if they uphold the conviction, orthe month. and if they uphold the conviction, or the impeachment, then he will be removed from office. i think the move by the police to stand down 1527 00:17:25,40