here in ottawa, there is a deep sense of political crisis and in the wider country, a feeling of the end of an error and a future of political uncertainty. gasps. and the humpback whales making waves off the english coast. on newsnight at 10:30 tonight we'll bring you fresh insight on the stories of the day with big interviews and our regular panel of newsnighters. and of course, look at what the papers are saying about tomorrow's news. good evening. after a weekend of heavy snow and icy rain, major incidents have been declared in lincolnshire and leicestershire because of severe flooding. leicestershire fire and rescue say they've had numerous calls from people trapped by the rising waters who need rescuing from

stranded vehicles or flooded houses. police in north yorkshire say they've recovered the body of a man from an area of flooding in beal. there are nearly 200 flood warnings still in place across england. our midlands correspondent navtej johal is in great glen near leicester. it is an ever—changing and concerning picture here in leicestershire. in the last couple of hours a severe flood warning has been issued for caravan parks on the river saw near barrow. that means there is a danger to life, and that a large scale evacuation is required. this morning, this was the scene of a remarkable rescue. the man who performed that rescue has been commended by the fire service, although they are reminding people to call 999 if they see someone in trouble but as he told me, when he

saw the driver of this vehicle in danger, he knew hejust had saw the driver of this vehicle in danger, he knew he just had to act. the moment a woman, stranded in her car, in rising flood water, was rescued by a passer—by. she'd got into trouble in the leicestershire village of great glen this morning — a place hit hard by the heavy rainfall overnight. how are you? oh, my gosh. i'm good now, yes. how are you feeling? oh, now i'm good, yeah, i got changed again. that's the fifth time. the fifth time you've changed clothes? yes, yes... and this is the man being hailed as a hero. cimi kazazi owns the now flooded pub next to where the rescue took place. what was going through your head? because that was potentially a very dangerous thing to do? i wasjust thinking, like, get the person out from there — that's what i was thinking only. so i thought nothing, i thoughtjust to grab. if she stayed there another 15, 20 minutes, she would die or she would pass away. she said that if you hadn't have rescued her, another 15, 20 minutes later, she might have died. yeah. the woman, who's asked to remain anonymous, says she's now fine and has thanked cimi and other local residents for their help.

were you scared? not at all, absolutely no fear — fearless. no, i've got no fear, no. were you even thinking about it? absolutely not, i was just thinking to get that person out from the car. absolutely no fear. fear, i didn't feel my body. it was cold, frozen, frosty, no, no, no, zero, completely zero. leicestershire fire and rescue service declared a major incident across the county and rutland today and says it's rescued dozens of people caught out by the flooding. in excess of 200 calls in for control, and every appliance across the country was out at some point throughout the day. responded to various incidents from vehicles and flooded water, flooded properties, rising water levels. leicestershire is one of the places hit hardest by the weather over the last 2a hours, but a major incident has also been declared in lincolnshire. 50 children were rescued after their school was cut off by floodwater and homes were flooded in the county, including tom's house. yeah, we've got three—month—old

daughters, so we now need to find somewhere else to live. as adults, we can cope, but i can't raise two three—month—old daughters in here safely. roads and railways have been disrupted and 180 flood warnings are still in place across the country tonight. the advice from the authorities has been to avoid driving through flood water and to check routes before travelling. that way, hopefully, another such dramatic rescue can be avoided. navteonhal, bbc news, leicestershire. for people in the north of england and in wales, it's another day of heavy snowfall that's been causing disruption. danny savage has more from north yorkshire. after more than 2a hours of heavy snowfall, it was tough out on the pennine hills today. on a b—road above wharfedale, some cars struggled to get through. so we all got out and pushed him up, which then allowed the gritter to finally come through. lots of high roads were in a similar

state across a wide area of northern england and southern scotland. spare a thought, though, for hill farmers. michael was crisscrossing the valleys around malham today, feeding his flock, most of which are expected to lamb next month. he was rescuing some of them from drifts, too. quite rough, really. very cold, very rough and very... and while the winds got up, it makes it a lot worse, obviously, because it's blowing the snow into drifts and then the sheep are under the drifts and you've got to get them out. so have you been digging your sheep out? just several this morning, that's all that were missing, so that was ok. i found those, so they've got into the feed wagon and, you know, to feed on hay and everything, and they should be ok now. and this is perhaps the main problem now on high ground in the pennines — drifting. this is about 5 or 6ft deep. it blocks roads, obviously, but it also ends up with animals underneath. this is where some of the sheep belonging to michael had to be dug out from earlier. elsewhere, hundreds of schools were closed because of the snow. lancashire, yorkshire and northeast

scotland were worst affected. manchester airport has been closed, open, closed again and reopened in the last 2a hours. there still could be some delays due to planes being in the wrong place. back in malham, the focus was on keeping warm. simon was getting through with his log deliveries. yeah, you've got to try, you know, try your best to try and fulfil your orders, if you can, but sometimes it can be a bit challenging. yeah, about there somewhere, stuart. and his customers were grateful. we still have two or three days' supply left. so if simon hadn't got to us today, you know, we'd have been starting to sweat by about the end of the week, you know? the snow isn't likely to go anywhere for a good few days. freezing temperatures are forecast here until the weekend. danny savage, bbc news, malham in north yorkshire. the prime minister has defended his record on tackling grooming gangs in the uk during his time as director of public prosecutions, after scathing criticism on social media from the multi—billionaire

elon musk and calls from opposition parties for a national inquiry. debate on grooming gangs has been reignited over historical cases of child sexual exploitation in oldham and whether there should be a local or government—led inquiry. in a moment we'll report on what people in oldham think of the debate and also on why elon musk is getting involved. but first, here's our political editor, chris mason. it'll be the fastest to 100 miles an hour. the world's richest man, elon musk, the billionaire entrepreneur. rockets, electric cars, tesla and he owns the social media site x, too. mr musk is a businessman with a growing drive for politics and a growing habit of claiming the british government, the prime minister is incompetent. he accused keir starmer of being complicit in the rape of britain and that he should go. he called the home office ministerjess phillips

a rape genocide apologist, and today he conducted a survey on x about whether the people of america should liberate the people of britain from their tyrannical government. now listen to the prime minister's indignance, his anger in defending his record as director of public prosecutions. he says he challenged those who ignored the victims. when i was chief prosecutor for five years, i tackled that head—on. and when i left office, we had the highest number of child sexual abuse cases being prosecuted on record. and now, he says... so this government will get on with the job of protecting victims, but what i won't tolerate is this discussion and debate based on lies without calling it out. what i won't tolerate is politicians jumping on the bandwagon simply to get attention. when those politicians sat

in government for 14 long years, tweeting, talking, but not doing anything about it. now so desperate for attention that they are amplifying what the far right is saying. at the heart of this row are victims — vulnerable, young, often white girls, exploited, abused, sometimes raped, by men, predominantly, of pakistani descent. but there's something else going on here, too. a perception that there was never enough of a public reckoning for the horrific crimes committed. that collectively, society underplayed the monstrosity of what happened. i call the home secretary. there were local inquiries and a national one, and in the commons this evening, the home secretary said the government would implement changes that these investigations called for. i can confirm we will make it

mandatory to report abuse and we will put the measures in the crime and policing bill that will be put before parliament this spring, making it an offence with professional and criminal sanctions to fail to report or cover up child sexual abuse. the conservatives said it was wrong for the prime minister to accuse them of amplifying the far right. it is not far right to stand up for victims of mass rape. smearing people who raise those issues is exactly how this ended up getting covered up in the first place. the tories said a public inquiry was necessary and they want a vote on one in parliament. take over, elon! the liberal democrats pondered what they saw as the absurdity of this man, elon musk, soon to be working for america's next government, calling for the overthrow of the british government. chris mason, bbc news.

as well as the national inquiry into child sexual abuse, which included an investigation into grooming gangs, there have been other local inquiries including in: rotherham in south yorkshire, where at least moo children were sexually exploited between 1997 and 2013, predominantly by men of pakistani heritage. in telford in shropshire, there were more than 1,000 girls abused by gangs of men over decades, and the evidence was ignored. and last year, oldham council called for a public inquiry into grooming, but was told to commission a local review instead, like those in rotherham and telford. ed thomas has more from oldham. for decades, grooming gangs and the failures of those meant to protect children have shamed towns, and oldham is no different. and i'm answering that directly because... abuse has divided local politics... you haven't answered the question!

..as apologies by the council and police have come and gone. and for that, i am truly sorry. but still, many here believe the full story is yet to be told. i think it's all been covered up. and will we ever get to know the truth? do you feel like there's more still to be heard? oh, 100%, yeah. it has been looked into in oldham, hasn't it? no, no, not as far as i'm concerned. as a mother and a grandmother, no. it's been swept under the carpet for years. i would you support a national inquiry? 100%. why is that? because it's disgraceful. in 2022, an independent report found that greater manchester police and oldham councilfailed to protect children from grooming and sexual exploitation. this report heard from one child who was abused at the age of 12. she went to oldham police station to report being sexually assaulted. this was in october 2006, but she was told to go away and come back when she was not drunk.

years of missed opportunities followed, but the report said there was no evidence of a cover—up in oldham. those that are spreading lies and misinformation... for six years, independent councillor brian hobin led calls for a national public inquiry into what happened in oldham. calls rejected. but when the poison of the far right leads to serious threats... today, the fallout reached the prime minister. but in my book, a line has been crossed. what's your reaction to that? that's...that's besmirching people like myself who have been fighting for this for so long and classing us like he does, too many times, as far right people. we've got people in this town that are survivors, that have been through horrendous crimes, that have been through horrendous situations and they deserve justice. in oldham, from 2009 to 2010, most alleged offenders identified by gmp were british men of pakistani and bangladeshi heritage,

but eastern european and white british men were also accused of abuse. and as a british pakistani man, when you hear that — grooming gangs, oldham and calls for a national inquiry, what do you want to happen? oh, i want them locked up. not to be seen around on the streets, because they're danger to children. it is not only, you know, asian pakistanis, because i know myself that, you know, i wouldn't never do that in my life. it's really disgusting. gmp is still investigating the abuse in oldham. the council here says it will set up its own independent inquiry, while the government said although there'll be no national inquiry, it will support the council to look again at the damage done by grooming gangs. ed thomas, bbc news. a snapshot there of opinions in oldham. meanwhile, the view across the atlantic from elon musk is crystal clear — he's using the issue to call for the ousting of the prime minister. so, why is he getting involved in british politics?

here's our analysis editor, ros atkins. thank you very much indeed. elon musk�*s intervention in uk politics isn't happening in isolation. when musk bought twitter — he didn'tjust buy a business — he bought the power to exert influence. in the us election, musk used twitter — now rebranded x — to amplify his support for donald trump. after trump's victory, musk was ever—present. the power he derived from technology had been translated into huge political power. musk will co—lead a new department of government efficiency. and he pronounced — "this won't be business as usual. this is going to be a revolution." more broadly — the revolution that musk is seeking is not contained to the us. in brazil, he initially defied a court orderfor x to do more to restrict misinformation. he said the judge was "trying to destroy democracy." x would later meet all of the court's demands. in germany, there's

an election next month — with the far right afd party in contention. musk has posted "only the afd can save germany." and has also written that the party "resonates with many germans who feel their concerns are ignored by the establishment." now, musk has turned to the uk — particulary the issue of grooming gangs. he's made or shared a number of unsubstantiated claims. and has asked if "america should liberate the people of britain from their tyrannical government". watching all of this are europe's leaders. norway's prime minister says musk�*s interventions are worrying. the french president emmanuel macron has said: "ten years ago, who would have imagined that the owner of one of the world's largest social networks would be intervening directly in elections." but a lot has changed in ten years. and elon musk, to the delight of his supporters, is a man set on challenging the status quo. set on changing how we all live. and he's doing it in a range of ways though space travel,

through how we access the internet, through electric vehicles, and now by influencing the information we consume and the issues we discuss. "you are the media' musk tells people on x — as he frequently says the legacy media are dishonest — and as he often shares untrue and misleading information himself. elon musk has talked of the need for a "new philosophy of the future". and to shape the future, he wants to shape who's in power. notjust in the us — but elsewhere, including here in the uk. ros. thank you. and victoria derbyshire will have more on this story, on newsnight on bbc two shortly. thank you. is there any political jeopardy for the prime minister in pushing back against donald trump's best friend elon musk as well as branding some of his critics as far right? analysis of their son the government's nhs waiting list plan coming up in ten minutes on bbc two,

bbc news and iplayer.— bbc news and iplayer. thank you, victoria. canada's prime ministerjustin trudeau is to step down after nine years in office. he's been under severe pressure in recent months, with his liberal party slumping in the polls amid a cost of living crisis and concerns over housing and immigration. he'll stay on as caretaker leader until a successor is found, with a general election due later this year. here's our north america editor, sarah smith. justin trudeau was considered a breath of fresh canadian air as he was elected almost ten years ago on a wave of what was dubbed trudeau mania. you want a government with a vision and an agenda for this country that is positive and ambitious and hopeful. well, my friends, i promise you tonight that i will lead that government. young, good—looking and glamorous, he was inevitably compared to then president obama, enjoying widespread support. but after nearly a decade in office,

his popularity has plummeted and he has lost the backing of his own party. i intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister, after the party selects its next leader, through a robust, nationwide, competitive process. he and his nation took centre stage as he hosted world leaders at a g7 meeting in quebec, looking comfortable and confident in the international spotlight. mr trudeau signed successful trade deals during donald trump's first presidential term, but now the president—elect is threatening to impose crippling 25% tariffs on canadian imports. after rushing to mar—a—lago to placate mr trump, justin trudeau had little to show for his efforts. when his finance minister resigned, saying canada needs to push back harder against american economic nationalism, his fate was sealed. ijust thought i'd show our friends in the us and the uk

how canada brings it. he once confidently boasted that canada could challenge america in sporting contests at least, but now he has been levelled by an early spat with donald trump. justin trudeau's problems are not all about donald trump. canadians are also deeply unhappy about inflation, immigration and the high cost of housing. deeply familiar issues that have caused the downfall of centrist leaders around the world. justin trudeau will remain in office as prime minister until a new liberal party leader has been elected in late march. sarah smith, bbc news. our correspondentjohn sudworth is in the canadian capital ottawa for us this evening. such a change in mr trudeau's fortunes. what happens now in canada? ~ .., fortunes. what happens now in canada? ~ , ., canada? well, there can be no doubtin: canada? well, there can be no doubtingjust _ canada? well, there can be no doubting just how _ canada? well, there can be no doubting just how big - canada? well, there can be no doubting just how big a - canada? well, there can be no doubting just how big a crisis l canada? well, there can be no i doubting just how big a crisis this is for his liberal party. after nine years in office, there is a sense of

tiredness, directionless and the parties looking down the barrel of some of the worst opinion polls in its history. but this is a crisis for canada as well, a nation left with a lame duck prime minister at the helm and with parliament prorogued, no sitting legislature, just as donald trump takes office in the us in the south, promising, as you heard, a major trade war. some observers see the same forces shaping politics here as elsewhere, rising populism, a cost of living crisis, as you heard from sarah, and growing anti—immigration sentiment. whatever happens, an election needs to be held by october. some within his own party will criticise mr trudeau for taking so long to have seen the writing on the wall, leaving them very little time to get their house in order before that election. a stage now certainly set for a return to powerfor the

canadian conservatives under a man some people see as a kind of mini trump and a person promising a very different political future.— different political future. thank ou ve different political future. thank you very much- _ a former prison officer at wandsworth prison in london has been jailed for 15 months after she was filmed having sex with an inmate. linda de sousa abreu was identified by senior prison staff after the clip was shared online and quickly went viral. the court was told that a further recording of her performing a sex act with the same inmate was also found on her body—worn camera. the treasury minister tulip siddiq has referred herself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards, after being named in a bangladeshi corruption investigation. sir keir starmer says he has confidence in ms siddiq, who as economic secretary is responsible for tackling corruption in uk financial markets. ms siddiq insists she's done nothing wrong. our political correspondent, joe pike, reports. it's notjust tulip siddiq,

but her aunt, bangladesh's deposed leader, sheikh hasina, and an infrastructure deal with vladimir putin that led today to this. tulip siddiq has acted entirely properly by referring herself to the independent adviser as she's now done, and that's why we brought into being the new code. in 2013, sheikh hasina signed a deal for a new nuclear power plant with vladimir putin. it was before labour's tulip siddiq was an mp, but she was there. she says it was in a personal capacity. the nuclear plant is now built. but bangladesh's anti—corruption commission is investigating claims tulip siddiq helped broker that deal and £1 billion was siphoned off into private hands. she denies it, and the allegations were first raised by one of her aunt's political rivals. yet it's notjust buildings in bangladesh that have prompted questions here, but property in london too. tulip siddiq seems to have lived in various homes in the capital that

are or were owned by people with links to her aunt, including a flat in this block which saadiq was gifted before she was an mp, by a businessman who the financial times says has links to sheikh hasina. labour sources say it would be wrong to link tulip siddiq to the political associations of others. there's a lot of unanswered questions here, notjust for the minister in question, the city minister, who's also meant to be the government's anti—corruption minister, but also for keir starmer, who's put her in this position. in her letter to laurie magnus, the ministerial ethics watchdog, tulip siddiq wrote... an added awkwardness is the fact that tulip siddiq — the very politician who's being investigated for financial corruption — is also the uk minister responsible for tackling it. joe pike, bbc news, westminster. the government is promising to cut

the number of nhs patients in england who are waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment. it wants to slash the numbers by nearly 500,000 by the end of march next year. ministers say there'll be greater use of the private sector, and more access to local testing and treatment centres. hugh pym has been talking to patients. that's all right. this is what the government wants to see a lot more of — dedicated local nhs diagnostic centres for scans and tests. this morning, gavin was in for a chest scan, following up on a long—term condition. you may breathe normally. it's close to home and he didn't need to go to a normal hospital. the waiting is almost non—existent. i came here for my scan. i waited, filled in the paperwork. less than ten minutes, i was in and out. turn left down the corridors, yeah? centres like this will move to 12 hours a day, seven days a week. having sites like this where patients can almost have ring—fenced capacity

so that they don't get cancelled is absolutely vital. the prime minister's plan also involves more surgical hubs like this one, just for planned operations. you're getting people back out and back home pretty quickly as well, aren't you, which is fantastic from their point of view. the overall waiting list for planned treatment in england was rising steadily. it's now at 7.5 million. the government wants to reduce those waiting for more than 18 weeks, seen here in red. so the target is 92% of patients to be seen or treated within 18 weeks by the end of labour's first term. right now, it's below 60%, and there's now an interim target of 65% within 18 weeks by march next year. philip wants to see action, not statistics. he's waited nine years for a knee replacement and also needs spinal and ankle operations.

as the waiting continues, his quality of life gets worse. it's just frustrating. if i didn't force myself, if i didn't have the type of character that i've got, i'd just sit in a chair and do nothing all day because it's too painful to move around, basically. and what about emergency departments under strain week in, week out? in opposition, laboursaid it would hit more than one nhs target over the course of a parliament. now you are focusing on one planned treatment. where does that leave a&e? is it being downplayed? i will never accept that prioritising waiting lists must come at the expense of the other things that the nhs must do, whether it's a&e, whether it's cancer and heart cases as well. so, you know, we can walk and chew gum here and we're going to do that. we are starting. the plan involves more appointments and more operations, but hitting the waiting list target will still be a tall order. hugh pym, bbc news.

over the past few days, humpback whales have been spotted off the english coast. some of the sightings have been spectacular, and they're becoming increasingly frequent in the uk. but why? charlotte gallagher reports. one of the most spectacular sights in nature. oh, my god! what a spectacular! she's doing it for us! a humpback whale breaching out of the water close to the cornish coast. he's doing his dance! whale watchers have been flocking to the area since the mammal was spotted. dan abbott is one of them. as soon as i hear about a humpback sighting in cornwall, i've pretty much already packed my car and and head down. it's worth all the effort. it's worth freezing your toes off all day long for those few seconds of seeing the animal. but there's something really special about seeing that species here in the uk, and especially in more recent years when there's

been much more sightings around the coastline. you're still lucky to see a whale in british waters, but sightings are becoming more common, like here off the coast of east sussex. it's partly down to climate change and warming seas, but also a happier reason. humpback whales are a good news story. most populations — not all — are undergoing recovery after whaling stopped, and most likely there are just more whales out there and there are more whales passing by british coasts. these sightings might be more frequent, but they don't get any less breathtaking.

and if you want to carry on watching newsnight please turn over but is it — in starmer�*s words — "amplifying the far—right" to call for a new national enquiry?