helen catt, bbc news.rable cancer has been cleared from her body using a revolutionary new type of medicine. all other treatments for alyssa's leukaemia had failed. the ground—breaking treatment is known as "�*base editing' — it involves making genetic changes to donor cells, enabling them to attack her cancer. 0ur medical editor fergus walsh reports. iwon! no you didn't! yes, idid. i didn't feel like i wanted to give up. it's not the person who i am. no, it don't count. the whole experience brought me so much closer with my family. alyssa is back home in leicester thanks to a pioneering new cancer therapy. all other treatment options for her leukaemia had failed. you breathe in and breathe out. thank you, that's a good one. so in may, she received a world first therapy. it is extremely exciting. so obviously, this is a new field in medicine and it's fascinating that we can redirect the immune system to fight cancer. and i think that's a revolution in our field. alyssa's immune system couldn't clear her ca

helen catt, bbc news. and helen is with me now.ll, that this meeting might go ahead and tap on? i that this meeting might go ahead and ta on? ~ , ., ., , ., tap on? i think it is notable that the foreign _ tap on? i think it is notable that the foreign secretary _ tap on? i think it is notable that the foreign secretary didn't - tap on? i think it is notable that. the foreign secretary didn't quite go as completely ruling it out and the government source i have been speaking to did say that the health secretary's story is still open. —— his door is still open. it wouldn't be that surprising if we were dizzy meetings. the key thing is, will those meetings involve talking about pay? that seems to be the red line for the rcn. they have made this offer, but they are very clear that it does have to include talking about pay. is there room within that? they have said that that the position haven't changed, they want the 5% over rpi, about 19%, it is worth remembering that when the rcn started this, rpi was much lower, so we can see how t

helen catt, bbc news.economist at the institute for fiscal studies, says the pay claim lodged by the nurses comes at a time when the nhs budget is incredibly stretched. the first thing is that if you were going to give nurses a 19% pay rise you would have to provide additional funding to the nhs to pay for that. that would mean, probably, higher taxes at some point, that is the thing the government is resting with, it seems to have been bumped up with, it seems to have been bumped up against the limits it is willing to raise the taxes, that is why it is resisting calls for additional spending. it would also add demand to the economy, nurses being able to spend more, could act as a benchmark to which the private sector employers, their workers, to which the private sector employers, theirworkers, might employers, their workers, might start employers, theirworkers, might start demanding something similar to the nurses. it might add somewhat to inflationary pressures towards the economy. of course a lot will

helen catt, bbc news. so is that pay claim lodged by the nurses affordable?ures now with ben zaranko, senior research economist at the institute for fiscal studies. thank you forjoining us. first of all, we hear about the need for more funding for the all, we hear about the need for more funding forthe nhs, all, we hear about the need for more funding for the nhs, so what is the financial state of the nhs at the moment and what is behind any particular pressures on it this year? particular pressures on it this ear? ,, , , , year? the nhs budget is being stretched because _ year? the nhs budget is being stretched because it _ year? the nhs budget is being stretched because it was - year? the nhs budget is being stretched because it was set i year? the nhs budget is being l stretched because it was set out year? the nhs budget is being - stretched because it was set out at a time, last autumn when we were expecting inflation to remain relatively low, before the enormous spike in energy prices, economy wide inflation we have seen, so the nhs is facing high energ

helen, thank you, helen catt. _ a group of disabled people is challenging a government decision not to disability action group called for a judicial review when the home office decided not to act on a recommendation from the grenfell tower inquiry. the high court will hear the case today. nikki fox reports. hello, adam! i first spoke to adam injuly this year. nice to see you, too. how are you? we were discussing personal evacuation plans on our disability podcast, access all. at the time, he'd been stuck in his flat for 11 days straight, because both lifts were broken. turns out that was just one occasion he'd been stuck at home. it's been a very testing year. you know, 62 days, i've been trapped, so... to get in and out, adam had to be carried up and down several flights of stairs. it's not the most ideal situation. the trained sound engineer and disability campaigner was offered this flat ten years ago, around the time he became disabled. it was purpose—built, but in the time he's been living here, he's made it fully accessible and he loves it. but he lives on the sixth floor and, if

documents relating to the award of a contract to the company ppe medpro. 0ur political correspondent helen catt5, a conservative peer in the house of lords. today michelle mone's private office said she had decided to step back while she clears her name of allegations that it said had been unjustly levelled against her. she is accused of trying to get government covid contracts for a company and then gaining from its profits. at the start of the pandemic the government was scrambling to get hold of protective equipment, fast tracking contracts to companies to provide it. it is important to put it in context, we secured 23.2 billion items of ppe, and that was a huge step, to help protect our front line. a new company, ppe medpro, was awarded more than £200 million to supply masks and gowns. it had been suggested by baronness mone. later that year, the bbc discovered more than £120 million worth of gowns hadn't been used. the company and the department of health are in mediation. at the time, lawyers for baroness mone said she had no role in ppe medpro, nor in the process where contracts were awa

helen catt looks back now at some of the most significant events to happen in westminster during an extraordinary politics. 2022 was a year when politics came at you fast. three prime ministers in the space of a few months, a mini—budget that had a dramatic impact within hours, all against the backdrop of a war in europe and the cost of living going up at its fastest rate in decades. but it all started with a hangover. tonight at ten, boris johnson faces new questions about apparent breaches of lockdown in downing street. the end of 2021 had been dominated by partygate and just days into the new year, there was more. itv got hold of an e—mail sent in may 2020 inviting more than 100 staff to bring their own booze to the downing street garden to make the most of the lovely weather. it came from borisjohnson�*s principal private secretary martin reynolds. given that the rules said you could only meet one person, some staff were shocked. in messages seen by the bbc, they said, "why is martin encouraging a mass gathering in the garden?" boris johnson at first tried to bat away questions about whether

our political correspondent helen catt reports.light touching down this evening at heathrow from qingdao. from thursday, anyone travelling to england from mainland china will have to show a negative covid test to fly. from a week on sunday, a sample of passengers at heathrow will also be tested on arrival. the government says it is a precaution, due to a lack of comprehensive government. the country has seen a surge of coronavirus, which analysts claim is being under—reported. the reason there are millions of cases of coronavirus infection happening is because the population there are either unvaccinated or undervaccinated, using chinese vaccines that don't work as well as the mrna vaccines that we've been using in western countries. and the consequence is that there's a really big surge in infections. and what people are concerned about is that among those new infections, there may be new variants of the virus. it is not thought that any new variants of coronavirus are circulating in china. yesterday, ministers here said that mean

our political correspondent helen catt explained why these measures are being taken by the uk as well countries around the world. well, there's been a lot of concern about the reliability of the information that's coming out of china, about the situation there with covid. and that's why we've seen countries and you've mentioned a few just there, announced that they would bring in testing regimes. and some of them are different. some of them are testing on arrival and quarantining positive cases. some of them are adopting this approach of requiring a negative test before someone even gets on the plane in china. so what we're expecting is that the uk government is going to follow the us�*s lead and adopt that second approach, making sure that people have a negative test before they fly from china. up until yesterday, ministers in the uk government had been saying that they didn't have any plans to introduce testing and the explanation for that was that they were looking at the data and there was nothing in it that suggested that there were any new variants of coronavirus spreading in ch

lets speak to our political correspondent helen catt. put this in the picture from a british perspective put this in the picture from a british perspective. same story? there's been _ british perspective. same story? there's been a _ british perspective. same story? there's been a lot _ british perspective. same story? there's been a lot of _ british perspective. same story? there's been a lot of concern - british perspective. same story? i there's been a lot of concern about the reliability of information coming out of china but the situation there with covid that is why we are seeing countries, mentioning a few they're announcing that they will bringing testing regimes. some are testing on arrival, some are adopting a approach of requiring a negative test before someone gets on a plane in china. what we are expecting is that the uk government will follow the us eat and adopt that second approach, making sure that people have a negative test before they fly from china. up until yesterday, ministers in the uk government had been saying that they did not have any plans to introduce testin

the rcn is due to walk out on the 15th and 20th of december. 0ur political correspondent helen catt gavemany years of below inflation increases and it has left a lot of their members in difficult circumstances. so they are calling for a much bigger rise of 5% over the rp! rate of inflation, which is 14%. that would be a pay rise of 19%. what pat cullen of the rcn has done today is say we will press pause on this action this week if the health secretary will come to the table and talk about pay. this is what she said. 0ur position has not changed, absolutely not, but what i'm saying is the health secretary can choose negotiation over picket lines. my door is open. if he doesn't want to speak to me in a one—to—one, i'm offering him conciliation through acas and we can start to do that tomorrow morning at whatever time he wants to be available. that is really important. so that was pat cullen calling for talks. the question is, how likely is the government to agree to talks? at the moment it doesn't sound like that is very likely. the health secretary has had talks with the rcn about improv

let's speak to our political correspondent helen catt.e been going on for. there has been so much regarding strike action, it is the headline, this winter of discontent. put it into context for us. we are seeing strikes across more and more sectors with a rail strikes have been the longest running. they have been the longest running. they have been running since back in the summer, there had been periodic strikes. they are complicated in a way because while the dispute is between the unions and network rail which is a public body and the train companies which are private companies, the government does have a really close involvement in the running of the railways, setting things like fairs, timetables. the transport secretary has been clear that any pay improved pay offer has to go hand—in—hand with the unions agreeing to change working practices. it has been complicated, the rmt union has long maintained the rmt union has long maintained the block on this is the government. they talk about having a... in the last week they've made specif

our political correspondent helen catt reports.urses in england, wales and northern ireland are due to walk out twice this month. the strikes will cause disruption as only care for life—threatening cases has to be provided by law. the royal college of nursing says it is prepared to pause the action if the health secretary will agree to talks on pgy- secretary will agree to talks on .a _ , , ., �* secretary will agree to talks on pay. nurses aren't greedy people, they definitely _ pay. nurses aren't greedy people, they definitely are _ pay. nurses aren't greedy people, they definitely are not, _ pay. nurses aren't greedy people, they definitely are not, but - pay. nurses aren't greedy people, they definitely are not, but i - pay. nurses aren't greedy people, they definitely are not, but i knowi they definitely are not, but i know some £27,000 a year living in central london needs to be able to feed her children, be able to send them to school, look after them in creche so they can go to work and pay the trouble to go to work and als

let�*s speak to our political correspondent helen catt.ction. , , , ., ., ., ., action. yes this is not a union that strikes often. _ action. yes this is not a union that strikes often. it _ action. yes this is not a union that strikes often. it is _ action. yes this is not a union that strikes often. it is in _ action. yes this is not a union that strikes often. it is in a _ action. yes this is not a union that strikes often. it is in a dispute - strikes often. it is in a dispute largely about pay. now, nhs staff this year were given 4.75%. now that varies across, the government said it would mean a newly qualified nurse got 5.5%. but the nurses�* union said they have had many years of below inflation increases and it has left a lot of their members in difficult circumstances. so they are calling for a much bigger rise of 5% over the rpi rate of inflation, which is 14% scotland. sof that that would be a pay rise of 19%. what pat cullen of the rcn has done today is say we will press pause on this action this week if the health secretary wi

and coming up in half an hour, helen catt takes a look back on a turbulent year in british politics which featured three prime ministers and four chancellors. that's the year in politics at 9.30. hello and welcome to bbc news. tens of thousands of ambulance workers, including paramedics and call handlers, have begun strike action today across england and wales. the government say most have received a pay rise of at least 4%, but the unions say this isn't enough to keep up with the rising cost of living. so, how could these strikes affect you? if you need to call 999, there will be staff answering calls and sending out some ambulances. all categoryi calls — classed as the most life—threatening situations, such as cardiac arrest — will be responded to by an ambulance. however, conditions which are serious but notjudged to be immediately life—threatening — which could include people who may be having a stroke — might not be immediately attended to by emergency teams. urgent problems that fit into category 3 — such as a woman in late—stage labour — will not be prioritised. this morning, the h

our political correspondent helen catt reports.

helen catt, bbc news.e nhs in wales has urged people to call 999 only if it's urgent, to try to relieve pressure on the health service. the new year is usually one of the busiest times for emergency departments. it comes as a rise of flu and covid cases across the uk has increased demands on the nhs. simonjones reports. this winter, the health service is experiencing demand like it has never seen before. that's a stark warning from the nhs in wales which is dealing with a sharp rise in cases of flu and covid. its chief executive is pleading with people to only attend emergency departments for urgent care. in a statement, she said: a message reiterated by one health ward. , , , , ., , ward. the pressure is on the nursing staff to make _ ward. the pressure is on the nursing staff to make sure _ ward. the pressure is on the nursing staff to make sure we _ ward. the pressure is on the nursing staff to make sure we can _ ward. the pressure is on the nursing staff to make sure we can give - ward. the pressure is

let's get more from our political correspondent helen catt. of the announcement from sajid javid?— from said javid? he is certainly the from sajid javid? he is certainly the biggest _ from sajid javid? he is certainly the biggest conservative - from sajid javid? he is certainly the biggest conservative name | from sajid javid? he is certainly l the biggest conservative name to have said that he is not going to stand at the next election. he said it was a decision he had wrestled with for some time, but it would not mark the end of his parliamentary activity, though. he said he always sought to make decisions on the national interest and in line with his values. he can only hope his best was sufficient. so, as i said, he is the biggest thing to say he will be standing down, and you could look about them think here is someone with a large majority, 23,000 in the last election in his bromsgrove consistency. he is only 53, so it is conceivable that there was timeframe to have another big job in government, but you can also look at that and say, he

our political correspondent helen catt explains more.s is about baroness mone known as the owner of a - mone known as the owner of a lingerie brand she has been a conservative member of the house of lords, in a statement from her office, it said she was taking a leave of absence to clear her name of the allegations that have been unjustly levelled against her. it added that this was her decision. now, the accusation naas s are about a company called ppe medpro that won over £200 million of government contracts during the pandemics to provide masks and gowns. the bbc found £120 million of that was not used. baroness mone initially identified the company to the company as a supplier and was then referred to the vip system by lord agnew. the guardian has claimed that on the basis of leaked documents, that baroness mone benefitted financially from the company's profits. suggesting that as much as £129 million went into a trust of which she and her children were beneficiaries. baroness mone is facing an investigation by the house of lords sta

our political correspondent helen catt has been taking a look back. 2022 was a year when politics camest rate in decades. but it all started with a hangover. tonight at ten, boris johnson faces new questions about apparent breaches of lockdown in downing street. the end of 2021 had been dominated by partygate and just days into the new year, there was more. itv got hold of an e—mail sent in may 2020 inviting more than 100 staff to bring their own booze to the downing street garden to make the most of the lovely weather. it came from borisjohnson's principal private secretary martin reynolds. given that the rules said you could only meet one person, some staff were shocked. in messages seen by the bbc, they said, "why is martin encouraging a mass gathering in the garden?" boris johnson at first tried to bat away questions about whether he was there. all of that, as you know, is the subject of a proper investigation by sue gray. but there was outrage. this is utterly indefensible. it cannot be defended. there was upset too, particularly from those who lost loved ones during the pandemic.