our health editor hugh pym joins us. latest action and who is likely to be affected. i think there will be a lot more disruption for patients. nhs providers, which represents trusts in england says the situation was extremely worrying and that more than 140,000 patient appointments had already been postponed because of industrial action and this would rise significantly with doctors now joining the sort of action we have seen from other health unions. remember, junior doctors covers a range of different levels of the medical profession, newly qualified doctors right through to those just below consultant level. they are saying they will walk out for three days of all forms of care, emergency and urgent as well as routine procedures. we have already seen the royal college of nursing saying it will step up its action and next week it will stage walk—outs for 48 hours, the most it has done so far. that will affect a huge range of care and we have ambulance unions expected to announce further strikes. a lot to come. steve ba

our health editor, hugh pym is here. an editor, hugh pym is here. hugh pym is here. in escalation then? that is editor, hugh pym is here. fifi escalation then? that is right alive. that is the royal college of nursing make an announcement for england. i want to note that have had two days of strike action each time with 12 hours each day. this time with 12 hours each day. this time it will be 48 hours of a full walk—out by members. the date in question, six a:m., wednesday march the 1st. 48 hours later it was and on 6am, friday march the 3rd. the big difference this time is that we hours they have been negotiations at the local level between the rcn and hospital management over what services would be preserved, including intensive care and emergency services and some cancer work. the statement from the rcn is that, in effect, members will walk out of all of those services and if hospitals wish to apply for exemptions, they would have to do that nationally. there will be no more local talks. it is a more robust stance from the royal college of nursin

here's our health editor hugh pym. what do we want? fair pay! when do we want it? now!was the first strike action of its kind in the history of the royal college of nursing. members joining picket lines at hospitals at different times in england, wales and northern ireland. the sticking point in england has been pay for the current financial year, with ministers at westminster insisting a wage award of around 4% could not be increased. the rcn response was to carry on with strikes. now the union seems to have been reassured that everything's back on the table. the finer detail has to be worked out, but i'm very assured by the prime minister's intervention, and we certainly will — as we have always said — we will put our plans on the table, they can put their plans on the table, but i'm confident that we will come out with a fair pay settlement for our nursing staff. neither side will say what numbers will be discussed or what might be offered for the next financial year. in the meantime, nhs leaders are relieved that escalated strike action has been called off. it's wel

our health editor, hugh pym, is with me. be enough to solve the situation _ is it going to be enough to solve the situation in _ is it going to be enough to solve the situation in scotland - is it going to be enough to solve the situation in scotland at - is it going to be enough to solve i the situation in scotland at least? it is the situation in scotland at least? it is looking — the situation in scotland at least? it is looking that _ the situation in scotland at least? it is looking that way. there - the situation in scotland at least? it is looking that way. there is - the situation in scotland at least? it is looking that way. there is a l it is looking that way. there is a one off some with some backdated in effective january following the 7.5% pay award to help staff in scotland this year. one union, unison has already welcomed it. in the last few minutes i have gathered the royal college of nursing has said it will recommend this offer to its members. that is hugely significant because the rcn has not, in this curr

our health editor hugh pym is with me. enough to solve the situation in scotland at least?ike it. the new scottish government for the next year is a 6.5% pay increase, coming on top of the 7.5% already awarded this year. one union unison said it welcomes this offer and there royal college of nursing has said it will recommend it to its members and that is really significant because the rcn has not in this current dispute recommended any offers so far by any of the administrations in the uk. so a real contrast to what is going on in other parts of the uk. in england, the award was around 4% on average to nhs staff. the government says it will not go any higher because of affordability. the rcn is threatening to escalate its strikes and has set new dates. unison said todayit and has set new dates. unison said today it had mandates from ten more organisations with members, including four ambulance services, to take further strike action. in wales, the gmb union said today its members at the ambulance service they had voted to reject an offer from the welsh government. maw; fro

hugh pym, bbc news.ds of windsor castle armed with a crossbow has pleaded guilty to a charge of treason. jaswant singh chail was arrested on christmas day in 2021. he had claimed to be acting to avenge the victims of a massacre in india over a hundred years ago. he's the first person in the uk to be convicted of treason since 1981. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford is at windsor castle. yes, reeta, this all happened on christmas day in 2021, what turned out to be the queen's last christmas. she was spending it here at windsor castle, rather than sandringham, because of the pandemic. jaswant singh chail, who was 19 at the time, had arrived in windsor two days earlier and had stayed in a local hotel. at six in the morning, he used a nylon rope ladder to climb over the high fence to a private section of the palace. he was there for around two hours before he was spotted by a royalty protection officer guarding the gate that leads to the private apartments where the queen was beginning her chris

hugh pym, bbc news.ead along with her husband and seven—year—old daughter in their home in the school grounds. 45—year—old emma pattison — who became the first woman to lead the prestigious school last september — was found with her husband george, and their daughter lettie in the early hours of yesterday morning. police say they are confident there was "no third—party involvement". here's our special correspondent, lucy manning. the school that she led, where she inspired, has police cars, detectives, and a major crime investigation. emma pattison was the first female head of award—winning epsom college in surrey. she was an example of female leadership — a woman at the top of her career. but yesterday morning, her body and that of her seven—year—old daughter, lettie, and her husband were found. i am absolutely loving my time here so far. in an interview with pupils just two months ago, emma pattison spoke about how much she was enjoying her new role as head. it has been wonderful. in terms of transitio

hugh pym, bbc news.d receive significant compensation after an appeal court ruling involving universal credit. the department for work and pensions was found to have discriminated against two disabled men when they had their benefits cut after being moved onto universal credit payments. 0ur social affairs correspondent michael buchanan is here. tell me more. this is a court judgment — tell me more. this is a court judgment that _ tell me more. this is a court judgment that could - tell me more. this is a court judgment that could see - tell me more. this is a court judgment that could see up i tell me more. this is a court. judgment that could see up to tell me more. this is a court - judgment that could see up to around 50,000 disabled people receive significant amounts of money. they had been underpaid by around £60 a month for a number of years and the treasury estimates the whole compensation package if it is paid could end up costing somewhere in the region of £150 million. this was a consequence of

our health editor hugh pym is here with more details.putes? fist is there any sign of a breakthrough in any of the disputes?— in any of the disputes? at least talks not in any of the disputes? at least talks got under— in any of the disputes? at least talks got under way _ in any of the disputes? at least talks got under way between i in any of the disputes? at leastl talks got under way between the in any of the disputes? at least - talks got under way between the rcn and health secretary steve barclay, covering england, and i'm told they will continue tomorrow so presumably some detailed negotiations have got under way but both sides have adopted a policy of no running commentary. elsewhere, the dispute continues. other health unions are frustrated, even angry that they were not invited into this talks process. they say they have heard nothing from government today. we are looking to get more ambulance strikes we know in march and today the extra date from unison, march eight, with some ambulance services that have not had strikes befor

hugh pym, bbc news, at the royal college of nursing.ces last month, helped by the highest income tax receipts from self—assessment since records began in 1999. it meant the treasury received nearly £5.5 billion more than it spent. 0ur economics editor faisal islam explains. there had been some gloomy predictions about the need for government borrowing but the tax take injanuary considerably exceeded expectations and what we have seen in recent years. january, over here, is important as this is when people pay their tax returns and this shows people were injobs, paying more in income tax and national insurance, meaning the government had to borrow less money to fund public spending. these numbers also mainly reflect what was going on in the tax year ending last april but it is better news and it may also reflect more people being dragged into higher tax brackets. another closely watched piece of data is this, what is known as the purchasing managers index, usually a good early sign of whether the economy is growing or not. now, after the

hugh pym, bbc news.search team who have joined the effort to find the 45—year—old who was last seen in st michael's on wyre in lancashire. police believe nicola bully could have fallen into the river wyre while she was walking her dog after dropping her children at school. she set off along this stretch of river on friday 27th january and was seen several times before and after 9am. police say she was last seen at about 9.20am. just minutes later her dog willow was found along with her mobile phone on this bench. nicola hasn't been seen again. detectives have again appealed for anyone with dash cam or mobile phone footage from near the river that day to come forward. for the latest on that story you can head over to the website at bbc.co.uk/news or you can find the latest updates on the bbc news app. magistrates courts in england and wales have been ordered to stop authorising warrants for energy firms to forcibly enter homes and install prepayment metres. there's growing concern about the practice as me

our health editor hugh pym has more.n the nhs by doctors and it will affect all forms of care, including emergencies. the strike will start in england at 7am on monday 13th of march and end at 7am on thursday 16th. now, junior doctors cover a range of experience from newly qualified medics earning just over £29,000 a year, right through to experienced doctors at more than 58,000, the level below consultants, though this doesn't include extra payments for unsocial hours. ministers say the work ofjunior doctors is valued, but the strike vote was deeply disappointing. the bma has called for a pay rise to reflect the impact of inflation over a decade and a half. doctors have lost 26.1% of their pay over the last 15 years. we are not worth less than a doctor in 2008. doctors are graduating on £14 an hour. junior doctors last went on strike in 2016, again affecting all forms of care, but not for as long as the planned strike next month. nhs leaders say consultants will have to cover emergency care while theirjunior colleagues

our health editor hugh pym is here with more.al association says this will be the longest ever continuous strike in the nhs by doctors, and it will affect all forms of care, including emergencies. the strike will start in england at 7am on monday, march 13, and end at 7am on thursday the 16th. junior doctors cover a range of experience, from newly qualified medics earning just over £29,000 a year, right through to experienced doctors at more than 58,000, the level below consultants. this doesn't include extra payments for unsocial hours. ministers say the work ofjunior doctors is valued, but the strike vote was deeply disappointing. the bma has called for a pay rise to reflect the impact of inflation over a decade and a half. doctors have lost 26.1% of their pay over the last 15 years. we are not worth less than a doctor in 2008. doctors are graduating on £14 an hour. junior doctors last went on strike in 2016, again affecting all forms of care, but not for as long as the planned strike next month. nhs leaders say consultants wil

our health editor hugh pym is here with me. this is a significant escalation?y the royal couege previous strikes by the royal college of nursing numbers have been over two days, 12 hours each day and this will be 48 a was nonstop, in effect spanning three days from the ist of march until the third. it will start at 6am on the wednesday and end at 6am on the friday. the other big difference is that previously, there were negotiations at local level between strike committees and hospital management over exemptions for intensive care, critical care, cancer care and that kind of thing but that won't happen this time. the rcn says there will be an absolute minimum level of service. if hospitals are concerned, they will have to negotiate at national level with the royal couege national level with the royal college of nursing. the union also argues there are other health staff who won't be striking, even some nurses, who ought to be able to provide the necessary back—up. the general secretary has said the government has refused to negotiate over pay so more people hav

a&e waiting times also improved. 0ur health editor hugh pym is here.antl . ., �*, they have fallen quite sianificantl . . �*, , , significantly. that's right, pretty significant. _ significantly. that's right, pretty significant, this. in _ significantly. that's right, pretty significant, this. in december, | significant, this. in december, there was this rise in flu cases adding to the other winter pressures on hospitals. for the category 2 response times in england, which includes heart attacks and strokes, on average, it was taking an hour and a half for ambulances to get patients in december. injanuary, that fell to half an hour, although still above the target of 80 minutes. in a&e, the four hour benchmark to be treated or assessed, in january, benchmark to be treated or assessed, injanuary, just over a quarter had to wait more than four hours, that was down from more than a third in december. flu cases have fallen back quite sharply injanuary, there were fewer people going into a&e, but the warnings about another virus, norovirus, the winter vomi

our health editor hugh pym is here. college of nursing members have been over two days, 12 hours each day. but the next one will be over a full 48 hours in england at 120 nhs organisations, more than before. the strike will start at 6am on wednesday march the 1st and continue until 6am on friday march the 3rd. so, that is a bigger set of disruption that the rcn are planning. secondly, there is another big difference. whereas previously the union would be in talks locally with hospital management over what services would be exempted and continue, like intensive care and some cancer services, that will not happen this time. there will be an assumption of all members leaving work over those days. and the rcn will only negotiate nationally with individual hospitals. of course in wales and scotland it is a different situation, there have been new offers made by the governments which are being considered by the unions, or they are in talks. pat callan, general secretary of the rcn, has said there is in effect, by refusing to

our health editor, hugh pym, is with me. for scotland, hugh. that's ri . ht. purely for scotland, hugh. that's right- this _ purely for scotland, hugh. that's right- this is _ purely for scotland, hugh. that's right. this is the _ purely for scotland, hugh. that's right. this is the scottish - right. this is the scottish government coming up with an offer for the next financial year, beginning in april, that is 6.5% backdated on top of the 7.5% already awarded. and the indications from a couple of unions are certainly reasonably positive. unison has said it is a decent offer and they will certainly consider it very, very carefully. the royal college of nursing has said it will consider the offer. 0n the scottish government has said this will make nhs staff in scotland the highest paid in the uk. now, of course, in england the government at westminster has stuck to its line that the award for the current financial year of around 4.5% for nhs staff is out there and has already been paid and they are not prepared to talk about a

here's our health editor hugh pym. what do we want? fair pay! when do we want it? now!joining picket lines at hospitals at different times in england, wales and northern ireland. the sticking point in england has been pay for the current financial year, with ministers at westminster insisting a wage award of around 4% could not be increased. the rcn response was to carry on with strikes. now the union seems to have been reassured that everything's back on the table.

our health editor hugh pym.can disclose this kind of information if it helps them to investigate crime but they would have to have reasons to justify that. and that is why he is going to be writing to lancashire police to ask how they have reached this decision. nicola's families say that nicola would not have wanted this kind of detail released but they have been kept fully informed. what they want is the media and people to stop speculating about her private life and to focus on this investigation to find her. this remains a huge police investigation for a missing person, unprecedented they say, with a huge team of detectives looking at hours of cctv recordings. of course that search has now been extended up the estuary into morecambe bay. they say this is still a missing persons investigation, they don't think anyone else is involved. our reporter yunus mulla. the family of the hollywood actor bruce willis has revealed he's suffering from an untreatable form of dementia which affects behaviour and use of lang

out over the next few weeks in a major escalation of strike action in the nhs. 0ur health editor hugh pym, but there is a long way to go. patients and staff, but there is a long way to 90-— patients and staff, but there is a long way to go. well, that's right. that bein: long way to go. well, that's right. that being said, _ long way to go. well, that's right. that being said, the planned - long way to go. well, that's right. that being said, the planned 48 i that being said, the planned 48 hours strike in england by the rcn next week would have been the most widespread and disruptive so far and there were a lot of fears amongst nhs managers about how that would affect patients. that has now been called off and the reason is we learned in a joint statement an hour orso learned in a joint statement an hour or so ago from the government and the royal college of nursing that they were about to start intensive talks over what would aim to be a fair and reasonable pay settlement. now, that sounds quite anodyne, but you can assume the royal college of nursing wouldn't have agreed to these talks

our health editor hugh pym joins me now. huge impact.— to have a huge impact. all of that added u- to have a huge impact. all of that added up does — to have a huge impact. all of that added up does look _ to have a huge impact. all of that added up does look that - to have a huge impact. all of that added up does look that way. - to have a huge impact. all of that i added up does look that way. junior doctors is a term which covers quite a range of different skills from the newly qualified doctor right up to ten years later, someone who was about to become a consultant. they are saying that now they have this mandate, that they will walk out for three days, walking out both of emergency care and nonurgent. so thatis emergency care and nonurgent. so that is really quite an escalation in the scale of action we�*ve seen so far. they have an overwhelming majority, they say, 98% in the ballot in england with nearly 40,000 doctors actually sent their ballot forms. so that comes on top of the royal college of nursing, who have alr

our health editor hugh pym is here. yes, sophie, talks have got under way.o, how did we get to this point? nurses and other nhs staff in england — other than doctors and dentists — were given a pay rise of 4% this financial year, ending next month. ministers said they wouldn't revisit this, so the rcn pressed on with strikes. but now, everything seems to be back on the table. so next week's 48—hour strike in england, set to be the biggest of this winter's pay dispute, was called off. the change of heart is that we have been clear that pay is on the table and we want to discuss that, and we want to end the strikes. because it's in no—one's interest for strikes to be ongoing, particularly for patients, and i think it's welcome there is serious negotiations going on right now. but other unions are frustrated at not being involved. though ministers say they're ready to talk. ambulance staff in the gmb and unite unions have strikes planned on march 6th and 20th. and today, unison announced a strike on march 8th, which will include some other nhs staff as well. th

i'm joined now by our health editor hugh pym.tually negotiating properly? is a and the rcn are actually negotiating --roerl ? ,., , ., and the rcn are actually negotiating n-roerl ? , ., . properly? is a bit of a mystery, this came _ properly? is a bit of a mystery, this came out _ properly? is a bit of a mystery, this came out of _ properly? is a bit of a mystery, this came out of the _ properly? is a bit of a mystery, this came out of the blue, - properly? is a bit of a mystery, this came out of the blue, an i this came out of the blue, an announcement that the government would enter but we would describe as intensive talks with the royal couege intensive talks with the royal college of nursing about pay and what was described as, aiming for a fair and reasonable settlement, applying to england. it took most people by surprise including nhs employers and seem to have only been initiated and a few hours before the announcement. we can only deduce that the royal college of nursing, we heard there from the general secretary, would

hugh pym, bbc news. that is about it.cool and rather grey, dank kind of afternoon in places. that was the fog bank just that was the fog bankjust here on the satellite picture but further north—west we've also had some figure cloud affect scotland and northern ireland and is a bit of drizzle but overnight we got a weather front bringing more general wail, rain to these north—western areas in the closest guys to wales and southern parts of england with a sharp frost, temperatures down to about —6 in the countryside and we are looking at quite widespread and dense patches of fog, particularly across parts of southern england and east anglia so there might be some localised disruption just as we start the day tuesday morning. some lingering. forthe start the day tuesday morning. some lingering. for the north bend of cloud and weak weather front bringing their cloudy strip of weatherfrom scotland, northern ireland, north england and north wales and under scotland not much and are largely dry —looking j. into wednesday we coul

members are expected to take part in a 72—hour walkout as early as mid march. 0ur health editor hugh pym more than 70% and 98% of those who voted were in favour of the strike action. these are doctor members and the british medical association. ajunior members and the british medical association. a junior doctor covers those who are first entering profession as fully qualified doctors right through to consultant levels are just below consultant level. it covers a very large range of medical profession. what's been said before about the bma, by the junior doctors committee that if they get this mandate in favour cope which they've now got they will now take three days of strike action back to back and they will walk out of all forms of care, emergency and routine and other types of procedures. now, working forward they need to give two weeks' notice to employers, they haven't given any strike dates yet but that may well come in the next couple of days. two weeks on it looks as if it's going to be sometime in the middle of march that this action will take place. on top of all the other str