nick eardley at the very final. headlines in business _ of. nick eardley at the very final.usiness is on - of. nick eardley at the very final. headlines in business is on bbc i headlines in business is on bbc news. hello there. for eastern parts of england it's been a dull and damp day with some cool winds as well, all rotating around this area of low pressure that's been bringing the cloudy, damp weather that's going to move away into continental europe. we've got the next weather system, though, coming in from the atlantic. in between, things have been turning a little bit quieter with the best of the sunshine earlier on in scotland and northern ireland. but these are the temperatures early in the evening. so they're falling away fairly quickly. and there is the possibility where we keep those clearer skies just for a while into the night, the temperatures could get close to orjust below freezing, but the window of clearer skies is going to be closing because whilst this cloud and damp weather will finally clear the southeast, we've got cloud and outbreaks of rain coming i

we can cross to nick eardley at the bbc verify hub. asked about this in parliament within the last hour and he said we are on track to deal with all of the cases that can be dealt with. which is slightly ambiguous language, but let's have a look at how we are doing it. just a quick reminder that this was the pledge from rishi sunak. the backlog, the legacy backlog, cases beforejune 2022. they would be dealt with by the end of this year. so a couple of weeks from now. this is what it looked like at the start of the year, 91,000 cases or so. it falls over the course of the year quite dramatically in the last couple of months, and as you can see at the start of december here, it is around 18,000 cases still to be processed. as i say, the home office thinks it is on track to meet that target. what is really interesting where we have drilled into the numbers is how the backlog is being reduced. let me show you this. this is a breakdown of how many cases have been dealt with since the conservatives came to power back in 2010. how many cases

nick eardley at the bbc verify hub, speaking to my colleague matthew amroliwala earlier today. of the british museum is leaving the institution. katie razzall joins katie razzalljoins me in the studio for this. what more do we know about this? ~ ., , ., ., for this. what more do we know about this? ~ .,, ., ., ., this? within the last hour or so, a museum spokesperson _ this? within the last hour or so, a museum spokesperson confirms l this? within the last hour or so, a| museum spokesperson confirms to this? within the last hour or so, a - museum spokesperson confirms to me thatjonathan williams, the deputy director, will be leaving the museum. they have not given any timeline to this, we don't know whether he had stepped down voluntarily or whether he has been dismissed, but as you say, it is all in relation to this big story that broke across the world back in august, that 2000 items were stolen, missing or damaged. drjonathan williams oversaw a botched investigation into the thefts at the british museum back in 2021. after he was born by a doctor, who you met williams to sa

with more on this, here's our political correspondent nick eardley. there were a lot of promises made by the government when it came to asylum and stopping the small boats and we have been looking at some of the key promises, and another significant pledge made by the prime minister one year ago today to get rid of the legacy backlog of asylum cases by the end of this year, that's all the cases of people who applied for asylum before the end of june 2022. the number when rishi sunak made the pledge was around 91,000 cases. as you can see from this graphic the number is falling. there have been quite a lot of cases dealt with this year and it has gone down quite significantly towards the end and at the start of december there were around 18,000 cases still to be processed. insiders at the home officer told the bbc they got to a point where around 4000 cases were being processed every single week and the home office has told us they think they are on track to meet they think they are on track to meet the target of getting rid of this completely but what

joining me now is our political correspondent nick eardley.ny so important politically still?— is his testimony so important oliticall still? . . ., politically still? so much criticism of boris johnson _ politically still? so much criticism of boris johnson over _ politically still? so much criticism of boris johnson over the - politically still? so much criticism of boris johnson over the last i politically still? so much criticism of boris johnson over the last few of borisjohnson over the last few weeks at the inquiry, everything from his decision—making to him changing his mind, to him being too slow, to being the wrong man for the job at the time. today is a couple of things. firstly, for all these bereaved families who turn up at the inquiry regularly, it is a chance to hearfrom borisjohnson, to hear his decision—making scrutinised, to have some of those points put to him and say, look, why did you take so long to lock down the first time. and did you learn the lessons from the first lockdown when it came to the second lockdown when it

0ur verify correspondent nick eardley is here with those details. have a look at this first. about a fifth of the total. let's take a look at the increase in health spending over time. as you can see, it goes up every year. but if you look closer it goes up faster in the run—up to 2010, when labour were in power. then it continues to go up, but at a much lower rate, after the conservative—led coalition takes over in 2010. there was this big spike during the covid years, then it goes down a bit after emergency funding was removed. now come back here. if the funding increases we saw before 2010 continued after 2010, this would have happened. there would be a lot more money in the health system. nobody was promising that after the financial crash, but it puts the funding increases in the past decade in context. clearly, money isn't the only issue. strikes have had a significant impact, particularly in england. covid did too. there's the ageing population. both the conservatives and labour are saying reform is part of the answer. but the question about whether there's enough cash

bbc verify�*s nick eardley has assessing whether the prime minister has achieved his goals, startingthe start of the year it was high, 10%, went up to just below ii%, but on this one the government is doing pretty well. you can see that inflation has come down. in the latest figures it was 4.6%, so it has more than halved. we are still waiting for the overall figures, the final three months of the year, and it's worth pointing out this is the job of the bank of england rather than the government. but it looks like this one is going to be achieved. on other matters though, like the overall economy, wait times at medical facilities, and migrant arrivals, our bbc verify team has found the prime minister and his government have been less successful. you're live with bbc news. there's been lots of diplomacy on the israel—gaza war, but no new deals yet. a vote at the united nations on a draft resolution calling for a secession in fighting has been delayed again, and in the middle east possible talks on hostage releases are making progress. it's the second time the un has delayed the vote,

sunak pledged to process those applications by the end of this year. 0ur verify correspondent nick eardleying. there has been a big backdrop this year. it was 91,000, i can show you here, when rishi sunak made his pledge. you can see over the next few months it comes right down so at the end of november there it is at 18,000. the immigration minister told parliament today he was confident that all the cases that could be dealt with would be by the end of the month. that drop is a high level of asylum seekers being granted. there is a record number of cases withdrawn, including people who failed to make contact with officials. those who had their applications related outright and that figure is at an all—time low. you're live with bbc news. in the first deal of its kind, a global climate agreement calls on all countries to move away from fossil fuels. after a long night of negotiations, delegates at the un climate summit in dubai, also known as cop28, secured signatures from all 197 participating countries to reach the deal on wednesday. many countries hoped for a stronger stance, calling f

here's our verify correspondent nick eardley. reeta, thank you.n the backlog so far this year. it was 91,000 when rishi sunak met his pledge — you can see here it's fallen to just 18,000 at the start of december. the immigration minister said today he was confident all the cases that could be dealt with would be by the end of the month. but what's really interesting is how the government are doing it. this is a breakdown — cases granted, withdrawn and refused in the latest figures. this — the number of asylum cases being granted — is going to be a record high this year. that's in part because of a change in the rules which allows people from some countries to be granted asylum without face to face meetings. then there's this — the number of cases being withdrawn. that's a record high too — by some margin. the rules have changed — so this now includes people who fail to maintain contact with the home office — as well as people who don't turn up for interviews or cancel their application. finally, this — the number of people being rejected — that's

our correspondent nick eardley has been assessing the data. thanks, ben. eat out to help out this morning. we are expecting a lot more this afternoon. let's start off with the context. this was july 2020 — when the eat out to help out scheme was announced. cases are low — around 4,300 a week. this is the situation when the discounts began — the start of august. again they are pretty low. remember, there was often a delay between infection and it showing up in the figures. but look what happens over the next few weeks. there's a noticeable increase. by mid—september, cases are around 26,000 a week. there were a lot of changes happening at the time — schools had gone back, more of the economy had opened up — so you can't assume this is just because of eat out to help 0ut. it's also worth remembering that the biggest spikes — which led to the january lockdown — came later. see here a huge increase in the winter months. however, we've heard from some of the experts advising the government. they think the scheme would have contributed to the rise in cases. just

our correspondent nick eardley from bbc verify has been looking at those numbers.come a huge issue in british politics. the home secretary is in rwanda today talking about these numbers. small boat crossings. the government has made stopping the boats a key test, hence the determination to keep going with a plan to send some asylum—seekers to rwanda. we don't know yet whether the treaty being agreed today will be enough to get the plan off the ground to bring these numbers down. if you look at these numbers over 16,000 in 2022, just under 30,000 this year so far. that number is a lot lower than this one. this is legal migration to the uk. net migration has rocketed since the uk introduced its post—brexit immigration system. you can see the figure down here starts to go up quite considerably. official figures show that record levels of net migration were recorded in 2022. you can see that here. it'sjust under three quarters of a million. and it still looks extremely high this year. this point here is the year tojune. 672,000 for the year so far. yesterday, we got th

bbc verify�*s nick eardley has been assessing whether the prime minister has achieved his goals, starting at the start of the year it was high, 10%, went up to just below ii%, but on this one the government is doing pretty well. you can see that inflation has come down. in the latest figures it was 4.6%, so it has more than halved. we are still waiting for the overall figures, the final three months of the year, and it's worth pointing out this is the job of the bank of england rather than the government. but it looks like this one is going to be achieved. on other matters, though, like the overall economy, wait times at medicalfacilities and migrant arrivals, our team has found the prime minister and his government have been less successful. you're live with bbc news. civil rights organizations filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a new texas law that would allow state officers to arrest people suspected of crossing the us—mexico border illegally. the lawsuit, filed by the aclu of texas and the texas civil rights project, argues that the measure is unconstitutional becaus

our verify correspondent nick eardley looks at how they're doing. show you here, when rishi sunak made his pledge. you can see over the next few months it comes right down so at the end of november it is at 18,000. he was confident that all the cases that could be dealt with would be by the end of the month. ., , , . would be by the end of the month. .,, , ., , ., ., month. the drop is a trip to a record high — month. the drop is a trip to a record high number— month. the drop is a trip to a record high number of- month. the drop is a trip to a | record high number of asylum cases been granted and also a record number of cases withdrawn. it includes people who have failed to maintain contact with officials or cancel the applications and those who have had their applications rejected outright. the figures at all lows. you're live with bbc news. israel says it will continue its operation against hamas — with or without international support. relations between israel and the united nations have reached an all—time low as fighting continues to rage acro

bbc verify�*s nick eardley has been digging into the detail.nd stopping small boats. here's what rishi sunak said. i will only promise what i can deliver. and i will deliver what i promise. a big pledge, but how has the government done so far? let's start by looking at inflation. as you can see, at the start of the year, it was high. 10%, went up to just below 11%. but on this one, the government is doing pretty well. you can see that inflation has come down. in the latest figures, it was 4.6%. so it has more than halved. now, we're still waiting for the overall figures for the final three months of the year. it's worth pointing out this is the job of the bank of england rather than the government, but it looks like this one is going to be achieved. the second big economic pledge was to get the economy growing. we're going to say that this one is unclear. if you look at these figures, they're quite up and down. but if you look at october 2023, growth is pretty flat over the course of the year. so this one — a question mark. it's in the balance.

sunak pledged to process those applications by the end of this year. 0ur verify correspondent nick eardley year. —— there has been a big drop in the backlog so far this year. it was 91,000, i can show you here, when rishi sunak made his pledge. you can see over the next few months it comes right down so at the end of november it is at 18,000. there has also been a record number of cases withdrawn. that includes people who have failed to maintain contact with officials, who have cancelled their applications and then there are those who had their applications rejected outright. that figure is at an all—time low. you're live with bbc news. ths us supreme court will be ruling on a case that could have significant impact for millions of women in the country. the top court has agreed to review a lower court decision to make the abortion drug mifepristone less accessible. it's a drug used in half of abortions across the the country. the food and drug administration says more than 5.6 million women have safely used the drug to terminated unwanted pregnancies since 2000. injune of 2023, a gallup po

bbc verify�*s nick eardley has been digging into the detail.rime minister set out his five priorities for 2023, focusing on the economy, the nhs and stopping small boats. here's what rishi sunak said. i will only promise what i can deliver. and i will deliver what i promise. a big pledge, but how has the government done so far? let's start by looking at inflation. as you can see, at the start of the year, it was high. 10%, went up to just below ii%. but on this one, the government is doing pretty well. you can see that inflation has come down. in the latest figures, it was 4.6%. so it has more than halved. now, we're still waiting for the overall figures for the final three months of the year. it's worth pointing out this is the job of the bank of england rather than the government, but it looks like this one is going to be achieved. the second big economic pledge was to get the economy growing. we're going to say that this one is unclear. if you look at these figures, they're quite up and down. but if you look at october 2023, growth is pretty

nick eardley from bbc verify has been looking at the impact of that scheme. , ,, ., ~ looking at theunak has been defending _ scheme. rishi sunak has been defending the _ scheme. rishi sunak has been defending the eat _ scheme. rishi sunak has been defending the eat out - scheme. rishi sunak has been defending the eat out to - scheme. rishi sunak has been defending the eat out to help| scheme. rishi sunak has been - defending the eat out to help out scheme at the inquiry today, saying it was important for the economy and it was important for the economy and it was, in his view, say. he was asked why he didn't raise the potential risks of the scheme in government meetings. mit? potential risks of the scheme in government meetings.- potential risks of the scheme in government meetings. why but i raise it as a risk when _ government meetings. why but i raise it as a risk when i didn't _ government meetings. why but i raise it as a risk when i didn't believe - it as a risk when i didn't believe that— it as a risk when i didn't believe that it _ it as a risk when i didn't believe that it

but there has been progress this past year in clearing that legacy backlog, as nick eardley can show us. this is what it looked like at the start of the year, 91,000 cases or so. it falls over the course of the year quite dramatically in the last couple of months. and as you can see at the start of december here, it's around 18,000 cases still to be processed. as i say, the home office thinks it's on track to meet that target. but what's really interesting when we've drilled into the numbers is how the backlog is being reduced. let me show you this. this is a breakdown of how many cases have been dealt with since the conservatives came to power back in 2010. how many cases have been granted, how many have been withdrawn, how many have been refused. we only have the figures for the first nine months of this year, but already you can see there's a record number of cases being accepted. it's the highest so far since 2002. but by the end of the year, it's pretty inevitable it will be the highest number on record. now, there are a lot more cases being processed, as you can see, so it was

bbc verify s nick eardley has been taking a look. it's a big question for the prime minister.lor and did it contribute to the rise of covid? remember this. this was rishi sunak serving katsu curry in london back in august 2020 to launch it out to help out. it was a discount on meals so meant your meal was subsidised by the government on mondays and wednesdays in august that year. it was controversial at the time and it has been argued since that it helped spread the virus long before we had the vaccine so here are bbc verify we have delved into the numbers to try and figure out what went on. let's start with the context, this is july 2020, the country was starting to open up after the first lockdown. you can see the number of cases is really low, about 4300 per week. over that month, they went up butjust week. over that month, they went up but just a week. over that month, they went up butjust a little bit, this is the start of august when it out to help out, cases 6400 per week across the uk but there was often a delay between people getting covid under starting to show in th

nick eardley is at the bbc verify hub — and had more on whether the government is on trck — and how they'reer is that they think they are on track. a minister was asked about this in parliament in the last hour and he said we are on track to deal with all of the cases that can be dealt with, which is slightly ambiguous language. but let's have a look at how we are doing it. just a quick reminder that this was the pledge from rishi sunak, the backlog, the legacy backlog cases beforejune 2022. they would be dealt with by the end of this year. so a couple of weeks from now. this is what it looked like at the start of the year, 91,000 cases or so. it falls over the course of the year quite dramatically in the last couple of months, and as you can see, at the start of december here it is around 18,000 cases still to be processed. as i say, the home office thinks it is on track to meet that target, but what is really interesting when we have drilled into the numbers is how the backlog is being reduced. let me show you this. this is a breakdown of how many cases have been dealt with since the cons

bbc verify�*s nick eardley has taken a look at how the government is performing against those goals.riorities for 2023, focusing on the economy, the nhs and stopping small boats. here's what rishi sunak said. i will only promise what i can deliver. and i will deliver what i promise. a big pledge, but how has the government done so far? let's start by looking at inflation. as you can see, at the start of the year, it was high. io%, went up to just below ii%. but on this one, the government is doing pretty well. you can see that inflation has come down. in the latest figures, it was 4.6%. so it has more than halved. now, we're still waiting for the overall figures for the final three months of the year. it's worth pointing out this is the job of the bank of england rather than the government, but it looks like this one is going to be achieved. the second big economic pledge was to get the economy growing. we're going to say that this one is unclear. if you look at these figures, they're quite up and down. but if you look at october 2023, growth is pretty flat over the course of the yea

nick eardley has come back to talk to us again. this is a huge day. we were talking to lobby, the guests earlier, oonagh cousins and sammie mcfarland from a long covid group. we can look back on the politics of this and it feels like a big moment in history but, ultimately, it was a shared and lived experience for this nation living through the pandemic. important to remember over the next couple of days borisjohnson's character fascinates political people like me. it is a question that will keep being asked, was he the right person? but the fundamental question at the heart of the next couple of days is was the government working properly and i didn't get the big calls right? i think everybody accepts, or a lot of people accept you wouldn't make every decision in an absolutely perfect way in an unprecedented situation, but it's that sense of did borisjohnson and his number 10 operation understand how big covid was early enough? did they make the first lockdown decision quickly enough and did they learn lessons as they were going on? there have been a

bbc verify�*s nick eardley has been digging into the detail. morning, nick. what have you found? will only promise what i can _ at the time. i will only promise what i can deliver, _ at the time. i will only promise what i can deliver, and - at the time. i will only promise what i can deliver, and i - at the time. i will only promise what i can deliver, and i will i what i can deliver, and i will deliver— what i can deliver, and i will deliver what i promise. big pledge. how has he — deliver what i promise. big pledge. how has he done? _ deliver what i promise. big pledge. how has he done? let's _ deliver what i promise. big pledge. how has he done? let's look i deliver what i promise. big pledge. how has he done? let's look first l deliver what i promise. big pledge. | how has he done? let's look first at his pledge on inflation. he said he was going to have my kid over the year. —— half. it reached nearly 11% backin year. —— half. it reached nearly 11% back in february. on this one of the government has done pretty well. the latest figures for october shouted down at li.6%. we

bbc verify�*s nick eardley has been taking a look. good morning, good to see you.ced, about 6400 per week across the uk. but remember, there was often a delay between people getting covid and it's starting to show up in the figures. look what happens over august and into september. there is a big increase step by mid september we are seeing around 26,000 cases per week. was that all eat out to help out? we can't be that show. there were other things going on at the time, people were meeting up, rules were being eased, there was a lot more chance of the virus to spread. remember, although this looks like a really big increase as is the next one, there was a bigger increase to come. have a look at that, once we hit the winter, we were up to 250,000 cases per week. there was a lot going on. this led to the lockdown injanuary, by the way. what we have been trying to figure out is the comparison with other european countries as well. have a look at this next screen which shows the rise in the number of cases in different european countries. france and spain which didn't