Transcripts For BBCNEWS Victoria Derbyshire 20240714

In the yorkshire dales, the army is helping with the clean up after several roads and bridges collapsed. An explosion in the number of older children going into care over the last five years is stretching resources and leaving kids more vulnerable thats the warning from the Childrens Commissioner. Well be speaking to her about that warning, as well as two people with direct experience of the care system. One man was moved between over 20 Foster Carers and 20 social workers. Hello, welcome to the programme. Were live until 11 this morning. Feel free to get in touch on all the stories were talking about use the hashtag victorialive. And if youre emailing and are happy for us to contact you, maybe youd like to take part in the Programme Please do include your phone number in your message. If you text, youll be charged at the Standard Network rate. First, its over to rebecca who has the news. Thank you, good morning and good morning to you. Female students, who use University Counselling services, outnumber men by more than two to one even though male students are more than twice as likely to take their own lives. Figures from a hundred universities, for this programme, show just 31 of those who asked for support were male. I was writing two 2000 word essays a week, i was trying to navigate a new social landscape. I was trying to have a fresh start, and i was dealing with the hyper masculine sense that i needed to be going out all the time, i needed to be the life and soul of the party and although i was aware that the University Counselling services existed, i wasnt engaging with it properly and ifound myself at a point of crisis and i tried to take my own life. And you can see that full report in the next few minutes. More than £2 billion of additional funding is being set aside to prepare for a no deal brexit. The chancellor sajid javids plans include substantial sums to support businesses, improve ports, and ensure that vital medicines will still be available. Labour says its an appalling waste of taxpayers money. Flood warnings are still in place across the north west of england and yorkshire after a day of heavy rain left people stranded and caused damage to buildings, roads and rail lines. 0vernight, the water levels did begin to recede in some of the worst hit areas, but people are preparing for another downpour of rain later this afternoon. The care system in england is struggling to cope with rising demand from teenagers, according to the Childrens Commissioner. Research by the Commissioners Office shows the number of children in care aged 13 or over rose by 21 over the last five years, and that teenagers in care were more likely to be vulnerable to sexual exploitation, gangs, trafficking and drug misuse. Reports in the us say that hamza bin laden, the son of the former alqaeda leader, 0sama bin laden, is dead. The pentagon has not released any information but hes believed to have been killed in a military strike. He was stripped of his citizenship by saudi arabia in march. The us had offered a Million Dollars for information on his whereabouts. The american rapper asap rocky is due to speak at his assault trial in stockholm. He was arrested in the swedish capital nearly a month ago for allegedly attacking a 19 year old afghan refugee. The case has strained relations after President Trump and a number of high profile celebrities publicly called for his release. A mobile phone app has speeded up the detection of a potentially fatal kidney condition in hospital patients. Staff describe the technology as a potential life saver, providing diagnoses in minutes instead of hours. Acute Kidney Injury is caused by Serious Health conditions, including sepsis, and affects one in five people admitted to hospital. It costs the nhs £i. 2 billion every year. The first four contestants for this years series of strictly come dancing have been revealed. The england football star david james, the comedian chris ramsey, and the actor emma barton appeared on the one show last night to announce they had signed up for the show. This morning, it was revealed that youtuber saffron barker will also be joining them. That is the news for now. Back to you. Thank you very much, rebecca. This programme has found that the number of male students engaging with University Counselling and well being services is less than half that of female students. Figures from 100 universities show just 31 of those who asked for support were men. The impact of this appears to be severe, as official statistics show male students are also twice as likely to take their own life. One of the countrys leading University Counsellors told us that too often men only engage with services once theyre at a point of crisis, and that universities are failing men when it comes to their Mental Health. Chris hemmings has this report. The Mental Health of british students has deteriorated rapidly in the last few years. In fact, there is now five times more students disclosing Mental Health problems to their universities as there was a decade ago. As a result, the office for students has announced a £145 Million Programme to try and reduce the number of student suicides. But official statistics show that the suicide rate for male students is more than double that of females, and this programme may have uncovered a reason why. Our Research Shows that women are more than twice as likely than men to use their universitys counselling and well being services. Both Fraser Lister and Michael Priestley had a Mental Health diagnosis before they arrived at university. They spent years struggling to cope with both the academic and social pressures of university life, and yet neither reached out to the counselling services on offer. So, when i was 16 years old, two weeks before i set my gcse exams, i lost my dad. He died of heart complications. While going out for a run, ifound him on the road and it was quite a traumatic experience. And that really sent me into a bit of a spiral, but i was determined to get myself to university, and so that was what i did. By the time i was 18, those sort of depressive and anxious thoughts had really manifested and i was diagnosed with depression at the age of 18. So, ive been struggling with my Mental Health for a long time. I first started self harming when i was aged 16. Whilst id been through some really difficult ups and downs with it, i was finally diagnosed with depression just before the start of my a levels, but actually, things got so bad that i put off going to university for two years, just because i felt anxious about it and i felt so hopeless about the future that i couldnt really see the point. Upon joining university, i was faced with a number of different pressures. I was writing two 2000 word essays a week. I was trying to navigate a new social landscape. I was trying to have a fresh start, and i was dealing with the hyper masculine sense that i needed to be going out all the time. I needed to be the life and soul of the party, and although i was aware that the University Counselling services existed, i wasnt engaging with it properly and ifound myself at a point of crisis and i tried to take my own life. Having not been in study for two years, i found the Academic Work really, really difficult. I also felt out of place socially, i was a bit older than a lot of other people. I didnt really know how to make friends. I became anxious about going to lectures and seminars, so i quickly didnt. I was aware that there was support provided by the university, however i didnt really see the point of investing the time. I finally engaged with the counselling service when ijust reached a total crisis point again. Id started self harming, but even then, i kind of engaged with counselling somewhat relu cta ntly. Having been linked up with the counselling service and a counsellor that i really believed in, i gradually started to open up. I gradually started to engage properly. It was good to go in and be able to release that and i became a much more active member of not only my college but also my academic community. The counsellor was really understanding and really supportive and didnt pressure me to talk about things or explain things that i didnt feel comfortable with. And, actually, not only did i find that counselling started to help me emotionally, it actually started to help me academically and i started to feel like there was other areas of student life that i could get involved with. I also realised how many other people around me were dealing with the same things. But, in particular, how men and the men that i was friends with were more likely to downplay their emotions, to build up this sense of masculinity and this stoicism that meant that they werent seeking the help that they needed in exactly the same way that i had. I saw this as an opportunity to maybe take what id learned and my experiences and use them to help other people. And just by talking to blokes around college, in my rugby team, and telling them that it was ok to feel concerned, not only for themselves but for each other and to reach out for that help. Id started to realise there were a lot of people that were struggling, particularly men, that didnt feel able or comfortable to seek help or talk about it to their friends or in that university space. And this became a big interest for me and im now doing a phd, looking at student Mental Health and well being and how we can improve student Mental Health and well being at university. We asked all 133 universities in the uk what the gender split was of those presenting for Mental Health and well being support at their counselling or well being services. Across the uk, men make up 44 of the student population. But responses from 100 universities showed that only 31 of those seeking support identified as male. The heads of Student Counselling Services is the Umbrella Organisation for University Counselling across the country. Its former chair and Current Executive Committee member alan percy told us. Councillors at Birkbeck University recognised this issue in 2017 and they became the First University Outreach Team to research why so few men were coming through their doors. Weve been given exclusive access to their findings and how theyve already had success in increasing the number of men they see. I think the main theme that we could see coming through was around stigma. The theme particularly being around stigma, that it was very difficult to take the initial step of asking for help with really quite exposing difficulties, on occasions. So, men also said that they would have difficulty coming forward for small problems. They thought that really they ought to be able to cope with those of their own, theyd only consider counselling for very big problems. There was definitely something about the need for men to be masculine in society today, and somehow that acknowledging difficulties or vulnerability somehow depletes their masculinity. 0ur communications werent speaking to men in this college. So, we addressed that, we created some posters and leaflets. We put them to the focus groups, we got feedback on them. We thought about demystifying the counselling service, so weve created a video, showing the rooms, showing a counsellor, showing a sort ofjourney into the counselling service. We created pod casts. Four out of the six of the case study students in the pod casts are male. Hopefully demystifying what could go on in a counselling session. Weve had a significant increase in men. Weve seen that its gone up by 6 , significant but still work to do, i think. One of the aims of the project was that services across the uk can apply it to their own service and think about these issues and hopefully help more men to access help in a timely manner. We can speak now to alan percy who is the head of counselling at oxford university, and a member of the executive committee the heads of University Counselling services. Tom ryder had to drop out of university because of his Mental Health problems, but didnt reach out to university services. He Left University in 2013. And piers wilkinson is disabled students officer at the National Union of students. Thank you, all of you, for being here today. Fraser and michael in that film being really candid and open about their experience. Tom, we said he Left University in 2013. I imagine you can relate to a lot of that . Absolutely, yes. I started at university in 2009. Id always put very High Expectations and pressure on myself to achieve the best i could. I went to a Top Uk University and everything was going great for the first six or seven weeks and then the wheels fell off when i was trying to get all my work done, admittedly at the last minute, i was doing all the other great things you doing all the other great things you do at uni, playing football, doing open mic nights and so on. I didnt sleep for about a week. I had suffered from insomnia before but this time, my brain started to work against me. Did Anyone Around you notice this, your friends . They didnt notice. The difficulty at university as youve only known these people a few weeks, they are not your Close Friends or family. You form friendships very quickly but they are fast friends. Did you know about counselling services or did you think about reaching out for that . I dont think we were made aware of it initially as they same way you are made aware of first aid, emergency exits and those procedures. It would be helpful if Mental Health or stress support was introduced at that early stage at university. Can i ask you what would have made you reach out for support . I think its all about the conversations you do have with your peers. I think of a friend comes to you and says, you need help, for example, ori you and says, you need help, for example, or i think we should get you to see somebody, thats not going to go down so well. The best help i had at university was from an nhs psychiatric nurse, who was just listening, present, there, he was a friend. I think if we can encourage those positive conversations peer to peen those positive conversations peer to peer, because the perception and society as we need to talk but actually, how do we listen and how do we encourage listening to each other in an active and empathetic way . Piers, can i ask you, is that what you are hearing . Representing the National Union of students. We had in the film about stigma and just having someone to listen to you. Is that what you are hearing . Very much so. When we talk about Mental Health, it cant be talked about in isolation. We know that your social Community Support structure and how big that is and whether or not its whats considered a true friend is how you deal or how you will be able to approach and have support with your Mental Health and whether or not you feel comfortable stepping forward and talking to their services that are available. And from your experience of talking to students, does it sound like men face additional pressures at university 01 additional pressures at university or that might be what they are telling you . Or that might be what they are telling you . 0r or that might be what they are telling you . Or are or that might be what they are telling you . Or are women better at seeking help or talking to their peers . We know from the people that talk to me in the work that weve done, we know that there are stigmas and barriers for all students. But we know that everyone faces barriers in different ways. For example, when we talk to disabled students, in my role, and the disabled student officer, they are twice as likely to report they havent got any true friends. And also the way masculinity plays with being able to come forward. Its also the fact that over the last couple of years, weve seen rising waiting times for reaching out for Mental Health services. Wed seen students being bounced between nhs services and Mental Health services on campus. Whilst universities do definitely have a duty of care for all of their students, they cant and should not bea students, they cant and should not be a substitute for a fully funded Mental Health service on the nhs. On that note, alan, can i bring you in . Hearing there that people are not seeking support. Our university is failing young men . Hmm, thats a big question. When it comes to Mental Health, should they be doing more . think we all could do more. But i dont think universities can be an island of Mental Health perfection ina island of Mental Health perfection in a cultural island of Mental Health perfection ina cultural see. Island of Mental Health perfection in a cultural see. Piers said it is societal. Societal and cultural. When i was talking about strategies failing, theres been a huge range, ive been in this business for over 30 years. What is sad is the similar problems ive seen in that 30 year period. Theres been lots of efforts by counselling and well being services to make strategies and reach out but they often dont work if the culture is not changing. I think thats got to be taken into account. I think that is what is causing at the moment. Do people at the top of universities therefore need to change their mindset or take this issue much more seriously, especially when it comes to young men . That is true and i think its happening, because i think if you look at the strategies that are happening at a national level, the uk report and policy about steps are changing, looking at the whole institution approach. So rather than special services being sole responsibility, its the whole institution that needs to take more responsibility and how steps put in place. So we are doing, at oxford, and this is happening across the country, a lot more interventions in areas with sports groups, with areas that are male dominant, such as sciences, chemistry, physics, maths, computer sciences, and we are doing peer support, not as a replacement but as an addition of having that cascade, so you but as an addition of having that cascade, so you can but as an addition of having that cascade, so you can reach out. So there is greater emotional support between students as well. Tom, weve had a view messages come in. Im sure there will be lots more. Mike on twitter talks about phrases used with masculinity, male tears, man baby, toxic masculinity, male insecurity, man up, step up. Thats a sort of cultural change, i guess, that alan was talking about. Did that alan was talking about. Did that play into why you didnt seek help . Im not sure that was necessarily the case in my case. With me, it was being unable to recognise it outside of myself as to you only have your brain and when it kind of starts causing difficulties, its very difficult to look beyond that. But i think what allen mentioned about sports clubs, i think they have a big responsibility because i run an organisation called retune, about creative outlets that can help. If someone is going to open up, maybe they will be more likely to open up to their rugby clu b likely to open up to their rugby club pal than university. I think its important these peer groups exist and there can be that toxic masculinity within a rugby club, but i think we are seeing increasingly that that is not an acceptable position any more and we are seeing a lot of sympathy and empathy within clu bs a lot of sympathy and empathy within clubs as well. Thank you all, were going to leave it there. It is good that we are talking about it and it is good to get that message out, that it is good to get that message out, thatitis is good to get that message out, that it is ok not to be ok. Thank you all are very much indeed. Ijust wa nt to you all are very much indeed. Ijust want to read another message from twitter. Stephen says, its nothing to do with masculinity. Men are more than capable about talking about their problems, their problem is people dont listen to them or take them seriously. Another on twitter, try being a black male. White institution are black males is unable to have Mental Health problems. Please do keep your views coming in. Such an important topic. Thank you if you have already got in touch. Preparations for a no deal brexit cost money, and today the man now in charge of the publics finances has signalled that hes willing to open his cheque book. Chancellor sajid javid is announcing £2. 1 billion to go specifically on no deal planning. The new money consists of £1. 1 billion, which will be provided to departments and devolved administrations immediately. A further £1 billion will be made available if needed, the government says. This comes on top of the £4. 2 billion, which has been allocated since 2016 for brexit preparations by the previous chancellor, philip hammond. The money will go on measures such as extra border officials, a Public Information campaign, and critical medical supplies. Our political guru norman smith can tell us more. Hes in our westminster studio. Norman, i assume they found that magic money tree . They will be borrowing cash, thats for sure. This is quite a sizeable chunk they will be spending on a pretty short space of time. The next three months or 0. Space of time. The next three months or so. Already, the idea has run into quite a bit of criticism from opposition politicians who are saying Boris Johnson opposition politicians who are saying borisjohnson says its a million to one we will end up with no deal, so why is he spending all this extra money . They also argue that if you need, if youve got £2 billion spare, why not spend it on Public Services . Social care . The government has made answer is we just need to be ready. A lot of this cash would probably have to be spent a nyway to cash would probably have to be spent anyway to boost our customs arrangements and Storage Facilities and the sort of infrastructure once we leave the eu anyway. But lets be honest, part of it is also trying to crank up the pressure on the eu to convince them that we are deadly serious about leaving without a deal. We are not bluffing here. We are absolutely serious that if we cant get the sort of package that we won by 31st of october, we are going come what may. It is partly about putting in place the practical nuts and bolts, the sort of Contingency Planning and part of it is also about the politics, ramping up is also about the politics, ramping up the pressure in the hope of getting the eu to blink. This isnt without criticism, is it . No, i suppose one of the contentious areas is this really doable . The government is talking about taking on another 500 border staff to operate at customs posts. The problem there is we only have three months and the question is can you really advertise, recruit and train and then deploy all those border staff within six months . Those who work in the sector so you cant do that, it takes 2 3 months even to get the National Security clearance before you can be considered to take up before you can be considered to take up sucha before you can be considered to take up such a post. I suspect there is going to be an almighty barney about the Public Information campaign, which is a colossal campaign, £130 million is going to be spent on public advice to all of us. Compare that with what David Cameron spent during the brexit referendum. Remember, he sent out leaflets to every household in the country, total cost £9 million. Now they are proposing to spend 130 million. A Huge Campaign and a lot of the argument will be, is this really Public Information or is this propaganda, actually making the case but no deal . So a lot of criticism, a lot of controversy. We shall see, watch this space. Norman, thank you. Still to come. Well speak to some of the people whose homes have been flooded, after severe rain hit northern england. And how does a country recover from centuries of slavery and racism . In the us, a growing number of voices are saying the answer is paying reparations to the descendents of slaves. Well discuss this just before 11. An explosion in the number of older children going into care over the last five years is stretching resources and leaving kids more vulnerable thats what the Childrens Commissioner is warning. The number of children aged thirteen and over entering care has increased by 21 , while the number of Young Children is falling. Older children often have the most complex and expensive needs, and are more likely to go missing, use drugs orjoin gangs, and be more vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Figures for the Childrens Commission also show that one in ten children in care moved home four or more times in three years. We can now speak to the Childrens Commissioner for england anne longfield; Libby Thornhill is president of the fostering network and a foster carer herself. Harmony is a 22 year old care leaver and orion is also 22 and a care leaver. Hes speaking to us from newcastle. Welcome to you all, thank you for joining us today. Anne, you are basically saying the care system is playing catch up . I think it is. The profile of children in care has been traditionally much younger children but there has been a huge change in recent yea rs, but there has been a huge change in recent years, as you say, in older children coming into care. To the point where now a quarter of all children in care are 16 or 17. They are more likely to have complex needs, need more specialist support, much more likely to move between different placements because that support isnt appropriate and that it means those young people who really are at very high risk dont have the kind of support, dont have the stability they need to be able to settle and build their future and thatis to settle and build their future and that is something that is a huge concern. Ok, orion, your experience is key here. You had more than 20 Foster Carers and 20 social workers. Tell us how that felt growing up . M is really difficult, it affects key medication come you never know who you can turn to or talk to, who is there to support you and who will actually stay around. So it has a massive impact on how emotionally you feel vulnerable, really, massive impact on how emotionally you feelvulnerable, really, more than anything, because you dont know who you can turn to any more. Anne mentioned some of the vulnerabilities, if you like, of children going into care, 16 and upwards. Can you, do you understand that . Has any of that happen to you . Definitely, i can see the massive impact that would have because obviously when you are slightly younger, you dont know as much. When you are older, you tend to know a lot more details of why you are going into foster care. You know all the details of who your family is, who you are supposed to see. So at that age, its harder because you know what you want but cant necessarily get what you want. Ok. Harmony, you entered the care system at 15. Did you feel that you had enough interaction with social workers or someone you enough interaction with social workers or someone you could talk to, to voice any concerns . I would say at the time it was a very isolating experience, not knowing about the system or what would happen next. Often what happens, usually, you go through quite a few different teams before you actually become a looked after child in most cases so within that you go through a series of for example, different social workers. Often, the social workers caseload is so high that you often dont really have an opportunity to see them that often or even if for example, you have a social worker, that needs time for you to be able for you to build a relationship and report, it similar to you meeting a strangerfor report, it similar to you meeting a stranger for the same time, you wouldnt want to tell them all about your experiences, your feelings and your experiences, your feelings and your emotions. And of course if you are coming from an experience you are coming from an experience you are having social worker after social worker it has an impact on your ability to see, i guess, your worth to them because she might internalise people moving on is something to do with yourself. Can i turn to the Foster Carers themselves, do you think they are given adequate support and training given adequate support and training given this change in profile or children coming into care . |j given this change in profile or children coming into care . I think theres definitely a need for Additional Support for Foster Carers both with training they receive to deal with complex cases they receive but also the ongoing support that takes place because there are always challenges in children s lives and especially when they are teenagers in Foster Carers need that support. On that note, what effect from your perspective have you seen that multiple moves between homes and social workers has on teenagers . think one of the most difficult things is to maintain relationships and relationships of the golden thread as harmony said. So if a foster child, a looked after child and foster parents are able to maintain those relationships, even after a child has to move forward if they have to move forward on another placement, that is one of the keys, keeping connected will enable that young looked after child to maintain that relationship and also understand how to develop relationships in the future. I think it is very difficult when social workers change regularly and part of that reason is looked after children find it difficult to share yet again whats happened in the past going forward. Is the system not designed forward. Is the system not designed for the changing ages and the changing needs, is that about organisational change, cultural change or about funding . Its both, actually, there arent enough places for older children with that specialist support. The ones that do exist are largely run by the private sector at very high cost so for councils dry to find those specialist places, first of all they are unlikely to find one thats appropriate, its more likely to break down but also, the high cost, its going to drink their budget, one council for actually 20 of the funding goes on ten children. And it leaves not very much for the rest. So actually, for all of those, those issues, its really needs to catch up issues, its really needs to catch up and get to the place we can really address these things. When you hear the government say we have a new National Programme backed up with £2 million of funding, to protect Young Children from being taken advantage of by criminals or gangs and we will reduce the number of out of area placements for children in care, what do you say . say fine, thats great of course, we wouldnt want to be churlish about either of those things however its a much bigger issue than a quick fix for a couple of million pounds. This could be really resolved by government investing in more residential places for older children, charities getting involved and actually at the core of this, giving councils more funding to be able to get the point where they are not allowing children to get into crisis, they are actually preventing that happening in first place. Orion, cani that happening in first place. Orion, can i turn to you, these things are going to be longer term before we see the effects of it, what do you think Foster Carers, social workers, the system can do for people like you when youre that age in care . I think the biggest thing is listen. Half the time young people dont feel they are listened to by professionals, they feel like their voices are going in one ear and out the other and their opinions dont matter. So its very crucial to make sure we are listening to those voices, that we are showing been listened its been acted upon, whether its something that the social worker of foster care it needs to work for the young person but making sure that young person is aware they are listened to all the time and that their opinion is vital within their life. Harmony, your nodding. I would definitely echo that. I feel like when you come into ca re that. I feel like when you come into care you that. I feel like when you come into ca re you are that. I feel like when you come into care you are quite young, i feel like often more times than not decisions are made for you as opposed to having your voice listen to and what you feel like you need actually ta ken into to and what you feel like you need actually taken into consideration. Before we leave you and our guests, added to all of this, of course, the news that an independent inquiry into sexual abuse of children under the care of nottingham city and Nottingham County Councils have found sexualised behaviour by staff was tolerated or overlooked. Whats your reaction . I mean clearly those findings are horrific and those children have suffered dreadfully and that will have an impact on them for life. The scale of it is shocking, absolutely shocking. The fa ct shocking, absolutely shocking. The fact it happened over so many decades. I think this is something which is historic and the care system has changed but we should never forget what happened and should never be complacent. Do you feel children in the care system now and in care homes are safe . feel children in the care system now and in care homes are safe . I think there is a greater awareness now and also the processes now are much more robust, that we can have some confidence in that not taking place however, we should never be complacent and these are very, very vulnerable children, we should always, always be alert to that. The report goes on to say the true scale of what happened could be much higher. The scale is horrific and this is an important inquiry which is looking to really bring this to the fore and also really look at putting the spotlight on organisations to ensure it never happens again. All of you, thank you very much for your time. We appreciate it. Thank you so much for joining us. The Emergency Services are urging people to take extra care after days of heavy rain caused severe flooding in the north west of england. Six flood warnings remain in place this morning. A Major Incident was declared at poynton in cheshire last night, where 11 people had to be rescued. In the yorkshire dales, the army is helping with the clean up after several roads and bridges collapsed. Lets talk to four people in poynton in cheshire, whove all been affected by the floods. First, theres Adam Wainwright who has been described by locals as an absolute hero for using his digger to clear debris from culverts, and prevent homes being flooded. Jackie gittins, who had to put up boards on herfront door to prevent lapping waters coming into her home. And hannah riley who is hoping to get married on saturday, but learnt that the village hall roof has collapsed through the bad weather. Goodness me hannah, can i turn to you first, hoping to get married on saturday. How are you feeling . Feeling pretty good actually, still getting married on saturday. One of the only buildings in the village that hasnt been affected by the flood. Unfortunately the youth hostel where we were having our reception has been damaged but another local village hall is on Higher Ground and has stepped in. We are still getting married, we are definitely getting married. Youre in good spirits which is really good. Let me turn to you, adam, youve been described as an absolute hero, tell us what youve been up to. Good morning. Iwouldnt describe myself as a hero, just doing whats best for the local community, helping out. I certainly wont be taking the credit myself, many teams out there last night helping out with all sorts of different things. We had the opportunity to get the digger out and get it loaded up and get out there, just assess some of the local streams and culverts to see whether they were blocked and try and get some of the water freely flowing. Trying to see if we could get levels down, ready to get the drains back working. We are seeing some of the footage, absolutely horrendous, tell us, what are you being told and advised to do . At the moment, obviously people have got to think of safety first. Lots of people saying different things. Nothing really has been said and set in stone, you may well see behind me the bridge here at the junction in the bridge here at the junction in the words end area, between ponton and adlington. As you can see behind me, theres Main Services are suspended in the area, the water has risen over and physically blown the wall. You know, this is probably the major situation at the moment where safety is concerned, obviously because of the service is behind me, she can see. The road is closed and will be for quite some time. While the gas company, the electra board and everyone like that assesses the damage to see what is needed. Adam, thank you, jackie, can i turn to you . You thank you, jackie, can i turn to you . You put thank you, jackie, can i turn to you . You put boards on your front door to prevent water coming into your home. How are things now and are you getting the information that you need . We are not getting any information. Ive been on the phone to people and im waiting for phone calls to come back. All the water has gone and ive been over to the brick where it spilled over and that level has really dropped. Yes, it was frightening. Never seen it happen before in 54 years ive lived here. Iwas happen before in 54 years ive lived here. I was millimetres away from being flooded, unfortunately my neighbours round the corner, all those houses got flooded. We have been hearing a lot about the spirit of neighbours, people helping each other, we heard about adam. Is that the sense that you are getting, real support . Yet, the community really came together. Adam, you are a hero, you didnt need to do what you did, you didnt need to do what you did, you came out and helped us all and for that we are also grateful. Like isaid, ive for that we are also grateful. Like i said, ive never experienced anything like it. It was very, very frightening. Jackie, im just going to turn to a 70 five year old lady, you have run out of medication, you are hoping your son can help. you have run out of medication, you are hoping your son can help. I take my medication, one in the morning and one at night, if i dont take it, i wouldnt be able to walk, use my last one this morning. What happens if you cant get this medication . What happens, i would be ina lot medication . What happens, i would be in a lot of pain and i would start shaking and my tummy would ache. Like a shaking and my tummy would ache. Likea cramp shaking and my tummy would ache. Like a cramp in my stomach, i would feel very sick at the pain would be very, very bad. Lets hope that someone, your son or very, very bad. Lets hope that someone, your son or somebody else can get that to you. Can i ask you all, are you worried about more rain today . Hannah . Everywhere is muddy, i wont be able to walk. Some of the roads will be open. There will be so much damage. At the minute, there four main roads to get into the village where we are getting married and that connects those communities to everywhere else. One of those is impassable, two of them have come away. Hopefully the weather will improve but theres going to be a lot of work to get those communities back on their feet. Weve been very, very lucky weve been able to have people step in and take our guests m, people step in and take our guests in, 130 people moving to a different wedding venue. Its going to take quite a long time for the village to get back on its feet. We wish you a special day if not the day that you we re special day if not the day that you were expecting. And before we go, adam, cani were expecting. And before we go, adam, can i ask you, flood warnings are still in place. In terms of going forward, what are you hearing and what are you being advised to do and what are you being advised to do and what are you being advised to do and what advice can you offer other people that are clearly in need . Well, its pretty sensible, the advice to be giving out is think of safety. I know some of the videos that have been taken of ourselves la st that have been taken of ourselves last night, we have taken safety into consideration however, youve got to do some of these jobs, get this water flowing. But if you are not familiar with things and coming round, having a look, like the situation behind me now, iwould stay well away. Look at local newspapers, local councils, look on the Online Services to see if theres anything theyre advising you but obviously, the main worry now is whether or not the infrastructure in and around the area can handle any more rainfall. The damage has been done so far, as local businesses, school nurseries, shops, many, many houses have been flooded, lots of people affected, the very is will it happen again. Youve got to go back to this infrastructure, look at it, maintain it, can it cope with it . Can it cope with any more projects that we got on the cards for more development . Personally, i dont think it can, we really need now to have a look at the major, the greater picture of the major, the greater picture of the infrastructure in and around the area. Can it cope . I think last night the answer is no account. Lets hope the right people are listening. To all of you, thank you so much. Take care out there and we wish you all the best. Thank you. Do get in touch with us throughout the morning use the hashtag victoria live. If youre emailing and are happy for us to contact you and maybe want to take part in the Programme Please include your phone number in your message. If you text, youll be charged at the Standard Network rate. Anti semitic attacks in the First Six Months of this year have risen to their highest level on record according to the Community Security trust who track the figures. There were 892 anti semitic incidents from january june, a 10 rise on the same period last year. They ranged from online abuse on social media, which accounted for the highest rise in incidents, to violent physical attacks where victims needed hospital treatment. Lets talk now to Graham Nygate who suffered an anti semitic attack when leaving his synagogue last year, and mark gardner the deputy chief executive of the Community Security trust who compiled this data. Welcome to both of you. Mark, can i turn to you first come at these figures have been rising over a number of years, havent they . They have u nfortu nately. Number of years, havent they . They have unfortunately. Its a phenomenon that we used to see at times. When israel was at war, there would suddenly be a huge spike in anti semitic levels and then things would come back down, that hasnt happened over the last few years. Instead we are seeing dues and anti semitism repeatedly the subject of political and media coverage, thats exciting when you see the anti semites out there. Dues. But i think its important to stress when we see surveys on this, we see three quarters of the incidents dont get reported to anyone. And a particular rise in social media. Social media figure is a huge under estimate. When you are a researcher you would find hundreds and hundreds of cases, we only find the ones reported to the cst. That is included in the statistics. Graham welcome to you. You had first hand experience, tell our audience what happened to you last year. experience, tell our audience what happened to you last year. I had left my synagogue, was walking home, it was the second day of the jewish new year. And i heard a noise, an engine behind me. On the pavement. And i thought it was mobility, i we nt and i thought it was mobility, i went to let them past. It was a person on a small motorbike who hit my leg, turned around to see who it was and what it was, he swore at me. And turned round. Went the way he came. I asked and turned round. Went the way he came. Iasked him and turned round. Went the way he came. I asked him to come back again but he didnt, he just went. So for a few seconds i was in a bit of a shock, what do i do, do i will onto my wife, tell her or do i go back to my wife, tell her or do i go back to my synagogue and try and find the cst guy, which i did. He got onto his mobile and to his people, they reported it to the police i gave a full statement and then a friend of mine came who had been to a different synagogue, it had happened to him as well. The police eventually came the next day. Can i ask, graham, do you feel more intimidated now by these things than you did perhaps years ago . Has it changed how you behave . No. I still go to my synagogue regularly, i still got the same way, i havent changed my lifestyle at all, its not going to stop me doing what i do, it never will, they will never win. And that really is the best that we can do, keep going. Mark, at a time like this perhaps more than ever, we note that language always matters. But when a country is so deeply divided it matters even more, doesnt it . Absolutely. There is no doubt about it, i think we understand anti semitism is something that not only comes against us but as a warning sign as fractures in society and extremism andi fractures in society and extremism and i think everybody should look at the statistics and appreciate what is going on. Do you work with other faith groups to learn lessons or to support each other . We do. As it happens the jewish Community Support each other . We do. As it happens thejewish community has been doing this kind of work for many, been doing this kind of work for any been doing this kind of work for many, many years, we have a lot of experience, other faith communities and other minority groups, they are basically beating down the door to get knowledge from us and we are very happy to give that. A few years ago we helped an anti muslim hate Crime Organisation get established and learn from how we do our work and learn from how we do our work and now we are expanding that, explaining how we do security, so working with churches, mosques, within the temples and other faith organisations. We talked about the rise in online crimes, do you think tech companies, governments, more work needs to be done on that . More work needs to be done on that . More work needs to be done to take people from those platforms when they tra nsg ress from those platforms when they transgress but this is how people communicate, some people like to say, its not real racism because its only on your phone but you know what was to more people live their lives through their phone and what happened to graham was awful and it was random and that has a horrible aspect to it, what happens to you on your phone is directed to you as a person, you have a permanent record and you might actually show it to friends and family so the impact multiplies again and again. Both forms of hate crime are really serious. Graham, from your personal point of view, in your own friends, family and community, what is the feeling because sometimes statistics tell us one thing but actually its about how people feel as well . As i said, the feeling is, you have to be aware but we carry on with our lives, its not going to stop us doing what we do. It mustnt. And thats the message you want to hear, isnt it . Absolutely, we do our work to can facilitatejewish lives so Jewish Society can go about its activities, thats what its about, and fighting back against this racism. Thank you both, graham and mark, graham for sharing your experiences mark for sharing more light on those experiences and lets hope they go down and not up. Thank you. Just to say, many of you have beenin you. Just to say, many of you have been in touch following the discussion on the state of the care system. Evelyn on e mail says shes 74 and was brought up in care in the age of two. Thats something we heard from our guests in the studio. The cuts in funding havent helped because Vital Services have been axed, labour mp emma says we need a full, holistic ca re emma says we need a full, Holistic Care review, the system is long past crisis levels. And another this month marks 400 years since the first of more than 12 million african slaves arrived in britains colonies in north america. These men, women and children were often forced to work in appalling conditions across the continent, making other people rich off their labour. The issue of reparations for slavery has become a major topic in the race to become the democratic nominee for next years us president ial election, with various candidates supporting plans for the Us Government to compensate the ancestors of slaves. On this side of the atlantic, a group of protesters will descend on westminster later to call on british politicians to take action here. Lets talk to Esther Stanford xosei from the afrikan emancipation day reparations march committee, who is one of the organisers of todays march, and dr alan mendoza executive director of the Henry Jackson society. Im just going to wander over to you both, thank you both for coming in. We know this is being discussed in the us. What are your feelings about it . Its long overdue. In fact, the movement for african reparations has a long history here in the uk. Going back to the mid 1700s but our voices are being denied and that is the problem. So there isjust are being denied and that is the problem. So there is just as are being denied and that is the problem. So there isjust as much reparations call from people of African Heritage here in the uk as there is in the United States of america. You are saying we are not discussing it here and actually, they are having the debate over there. In fact, there is a denial of there. In fact, there is a denial of the calls here, there is a denial of the calls here, there is a denial of the International Social movement for african reparations. There is a denial even of the african reparations march that we have every emancipation day which is the 1st of august, today. I know you will be marching later. Tell us what it is you want to achieve from that. The main thing is about exposing the fa ct main thing is about exposing the fact that we will not let the British State and continuing perpetrators get away with historic and contemporary crimes against African People. The notion of reparations for slavery is where it began but of what we focus on in the immediate is actually on whats happening to us today. As African People and people of african descent. So the main cause that we are championing is actually when we hand in something called that means african holocaust in swahili, thats calling for an all Party Parliamentary commission of inquiry for truth and preparatoryjustice. In all parliamentary inquiry. Doctor mendoza, might not have the debate here . I think we are having the debate, firstly can i say i admire your passion greatly for the subject and the very fact you are having the debate today and having the debate with a march, a protest outside Parliament Shows there is no coercive power of the state to stop discussing this issue. I think the challenge is if you want to make this into a bigger issue you have to identify what you are trying to achieve better. I noted, for example, you appear to be saying the British State today is an oppressor. Absolutely. We have evidence of that, for instance, theres lots of research that has been done even by western ngo s, britain nuchal loneliness, done in 2016, that spoke about the fact 121 companies registered on the Stock Exchange facilitated by the British Government are continuing to live the resources of africa. Let allen answer. I think there are separate questions, the first is a historic questions, the first is a historic question of slavery which was resolved in the british case having been this labours initially, to move into the abolition of slavery. have to apologise, we are going to have to apologise, we are going to have to apologise, we are going to have to leave it there we can continue after the programme, thats it from us, thanks so much for your company. Goodbye. Good morning. Fewer showers to come but there are some showers in the forecast and when they formed they could be quite heavy. The bigger chance of seeing some quite hefty showers today through north west scotland, northern england, parts of the and east anglia, we could see a large amount of rainfall in a short space of time, good spells of sunshine around as we move through the day and where we are in the sunshine, feeling pleasant with highs of 25 degrees. Through this evening, the showers continuing for a time, they tend to fade away, good deal of dry weather overnight with one or two showers for parts of scotla nd one or two showers for parts of scotland and eastern areas lingering into the early hours. Temperature is quite similar to last night, low to mid teens, one or two patches of mr fog forming, lifting quickly tomorrow, dry weather to begin the day, sunshine and patchy cloud. The sunshine triggering sharp showers as we move through the day, temperatures are fairly similar to what we look at today, a maximum in the south east of 25 degrees. Youre watching bbc newsroom live its11am and these are the main stories this morning an extra 2 billion for a possible no deal brexit labour says its an appalling waste of taxpayers money. Flood warnings are still in place across yorkshire and the north west of england, after heavy rain caused damage to buildings, roads and rail lines. Research finds the number of teenagers in care is rising and the system in england is struggling to cope. The bank of england is to announce its latest Interest Rates decision shortly. In cricket day one of the ashes is getting under way. Australia won the toss and england will bowl first. Havent