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Nigel farage says he wants an Election Alliance between his brexit party and the conservatives, as President Trump gets involved to encourage the idea of farage and the pm joining forces i would like to see you and boris get together because you would really have some numbers. I wish you two guys could get together it could be a great thing. A year after the law changed to allow nhs doctors to prescribe Medicinal Cannabis, we hear from many families who still struggle to get it. We take a look at what happens in the netherlands, where the drug is legal recreationally, and yet patients cant get it as a medicine. It is there and doctors can get it, so. Knock on every door, never give up, because its your child. Hello, welcome to the programme. Were live until 11 this morning. Do get in touch on all the stories were talking about use the hashtag victoria live. Frank has already been in touch about our item on atus you would not incarcerate someone with a broken leg so why lock up someone with a broken brain. As the father of a 30 year old autistic son it has been a long journey of understanding. What may seem normal to us, can fill an autistic child with dread. We were lucky that we had expert help when our son was younger, and continue to get great support, but it has all been founded in providing a settled consistent routine at home. You will understand our incredulity and anger at witnessing the appalling treatment which is thought suitable to deal with not treat these children. Children must be re united with the only security they first knew ie their parents. A platform can then be built on by support networks all focused on the home. Frank, thank you for that e mail. That report is very upsetting but worth watching, its coming up shortly, so stay with us. First of all, Anita Mcveigh has the news. Thank you, good morning everyone. A Parliamentary Committee has found that many young people with autism or learning disabilities are being denied their human rights in Mental Health hospitals across england. Thejoint committee on human rights say many youngsters are being detained inappropriately. Theyre calling for changes to the Mental Health act to provide more protection for them. Nigel farage has called on the conservatives to form an election pact with his brexit party. Speaking on lbc, mr farage said the two parties need to form an alliance, but refused to comment on speculation that his party would field fewer candidates, to give Boris Johnson a better chance of winning the election next month. A 12 Year Old Girl has been hit by a car while trick or treating in liverpool. Police believe the vehicle involved was shot at prior to the collision in the croxteth area of the city at around 7 50pm yesterday evening. This the girl was taken to hospital with serious but not life threatening injuries, while the driver was treated forfacial injuries. Mps have criticised the Whirlpool Group for the time its taken to deal with potentially dangerous tumble dryers that have been linked to a spate of fires. The Business Select Committee also said it was disgraceful that several customers whod been the victim of fires had been made to sign non disclosure agreements. Victims of the contaminated blood scandal have written to the Prime Minister asking for an urgent meeting to discuss Financial Support. Its thought tens of thousands were infected with hiv and hepatitis c after being given blood products on the nhs in the 1970s and 80s. Campaigners say some families have struggled to make ends meet after losing loved ones, or being forced to give up work to care for their relatives. A legal loophole thats enabled some drivers to escape prosecution for holding a mobile phone while driving is to be closed by the government. Under the existing rules, lawyers have been able to argue that filming, taking photos or browsing the internet isnt illegal because the phone isnt being used for interactive communication. One person has died and at least 15 others have been injured in a crash between two buses and a car in south east london. Police and emergency crews were called to the scene at sevenoaks road in orpington just after 10pm last night. The male driver of the car has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. Thatis that is a summary of our main news, back to you, joanna. Thank you. Human rights of many young people with a learning disability and or autism are being breached in Mental Health hospitals. We must not look away. Thats the damming finding of a group of mps on thejoint committee on human rights. Facilities where people with learning disabilities and or autism are detained are often referred to as assessment and treatment units, atus. The report found that young people in them are being treated with long periods of isolation, restraints, and a lack of access at times to Urgent Medical care. The mps want an overhaul of Mental Health legislation in order to stop the practice. Atus have long been a source of controversy and this programme covered the story many times. Weve spoken on a number of occasions to the families of people detained in them. This footage, given exclusively to our programme, which weve shown in the past, gives us a glimpse into the practice of seclusion, in which a patient is isolated in a separate room. We can now reveal that the man in this footage is our next guest, jeremy and his daughter bethany. Shes not in that unit now but has moved to a different secure facility in wales. So, jeremy, your daughter bethany was detained under the Mental Health act at the age ofjust was detained under the Mental Health act at the age of just 15. Was detained under the Mental Health act at the age ofjust 15. You took act at the age ofjust15. You took nhs providers to court over her treatment in northampton and they did accept the treatment was not up to standard and a review has been ordered. She is now in a secure facility in wales, where i know you say it is worse than it has ever been. It must have been a terrible few years for you and your family and were just going to start when we to you by looking at some really distressing footage of your daughter ina distressing footage of your daughter in a facility and the only way that you can actually have physical contact with her is through a little hatch in the door. Just tell us what we are looking at. You are looking at my daughter living in a seclusion room. The seclusion room is designed to hold people for short periods of time in a distressed state. Bethany was locked in that room for excess of two years, with hardly any access to therapeutic intervention of the support she needs with her, part of the autistic spectrum. When i had contact with my daughter, i would kneel down at that hatch. I could hold her hand, i could stroke her chin, i could kiss her goodbye on her cheek. That was the level of contact her cheek. That was the level of co nta ct i her cheek. That was the level of contact i was allowed. It is absolutely devastating, jeremy, to hear you describe that and to hear what you have obviously been through. Tell us about her and her needs and how it was she ended up her needs and how it was she ended up there at the age of 15. Yes, bethany is part of the autistic spectrum and that means she has very high levels of anxiety. So, imagine asa high levels of anxiety. So, imagine as a female, you are in a multistorey car park late at night, suddenly the lights go out and you hear footsteps behind you. Suddenly the lights go out and you hearfootsteps behind you. You suddenly the lights go out and you hear footsteps behind you. You are alone. That level of anxiety is bethanys alone. That level of anxiety is betha nys background level of anxiety every day. The slightest thing that is out of the normal come out of the routine that challenges her, triggers the human basic instincts to either flight or fight. Bethany can become challenging. Supported properly, with people who understand her anxiety driven behaviours, they remove the anxiety, they remove the triggers and bethany can stay in a very calm, settled manner. Putting bethany in a cell, where the lighting is incredibly bright all the time, where you can hear screams and crying of other distressed patients, is mental torture, and its great to see this is reflected in the report out today, the abuse of the human rights that is taking place in these places. How is she now . Bethany is in an even worse institution than the one at st andrews. Beth was moved from st andrews. Beth was moved from st andrews to a very small unit in staffordshire. That unit had the right level of support, they had knowledgeable staff and within just weeks, bethany was out in the community. She wasnt in seclusion, she was in a ward, in her own bedroom, we could take the family pets and take her out for a walk. She was doing so well, so, so well and that was acknowledged by the commissioners responsible for her care. She turned 18 so she couldnt stay in an adolescent unit. We expected a move to a proper environment that reflected how well she had progressed. Instead of that, they placed her in a unit in wales that has no autism provision whatsoever, and once again, my daughter is locked up, in a cell that does not even have a hatch. I cannot even hold her hand. It is horrific. She is falling apart in there. I read some really upsetting detail of what happens when it is time to give her her meals. Can you describe that . It is horrendous. Ive seen it. Bethany is told to move to the far end of the room, behind a line. She has to sit on the floor. Three members of staff come into the corridor outside. Almost as if they are expecting beth to explode out of the door like a wild animal. At that point, the door is opened, the food is slid inside and they shut the door again. Its. This is slid inside and they shut the dooragain. Its. This is happening now, in the uk. Bethany should not be in institutional care. The Mental Health act says that people with autism and learning disabilities will not have their needs met in locked institutional care. It is cruel. Can you see her getting out . What are your rights, what are her rights, what are the options . The best thing that ever happened at st andrews is they did a piece of work that describes exactly what bethany needs to function and be supported in the community. It is a bespoke team of staff, in a unit that gives access to the things that remove her anxiety triggers. Things like animals, things like lots of open space. Things like sensory support. That piece of work has been done. They have not commissioned that piece of work yet. Part of the legal action that we took against nhs england and the other respondents has actually forced them to begin that piece of work now. But to begin that piece of work now. But to create that environment, we are being told is two or two and a half yea rs being told is two or two and a half years away. That is ridiculous. It is wrong. There are organisations out there now that are coming forward to the commission is to say, we can support beth. The commissioners are not responding to them at this moment. In the meantime, you cannot see or touch your daughter . Ican touch your daughter . I can see my daughter through a perspex window. I havent touched her in weeks. I have not held her hand. She phoned me the other night. To phone her, the phone is placed on the floor at the bottom of the door and she has to lie on the floor and talk to me and at the door. When we we re talk to me and at the door. When we were having that phone conversation, she asked me if i could find her some dolls that smelt like real babies, that looks like real babies, because she is lonely. That broke my heart, completely broke my heart. Karen, i suspect this is breaking everyones hearts listening to this. How do you respond to this . Im everyones hearts listening to this. How do you respond to this . Im very grateful for the powerful evidence that we heard about that bethany case. It was not the only one. The committee took evidence from parents and from young people themselves about the experience of being detained, in some cases in seclusion, which is basically solitary confinement and perceived as such, and sometimes subject to physical restraint. We concluded that there was abuse of human rights arising as a consequence of the way the system is working. What we know is there are around 2200 people in institutions. A third of those people are being, they are in inpatient care, even though their ca re inpatient care, even though their care plans say they dont need inpatient care. So one of the absolute priorities for is to pick up absolute priorities for is to pick up on the need for commissioning services and support in the community, that prevent people getting to the point of crisis, which then leads to institutional care, often far from which then leads to institutional care, often farfrom home, which then leads to institutional care, often far from home, that triggers the kind of challenging behaviour that ends up spiralling further and further and further out of control. Alexis, you have been there yourself. You are out the other side, thankfully. Your history is you have a first class degree from edinburgh. Youd been teaching for ten years. You ahead of a department, you had a good career, brother died. It impacted on your Mental Health and i know you have autism and that made it more complicated to deal with. So, in 2014 you are sectioned into one of these assessment and treatment units and were there until may 2015, what was it like for you . First of all, i just want to say that my Mental Health hadnt deteriorated, it was actually my autism, which wasnt being appropriately supported in the community. This is a pattern which has come out in this report. It is a consistent pattern, that people are not supported in the community, it is not there. I ended up being locked away for three and a half years. And the only reason, the only reason, you asked jeremy how he can see beth getting out, the only reason i managed to get out is because i literally escaped. I was subject. It was torturous. Just being locked in a unit, with that sensory being locked in a unit, with that sensory stimulation. Just being out of my familiar. Without my family, without my familiar surroundings. Not at work, not being a part of the community. Im so pleased that the report has highlighted these long term impacts. I managed to fill an entire book with incidents of torture. It was often tortuous. I was locked in seclusion, i was kept in segregation, i was restrained 97 times. My book is called and broken for a reason because although i am unbroken, im very, very traumatised and that is something that those 2200, 500, however many it is people are going to be traumatised by what has happened to them. You are so articulate. You are bright. How did this happen to you . Well, when my autism, lets say symptoms really take over, im not articulate, im not able to speak how im talking to you now. When im in sensory overload, i actually go mute and do this repetitively. As jeremy said, that can look threatening. But if it is managed, if itsjust threatening. But if it is managed, if its just managed, threatening. But if it is managed, if itsjust managed, if people just have an understanding of autism, if people are supported in a way that these reports kind of commission forced my personal report, bethanys report, these thousands of peoples reports, if we just read those and we know how to support, then im sure that a lot of people will be doing perfectly well and happy in their communities. Karen, im struggling to understand, as im sure many, many people are, why it is that this isnt understood. It is 2019, this was happening in 2012, it is happening with beth right now. There is a lot more understanding about autism and about the needs of people who have it. Yes. How does it happen . The costs fall in a different part of the service. The National Health service will have to be paying tens of thousands of pounds a month for supporting people in an institutional setting, but it will be local clinic clinical groups that would be commissioning the community services. So their interest is not to spend, understandably. The money is being spent, just in different. My care was 2. 5 million. I needed nearly £5,000, sorry to interrupt. 2. 5 million and i needed may be £5,000. Surely this can be sorted out. £5,000 worth of good therapy. Your brother has died, lets address how you are feeling about your brother dying not locking me up for three and a half years sol dying not locking me up for three and a half years so i have to escape. Jeremy, in terms of the cast, i dont know if you know how much it will have cost for beth to have had this treatment in this period of time. £730,000 a year, in excess period of time. £730,000 a year, in excess of £2 million in three years. We were told by a local Authority Officer before they placed beth into National Health service funded beds, and the wording used was, frankly the local authority will be glad of the local authority will be glad of the break of paying for your daughters care. They dont want to pay this. That money is being spent. The money needs follow the person with the need and not to sit in these different silos and arguments over who is going to have access to that money and spending it. We have been reporting on this story on this programme. Now it has had the spotlight shone on it with your report. Do you have confidence that something will change . The committee did not have confidence because that is why we produce what i think its pretty damning report. We lack confidence in pretty well every level of the system. But confidence and hope are two different things. 0ne and hope are two different things. One has to hope that the investigation we have done, coming on top of so many other inquiries, will actually force a change. Weve made a numberof will actually force a change. Weve made a number of very, very tough recommendations, some political, that says it has to go to number 10. It has to be driven by the centre of government. A number of legal changes to the Mental Health act, the duties placed at a local level, in terms of commissioning services, changes to the way the regulator works. It goes from a political direction right through to a number of very specific changes in practice. Thank you all very much indeed for your time this morning, thank you. It is tough, isnt it, to watch that . Lots of reaction from you on social media. 0ne it, to watch that . Lots of reaction from you on social media. One on social media says truly shocked by this young girl held in isolation for these years. Even a murderer isnt treated like that. That poor father and girl. Surely this is breaching basic human rights. An anonymous e mail, these sorts of treatments are getting worse these days. I got transferred to an emergency accommodation because of my epilepsy and depression in september this year. The emergency accommodation i got placed in is one where visitors are not allowed after ten bm. As i live alone, when i have epileptic attacks, family members and friends cannot reach me on the phone, i could easily die. Thank you for those comments and do keep on getting in touch if you have had experience of that at all. We mentioned earlier st andrews healthcare and nhs england have accepted that the care provided to bethany did not always comply with the Mental Health act code of practice and the nice guidelines on managing violence and aggression. They acknowledge, this affected her wellbeing and made it harderfor her to return to live in the community. Walsall council and Clinical Commissioning Group admitted that there were unfortunate delays in moving bethany from what became an unsuitable placement for her. And in response to the mps report today, the dept of health say they will consider the recommendations carefully. They say, where people do require inpatient care it must be of the highest quality, close to home and for the shortest possible time. And if youve been affected by issues in this discussion, there is a range of organisations and websites that can offer you advice and support. You can find them listed on the bbcs actionline website at bbc. Co. Uk actionline. Still to come. Its been a year since the law changed to permit nhs doctors to prescribe medical cannabis, so why are british families with serious medical conditions travelling to the netherlands to get hold of the drug . And, in a letter seen by this programme campaigners say some families affected by the contaminated blood scandal have been left struggling to make ends meet theyve written to the pm for financial help its a year to the day since the law in england, scotland and wales changed to allow nhs doctors to prescribe Medicinal Cannabis under strict conditions. This programme has already heard from many british families who have struggled to get gps to prescribe it, and who often travel to the netherlands to access the drug, but they are not alone. Families in the netherlands, where cannabis is legal for recreational use, who want to access the drug for medicinal reasons, are also being denied the drug. Their medical Insurance Companies say its benefits are scientifically unproven. Anna holligan has been to meet some of these families, and the pharmacist who is trying to help them. The netherlands is synonymous with its cannabis cafe culture. You can buy small amounts of the drug for personal use only in coffee shops just like these rights across the country. But the thing is, its mostly illegal to actually grow cannabis here, which means the drugs you buy in these cannabis cafes are entirely unregulated. And you have no way of knowing where or how this cannabis was cultivated. This is the exception a Legal Cannabis farm regulated by the dutch government. Here, scientists grow and harvest the plants. This rigorously controlled environment enables the government to monitor the quality of cannabis sold for medicinal purposes. Now, those ingredients are used by a few pharmacies here in the netherlands to produce this Medicinal Cannabis. So, its available here. But the issue for dutch patients is the price. A months supply of this costs around £1500. Now, everyone has mandatory health insurance, but the Insurance Companies have been refusing to pay out on the basis that the benefits of Medicinal Cannabis are still scientifically unproven. Marion fisher says she needs the cannabis oil for herself and her daughterjackie, to prevent their epileptic seizures. Her doctor told her it was a fad and refused to write a prescription, so shes resorted to producing her own. You would make the oil from the plants out here . Yeah. I wont do it inside because you put the plants inside. Right. Is this legal . No, its not. I think they consider cannabis oil as hard drugs. When you have jackie, who is eight here, and youre mixing hard drugs on the table, as a parent, does that make you feel guilty . Uncomfortable. Uncomfortable . Uncomfortable, but i always have to go back to what you feel, and you know that its good, you know, that it is. But i dont do it because of the alcohol when shes at home. Right. Marion first tried Medicinal Cannabis after getting Breast Cancer to relieve the side effects of the chemotherapy. The first drop i took, it took two or three seconds and the feeling above my eyes went away and i could read for the first time in 17 years. So i was like. Yeah, i was amazed. So it brings freedom in a scale that you cant imagine. You were afraid that she was going to develop the same level of epilepsy as you had. What was the. . What happened . Well, the first time she got a seizure, we were afraid we almost lost her. I gave her cbd oil. The type that doesnt contain thc. I think within a few seconds, she woke up. So, for me, its the perfect medicine. Cannabis plants contain over 100 active chemicals known as cannabinoids. Each has a different effect on the body. Most are found in the flower, rather than the leaves. Two important compounds include thc, which is psychoactive, or mind altering. This generates the high sought by recreational users. And cbd, which isnt psychoactive. Both compounds are used in medicines. Legally in the uk, these cannabis based medicines can be prescribed for children with rare severe forms of epilepsy and adults suffering from nausea caused by chemotherapy or muscle stiffness associated with multiple sclerosis. Nhs guidance for doctors in england says Medicinal Cannabis can be prescribed only when clear published evidence of its benefits exist and other Treatment Options have been exhausted. Arwin ramcharan was the first pharmacist in the netherlands to stock Medicinal Cannabis at the dutch governments request. He thinks theres still a taboo about prescribing what some doctors consider a recreational hippie drug. To combat that, he is preparing to carry out the First Official trials in this country he hopes will challenge any prejudices with scientific evidence. And if its regulated, the Insurance Companies, will be more likely to pay out. If it is helping the patient, then and thats a win for both sides. Arwin supplies 12 british families with Medicinal Cannabis, Anthony Clary comes to the netherlands every month to collect it for his daughter, indy rose. He and his partner taneen wanted to share these videos of indy rose suffering from seizures and panic attacks to show the difference before and after she took cannabis oil that contains a small amount of thc. Basically, the nhs wont prescribe us the product that we need. The fact that i have to, like you say, go back into my own country feeling like a criminal for doing the job of what i thought english doctors should be doing as a paediatrician paid for by the nhs, but yet im having to do theirjob for them. If you could see the improvement in her as opposed to being a zombie on pharmaceuticals and then going to hospital worrying about her dying in front of us, to giving her a tiny bit of thc with her cbd and watching her enjoy life and not be in hospital, im willing to take that risk. A spokesperson for the department of health told this programme, we sympathise with those families dealing so courageously the dutch government has a dedicated department of Medicinal Cannabis. They advise dutch doctors to experiment with the drug, but they cant influence the Insurance Companies policy. In the netherlands, it is available in the pharmacy, so its up to the physician to prescribe it. The Insurance Companies do not reimburse it in general because they say we need more therapeutic evidence, more Clinical Data from clinical studies which show that it has an effect. For one dutch family, theres been a breakthrough. Meril klassens son noah was having hundreds of seizures a month. She discovers cannabis oil that contains thc and is adamant it almost entirely stopped them. But she couldnt afford to keep on buying it. And after months of battling with the support of her neurologist, the highest dutch medical commission ruled the Insurance Company must reimburse her. She speaks dutch. You can remember what it was like before. Yeah. She speaks dutch. You never want to go back to there. Nee. I would like to say start looking at the people and stop looking at the money. Its coming from your heart thats what i guess. This is, really, all the families want a normal life and free access to the only drug which, in their experience, can guarantee this. So the trials here in the netherlands start in 2020 and then it will be up to the Insurance Companies and the people with the power to prescribe to decide whether to accept the evidence. It is there and doctors can get it. So, knock on every door. Nevergive up, because its your child. Now, lets talk with karen grey, whose seven year old son, murray, suffers from a rare form of epilepsy called doose syndrome. It caused her son to have around 600 seizures a day before he started taking Medicinal Cannabis oil which contains thc. He thank you for coming in. We were hearing about the difficulties around the evidence and the impact thatis around the evidence and the impact that is having on prescribing. Tell us that is having on prescribing. Tell us the impact that your son having cannabis oil has meant. Last year we we re cannabis oil has meant. Last year we were constantly in hospital, co nsta ntly were constantly in hospital, constantly phoning ambulances, he has been on every drug, he gained two stone in weight because of steroids, nothing would stop the seizures, and now he is on the Medicinal Cannabis it is life changing and he has not had a seizure in five months. He is back at Mainstream School full enjoying life. There are many people like you who describe the impact you have seen and i get on it is the case that it seen and i get on it is the case thatitis seen and i get on it is the case that it is almost impossible to get on nhs prescription. Have you tried to get on nhs prescription . Yes. We cant get one. There is blocks everywhere. It is a joke. We are all fundraising, lots of parents are fund raising, to pay for this medicine and they will not cover that. They neurologists want to prescribe it but are being blocked down south but in scotland the neurologists will not prescribe it. You went to the gp and what happened . Yeah, my neurologist will not do it, basically. There have been no trials, he says, but its very difficult. You have been knocking on lots of doors and met the health secretary. What happened . He told us all to our faces that he knew we could not wait several months and he would help us and it has been seven or eight months and he has done nothing to help us. We are still having to fund raise. You are still having to fund raise. You are getting hold of Medicinal Cannabis oil for your son. How difficult is it . At first i went over to holland and brought it back illegally and now an important as bringing it in at cost price but before it was terrible. Now it is easier but we are still having to fund it and find £1300 a month to pay for it. How much have you spent . Thousands. It is ridiculous. Marie is going to get this medicine anyway regardless of the neurologists should prescribe it for him and it would take the burden of us. The trust should honour it. The situation is the sticking points around the evidence. I will read to around the evidence. I will read to a statement from the department of health and social care. We sympathise with those families dealing so courageously with challenging conditions. The change in the law allows specialist doctors to prescribe cannabis for medical use where appropriate. We are working hard with the health system, industry and researchers to improve the Knowledge Base available. How did you react to that and the fact it is again a game since it became available on the nhs . There is lots of worldwide evidence. We do not have to start again. We can look abroad for it. It has been a year. The government could be doing more. They decriminalised cannabis oil. But they have not done enough. They have not put out training. Doctors have not put out training. Doctors have not put out training. Doctors have not had training. Nobody knows what is happening and more needs to be done. They need to give us funding for everybody on cannabis products. It would even be better to allow your gps to prescribe this because everybody plays like gp that i know would write a prescription for them and for their child so it would make things simpler fragility, gp to be able to prescribe it. How many other parents are given touch with in the same boat . There are about 18 of us, more than that. One mum is having to sell her house to pay for the medicine. If i stop giving murray this medicine he will end up back in hospital having hundreds of seizures a day. I cannot do that to happen so i have no choice. Are you managing to get that 1300 a month to fundraising . choice. Are you managing to get that 1300 a month to fundraising . I am but i should not have to. The Health Department should be paying for this. Heading into an election, nothing is going to happen in terms of the things you are suggesting for some time, brexit has been taking all of the oxygen around what is going on in the world of politics. Yes. Its ridiculous. The general election starts tuesday so the government have got until tuesday to give us funding and to do something about this. Thank you. Lots of you are getting in touch with us following those very moving interview is when i spoke tojeremy who is the father of beth who is currently in a unit where he is unable to see her because she is there for autism treatment. Lots of you getting in touch. 0ne anonymous text says watching the report was terrifying. As someone who has had issues in the past the thought of ending up somewhere like that would fill me with dread. Another person says i am appalled and disgusted by bethanys treatment says i am appalled and disgusted by betha nys treatment and says i am appalled and disgusted by bethanys treatment and sorry for what her and her family bethanys treatment and sorry for what her and herfamily are going through. I have always been proud of her country other country but i am wondering what country we live in. Someone says the story has brought me to tears. How can any person be treated like that . Even prisoners get treated better than that. Fred says i have autism and i am 19 and it is hard for us to communicate with different people. It feels we have to put on a mask to show we are happy but inside we feel different. They need training in the community and in hospital to understand learning difficulties instead of being judged all the time by different people instead of all of us being in hiding. I am glad they are changing the human rights abuse of people with learning difficulties have equal human rights within the community and hospital. Thank you for those comments. Donald trump and the leader of the Brexit Party Nigel farage here they are when they met at trump tower in november 2016, when mr farage became the first british politician to meet the us president after his election. Mr farage emerged saying this is a man with whom we can do business. Since then the two have become the best of friends and yesterday evening we had the unprecedented spectacle of a us president interfering in a British Election campaign when he spoke to nigel farage on his lbc radio show. Id like to see you and boris get together, because you would really have some numbers, because you did fantastically in the election, in the last election. Absolutely. He respects you a lot, i can tell you that, he respects you a lot. I dont know if you know that or not because i have no idea, i have enough to do over here without having to worry. You do. About the psychology of you two brilliant people over there, frankly. Well, if he drops the deal. He has a lot of respect and like for you. Ijust wish you two guys could get together. To be honest with you, this deal, under certain aspects of the deal, you cant do it. No. You cant do it, you cant trade. Well. We cant make a trade deal with the uk and. Because i think we can do many times the numbers that were doing right now, and certainly much bigger numbers than youre doing under the european union. Well, im like you, im like you. Boris wants to be very careful with that. Nigel farage has spoken again, saying that there is a need for an alliance between the brexit party and the conservatives i run a very tight ship we dont leak. I will reveal all later on today, but i assure you that most of what i say will be about boris deal and the need, in my view, for some kind of brexit alliance. 0ur Political Correspondent nick eardly is in westminster. He is officially launching the Election Campaign and have another at 11am. He wants an election pact. Tell us about that and how many candidates he might field. Nigel farage is sent to Boris Johnson you dont stand against us in some seats perhaps in the north of england where the brexit party thinks it can do quite well and then return we will stand against you and those other life supporting seats where outstanding would potentially ta ke votes where outstanding would potentially take votes away from you and make you more vulnerable. It is something nigel farage has been saying for some time. It is definitely useful that the us president has got on board. The conservatives have been relu cta nt to board. The conservatives have been reluctant to go down that route. A couple flirted with the idea but borisjohnson has always said absolutely not, we are the pro brexit party and we are going to try to hoover up all those labour supporters. We will hear from to hoover up all those labour supporters. We will hearfrom nigel farage in the next hour or so repeating that call but i dont think borisjohnson repeating that call but i dont think Boris Johnson is repeating that call but i dont think borisjohnson is going to take him up on it. The big question is what the brexit party does. Does it stand around the country as it has been saying it will do or does it concentrate on key seats . What about the intervention from donald trump . Will it make much difference . Does it help . Does it hinder . It is sometimes hard to tell with his intervention is what he means i suppose. It was interesting that President Trump suggested that the brexit deal that the government has negotiated might hamper the ability to do trade deals with the us. But as cannon fodder for the brexit party. They can go out on the doorstep and said the deal is not true brexit because as you heard from the president of the United States it undermines the chances of doing a trade deal. The us presidency and you should do a deal with borisjohnson, you guys would be an Unstoppable Force if you work together, no doubt good for nigel farage and his public persona, whether it actually makes a difference in this general election, not so sure. That News Conference will be at 11am when nigel farage will be at 11am when nigel farage will outline the brexit partys strategy. Calculations will be being made by the tories. Who would stand to gain most . For the brexit party this is about the fact they are much less strong in the polls than they were earlier this year so back in may they were getting about 23 of the vote and at that stage nigel farage might have fancied his chances in every constituency but yesterday a poll came out saying they were down on 7 . Borisjohnson has done well at stealing Nigel Farages thunder and being the person who is most likely to deliver brexit and nigel farage in the brexit party are thinking they would be better concentrating their root resources ina concentrating their root resources in a small number of seats they can win. Bearing that in mind that you expect there to be no appetite within the tory party for a pact . Expect there to be no appetite within the tory party for a pact7m isa within the tory party for a pact7m is a difficult calculation for the conservatives. There are a lot of seats, like stoke on trent, where of the brexit party take 600 lay voters away from the conservatives labour get in because they are only 600 votes behind did that seat and there are votes behind did that seat and there a re lots of votes behind did that seat and there are lots of seats like that. The daily mail said today there are maybe 90 of them. That means there isa maybe 90 of them. That means there is a real calculation for the conservative party. Have we done enough to see the work that brexit vote or do we have to make that pact so that we can make sure that that leave vote is not splitting those critical marginals . It has been said many times and will be said many times more, it is going to be such an unpredictable campaign. Because of the fragmentation. It is remain and leave. That is right and if you look at some of these seats where if there were a pact may be the conservatives would back off unlike the brexit have a free run it is seats like ashfield or maybe don valley, places in the north which are very valley, places in the north which are very strongly labour but also strongly leave and the calculation there is maybe these people who cannot bring themselves to vote for the conservative they might vote for the conservative they might vote for the brexit party so it is very unpredictable all over the country. Its just under six weeks until the general election and if youre unsure how to register to vote, you can find out how by visiting our website at bbc. Co. Uk news or on the bbc news app. Victims of the contaminated blood scandal have written to the Prime Minister asking for an urgent meeting to discuss Financial Support. Its thought tens of thousands were infected with hiv and hepatitis c after being given blood products on the nhs in the 1970s and 80s. In a letter seen by this programme, campaigners say some families have been left struggling to make ends meet after losing loved ones or being forced to give up work to care for their relatives. This all comes on the final day of the first stage of a major Public Inquiry into the scandal. 0ur reporterjim reed has been following all this and is here now. So, this all goes back to the 1970s and 80s. The scandal affected two groups of people. First, those with haemophilia. Thousands including many children were given a drug called factor viii to help them live normal lives. That drug was imported from the United States. In many cases, it was later found to be contaminated with viruses hiv and hepatitis c. Its thought around 3,000 haemophiliacs have died as a result, others left in very poor health. There is also a second group affected those who were given blood transfusions after an operation or childbirth. And tell us more about this letter to the Prime Minister. 0n the day the inquiry started, the man in charge of the inquiry a retired judge called sir Brian Langstaff said how some families had lost everything and had to live on the breadline. He asked the government to take Decisive Action as he put it to increase levels of Financial Support. This is not compensation, support to allow people to lead better lives. In april this year those infected with hiv and hep c in england, for example, have seen an increase in those payments. But campaigners say that has not gone far enough. Theyve written to borisjohnson asking for an urgent meeting to discuss all this. In particular, they are worried about payments to widows and bereaved relatives. And here, there are large disparities across the uk. For example, the widow of someone infected in an english hospital would receive a one off payment of around £10,000 plus £1,500 a month in discretionary payments so they are means tested. Someone infected in a scottish hospital would receive £27,250 every year. Some of the payments in wales and Northern Ireland are even smaller. What does the government say about this . Well, the government in westminster says the minister in charge of all this has now written to some of the Campaign Groups offering to meet them to discuss this problem. In a statement a spokesman said we are working with the devolved administrations so that we can meet our commitment to guarantee equal support for all those infected and affected across the uk. We plan to consult on this and understand that this is an important issue for those affected. Interestingly, we also heard back from the department of health in Northern Ireland who said when some of the Financial Support was increased in england no more resources were made available to Northern Ireland for them to do the same thing. There are disparities across the uk which are making things very difficult forfamilies which are making things very difficult for families involved. Lets speak now with two people who have given evidence to that Public Inquiry this year. I was told i had about a year to live. I was told not to tell anybody, including. Excuse me. Including my family. Not only did i lose my parents, i lost my brothers, who were the next closest thing thing to me, and it would rip me apart every time. Wed go and visit them and have to come back. When we got back to cornwall, they actually told us he had between two and ten days to live. Sorry. They said he had an infection on the brain. So, we insisted that he went home that day because thats what he wanted to do he kept asking to go home. My immediate thought was, thats what the guys are testing us for. The people in the protective clothing are testing us to see if weve got whatever this is. You describe it, violet, as a terrible day. You thought, weve got it. They must think we have it. Mm. And i thought. We talked about it and we thought, i wonder if weve all got it. I wonder if the babys got it. Would itjust be one of us . Would malcolm die and id be left . Lets speak now with two people who have given evidence to that Public Inquiry this year. First, new zealand have beaten wales in the Rugby World Cup semifinal. That is a shame for wales not to have come through but the all blacks we re have come through but the all blacks were tough competition. New zealand have beaten wales and the bronze final 40 17. Su gorman, whose husband steve dymond was a mild haemophiliac infected with hepatitis c. Steve passed away in december last year aged just 62. Ros cooper was diagnosed with a blood disorder called von willebrand at one year of age, and was infected with hepatitis c after being given blood clotting products. Iamso i am so sorry that your husband passed away. We have spoken to him several times on this programme. We are talking about the financial aspect. How difficult has it been . Very difficult. The system itself is not easy but the attitudes that go with it complicated because we are talking about being widowed and in my case after 44 years and adjusting to life. The first big difference in scotland, and i cant stress this enough, is in the scottish scheme the widow or the bereaved partner maintains the Family Income for the first year to give them time to sort themselves out and then it is adjusted down to 75 of what it was. In the uk the infected persons income and is at the point of death, so ifi income and is at the point of death, so if i had run up and said my husband is that they would have stopped as income. Then i had to apply for my own income. My own income was i was told discretionary depending on certain conditions, some of which i couldnt meet at the time because i dont have a death certificate because i am still waiting for the inquest. So one is put through all these hurdles when one is most vulnerable. All this massive insecurity and the attitude of the people applying the system, they are doing theirjobs, but they dont seem to have retained that they are actually set up to support a community of the terminally ill and bereaved and they have no mechanisms for dealing with the recently bereaved. It sounds like kafka taking away a payment when they know someone has died but you have to prove that person has died in order to get a payment. That is exactly what i was told. My husband died on the 23rd of december so christmas came and went and i phoned up christmas came and went and i phoned up on the 2nd ofjanuary the first working day after and that is what i was told. I said could you repeat that . The person said that is how it is. So long after the scandal that this is happening and what we have been hearing is shocking. It has taken away peoples lives, people have died young because of what happened to them, your husband got it, and you are going through that to try to get financial redress. How does this make you feel . Very angry. Yes we want to know why it happened and that is what the inquiry should hopefully find that that is what my husband wanted to know, and his dying words where they must repent. Iam not dying words where they must repent. I am not sure whether the people responsible for this moral outrage have got the Human Capacity to repent but that is why we go on. But having to grovel around for an absolute pittance of money, not even absolute pittance of money, not even a proportion of what i actual finances were, i know that he suffered as a man, as a person, as a husband, because he couldnt provide life insurance, he can provide me with a stable home, we can have children. Couldnt provide me with a stable home, we couldnt have children. Everything we get from the government as the government are very upset about something that shouldnt have happened. You have been impacted by all of this yourself and you are in a financially difficult position i understand so tell us about your situation. I was treated with contaminated blood products and got hepatitis c. I find out about that when i was 19 so at the start of my working life but i managed despite bad to build a career to become an it consultant ultimately so i was earning a decent wage and at that point i was the main breadwinner of myself and my husband who was farming. Because of the treatment and the nature of the hepatitis c affecting me physically and mentally i havent been able to work since 2007. No income. What do you want to happen . Ijust want 2007. No income. What do you want to happen . I just want the truth to come out. I want the people who have been hiding for years and shredding documents and denying any responsibility to face up to the fa ct responsibility to face up to the fact they have a huge responsibility here and to acknowledge that something incredibly tragic but preventable has happened and to put it right. Thank you for your company today. Have a good weekend. It has not been a very pleasant start to the day. We have had some rain and misty conditions for many this morning. The rain is moving north and east but still in fife we have some rain falling and i can see across much of scotland white conditions into the afternoon. In wales the main band of rainbow clear but it will still be cloudy with the few bright spots developing in central areas. It is milder compared to the last few days with maximum temperatures of 13 16d. Tonight we are going to see more rain spreading north and eastward and heavier rain spreading into the south west later in the night and a mild night to come but that area of rain is linked into a deep area of low pressure thatis into a deep area of low pressure that is going to prevent throughout saturday and squeeze the isobars in the south. Really strong winds expected across southern parts throughout the day on saturday and that could cause some damage and disruption. Stay tuned to the forecast. Youre watching bbc newsroom live its11am and these are the main stories this morning nigel farage calls for an election pact between his brexit party and the conservatives but a tory minister rules out any alliance. Were not interested in doing any pacts with the brexit party, or, indeed, with anybody else. Were in this to win it and we know that only a vote for the conservative party will deliver brexit. This is the scene in westminster, where nigel farage isjust about to launch the Election Campaign of his brexit party. Well bring you that live in a few moments. In fife, Nicola Sturgeon is also out on the campaign trail the snp leader promises to demand a second Scottish Referendum from the next Prime Minister. In other news the human rights of young people are being breached in Mental Health hospitals in england, according to mps

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