Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News At Five 20240713

Well have the latest on that cobra meeting, and well be speaking to a Church Warden in fishlake, one of the worst hit communities. The other main stories on bbc news at 5. The labour party says its foiled a cyberattack on its campaign, from hackers based in russia and brazil. Im in Bishop Auckland, a town that has voted for labour since 1935 but is it about to change . A warning from one teen who almost died after using e cigarettes and is now urging people not to take up vaping. And Raheem Sterling is dropped from the england team ahead of a euro 2020 qualifier after a bust up with his team mate joe gomez. Its 5pm. Our main story. The Prime Minister is chairing a meeting of the governments Cobra Emergency Committee to discuss the flooding in yorkshire and the midlands. Earlier, Jeremy Corbyn accused the government of failing to act quickly enough and said the response from ministers had been woeful. About 400 homes have been flooded and 1,200 properties evacuated. Five severe flood warnings remain in place on the river don in South Yorkshire. Tolu adeoye reports. They say its never been this bad. The village of fishlake near doncaster still submerged. Hundreds were forced to leave their homes as the water moved in. To leave their homes many parts remain under several feet of water. The Prime Minister is to chair a meeting of the governments Emergency Committee, cobra, in response to the floods but today the Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn said it was too little, too late. The conservative governments response to the floods has been woeful. Just imagine if this had happened in surrey instead of yorkshire and the east midlands. I think thered have been a very, very different story. Meanwhile the liberal democrat leader met with volunteers helping the effort near fishlake, the party has set out plans for a £5 billion fund to improve flood defences across the uk. Its a really inspiring sense of Community Spirit that is going on here, and that gives great cause for hope, really, but it is wrong that it seems to be just down to the local communities, important though this work is, this is clearly a National Emergency and the government should be declaring it as such. £2. 6 billion is being spent on flood defences in england in a scheme that started in 2015. For those affected now, there are serious questions about how this has been able to happen. I want to do more to strengthen flood defences. It needed doing straightaway, this isa it needed doing straightaway, this is a major event that the whole of the village of this lake was flooded overnight. They are only now, what, five days in, four days in, just starting to do something. Its wrong. The National Farmers union has called for a seismic change to cope with events such as this, an emergency appeal to support displaced families has raised more than £50,000, but thousands more will be needed to help those affected as what is a personal disaster for so many, turns political. Tolu adeoye, bbc news. Lets go to westminster now and our Political Correspondent, jessica parker. This is a day when the floods became political. Absolutely. It is an example of how Election Campaigns can taken an unexpected turn. The main story tonight is the devastation and the effect that is causing those communities but it has increasingly, today, played its part in that Election Campaign. We had heavy criticism about the governmentss response from the labour party. Jeremy corbyn turning the narrative to some extent until one of austerity, talking about cuts to Public Services like the Environment Agency. Labour and the lib dems announcing millions of pounds they would plough into flood defences. Borisjohnson pounds they would plough into flood defences. Boris johnson is pounds they would plough into flood defences. Borisjohnson is chairing this cobra committee, this Emergency Committee this afternoon. The Prime Minister will want to be seen as getting on the front foot in terms of this incident to try and show his government is dealing with this and is there to help communities. We have heard from ministers that they are concerned, the government is taking action but over the course of the day increasingly political pressure on Boris Johnson. Thank you very much indeed. 0ur Political Correspondent at westminster. 0ur correspondent, tom barton, is in doncasterfor us, whereJeremy Corbyn is visiting. The criticism that some were level againJeremy Corbyn is he is making Political Capital out of peoples misery. That is the criticism that some will make. I asked mr corbyn about that and he said this is a disaster, these are peoples lives being affected and the public need to know. He says this is the result of cuts made by the conservatives. Bentley is one of the places that is worst affected by these floods on friday and saturday. The fire service are still pumping water out of this area. Jeremy corbyn came here a little earlier, met residents affected by this flooding, saw some of the catastrophic consequences for peoples lives of this flooding and met volunteers who had been taking donations and handing them out to people affected to try and help them put their lives back together. He hasnt been the only political leader in and around doncaster today, jo swinson, the lib dem leader was also here a little earlier. She was just down the road in the official badly affected area. She was also meeting volunteers who we re she was also meeting volunteers who were collecting donations. As you have heard, both have made criticisms of the response to this catastrophe, levelled at Boris Johnson, calling on him to declare a National Emergency but both parties have also today made policy announcements of their own, the labour party announcing £5. 6 billion for flood defences and other related projects over the next ten years, the liberal democrats today saying they would spend £5 billion on renewing flood defences over five yea rs. Renewing flood defences over five years. This is an event that is hard to predict but it is one which has forced the issue flooding right up to the top of the political agenda during this Election Campaign and ahead of that crucial vote on the of december. Labour says its been the victim of a second cyberattack, after detecting a large scale attempt to disrupt its it systems yesterday. The party says some Election Campaigning activities were slowed in the first attack but its not thought there has been a breach of data. Its reported the attack to the National Cyber security centre. 0ur cybersecurity correspondent, joe tidy, reports. Keeping a Campaign Like this in full swing isnt easy. Behind the speeches, door knocks and bus tours are computers and computer systems, and now we know someone, somewhere, has attempted to bring the Labour Party Campaign to a halt. The cyberattacks that have taken place took place yesterday against the labour party platform. It was a very serious cyberattack. We have a system in place in our office to protect us against these cyberattacks but it was a very serious attack against us. So far as we are aware none of our information was downloaded, and the attack was actually repulsed. The party wouldnt say what systems were affected but insiders sent us this screen grab of one of the Campaign Tools they use, it says the software is experiencing issues. Labour hq maintains the attack failed and all systems stayed online but, clearly, some were failing entirely. The type of cyberattack used is known as a distributed denial of service or ddos attack. They can be sophisticated but often they are more basic, ready made kits can be bought online and launched from a hackers bedroom, for example. Labour hasnt pointed any fingers yet but it says its seen similar attacks originate from russia and brazil. With a ddos attack, what happens is the hacker hijacks thousands and thousands of badly protected computers around the world and sends them as an army, gets them to do their bidding and tries to overwhelm a particular website or online resource. It may be that the attack is pointing back to russia or brazil or who knows where, doesnt necessarily mean its a smoking gun that those are the countries involved. Election campaigns had been targets for hackers before. In the 2016 us president ial election, Hillary Clinton had her e mail stolen and posted online. The Us Department ofjustice went on to charge 12 russians. Labour will deliver that real change, thank you very much. With no data or secrets stolen, this incident looks to be far less serious but it may act as a warning to the party and others, that, during this volatile election period, attacks can come from unexpected places. Joe tidy, bbc news. Peter pridham is one of the worst hit communities, virtually cut off by the flooding in the last few days. You are in a local church which is a rescue centre, and you can see supplies behind, but thank you so much for being with us. Tell us you so much for being with us. Tell us what you are doing to help the victims of these awful floods. Good evening and thank you for having me. Weve had a wonderful level of donations from all over the country, people from all sorts of places, quite a remarkable level of donations, in fact. Weve even had a challenge at times coping with the volume of donations. Almost every kind of food imaginable and lots of it, trays of sandwiches, hot food, lots and lots of biscuits, no shortage of those situation at the present time is we have had a very large amount of clothing and we dont at the moment have room for any more clothing, but we are certain that more will be needed at a later date, so we are now asking that any clothing people want to donate, they sent it to hatfield church, and you can contact the reverend online, and she will be able to store it there for you, because we are going to need it at a later date. The effect on the village has been very severe. There isa village has been very severe. There is a very high level of damage. Houses that have been in submerged, in some cases, almost up to the u psta i rs in some cases, almost up to the upstairs windows. The damage will ta ke upstairs windows. The damage will take a very long time to clear and, while we have had quite a traumatic few days, we have a very traumatic period coming up now as people who have been evacuated come back to see their ruined properties. Ivejust been talking to a young couple who have lost two cars, all their possessions in the lower of the house, things they couldnt move out. Today they have been house hunting 16 miles away to try and find another house. They might have to change schools for the children. The repercussions of a flight like this are not just the repercussions of a flight like this are notjust the immediate damage to property but damage to lives and the change of circumstances. The situation outside the church tonight is that the Environment Agency have done an excellent job and Environment Agency have done an excellentjob and we now have heavy duty, 12 inch pumps, possibly some 24 duty, 12 inch pumps, possibly some 2a inch pumps coming as well to let us 2a inch pumps coming as well to let us tackle this very large quantity of water lying in the surrounding area. It will take quite a long time to clear, and we will always have the risk that a further inundation of heavy rain would make things difficult but, practically speaking, because the Environment Agency and the fire brigade got pumping early. Heavy rain can make things difficult but, practically speaking because, for the present time, its looking good and as though the situation is stable, and we are grateful to all the persons who have contributed and donated towards this exercise, remarkable donations. Weve had people coming from 60 miles away. I had a man contacted me from cornwall this morning. He said, i havent got much money but i want to do something for the children in the village. I said, i think weve got about 100 children in the village that have been evacuated. Problems with sound. Im sorry, i think we have lost the line, but peter pridham, churchwarden, talking to us about the attempts by the community to help the people affected by the floods in fishla ke, help the people affected by the floods in fishlake, one of the worst hit communities in South Yorkshire. An incrediblejob, as you can see hit communities in South Yorkshire. An incredible job, as you can see at that rescue centre. Arron banks, co founder of leave. Eu, says the brexit party should stand down candidates in labour marginal seats to secure brexit. But nigel farage says tories should stand aside in some labour held seats. Lets talk to richard tice, the chairman of the brexit party. Thank you for being with us. Its all a bit of a mess, isnt it . Weve had a lot of criticism tonight from arron banks of your latest position, which is to stand down in some seats but not labour marginals. Let me tell you what he is saying. He is saying the only way brexit will be delivered by a borisjohnson majority, we need to see further moves to stand down candidates in marginal seats. Are you going to make further moves . Arron banks is talking nonsense. We are not here to help the conservative party, we are here to make sure we get brexit, and most important is to reduce the risk ofa most important is to reduce the risk of a second referendum. Thats what weve done by not standing in those conservative seats. The reality is that what people like arron are forgetting is there are over 100 seats where the conservatives havent won in a hundred years. We havent won in a hundred years. We have made a generous unilateral gesture and we would expect the conservatives to say, actually, together we could get a thumping leave majority and we should stand down in seats that you, the brexit party, can clearly win that we, the conservatives, clearly cannot. In many of those labour seats, its tribal and they will never vote for the conservatives, but they are brexiteers, they want brexit done, and thats what should happen. But lots of newspapers, like the daily mail, let me tell you what they are saying lets tell the viewers. They saying lets tell the viewers. They say farage must now go all the way. Why on earth, says the mail, is nigel farage willing to risk everything hes worked for out of a misplaced sense of pride . And a lot of brexiteers are asking that. Isnt he jeopardising what he has worked for . Know, the opposite. We are preventing a second referendum, and oui preventing a second referendum, and ourjobis preventing a second referendum, and ourjob is to make sure we get brexit. The only way to get a big majority is to have a leave alliance. Weve put it on the table for the last two months and the tories should stand down. People like the daily mail, what they are reporting, its simply not the case. They probably need to get outside the m25 a bit more. They dont understand what goes on in these labour strongholds in the north, midlands and wales. Weve got much more chance in some of those seats of winning. What is important is that we get some seats in the house of commons, we can then hold the conservatives to accounts. Their pledges not to prolong the transition and their pledge by the Prime Minister that they will go for a simple free trade arrangement and not be involved in regulatory and political alignment. Thats crucial to getting the proper brexit. 0riginally, you and nigel farage said you were going to fight hundreds of seats, and then you change your mind, and then some of the paper said you bottled it. Rubbish. Since the 27th of august we have said we are ready to fight the election. We always said we wanted to put country before party. The conservatives have rejected that alliance. We would say we would make alliance. We would say we would make a unilateral gesture. Bluntly, if the conservatives dont do anything sensible like stand aside in seats they have no prospect of winning, actually, in the event they dont get a majority and there is a hung parliament, theyve only got themselves to blame. You say you are not here to help the conservatives party, but have you been having secret talks with them . There are talks you been talking to the erg, the brexiteer wing. Is that right . Com pletely the brexiteer wing. Is that right . Completely incorrect. Ive had lots of tory mps pleading with me to stand down by text. The idea that nigel and stand down by text. The idea that nigelandi stand down by text. The idea that nigel and i have been having discussions with ministers or Boris Johnson is absolute nonsense. We made a unilateral decision after a long weekend of looking at the options, looking at the scenarios in oui options, looking at the scenarios in our office, all saturday and sunday, and we came to that unilateral conclusion, we got nothing in return, except a bunch of newspapers and people like arron are still not satisfied. We know what weve done is the right thing and we know that many labour brexiteers are not going to vote conservative, but they do wa nt to to vote conservative, but they do want to vote for the brexit party, and weve given them that option. But a lot of your own members are saying, why are we fighting the tories, this is madness. Lots of people have different views. People in your own party we have listened and looked, and that is why we spent the weekend looking to see what the right thing to do from here is, and we identified that the biggest risk is that the remainers might create an alliance, and lets see on thursday, and if they do a biggest risk was a second referendum, so we believe weve taken that risk off the table by doing what we done but oui the table by doing what we done but ourjobis the table by doing what we done but ourjob is to get seats in the commons to hold the conservatives to account, not to help them. To those people who joined the brexit party in the seats you have withdrawn from, who have given money and may be stood as candidates, are you going to apologise . Youve let them down, havent you, throwing in the towel . Nonsense. On the 27th of august, when we had a big conference with all of our candidates, nigel said, we are prepared to put country before party and potentially stand down many of you in the interests of the country for they all stood up and clapped. We are all winners. A few people, frankly, have set, we are not so sure, but the huge majority are delighted by what weve done and they know that weve put country before party before person, and its the right thing to do. But the brexit Party Position looks from the brexit Party Position looks from the outside like a complete mess, a shambles. People dont quite know really where you are standing, what you are standing for, youve changed your mind, youve changed your tack. Whats going on . Its crystal clear. We made a clear, Bold Decision that millions of people are very grateful for, because we have said we are putting country before party in taking a second referendum off the table. We are standing everywhere against all the other parties who hold seats who want to stop brexit. We are the brexit party. That is the logical, obvious thing to do. We have taken a second referendum hopefully off the table and we are working to make sure we get some seats and hold the conservatives to account. Thank you, richard tice, chairman of the brexit party. Throughout the campaign, bbc news will be looking closely at the places where the election could be won and lost. We will be visiting ten parts of the uk where seats will be closely contested. Today, were in Bishop Auckland, which is in the north east of england. This seat was labour in the last election and is bordered by three other labour constituencies, plus one the labour incumbent won by 502 votes in the last election. But will the party be able to retain the seat . Labour have held the seat since 1935 and 61 in the area voted leave in the eu referendum. It is a target seat for the conservatives who did come second during the last election. Christian fraser is in the town centre. This is a marginal labour seat which voted decisively for brexit. Is the conservatives would dearly love to win it as youve been hearing from richard tice, while the brexit party is withdrawing from 317 conservative controlled seats, they are putting a candidate up here, which will make this contest very interesting. Last week, we were out on the doorstep in leeds with the political campaigns. This time in Bishop Auckland, we want the unfiltered view, so ive been indulging myself. Ive been out for brea kfast, indulging myself. Ive been out for breakfast, afternoon tea and dinner to hear the thoughts of the people of Bishop Auckland. The 68 cafe sits at a fork high about the durham dales. Its on a trunk road, and in the mornings its owner paula is busy serving breakfast to those heading north, but she also has regulars from nearby Bishop Auckland, a town which in four weeks will find itself at a political crossroad. I am not voting just for brexit, which is why at the moment i am still really, really torn. There is a menu of options for people here right now, including a Brexit Party Candidate. In Bishop Auckland, nigel farage thinks he can take crucial votes from labour. He is making the wrong decision. If that is his tactic, he is making the wrong decision, he should withdraw and let it be that race. He is not stupid, he knows. Auckland castle was the seat of the prince bishops. For 750 years they ruled the Northern Frontier for the kings of england. It has been a labour stronghold in modern times, built on coal, and in every election since 1935 the town has voted the same way. The impregnable red wall is in danger of being breached. Since 2005, the labour majority has collapsed to just over 500, and if the tories are to have any chance of securing a majority this time, it is brexit seats like this that they have to take. The newly reopened castle is bringing welcome trade to the fifteas tea shop, where we meet rebecca and steve, who are decidedly undecided. Who will get us out of this the best . This is the north east, how can this be a target seats for the tories . I feel as though theres nobody i can trust at the moment, in terms the people available to us, in terms of labour, the conservatives, the other parties, there is nobody i have confidence in to take us forward. It is no longer black and white. 0ld political ties have frayed. 0ur booking for dinner was at the three horseshoes, a coaching inn in nearby Barnard Castle that has stood here since the 17th century. Inside, farm labourer dean and bar worker kim, first time voters. If somebody came in and explains what they wanted, it would be an easier choice to make. At the moment, i dont understand what anyones doing. Im going to stick with boris, see if he can get the job done, hopefully. Hopefully. What happens if nigel farage puts in a Brexit Party Candidate . Good question. Nobody knows what the election will serve up, but a tory win in these parts would be the rarest of things. The bishop of jarrow will be talking to us shortly. If you want to find out more about Bishop Auckland and meet the people at the heart of the community, you can go to our website 01 community, you can go to our website or have a look on the bbc news app. Thank you, christian fraser. A man has gone on trial at the old bailey accused of a series of rapes and sexual assaults of women and children, including the rape of a child. Joseph mccann, who is 3a, is charged with 37 offences in total involving 11 victims over a period of three days in april and may. The charges also include kidnap and false imprisonment. One of his alleged victims was 11 years old. 0ur correspondent, danny shaw, is outside court. Just bring us up to date. Just bring us uptodate. The prosecution has opened the case againstJoseph Mccann, describing a quite extraordinary and terrible sequence of events over a two week period at the end of april and beginning of may in whichJoseph Mccann committed what the prosecution said was a spree of abductions, rapes and sexual assaults. It started in the watford area and then went into london and then, ten days later, into the north west of england. In one of the cases, in whichjohn price, the qc told the jury about, it is alleged that a woman was dragged into a car in east london and held prisoner for 14 in east london and held prisoner for 1a hours. She was raped many times, according to mr price, suffering a dreadful ordeal of shopping to property and violence shocking depravity and violence. She escaped with another woman after smashing a vodka bottle over joseph with another woman after smashing a vodka bottle overJoseph Mccanns head. Three builders bravely intervened to stop the women from being recaptured. And tell us what the court heard about what happened in writer manchester. There was a gap of ten days after the events in the london and hertfordshire areas before Joseph Mccann allegedly resurfaced just north of manchester, and what happened was that, according to the prosecution, he inveigled himself into the family home of a woman and two children, and it is alleged he raped both the children, a boy aged 11 and a girl aged 17, and then, some five miles away, he abducted a 71 year old woman, the oldest of victims, in a supermarket car park as she was loading shopping into her car and attacked her. She suffered gross indignity and violence, said the prosecutor, and there were also abductions and sexual assaults on three teenage girls. Joseph mccann denies the allegations, but he was not in court today for the proceedings. The veteran labour mp frank dobson has died at the age of 79. Mr dobson served as Health Secretary in tony blairs government. He served as mp for holborn and st pancras in Central London for more than a0 years before standing down in 2015. Mr blair said mr dobson had made an immense contribution to labours 1997 landslide election victory and was a politician of the highest calibre. Jeremy corbyn also paid tribute. He was passionate at representing his constituents and his people and he was brilliant as secretary of state for health in 1997. He brought in those action areas, he dealt with theissues in those action areas, he dealt with the issues of health, inequality and poverty, and proper funding the issues of health, inequality and poverty, and properfunding of our nhs is something we are passionate about. He was also a great raconteur, a great purveyor of stories, a great source of gossip around the house of commons and a great wit in many ways. I will a lwa ys great wit in many ways. I will always remember the good and the bad he would always remember the good and bad of everybody he met, and we got on famously, and he was chair of the london group of labour mps for a while, and i was vice chair to him, and wejust while, and i was vice chair to him, and we just got along extremely well, and he is one of these people that never lost his yorkshire roots, very proud to be a london mp and very proud to be a london mp and very proud to speak out for our party and our movement and bring about that sort of decent society, and his passion was health, and i miss him, i thank him for what he did, and my condolences to all of his family. Jeremy corbyn remembering frank dobson, who has died. Time for a look at the weather. Any respite for the victims of floods . Yes, a brief break but ben is right. There is going to be a brief respite mid week from all this wet weather. It is down to a transient ridge of High Pressure thatis transient ridge of High Pressure that is building in but look at what is waiting in the winds, another low system. Still one or two so as feeding into northern scotland which could be wintry, a few showers for wales. Most places dry, lengthy clear spells, light winds, the perfect recipe for a frost particularly for the northern half of the uk. A crisp starter wednesday morning, lengthy spells of autumnal sunshine around, one or two showers peppering parts of north west england, one or two for southern scotla nd england, one or two for southern scotland but many central and eastern areas remaining dry. This next area of rain starts to work its way in, it will be a cold day. That rain becomes more of a feature as we head into wednesday night and thursday, producing heavy and persistent rain. This is bbc news. The headlines the government is holding an emergency meeting about severe flooding. The chancellor sajid javid says the government has already taken action to help those in flood hit areas. Immediately, when it was known weve taken action. Its why also, as chancellor, at the weekend ive released funding of something called the bellwin scheme which provides emergency funding. But labour says borisjohnson and his ministers havent done enough to help people in flood hit areas. The conservative governments response to the floods has been woeful. Just imagine if this had happened in surrey instead of yorkshire and the east midlands. I think there would have been a very, very different story. The labour party says its foiled a cyber attack on its campaign, from hackers based in russia and brazil. A warning from one teen who almost died after using e cigarettes, and is now urging people not to take up vaping. 0llie foster has got all the latest sport for us. Lets go to the sports centre. Gareth southgate has explained why he has dropped Raheem Sterling for thursdays match against montenegro at wembley. He says as a group it was the best way forward following the Manchester City forwards altercation with liverpoolsjoe gomez when they met up for england duty. Sterling seemingly at fault for carrying on an on pitch scuffle at anfield the day before when city lost to liverpool. Lets cross live to St Georges Park and speak to our report rhia chohan, rhia, weve heard from the england manager this afternoon. Do we know any more about what happened . In his press conference, Gareth Southgate wasnt really prepared to go into any detail about the altercation. What we do know is that there was an incident and there has been a scratch spotted and thejoe gomezs i bet theres been no clarification as to where he got that scratch from. I. Gareth southgate did emphasise that the well being of the players is of utmost importance to him and that he described the camp as a family, and he went as far as to say he loves the players. 0ne phrase kept coming up, emotionsjust the players. 0ne phrase kept coming up, emotions just ran the players. 0ne phrase kept coming up, emotionsjust ran high. Im dealing with a very young squad, very young squad and we are in a sport where emotions often run high. I think raheem and his post last night explained that for a very brief moment his emotions run over. It would be correct to say not the same forjoe. It would be correct to say not the same for joe. These it would be correct to say not the same forjoe. These things happen in football. Then we have to find a way for the group to move forward. My priority is always the care and well being of all of priority is always the care and well being of all of my priority is always the care and well being of all of my players, all of my players. Then you have a decision to make as to whether there needs to be something further which is the right thing for the group moving forward, which was my reason for not selecting raheem for the game on thursday. In regards to whether that should have been made public or not, in the end, when you have made a decision like that it is going to be public on wednesday or thursday anyway and it have to deal with it then. Id rather deal with it now so we can all focus on the game, the decision has been made and asa game, the decision has been made and as a group we are moving forward and concentrating on the football. The other thing we do know is that senior players were involved in making the decision, the ultimate decision that Raheem Sterling wont play on thursday. They were rumours flying about that jordan play on thursday. They were rumours flying about thatjordan henderson, liverpool captain, had to step in afterwards. Again, no clarification. When it comes to captaincy, Raheem Sterling to captain england for his 50th appearance for the country. Gareth southgate said he would draw a line in that the situation and it wouldnt affect whether Raheem Sterling would captain england in the future. Whether that happens or not we will have to wait and see. Many thanks from Saint Georges park. Scotland will be without captain Andy Robertson for their final two euro qualifiers because of an ankle problem. Hell miss the games against cyprus and kazakhstan. He could also miss liverpools next game after the international break. Bournemouths ryan fraser and Manchester Uniteds Scott Mctominary have also pulled out of the squad with injury. Scotland cant qualify out of from group but will have a Second Chance in the play offs thats all the sport for now. As weve already mentioned, today bbc news is in Bishop Auckland in the north east of england as part of our look at the places where the general election could be won and lost. Its traditionally a labour stronghold and voted decisively for brexit in 2016. But heading into this election, the incumbent mp, helen goodman, holds a majority ofjust 502 votes. Christian fraser is there for us now. Thank you very much. We have a lovely backdrop behind us this evening, that is in town is a church. Just beyond it, the Bishop Auckland town, newly built in the market square. You cant see the castle, this is the seat of the bishops years ago. They were very wealthy where their own armies, putting down the rebellion is the north, stopping the invasions from scotland. Today, the church of england has a more modest footprint but im pleased to say the right reverend sarah clark, the bishop of jarrow, is with me. Nice to see investment in this part of the town and the rich and ancient part of the town as well. It is tremendous. I visited here three years ago before this was completed and the transformation is amazing. Having coffee this afternoon in the town, people were speaking about the footfall that has changed, the number of visitors who are coming in the sense of a level of prosperity returning to Bishop Auckland it is lovely to see. I want to talk about a wider area because there are interesting political battles across the north east. You are new to the area, the first female bishop of jarrow, what have you seen in your first year here . The northeast is a diverse place, there are places of great wealth and prosperity, you can think of gosforth and here in this area youve got durham city not far from the coalfields. It is a diverse place. It is also a place where people are proud of their homes, very proud of their history, of the saints of the north, proud of the communities they built together. Thats really striking and theyve really enjoyed may well come here and been part of your result. Do you recognise parts of the story because you are a daughter of a minor yourself from a south wales. It is the Old Industries that have disappeared and the lack of investment over many years that has been the problem. Yes, and that is true in so many ways. There has been a reporterfrom true in so many ways. There has been a reporter from the Coalfields Regeneration trust reflecting that there has been investment but more is needed because those who are living in the x coalfield areas here in durham but also in ashington in the north in northumbria need more investment because people are disadvantaged in education, health and employment opportunities. More investment is needed but also encouragement. People might have the confidence to see themselves with a hope for the future as we go into the years that lie ahead. The constituencies havent been published yet and i know you work closely with the bishop of durham. What would you encourage the parties to look at . They have to look at the diversity because theyre are good stories about investment and the economy. There are also people who are struggling, one of the places that i went to a league as bishop of jarrow was to sate to Aidans Church in hartlepool which has a food kitchen and helps people with their benefits. The first time i went there was a queue outside the door. Every thursday, people can because they are third, they receive food to ta ke they are third, they receive food to take and they have community and feel safe there. One of the interesting moments for me was on my second visit there, an mp from a different constituency came to listen to peoples stories. People who had been caught up in the benefits system, people who find themselves in the wrong side of tight credit, stories from people who were newcomers to the area and looking for employment and housing. There were people of all ages with children as well as anything else. It was lovely to come and talk to you. Just a reminder there, it was lovely to come and talk to you. Justa reminderthere, bank it was lovely to come and talk to you. Just a reminder there, bank of some of the wider issues that gets forgotten. Brexit dominates the debate, it is all people have been talking about in our 2a hours here. Thank you very much indeed. Some breaking news, lord bramall, a normandy veteran has died at the age of 95. Field Marshal Edwin noel brummell was appointed as the Second Lieutenant in the king, royal rifle corps and played a part in the normandy landings. He went on to have an illustrious career in the british army and became commander in chief of British Forces in hong kong, commander in chief of uk land forces and he was appointed chief of the Defence Staff which he retired, that is the role he retired as, chief of the Defence Staff. He was a father of two, his later years we re was a father of two, his later years were blighted by those false allegations of child sex abuse, allegations of child sex abuse, allegations saw him questioned twice by the police in connection with allegations, false allegations, he had been part of a vip paedophile ring that had abused, tortured and murdered boys in the 70s and 80s. Those claims were made by carl beach, the fantasist who had the pseudonym, nick. He was found guilty of 12 counts of perverting the course of justice, one of 12 counts of perverting the course ofjustice, one count of fraud by a jury. Lord bramall, former head of the british army, normandy veteran has died at the age of 95. Much more on his life and career in the British Military throughout the evening here on bbc news. There have been extraordinary scenes at a medical tribunal in manchester where the former british cycling and team sky doctor, Richard Freeman is facing a charge of medical misconduct for ordering sachets of testosterone. Lets get more on this now with out Sports Editor dan roan. This case has threatened to cast a shadow over the countrys most successful 0lympic shadow over the countrys most successful olympic and paralympic sport. As you say, the former chief medical and british cycling doctor Richard Freeman stands accused of having ordered 30 sashes of testosterone, a banned drug, in 2011 to be delivered to the National Velodrome so that an unnamed rider could hope to enhance the performance. He denies this, saying he was bullied into ordering the testosterone by shane sutton to treat his erectile dysfunction. Sutton, a key witness, gave evidence for the first time today and in sensational scenes he was accused of lying and of being a doper by three mens lawyer. Sutton insists he knew nothing about why dr freeman ordered that testosterone but the lawyer said she had heard from a witness who said he had seen sutton injecting himself when he was a writer. He said he had never tested positive and would take a Lie Detector Test and he had nothing to do with its 2011 delivery of testosterone, he then said that dr freeman should man up and look him in the eye and take down a screen that has been erected between the two men because freeman is being treated as a vulnerable witness. In extraordinary scenes at the end of the day, he stormed out the pen despite appeals for him to return and continue to give evidence saying that freeman was spineless. I was it on the steps of the tribunal building, he told the media he may well consider returning to continue to give evidence on thursday when this case is due to resume. A teenage boy who almost died after using e cigarettes has urged people not to take up vaping. Doctors say ewan fisher, whos 19 and from nottingham, suffered a catastrophic reaction in his lungs that left him unable to breathe. Health officials here in the uk say vaping is not risk free, but is still better than smoking. 0ur Health Correspondent James Gallagher reports. Ewan fisher is a keen boxer, but vaping left him fighting for his life. He was 16 when he first used e cigarettes. Getting hold of them was easy, despite being underage. But around four months later, he started finding it hard to breathe. Something in the e cigarette vapour was causing a catastrophic immune reaction in his lungs called hypersensitivity pneumonitis. His lungs were failing fast, and he rapidly ended up in intensive care. Doctors had to connect ewans blood vessels to an artificial lung in order to keep him alive. It worked, but ewans recovery has been slow. I urge everyone not to vape, because i dont want them to end up how i have been. I dont wish it upon anyone, not even my worst enemies. Ewans doctors say severe reactions like his are rare, but this is not an isolated case. He had to have help, and lots of help. The most help anybody can get. Clearly im worried about this young person being exposed. There are case reports from elsewhere and a lot of International Bodies have actually recommended that vaping should be banned in children under 21 years. E cigarettes are promoted as a way of quitting tobacco, and 3. 6 Million People in the uk now use them. So how safe is vaping . Its a difficult question because, on the one hand, nobody who doesnt smoke should consider vaping, in my view. It would be madness. But somebody who already smokes should switch. So, where young people are taking up vaping as an alternative to smoking, despite the bad experience that this particular young man has had, i would endorse that. Ewan says he is back to 80 of his former self, and wants to go into accountancy. His experience is a reminder that vaping is not completely safe. James gallagher, bbc news. Lets cross to oxford now and speak to paul aveyard, professor of behavioural medicine at the university of oxford who specialises in ways to encourage people to stop smoking. Thanks very much for being with us. You heard him saying that he is urging people not to vape, what do you think of what he is saying . What weve got to do is keep this in perspective. There are these three are so case reports of severe lung reactions which may well be due to vaping but we cant know that for sure. During the time that vaping has been popular in the uk around three quarters of a Million People have died of smoking. We know that e cigarettes offer a way out of smoking, the aaron effective aid for people wanting to stop smoking a lot of people have achieved abstinence from smoking because of e cigarettes. Really, there are rare reactions, perhaps, but there are benefits and we need to weigh those two things together. Benefits and we need to weigh those two things togetherlj benefits and we need to weigh those two things together. I hear what you say about that is better than smoking, but 3. 6 Million People are using e cigarette is now in this country, what are the dangers . Youve talked about these rare examples, is that its all there are wider concerns you should be telling us about . What we should be looking at is what we know from Clinical Trials that have been done with e cigarettes. They have been used in a setting where people are carefully monitored and looked at whether things are improving or getting worse. What we see from those trials where several thousands have used e cigarette to try to stop smoking is compared with other methods to stop smoking, we are all familiar in like nicotine replacement treatment by those trials show clearly that what is happening is people have far fewer respiratory system symptoms you would imagine, certainly compared to when they were smoking. There is no signal there at all there is any difference between using e cigarette and using nicotine replacement treatments. That doesnt look to be a widespread issue here. That is in the short term that you have got no hesitation in recommending people who are smokers to switch to e cigarettes, do start vaping instead. There are lots of ways to stop smoking and people should try to stop smoking as soon as they can bet if only if the only way they think they can do it is by using e cigarette i wouldnt hesitate in urging people to do so. Manchester citys Raheem Sterling has been dropped from the england squad for the euro 2020 qualifier against montenegro after an altercation with liverpoolsjoe gomez. The dispute appeared to start on sunday when their clubs were playing against each other in the premier league. Tensions were high and the pair clashed on the pitch. Its reported that sterling confronted gomez in the players canteen at St Georges Park yesterday. Lets talk now to sam lee, Manchester City correspondent for football website the athletic. Thanks very much for being with us. Do you know any more exactly what happened . Well, has a few different rumours and bits of information floating around as was referred to in the report. There are suggestions thatjordan henderson was involved in diffuse the situation, some suggestions thatjordan henderson wasnt even there. Send suggestions it wasnt him at all. Its an interesting one really because on the face of it it seems like, as Raheem Sterling said in his statement, five to ten seconds of madness. He grabbed joe gomez in a headlock. There is anotherfew madness. He grabbed joe gomez in a headlock. There is another few other rumours floating around, there was a bit more serious than that, there was a bit more of a melee. Things being thrown around. Maybe that lends itself to the rumour that sterling was driving away from the stadium having then expelled from the squad before gomez was involved. Had a word with Gareth Southgate on the situation was kind of smoothed over a bed, sterling came back in. There a few different versions floating around and with so many different players involved and sponsors attached, there are always going to be a lot of rumours about his the fa felt they had to get ahead of it. We know sterling has been dropped and some say that is an overreaction and Gareth Southgate has been heavy handed. He could have talked to a sterling, may be shouted at him, but did he need to go public and dropping in this way . That is the interesting one. It comes down to how serious it actually was. The room as i mentioned earlier either way, people may have sought was Rio Ferdinand said, he criticised Gareth Southgate saying he has been involved in dressing rooms where people have been punched in the face. As much as a real being involved in a lot of aggressive scores, the message is these things do happen and from an england point of view the last thing you want is people coming on tv and talking about it, being the biggest story. Im a bit surprised really that it wasnt dealt with in house as far as possible but when it comes out in newspapers you need to take some action. They could have brushed it under the rug, saying its the kind of thing that happens a move past it and nobody would have thought twice. There is a bit more attention to it today because of the way they have handled that. He is not only one of Manchester City is best players but one of englands best players, if not their very best player. He has become a role model in the fight against racism in football and so on. This is quite a big step by Gareth Southgate. It is, yes. It ties into the fight that you dont wa nt to ties into the fight that you dont want to look at in a positive light, Gareth Southgate is has done a lot of good stuff for the england team. He has made them a bit more united which is why this news is a bit more of a shock because the year has gone by, i remember Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard are talking about the cliques that were in the squad when they were involved. It isnt quite they were involved. It isnt quite the case now so i suppose southgate has lead the market down and said, i dont care how important you are, you may be one of the big guys like Raheem Sterling or captain, but if you get involved in these kinds of things nobody is above the law. If looking at it from the other point of view, i can see southgates logic in doing that. Maybe i would have tried to keep it more private but sterling is a hugely important player for club and country and a mature player as well. Just got the better of him. Good to talk to you. Thanks very much. Time now for the weather. Many areas are fairly waterlogged style and we do have five severe flood warnings in force. It will come as welcome relief in some areas but it will be fairly short lived, it is a transient ridge of High Pressure which we have to thank for the settled conditions but look at what is waiting in the winds, another area of low pressure ready to bring in wet weather as we head towards thursday. Back to the here and now, this evening weve got wintry showers around through northern scotland. Since i was elsewhere with ease and fate, maybe one or two will go through parts of wales but lighter weights, lengthy clear spells, the perfect recipe for a widespread frost. Temperatures not falling quite as far the further south you go. I think many areas will wake up to seems like this with frosty conditions. Here is wednesday, a quieter story. One to two showers dotted here and there through northern scotland which could have a wintry flavour to them, but the north east would struggle to get above freezing. Central area seeing the pet of the dry conditions, but here is the rain. It is showing its hand across england and wales as we head through the afternoon. This looks as if it could bea afternoon. This looks as if it could be a troublemaker, it works its way in overnight, heavy and persistent and gradually starts to pivot a little bit further north and west woods as we had through thursday. It could affect areas that are already flooded, places like South Yorkshire and derbyshire. We are keeping an eye on that. Elsewhere, the further north you go, something drier and brighter, itll be another windy day and it will feel cold with temperatures in mid to high single figures at best. This is how fried it is shaping up, this area of rain will drift down towards the south and the west. Friday. We will have the remnants of this behind it. 0utbreaks have the remnants of this behind it. Outbreaks of rain. The further north you go, dry conditions and potentially brightness as well. It will be another windy day and it will be another windy day and it will feel cold and that is the set up will feel cold and that is the set up as we head into the weekend. Still unsettled, still cold, some centring around but also some rain. The government comes under attack for its response to the flooding in yorkshire and the east midlands. Labour and the liberal democrats call on the Prime Minister to declare a National Emergency. Volunteers ask why more wasnt done earlier. The whole of the village of fishlake flooded overnight and they are only now, five days on, four days on, five days, just starting to do something. The Prime Minister calls an Emergency Response cobra meeting as more heavy rain is forecast. Were live from the village of fishlake near doncaster, which is braced for yet more flooding. Also tonight a couple are jailed for life after murdering two of their children and plotting to murder the otherfour