Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC Newsroom Live 20240713

Brexit is the real end of the british empire. Good morning. Its thursday 14th of november. Welcome to bbc newsroom live. Im annita mcveigh. Accident and Emergency Departments in england have recorded their worst performance since current records began in 2004. Other targets covering cancer and routine hospital treatment are also being missed. Lets take a look at some of those targets and the latest statistics published this morning. The government target is a maximum four hour wait for those in a e. But todays figures show only 83. 6 of patients, thats one in six patients, were treated or assessed in a e within four hours in october. Thats a sharp drop on september and down from 89. 1 in october last year. The number of patients waiting for routine operations in england was 4. 42 million in september the highest ever. The nhs target is to have all patients start routine treatment within 18 weeks. But todays figures show more than 672,000 people were waiting more than 18 weeks the highest since 2008. The government target for cancer waiting times is for patients to start treatment in less than 62 days after an urgent gp referral. Todays figures show nhs cancer waiting times targets have not been met since december 2015. Were joined now in the newsroom by our Health Editor hugh pym. Obviously, more people are going into hospitals and we know there are staff shortages, is that why we are seeing the sorts of figures today . That is right. We heard warnings from hospitals last month that the pressure normally associated with the winter had come early and there was no obvious uptick in flu cases 01 was no obvious uptick in flu cases or severely cold weather but they we re or severely cold weather but they were under real pressure with a certain small number declaring the highest level of alert, which is one in their local communities that people should not come to hospital u nless people should not come to hospital unless they really needed to, to a e. Its a big picture. Its a series of things weve talked about before. It can involve primary care and social care and people not being looked after as they should be because theme pressure there. They end up going to a e. And you often end up going to a e. And you often end up going to a e. And you often end up with the elderly who shouldnt be there at all and the trolley is built up. Weve had a lot of warnings about staffing issues, the number of vacancies, want more than 100,000 vacancies in england. And a desire for a long term workforce plan which hasnt yet materialised. The main parties have talked a lot about funding for the future but one think tank, the nuffield trust, has said it could be four years before we get anywhere near back to the targets. And the money that has been pledged in some way just keeps money that has been pledged in some wayjust keeps the show on the road but behind it all is a rising demand. More patients coming through the doors. Nhs england have said they have seen more patients and treated them and assess them in a e than this time last year. But the performance, getting them seen within four hours, has been a real struggle. Across the board, cancer routine surgery and a e, these look like the worst set of figures from hospitals since modern records began in england. These figures clearly show. We talk about winter pressures , show. We talk about winter pressures, dont we . But these figures clearly show that is enormous pressure on hospitals all year round, frankly. What are the Political Party is going to do about these targets . Are they simply not talking about them as much . I presume they will be forced to, with these figures. But in general terms, have they let the slip . Well, the targets havent been missed in england for. Nearly four years, now. Nhs england is reviewing them and is looking at trialling different targets, which they think might be more applicable. That trial is still ongoing but at least one charity has said the 18 week target is really important for patients wanting hip and knee replacements, the Charity Versus arthritis. Aiming for something reasonable. They have called on the Political Parties to reaffirm their commitment and they dont want this trial to result in that target being changed. It is a big challenge for whoever is in government and there is a bigger debate is needed on the future of health and social care and how pressure is taken off hospitals and there is more care for everyone who needsit there is more care for everyone who needs it closer to their homes. Thank you very much, our Health Editor. Responding to the latest set of nhs performance statistics, Health Secretary matt hancock said labour have also put out a response to the nhs figures. Jon ashworth, the shadow Health Secretary, said lets talk now to richard murray, chief executive of the kings fund, an independent Health Think Tank. You are not a politician but what do you make of the responses . Especially the Health Secretary matt hancock saying that these figures show how important it is to stop Jeremy Corbyn. The conservatives have been in charge of the nhs for quite a long time now, havent they . They have. Recently, nhs providers ask that people avoid weapon eyes in the nhs in the campaign. There are clearly serious issues about performance avoid weaponisation. The money and workforce. Politicians throwing bricks at each other isnt particularly helpful. But they clearly do want to weapon eyes it, dont they . Unfortunately. Look for weaponisation. Rather than attacking the opposition, say what they will do to try and turn these numbers around. We broadly know why the nhs in england is in this position, dont we . Broadly. Things have changed particularly in a e. Over the last few years, we have seen demand rising, the nhs struggling with money and particularly with low staffing to admit patients into a e but this year has changed, we have seen a e dipped and much more sharply than you expect and performance in the summerand you expect and performance in the summer and the autumn much worse. Lots of people are beginning to point to the pensions issue that has been added in over the top of the longer term issues with problems with meeting demand. With some co nsulta nts with meeting demand. With some consultants leaving the nhs altogether because they are being hit with big tax bills or try to cut down the amount of hours they do, frightened they will get a big bill at the end of the year. That is adding to an already pressurised system. What needs to be done . Politicians are talking about various sums of money that they would spend on the nhs. Give us your view on what needs to be done to try to start to turn this around . Because we are seeing warnings that it could take many, many years to dig the nhs out of this hole. It probably will take years. Remember nhs performance in the 1990s got very poor as well. It took a long time to get the numbers back into a good place again. People should look for a rounded programme from the politicians, money, workforce and social care and public health. You need to say what you are going to do on all of those areas to turn this around. Perhaps if you are trying to target a e at the moment, you might to look at tax and pensions. What will you spend on the nhs, how will you try to confront the workforce crisis and do things around social ca re crisis and do things around social care and public health, those four issues, because they might keep people out of hospital in the first place and get them home very quickly if they have to be admitted. Winter wont wait, of course, do you anticipate the picture getting worse before you hope, it gets better . Im afraid so. The numbers in a e relate to october. For the last two years, performers got better in october. Autumn a bad time for the nhs. It is usually ok in a e. Autumn isnt normally a bad time. Normally it is december, january and fabry so im afraid we will probably see these numbers get worse before they get better. Thank you very much for your thoughts, richard murray. Wevejust had a statement from the spokesperson for the nhs saying these figures show that while nhs staff is looking after a number of older and sicker patients, a higher number of patients are being seen quickly than a year ago. While has double will open more beds over the coming years, the public has a role to play while hospitals will open. By getting their flu jab and using the nhs111 phone or Online Service as a first port of call for non emergencies. The message is for people not to go into hospital as a first port of call if they can possibly avoid it. A recognition that the higher number of older and sicker patients have been going to hospital. We will return to that story throughout the day. Lets look at politics more broadly. Its another busy day ahead in the general Election Campaign and already policies coming out from the conservatives and labour this morning. The conservatives have pledged to reduce overall immigration if they win the general election. But they havent set any targets after failing to meet previous promises to cut net migration to tens of thousands a year. And as nominations for people to stand in the election close this afternoon nigel farage finds himself under pressure to pull out of certain seats to help the conservatives get a majority in government. The labour party has announced a target for closing the gender pay gap in just over a decade. It says it will adopt policies to eliminate the difference in average hourly pay between men and woman by 2030. In a speech last night, the outgoing president of the european council, donald tusk, waded into the election debate, warning voters not to give up on stopping brexit. Lets speak now to our assistant Political Editor, norman smith. A word, first of all, on those nhs figures and how much pressure thats going to put on the conservatives in particular in this campaign. Well, the figures play absolutely to labours narrative about the so called decade of decay in the nhs with these worst ever figures for a e. Labour straight on it, saying that underlines tory neglect and also pointing to the danger that these figures, as we were hearing, could get even worse as we head into winter. Labour, of course, will use these figures to buttress their argument for the extra spending, which they promised the largest spending we have seen in 20 years for the nhs, which a e was to form an integral part of one of the areas which was to receive more cash. The tory response, so far, has been to point to some of the chinks in the labour case in the nhs say in what will happen when you have freedom of movement . They say it will mean more migrants coming, more strain on the nhs and more pressure on resources. Also questions about the impact Jeremy Corbyn will have on the economy. Boils down, what it means is that the nhs goes up the political agenda, which is exactly what labour want. They would desperately like this not to be an election where the key focus is brexit and to shift it on to Public Services like the nhs and the impact of tory austerity. We are saying we want to reduce, and we will reduce, net migration but what we need to do. And this is why we need a clear conservative majority is we need to first of all the the eu, so we can End Free Movement in the eu, which obviously prevents us being able to control immigration at the moment. That allows us to control immigration from the eu. We want to introduce a new points based system, which is fair and equal to the entire world, and that gives us control. And once weve got control, we can then see immigration being reduced. That was brandon lewis, talking about immigration, the other issue which is bubbling away today with the tories confirming they will cut levels of overall immigration. They thought. You might think wasnt that always the case . But before, they set a very specific target to get net migration down to the tens of thousands and fails to do that. Now they are simply saying we will reduce emigration but they are not committing to an actual figure. No doubt fearful that they will have little chance of meeting it. In terms of detail, i am not sure we will get much more detail on their immigration policy today. They say they are waiting for a report by what is called the Migration Advisory Committee into a points based system. I am not sure today we will get the nuts and bolts of tory immigration policy was meanwhile, Jeremy Corbyn up and about on his tour of scotland has had another difficult time when challenged while he was in dundee delivering a speech there over his sta nce delivering a speech there over his stance on another independence referendum where he was heckled. Have a listen. What are you going to do about the will of the scottish people . Let him answer shouting thank you very much i am talking about the Common Threat we all face and that is from Climate Change and the need to elect a government. Mr corbyn having a difficult time in scotland, he was confronted in glasgow by a heckler today. And in dundee. In a so so Election Campaign, may the hecklers have been the winners because we saw Boris Johnson getting a pretty tough time when he visited the flood zone yesterday. And now we see mr corbyn getting a bit of a tough time. Maybe its an election for the hecklers. Getting a bit of a tough time. Maybe its an election for the hecklerslj think people feel freer to heckle those political leaders as they are out and about. Yeah. Norman smith, thank you very much. We can speak now to the snps Kirsty Blackman in aberdeen. Good morning to you. Lets go to the right, because clearly that isnt it, thats westminster again. And the camera has just switched off, which is why youve gone to black. There is Kirsty Blackman. Apologies, we have got to you now. Picking up about immigration, interesting to hear what the conservatives are saying about that today, saying they would bring overall immigration down without putting any real detail on it. The snp has a very different approach to immigration in scotland. You would like to encourage more people to come there, wouldnt you . Absolutely, we would. Looking at our plan for the future for scotland, we would like to encourage people to come here and we would like to encourage eu nationals to come here and we would very much like full freedom of movement to continue. Weve got the social and cultural benefits of having so many people come and be welcomed in scotland but also the economic benefits. Every eu national that lives here as on average £10,400 to government revenue average £10,400 to government reve nu e every average £10,400 to government revenue every year. If we cut immigration, government revenue will go down. We will have less money to fund the nhs, for example. We have had figures this week, speaking about revenue, we have had figures this week about tax receipts income, havent we, since tax raising powers we re havent we, since tax raising powers were devolved to the Scottish Government . Youve had less money coming in than under the existing formula had you stayed with the funding formula from westminster. Is it isita is it a right to encourage more people into scotland if your tax receipts are going down, or are you saying this would drive revenue . we encourage more people into scotland, that drives revenue. People who come to scotland from the eu are overwhelmingly young, fit, healthy, they are not using our nhs in massive ways, for example. They are more likely to work in the nhs than they are to be using the services of the nhs. It is an incredibly good thing. Aberdeen come outside london, is the city in the uk that has the highest number of people born outside the uk living in it. People here are welcome. We want an immigration policy that works for the people of scotland. That means we need our population to increase and we need to encourage people to come and live and work here rather than has a system which has an arbitrary amount of salary, for example, setting out 30,000, you cant come here unless you are earning £30,000 a year. When actually we need people to do those jobs that are carers, for example, or nurses, or working on farms as labourers and dont and £30,000 a year. I will have tojump labourers and dont and £30,000 a year. I will have to jump in there because we are having technical problems with your sound which we will try to sort out. We are planning to come back to you, hopefully we can sort out those sound problems in the meantime. Throughout the Election Campaign well be putting your questions to all of the main parties. This morning at 11. 30am, well be joined by Kirsty Blackman from the Scottish National party. Without the sound glitches, i hope. So if you have anything you want to ask, please do get in touch, using the Contact Details on screen, and well put those questions to her. Please remember to leave your name and where your from. The headlines on bbc news. Hospitals are under severe pressure as delays in a e in england hit their worst ever level, with more patients than ever before are on waiting lists. The conservatives say theyll cut overall immigration to the uk after brexit if they win the election but set no targets. Meanwhile, labour is promising to close the gender pay gap by 2030. In sport, england are preparing for their 1000th game, they only need a draw against montenegro at wembley tonight to reach the euros next summerand tonight to reach the euros next summer and Gareth Southgate says they can cope without Raheem Sterling who has been dropped for disciplinary reasons. Cockroft has set a championship record as she retained her 800 metres title at the world parrot athletics championships in dubai. It was a british 1 2 have olympic athletics. Joe root says new coach joe have olympic athletics. Joe root says new coachjoe silverwood has a two year plan to win back the ashes in australia. They say they will bat longer and be more patient with the ball. More details in the next 15 minutes. Thanks, we will see him again soon. Rain is falling in flood hit parts of South Yorkshire and it is expected to intensify throughout the afternoon. Forecasters are warning of a danger to life in the village of fishlake near doncaster where hundreds have been forced to leave their homes and businesses. A yellow weather warning for rain is now in force around sheffield, doncaster and nottingham and will last until the early hours of friday morning. And the Environment Agency is warning of property flooding in parts of warwickshire. Tim muffett reports. The floodwaters are dispersing, but more heavy rains expected here, so soldiers from the light dragoons cavalry regiment have been building barriers to try and protect fishla ke. Youve got sandbags here. Yep. You have barriers as well. How does it work . So for the barrier, we get trained on how to do it. Theres basically the metal a frame that we put up in place. Underneath then we put the lining on top, and then we clip it down with the clips. And then theres the big chains at the bottom, to kind of weigh it down, to make sure the water doesnt go underneath it. Were englands northern cavalry, so youve got people who are based in and around the area. Youve got guys from just down the road in castleford, et cetera. So its their friends and family, kind of, so its got that close to home feel for us, helping out here. But for many, its too little, too late. Its not the first time weve been flooded, its the first time the village has been flooded. Weve been having this for the last five or six years, but nobody listens to us. Were just fighting a losing battle. Its absolutely devastating. A lot of my friends have lost everything. Itsjust awful. People just cant get out, were all stuck here. My little boy cant go to school. At saint Cuthberts Church the donations keep coming. Food, clothes and bedding, all available to those who need it. Ifeel a little bit like a lump in your throat, you dont really want to take things, because other people are suffering more than you are. What did you get . Mainly breakfast stuff, because weve got the rented accommodation late last night and i didnt have any breakfast things for the children. We need to start eating properly. Jess has been busy checking in with her neighbours. Are you all right, mary . Theyre doing another hot meal at the pub tonight, do you want me to bring you some . Im 47 year in this house. But id been in the village down near the church for 72 years. Youve never seen anything like this . Never, ever seen anything. Youre just chucking stuff out and, you know, everything you pick up is wet through. Do you feel let down . So, yeah, we do feel let down here. Like i said, we started flooding friday night. Where i live, we didnt get sandbags delivered until 11 30pm on saturday night, by which point the damage had been done. Six days since the flooding started, the biggest fear is that heavy rain will soon fall again, on saturated ground. Tim muffett, bbc news, fishlake in South Yorkshire. We will return for more on that story very soon. But lets go to this News Conference in london where the liberal democrats chuck muller and Luciana Berger. Unveiling the lib dems was my plan for equalities and human rights. may sound dramatic but i honestly believe that to be true. That is why this election, like no other in recent times is about the kind of country we want to live in, notjust now but in the next ten, 20, 50 yea rs. Now but in the next ten, 20, 50 years. And how we tackle the challenges posed by the brexit issue will be determined by our values. In this sense, this election is a battle between two sets of values that will define our futures. We can choose to be a liberal, open, inclusive country that seeks to ensure everyone has a stake in the future or we can choose to be a britain that bends to the forces of reaction of hate and division that looks to recreate the past. There is only one main Party Standing across the uk, as eddie has said, which in its values, words and deeds has the authority to take on the forces of reaction and division and promote those liberal, open progressive values that are quintessentially british. That party is the liberal democrats. It is why luciana and i made the decision to leave the relative Political Security of one of the big old parties, the labour party, the beginning of the year and join the lib dems over the summer. It is why we are inviting those who, like us, had only ever voted labour or conservative to vote for the liberal democrats on december 12. Given recent history, events and painful personal experience of what it is to be a member ofJeremy Corbyns labour party, we believe that labour lacks moral authority and ability to defend our country against the forces of reaction, hate and division. The same is true of the conservatives. That is because you need only look at what has happened in those parties these last few years to see that they are actually part of the problem here. Many who have voted labour and tory know this to be true in their heads, they know it. But in their hearts, it is very difficult to change the habit of a lifetime and vote differently. And to accept what has happened to those other two parties. But if you do not act by taking your vote elsewhere at this election, we will not be able to change course as a country and fix our broken political system, which those two parties that are at the heart of and have a vested interest in protecting. Labour and the tories will simply carry on letting you down if you vote for them again at this election. The liberal democrats provide a real alternative to the mess and chaos you have seen. If you have liberal, open internationalist values, we are have liberal, open internationalist values, we are your have liberal, open internationalist values, we are your party. The ultimate expression of that is a desire to stop brexit. If that is your goal, only the liberal democrats stand a realistic chance of taking seats from the conservatives, which is necessary to deprive borisjohnson conservatives, which is necessary to deprive Boris Johnson of conservatives, which is necessary to deprive borisjohnson of any majority and guarantee a new parliament in which the arithmetic will deliver a peoples vote. Why is it important that Boris Johnsons conservative party does not prevail at this election . Why . The conservative party was, in the past, proud of its one nation to israeli tradition. Yet it has now embraced nigel farage and Donald Trumps style of divide and rule politics disraeli. It is a right wing nationalist party. Exhibit a mac 21 tory mps forced out of their party for voting against a no deal brexit and refusing to inflict harm on their communities in the name of ideology. Not only did this represent a rejection of individuals but it was the objection of an entire moderate centre right political tradition from that party. This reconfiguration of the conservative party has been overseen bya conservative party has been overseen by a Prime Minister who has lost all moral authority to govern. Even before he entered office, he has described black people as picking unease with watermelon smiles. He has compared muslim women wearing veils to letterboxes and bank robbers. No wonder he has backtracked out of the enquiry into islamaphobia because he would be the enquirys chief subject. In office, he has broken the law, he has lied to the queen, incited hate and abuse with his use of language. Of course he owes his position to the hard right who are the erg and now in charge of his party. Those who were on the fringes of his party, Jacob Rees Mogg and company are now its mainstream. They are the face of the days conservative party. On entering office, johnson appointed dominic cummings, the architect of the Vote Leave Campaign to vote number ten with an iron grip. Let us not forget, vote leave was the campaign that deliberately use the issue of immigration to whip up fear and emigration in our country was that they claim to turkey was about tojoin the that they claim to turkey was about to join the eu false. They said 1 million turkish citizens would therefore come to britain increased therefore come to britain increased the crime rate and pose a threat to national security, all nonsense. But it is being reported that cc hq, during the rest of this 2019 election are intending to revisit what they see as the greatest hits of the Vote Leave Campaign including in relation to turkey. This is xenophobia pure and simple. To those considering whether to vote conservative again, the question has to be this. Is this the kind of country you want to live in . Do you wa nt to country you want to live in . Do you want to endorse this kind of politics . A few weeks ago, trump gave the order that the brexit and tory party should come together and form an alliance. Farage duly obliged this weekend with their pack, those two parties have become one. Im not sure i could have put it better than arron banks and this is not someone i like quoting laughter but he was right this week when he said what farage has done really is to shape the conservative party in his own image. The conservative party is the brexit party. Studio chuka umunna of the liberal democrats, formerly of labour launching the lib demss human rights and equality is platform for this election. He said this election is like no other in recent times and that it is about the kind of country we want to live in. He went on to attack both labour and the conservatives, saying labour and the conservatives, saying labour lacks the moral authority to defend our country from what he called the forces of heat and division and he said the same is true of the conservatives forces of hate. From one event to another in the election, this is hull. Nigel faragejust arriving, in the election, this is hull. Nigel farage just arriving, surrounded in the election, this is hull. Nigel faragejust arriving, surrounded by cameras at this event in hull. An interesting day for him because he is under a lot of pressure to say that Brexit Party Candidates will be withdrawing from further seats in order to improve the conservatives chances of getting a majority in parliament. A couple of days ago he said they would not be standing in the seats won by the conservatives in 2017. 7096 the seats won by the conservatives in 2017. 70 leave is quite low for some of these constituencies so i am in the heart of leave country and at the heart of a part of england that feels very, very let down by parliament because it is 3. 5 years on and weve still not got brexit. So thats why i set up the brexit party six months ago. It was obvious to me we would just limp on with theresa may as our Prime Minister. Wasnt she just the worst ever . And i felt actually the forces for a second referendum a gathering so we set up the brexit party, we stunned everybody in the space of six weeks, we completely reset the political agenda, we got a new Prime Minister and here we are now facing what could be a very, very decisive, perhaps even historic, general election and im on stage here today with some of our local candidates and we particularly welcome new girl michelle, its her first and we particularly welcome new girl michelle, its herfirst day and we particularly welcome new girl michelle, its her first day with us and anyone that has watched her on the pledge or anywhere else knows she is a fearsome debater and someone with true conviction in her heart. We are all very pleased to have you with us, standing in this great fight. Im also conscious, being in yorkshire today, of those in this county and surrounding counties who are having a really, really miserable time of it with the flooding and i hear a lot of talk about improved flood defences but i am slightly struck, having visited somerset a few years ago that went through very much the same problem and is dealing with the symptoms of these disasters is ok but we need more about the causes and we need to think about how we dredge our rivers and how we maintain our waterways stop i wont get into eu directives on whether they have caused it, but spare a thought for all of those people. Its still raining and the prospects are it wont get much better. You probably think are used to think that we live in a 21st ce ntu ry to think that we live in a 21st century democracy. At least, you might have thought that until every promise that was made during the referendum, after the referendum, in the manifestos of 2017, we are going to deliver the will of the people, were going to deliver brexit. Its not difficult. We voted to leave the European Union and its institutions so that we could be an independent self governing country. That is what brexit is about, isnt it . And yet the labour party seem to think that you didnt know what you voted for. Did you know what you voted for . Well, they dont seem to think so because they are my going to ask you to do it all again. Diane abbott i thought. Laughter if she loses her seat she becomes a mathematics professor, so im told, but diane abbott set up the labour position beautifully on question time the other week. They are going to go back to brussels, negotiate another deal that will be even worse, i suspect, than the current one. They are then going to put that to a referendum. It will be remaining against the form of remain they have negotiated and they will campaign against the deal that they as a government have negotiated. You just simply couldnt make it up. Of course, the degree of co nte m pt make it up. Of course, the degree of contempt with which they are treating 5 million voters is astonishing. They clearly think they can get away with it and what i noticed back in may was that the brexit partys noticed back in may was that the brexit pa rtys highest noticed back in may was that the brexit partys highest scoring parts of the country where those with the highest number of labour mps. I dont think that the labour party which now clearly is more about hoxton than it is about hull, i dont think the labour party get it, i think its been taken over by the north london intellectuals. Theyre miles away in every sense from traditional working families and some of them have supported them since the end of the first world war. There is a complete and utter disconnect and what ive noticed, ive been in the valleys of south wales, in the northwest of england, up wales, in the northwest of england, up in the northeast, and indeed in labour parts of east london yesterday. The one thing i do notice everywhere in traditional labour areas is there is no love and no enthusiasm forJeremy Corbyn whatsoever and i think my biggest prediction i can make right now is that very large numbers of people who often vote labour but arent necessarily particularly politically motivated are going to stay at home and that gives us a phenomenal opportunity in parts of the country like this. Seats in hull, for example, that voted by over 70 to leave now being represented by labour mps that are remainers and wa nt labour mps that are remainers and want the people of hull to vote again ina want the people of hull to vote again in a false choice a second referendum. Its in seats like this with candidates of the calibre that youve seen on this stage this morning, men and women that are not doing this because they want a grubby career in politics, theyre doing it because they are prepared to stand up for their principles, for what they believe in, for democracy actually. The very gift that was given to us, defended and fought for, and we remember those that made the sacrifice for us to be free last sunday in ceremonies all around this country. Its about being a democracy, its about being free to make our own choices and once every few years may be somebody else and go in a different direction. The problem is that democracy only works if youve got the principle of losers consent, that you may not like the result of the election, but you accept the result of the election. That is how civilised democracy works and we seen 3. 5 years now of former Prime Ministers, the labour party, the liberal democrats actually saying that they effectively want to overturn the greatest democratic exercise in the history of our nation. Well, we are not having it and were going to stand up and were going to fight labour in every seatin were going to fight labour in every seat in this country, be studio nigel farage in hull talking as he did at his last News Conference, focusing on labour, but no mention as yet about whether he will be withdrawing more Brexit Party Candidates from the Election Campaign, although he has said they will be fighting in every labour seat so that would suggest, actually, that having said they wont be fighting conservative seats, they will still contest other seats, they will still contest other seats so lets see if that changes. He is running out of time to change his mind on that anyway because the deadline for people to be in this election as candidates is later on this afternoon so it would seem unlikely that he would change anything after that. Moving over to labour, our assistant Political Editor norman smith is tweeting that Jeremy Corbyn has ruled out a second independence referendum in the first two years of a Labour Government. The quote from Jeremy Corbyn, certainly not in the first two yea rs. Certainly not in the first two years. Jeremy corbyn is certainly not in the first two years. Jeremy corbyn is in certainly not in the first two years. Jeremy corbyn is in scotland for a second day. You may well be aware yesterday that there was some equivocation from him on when exactly labour might back or support a second independence referendum taking place so he has said today certainly not in the first two years ofa certainly not in the first two years of a Labour Government. Throughout the Election Campaign we will be putting your questions to all of the main parties. Joining me from aberdeen is Kirsty Blackman from the Scottish National party. Before we get into those questions properly, id be interested to get your reaction toJeremy Corbyn ruling out any support for a second independence referendum taking place in the first two years of a Labour Government and how that might impact on any arrangements after the selection that the snp might be prepared to make with labour. This is different to what he said yesterday on the topic. We believe very strongly that its the people of scotla nd very strongly that its the people of scotland who should be making this decision and its the Scottish Parliament that should be deciding the timing of the independence referendum, notJeremy Corbyn. It should be the elected politicians who represent scotland so that would be my position and that would be the position that i hope the people of scotla nd position that i hope the people of scotland would agree with. The first question is about an independence referendum. Jonny from pudsey, West Yorkshire says the last independence referendum was a once in a generation vote. If you were given another and you lost, would the snp guarantee that you would not hold another vote for a generation . We intend to win the next referendum and campaign to win it but before the last one, we were told that if we wa nted the last one, we were told that if we wanted to remain in the eu, we had to remain in the uk and then we stood in the 2016 Scottish Parliamentary election saying that we reserved the right of the uk was to drag scotland out of the eu against our will, we reserved the right to hold another independence referendum so weve got that mandate, the mandate has been voted for by the people of scotland and i very strongly believe it should be the people of scotland that should have the right to make that decision, not anybody else. have the right to make that decision, not anybody else. If there was another referendum and you lost, have you decided what you would do in that eventuality . Would you say that there wouldnt be another vote for a generation or would it come sooner than that . Well, we dont intend to lose so i doubt the premise of the question but it should be up to the people of scotland, they should be the ones who have the choice about whether or not we have an independence referendum and about how they vote in that independence referendum and i dont think it should be up to anybody else. White maximal guarantees on the situation if you lost because you intend to win. Ian from edinburgh the snp wishes to leave the uk and to then sell out scotlands sovereignty to the eu. Not all nationalists want to be in the eu but the snp does. Is the party putting policy before scottish interests . Thats an interesting question because the picture of how and why people vote in scotland is quite complex. It really is, absolutely. The reality is that the two unions are very different. The fact that the uk could have a brexit referendum without asking the permission of the eu, but scotland has to ask the permission of the uk in order to have an independence referendum. That is asymmetrical to begin with. You can tell the difference of the two unions just from that, but if you think about the fiscal situation, in terms of tax revenue, the majority of the tax revenue that comes on in scotland goes into the uks coffers and in the uk decides how much money to give to scotland. Thats very, very different from the eu situation so for me the two unions had incredibly different and the decision about sovereignty is very different. Scotla nd sovereignty is very different. Scotland is not a sovereign nation within the uk because it is not allowed to do things like have a referendum whereas in the eu it would continue to be and have its own say at the table with the eu and would have the opportunity to veto some of the things that might come forward. Robert can the snp be very, very clear about how they would reduce the scottish deficit sufficiently to gain membership to the eu . What tax rises will this mean and what austerity measures will be required . You can reduce your deficit or increase your revenue in a variety of different ways, by reducing spending or by increasing growth and one of the key thing is we are looking at is different ways to increase growth so our publication said we would increase participation, so we got an awful lot of people who are graduates who are not a graduate leveljobs so we would do things like ensuring that those graduate leveljobs are there, ensuring there are more jobs those graduate leveljobs are there, ensuring there are morejobs in those graduate leveljobs are there, ensuring there are more jobs in the workplace for women, ensuring that there are better childcare facilities so that more people can get back in the workplace so that increases your participation rates. We also go to tackle productivity. The uk has been rubbish at tackling the productivity gap and the fact that our productivity is so much lower than germany for example so increasing the productivity by investing in infrastructure and things like that in the last one is about population and about making sure that we increase our population because if you think about the number of people who come here from other countries, they overwhelmingly contribute more to the point that they take out so if we increase our population, that increases our Economic Growth so if you do all of those things to increase government revenue without reducing spending at all. But at the moment youre getting less revenue than you had under the westminster funding formula so are you saying that all of those things you mentioned would address that in turn that picture around . Absolutely, we dont have the economic levers we should have. We cannot grow our economy in the way we would like to because we dont have power over immigration, we dont have power over workers rights for example, that is not devolved to the Scottish Parliament. This is the situation were in with the government managing our economy and it doesnt work for scotland. If you look at similarly sized countries across the world, scotland is performing at the bottom of many of those countries because we dont have control of our economy so if we we re have control of our economy so if we were to bring ourselves up to that level, our Economic Growth would increase significantly. Craig from newcastle with the issues surrounding the irish border in mind, how do you propose to manage the border between the uk and scotland, if you choose to be independent . I absolutely think that this is a difficult question. We learned a huge amount from what has happened with the irish border. Weve got a situation where we have the common travel area between the uk and ireland and that has meant that people can move between the two and would certainly be looking at having that flexible policy and terms of movement of people. In terms of movement of people. In terms of movement of people. In terms of movement of goods, we are looking at exactly what is happening around the irish border and trying to work out how that would work in an independent scotland situation but the reality is that we dont know whats going to happen with brexit right now so we cant say with any certainty exactly what that border could possibly look like. What i can say is we have learned a huge number of lessons about what not to do from the way that the uk government has tackled the issues around brexit. As a snp voter who voted leave in the eu referendum, what is your view on an ever closer federal europe given you want to re join the eu . Ido want i do want tojoin i do want to join the i do want tojoin the eu, i believe we get a significant number of benefits from being members of the eu, buti benefits from being members of the eu, but i agree that the eu is not perfect but we cannot make changes within the eu unless we are around that table trying to make the changes and as an independent country, scotland would have much more of a voice in the eu than it currently does because our interests are not heard strongly in europe because it is the uk government representing us and generally they are representing the Population Centre which is definitely not scotla nd centre which is definitely not scotland so we would have a much stronger voice to ensure those reforms happen in a way that benefits scotland rather than benefiting the uk are other people in europe. Megan i have voted snp in the last two elections because i believe their politics are always intended to help the many, not the few. But as a representative for a Minority Party in westminster, the best chance my favoured mp has of influencing uk wide policy is to be open to collaboration with other parties. Why doesnt the snp offer a genuine offer of collaboration with the labour party . Realistically this could be the only way to avoid another disastrous conservative government. Do you think that offer could come irrespective of when a prospective Labour Government might support another independence referendum . The snp has been ahead of the game in terms of working with other parties. For the past two years weve been running a group which is about opposing a no deal brexit. The labour party sadly refused to come to that until the last possible moment. Weve been doing a huge amount of cross Party Working on this and weve been very clear we will not be part of a coalition but we will support progressive policies and will work with everybody to try and will work with everybody to try and keep the tories out of number ten but if people are picking up the phone to us to speak to us about this, we want them to be talking about an independence referendum and the section 30 order for that to happen because thats what the people of scotland want. Kirsty blackman, thank you very much for your time today and for answering our viewers questions. Thank you for sending those in. At 5 30pm we will bejoined by for sending those in. At 5 30pm we will be joined by adam for sending those in. At 5 30pm we will bejoined by adam price for sending those in. At 5 30pm we will be joined by adam price from plaid cymru so get in touch with your questions. And a reminder you can find out what each party is promising to do on the issues that matter to you, in our general election policy guide. Its at bbc. Co. Uk news or on the bbc news app. Tomorrow you can join tomorrow you canjoin me in aberdeen in the latest of our bbc news broadcasts as we travel around the uk in the run up to the election. The headlines on bbc news. Hospitals under severe pressure as delays in a e in england hit their worst ever leveland more patients than ever before are on hospital waiting lists. The conservatives say theyll cut immigration overall to the uk after brexit if they win the election. Meanwhile, labour is promising to close the gender pay gap by 2030. Lets return to the floods in yorkshire. And we can speak to the editor of the Yorkshire Post, james mitchinson. How do these flats compare to other floods in the region . Ive been with the newspaper since 2016 and i remember distinctly the floods that came on boxing day 2015 and casting my mind back to those floods, similarly, the Yorkshire Post had to put pressure on David Cameron to act ina way put pressure on David Cameron to act in a way that people felt was appropriate and here we are, 2019, having to put pressure on the current Prime Minister to react in an appropriate way. What has happened in that intervening period between 2016 and now . Very little, seemingly. I can tell you that West Yorkshire local authorities are still owed £20 million that was promised back in 2016 and that hasnt been delivered. The headline we ran at the time was indefensible and its indefensible that this government is still in the red in our region when investing in flood protection. What was the money supposed to be spent on . Land management, it could be river management, it could be river management, it could be river management, it could be a whole variety of things. Thats for the experts to determine, not for me, but the fact remains that without the investment, we remain exposed to the investment, we remain exposed to the kind of devastation that you see a long the river this last week. You mention borisjohnsons a long the river this last week. You mention Boris Johnsons response a long the river this last week. You mention borisjohnsons response to this. Perhaps you would give us a little bit more detail on how you think he has reacted because there has been quite a lot of criticism. Ifi has been quite a lot of criticism. If i tell you one individual told me the Prime Minister is responded akin to one of lord sugars worst apprentices, a straightforward task for any leader let alone the leader ofa for any leader let alone the leader of a developed nation, and its been found wanting. The people of the valley affected feel it is too little too late and he has not come out of this very well. The Prime Minister has declared that he needs the votes of constituencies like don valley and those affected by the floods in yorkshire and yet when those communities needed the Prime Minister, it took a week to respond. He should have been there much sooner. What that has created is a vacuum sooner. What that has created is a vacuum for his opponents in the run up to the general election to make themselves look credible, but Jeremy Corbyn was able to write a letter and retweet the front page of the Yorkshire Post where we carried the Yorkshire Post where we carried the headline this is not a National Emergency, mrjohnson could have acted much quicker and could have been on the front foot and as i said, i tweeted a couple of days ago, people in communities across the north that mrjohnson needs ahead of this general election will see the way he has responded to these flats as a proxy for how he might treat them in the future. These floods. You will be covering how people have been affected by these floods. Do you think it is really tricky, im looking at when you covered the floods in 2015 and 2016, how difficult is it for people to recover from that . 2016, how difficult is it for people to recoverfrom that . It 2016, how difficult is it for people to recover from that . It takes a very long time, doesnt it . It does ta ke very long time, doesnt it . It does take a very long time butjust focusing on the here and now, you have heard the sound bites of the young mother talking about a little girl whos got no shoes to wear to get to school. If you boil it down to how it really impact on families, those families affected dont really ca re those families affected dont really care about two alpha politicians competing for attention about whos done the right thing and the wrong thing, they are looking for support and people to be there to help them recover here and now. How long does it help oh take to repair the damage . Years, some families never really get over it, and some Insurance Companies will withdraw their protection from homes hit by their protection from homes hit by the worst of the flooding so they cant ensure their belongings and in this occasion we are coming across families who have lost everything and have no insurance so some families never get over it. White max right now they want somebody to listen show them that they care. I think they want that, but Yorkshire People are a proud bunch andi Yorkshire People are a proud bunch and i dont think people necessarily ca re and i dont think people necessarily care about the colour of the rosettes when they are experiencing the kind of trauma that they are with these floods. Politics is irrelevant. They are judging with these floods. Politics is irrelevant. They arejudging people on the merits of their actions and intentions and i think for a Prime Minister to almost have to be buried into responding, this is not a National Emergency headline. Jeremy corbyns letter and frankly the sound bites by broadcasters like yourself showing the devastation and the fact he has to be bullied to going into yorkshire, it doesnt reflect well a nd going into yorkshire, it doesnt reflect well and you can see in some of the pictures you are broadcasting, he is really getting heckled and ha rangued broadcasting, he is really getting heckled and harangued and getting a ha rd heckled and harangued and getting a hard time. People didnt want to see the Prime Minister sloshing a mop around, they want to see the Prime Minister chairing a meeting and responding in the way that they felt was appropriate. We are out of time in this interview but thank you very much for talking to us today, james mitchinson, editor of the Yorkshire Post. Lets take a look at the weather forecast. We have a band of rain for england and wales today that could fade into areas that have seen flooding. We have seen some snow this morning, this photo from gloucestershire in this photo from gloucestershire in this photo from essex. Weve seen some quite large puddles as a result of this rain. We got an area of low pressure and its this weather front thatis pressure and its this weather front that is rotating around that area of low pressure thats bringing the persistent and heavy rain. You can see it here in the radar picture from earlier, it is pivoting around, gradually working its way further north, heavy and persistent at times but also falling as sleet and snow over high ground as well. Heres how it looks as we move through this afternoon, further outbreaks of rain for southwest england, parts of the midlands, feeding into lincolnshire and parts of South Yorkshire to the southeast there will be some sunny spells but also some sharp showers, possibly thundery. Behind that, brighter spells in the north. Sunny spells but also some showers and those showers could be wintry in the north and east. Feeling cool, the temperatures are struggling for the time of year, cooler so once you add in the brisk winds so we do still have that weather front with us as we go through tonight, further outbreaks of rain gradually worked there way north for parts of wales but it will tend to fizzle away, clear spells in the north and further south a bit more in the way of cloud. A quick look at tomorrow, plenty of cloud around, outbreaks of rainfor plenty of cloud around, outbreaks of rain for england and wales, the best of any brightness in the north and west. Rights and equality is platform for this election. Youre watching bbc newsroom live its midday and these are the main stories doctors warn hospitals are imploding as delays in a e in england hit their worst recorded level, with more patients than ever on waiting lists. The political blame game begins. Because of the uncertainty surrounding brexit, the nhs now has 40,000 nurse vacancies, has the longest waiting times in history, has the longest queues for a e departments and very large numbers of people waiting for operations. The conservatives say theyll cut immigration overall to the uk after brexit if they win the election but they wont give any targets. We want to introduce a new points based system, which is fair and equal to the entire world and that gives us control. And once weve got control, we can then see immigration being reduced. Warnings of further heavy downpours across South Yorkshire and parts of the east midlands. Yellow alerts are in place, meaning floodwater could cause danger to life. Good afternoon. Welcome to bbc newsroom live. Im annita mcveigh. Accident and Emergency Departments in england have recorded their worst performance since current records began in 2004. Other targets covering cancer and routine hospital treatment are also being missed. Lets take a look at some of those targets and the latest statistics published this morning. The government target is a maximum four hour wait for those in a e. But todays figures show only 83. 6 of patients, thats one in six patients, were treated or assessed in a e within four hours in october. We havent got that figure up there. Thats a sharp drop on september and down from 89. 1 in october last year. As seen here, the grey bars show a e wait times. We dont have those images. Performance getting steadily worse. The number of patients waiting for routine operations in england was 4. 42 million in september the highest ever. The nhs target is to have all patients start routine treatment within 18 weeks. But todays figures show more than 672,000 people were waiting more than 18 weeks the highest since 2008. The government target for cancer waiting times is for patients to start treatment in less than 62 days after an urgent gp referral. Todays figures show nhs cancer waiting times targets have not been met since december 2015. Heres our Health Editor hugh pym with some analysis of what might be behind these figures. Wed heard warnings from hospitals last month that the pressure normally associated with winter had come early and there was no obvious uptick in flu cases or severely cold weather but they were under real pressure with a certain small number declaring the highest level of alert, which is warning their local communities that people should not come to hospital unless they really needed to to a e. Its a big picture. Its a series of things weve talked about before. It can involve primary care and social care and people not being looked after as they should be because of pressure there. So they end up going to a e. And you often end up with people, often the elderly who shouldnt be who shouldnt be there at all and the trolleys built up. Weve had a lot of warnings about staffing issues, the number of vacancies, more than 100,000 vacancies in england. And a desire for a long term workforce plan which hasnt yet materialised. The main parties have talked a lot about funding for the future but one think tank, the nuffield trust, has said it could be four years before we get anywhere near back to the targets. And the money that has been pledged, in some ways, just keeps the show on the road. But behind it all is a rising demand. More patients coming through the doors. Nhs england have said they have seen more patients and treated them and assessed them in a e than this time last year. But the performance, getting them seen within four hours, has been a real struggle. Across the board, cancer routine surgery and a e, these look like the worst set of figures from hospitals since modern records began in england. A statement from nhs england on the performance statistics, said these figures show that while nhs staff are looking after a markedly higher number of older and sicker patients, a higher number of patients are being seen more quickly than a year ago. They went on to say, while hospitals will be opening more beds, the public also have a role to play by getting their flu jab and by using the nhs one one one phone number or Online Service as a first port of call for non emergiences. Responding to the latest set of nhs performance statistics, Health Secretary matt hancock said labour have also put out a response to the nhs figures. Jon ashworth, the shadow Health Secretary, said we can speak to our assistant Political Editor norman smith, who is in westminsterfor us. Norman, someone from one of the Health Think Tank saying to me earlier that it wasnt particularly helpful to weaponise the nhs politically. But looking at those state m e nts politically. But looking at those statements from matt hancock, first of all, do you think this could backfire because he is trying to shift the blame straight onto labour but it has been the conservatives who have been in charge for quite a long time now. The brutal political truth is that any day spent talking about the nhs is, from labours perspective a victory notjust because it is talking about the nhs but you are not talking about brexit. Of course, labourwont welcome these figures, but they inevitably will be used to reinforce their argument about the so called decade of decay under the conservatives when they said the nhs has suffered its biggest spending squeeze in history with increases of around 1 a year. Weve seen 5000 hospital beds cut. It plays to the message we heard from labour yesterday about this big £40 billion cash injection they want to put into the nhs over the next four years and taking on an awful lot of staff to try and address some of these concerns. Talking about 24,000 more nurses, 1500 more gps. Perhaps not surprisingly, this morning, of course, Jeremy Corbyn wanted to highlight these figures. Thats one in five of everyone accessing an a e department hasnt been seen within the required four hours. The four hour limit of seeing people was brought in under the previous Labour Government, as was the two week wait for cancer treatment, neither of which have been met across the whole country. It is disgraceful and it is a problem of the lack of staff and lack of funding for it. A Labour Government will increase nhs funding by 203 2024 by 26 billion a year, which will deal with all of that. However much the Health Manager might regret it, it seems to be very difficult to try and take the politics out of the nhs. Its always going to be a huge issue in any election. The only thing that does strike me is that when you look at the scale of the delays that patients now seem to be facing, the extent to which targets are being missed, it points to the fact that getting the nhs back to where it was 20, 30 years getting the nhs back to where it was 20,30 years ago is getting the nhs back to where it was 20, 30 years ago is really going to be quite a slow and incremental process and probably no party is going to be able to carry out any sort of quick fix. This is going to ta ke sort of quick fix. This is going to take time and it will have to be coupled with reforms to social care because the Health Service and social care are absolutely intertwined. And if you fix one, it is no use if you havent fixed the other. It points to the amount of work that still has to be done by politicians in coming up with coherent, credible and sustainable plans on the Health Service. Norman, thank you. Norman smith. Well, responding to todays figures, the independent smith. Well, responding to todays figures, the independent Health Think Tank, the nuffield trust, claims 100,000 people could be stuck on trolleys this coming january. Drjohn appleby is the organisations director of research. That is a very stark warning, 100,000 people stuck on trolleys in hospitals in january, 100,000 people stuck on trolleys in hospitals injanuary, based on the number of people who you say are stuck on trolleys company, which is. A shade over 80,000 80,000 people across england. It is the sort of figure you would usually c injanuary, sort of figure you would usually c in january, not october. Sort of figure you would usually c injanuary, not october. You would usually see stop all things being equal, the nhs would obviously being equal, the nhs would obviously be working hard to reduce this number, but we cant see it going below that. It is going above that and it could touch 100,000. Norman was just talking about reform to health and social care needing to work in tandem. Do you see any sign that that is happening . Is there any effort going on thats trying to deal with both these aspects of health care at the same time . Well, these a e figures are not usually so much a problem about a e itself. Its about why people are turning up, should they be somewhere else, how did he escape a e either into hospital or getting home again . How do we escape the stop social care, that sort of Community Type support is all really important. How do we escape. We have seen figures to do with delayed discharge in hospital, people who are in hospital and, according to their consultant, shouldnt really be there, they should be discharged somewhere else, either home or to a ca re somewhere else, either home or to a care home, they are starting to turn up care home, they are starting to turn up again. That is an indication that the whole social care and primary ca re the whole social care and primary Care Community care. It is the circle. Yes. And its all one big system in a way i did all relates to each other. It is a care ecosystem. And it all relates. Each other. It is a care ecosystem. And it all relates. To come back to that question, you cant fix one of these bits of the system in isolation, can you see any kind of cohesive effort going on . Or any sign ofa cohesive effort going on . Or any sign of a cohesive plan from any of the Political Parties to try to tackle that at the root . Well, both major Political Parties, the tories and labour have pledged a lot more money for the nhs. Some of this money for the nhs. Some of this money has been going in this year but weve only had six months of this year. As norman smith was intimating, it will take some time to turn around these figures and it is not just money. To turn around these figures and it is notjust money. In a way, it is what about the money can buy, people, drugs and the people are really important, the staff. They are not just really important, the staff. They are notjust stacked up in a rare house, ready to be released when the money is there. Doctors and nurses need to be trained in a warehouse. To get the staff and provision up. On the social care side, we had been promised some sort of government white paper, green paper, for literally years now. We know what the solution is probably our. The thing is, the political will to act on them the solutions probably will be. We havent seen that yet from the conservatives. We have seen some intimation of that from labour, but that is the vital pa rt from labour, but that is the vital part of the ecosystem, as you call it that needs fixing. The conservatives in that statement from matt hancock talked about the best way to sort this out, voting conservative and get brexit sorted out and then focus on the nhs. What do you make of that comment . Do you feel the conservatives government, has been distracted from brexit from tackling this . Certainly. Any government would have been over these last few years. There are decisions you can take regarding brexit, of course. There has been a decision taken by the government, the previous government, to put more money into the nhs and that is starting to happen. There are decisions you can take out with brexit. But suddenly brexit has drained government attention away from some of these issues certainly brexit. Thank you. The labour party has announced a target for closing the gender pay gap injust over a decade. It says it will adopt policies to eliminate the difference in average hourly pay between men and woman by 2030. Meanwhile, the home secretary, priti patel, has said immigration would fall under a conservative government, but arbitrary targets wont be set. Brandon lewis is a home office minister. We are saying we want to reduce, and we will reduce, net migration but what we need to do. And this is why we need a clear conservative majority is we need to first of all the the eu, so we can End Free Movement in the eu, which obviously prevents us being able to control immigration at the moment. That allows us to control immigration from the eu. We want to introduce a new points based system, which is fair and equal to the entire world, and that gives us control. And once weve got control, we can then see immigration being reduced. Earlier, i spoke to the snps Kirsty Blackman about her thoughts on immigration. She says she wants to encourage more people to come to scotland and continue freedom of movement. Looking at our plan for the future for scotland, we would like to encourage people to come here and we would like to encourage eu nationals to come here and we would very much like for freedom of movement to continue. Weve got the social and cultural benefits of having so many people come and be welcomed in scotland but also the economic benefits. Every eu national that lives here adds on average £10,400 to government revenue every year. And throughout the Election Campaign well be putting your questions to all of the main parties. At 5. 30pm, well be joined by the leader of plaid cyrmu, adam price. So, if you have anything you want to ask, please do get in touch, using the Contact Details on screen, and well put those questions to him. Please remember to leave your name and where youre from. Lets get more on the conservative pledge to reduce overall immigration if the party wins the general election. Our reality check correspondent chris morris has been looking at the claims. At the moment, the uk follows the eus freedom of movement rules meaning eu citizens have an absolute right to live and work here, and uk citizens have an absolute right to live and work elsewhere in the eu. But brexit changes things. Heres what labour said at the last election freedom of movement will end when we leave the eu. But a lot of people a lot of labour supporters think thats a really bad idea. And look at what this years Labour Party Conference voted for maintaining and extending Free Movement rights. So the tories have leapt on this and said it could mean hundreds of thousands of new arrivals every year. But that relies on the assumption that Free Movement of people will be extended to cover the whole world, which isnt what the labour motion says and doesnt appear to be their policy. The trouble is it is ambiguous, and we dont know what will appear in the labour manifesto. Theres not much doubt what the tories think. Jeremy corbyn and the labour party have a programme for unrestricted and uncontrolled immigration. One of the advantages of getting brexit done, which is what we want to do in the course of the next few weeks, get brexit done, and then we really do take back control of our immigration policy for everybody around the world. Cabinet minister michael gove went as far this week as describing extending Free Movement after brexit as extreme, dangerous and out of touch with the people. Pretty striking language and the home secretary has now promised that the conservatives will reduce overall immigration. They say they want a points based system which attracts talent from around the world which the uk needs. But how significant is freedom of movement from the eu for meeting the tory target of bringing immigration down . Have a look at this the blue line you can see is net migration from the eu since 2010 and its going down in recent years. The purple line is net migration from the rest of the world, going up and look at where they cross, in 2016, at about the time of the eu referendum. Since then, net migration from the eu has fallen sharply. The latest figures we have for the year ending march 2019 thereve been 219,000 net arrivals from the rest of the world so, ending Free Movement totally would only affect that smaller number, and if arrivals from the eu fell even further, parts of the british economy would need arrivals from the rest of the world to keep going up, to fill vacancies in places like the nhs, the Hospitality Industry and elsewhere. The headlines on bbc news. Doctors warn hospitals are imploding as delays in a e in england hit their worst recorded level, with more patients than ever on waiting lists. The conservatives say theyll cut immigration overall to the uk after brexit if they win the election but they wont give any targets. Labour is promising to close the gender pay gap by 2030. Sport now. Good afternoon. Its a big night for england, the match against montenegro at wembley this evening will be their 1,000th international fixture. Much of the build up, of course, has centred on Raheem Sterling, whos been dropped tonight for disciplinary reasons. Gareth southgates team only need a draw to qualify for the European Championship next summer. They finish their campaign in kosovo on sunday, so there is a second chance, should they slip up but it promises to be a historic night as they celebrate the landmark 1,000th match and the manager is well aware of those who have gone before him. When you look at the names, sir alf ramsey, sir bobby robson, and that the managers that ive played for who i have had enormous respect for and what a big part of englands history, that is something that is of huge pride for myself and my family. Im always conscious of that. England all rounder ben stokes says his standout performances for england this summer do not give him any sort of redemption for what happened outside a bristol nightclub in 2017. Stokes was fined £30,000 and was given an eight match ban after being involved in a street fight, although the cricketer was cleared of affray. This summer, stokes helped england win the world cup and also the third ashes test, but he says what happened two years ago never influenced his mindset on the field of play. From my point of view, i dont see it like that at all. I see it as me going out, doing. As good as i can to help my team win games. I dont see it as redemption, there is nothing else towards it, not doing it to. Its not that will prove you wrong type of thing. Nothing, no. Ben stokes speaking to dan water. Theres been more success for great britains Hannah Cockcroft at the world para athletics championships this morning. Shes won her second gold of championships in dubai, setting a championship record in the 800m. This is what i needed. I needed to come here and remind myself what i love doing and why i love doing it. Im not afraid to say i love it because i loved it when the stop its really done that, it has motivated me. The girls are not quite as far away as i would like them to be but i have worked hard and got quicker. Scottish rugby union has accepted a £70,000 fine and expressed regret over their conduct at the world cup. The penalty was handed down for criticism of the threatened cancellation of scotlands final pool game against hosts japan. The match was in doubt because of a typhoon that hit the country. Chief executive mark dodson hinted at legal action if the match was called off. It was ruled that he had brought the game into disrepute. Scotland lost the match and failed to qualify for the quarter finals youre up to date with the sport, lets head back to the newsroom, victoria has the Business News. Im victoria fritz in with the Business News this afternoon. Fears rise for the uk economy as retail sales unexpectedly fall. Official figures show sales growth is at its weakest for 18 months. All categories fell, with the exception of food. Hong kong protests dent overseas sales at burberry. The Luxury Goods Group cuts the value of stores in the territory amid months long disturbances. Women should have the right to know what their male colleagues are being paid if they suspect pay discrimination thats according to the Fawcett Society. The gender equality charity is calling for a change in the law to try to cut down on instances of unequal pay. Lets focus on that top story and the disappointing retail sales figures. They unexpectedly fell in october most experts were expecting another month of steady growth. But with the vital pre Christmas Period now in full swing, many retailers will be under even more pressure to perform. Lets talk to leanne carr from retail week. Whats your reaction to this negative number today . Obviously, it is unexpected but low Consumer Confidence has been going on for a while and the weather hasnt been great. People are waiting for the black friday discounts to really start spending. How much pressure will retailers feel now in the run up to the vital pre Christmas Period . It is not as though they have a nice co mforta ble it is not as though they have a nice comfortable margin to sit on going into this period . Consumers are cutting back on spending. But they will spend. Christmas isnt going to get cancelled. As long as they offer great value, great discounts, they can win the sales back. Are you expecting consumers to remain cautious in the election period run 7 cautious in the election period run es, cautious in the election period run up . Yes, i think they will. Historically, after an election, sales go up. It has just come at the wrong time. A bit of a spanner in the works for people but it is christmas, people will spend. Just less presence, i think. Christmas, people will spend. Just less presence, ithink. Lets christmas, people will spend. Just less presence, i think. Lets turn our attention to a Global Retail company. Burberry have stores right across the world but they are feeling the pinch in hong kong. Traditionally they are very strong. How important is this market for them, for this company . They take around 8 of their sales in hong kong, which has gone down to around 596 kong, which has gone down to around 5 since the protests. It will be a bit of a wait and see situation, depending on how long the protests last, they will start to see if the margins get hit properly. 8 is quite a lot. It sounds like a small number but does it have the potential to blow burberry of course, a big company like that . hasnt yet. Their group sales are still up and over the next three months, we will know if it really sta rts months, we will know if it really starts to affect them. We will leave it there, thank you very much. Lets have a look at other stories making the news. Germany has avoided recession. It is europes biggest economy and it grew byjust a fraction, 0. 1 between july economy and it grew byjust a fraction, 0. 1 betweenjuly and september. A technical recession is when there are two consecutive quarters of contraction. Six continuous months, basically. Higher household and Government Spending have offset a bit of a downturn in the manufacturing sector, which, of course, is export focused and has been struggling. Interesting news in the mobile phone sector. Motorola razor it is to return to the market 15 years after it was launched. Unlike the original device, this one, when you flip it open, it will be all screen and it wont have that thin keypad that you might remember motorola razr. The cost is £1100. Have you ever had a problem when you are ordering your Grocery Shopping online and the closest substitute doesnt make the grade . Well, for janice and graham shaw, the online shop with sainsburys didnt go to plan. Instead of the £76 dinner set, they received as their closeness to substitute the popular childrens toy play doh. I dont know what theyre going to do with that. We will try to get some more news on wage discrimination. We are looking forward to speaking to someone from the Fawcett Society. If we have then we will go to them. We do, excellent five decades after wage discrimination was made illegal in this country, equal pay still remains a distant dream. Thats the view of the charity, the Fawcett Society. And that people need a legally enforcea ble and that people need a legally enforceable right for wage disclosure. Why is that this disparity . Well, 50 years of equal pay and employers still treat it as a nice to have. Part of the reason is that women dont have a right to know whether they are being paid less tha n know whether they are being paid less than men in the same job. Although it is the law, it is treated like some kind of optional extra that needs to change. But not eve ryo ne extra that needs to change. But not everyone is comfortable with disclosing their pay. It is a very personal thing. Lots of people equate it with how they value themselves and how they are valued by society. Do people not also have a right to privacy . Women have a right to equal pay is not to experience pay discrimination. At the moment, women may find out they experiencing pages, nation because a colleague leaves a payslip on their desk or shares the information in the pub or because of theirjob they have access to that kind of pain information. What we want to happen is to take it out of the hands of their male colleagues, who may be allies, and put it back onto the employer. This is an employer issue. It is the employer who is responsible for equal pay. And there will be provisions around women getting this right to know that it is important to change the law because women shouldnt be paid less than men for the same job. In the poll you conducted, eight out of ten people would support this move. If you are a woman watching this, if you are a woman watching this, if you think you are being paid less than the man next to you for doing the samejob, than the man next to you for doing the same job, what can you do about it . There are a few things you can do. You may be able to speak to your male colleagues who may share that information. You may be able to approach your employer. You can also use equal Pay Advice Service that the Fawcett Society has set up which gives free, legal confidential advice to women on low incomes. Of course, this isnt just advice to women on low incomes. Of course, this isntjust up to women, this fight, is it . If you are a man and you have daughters, sisters, wives, etc, how can you better support them in this fight for equal pay . You can be an ally to your collea g u es pay . You can be an ally to your colleagues at work who are women who may be suffering pay dissemination. You can sign our petition on change. Org to show your support and our petition showed three quarters of men did support this new provision. We it there, thank you very much. Gemma rosenblatt, head of policy and campaigns at fawcett. The ftse is pretty much flat, 12 points at the moment. Burberry sales we re points at the moment. Burberry sales were up overall, although they had the disappointing news out from hong kong. Not surprising that shares are up kong. Not surprising that shares are up almost 4 at the moment. This is what £1 gets you, one to 8. 43 against the dollar. The german index, the dax falling slightly. Although the economy did manage to miss recession, as did the uk economy. Thats it from me, plenty more ina economy. Thats it from me, plenty more in a couple of hours. Thank you, victoria, i love the play doh story. I dont know what algorithm produced that but it is time for a look at the weather forecast. The concern still remains the amount of rainfall we have had and the rain we will still get in the next 24 hours. Once again, the set up is that many parts of central england, Northern England and wales will see rain and some woke up to snow this morning. It is becoming limited to the Higher Grounds but u nfortu nately, the Higher Grounds but unfortunately, another 2040 millimetres of rain falling in the areas of rain falling in the area is already severely flooded 20 40 millimetres. Met Office Weather warnings are in force. Different story in the north, cold and bright and windy, which makes it feel colder with wintry showers on the hills with isamu turning to night as temperatures get close to freezing. With temperatures of turning to night. Hopefully this rain will break up become lighter and more patchy by the time we had to morning. It lines up further north and west but we will see showers coming back in on the brisk north east, the cold wind and later today, another bout of rain coming back into eastern england. It is a lwa ys back into eastern england. It is always tricky with them is coming from the east but it will be a chilly day tomorrow and we will keep you posted on those warnings. The details are on the website. Hello, this is bbc newsroom live. The headlines doctors warn hospitals are imploding as delays in a e in england hit their worst recorded level with more patients than ever on waiting lists. The political blame game begins. Because of the uncertainty surrounding brexit, the nhs now has 40,000 nurse vacancies, the longest waiting times in history, the longest queues for a e departments and very large numbers of people waiting for operations. The conservatives say theyll cut immigration overall to the uk after brexit if they win the election but they wont give any targets we wa nt we want to introduce a new points based system which is fair and equal to the entire world and that gives us control and once we got control we can then see emigration being reduced. Immigration. Warnings of further heavy downpours across South Yorkshire and parts of the east midlands. Yellow alerts are in place meaning floodwater could cause danger to life. Meaning floodwater could back now to the general election and its another busy day on the campaign trail. The labour party has announced a target for closing the gender pay gap injust over a decade. It says it will adopt policies to eliminate the difference in average hourly pay between men and women by 2030. Meanwhile, the home secretary, priti patel, has said immigration would fall under a conservative government. But the party is expected to drop its commitment to drop net migration below 100,000 after repeatedly failing to meet it. And the liberal democrats have used a speech in london to outline the partys plans for equalities and human rights. Well, the Prime Minister is back on the campaign trail today and this morning hes in the southwest. Our Political Correspondent alex forsyth is there with him. Has he given any response to these latest nhs figures . Im here in the south west as you say on the campaign trail following Boris Johnson as he does a tour of some of the seats the conservatives really need to hold in this neck of the woods. He is due to come here to this local bakery in a few minutes but he has already been to a school during a visit where he read to some School Children and spoke to some teachers and there he was asked about those nhs figures. The line from the conservatives is very much that labour would be worse, despite the fact they have been in power, looking at the nhs for some time, the conservatives argument is you cannot trust labour with the nhs. Well see how that goes down but the push from the conservatives today had wanted to be on immigration and the idea that they would bring down the idea that they would bring down the immigration figures as you quite rightly said. This has been a conservative target for some time. Successive Prime Ministers have promised to get immigration down to the tens of thousands and now we are here, despite the fact they wanted lowered, there is no target on it are set figure, perhaps learning lessons from the past and there is no real detail about how they would deliver it exactly but borisjohnson was act about this asked about this at the school earlier and he set out the partys vision. Im in favour of people of talent being able to come to this country. I am basically pro immigration for talented people ever since i was mayor of london. But im also in favour of control. And i dont think its right that we should have a system of immigration where there is, at the moment, no democratic control over huge numbers of people who can come in, without any checks or whatever, without anyjob to go to. So what were going to do is were coming to have an australian style points based system that will allow us to control who comes in and make sure that we do not have so many people coming in without skills, without jobs to come to. So beyond the fact that he wants a points based immigration system, we dont know a huge amount of detail but as you might expect in an Election Campaign, the conservatives have been pretty quick to criticise labour and what they say is labours immigration policy. We havent had a lot of detailfrom immigration policy. We havent had a lot of detail from the labour party yet either apart from this morning saying the focus has to be on not exploiting workers, that the issue isnt always with migration, it sometimes with exploitative practices which can affect wages. This is always a central issue in campaigns, immigration and the nhs, but has borisjohnson continues the tour of the south west to leave voting areas, you can bet he will wa nt to voting areas, you can bet he will want to bring it back to brexit at some point and his core message which is, of course, im the man to deliver brexit. In this region he is really facing a challenge from the liberal democrats and their stock brexit stop brexit message. While were waiting for borisjohnson to a live, there has been a very small crowd of protesters gathering outside so we are waiting to see if he does make this his next stop on the campaign tour. So lets start with labour, Jeremy Corbyn is in scotland today. Our political correspodent nick eardley is there. Jeremy corbyn has been talking about in what circumstances or in terms of timing whena in what circumstances or in terms of timing when a Labour Government might support an independence referendum. What has he had to say . Its a question that follows Jeremy Corbyn whenever he comes to scotland and its a message on which he has not been hugely clear over the last 12 months or so. Yesterday we had Jeremy Corbyn saying he wouldnt allow another independence referendum in the first term of a Labour Government, which is potentially five years. Later in the day, the message was slightly nuanced to say not in the first year. This morning it has been slightly different again. Have a listen to what he told some of my collea g u es listen to what he told some of my colleagues in dundee earlier. An incoming Labour Government will invest in scotland, 70 billion of investment coming into scotland. And therefore there will be an improvement in peoples Living Standards and there will be jobs for the future through our green industrial revolution. Its not our priority to have a Scottish Independence referendum and so ive said were not going to do it in the early stages of the government. We want instead for the people of scotland to see what a Labour Government can bring for the whole of the uk including scotland. Im in midlothian just im in midlothianjust now, Jeremy Corbyn is going to be here shortly in the next 20 minutes or so. This is an area of scotland where labour we re is an area of scotland where labour were safe, they used to have the vote. Nowadays its a lot tighter. The party won the seat back in 2017, having lost it in 2015 to the snp and there are some in the labour party, ive been speaking to some candidates in scotland, who are worried that mixed messaging or not being particularly clear on the independence issue is going to have a negative impact on the partys vote. Mr corbyn was in dundee a couple of hours ago and was heckled by somebody in the audience about this very issue. This is an issue of democracy, jeremy im interested to know what youre going to do about the will of the scottish people with regards to. Let him answer it, then shouting thank you very much. Thank you very much. Im talking about the Common Threat we all face and that is from Climate Change and the need to elect a government thats serious about Climate Change. And investing and the people of scotland. Jeremy corbyn fairly popular with his audience there in dundee apart from that one member. He will be fairly popular here as well but the wider question in scotland is whether those messages on independence are impacting on the labour partys independence are impacting on the labour pa rtys support. Independence are impacting on the labour partys support. The snp are saying they wont support labour in a Hung Parliament and they want if they wont allow an independence referendum when the Scottish Parliament wants it. Borisjohnson isa parliament wants it. Borisjohnson is a saying you will end up with a coalition of chaos if the snp and labour are working together. Its a bit of a tightrope forJeremy Corbyn and at the moment he is not negotiating it particularly successfully on this trip. Our correspondent tom symonds is at the lib dem event. The liberal democrats are saying that labour and the conservatives lack the moral authority to defend the uk from what they call the forces of hate and division. Thats right. On paper, the liberal democrats have produced a long list of equality policies today which include, for example, stopping the bulk collection of data by the security services, six weeks paternity leave for new dads and speeding up the gender recognition act which makes it easier for people to transition from one gender to the other. But he that the event, it was all about two labour defectors who have joined the liberal democrats in the last year, chuka umunna and Luciana Berger and they said they we re Luciana Berger and they said they were attacking Jeremy Corbyn, Boris Johnson and their parties for creating a toxic culture where racism had been allowed to be fostered. For example, Luciana Berger who isjewish set fostered. For example, Luciana Berger who is jewish set the fostered. For example, Luciana Berger who isjewish set the tone had been set from the top iJeremy Corbyns leadership and he had failed to deal with anti semitism set byJeremy Corbyns leadership. Chuka umunnas attack was on Boris Johnson, he said he had forced an entire moderate centre right position from the party with 21 mps forced out. He said borisjohnson was reluctant to have an inquiry into anti semitism because he would be the chief subject. He said that the conservatives during this campaign we go back to the greatest hits of the Referendum Campaign in 2016 and use immigration to whip up fear so they clearly believe those are two mps, the liberal democrats believe these are two mps with a strong potential attack on what they see as racism and the other two big parties in the other two big parties. You can find out what each party is promising to do on the issues that matter to you in our general election policy guide, which will be updated throughout the campaign, including once the manifestos are published. That is at bbc. Co. Uk news or on the bbc news app. Accident and Emergency Departments in england have recorded their worst performance since current records began in 2004. Other targets covering cancer and routine hospital treatment are also being missed. Lets take a look at some of those targets and the latest statistics published this morning. The government target is a maximum four hour wait for those in a e but todays figures show only 83. 6 of patients thats one in six patients were treated or assessed in a e within four hours in october. Thats a sharp drop on september and down from 89. 1 in october last year. The number of patients waiting for routine operations in england was 4. 42 million in september the highest ever. The nhs target is to have all patients start routine treatment within 18 weeks but todays figures show more than 672,000 people were waiting more than 18 weeks the highest since 2008. The government target for cancer waiting times is for patients to start treatment in less than 62 days after an urgent gp referral. Todays figures show nhs cancer waiting times targets have not been met since december 2015. This was the Prime Ministers response a short time ago. This is basically caused by the huge demand on the nhs and thats why now in the last three months we have done the biggest investment in the nhs in modern times. Liam otoole is the chief executive of the health charity, versus arthritis. Broadly looking at these figures overall, what do you make of them . These figures are the worst they have ever been in for orthopaedic surgery which includesjoint replacements, it means that a fifth of people are waiting longer than 18 weeks and whats really important here is behind each of these numbers asa here is behind each of these numbers as a person and thats a person living with long term chronic pain so if you. Joint living with long term chronic pain so if you. Joint replacement can ta ke so if you. Joint replacement can take that pain away but if your operation is deleted can have a devastating effect and impact on a persons physical and mental health. You are keen to stress it is not about physical pain alone and the delay in dealing with that but it is about psychological symptoms as a result of the delay as well. Without getting into the specifics, of course, of any particular cases, are you able to give us a sense of what people you work with have said to you . Having yourjoints replaced is a big deal and people with arthritis spend a lot of time talking to their surgeon about this and they get to the point where they are desperate and they make a decision to have the operation because they need it so for that to be changed it means them living in pain for much longer, losing their independence, perhaps losing their independence, perhaps losing their independence, perhaps losing their ability to work. You wa nt losing their ability to work. You want action from all Political Parties of all persuasions to make new commitments or to reassert commitments to waiting time targets, dont you . Tell us about that. People need to know, they want to know when the operation is going to happen so that they can plan the rest of their life. The 18 week target is really important because its a fundamental patient right and its a fundamental patient right and its one of few ways that a patient can hold the nhs to account so we need to protect it. Today we are calling on all Political Parties to reaffirm their commitment to that 18 week maximum wait and we are keen to work with whatever government comes in to help ensure that the nhs does better at meeting that target. Reaffirming that target, thats words, isnt it . But clearly there area words, isnt it . But clearly there are a lot of actions, a lot of money needs to be put in, staffing shortages need to be sorted out, there are numerous reasons that make up there are numerous reasons that make up the picture we have on these nhs figures today so you talk about working with politicians to help bring about change. Do you think the will is there, the political will is there to do that . The nhs faces some really big challenges. We are living longer and with multiple conditions. 85 of people who have arthritis also have another long term condition like diabetes or alzheimers so there are challenges around the structure of the nhs and we also need to make sure it is resourced appropriately for the new challenges of an ageing population. Thank you for talking to us about this today. But first the headlines on bbc news doctors warn hospitals are imploding as delays in a e in england hit their worst recorded level with more patients than ever on waiting lists. The conservatives say theyll cut immigration overall to the uk after brexit if they win the election but they wont give any targets. Labour is promising to close the gender pay gap by 2030. President trump has said he cant remember a phone call at the centre of new revelations from the first public hearings of his impeachment inquiry. Mr trump is accused of abusing his power by asking ukraine to investigate a political rival. Our north america correspondent Chris Buckler reports from washington. Im too busy to watch anything. It is a witch hunt, a hoax. President trump may have made an point of ignoring the impeachment inquiries, but across america people were watching. In washington, some bars even opened early to screen the hearing, as us networks cleared the schedules to show the showdown. Breaking news tonight. A bombshell revelation, as historic public hearings begin in the impeachment enquiry. For the first time in public, two leading us diplomats spoke of their concerns that the president was prepared to suspend military aid to ukraine unless its government launched an investigation into his potential us president rivaljoe biden and his son, hunter. And there was a new allegation, that in a phone call, donald trump himself had pressed the Us Ambassador to the eu to push for the probe. Following the call with President Trump, the member of my staff asked ambassador sondland what President Trump thought about ukraine. Ambassador sondland responded that President Trump cares more about the investigations of biden. At a News Conference with turkeys president erdogan, mr trump was deeply dismissive of proceedings. Are you talking about the witch hunt . Is that what youre talking about . I hear it is a joke. I have not watched. I have not watched for one minute. But this hearing was only the start. Many other witnesses are lined up to give evidence in the full glare of publicity, putting the president s actions under scrutiny. Chris buckler, bbc news, washington. The mayor of venice says the city is on its knees after floodwater submerged shops, homes and historical landmarks. Luigi brugnaro says it will cost hundreds of millions of euros to repair the damage. At least two people have died afterflooding reached the highest levels in the region for more than 50 years. Ben ando reports. As the waters fell a little in st marks square last night, venice had a moment to reflect on the devastating impact of a high tide and civic failure. The six foot floodwaters were the highest for 50 years, surging through the 12th century crypt beneath the basilica as streets became canals and the merchants of venice were left to count the cost. The lagoon city should be protected. A giant ring of 78 gates and dams was started in 2003, but has become mired in corruption and delay. Last night, italys Prime Minister, giuseppe conte, said that had to end. Translation we have spent a lot. There have been lots of controversies and so many scandals in the past. What should we do . If we consider public interest, and everything thats at stake, the only decision is that we have to complete this in the fastest and most effective way. But italy is not famed for efficiency in civil projects. Translation theyve done nothing, in italy, thats how it is, our politicians are all thieves. They should be injail. 80 of the city is submerged. Venice hasjust 50,000 inhabitants, but takes in 36 million visitors every year. A city drowning in its own popularity, and possibly the inexorable impact of a changing climate. And another high tide is expected later this morning. Ben ando, bbc news. Steven speilberg, orson welles and jeff wayne have all had their go at making the sci fi classic the war of the worlds. This sunday, a new three part version, set in edwardian england, lands on bbc one, staring rafe spall and eleanor tomlinson. Our entertainment correspondent Colin Paterson met them on set and was given a lesson in how to stare at aliens. Three, two, one. Action no one wouldve believed in the early years of the 21 century there would be an alien invasion on the beach in merseyside. The tripod falls. On location for the new bbc series the war of the worlds. Do you think it could be from mars . Something can erupt from mars and end up in surrey . As soon as i walked onto the set, i thought, this is as big as any movie ive done. Its huge. Robert carlyle plays the astronomer ogilvy. His first war of the worlds experience jeff waynes double album. We used to play it, and that tune is in my head. Thats my earliest memories of war of the worlds and Richard Burtons voiceover. The cameras on a lunch break. I cant work like this, i really cant. Is it. A shooting star . Thats right, a shooting star. Why have i got these glasses on . Theyre not real i like them. This adds instant character. I look scientific. The chances of anything coming from mars are 1 million to one. Rafe spall plays george, who has just left his wife and now has to flee aliens. Something has arrived in england. When the aliens appear, is it tennis balls and socks and theyll all get stuck in later . Theres lots of this sort of acting. Ready . Yeah. No, no, thats too much. Too much. Because you have to remember that the audience are going to be seeing it, so you dont need to sell it for them. 0k, 0k. So this is an. Ive just done thejurassic park film and it turns out that seeing a dinosaur is pretty similar to seeing a tripod martian. This is all you have to do. Yep. 0k. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I could feel it off you. I didnt see it, but i could feel the truth pumping off you. Its opening next, the beach in the rain to see one of Eleanor Tomlinsons big scenes. She plays amy, a character not in the original book. And it is an interesting idea, taking a well known story and putting a female lead into it. Is this going to become more common . I hope so, i hope so. I think were seeing more female leads coming to the forefront, which is fantastic for actresses like myself. You know, i think its important that we see more roles for women, more female directors, more female writers. Its a time for change, its a time for that to start happening. Somebodys got some clearing up to do. You ready to run into that sea . Cant wait, yeah. Make sure you get it on camera. Yeah, absolutely. Well, she wanted us to get it on camera, and we did. Just time for the days final big explosion. Now its time for a look at the weather with helen willetts. Some of us woke up to a light dusting of snow this morning which shows how cold the air is at the moment. This is the band of cloud that brought sunshine to the south of the snow and sunshine to the north but this is a band of rain primarily in the concern as it is following in those areas already severely flooded so we are starting to see the flood warnings creeping up to see the flood warnings creeping up once again across the midlands stop is going to affect lincolnshire and yorkshire once again throughout the rest of the day. We could see another 20 to 30 millimetres of rain and what has been a very wet autumn so far continues so again there are warnings from the met office because of the fast flowing floodwaters in the rivers and lots of spray and standing water is. To the north, wintry showers but bright sunshine although it is chilly and it is sunshine to the south and east as well but heavy showers are rolling in across parts of east anglia and the southeast as we go through the rest of the afternoon. Overnight, this rain band continues for a time but it is just pushing a bit further northwards and eastwards. We hope it will become lighter and more patchy, wintry showers over the hills in the north and it doesnt look as cold as last night but temperatures will fall low enough for icy patches across parts of scotland. Elsewhere, perhaps a little bit too much when for many, but it is a brisk wind today and tonight. It eases a little tomorrow and if anything, after the showers tomorrow we could see more persistent rain coming into southern and eastern areas again. The best of the sunshine again will be further north and west. Still bracing in that wind, just seven or eight celsius for most of us and at low pressure throwing these weather fronts and will still be around. It has moved further east but its still around to the weekend. It doesnt look as though we will see wetter weather but nevertheless it is not exactly dry and it is actually northeasterly breeze as well so its not going to feel any warmerfor most of well so its not going to feel any warmer for most of us with a lot of cloud around. We do start to see some weather fronts approaching from the west as well. Temperatures may creep up a degree or two but given the brisk northeasterly wind it is not going to feel particularly warm and come sunday there could be something more significant rain wise into eastern areas, some showery rain further west as well so again the chance is there for some development but we are watching for further rain. The warnings are on the website. Accident and emergency units in england record their worst performance since current records began. One in six patients is waiting longer than four hours the new figures put health back to the top of the election agenda. This is basically caused by the huge demand that there is on the nhs, and thats why, now, in the last three months, we have done the biggest investment in the nhs in modern times. It is disgraceful and it is a problem of the lack of staff and the lack of funding for it, so a Labour Government will increase nhs funding by 23 24 by 26 billion a year. One doctor says nhs Emergency Care is imploding well be getting analysis from our Health Editor