Transcripts For BBCNEWS Victoria Derbyshire 20240713

So you want to vote for that . Yeah, because they all tell lies, but hes the biggest lie. And nearly three Million People are living with cancer in the uk, with someone diagnosed every 90 seconds. Charities say the number is increasing dramatically. One of these women was diagnosed last year, the other has had the disease since 2011. Well be asking them what living with cancer is really like. Hello, welcome to the programme. Were live until 11 this morning. Do get in touch on all the stories were talking about use the hashtag victoria live. If you re emailing and are happy for us to contact you 7 and maybe want to take part in the Programme Please include your phone number in your message. If you text, you ll be charged at the Standard Network rate. Now a nowa summary now a summary of the news. Good morning. Energy firm npower is to cut up to a500 jobs in the uk as pa rt cut up to a500 jobs in the uk as part of a Restructuring Plan to make it more profitable. The german owners of the company, eon, said the uk market was particularly challenging. Unions say it is a cruel blow to workers in the run up to christmas and this warning a500 jobs could be lost with a closure of a number of call centres. The conservative party and channel a have clashed after the Prime Minister declined to appear on a Leaders Debate programme broadcast last night. Michael gove offered to ta ke last night. Michael gove offered to take his place by the broadcaster said the invitation was for leaders only. The party has written to the broadcasting watchdog 0fcom, saying the decision to replace Boris Johnson with an Ice Sculpture was provocative and partisan. The conservatives are promising to strengthen englands education watchdog 0fsted. The party has revealed plans for longer inspections and an extra £10 billion of funding for the inspector. There will also be trials of no notice inspections. Schools could be visited with no prior warning. There are certain situations where there may be particular concerns about a school and what it is doing, and the ability to have no notice inspections is important. To have that as a key part of the tool box that as a key part of the tool box that 0fsted have. Some young people are so dependent on their smartphones that it becomes like an addiction, according to research. Psychiatrists discovered almost a quarter of young people become panicky or upset if they are denied constant access to their fans. They also cant control the amount of time they spend on the phone. The study once such addictions have serious consequences for Mental Health. World famous free solar climber has died attempting to ascend the side of cliff face in mexico. He broke the speed record two years ago on the el capitan summit. He fell 1000 feet to his death on wednesday. The 31 year old american was best known for climbing without any safety equipment. The former mp, harvey proctor, has reached a settlement with scotland ya rd over reached a settlement with Scotland Yard over its investigation into false claims of a vip paedophile ring. The former conservative politician, whose home was raided following allegations made by the fantasist carl beech will be paid £900,000 in compensation and legal bills. The metropolitan Police Previously apologised for the m ista kes previously apologised for the mistakes made in the case. President trump has made a surprise visit to american troops in afghanistan, his first since taking office. As well as serving a traditional thanksgiving dinner and chatting with troops, he told them the us and taliban had been engaged in talks and he would reduce the American Military presence in the country substantially. And that is a summary of our main stories. Back to joanna. And that is a summary of our main stories. Back tojoanna. Thank you. A row has broken out between channel a and the conservative party, after the broadcaster decided to empty chair borisjohnson in a tv Leaders Debate last night, and put a block of ice in his place. Five other Party Leaders took part in the hour long discussion on Climate Change, but the Prime Minister and the brexit party leader, nigel farage, refused the invitation, so channel a put Ice Sculptures in their positions instead. The conservatives have written to the broadcasting regulator, 0fcom, accusing channel a of being provocative and impartial. Sources at the party have also reportedly threatened to review their broadcasting licence if they win the election next month. The tories tried to send michael gove in mrjohnsons place along with the Prime Ministers dad but the producers insisted the debate was for leaders only, and turned them away. In a tweet, the editor of channel a news told the conservatives to stop behaving like realdonaldtrump with the press and media. Put your leader borisjohnson alongside the other leaders and stop playing games. Don t refuse and then threaten our licence. Its a slippery slope. All the parties complain labour said the Prime Minister was running scared. It came as mrjohnson refused to say whether hed be interviewed by the Bbcs Andrew Neil something Jeremy Corbyn, jo swinson, Nicola Sturgeon and mr farage have all agreed to. Labours John Mcdonnell said the Prime Minister was avoiding interviews till after people had cast their postal votes. Hes running scared because he knows andrew neil will take him apart. He is running scared, but, also, even if he does it now, he has played you, because hes pushing it later and later beyond the postal vote returns. Joining me now are sonia sodha, who writes for the observer. Stanley johnson, the Prime Ministers father. And lord grade, a former chairman of both the bbc and itv, and a conservative peer. Welcome. Thank you very much. You and michael gove thought he would go instead of Boris Johnson, and michael gove thought he would go instead of borisjohnson, did you . Hold on. Slight error in the transmission. I was invited by channel a. I wasnt there for the conservative party. I was thrilled to be there. I should have gone on my bike, they sent a card from me. The real sadness about this whole thing is it was a very important debate. It has been slightly overshadowed with this 0fcom business and people getting upset about it. As far as i am concerned, michael gove was sent forward by the conservative party and channel a said, we dont want michael gove, we wa nt said, we dont want michael gove, we want the Prime Minister. Tremendously naive on the part of the broadcaster. What is so naive . The other leaders had a view. And the view is that it was a debate amongst leaders, not somebody who wa nted amongst leaders, not somebody who wanted to substitute . Do you know how many media fora there are out there that could invite the Prime Minister . Have you any idea of the number of things the Prime Minister has to do to this is an Election Campaign. It is an Election Campaign and he had a pretty full campaign down in the south west. And he had a pretty full campaign down in the southwest. The reason for saying no by borisjohnson to the invitation originally, as i understand it, is not because it was about a diary clash but because he didnt want to silo the issue of Climate Change. That implies it is not being taken seriously. What i do know is on every possible occasion, andi know is on every possible occasion, and i know quite a lot about boris, as you can imagine, and i know about his environmental concerns, he grew up his environmental concerns, he grew up in the middle of Exmoor National park. If you look at the statements he has made about the environment, animal welfare, nature protection etc, he is absolutely an environmentalist. People can say one thing and do another, cant they . He didnt shout up to this and it sends a message that as Prime Minister is not taking it seriously. Look at the conservative party manifesto. I have read all of the manifestos over the last 50 years. This is the best manner. As far as the environment is concerned i have ever seen. Ma nifesto. Concerned i have ever seen. Manifesto. It looks like he is running scared. He has not committed to doing the andrew neil interview afterJeremy Corbyn was on and he has not done this. Easy afraid to debate . Ive known this man ever since he was born. The idea that boris would run scared off why not committed to these things . Hold on. Asi committed to these things . Hold on. As i tried to make these this point, you have full diary. What am i going to attend . What meetings am i going to attend . What meetings am i going to attend . What meetings am i going to do . He is apparently prepared to consider andrew marr on sunday. The bbc, andrew marr and borisjohnson sunday. The bbc, andrew marr and Boris Johnson have sunday. The bbc, andrew marr and borisjohnson have said they are just waiting to confirm that. If you can slot that in, why cant he slight andrew neil in . Should he not just do itjust to prove he is not afraid . I have no idea how these things are going to be sorted out. It is above his pay grade too. These are the people were sorting out who does what, where. Just to concentrate on the main theme, the that boris is not fundamentally committed to Environmental Protection and the Climate Change, and to nature protection, it is a nonsense. What about proving that he is not afraid and actually taking up andrew neils offer . Andrew neil has said he is free any time, any place. Is andrew neil a big cheese . Andrew neil interviewed Jeremy Corbyn, as with the other Party Leaders. The Jeremy Corbyn interview was much criticised. Now looking at that with a revised view saying at least they had the guts to go and do it. You know, i am a naive person in this whole area. And i say to myself, now i have seen it at first hand, people who are Prime Minister have an enormous number of things to do, an enormous number of things to do, an enormous number of charges on their time. Much as i respect the media world, im sure youre all tremendously important, but in the end they may be other things for people to do. He must have a half hour slot in his schedule where he can find the time to do an interview, when the context of not doing it is that people will say he is afraid . People like you will say it. People like me might say, actually he has got Better Things to do is like talk to some old people in an old peoples com, which he did the other day because i went campaigning with him. It is incredibly important for politicians to get out during a campaign and meet people. But in the end if they have a message they feel strongly about and they want to get it to the maximum number of people, isnt the way to do that to take up those of actually property getting out to a wide audience on the telly . He spent three quarters of an hour in an old peoples, in 0xbridge and south ruislip, andi peoples, in 0xbridge and south ruislip, and i would say that is as good a way of getting a message across as sitting on this wonderful show where i am now today. Labours clive lewis, after what happened with channel a, the tories are a p pa re ntly with channel a, the tories are apparently threatening to review channel as license. Clive lewis has said, borisjohnson channel as license. Clive lewis has said, Boris Johnson is channel as license. Clive lewis has said, borisjohnson is a coward and a bully. He thinks he is born to rule and is used to getting his own way and turns nasty when he doesnt. Who is clive lewis . From the labour party. What does he do in the labour party . The point is he is saying your son is a coward and a bully. What do you say to that . |j your son is a coward and a bully. What do you say to that . I am amazed by the readiness of people in your sort of world to use words like coward and a bully and so so forth. He isa coward and a bully and so so forth. He is a politician. When he shouldnt use these sorts of words. In the old days you would say, see you at dawn. This is 2019. In terms of whether this is a thread that is unseemly for the tory party to be issuing, to say that they will look at the licence. You are talking about the letter to the. You are talking about the director of 0fcoms letter about this event. It was a very well argued letter. He pointed out for example that mrs may would not empty chaired. I think it was a bbc debate. They were very happy to have amber rudd speaking for mrs may. The substance was there as far as for mrs may. The substance was there as farasi for mrs may. The substance was there as far as i am concerned, in the sense that the conservatives did absolutely clearly offer michael gove to speak in this debate. Absolutely clearly offer michael gove to speak in this debatem absolutely clearly offer michael gove to speak in this debate. It is notjust the gove to speak in this debate. It is not just the letter though, gove to speak in this debate. It is notjust the letter though, is it . It isa notjust the letter though, is it . It is a thread conservative sources issued to the press saying they would review channel as term as a Public Service broadcaster. That is what people have a problem with. |j would like to hear what Michael Grade has to say. My view on this is that an organisation like channel a does have to be tremendously careful about the way it acts. I was very surprised, for example, when Dorothy Byrne made that speech which she made in edinburgh. Very surprised. From channel a. She criticised Boris Johnson, the channel a boss, the edinburgh tv festival, called him a known liar. I am amazed by the ability of people in the public area. Channel a is a public broadcaster. To use language like that. Lets bring in lord grade. Thank you forjoining us. What is your reaction to this row . The first thing to say is that of the alleged threat from an unknown source is a pretty empty threat. Without knowing who the source was, i suspect it is some lowly spads at the bottom of the totem pole who has an injudicious remark and it has been blown up as a thread. Sorry to interrupt. Does it matter if it is an anonymous threat at source. You say you wont take it seriously because you assume it is somebody lowly. It is something that has gone out there and it sends a message . No. It depends on the source. No elected politician of any party is ever going to threaten a National Broadcaster in that way. They are not that stupid. They really arent. But is it it is a message that has gone out on behalf of the party . It wasnt on behalf of the party. That isjournalese. It wasnt on behalf of the party. That is journalese. That it wasnt on behalf of the party. That isjournalese. That is somebody speaking out of turn. Some lowly unnamed source. Lets be very clear. Channel a, under the normal process, is going to be reviewed in 2024 in any event. Its remit will be reviewed. That is predetermined. The journalists have put two and two together and made it a thread. No elected government, no opposition, is ever going to threaten in that manner. If needed i would be the first one to complain. Lets put that story one side. Channel 4 was frustrated obviously by the now show borisjohnson frustrated obviously by the now show Boris Johnson and nigel frustrated obviously by the now show borisjohnson and nigel farage. M you are a National News broadcaster you are a National News broadcaster you have to live with being frustrated, im afraid. If i was still chief executive of channel 4 i would never sanction an empty chair for the opposition, for the second, third or fourth party, for the government. It is making a political statement and they are in danger of being partial. Ithink statement and they are in danger of being partial. I think it was a very, very serious mistake that channel 4 made last night. It was a political statement. Let me finish. They could very easily have made a statement to say that we made an invitation to the Prime Minister, he has refused to come. You dont empty chair him. You then let the leaders of the other parties make hay with that statement and make hay with that statement and make what they want of it. It is not for channel 4 news to be making those statements. This is very dangerous ground they have gone on to. Do you think channel 4 should be sanctioned over this . That is for 0fcom, not the government. The government absolutely understand they have made a complaint which they have made a complaint which they are perfectly entitled to do, to the independent regulator, we are charged with ensuring impartiality. But i believe, and we will see what 0fcom says, i believe that channel 4 has made a political statement. The idea that they wouldnt allow michael gove onto the programme to represent the conservative partys views on the issue, is unforgivable. They say the other leaders wouldnt agree to it. Who is running the programme . If you choose in the end not to take up an invitation to speak, dont you lose your right to have any control over the way that the outcome of that is handled . Fine, yes. But dont empty chair. That is a political statement. But there was an empty chair. He was invited as leader. The other leaders we re invited as leader. The other leaders were there. Its still a free country, you know. Politicians can decide which shows they do and which they dont. The journalists dont run this country. They are not elected. The politicians are elected and they decide what they want to do. The journalists are getting above themselves. Channel 4s decision is indefensible. Sunnier, does this cut through to the voters . Imean, i does this cut through to the voters . I mean, i think it will abate to people who follow politics very closely. But only to a limited extent. So i think the judgment that the conservatives have made, i absolutely think that Boris Johnson is worried and his team are worried about him doing these debates. They see a lot of downside risk, a lot of stuff that could go wrong. They think they are ahead in the polls. That is why they are not doing them. They think it is better to take the better flag they made get for that from voters rather than put Boris Johnson at risk by putting him under the forensic scrutiny of one of the bbcs best interviewers, andrew neil. Allsop putting on the channel for climate divide. I completely disagree with both stanleyjohnson and with Michael Grade. I dont think it is a political statement from channel 4. It was a Leaders Debate. It was very clear it was a Leaders Debate. They invited all the leaders. I think empty chairing someone is not political. They are invited, they chose not to take up the invitation and you are making that clear by having the empty podium. Ithink that clear by having the empty podium. I think it was entirely legitimate. Its got people commenting at home. I will hear from you ina commenting at home. I will hear from you in a moment, stanley. Martin says, the fact that neither Boris Johnson nor nigel farage could be bothered to turn up for the debate proves they are not suitable to lead this country and their arrogance is unbelievable. Jenny says, boris was absolutely right to send michael dell to talk about Climate Change. He has been an excellent environment minister with the best understanding of the countrys issues. Good for boris to send an expert. These debates do nothing but show people being rude to one another. Neville says the tories have not got a leg to stand on. It was a Leaders Debate. Unless there was a coup yesterday, boris pinocchiojohnson is leader of the conservative party and he doesnt want to stand up to scrutiny. In other on twitter says, who sends their dad in to defend their actions on the bbc . Lets come back to that. Nobody sent a dad in. I arrived because channel a invited me. I pay tribute to channel a for holding the debate. Lets just for a moment realised it was an extremely important moment and the idea that boris, the Prime Minister, is not totally dedicated to getting the environmental. Sorry, the comment there was, who sends their dad into defend his actions on the bbc. You have been doing broadcast interviews this morning. Hold on. I was talking, i think, this morning. Hold on. I was talking, ithink, on this morning. Hold on. I was talking, i think, on some bbc programme this morning. Somebody came in and said, could you come in on the Victoria Derbyshire programme . And we are grateful you have come in to talk to us. I guess the point being asked. Did you have a conversation with boris . |j have a conversation with boris . |j have had no communications with the conservative party since i was on air last night with michael gove. Bewildered that he had arrived at. By bewildered that he had arrived at. By the way, he happened to arrive the same time as me. Bewildered that channel a said, you cant have michael gove on. He will be there. I hope the house of lords doesnt get abolished. Which it will get a list of carbon comes in. Im just making that point. For which it will get abolished. What about the calling son pinocchio . That is a problem with literacy, which i think the Great British public doesnt have. What you by that . I dont want to go into it. They couldnt spell pinocchio if they tried. Can you speu pinocchio if they tried. Can you spell pinocchio . Whether i can are not, i dont think it is something to be critical of. I go back to what isaid to be critical of. I go back to what i said before. To be critical of. I go back to what isaid before. I to be critical of. I go back to what i said before. I was trying to say it in i said before. I was trying to say itina i said before. I was trying to say it in a humorous way. I think it is utterly absurd and wrong that you can read out on air a tweet coming in from one of your readers, on air, which calls the Prime Minister a liar. I think its amazing you can do that. Amazing. I want to read Something Else out to you that has been, that has come back to prominence, something your son wrote in 1995 on single mothers, an article in which he describes single mothers is irresponsible, these children of single mothers as ignorant, aggressive and ill raise. These are things that are being set on the record, written on the record that have greatly upset people. Whose record are we talking about . He wrote it. This was in 1995. I have a great collection of books written by boris. I have a great collection of books that i have written. Im sure there are some things in this those. I once wrote a thing about Birth Control andi wrote a thing about Birth Control and i attacked the pope and called on the greatest hazard to humanity. Iam sure on the greatest hazard to humanity. I am sure on a Political Campaign that would be brought up again. This is all nonsense. Sorry, but this is somebody standing to be Prime Minister. It sounds like you are saying that people can say something, they dont mean it, we can forget about it. Why are we attacking duo borisjohnson on this programme . This is way off the issue. Lets listen to lord grade. Why is it way off the issue . We are talking about this because he didnt go to an interview last night. What is it in the british constitution that says the Prime Minister is obliged to accept invitations from journalists. Here, here. It is the arrogance of the journalists that is unbelievable in this instance. I cant believe what im hearing. Jeremy corbyn went and did the interview with andrew neil. Who has he turned down . I dont know the a nswer to he turned down . I dont know the answer to that. The point is he went and it did an interview and in the aftermath of that interview there was an expectation that all of the latest out have a word of the today show and see how many times he has been invited on and he has turned it down . That wasnt a story. I dont understand this. There was an expectation that all of the leaders. Whose expectation . The editor of channel 4 news . That all of the leaders would do interviews with andrew neil and borisjohnson, it seems, is unable, there is no data greed for him to do the interview. He is not obliged to do it. It is a question of scrutiny in an election period, isnt it . It. It is a question of scrutiny in an election period, isnt it . The man as Prime Minister. He is not obliged to do anything. He will make its own judgments about which journalists and which programmes he will do, in the same whetherJeremy Corbyn does and all the other leaders do. They are turning down invitations all day and all night. Would you expect him not to do the andrew neil interview now . Do you think he should . It is his decision. He is not obliged to do it under any circumstance. Lord grade hasjust said it betrays the arrogance of the journalism class. Im sorry, but i think this shows the arrogance of the Prime Minister. This is prime time television, you are subjecting yourself to scrutiny by one of the most forensic interviewers in the business. Other leaders have been doing this. Borisjohnson is immensely arrogant to voters. Why havent they agreed on a date yet . He absolutely would not commit to it when he was asked by a bbc journalist. Im sorry, but you are Prime Minister. If you cannot commit that micro do you know something, sonia . When you are Prime Minister you have an array of responsibilities which go far beyond anything you could imagine. Anything you can imagine. No, i can imagine. Then you have also to imagine, you have to decide what you can spare the time to do, because its always a question of competing obligations. Iam not a question of competing obligations. I am not here to talk about the andrew neil show. I am sorry to call him 0neill. My mistake. I am not going to talk about that. What i am here to talk about is the fact that this was a moment for me, as an environmentalist, i guess i am there in that capacity, when key issues like Climate Change and nature protection have come to the fore. The good thing i will say about corbyn last night as he did say some good things about cuckoos. He is not entirely cuckoo, this man. And that is not as bad a comment as pinocchio. He said the cuckoo is disappearing in this country because of the effect of spreading deserts in west africa. Now if that doesnt bring the issue home to you, to me, so that was why that debate was worth having. And it would have been even embellished by michael gove. He would have been superb. I am sorry he wasnt there. Would have been superb. I am sorry he wasnt there. Thank you all very much forjoining us. Thank you. Some breaking news. Unai emery has been sacked as arsenal manager after only 18 months in charge. Arsenal lost 2 1 to entracht frankfurt in the Europa League last night, meaning they are now seven games without a win the worst run of form for 27 years. Ina in a statement arsenal side results and performances had not been of the level required and if he searched for a replacement is under way. Borisjohnson has been on a phone in for lbc this morning, taking viewers calls, where he was pressed again on his policies. 0ur political correspondent, iain watson, is in westminster. What was said, ian . It was a wide ranging interview, to be fair. A whole range of topics. I think it is fairto a whole range of topics. I think it is fair to say, perhaps Boris Johnsons father may agree with this, i dont know, but he is not necessarily a details man. He much prefers a bigger picture. But he was asked since he is determined to take britain out of the European Union by the end of january, britain out of the European Union by the end ofjanuary, what britain out of the European Union by the end of january, what other trade deals might be in the offing. He didnt seem to be too sure about the exact number. Talks are under way with many countries around the world. How many deals have been signed . I cant give you the answer about how many deals have been formalised. You dont know how many deals have been done, Prime Minister . We cant conclude. How many are oven ready . There are a number that many are oven ready . There are a numberthat are oven many are oven ready . There are a number that are oven ready. I would have to come back and give you the number. 15 . There are a number virtually ready to go. Someone said to me isa virtually ready to go. Someone said to me is a question of being oven ready, or does even have the ingredients for some of the trade deals . His answer would be until we are out of the European Union, we dont get control of their own tariffs. No deal would be a certainty. He was also asked about other numbers as well. For example, he was asked about the pledge to have 50,000 more nurses. There was an interesting riddle. What is the difference between moore and new . The answer seems to be 31,000. What borisjohnson was pointing out, very clearly, was that he was pledging to have 50,000 more nurses, including 19,000 who would be retained in their currentjob rather than perhaps leaving, and 31,000 new nurses. He pointed out he had never pledged that all 50,000 were actually new. And again, showing some difficulty with numbers, he was asked quite straightforwardly by the lbc presenter how many children did he have. He couldnt answer that question either. 0r chose not to a nswer question either. 0r chose not to answer it. He said he would not put them on the pitch at this election. But nick ferrari because my point was this. There are codes in the daily mirror, dredged up from the spectator, talking about single mothers and the fact that they had raised illegitimate children. They had been ill raised. The question was put, why was the Prime Minister not telling us about whether he was involved in the lives of his own children were commenting on how other children raised theirs . He stuck to his usual position, not to talk about his personal life at all. A further this was his answer. What you need to do is bring together. Nobody will have to ever sell their home again. We need to ensure that people dont face the injustice of having to sell their home to pay for the cost of their care. There is a growing consensus that is the way forward but we need to take the politics out of this and bring parties together and get on and do it. They will be listeners to this thinking how marvellous, none doesnt have to sell the bungalow, the Prime Minister has issued a policy but you dont have a clue how much it will cost. The exact details have not been thrashed out. So how can you promise it . Boris johnson said the political politics should be taken out of this issue. Moving briefly from policy to process , we moving briefly from policy to process, we came closer to answer to the questions, he was asked would you talk to the Bbcs Andrew Neil and he said he would prefer to talk about his policies. After that interview this morning he wasnt keen to do so. And now, its the second in our series election blind dates, where we match up two people with opposing political views and get them to have lunch. They genuinely dont know who they are going to meet before they walk through the door. Professional darts player bobby george voted remain in the eu referendum, but now hes backing borisjohnson and thinks its time to leave with a deal. So what will he make of drag performer courtney act who says its time to put the choice back to the people in a second referendum, and prefers Jeremy Corbyn. They share a love of sequins and big jewellery, but will they find anything else to agree about . Heres what happened when bobby met courtney, and a warning that theres some mild bad language in this piece. Look at the camera here, look here. Im going on a blind date, you guys. Hello. My name is courtney act and i am a drag performer. Im fun and im easy going, but i do love to get down and dirty on the deep topics. Hello im bobby george, im a professional dart player. I like a laugh and a joke fun. The trouble with the politicians today, they all tell lies. Complete mistruths. Dangerous and divisive. I like the space in between. You know, everythings so polarised. Its all black and white and boy and girl and labour and tory. Boris. Theyre all liars, but hes a better liar than all of them. Jeremy corbyn. He would be the lesser of two evils. Brexit. Everybodys favorite subject. Am i right . Its gone on and on and on and on. Its bolitics, not politics. Thats a good one, innit . Leave that in dont cut it out. Are you my blind date . Hello. Im courtney. Hello. Oh, thank you, sir. Whats your name . Courtney act, how are you . Courtney . Courtney. I see we have a similar penchant for bling. Ive got the real stuff. Not mickey mouse stuff. Nice. What are we going to talk about . Well, you start me off and ill talk. All right, what do you do . I play darts for a living. 0h, 0k. Do you often go on blind dates . No, darling. No. So what do you actually do for a living . Im a drag performer. I can see that, darling. You dont mind if i call you darling, do you . You can call me darling, darling. If i was going to vote. Id vote for Boris Johnson. Not because hes a great politician. Hes the biggest lie out of all of them. So you want to vote for that . Yeah, because they all tell lies, but hes the biggest lie. Im struggling to understand how this person, who is one of the big players in selling these lies of brexit, is somebody that you want as the Prime Minister. Why do you want your Prime Minister to lie to you . Well, hes got a bit of charisma, really, to be honest with you. He definitely has charisma. He aint as silly as he acts. Im struggling with your logic here. Who would you vote for . Well, i cant vote, because im australian. If you could. Ill give you a politicians answer. If i was. I wouldnt vote for borisjohnson. Right. And i would probably vote for the lib dems, withJeremy Corbyn becoming the leader, and then and, you know, a larger influence in the coalition. Labour, you know, i couldnt have him. Hes nuts. Dont shave, he dont dress up, hes scruffy. Right . What if we shaved him, gave him a bit of bling . Ive never seen him smile. Yeah. Hes getting on a bit. Hey, siri, how old isJeremy Corbyn . Jeremy corbyn is 70 years old. 70 . Yeah. 0h, hes a baby. I like bacon, but ive got it in my teeth. I mean, obviously, brexit is a huge thing with this election, right . I dont think people really understood what they were voting for. I think youre right, doll. At the time. Yeah. So are you saying that you would have remained in the eu . Yeah, i would have said, because ive had a good life. For 40 odd years, weve been in that system. And ive had 40 years. Nice. No aggro. Doing the deal and then putting it to the people and saying, 0k, now what do you think . That sounds like a good way to go. It would. Yeah. But to do it, would be naughty to do it, because its not. I feel like. Its not the system. But dont you think the first vote on brexit was not fair and, therefore, thats naughty . Its not fair because they told lies yeah, i agree with you. So that was naughty. So this would actually be. That was naughty, yeah. So that was naughty, so this would actually be un naughty, because that one was the naughty one. How can you go back and say well have another its not fair to the people who voted. But then the people who voted, probably one third said, oh, no, i wish we had never done that. Exactly. Because they told lies. Because they were told lies. So you agree with me on that . Thats what i think. Thats good. Yeah, yeah. So why wouldnt you have a second referendum . Because youre going against. Nah. A bloke who has worked, hes 60 years old, he gets redundant. Right . Very hard to get a job at 60. Hes got to go on the dole. Yeah. He must hate it. Yeah, but. But at least he gets something, because hes worked all them years. But not the person that hasnt done nothing. I call it the drip. I call it on, you know, the hand out. We call it the dole in australia. So the drip and the dole. They go on the drip and then theyve got three kids. So they put me in a house, they pay their rent, they pay the rates. I think its been shown that, when given the opportunity, people do want to work. They struggle with finding jobs. I mean, that is an issue. Theyve all got bad backs and all that. But they go and play golg three times a week. Yeah, it annoys me, that sort of thing. When someones working hard. Im just laughing at the golf thing. But its true. I lived in the United States for eight years, where they have a very, very poor social housing, social welfare system. Theres no nhs. And everybodys living in this state of fear where theyre just worried, like, what if something happens to me, to my family . And so ijust kind of come here and i look at the welfare system. Its such an amazing thing that the united kingdom. Its good. Yeah. People take advantage of it. If you had a pair, id marry you, do you know that . i do theyre in my other bag. Overseas people coming over having jobs. We need overseas people, like for the hospital, especially the hospitals. Because all of the doctors. More or less overseas. The nurses, we need that. But its when they come over, havent got a job, then they go on the drip. The thing about immigration is its one word, but its actually a lot of different things. Theres immigration from the eu. Theres immigration from other countries around the world. Also, not quite immigration, but theres refugees, which is a whole other topic. Refugees. I think its out of order. Oh, you dont think refugees should be allowed to claim Refugee Status . Theres too many. You have so many. Look at germany took so many, they keep going to germany. Where do the refugees go, though . Dont know. Theres so many people in the world who are displaced right now. And theres all of these people fleeing wartorn countries. I think we shouldnt let them in, thats it. Well, i think, quite often. Weve got to keep them. I know its a terrible thing to say. What if they get killed in that country for staying there . Well, you know, theyve got killed, thats it. Phone rings. Excuse me. Thatll be your next blind date. 0h, hello, boris yeah, im filming at the moment. Kids. Two things i dont really like in the world. Kids and snow. But snow goes away. 0h. Its been nice to meet you. Its been lovely to meet you. Thank you. 0h, hello i think youre a lovely guy. I think we had a good chat and theres no need for people to argue or fight about things. And i enjoyed it. I think youre the best looking guy ive ever met. Did you know that . Thank you, bobby. Will you see each other again . I dont know. Well meet again. Dont know where, dont know when. But i know well meet again some sunny day. Aw. Like the boots. Thank you. I think its a match. Weve got another one coming up next week so watch out for that one as well. More than 1a0 children s charities are calling on political leaders to set out their solutions to social problems which they say are leaving millions of children scarred for life. In an open letter to all Political Parties, organisations including the National Children s bureau, nspcc and barnardo s, say young people are being crowded out of the discussion on the nations future, leaving their needs overlooked. Four million children are living in poverty, while every 15 minutes a child is taken into care. One in eight 5 to 19 year olds have at least one Mental Health condition, according to the charities. Well lets talk to david oladeimeji, who is only 16 years old and already has two friends who have been victims of knife crime. He said Early Intervention changed his life for the better. Sayce holmes lewis from mentivity, an intervention scheme which mentors young at risk Young Children Anna Feuchtwang whos chief executive of the National Children s bureau and chair of the End Child Poverty coalition. The labour partys sarah jones was chair of the all Party Committee on knife crime in the last parliament. She joins us via skype. And in our oxford studios is layla moran the liberal democrat candidate for oxford west abingdon and the partys spokesperson for education. We asked the conservatives for someone tojoin our discussion but they didnt have anyone available. What are you hoping to achieve with this letter . We want childrens voices to come out in this election period. We feel young people are just not being heard. They dont get a vote and they are not being heard. We wa nt a vote and they are not being heard. We want all Political Parties to say today how they would prioritise young people particularly vulnerable young people particularly vulnerable young people particularly vulnerable young people in the next government. And we really want to make sure vulnerable young people are front of the queue for investments because if we dont invest in them now we know the future is going to be so much worse. We have a 16yearold here. You are the voice of the young people. What are the issues that you would like politicians to hear . people. What are the issues that you would like politicians to hear . Ifi was a politician i would give funding to youth organisations to get tickets at a young age to improve their lives in the future. I would ask the politicians what would they do to improve young peoples lives. Lets put that straight to the politicians. I just lives. Lets put that straight to the politicians. Ijust want lives. Lets put that straight to the politicians. I just want to thank the charity are sending this letter. In our manifesto we would put £500 million extra a year to Youth Services. I think thats one of the key causes and young people say they are not happy at school and we need more funding for schools also so there is that balanced curriculum, that teachers have the time to do the Pastoral Care they need to. If they are not having a good time at school they need another place to go to and school they need another place to go to and i would point people to the fa ct to and i would point people to the fact the Resolution Foundation has looked at the liberal democrat manifesto and said its the most progressive of the main parties and the children and Child Poverty would fall by 600000 and our plans. But there is not one silver bullet. You also need to fix universal credit and invest in Mental Health. That is and invest in Mental Health. That is an underfunded area. Sarah jones, what would your party do . Its right that we are talking about their sand from the last place we had before with the whole shard about Boris Johnson, these are the issues we need to be talking about in this general election. In my borough alone there are 1400 children who la st alone there are 1400 children who last night slept in emergency bed and breakfast and hostels. This affects young people across the board. There are issues we need to tackle way funding has been ripped out. My area of knife crime, people get involved in crime for many reasons but its mainly because they are not getting help to make the right choices. We want to double investment in Mental Health for young people because that is a real issue and people across the country will know that. We want to put those Youth Services back so we professionalised the service and treated with respect and the importance it deserves and make sure we are looking in our schools. People are not getting support. So they end up playing up in school because they are not getting the support they need and they get excluded. You have both outlined what he would do. Do you think the politicians are getting it . Not all of them. The lib dems have been complicit in the youth cuts of 2010. We lost 80 million from Youth Services. That is a major issue. I have been working with david for the la st have been working with david for the last three and half years and he was having troubles in school but he needed guidance and Early Intervention. For me at all lip service. The money promise does not re cover service. The money promise does not recover the kits we have lost over the last ten years. Its an issue for us but we need that support and to find other ways of getting funding. We are doing the work on the ground and we see the issues in many schools but we dont have the support thats needed. A final thought from you david. You had the support. How important has it been to your life . Very important because the impact on my life would have been totally different. I had aspirations but i wasnt able to do those things because of things that we re those things because of things that were happening at school and at home. There was a lack of opportunity to achieve my goals and aspirations. What are your goals . I wanted to be an athlete and then i wanted to be an athlete and then i wanted to be an athlete and then i wanted to be a footballer. Now i wa nt wanted to be a footballer. Now i want to go to sports physiotherapy. Thank you forjoining us. The victims relatives the verdict was a blow at the end of a lengthy process. I spoke to Louise Brookes earlier. Her brother andrew died at hillsborough and i asked how she feels knowing that potentially nobody will be found responsible in a court of law for what happened on the day brother died. A court of law for what happened on the day brother diedlj a court of law for what happened on the day brother died. I think its absolutely outrageous and the Justice System needs looking at. I have e mailed dame vera blurred the victims commissioner and i would like to have a meeting with her. I have a lot of issues i would like to discuss with her. I never want anotherfamily discuss with her. I never want another Family Member in the future to experience what the hillsborough families experienced. It definitely needs re looking at. When youve got someone who has already admitted to a criminal standard that they are responsible for the deaths of 96 people, i know he was charged with 95, but tony bland would still be alive if he hadnt have gone to hillsborough. Its 96 as far as im concerned. How a judge can be so hell bent on playing the victim card in terms of he was an old man, hes got ptsd, you know. The prosecution werent allowed to bring any emotive into the case. They were hardly any photos shown to the jury, hardly any footage showing. You wouldnt have known that 96 people had died that day. Several families have said they have never been able to grieve for loved ones because of the fact it went from a loss to a fight. Have you ever been able to grieve andrew . No. My mum passed away in 2000. I buried my father ten days before the last inquest began. I was 17 when andrew died. Four weeks before my 18th birthday. David duckenfield was backin 18th birthday. David duckenfield was back in the same control box on my 18th birthday four weeks after the disaster. He obviously felt he was a competent match commander to go back to the crime scene basically. He had no qualms. He obviously didnt have ptsd then. I was meant to be having a party and my brother would have been life celebrating it with me. Andrew was nine years than me. For andrew was nine years than me. For andrew to have seen me reach my 18th birthday i think it would have brought us even closer together. I will be a9 in may next year and all ive done from 17 to a8 is fight for justice. What kind of country allows innocent law abiding victims to go to their graves never having anyone held accountable for their deaths. Louise brookes whose brother died in the hillsborough disaster. In the time this programme has been in the 835 people in the uk would have been diagnosed with cancer. Macmillan Cancer Support says the number of People Living with the disease is dramatically increasing because of a number of factors. Sarah mills was diagnosed with cancer last year and she is currently in remission. Also with me is Amanda Mahoney who was initially diagnosed with Breast Cancer and is now living with treatable but not curable cancer. You are living with cancer that will never be cured. Tell us what your life has been like. I was first diagnosed in 2011. I think there is a big difference between being a primary diagnosed patients in the metastatic patient. Just explain that. Metastatic is when the cancer has spread on the stage for diagnosis is once you know the cancer is treatable but not curable. There has been a big difference in learning to live with cancer and choosing to thrive with cancer rather than sitting at home and waiting to die from it. That has taken a real shift in mindset and something ive only achieved since the beginning of this year. So that has been eight years in the making. How did you get to that point . |j dont know. I think it was a gradual process. I have to accept my scans of every three months and i am living with that. Your life is compartmentalised. Absolutely. You have a month where you are dealing with the results in the month getting ready for the next set of results. You have been in remission for 18 months but its the same for you, you constantly have a deadline you, you constantly have a deadline you are having to face. How is it dealing with that . My cancer was removed but the chances of it returning a not insignificant. I get scanned every six months. If this horrible cloud to live under and what im finding is that everything is happening much more slowly because there arent enough people on the ground. My last set of scans because i didnt have a Nurse Specialist at that point there was no point of contact at the hospital could tell me when i was going to get the results, who is going to deliver them and of course what they were. Sol deliver them and of course what they were. So i wasjust waiting. The phone could have rung at any point to tell me life or death news. Life must feel like its on hold. Com pletely must feel like its on hold. Completely on hold. None of us know whats around the corner in our lives. There are dozens of people who will have had a cancer diagnosis while we have been on the air. It took you a very long time to get to the point you are at now which is a positive place, but in terms of that moment when somebody takes the call of the face to face conversation, what would you say to people out there who might end up having to deal with that . What can you say . There is life after cancer. And there is life with. You forget who you are or who you were before cancer happened to you and it takes a while. I dont know if some of us ever get it back. You are just who you are at that point. It is so precarious. But there is life before, during and with. And there is help as well. The staff working at the hospital to look after me have just been absolutely wonderful and they could not have done more for me. And its tough for the loved ones as well. Absolutely. They live with you through it. And they have to learn how to deal with you. What did you find with it in terms of best support . People just need to be there. And to remember who you were before because i am still manly but iam mandy before because i am still manly but i am mandy with cancer. I am not a cancer patient, thats not what defines me. There is more to me than having cancer. Itsjust part of who you are. Thank you both very much for coming in and talking to us. Thank you for your company today. The bbc newsroom live is coming up next. I will see you soon. Have a good weekend. Goodbye. It was a cold and frosty start of the day but i dont think many of us minded that because we had some of this, lots of sunshine and a Welcome Change for most of us. We will keep that sunshine into the afternoon in most areas. One or two showers across the north east of scotland and eastern parts of england. A bit of cloud to the south west of england. Elsewhere, the blue skies will continue. Maximum temperatures lower than recent days. Through tonight they will be mist and fog developing across central areas and that will be quite dense tomorrow morning but the main thing for many of us is they will be a widespread frost tonight. The mist and the fog across central areas may well ask for much of the day on saturday and it will feel pretty cold. Some rain in the south west of england. Elsewhere some sunshine. Centring on sunday. Goodbye for now. You re watching bbc newsroom live. Its 11am and these are the main stories this morning up to a,500 jobs are at risk at energy firm npower as a Restructuring Plan is announced. Well be hearing from the chief executive of its incoming owners e. On in the next few moments. The row between the conservatives and broadcaster channel a intensifies after a block of ice is used in place of borisjohnson during a tv debate on Climate Change. Meanwhile, this morning the Prime Ministerfaced questions on his social care policy, but couldnt say how much some pledges would cost. What you need to do is. How much would it cost so no one would have to sell their home . We need to bring together. You dont know, do you . I cant give you that figure now, no. Right, so you would issue a promise like this, no one will ever have to sell their home again,