Transcripts For BBCNEWS Victoria Derbyshire 20240713

Will, at times, have to stand up to presient trump, president putin, president xi of china, so it was surely not expecting too much that he spent half an hour standing up to me. A british woman has made a full recovery after suffering a cardiac arrest which lasted six hours. It feels really incredible that i survived it and im just really lucky to be here and to be able to get on with my life. And nine year old mikey poulli went completely blind at the age of seven because of a rare eye condition. Hes now been earmarked as a future football star and is here, with his dad, after he won a pride of sport award. Hello, welcome to the programme. Were live until 11 00 this morning. Some breaking news to bring you straightaway, Jeremy Corbyn is giving a press conference he has just claimed that he has got hold of confidential documents which he claims show that there will be customs checks between Northern Ireland and britain if borisjohnsons brexit deal goes through. We are hoping to speak to labours keir starmer about those claims later in the programme. He is sitting there alongsideJeremy Corbyn. We hope he willjoin us on the sofa a little later in the programme. Do get in touch on all the stories were talking about use the victorialive. If youre emailing and are happy for us to contact you and maybe want to take part in the Programme Please include your phone number in your message. If you text, youll be charged at the Standard Network rate. First, annita has the news. Thank you, joanna. Good morning, everyone. For the final time in this Election Campaign, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn will go head to head tonight in a live televised debate. Their policies and personalities will be scrutinised by viewers and voters this evening on bbc one with just six days to go before the uk goes to the polls. It comes after the labour party accused the bbc of biased election coverage in a letter to director general tony hall. And with borisjohnson facing renewed pressure to agree to be interviewed by the bbcs andrew neil. Labour have launched their manifesto for small businesses, promising to create a network of advisers. The party say they will help firms access advice and bid for government contracts. The plans also include changes to Business Rates which will be replaced with a tax based on land value. A man has been charged with murder after a 12 year old boy was killed in an alleged hit and run outside a school in essex. Harley watson died after a car ploughed into a group of children in loughton on monday. Terence glover, whos 51, has been charged with murder, ten charges of attempted murder and dangerous driving. The head of the london fire brigade dany cotton who led the response to the Grenfell Tower fire has announced she will step down at the end of this month. The commissioner had previously announced injune that she would retire from the fire and rescue service in april next year, but in consultation with city hall it has been agreed that she will quit at the end of this year to enable a timely handover to the next commissioner. More travel disruption is expected, as a nationwide strike in france continues for a second day. Several unions have voted to extend the strikes which are in protest against french pension reforms. Eurostar has cancelled nearly 30 trains between paris and london and British Airways and easyjet have cancelled some flights. Yesterday, police used teargas to clear crowds as more than 800,000 people whojoined in the marches. In australia, several separate wildfires have merged to become what authorities are calling a mega blaze. More than 2,000 firefighters are battling the bushfires near sydney, which have killed six people and destroyed more than 700 homes since october. More than 20,000 former thomas cook customers have yet to be refunded for their holiday bookings despite the deadline being this weekend. The Civil Aviation authority says the process has been challenging, with many claims requiring more information in order to qualify for a refund. Only two thirds of claims will be settled within the deadline. The opera singer Katherine Jenkins has been mugged after she intervened in a street robbery. The 39 year old was on her way to a rehearsal in london on wednesday afternoon when she stepped in to help an elderly woman being attacked and was then mugged herself. Two 15 year old girls have been arrested on suspicion of robbery. That is a summary of our main news so that is a summary of our main news so far. Back to you, joanna. Thank you, see you later. A conservative candidate has been heckled after sharing an article saying employers should be able to pay people with learning difficulties below the minimum wage because some of them dont understand about money. Sally ann hart is standing for election in the hastings and rye constituency and made the comments when asked to defend an article she shared on her facebook page. She said she wants to help people with learning disabilities get into work as its about the happiness they get from working. There was loud booing and shouts of shameful from the audience. Rubbish you are a bigot you are a disgrace as you saw that was a heated hustings. Sally ann hart agreed to come in our programme this morning but then pulled out, saying she didnt feel very well. She told us her comments have had been taken completely out of context. And she was talking about an article in support of people with learning disabilities. We can talk now to Ciara Lawrence who has a learning disability and works for mencap. And also dan scorer, whos the charitys head of policy. There was an article written by Rosa Monckton who herself has a disabled daughter and this is the article that gave rise to that row at the hustings last night, saying if an employer will employ somebody because they dont have to pay the minimum wage it is betterfor that disabled person to be taken on than not. What would you say to that . have a learning disability myself. Ive worked for myjob at mencap for 18 years. People with a learning disability like me have the right to work, they have the right to good support at work and to have a job ive worked for myjob in mencap for 18 years and i think anybody with a learning disability should have the right to a job and an equal days pay for what they do and im proud to work at mencap and have myjob. What about that comment that disabled people with learning disabilities dont necessarily understand the value of money . How did you feel when you heard that said . I get an equal days pay for an equal days work and it helps me be independent, it helps me to do what i want to do in my life, and i am happy in myjob and i love getting paid because it means i can live my life, be independent, live in my own home, be independent and do everything that everybody else does. And, what you think about the suggestion that disabled people shouldnt necessarily be paid equally. I think the first thing to say is it is against the law, the law is very clear in terms of the minimum and living wage. And it is not something we would agree with. I think it is the wrong solution. Ultimately, what we need to be doing is breaking down barriers for disabled people to get into work. Only around 20 of people with a learning disability are in work compared to over three quarters of the general population. Lots of things need to happen to improve that employers have to think more creatively about how to recruit people which creates lots of barriers, about how they can change the structure ofjobs to be more inclusive of people with a learning disability and be more open to changing the Workplace Culture so that people with a learning disability can be in employment. We know from all the employers we have worked with they make fantastic employees, stay in jobs worked with they make fantastic employees, stay injobs longer, take less sick pay and are an absolute asset to the organisations they work with and have a hugely positive impact on all of their colleagues. Do you think that a decision about whether to take on somebody with a disability or not is based at all on money or other considerations . No, i think employers want to know they will get the right support and successive governments have invested more ina successive governments have invested more in a scheme called access to work which helps employers pay for changes to the workplace need to be made where people might need to get taxis to work will have a support worker that helps them in their role and that support is there and Many Employers dont know about it and thatis employers dont know about it and that is a huge barrier to being more open to giving people a learning disability to taking up a job, or thinking more broadly about how they recruit people. A normal recruitment process with a long and completes formerly rapid fire interview with lots of quick questions will be incredibly daunting to somebody with a learning disability and is not the best way. Things like work trials where people can show on the job what they can do is a much better way of getting people with a learning disability into work and what we suggest to employers that we partner with. We heard in the piece that we played from the hustings the anger in the audience about hearing those comments. What impact do you think comments like that have on this debate . I think its really important this issue has been raised about getting more disabled people into work and making sure that they have a right to equal pay. I think that the candidate rightly has been called out by people in the audience about what you are saying. The article that she mentioned, again, was talking about not paying people the living wage. But i think it is important we recognise the author Rosa Monckton, her own daughter has moved into working a couple of days a week in a local cafe local to where they live, fantastic outcome, being paid for the work she is doing. We have moved on from the debate, this is the kind of debate that was happening 20 or 30 years ago and now people with a learning disability have a right to be paid a living wage like anybody else and now the challenge everybody has got to meet is about how to get more people into week. Into work. To meet is about how to get more people into week. Into work. Are you offended by this comments . people into week. Into work. Are you offended by this comments . I am very proud to have a job. I wanted a job like anybody else when i was growing up and now i have one. And i just think people with a learning disability like me have a right to get into work, have the right support. I have access to work support. I have access to work support in my job support. I have access to work support in myjob will stop i have a job coach who comes and helps me in myjob. Because of that, i have been promoted in myjob because of that support, and i know how important it is. And so ijust want to get people with learning disabilities and understanding that actually they have a right to have a career and if they want to have a job if they want to, as long as they have the right support. And i just to, as long as they have the right support. And ijust think we to, as long as they have the right support. And i just think we should be really positive and achieve a lot, and i have, so im very proud. Im here to say, i have a job, i have a career, you can do it too as long as you have the right support, and mencap is a great employer, ive worked for mencap 18 years and ive had that right support to carve my career, and im really lucky. So i just want to keep spreading that message. Thank you. People getting in touch while we are talking so i will read out some comments. Kevin on twitter says equal pay for eve ryo ne on twitter says equal pay for everyone especially adults with learning disabilities, they are prime candidates for slave labour, many work below National Wage doing mind numbingjobs. It is many work below National Wage doing mind numbing jobs. It is criminal and classified as a rehab by some organisations. Jan on e mail says people and learning difficulties dont understand money very well, i manage his finances, dont politicise everything. Pam says explain how the conservatives will exploit the uneducated for their own financial advantage. Thank you for joining us. And thank you for the comments and keep them coming in. Apart from Sally Ann Hart for the conservatives there are three other people standing for election in the hastings and rye constituency. Peter chowney for labour, Paul Crosland as an independent and nick perry for the lib dems. For more on whos standing, where, go to bbc. Co. Uk election2019. Shes being called the woman who died and was brought back to life a british woman whose heart stopped beating for six hours has been resuscitated in what doctors say is an exceptional story of survival. Audrey schoeman developed severe hypothermia when she was caught in a snowstorm while hiking with her husband in the spanish pyrennees last month. Her surgeon says it is the longest cardiac arrest ever recorded in spain. Mrs schoeman has made almost a full recovery and now the 34 year old says she wants to get back to hiking in the mountains. I think the first couple of days, it didnt really sink in. I didnt really know what was going on my first day or two that i woke up in intensive care. But since then, ive been trying to read more, obviously learning more about hypothermia, and it feels really incredible that i survived it and im just really lucky to be here and to kind of be able to get on with my life. Im just happy. I thought she was dead because i was trying to feel for a pulse, trying to feel for. My fingers were also numb so i wasnt sure if it was my fingers but i couldnt feel breath, i couldnt feel her heart beat or anything. Probably this winter i wont go to the mountains but i hope that in spring we will be able to start hiking and trekking again. I dont want this to take away that hobby from me. It is extraordinary. Lets speak to professor stephen westaby, a leading heart surgeon based at the John Radcliffe hospital in oxford. Hes in our oxford studio. Thank you forjoining us. Six hours without a beating heart and then brought back to life. How rare is that . Well, it is very rare but one has to actually question the circumstances. What has happened here replicates what we do in certain complex heart operations on a daily basis. For many, many years we have used whole body cooling to reduce metabolism and stop the heart for prolonged periods whilst we operate on it and we use it for particularly complex operations involving the blood supply to the brain. My feeling is what has happened here is that this very nice lady has been out in a very cold circumstances, has called gradually, her heart has slowed, her Blood Pressure has fallen, and eventually at 16 celsius the heart will what we call fib relate, stop beating sensibly, and stop. When you reach that situation, the brain will survive at 16 degrees for Something Like an hourand survive at 16 degrees for Something Like an hour and a half. Fibrillate. Beyond that, you suffer significant brain damage and will not recover fully. In this case, what i believe will have happened is that the pulse will have slowed, the Blood Pressure fallen, and as she became colder, the circulation would not have been detectable. I seriously doubt that she was without any circulation for longer than two hours, otherwise she wouldnt have recovered. It seems she has recovered. It seems she has recovered almost without any legacy of this at all other than i think losing a bit of feeling in her hands. How easy is it to bring somebody back from this state . Its really quite easy with the appropriate mechanical circulatory support. Ive tried it on many occasions myself. Sometimes successfully, other times not. Occasions myself. Sometimes successfully, othertimes not. In particular in this country, we often see children that have slipped through ice and essentially to round, but their body temperatures have fallen a great deal. And what we can do for those children is to put them on an extracorporeal circulation, the same as the patient that we are discussing, and gradually. Just explain what that is. Sorry. Is that taking the blood out of her system . Yes, this lady was put on what we call an ecmo circuit, a system that takes her blood out of her body and can be re warmed and all we have to do is plumb in the patients circulation in that machine and restore the blood flow to the brain and gradually re warm the whole body. That is what has happened here. And of course, the whole circumstance depends upon whether you have the right equipment in your hospital. 0n you have the right equipment in your hospital. On many occasions in oxford, we simply didnt have the right equipment to intervene. In spain, the system is extremely good, particularly the transplant system. So these devices are often linked to heart transplantation. They shouldnt be just linked to heart transplantation. Every open heart surgery transplantation. Every open Heart Surgery Centre should have this equipment. And then we can intervene more often for patients like this. dont know if you have seen, there was another story that has been on the bbc news website this week and has had a lot of pick up from it because it is extraordinary. It is 2011 but it is a story that has just emerged about how seven children in denmark came back effectively from the dead, on a school trip they fell out of a boat into freezing water and their hearts stopped beating for hours, and incredibly they all were brought back to life. How long do you have to be in very cold conditions, whether it is in very cold water or in icy surroundings, before your body gets into that hypothermic state that would result m, hypothermic state that would result in, as you describe, the heartjust stopping . It takes about 40 minutes to cool down to about 16 degrees. When we operate on patients in whom we wish to deliberately stop the circulation for a prolonged period, we cool slowly on a machine for about 45 minutes before we stop the circulation. And then when we have finished the repair of the heart, or the major blood vessels, we go back onto the machine and slowly re warm. With children who fall through ice ina lake with children who fall through ice in a lake or a pond, they call rather quickly and that protects the brain for rather quickly and that protects the brainfora rather quickly and that protects the brain for a prolonged period until they drowned. But if you get them out of that circumstance and to hospital rapidly, and if they arrive ina hospital rapidly, and if they arrive in a hospital that is equipped to deal with a failed circulation, and in general, they are only centres that do open heart surgery, then you can bring a certain proportion of those drowned children back to life. But many of them, unfortunately, though they survive, they will sustain brain damage. And the patient we are discussing this morning seems to be very clear in her brain and in her thinking. So my feeling is her heart simply cannot have stopped for a period of six hours. I suspect that her Blood Pressure was low and her heart rate was slow but that the cooling had protected her brain until the heart stopped. As i say, and arrested circulation for more than an hour invariably injures the brain. Its extraordinary and its very interesting to talk to you, professor stephen westa by, thank interesting to talk to you, professor stephen westaby, thank you very much. Thank you. Boris johnson and Jeremy Corbyn will go head to head laterfor the final time during the Election Campaign when they take part in a live bbc debate tonight. Meanwhile, the labour party is complaining about bbc bias, saying it is allowing the conservative leader to pick and choose his bbc platform, after the Prime Ministers failure to be interviewed by andrew neil. Although last night, andrew neil issued this challenge to borisjohnson. And that concludes our fourth leaders interview for the general election of 2019. There is, of course, still one to be done. Borisjohnson. The Prime Minister. We have been asking him for weeks now to give us a date, a time, a venue. As of now, none has been forthcoming. Weve always proceeded in good faith that the leaders would participate. In every election they have, all of them. Until this one. There is no law, no Supreme Court ruling, that can force mrjohnson to participate in a bbc leaders interview. But the Prime Minister of our nation will, at times, have to stand up to president trump, president putin, president xi of china. So it was surely not expecting too much that he spend half an hour standing up to me. Good night. Andrew neil. Senior tory cabinet minister michael gove rejected claims that the Prime Minister is avoiding scrutiny, and in a rather unusual move, has suggested that people should ring the downing street switchboard and ask the pms diary secretary about borisjohnsons availabilty. Here he is talking to Chris Warburton on bbc radio 5live this morning. 0na on a scale of one to ten, what is the chance of the andrew neil interview with Boris Johnson happening . Just give us a number. think the number would be 02079304433. Thats the downing street number. If you ring the Prime Ministers diary secretary, he will know, or she will know, what the Prime Minister is going to do. Im not the Prime Ministers diary secretary. You could have caused some problems, might jam secretary. You could have caused some problems, mightjam the switchboard but michael gove, thank you very much. It has been an interesting Election Campaign. There have been further developments this morning as the labour leaderJeremy Corbyn says he has a document that he claims paints a damning picture ofjohnsons deal and its effect on Northern Ireland. Lets speak to our Political Correspondent leila nathoo who was at that News Conference with Jeremy Corbyn. What is this document . What does it say . Well, here it is. It is titled ni protocol, unfettered access to the uk i am. In english that means the uk i am. In english that means the Northern Ireland part of the brexit Withdrawal Agreement and it is about access to the uk internal market. Im. It is from the uk treasury and marked as official sensitive and this wasJeremy Corbyns big reveal this morning. We didnt know what he was here to talk about until the press conference started. We had a hint it was on brexit when keir starmer the shadow brexit when keir starmer the shadow brexit secretary turned up, but Jeremy Corbyn claims that this document shows Boris Johnson Jeremy Corbyn claims that this document shows borisjohnson has been lying to the public about his brexit deal. Ive been handed this copy in the last few minutes and ive had a chance to skim it but here isJeremy Corbyn introducing what he claimed where the findings earlier in the press conference. In private the government says something very, very different. It says they will be Customs Declarations and security checks between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. It is there in black and white. It says there will be Customs Declarations. Absolutely clearly. For trade going from Northern Ireland to Great Britain. The government cannot rule out regulatory checks, rules of origin checks and animal and Public Health checks and animal and Public Health checks also. And for trade going the other way from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, there will be all of the above plus potentially damaging tariffs. This drives a coach and horses through the Prime Ministers claimed that there will be, in his words, no border in the irish sea. It is simply not true. Johnsons deal will be disastrous for businesses and jobs all across the uk. And the governments confidential report confirms this. So, it is worth just going back to why this is so important. The Northern Ireland protocol was a key bit of the brexit Withdrawal Agreement that Boris Johnson renegotiated compared to what theresa may had stopped the element of Northern Ireland, how it related to trade between Northern Ireland and the uk was a big part of Boris Johnsons own stamp on the brexit agreement, if you like. He has been pressed repeatedly on whether they would be checks between Northern Ireland and Great Britain during this Election Campaign. He has been categorical repeatedly that there would be no checks. It is worth saying that some ministers have wavered, some other of his ministers have wavered on that categorical assurance, but at first glance this document does seem to have some sentences that may be give some cause for alarm. For example, at a minimum this means that exit summary decorations will be required when goods are exported from Northern Ireland to Great Britain in order to meet the eus obligation under the safe framework. So there is some reference in this document that Jeremy Corbyn has produced today that does seem to support what he is saying. It is worth also saying that this document at the moment is out of context. We dont know when it was produced, we dont know for what purpose, we dont know whether it was one in a series of documents so its quite difficult to assess at the moment the internal government significance given to this document. You will rememberJeremy Corbyn early in the campaign produced a document that he showed that the nhs was on the table in a future uk us trade deal. Then, under a bit of a microscope, it showed that that claim wasnt quite as watertight and that they had been no assurances given from the uk government that the nhs was up for sale, if you like. So we will be combing this document through with a fine tooth comb. It is only about five pages, it looks like a presentation as such but out of context it is quite difficult to assess its significance. Jeremy corbyn certainly thinks this is a bit of a smoking gun on borisjohnsons brexit deal and he claims other departments will have reports like this showing what he says is a disastrous impact of the brexit deal. He called it ominous and he was saying that it proved Boris Johnson was lying to the public. Of course, labours brexit position has been, in the views of some, its achilles heel in this campaign not having the clearest message, although having the clearest message, althoutheremy having the clearest message, although Jeremy Corbyn having the clearest message, althoutheremy corbyn repeating labour policy, renegotiating the brexit deal within six months and then putting back to a referendum. He will hope in the last days of this campaign that this document will give some people more cause to vote labour. Thank you very much. We are hoping to speak to keir starmer for labour shortly for more on that. Let me bring you a statement from Sally Ann Hart, the conservative and it we heard about earlier on. The hustings at which she said they should be therapeutic exemptions for people with learning difficulties in order to allow employers to pay them under the order to allow employers to pay them underthe minimum order to allow employers to pay them under the minimum wage because they dont necessarily understand the value of money into the most important thing is to get them into work. She has just important thing is to get them into work. She hasjust given important thing is to get them into work. She has just given us a statement saying, incidentally, we hoped to speak to her this morning as she had said yes but then said she was unable to do it. She has given us an extra statement to say, for the avoidance of doubt i was trying to emphasise that more needs to be done to help those with learning disabilities into the workplace and having properly paid work. My comments have been taken out of context but i apologise if any offence or alarm has been caused. The number of disabled people in work has hit a record high under this government and i am committed to doing more to supporting those with learning difficulties into good, securejobs. Lots of you have been getting in touch on this. Janet context says there are different types of disability, not all people with disabilities are the same. Just as not all people are the same. Giazzon even not all people are the same. Giazzon eve n says not all people are the same. Giazzon even says whether they understand money or not is irrelevant, they are entitled to the same wayjust other people. Mike on the e mail says as the father of a down syndrome woman ifind this the father of a down syndrome woman i find this statement about paying people with learning disabilities below the minimum wage at rangers, going back to the 18th century with those types of statements. Thank you for the comments, keep them coming the main Political Parties are preparing for a last minute social media blitz as they head into final week of the campaign. More than £2 million has now been spent on online election ads since the start of the campaign, according to figures seen by this programme. We ve been told that is likely to be ramped up over next week as parties push to win over those undecided voters. This programme has had exclusive access to two of the most active internet operations this year, making videos for both labour and conservative candidates. Jim reed has this report. This is where elections are now fought. The most ambitious and radical campaign our country has ever seen. On facebook, on instagram, on google. All the Political Parties and their supporters have been battling to get their videos onto your feed. Unleash the potential of this whole country. See you later. And this is where much of that content comes from. In north london, staff and volunteers from the Campaign Group momentum are working on what they hope will be the next viral video. Talk me through what we have here. So, this is a video that we put out yesterday thats called boris vs intern. Its a sketch video, so its like a comedy video with actors. Weve got a borisjohnson impersonator. Momentum was set up four years ago to support the labour party and Jeremy Corbyn. Its online operation is very influential. This, with an actor playing Boris Johnson, has been viewed over1 million times this week. Thats more than any single video on labours official site. You need to really get them involved in the story youre telling and give them a reason to share it, something they connect with, something that makes them angry and something they can do about it. Since the start of the campaign, momentum has churned out more than 100 videos like this. It often takes interviews from the bbc and others, repackaging them with snappy headlines. This, an interview with borisjohnsons dad on our programme last week. Another point that was made in the comments there from viewers, someone calling your son pinocchio. I know that youve responded to these allegations of lying before. Pinocchio, that requires a degree of literacy which i think the Great British public doesnt necessarily have. The group says it relies on supporters and other users liking the content and sharing it. But it has also paid more than £43,000 so far to get its videos promoted on facebook and instagram. We are really busy, so this is part of the team that are organising our activists. Laura parker, a former aide toJeremy Corbyn, is momentums national coordinator, running this whole operation. Weve had about 52 million views of our videos during the course of this Election Campaign, and last week alone 16 million views. So thats way beyond our membership, its way beyond the labour partys membership, it is way beyond the combined membership of all the Political Parties in the country put together. Is there a danger with that strategy that you end up preaching to the converted somewhat . Well, id like to think that 52 Million People had already been converted but given that weve had 52 million views on our videos and we are reaching far beyond our own membership. I mean, of course there is a risk online that people develop their own worlds. Their own little bubbles. But were going far, far beyond that. We only have to look at the numbers of people that are engaging with what were doing. But those videos dont always work as planned. It was forced to take down this parody of a coca cola ad for breaching copyright. And this sketch trying to get more people to vote went down badly with some. So on behalf of every boss. Landlord. And energy company. Thank you for not voting. On facebook, one of its own supporters called it a simplistic political posturing. I think to accuse momentum of political posturing when we have a Prime Minister who has been lying to us. That was a labour supporter online saying that. For a start, they say they are a labour supporter. They may or may not be. I checked their profile and they were clearly a labour supporter. Secondly, you know, with 500,000 members, occasionally were going to push a button that someone doesnt like. Thirdly, you know, because this is the world you live in, that if we just came out with bland non statements, we wouldnt get the levels of engagement. And the other thing. So you have to be edgy to a certain extent . We have to be edgy and push the boundaries a little bit, but also, weve got very big serious points to make. So, momentums social media operation run from a building on this street is credited by some for helping labour take crucial seats in the last general election in 2017. Seats that might well have stopped the conservatives winning an overall majority. This year, though, the tories in particular have changed their approach and are now running what looks like a much more sophisticated online operation. The conservative partys online strategy has been far more aggressive in 2019. It got told off by twitter for rebranding one of its official accounts to look like a Fact Checking service. And then had adverts taken down by facebook and youtube for breaching the bbcs copyright. As far as online spending goes, the conservatives are trailing well behind labour and the lib dems this year. Though there are strong rumours of a last minute advertising blitz by the tories in the final few days of the campaign. This is where some of those videos are likely to come from. The offices of westminster digital, just round the corner from parliament. The firm was founded just two years ago. It ran Boris Johnsons online Leadership Campaign and is now working with more than 20 conservative candidates in this election. So, what youre looking at here is the finished edited timeline of the anna firth introduction video. The conservative candidate for canterbury . Yes, she is. In this particular example, anna isnt actually from canterbury. She was dropped into the seat so we sort of focused on canterbury. So, a lot of them, when they have lived there before, we focus on the story growing up in the area. She didnt have that advantage so we focused on canterbury and why its great. The company is happy to talk about its work with individual candidates. Whats less well known is what its doing for conservative central office. Hi, boris, are you all right . Im good, how are you . It is no secret, though, that it is responsible for videos like this. This has now been watched by1 Million People on facebook, with another 5 million views on twitter. And i made steak and oven chips which were very good. Craig dillon is the firms 27 year old founder. He is spending much of this election on the road with borisjohnson. You think a focus on the sort of figurehead is likely to move more effective this year because thats sort of what the conservatives tried in 2017 with theresa may and it usually backfired. Well, what i would say about that strategy is if you want to run a president ial campaign, you need a president ial candidate, and im afraid theresa may wasnt. So i think that strategy can work. A lot more people are willing to publicly support boris than they are to publicly vote conservative. Social media allows a firm like this to target adverts so precisely it can be unnerving. Another video, for instance, about a roundabout, we would target it much more closely to People Living in and around an area of that roundabout. Facebook uses a bunch of data to track your location, so users living in a constituency, or even part of that constituency, can all be sent different videos. Does any of this make you slightly queasy in terms of it is so targeted, using peoples personal data . The thing is that i think its more invasive for someone to bang on your door so you have to hide behind the sofa and hide from the canvassers. Actually, people can scroll past this if they want. It isjust that were making sure that its going to people that care about the message. When you create a bit of video content, who are you hoping is going to watch it . Who is your target audience for that . Someone who doesnt care about politics. So, it is not a political geek . It is not somebody who is really into it . No, it is the opposite. Its about 25 of people know the name of their local mp. I couldnt care less about those people. The people we care about are the people who arent at home when the canvassers go and knock on the doors, you know, you can get them on facebook when they are scrolling at lunchtime, through social media, it is really the only way to reach those people. There is no guarantee, of course, any of this will turn into real votes next thursday. But with millions of videos viewed, millions of pounds spent, it is already changing the way we view politics and our politicians. This is mikey poulli, he s nine years old and, last night, he won the Young Achiever award at the mirror pride of sport awards. Mikey has always been a huge football fan and was a promising young player when at the age of six he was diagnosed with a rare eye condition. Specialists thought it would take between 10 and 20 years for mikey to lose his sight, but within 18 months, he was completely blind. Refusing to let that stop him fulfilling his footballing dreams, mikey started attending a specialist visually impaired football programme. He is now training with england coaches and is earmarked as a potential star in b1 football for blind people. Iam very i am very pleased to say mikey and his dad, john, are with us now. Welcome, both of you. Fabulous accolade you got last night, what was it like . It was really fun and i met loads of other legends. Who did you meet . Kenny dalglish, known as king kenny, david seaman, andy cole, Graeme Souness as well and jamie vardy. Were they nice . What did they say to you . They said to carry on what i am doing, i am amazing, things like that. You are amazing. Thank you. As i mentioned, you lost your site, but prior to losing your site, you were football mad. You have not let it stop you. No, i havent. Was it hard initially to keep on with what you have been doing before . What has it been like for you . How did you carry on playing football . I adapted to playing football . I adapted to playing blind football. Itjust helped me. Yeah, natural. You have brought your ball with you because this is actually really important in how you play. Explain to me, mikey, what happens, that is what you have to play with. It has got ball bearings inside and aluminium plates and the ball is very heavy. When you shoot with it, quite hard to lift so you have to flick it. We are seeing pictures of you to playing as well, you have had to learn special techniques. At your school, you play football with kids who are not blind, they play with this so you can play with them. They dont particularly like it, do they . They moan about how hard it is. It is amazing, john, what, obviously, has been. What mikey has been able to achieve. Take us back to when you discovered what was happening with mikeys sight. Discovered what was happening with mikeys sight. He was fully cited and we took him for a routine eye test and they noticed something not quite right. Even at that point, he had full site. We took him to specialists and they told us in the initial diagnosis he would go blind and in that initial diagnosis he was still and in that initial diagnosis he was st i ll fully and in that initial diagnosis he was still fully sighted and we looked at each other and couldnt quite believe what the doctor was telling me. He probably didnt understand what the doctor was telling him. Complete shock and disbelief and i honestly didnt believe it would happen because first of all they said he would go blind but they didnt know to what extent he would go blind, he could be partially sighted, may lose some vision, may go completely blind, could take a numberof go completely blind, could take a number of decades, 10 20 years, but there were cases where it could take 4050 there were cases where it could take 40 50 years, and even at the end of that period still have some sight. For him to have lost his sight within 18 months, the for him to have lost his sight within18 months, the doctors and the hospital were astonished, from being fully sighted to blind, they couldnt quite believe it either. The footballing has been preserved in the most brilliant way. How important was it for you all at the start to make sure that he could carry on doing it . Initially, when he started losing his vision, it didnt phase him one bit. He just wanted to play football. He was more bothered about potentially not be able to play football rather than losing his vision. He did not complain, he took it in his stride. At that age, you do not really understand, but as parents, everyone else, we were completely devastated and still are, obviously, else, we were completely devastated and stillare, obviously, because else, we were completely devastated and still are, obviously, because we are striving and hoping there will bea are striving and hoping there will be a cure one day and we are trying to raise awareness with social media accounts and pride of sport is brilliant. Football and sport in general gave him and as a focus because it was something we knew he could focus on and he is so passionate about it and could potentially make a career and play nationally for england and unbelievable. I try not to get too emotional. An unbelievable thing that has happened, the best out of a bad situation, i guess. Must feel incredibly proud. Lovely, lovely boy. What he is achieving. incredibly proud. Lovely, lovely boy. What he is achieving. I have said it many times, sometimes, when i hear the word proud, it does not do itjustice as to how i hear the word proud, it does not do it justice as to how we feel about him, he has completely shown us about him, he has completely shown us and the world that you can do anything if you put your mind to it. He has gone through such a difficult life changing thing at such a young age and he has not let it phase him and it has not stopped him following his dreams and be a footballer. He said to me he wanted to be a footballer from a young age. When i found that he was losing his vision, i would ask him what he wanted to be when he was older, he would say the same thing, and when he could not see, would he still want to be a footballer. Never give up. He is to tell me the same thing. It used to tell me the same thing. It used to break my heart. But he has showed me and completely prove me wrong. I obviously didnt think it was possible. He has shown me that nothing is impossible, never give up. What is it you want to do, mikey . To win the world cup for england, if i play for them. Actually, when i play for them. And also get my site back my sight back and play for arsenal. You mentioned a cure, john, what are the prospects . How far advanced as anything like that . There are many forms of blindness and there was a lot of Research Going on. Unfortunately for mikey, it is a rare incurable disease he has which has eaten away his retina. But they have got gene screening going on and they have not been able to find mikeys genes but i am hoping with awareness and fundraising we can raise enough money to get the awareness and for the doctors to find the genes that have caused this in mikeys eyesight and hopefully find gene therapy. It is a new and upcoming thing. There are proven approved gene therapies, the first one was approved i think at the end of la st one was approved i think at the end of last year, so it was breakthrough gene therapy for inherited diseases. So it is happening and we need to find mikeys gene and hopefully find a cure for him. People getting in touch watching you talking here, mikey. What an absolute little legend, keep on going, live your dreams. An anonymous text, if only our politicians were as great as mikey. An absolute privilege to meet you this morning, good luck. I am sure you will achieve your dreams. Thank you for coming on. Congratulations on the award as well. The mirror pride of sport awards, in partnership with tsb, will be shown on youtube from 11th december. People from more than 200 countries are taking part in a Climate Conference in madrid run by the united nations. Heres what some of them had to say about how theyve changed their lives for the sake of the environment. I dont use medicines from the drugstore, i only use natural medicines. There are many plants that are at risk because of deforestation. Shutting off your phone when you dont need it, make sure to use it for less than an hour and a half a day. So, for me, i try to practice minimalism, which isjust like consuming less, using Second Hand Clothing stores and things like that. Thrift more, eat less meat and trying to take public transportation, i ride my bike a little bit more, just little things. My daughters gone vegetarian. We moved house this summer and we chose a place to live based on being able to walk and cycle to work and catch the train. We love putting on the lights. It does look good. Even when it is afternoon, we switch off the lights. Get a smaller car. The fuel that my car consumes, the amount of waste generated by what im doing. Ive gone pretty much plastic free as much as i can. Its very, very difficult. Its a life change but one thats vital to make if we are trying to save the planet. Translation we need to see the planet as our home, and if you think in an individualistic way, you are not going to achieve what you want. And as parents you need to teach your children to have responsibility for environmental protection. Lots of comments coming in about Sally Ann Hart, the conservative standing for election. An anonymous text says many people without learning disabilities do not understand money well, perhaps our mps should be paid less. The disabled lady showed great dignity. The conservatives discriminate in any way they can to increase profits for the privileged. Why was she heckled for speaking the truth . Do people not have an understanding of english and a modicum of common sense any more. I had a friend who has sadly passed on who had learning difficulties who could not handle money. Not all citizens with learning disabilities can live independently. Those in care undertake therapeutic paid work but to prevent the loss of welfare benefits, they are paid less, not to undermine the contribution to the workforce, but to build on health and well being, chris has my epilepsy started when i worked as a technician in University Physics department, it made no difference to my ability. When i moved, no one would employ me, ignorance leads to fear and prejudice. I would employ me, ignorance leads to fearand prejudice. I reject disabled people, it leads people to think you are firstly disabled and secondly a person. Keep the comments coming in. The london fire brigade commissioner danny cotten is expected to step down earlier than expected to step down earlier than expected in the wake of criticism over the Services Response to the grand full fire. 0ur to the grand full fire. What has happened . She was in charge at the time of the gwen full g re nfell tower at the time of the gwen full Grenfell Tower fire. As you say, it is following criticism following an inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire. At the time of that inquiry, many people said she was not sensitive with the evidence she was giving, she said things like i would not change how the force responded at the time, lots of survivors and bereaved family members were upset and lots of them called for her to go early. She is going, what has she said since about those comments that caused so much upset . She said she expressed her deepest sorrow at not being able to save all those who died in the Grenfell Tower fire and she said the recommendations after that would be carefully considered. But some of those still unhappy with her decision not to go sooner and natasha, chairman of grenfell united, her daughter was rescued, she said the statement was too little, too late. She stood up in the inquiry and said there was nothing she would do to change that night. For many of the survivors, it was unforgivable. The news that has been agreed she will go early and the mayor of london sadiq khan has said it is right she goes early and write the next commissioner can be appointed as soon as possible to ta ke appointed as soon as possible to take over and put the recommendations in place following the Grenfell Tower fire. Obviously, the Grenfell Tower fire. Obviously, the various inquiries into the fire continue in the meantime. They do continue in the meantime. They do continue and the survivors, the briefed family members, are waiting for changes to be made. There has been a lot of frustration things and have not been moving as quickly as people would have liked the bereaved family members. Thank you. Lots of you getting in touch on comments by Sally Ann Hart who is standing in the election for the conservatives. You may have seen, im not sure if we can show you again, the heckling last night at hustings she was taking part in, she was referring to an article she had posted on facebook. It was an article that had been written by somebody else previously and raised at the hustings last night and in the article there was a discussion about whether people with learning difficulties should be paid the same as others in terms of the minimum wage when it comes to working. The argument was made they should perhaps be a therapeutic exemption from the minimum wage for those with learning difficulties because they do not always understand money in the most important thing is for them to be able to getjobs. We were hoping to speak to her on the programme today. She had said yes initially but unfortunately later pulled out. She has since said her remarks were taken out of context. She was, as i say, heckled last night at the hustings. We will try to bring it to you. Actually, we can bring it now. It is about having a therapeutic. You are a disgrace as someone with a hidden disability, this viewer says, is she saying that someone highly skilled with years of laying should be paid less than the minimum wage . The equality act 2010 Means Nothing to her. Another says, i have children with special needs and a huge gap between abilities and understanding, how can this go unpunished . We all live in the same well dont have to pay for the same services and a lack of support and Financial Assistance is not supported by paying less. An e mail, terry says, your young guest spoke very well and it is great she is happy with her employer which happens to be a very accommodating one, mencap, and they are with her, but she admits to having a job coach, how often and on what rate of pay . Would all employers be happy to finance this . If not, would it be better for them to be sat at home instead of getting a lower rate. Another, i am deeply saddened, in my view, it is the kind of othering that gives rise to exploitative proposals. Keith on e mail, i had an older brother who had severe learning disabilities, as much as i loved him to bits, i cannot imagine an employer being able to get him to do any meaningful work, so why would an employer entertain employing him in the first place, especially having to pay him the same as someone having to pay him the same as someone who would be more productive . Thank you for those comments. Let us go to poland, to assets, the german chancellor, Angela Merkel, is making herfirst visit to the former nazi concentration camp to auschwitz. We have these pictures to bring you now of that happening. As i say, her first visit to auschwitz. She has been to concentration camps previously, but here today, she is taking part in a ceremony alongside a camp survivor and the polish Prime Minister. And this comes just ahead of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the camp. More than 6 millionjews were murdered in the holocaust and auschwitz was built near to the holocaust and auschwitz was built nearto the main. Holocaust and auschwitz was built near to the main. The gas chambers and crematoria were built next to the main concentration camp in nazi occupied poland. As more events are planned for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz by soviet troops on the 27th of january, Angela Merkel is visiting along with the polish Prime Minister. 1. 1 Million People estimated to have been killed at auschwitz birkenau. Let me just tell you, iamjust. I auschwitz birkenau. Let me just tell you, i am just. I was hoping to bring you news about keir starmer. We have been hoping to speak to him on the programme after the labour Party Published the documents at a news co nfe re nce Party Published the documents at a News Conference saying they had evidence in leaked documents there will be a border in the irish sea after brexit. We were hoping to speak to keir starmer, but u nfortu nately, speak to keir starmer, but unfortunately, he was not able to make it. Thank you for your company today. On monday, victoria will be here for the last of our big election debates with 40 undecided voters and a panel of politicians. Have a good weekend. It may have been a mild start to the day but we have had a lot more cloud this morning, outbreaks of rain as well. From the earlier rainfall radar imagery, rain in the south east is clearing, showers in scotland, Northern Ireland, those are moving gradually south and east, and they could be heavy, may be thundery in the afternoon. Showers spreading in the south east, but brighter skies and sunshine in between. Still quite breezy but not as strong as yesterday. Strongest of the winds and southern areas. Maximum temperatures, very similar to this morning, not changing a great dealfor most, to this morning, not changing a great deal for most, except far north of scotland where temperatures start to decline as we go through the afternoon. Overnight, showers clear, plenty of dry weather, temperature staying up above freezing for many, could be chilly in the far north of scotland. On saturday, drier weather, in the far north of scotland. On saturday, drierweather, rain moving eventually into the far north and west. Sunday, sunny spells and showers, gales, may be severe gales, sunday night into monday. Stay tuned. You re watching bbc newsroom live its 11 am and these are the main stories this morning londons fire chief dany cotton quits early, shed faced criticism over the Grenfell Tower fire, in which 72 people died. The former tory Prime Minister, sirjohn major, urges voters to back rebel candidates running against his own party in next weeks election. Boris johnson and Jeremy Corbyn prepare to go head to head in the final tv debate before polling day. Police in india shoot dead four men suspected of rape and murder, in a case that sparked nationwide outrage