Good morning, its wednesday october 7th, im victoria derbyshire, here are the headlines scotland faces new restrictions to combat a rise in covid cases with pubs and restaurants expected to be affected. It comes as the uk government says it will do everything it can to avoid another National Lockdown for england. We dont want to go back to a second lockdown where we end up having to close the economy and the potential damage that has on peoples livelihoods. Although nowhere near the peak earlier this year would you accept even further restrictions . Wherever you are in the uk, do let me know. The Pharmaceutical Company, roche, warns of problems with the supply of coronavirus swabs and nhs tests for other conditions, including cancer. Uk taxpayers may lose tens of billions of pounds because the governments flagship covid loan scheme is at high risk of fraud, according to the National Audit office. A businessman from leeds linked to organised crime and gangsters agrees to pay almost £10 million to the National Crime agency. Exclusive figures suggest almost half of all sexual abuse content online is self generated, meaning children are coerced into creating it themselves. Jump and coming up this hour. We look back on the sparkling career of rock legend eddie van halen, whos died at the age of 65. Scotlands first minister, Nicola Sturgeon is to announce a tightening of lockdown later to try and slow a surge in new covid cases. The plans are expected to include more restrictions for pubs, restaurants and other hospitality venues. Travel restrictions could be put in place in parts of the country which have higher levels of covid. Across scotland on average around 730 people are testing positive for the virus each day. Which is more than two and a half times higher than a fortnight ago, when 285 virus cases were recorded every day. Also this afternoon, scotlands education secretary, john swinney, will announce plans for exams next year after this years were cancelled due to the pandemic. This report from james shaw. The Scottish Government has not said exactly which sectors will be affected by new restrictions. There have been hints that hospitality is one area which is being looked at. Lots of factors make it easy for the virus to spread the difficulty of social distancing, poor ventilation, crowds, alcohol, and households mixing together. Nicola sturgeon has said schools will stay open and there wont be a scotland wide travel ban, although local travel bans have not been ruled out. We are not proposing another lockdown at this stage. Not even on a temporary basis. We are not going to be asking you to stay inside your own home and, apart from the october holidays, which are already planned, we are not proposing to close schools. Changes could happen as soon as the weekend, when many schools will start autumn half term holiday. Not a happy prospect for those who had been planning to get away or are worried about theirjobs in hospitality. I work in a pub, so that would be hard for me. I would have nojob. But good to protect everyone, i guess. We had 12 weeks of this in march and abided by the rules at that stage. Now were just back where we started. The social aspect, i couldnt do it again, like, not going out and seeing my friends and stuff. Its just. For your Mental Health, as well, just couldnt do it. The big question around a possible Circuit Breaker is, will it work . The Scottish Governments Public Health experts believe even a couple of weeks could buy time for the nhs. It might slow the spread of the virus just enough to get the Health Service through the winter months, which are always a challenge and are likely to be even harder in this year of coronavirus. James shaw, bbc news, glasgow. Lets talk now to stephen leckie, owner of the Crieff Hydro Hotel and chair of the scottish tourism alliance. And im alsojoined by carina contini, owner of contini restaurants in edinburgh. We are told it wont be a full lockdown. Have you been given any steer and what the further restrictions might be . We are where the scottish cabinet is missing right now, but for the industry, people like me sitting nervously on the edge of our seats in the waiting room and about to be informed of our destiny, it is a harrowing and worrying experience when we know we have staff and customers booked in to start this friday. So any chat that has gone before now has to be simply rumour mongering. We have to rely on the Scottish Government and the cabinet to make the right decisions and choose between state of the health of the nation versus the economy of the nation, and we stand by for that. Do you think it is one or the other, that there
isnt a balance to be struck . |j dont isnt a balance to be struck . dont think it is hobsons choice. I think there will be a number of levers that the Scottish Government can pull. The first minister has ruled out total lockdown. They may have to close some areas of hospitality or restrict the opening hours. They may have to restrict some geographical areas of scotland and restrict some travel. There may be other levers they can pull. This month, october, is our last chance to look after customers and look after our staff for the winter season. After our staff for the winter season. If we were to close now in october, when we hope to make some money and look after customers, it is our last chance before the next five months of torture ahead of us when we will simply lose money until at least next april. And even then, we are unsure. Whatever levers are pulled today, how often are they
likely to be pulled again in the future and how well will they work . What we do know is that if these levers are pulled and we are restricted with our business, for example in my business, where our hotel is running at 100 next week, if that is cut in half because of travel restrictions, we will never get that back. And for consumer confidence, why would you then book a further short break in scotland which you much need, but then you are nervous about booking because you fear that something might happen which means your booking is cancelled . Which means your booking is cancelled . And for us which means your booking is cancelled . And for us to give money back and return deposits, that requires an administrative army to do that with all the gdpr compliance elements which are required. It is not a simple matter of saying to shut your business. We cant send the staff home with no pay. They are expecting to be paid and our customers have given us deposits. All that takes time, administration and money. Let me bring in carina. What would a Circuit Breaker lockdown mean for your Family Restaurants . Well, we have already suffered one. We managed to survive that. We thought we had got through the worst of it. We had the eat out to help out campaign, which was an interesting concept. That free lunch has turned into a massive bill potentially for hospitality and restaurants like us who invested heavily in ventilation and screens. We invested in social distancing. All of that money which was additional and had to be found is a waste of time. If the measures that we we re waste of time. If the measures that we were after put in place, unfortunately, there is a rule book to this, and as part of the problem, that we were able to open without a
real sign of that confirmed to everybody that our spaces were safe. So it sounds like you are saying that you are about to pay further, metaphorically speaking, for the eat out to help out scheme because that bridge to the spread of the virus. And if you now have to down, whats the point of that . There is that comments that eat out did contribute. I think sectors of hospitality perhaps contributed. I dont think there were enough controls in place, certainly for our business. We can only speak on the hail of of ourselves. If more levers are pulled, stephen ascribes it, and more restrictions are brought in for the Hospitality Industry in scotland, what will it mean for your business . Its going to be devastating. You can already see that shift in confidence again. We are there to provide a confident dining space for people to meet. They are not allowed to meet in
their homes, so we are providing a social element that is vital for Peoples Health and well being. We have families that are meeting they havent seen each other. We have mothers that are meeting their sons who havent been out of their homes since march. Every day, we are coming across a customer who has ventured out for the first time. They have just had the confidence to do so. Now with further restrictions, that will be knocked for a long time. It isjust heartbreaking seeing our team. Will they be working at the weekend, will they be working at the weekend, will they be working at the weekend, will they be able to Service Customers . We had two pallets of stunning fruit and veg arrive on monday morning. That would have lasted us for the weekend plus a bit. What happens with all of that food . The amount of food waste that we had in march brought tears to your eyes. Here we go again in this cycle. We are not
businesses that can just be turned oii businesses that can just be turned on and turned off. We are dealing with fresh food and long term bookings, people who are Planning Special occasions in advance. And we are dealing with our supply chain and ourteam and are dealing with our supply chain and our team and it is the administration costs, yes, as stephen mentioned. But it is the confidence issue across the board. That is what is going to be the hardest thing. How do we build that back up again . Let me put the figures to you, this is what Nicola Sturgeon and her ministers are having to look at. 730 new cases are being recorded every day in scotland on average compared with 285 a fortnight ago. The number of people dying or being admitted to hospital is also increasing. Let me ask both of you, stephen first, do you have an alternative to further restrictions . What would be better . I think the government are looking
at who is dying, who is getting it and who is passing it on. If we can a nswer and who is passing it on. If we can answer those questions, we will know more about where to pull the levers. Some folk might say we just have to accept this and live with it for the meantime in the absence of a meaningful vaccine if there is not enough testing going on. If we were all tested every four days in britain, you either have it or you dont, simple as that. But medics might have a different point of view, but that is what i would be pushing. Test, test, test. If we cant have a vaccine for a number of months or years, surely testing the way forward. And if you have it, you quarantine yourself. If you dont, you carry on with your life. And we we re you carry on with your life. And we were told an effective testing system would allow us to broadly live our lives normally. Thank you both. We will see what the restrictions are when nicola
sturgeon announces them. I appreciate your time. Stephen leckie, chair of the scottish tourism alliance, and carina contini, the owner of a chain restau ra nt s contini, the owner of a chain restaurant s in edinburgh. Wherever you are in the uk, would you accept further restrictions . I will read you a couple of responses. Nicola says yes. Most people i know are still shielding or have long covid like me and my partner, so i would be happy for another lockdown. Phil says, i live in newcastle, been locked down for what feels like forever and i see no end in sight, yet the numbers are still rising. So what would be the point of more restrictions . I think we are going to speak to our Political Correspondent nick eardley now. I cant tell from listening to government ministers being interviewed each day if they think in england, they have got the balance right between the health and the economy. Do they think they have . Its not clear, i am not sure either. Clearly, ministers are
having to look at the numbers and they are seeing over 10,000 new positive cases every day in the last few days. At the same time, you look at the north of england and the north west in particular you see a number of cases in highly localised areas. They are worried about that and they are potentially having to discuss taking measures similar to the ones we are likely to see in scotla nd the ones we are likely to see in scotland today like potentially further curtailing the hours that pubs can stay open, potentially meaning that people are asked not to travel out of the area where they live. But they are not giving much away at the moment and it doesnt seem away at the moment and it doesnt seem like anything is particularly imminent. We heard this morning from the International Trade secretary liz truss. Whats really important, though, because we dont want to go back to a second lockdown, where we end up having to close down
the economy and the potential damage that has on peoples livelihoods. So, what were doing is were keeping the balance there between protecting lives and livelihoods. And as i say, we keep it under review. Said that is what the government wa nts to said that is what the government wants to do, but the virus cases are escalating and the government is clearly going to have to think about further actions to get on top of that. I do expect that whatever we get out of edinburgh today, which is still being decided by the scottish cabinet, will be pretty tough measures. It will focus on hospitality and we could see even stricter measures in those areas where the virus is particularly bad like the central belt and the west of scotland. And there will be many people in westminster watching that to see if potentially, westminster and the uk government had to look at similar measures in the next few weeks for england. Thank you. At 10. 30, we are going to speak to the
labour leader of Leeds City Council and the labour mayor of liverpool, both in local lockdown scenarios, as you will know if you live there. We will look at the cases they had per 100,000 when they were first put on the riskless to a number started to rise, and the cases they have now. They have gone up dramatically in both areas despite the restrictions and despite even further restrictions. So we will talk to them about what they think will work next. That is at 10. 30. Wherever you are in the country, would you accept further restrictions . Duncan says yes, if they are based on local Public Health evidence and have been thought through, unlike the pathetic rule of six, he says. We urgently need to move the test, track and trace from useless serco to competent Public Health authorities. Robert says, i would do except further restrictions. What would have further lockdown achieve . Let me know your view on instagram or twitter, or you can e mail. The Pharmaceutical Company roche is warning of problems with the supply of coronavirus swabs and nhs tests for other conditions, including cancer. It says problems with a move to a new warehouse means there could be a very significant drop in its Processing Capacity which might take two weeks to fix. Covid 19 tests are being prioritised. We can speak to allan wilson, president of the institute of biomedical science. Do you know what has gone wrong here . There seems to be a logistical problem within the new warehouse they opened recently. They transferred from old to new and they introduced a new logistics system which i think sounds similar to the pictures you will have seen of the Amazon Warehouse in their system. But that obviously did not work and the frustration we have now is that the frustration we have now is that the supplies we need are in that warehouse, but there is a huge difficulty getting them out to the laboratories that need to use them. Roche say they are working hard to resolve this issue as soon as possible. They are prioritising this over the dispatch of covid 19 pcr and antibody tests. What is the impact notjust on covid testing, but on testing for other conditions like cancer . That is the thing. We are working with them and there are signs of progress. Laboratories are starting to see supplies coming through and it is a fast moving situation. So we are working closely with the company to improve things. But this can only last a matter of days. Otherwise we run the risk of having a Significant Impact on the laboratorys ability to deliver routine tests for other conditions and also for diagnosing some cancers which use roche antibodies in pathology labs. And that informs the treatment that people get. So there
isa treatment that people get. So there is a range of implications for laboratory testing. We have contingency plans. Every laboratory has a contingency plan and we have introduced those, so we are looking for suppliers. We are looking to prioritise testing and where there are samples which are not temperature dependent, we can store there and test them later. But we are working creatively to minimise the impact of this. But if it goes into weeks, it is harder to see how those plans will work effectively. Thank you very much. Covid 19 is spreading further among those close to President Trump. A white house advisor is the latest to test positive. Stephen miller confirmed yesterday he had coronavirus. Several military leaders are also quarantining after coast guard official admiral charles ray tested positive. Meanwhile, President Trump says hes calling off negotiations on a stimulus package to help the us
economy recover from the pandemic. Our north america correspondent peter bowes has the latest. The number seems to grow by the day. Stephen miller is the latest of Donald Trumps inner circle, he is a close adviser, he is a script writer. He had been in quarantine, self quarantine, for a few days having been in contact with some people who tested positive. He is now positive for the virus as well. Really, thisjust adds to the problems of not only the president , but the entire administration. As you mentioned, donald trump pulling out of negotiations for another stimulus bill. And the reaction to that has been astonishment, surprise, disbelief. Because, essentially, what the president is doing is telling the american people, just a few weeks before the election, that they cant expect any more economic help for several weeks and possibly not until the beginning of next year. And a lot of people just puzzled as to what the political strategy
there is, so close to the election. One theory is that the president wants the senate to focus on the confirmation of his nominee for the supreme court, as opposed to spending time on this stimulus bill. The other issue hanging in the air, related to covid, is, of course, the next president ial debate, next thursday. Tonight, it is the Vice President ial debate. Next week, joe biden and donald trump are due to go head to head again. Donald trump says hes looking forward to that butjoe biden, former Vice President , has said that if President Trump is still positive for covid 19 next week, if he is still infectious, that debate shouldnt happen. Facebook has banned all accounts linked to the pro trump qanon conspiracy theory. Content, groups and pages will be taken down from facebook, and instagram material will come down too. Followers of qanon believe mr trump is secretly leading a fight against a worldwide conspiracy of paedophiles. Facebook says it is clamping down more on misinformation campaigns, ahead of the us election. Tesco has reported its profits have soared over the past six months, despite the pandemic. The supermarket giant said sales in the uk and ireland rose more than 8 and it made a profit of £551 million. Customers have been buying more food and online orders have doubled. A high profile businessman from leeds has agreed to hand over property and cash worth almost £10 million to the National Crime agency. Investigators say the man has long been an associate of gangsters involved in murder, fraud and drugs. Our home affairs correspondent, dominic casciani, reports. Mansoor manni hussain, a high living wealthy Property Developer from leeds. For years, hes shown off a lavish lifestyle, attending vip events to pose alongside stars like beyonce and simon cowell. But his outward respectability masked the truth. His friends included this man, bradford gangster Mohammed Nisar khan,
known on the streets as king meggy, jailed for life for murder. Over 20 years, Mansoor Manni Hussain bought properties in london, cheshire, and north yorkshire. The National Crime agency believes they were paid for with profits from the violent gangs he acted for. Today, he has handed 45 properties to the nca, including this modern apartment block in leeds. And this seven bedroom home, which he once lent to an armed robber rent free. And thats because he faced an unexplained wealth order from the courts to reveal the origins of his mysterious riches. This is a really important case for the nca. Its the first time we have recovered assets in relation to an unexplained wealth order. He was laundering on behalf of high level criminals in the Leeds Bradford area, so ensuring that their assets and his assets were clean assets and couldnt be taken away. When investigators looked into manni hussains life, they didnt find enough evidence to charge him with money laundering, but the unexplained wealth order
forced him to hand over his books. And when he couldnt show how hed made his money, the game was up. Manni hussain hasnt said why hes handed over the keys to property, including a luxury flat in this block opposite harrods. He remains unconvicted of crimes, but hes also the first suspected money launderer in british history to hand over his wealth without a fight. Dominic casciani, bbc news. How can we measure the infectiousness of tiny covid 19 particles in the air that we breathe . Thats been a challenge facing scientists all over the world as they try to understand the virus. Now, experts at the university of bristol have come up with some Ground Breaking technology to examine the smallest of droplets while they are in the air. Jon kay reports. Its one of the biggest questions we face right now how long does covid 19 stay
infectious in the air . Whether were at work, on Public Transport or socialising . At a secret location, scientists from the university of bristol are trying to find the answer. We were given exclusive access as they made their final preparations at this sealed laboratory. Theyre now taking samples containing the coronavirus, placing them in this unique bit of kit and, using an electric field, levitating the tiny droplets, making them hang around in the air for minutes or hours at a time just as they would in the real world. Then, by adjusting the temperature, humidity and light, they can find out what impact those conditions have on the infectiousness of the virus. Were trying to directly mimic the type of particles produced by people when they are coughing and breathing and these kind of things, and then see how long the virus remains infectious in the aerosol phase. These are the first images from the covid experiments, six microscopic droplets suspended in the air. This project is about studying the smallest airborne particles, those that are invisible to the naked eye. We can look at how the virus remains infectious. The man in charge told me the research could be particularly useful as we head into winter, spending more time indoors. How does this help us understand how covid could be spread in a pub or an office or factory . It helps us better understand the survival of the virus. Were particularly concerned in terms of airborne transmission in poorly ventilated spaces, spaces where people might be talking very loud, they might be singing, where theyre generating a lot of these small, inhalable aerosol particles. This research is set to last a year, with the first results before christmas. The scientists hope it will add to our wider understanding of the risks we face and the changes we may still need to make. One of the worlds greatest rock guitarists, eddie van halen, has died at the age of 65. He had been having treatment for throat cancer. His band, van halen, had huge success in the 70s and 80s, selling more than 80 million records worldwide. Lisa hampele has been looking back on his career. Eddie van halen didnt sound like anyone else. He was said to have a kind of fury. Van halen, the band, featuring eddies explosive guitar solos, became a staple of the sunset strip music scene in the 1970s and 80s. They had a string of hits. He was a classically trained pianist and his trademark melodic style and use of harmonics helped make him one of rocks most influential guitarists. He performed with some of the music industrys biggest stars, including michaeljackson. Eddie van halen had health problems
throughout his career and was first diagnosed with cancer 20 years ago. His death was announced by his son wolfgang, a bass player who joined the band in later years. He said he was the best father i could ever ask for. Every moment ive shared with him on and off stage was a gift. Tributes have been flooding in. Its very seldom you meet somebody whos a pure soul, whos a beautiful person. I never once heard eddie ever say anything bad about anybody and especially other bands. As you can well imagine, this business is full of big egos, yours truly included. Eddie was an aw, shucks kind of matter of fact guy and i will tell you. Im sorry, im getting a little choked up. Sammy hagar, the bands formerfront man, who departed under acrimonious circumstances, shared a picture of the two of them with the words heartbroken and speechless. And thousands more have paid tribute
to one of rocks superstars. And fellow american musician, johnny nash, has died at the age of 80. I can see clearly now, the rain has gone. The singer songwriter is best known for his reggae inspired 1972 single i can see clearly now, which sold more than a million copies. His son told us media nash died at home of natural causes. Thanks for your messages about whether you would except further restrictions when it comes to lockdown. Now the weather with carol. Hello. Today were looking at a fair bit of sunshine, quite a lot of dry weather, but we still have some showers and some rain in the forecast. We will continue with the showers and gusty winds across the north and west of scotland. The showers in Northern Ireland and Northern England should tend to peter out and then we are looking at a lot of dry weather. But through the afternoon, the cloud is going to thicken in the south west, and here comes the rain. That rain will be heavy as it moves across us during the evening and overnight and the wind is going to strengthen as well. Some heavy rain across wales, Northern England and the north midlands. As it moves east, murky conditions in the south under clear skies it will be cooler. Tomorrow we lose the band of rain quickly. The second one sinks out, leaving quite a bit of cloud behind it, especially for east anglia. Toward the west, it brightens up, but still the showers across the north and west continuing through the day with highs up to 17. Hello this is bbc news with victoria derbyshire. The headlines. People living in scotland face new restrictions to combat a rise in covid cases with pubs and restaurants expected to be affected. The details will be announced later. The Pharmaceutical Company roche is warning of problems with the supply of coronavirus swabs and nhs tests for other conditions, including cancer, following issues at a warehouse. Uk tax payers may lose tens of billions of pounds because the governments flagship covid loan scheme is at high risk of fraud according to the National Audit office. A businessman from leeds linked to organised crime and gangsters agrees to pay almost £10 million to the National Crime agency. Exclusive figures suggest almost half of all sexual abuse content online is self generated, meaning children are coerced into creating it themselves. We will talk more about that story in the next half an hour. Sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, heres jane dougall. Good morning, victoria. We start in paris. No crowds, a very late finish and chilly temperatures. Not what rafa nadal is used to at the french open, but that didnt stop him from winning again on the clay hes now through to the semi finals. It was a straight sets win for nadal against the italianjannik sinner. They didnt get on court until late and then didnt finish until almost 1. 30am in the morning no wonder nadal was so happy to win. Thats the latest ever finish at Roland Garros. Nadal can equal Roger Federers record of 20 grand slams if he wins in paris, but he wasnt happy with the playing conditions. The problem is the weather. It is too cold to play. Honestly, it is very, very cold to play tennis. I know Football Players play under these conditions, but it is a little bit different, because they are all the time moving. We stop, we come back. We stop on the changeovers. You know, it is a sport where you are stopped in a lot of moments. So i think it is a little bit dangerous. We will get him some gloves, shall we . There was a big upset in the womens draw too. Elina svitolina, the highest ranked player left in the competition, was knocked out by qualifier nadia podoroska. The argentine is ranked 131 in the world and is the first female qualifier ever to reach the semi finals at Roland Garros in the open era. The england manager Gareth Southgate has read his squad the riot act, after two incidents of players breaking coronavirus rules. Tammy abraham, ben chilwell and jadon sancho look set to miss tomorrow nights friendly with wales after they went to a party where there were more than six people. Phil foden and Mason Greenwood are also out of the squad after being sent home from iceland last month. Southgate has warned his players about their behaviour. Hejust kind of reminded us
he just kind of reminded us what it means and the expectations of playing for england. And you have to be extra careful and follow the rules. Those boys theyve apologised and that is first and foremost what they needed to do, but we all obviously understand what it means to play for the country and you have to remember that at all times. A rider at cyclings giro ditalia has been left with a suspected broken back, after a helicopter caused a crash. It happened near the end of stage four. One team boss said the helicopter was flying too low, and that the movement of the air from the blades caused a barrier to blow into the road. The italian rider Luca Wackermann was taken to hopsital with multiple injuries. And a meeting is going on right now to decide if tonights Premiership Rugby match between sale and worcester can go ahead. The game was supposed to be played on saturday, but was postponed after 19 positive coronavirus tests at sale. The entire squad was tested again yesterday, and there are reports this morning that the game has been
cancelled that is yet to be confirmed, though. Thats all the sport for now, more throughout the day. Exclusive new figures suggest almost half of all sexual online is self generated, meaning children are coerced into creating it themselves. Thats according to research by the Internet Watch Foundation, which says it has seen a 15 increase on the previous year. Rachel stonehouse reports which, because of the nature of the story, you might find it distressing and the voice of the mum has been changed to protect her sons identity. It was terrifying, i mean, i have to say i didnt eat or sleep for about three months. Mandys son was groomed online through a game called roblox. To protect her and her son, we arent identifying her and mandys not her real name. We were just taking photographs
of our beloved dog, you know. My partners phone and my phone werent to hand and my sons phone was available, so we just took some pictures of the dog and my partner looked back through them and. Found that there were two naked photographs. So, obviously, the phone was confiscated and ijust went through the phone and i found requests from an unknown to say naked pictures. Disturbingly, the person who groomed mandys son then went on to access his facebook account and used it to groom other children. When he was grooming other children through our sons facebook, and we were getting all these images through facebook, naked images of nine and ten year olds, bending over and all this sort of thing, i was just in absolute. A torrent of tears. And that was just the first one. And then we probably got another 60 images through our sons facebook account, which we couldnt close, because facebook wouldnt let us close it. The family reported it to the police, but no further action has been taken. This type of grooming is becoming increasingly common. Its called self generated, meaning the content is created by the children themselves, often under the direction of the groomer. The Internet Watch Foundation is a charity which removes child sexual abuse from the web. How much of a concern is self generated content and the rate at which its increasing . Its extremely concerning because, you know, children have this technology at their fingertips but its also spiralling out of control in terms of self generated content. Our figures so far for the year, for the half year, suggest were now at 44 of our actioned content is actually self generated. So, this is increasing very, very quickly. Isabels job involves searching for child abuse online, to get it taken down. Again, were protecting her identity because of the work she does. Im not going to lie, its not always an easyjob,
because every single day i come to work, i am seeing thousands and thousands of images of children being raped, sexually abused, kind of the worst images ive ever seen in my entire life. Most of what we see in terms of self generated content is usually a single child kind of alone in their bedroom or bathroom and theyre being coerced by someone on the other side of the screen to perform sexual acts. But what were seeing now is now kind of more sibling self generated content, so thats where theres what appears to be kind of a pair of siblings together in the same home and theyre both talking to somebody on the other side of the screen. And the people the other side are coaxing them into sexual abuse and to sexually abuse each other. For me, its the fact that im able to remove them, to stop people from accidentally stumbling across these images in the first place,
and also mainly for the victims. In a statement, facebook say grooming is not tolerated on its platform and theyve now disabled the account. Roblox told us they are committed to protecting the safety of children and have stringent chat filters to block inappropriate content. But, for mandy, these companies are not taking enough responsibility. They arejust grooming grounds, gou know. Grounds, you know. And the fact that roblox didnt even have the courtesy to get back in contact with us, its just horrific. Rachel stonehouse, bbc news. We can speak now to rhiannon who was a victim of grooming when she was a teenager and now works for the Marie Collins foundation, which supports children whove been abused online. We are protecting rhiannons identity. She has asked us not to use her surname or show her face. She has asked us not to use her surname or show herface. Thank she has asked us not to use her surname or show her face. Thank you for talking to us. When you were 13, what happened to you . I met somebody online. I had a very normal conversation with them. Just the usual, you know, how old are you, where about do you live . What kind of music do you like . Just normal things. We spoke for a few hours. She was very nice, very friendly, very complimentary. After a few hours, she was complimenting my pictures and she said i could be a model. And she asked for some more photos. I did send more photos. Eventually, she asked for a topless photo and i didnt want to send that, initially. Ididnt photo and i didnt want to send that, initially. I didnt feel very co mforta ble that, initially. I didnt feel very comfortable doing that. But she spent a really long time convincing me that was ok. And, you know, it
was nothing to be worried about, everybody does it. And so eventually idid everybody does it. And so eventually i did send a topless photo. And everything changed at that point. The compliments turned into blackmail. And she was saying that i needed to send more photos, otherwise she was going to show everybody i knew the photo that i had sent her already. It progressed and ultimately, she told me that her boss was going to come and see me the following morning. Sorry, just to explain, her boss. She said she was a model and that her boss also wanted me to have some professional photos taken for a portfolio. And he came to my house the following morning and sexually assaulted me. Oh, my goodness. So,
obviously you had given your address, hadnt you, rhiannon . did. Ididnt address, hadnt you, rhiannon . did. I didnt want to. Address, hadnt you, rhiannon . did. Ididnt want to. I address, hadnt you, rhiannon . did. I didnt want to. I knew that it was wrong. And i actually said to her that i didnt want to give the address. And she blackmailed me with the images that she had. She said if ididnt give the images that she had. She said if i didnt give out my address that she was going to go to my school and to make sure all my friends saw the photos. She was going to post them around my local area, which she knew roughly where i lived. Was she him . She was him, yeah. But i didnt know that until the police got involved. First of all, how did all this affect you . It was awful. I suffered with crippling anxiety and depression. Panic attacks, self harm. Ididnt and depression. Panic attacks, self harm. I didnt trust anybody. I was really angry. For years. Harm. I didnt trust anybody. I was really angry. Foryears. It harm. I didnt trust anybody. I was really angry. For years. It impacted my life in a big way for, you know, ten years, until i got counselling
for it. Initially, did you tell anyone . Did you tell an adult . No. No, ididnt. I anyone . Did you tell an adult . No. No, i didnt. Iwas anyone . Did you tell an adult . No. No, i didnt. I was terrified that anybody would know what i had done or that anybody would see those images. I didnt plan to tell anybody ever. But the police, six months later, contacted you . Yeah. So, the guy that had done this had done it to other girls and they had caught him in relation to one of those offences. And when they searched his computer, they found my information. I want to ask you about this Research Today from the Internet Watch Foundation that almost half of online grooming detected by them this year is self generated. Children are coerced into sharing images, exactly as what happened with you. What do you think of this phrase, self generated . with you. What do you think of this phrase, self generated . Ithink its
tricky. Because i think there is two types of self generated images. There is a type that is truly self generated, for example, you know, for example a teenager who could be ina for example a teenager who could be in a relationship with another teenager, they might take a sexy picture and send it to their partner. But then there is the type of cell generated that we are talking about here, which is coerced and blackmailed by a perpetrator who is highly skilled in grooming at manipulation type of self generated. So we have got to be clear . Yeah, we have to be really clear, yeah. You work for a charity now, which helps improve services for children abused online. What advice do you give now to any young person who is listening to you and thinking, oh my god, i am person who is listening to you and thinking, oh my god, iam in person who is listening to you and thinking, oh my god, i am in this exact same scenario, or to mums and dads who are watching now . To young people, dont feel pressured to do anything. If you are not feeling co mforta ble anything. If you are not feeling comfortable with something that
someone comfortable with something that someone is asking or telling you to do, go and ask for help from somebody. Go and speak to an adult that you trust. It doesnt necessarily have to be mum or dad. It could be a teacher. It could be a youth worker. It could be a family friend. Two parents, i think the most important thing that we can do is have an open conversation with kids. To talk about what can happen online. Not to scare young people, but just to online. Not to scare young people, butjust to keep the conversation going. To ask them, for example, how they use the internet, who they speak to, what kind of things they do. And make it really clear to kids that they can come and speak to you if they ever feel worried about anything. That they are not going to be in trouble and that you just want to help them and keep them safe. We actually just made to help them and keep them safe. We actuallyjust made a resource about this with the Marie Collins foundation, it is on our website, which is basically information for
pa rents which is basically information for parents on what to do if their child has been harmed online. It goes through quite a lot of advice about this specific issue. Yeah. Well, thank you very much, rhiannon, thank you for that advice from somebody who has been through it, it is really helpful. Thank you for talking to us. No problem. The no problem. Headlines on bbc news. Scotland faces new restrictions to combat a rise in covid cases with pubs and restaurants expected to be affected. It comes as the uk government says it will do everything it can to avoid another National Lockdown for england. The Pharmaceutical Company, roche, warns of problems with the supply of coronavirus swabs and nhs tests for other conditions, including cancer. Uk tax payers may lose tens of billions of pounds because the governments flagship covid loan scheme is at high risk of fraud and of firms being unable to pay the money back. A report by the National Audit office found that the scheme was vulnerable to multiple applications and organised crime. Angus crawford reports. Meet sue and dave, victims of a fraud that came out of the blue. Ive just gone from tears to anger. Now, im going to be scared to do anything. A fake company, a new bank account. Sues identity stolen by criminals. Its got your mothers maiden name. Oh, my god. My god thats correct, is it . Yes. You have set up a business. What . Sussiebuddy services. Theyre having a laugh, arent they . The gang then got themselves a government bounce back loan in sues name. Im gobsmacked. Absolutely gobsmacked. So you applied for this loan, sussiebuddy services. Youre trading as that. 50 grand. At 2. 5 interest. Thats immoral. Today, we announced a brand new. The bounce back loan scheme was set up by the chancellor in may to help struggling firms. But, today, the National Audit office says there is a very high level of fraud risk caused by self certification, multiple applications, impersonation and organised crime. The Civil Service mentioned to the ministers that fraud would be an issue and its only over time that the counter fraud processes have really been embedded. If the estimates prove to be correct, thats a significant loss to the taxpayer. The government says its trying to minimise fraud, with lenders implementing a range of protections. But sue and dave are left worried and angry. Angus crawford, bbc news. Thanks for your messages about whether you would be ok with even more restrictions to your life to combat the rising number of covid
hospitalisations and deaths. Judy e mailed from basildon, another National Lockdown would really affect my family significantly. We managed to survive it but we were at great risk as a family and a member of my family was admitted to hospital, a Mental Health unit, she tried to take her own life because she couldnt cope. All the support mechanisms were closed down. She has now been discharged, but there are still very limited support mechanisms in place for those with Mental Health issues. Julie goes on. Another lockdown would probably ruin ourfamily business. Another lockdown would probably ruin our family business. We another lockdown would probably ruin ourfamily business. We managed to keep going by diversifying. As we dont have a permanent centre, we we re dont have a permanent centre, we were not entitled to the government grantand were not entitled to the government grant and because i am a director of a limited company, i wasnt entitled to help through the self employed scheme. If we have another lockdown, iam fearful scheme. If we have another lockdown, i am fearful that the business will go under. That is from julie. Whereas nigel says he would be ok with another lockdown. Further restrictions at least, because he says my niece is in her early 30s and has been suffering from long
covid since april. It can be life changing. That is just an illustration of the difficulties government ministers find themselves m, government ministers find themselves in, trying to achieve this balance, which i am not sure any government across the uk has yet achieved. Maybe it is impossible, i dont know. Keep your messages coming in. When retired rear admiral philip mathiass mother became ill with dementia and other Serious Health care needs, he found himself in a two year battle to secure what is known as continuing Health Care Funding to pay for her care requirements. He eventually secured £200,000 of retrospective payment for her time in a nursing home. He now claims that tens of thousands of ill and Vulnerable People have been unlawfully denied the continuing Health Care Funding that they are entitled to, and is bringing a legal action to ensure that more people can access it. He believes that if the legal action is successful, it could cost the Health Service £5 billion in back paid medicalfees. Philipjoins me now from his home in portsmouth. Hello, again. We first heard from you when we reported on the scandal of continuing Health Care People being denied continuing Health Care Funding on our programme several yea rs funding on our programme several years ago. Tell us about your mother and what happened to her, first of all. It might be worth if you are happy for me to explain what continuing health care is. Go ahead. There is a closely related issue of social care funding but they are distinctly different. Social care funding is essentially for the elderly and frail. But people who dont have a serious illness. That is means tested. That is either paid through the local authority or privately funded. There is a big debate about that, that it should be reformed and Boris Johnson debate about that, that it should be reformed and borisjohnson has promised to do that and successive governments have failed to do that. But continuing health care is about health and not wealth. And it is the statutory legal requirement of the nhs, via the clinical commissioning groups, at the sort of local and nhs organisations, to Fund Health Care outside the hospital setting. In any location, whether that is in a persons private home or more normally in a care or nursing home. And it is not means tested. No, because health care is free at the point of use, that is the founding foundation of the nhs. But there is massive evidence to show that the nhs and the ccgs are acting unlawfully. And denying tens of thousands of old and ill Vulnerable People health care, funding to which they are entitled. And the result of thatis they are entitled. And the result of that is that these people are often the most Vulnerable People in our society. They often deplete their
entire life savings and are forced to sell their homes. And its not just me that thinks that. There is overwhelming evidence from public scrutiny bodies. The parliamentary house of Commons Public Accounts Committee and the National Audit office and the Care Quality Commission, the chc alliance, 17 charities related to this business. Understood. Lets focus on yourmum. Business. Understood. Lets focus on your mum. People will be able potentially, for the first time, realise they might be in the same scenario as you and your mum. Absolutely. You stumbled across that this was available. As you say, you say often described as the best kept secret in the nhs. It was a battle to get it from your local clinical commissioning group. Is it because the criteria so narrow, because your mum didnt tick one box when she checked nine others, why . Firstly, the system is massively complex and well beyond the average member of the public to understand. I had to
become an expert on the 160 page framework. Ccgs the unlawful chg regimes use that complexity to exploit and confuse people. It isnt all ccgs, just a fair proportion of them. I had to navigate my way through that, it took me two years, 100 letters, three meetings and an appeal panel. The chairman agreed with me that actually the wiltshire ccg had contravened the regulations in multiple ways. I then detected a ca re in multiple ways. I then detected a Care Quality Commission inspection report that determined that wiltshire ccg had one of the lowest award rates in the country. Im going to. I need to get on with the story, im so sorry, because time is against us, i am sorry, i know it is frustrating. You won that battle. It was very hard work but you got it in the end. Let mejust say what an nhs spokesman told us. Chc funding is available to a minority of people whose eligibility is assessed on an individual level. Whilst most people are instead covered by the rules on social care eligibility, the parliament has established. You say these individual assessments, they are turning down people who are actually eligible. How can you know that . Is this what this legal action is about . It is. It is notjust me that knows that, it is the experts that i have just described. The evidence and the nhs and the government are extremely disingenuous about this. Since 2015, rather than the previous steady rise in eligibility rates, they have sharply fallen. When the ageing population would deter determine the fact that the eligibility would increase. The biggest element of this scandal is the postcode lottery, where the variation in the award rates across the country is huge and unexplained by Socio Economic and health and
wealth demographics. Could it be, i will have to ask you to be brief, i am sorry, philip. Could it be that local nhs clinical commissioning groups are turning down more people than they are awarding this too because money is tight . Yeah, sure, money is tight. But the fact is that they are breaking the law. If the government dont think chc is affordable, they should change the law and not break it. But they wont do that, because they would be compromising the founding principle of the nhs, that health care is free at the point of use. That is politically unacceptable. They are having their cake and eating it. Either they funded properly or they change the law and they wont. Understood. You taking this legal action, it could be really expensive. You are crowdfunding. Yes. Are you going to be able to do that . We had a good start. In about four days, we have achieved £20,000 on the initial £30,000 target. But we will need a lot more money than
that. I would appeal to your viewers. They might not need to chc now but i can guarantee that in the future, one of their family, friends or loved ones will. This has significant financial implications. Please look at my krautjustice platform and contribute to that. Chc scandal and my name, type that in and it will flash up. That will give your viewers a far more comprehensive overview of this scandal, which is the biggest public scandal, which is the biggest public scandal of modern times. Measured by the tens of thousands of old, ill and Vulnerable People who have been absolutely unlawfully treated. And this sheer scale of the finances, which is why this legal challenge is going to be lengthy, complex, and expensive. Because the nhs and the government will not want to lose this case, because it would cause significant reputational damage and also huge financial liability. Philip, you have explained it
incredibly bentley, i didnt expect anything less, thank you, thank you for talking to us and explaining it incredibly brilliantly. For talking to us and explaining it incredibly brilliantly. Thank you for the opportunity. Not at all, thatis for the opportunity. Not at all, that is why we are here. Philip mathias talking about what he calls the continuing health care scandal. Here is the weather. We are looking at a fair bit of sunshine, dry weather and showers and rain in the forecast. We will continue with the showers and gusty winds across the north and west of scotland, showers in Northern Ireland and Northern England should peter out. What we have at the moment is some showers across the north and west. Still gusty winds, that north westerly wind blowing them in across scotland. As it moves east, murky conditions
in the south but mild. Under clear skies it will be cooler. Tomorrow we lose the band of rain quickly. The second one sinks south, leaving quite a bit of cloud behind it, especially for east anglia. And lincolnshire. Toward the west, it brightens up, but still the showers across the north and west continuing through the day with highs up to 17. This is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. Scotland faces new restrictions to combat a rise in covid cases, with pubs and restaurants expected to be affected. The Pharmaceutical Company, roche, warns of problems with the supply of coronavirus swabs and nhs tests for other conditions, including cancer. Us markets slide after President Trump abruptly shelves talks over a new stimulus package despite warnings from the fed chairman. Republican mike pence and democrat Kamala Harris prepare to go head to head in what could be the most important Vice President ial Election Debate in us history. Uk taxpayers may lose tens of billions of pounds