Transcripts For BBCNEWS Victoria Derbyshire 20200225

British people returning from northern italy have been told to self isolate for a fortnight if they show symptoms of coronavirus and there are reports that a hotel in tenerife is now on lockdown after a guest tested postive for the virus. Well bring you the latest. Guilty of rape, guilty of Sexual Assault. Women who accused hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein have spoken of their relief at his conviction. Weinstein faces up to 25 years in prison. This is the age of empowerment of women, and you cannot intimidate them any more, because women will not be silenced. Zoe brock the new zealand actor who was one of the first women to publicly accuse Harvey Weinstein of Sexual Assault tells us she is feeling shocked but elated. It has been a really awesome day. This is a landmark verdict for Sexual Assault victims all over the world. This is a game changer, and so while it wasnt a complete slam dunk, we should all be celebrating. And, low cost Car Insurance firm carrot has apologised to customers as we reveal that its Smartphone App, which is supposed to track car journeys, is prone to crash, and can wrongly record data. I had got it connected, but itjust started to play up. When it came to myjourneys, it wasnt recording them properly, and for a while that really concerned me. And eventually, you know, i got a bit blase and i was like, oh, it doesnt matter, until i started to realise it wasnt connecting at all and i didnt want to risk having an accident and it kind of falling on me and that i might not be covered at all. Hi. Welcome to the programme. Were live until 11 this morning. Do you live in a high rise with cladding thats potentially dangerous . Residents of buildings who face having to fork out 1000s to get such cladding removed are coming to london today to ask the government to foot the bill. Let us know if youre in this position. Use the hashtag victoria live. E mail victoria bbc. Co. Uk, text 61124 itll cost the Standard Network rate. First, annita has the news. Good morning. The government has updated its advice to travellers returning from parts of northern italy currently in lockdown because of coronavirus. Theyre being told to stay at home and avoid contact with other people, whether or not they have symptoms. Italy now has the largest number of cases in europe. It reported four more deaths yesterday, raising the total there to seven, and a lockdown is in place in several small towns in the regions of lombardy and veneto. Meanwhile, measures to contain the virus around the world are stepped up. An italian man in tenerife has tested positive for the disease, spanish media say 1,000 tourists in his hotel are now being held in quarantine. In iran, Officials Say the number of deaths from the virus has risen to 15. And in south korea, a tenth person has died from the illness. Ith person. The Life Expectancy of women has fallen in the most deprived areas of england, according to a new report. The study by sir Michael Marmot whos one of the countrys leading experts on Health Inequalities said austerity was a significant factor. Health secretary matt hancock said there was still much more to do. And later in the programme, well hear from the author of the study and get the reaction of a single mum with three kids. The disgraced Film Producer Harvey Weinstein has been taken to hospital after his conviction for rape and Sexual Assault. The 67 year old should have spent the night in new yorks notorious Rikers Island jail, but he complained of chest pains and was taken to a specialist unit for treating prisoners. Weinstein is due to be sentenced on march the 11th but his lawyers have said hell appeal against the convictions. New homes should not be built on flood plains thats the warning from the head of the environment agency. Sirjames bevan has also said that hard truths must be faced about the need for some communities to relocate. River levels are set to reach their highest ever level in shropshire today, after weeks of heavy rain. Young people are being threatened with having their Car Insurance cancelled due to faults with a Smartphone App that aims to make policies more affordable, this programme has been told. Low cost Car Insurance firm carrots better driver app uses phone data to measure journey length, acceleration and braking but some say it often fails to work or wrongly records data. Carrot said it was extremely sorry some had had a poor experience. And well have a full report on this later in the programme. That is the summary of our main news so that is the summary of our main news so far. But to you. If you have had problems with the carrot app, to get in touch. For the first time in over a century, Life Expectancy among women living in the poorest communities in england has declined. And overall, Life Expectancy has stalled over the past decade. Thats according to a report out today by professor sir Michael Marmot from University College london. The largest decreases in Life Expectancy were seen in the most deprived areas of north east england, while the biggest increases were in the richest parts of london. His report says austerity is partly responsible for this widening of health inequality. Ive been speaking to Tiffanie Cummings a single mum with three kids, who has experienced homelessness and has used food banks. But first, i asked sir michael about his report. What is the difference in Life Expectancy between a woman in the poorest area, the most deprived area, and the least deprived area . This is something in particular the report has picked up. So, on average, it is about 7. 8 years. When i say on average, because the differences are bigger in the north of the country than they are in the south of the country. So if you are in a deprived area, it is much worse to be in the north of the country than in the south. That is a huge difference. Very big. That is for women, what is it the men . For men, it is just over nine years. The inequalities are bigger for men than for women but paradoxically, given what ijust said, the impact on Life Expectancy over the last decade has been biggerfor women. So we are actually seeing a decline in Life Expectancy in the poorest 10 of areas, particularly in the north of the country for women. For men it has been pretty flat in those deprived areas. For women it is actually going down. What do you put this down to . In my 2010 report, we looked at the causes of Health Inequalities and were pretty confident that we understood it and we had six domains, Early Child Development, education, employment and working conditions, having enough money to have a healthy life, living in healthy and sustainable places and then prevention smoking, drinking, diet and the like. When we look at what has happened over the last ten years, we see adverse trends in at least the first five of those. So an increase in child poverty, 1000 sure start Childrens Centres have closed, decreases in funding for education of 8 per child. Although unemployment has gone down, very welcome, but the quality of working life has changed and there is an increase in reported work stress. 0n the fourth one, there are more People Living in poverty. A single mother not in work, with children, 70 are below the poverty line. And even for a single mother in full time work, 30 are below the poverty line. And then the housing problems. And this leads you to draw a clearly articulated conclusion in the report that there is a link between austerity and Life Expectancy. How can you be so sure that those factors are outweighing the other factors that you mentioned, which are the Healthy Lifestyle factors . Im never so sure, but lets take a Healthy Lifestyle factor, one that we did look at. The Food Foundation calculated that four people in the for people in the bottom 10 of household income, were they to follow Public Health englands Healthy Eating advice, they would have to spend 74 of their income on food. So rather than say, oh, its lifestyle, no, its not. Its poverty. Because they cant afford to have a healthy life. And that is why we didnt focus so much on lifestyle. Now, take smoking. Smoking has come down. Its a great Public Health success. There are still inequalities in smoking but smoking has come down. But its come down at a time when Life Expectancy is flatlining. Tiffoney, you were born in hackney, which is the second most deprived local authority in england, and you grew up in poverty. I know you had very tough circumstances growing up. Tell us about your childhood and how it impacted on you then and possibly now . Being in hackney in the 805, growing up, for me, everyone was in that situation, so you didnt realise that you were poor, very poor compared to most people in, especially, london. And i guess when everybody is struggling, its hard to get empathy, sympathy or even education that could get you a different mindset or perspective will get you out of that situation. So many of the times, people do not even realise just how bad it is when you branch out, venture out, meet different people, then you get to see just how bad it actually is, and obviously living through it, growing up, becoming more aware of the inequalities, it is definitely have an impact on your Mental Health as well. The government has said, michael, that there is still much more to do, and our bold prevention agenda, a record £33. 9 billion a Year Investment in the nhs and world leading plans to improve childrens health, will help to ensure that every person can lead to a long and healthy life. What is your reaction to that . Firstly, i am delighted that the government wants everyone to have a long and healthy life, wonderful. It would be a scandal if they didnt. Well. I want them, and we say this in our report, i would like the Prime Minister to declare the reduction of Health Inequalities is a national strategy, and id like him, he, the Prime Minister, to chair a cross Government Committee to plan how to improve Early Child Development, education, working life and the like, all the things that ive mentioned. Now, the Health Secretary talks about the nhs, vitally important, but we make the point that the key determinants of health, and Health Inequalities, lie outside the health care system. So putting more money into the nhs is very welcome, and i applaud it, but that by itself wont solve the problems that we are discussing. It is an extrapolation from what you are saying in the report, but would you say that austerity has curtailed lives . If you cant afford to pay the rent, if you cant afford to buy new clothes to your children, if you cant afford to eat healthily, it is highly likely that that has had an impact on your health, and very likely will have an impact on the health of the next generation. What would you like the government to do . I mean, when you hearfacts, statistics like that and you describe growing up in an environment which was let obviously was obviously the circumstances that you were growing up in, you said that you werent aware of the discrepancies, but how does that make you feel . It makes me feel bad, because when you do try to get yourself out of that situation, you can be in employment, you can have the numbers going down, employment is going down, but you are still working at not able to and not able to really change your life, to have a better quality of life or still have that equality of opportunity, you are still going to have the lower paid jobs orjobs that are just not ideal, cant really take you anywhere professionally. Id like to see the government providing jobs with an income that enable us to be able to live in london. The rents are too high, food is very expensive, clothing for children and just things that would enrich your childs social life, its just too expensive in london and i would like to see the government make changes there as well. I mean, its a holistic approach that we would need, its notjust one thing. Thank you both. May i give you some good news . Yes. We know that poor children eligible for Free School Meals have a lower level of Early Child Development at age five that than children not like that. In Greater Manchester, these poor kids were doing worse in terms of Early Child Development than the national average. Over the last five years, they have closed the gap. So its never too late, it can be turned around. So Greater Manchester has closed the gap, the poorer children, the Early Child Development for them, has improved more rapidly in manchester than the national average, so the gaps been closed. You can make a difference. Thats great, thank you very much. Some of you getting in touch with your thoughts on this. Sue on facebook says, i am the oldest member in my family, 61. I am slightly disabled and had to survive after less than £5,000 a year. The hospital gave me an infection when i went in for a dislocated wrist. I get no help. Another on facebook says, working as a massive positive. Initiative, personal development and it kills boredom. How many old timers give up when they no longer have a place in the workforce . Longer have a place in the workforce . High levels of unemployment, small local businesses selling basic Food Supplies average prices closed too often due to high rents. Too many cheapjunk prices closed too often due to high rents. Too many cheap junk food eating places as an alternative to a healthier diet. Schools need to commence domestic science and include meal planning on budgets. He was once the most powerful men in hollywood and now disgraced movie producer, Harvey Weinstein faces up to 25 years in prison after being found guilty of Sexual Assault. The verdict is seen as a victory for the Metoo Movement that prompted women to go public with misconduct allegations against powerful men. The District Attorney for new york, cyrus r vance, described the victims as heroic. Harvey weinstein has finally been held accountable for crimes he committed. The women who came forward courageously, and at great risk, made that happen. Weinstein is a vicious, serial, sexual predator, who used his power to threaten, rape, assault, trick, humiliate and silence his victims. Lawyers for the women involved gave their reaction outside court. This is a significant day because he has been held responsible for his actions, but while we cant undo that harm. While he has been convicted, we cant undo the harm that he has caused to so many victims. Today will be some mode of relief for all of the assault survivors, for which, hopefully, today can bring about some sense of relief. This is a legal reckoning for Harvey Weinstein. The three witnesses whom i represent have been role models in courage. Without them and their willingness to testify under oath in this case, and without their willingness to be subjected to an intense and brutal cross examination, this result would never have been won. Harvey weinstein is exactly where he should be now, behind bars. Harvey weinstein has hurt dozens and dozens of people by his sexual, predatory, rapist, violent behaviour, and today there can be no other discussion other than Harvey Weinstein is exactly where he should be. Harvey weinstein still faces charges in los angeles of assaulting two women in 2013. At least 80 women had accused him of Sexual Misconduct stretching back decades, including actresses gwyneth paltrow, uma thurman and salma hayek. The hollywood mogul, who once enjoyed phenomenal success with oscar winners such as pulp fiction, good will hunting, and shakespeare in love was taken to new yorks Bellevue Hospital reportedly suffering from chest pains after the verdict was announced. He had been due to be moved to prison on Rikers Island to await sentencing. Zoe brock the new zealand model, actor and writer was one of the first women to publicly accuse Harvey Weinstein of Sexual Assault. This is what she told victora derbyshire in 2017. Harvey walked out of the room and came back in naked. He came back naked. Naked. What did you say . He said he wanted a massage stop i said, no. I hope he is watching. Say that to my face, harvey. I would happily stand in a court room and testify. Happily. Lets talk to siri 110w testify. Happily. Lets talk to siri now live from new zealand. Wow, he has now been in court and he has been convicted. Zoe. How do you react . This is a stunning day, i am elated, relieved. Later, ifeel lighter. I have run the gamut of emotions. I am lighter. I have run the gamut of emotions. Iam pretty lighter. I have run the gamut of emotions. I am pretty exhausted. Lighter. I have run the gamut of emotions. Iam pretty exhausted. It has been a really awesome day and this is a landmark verdict. She will assault victims all over the world. This is a game changer. For Sexual Assault victims. While it is not a complete slam dunk, we should all be celebrating. It was a complicated case and a difficult case for all the women to go through, testifying against him, being accused of lying and seeking money. It was noted again and again that they had a complex relationship with him and a maintained contact with him and a maintained contact with him and a maintained contact with him after the alleged assaults. Did you expect the outcome to be what it was when it finally came through . No, i didnt. Iwas absolutely prepared for the worse but not necessarily because of the case. It was an extremely hard case to prove but generally because of life. You know, if anything, the world has shown that crazy bad things keep on happening. I really was not anticipating this kind of an outcome and it has been an extraordinary day really for all of us. Extraordinary day really for all of us. But yes, it is important to send an enormous debt of gratitude to the jury an enormous debt of gratitude to the jury for really hearing us and, i think, we had been less vocalfor the last two years so we can really raise awareness about consent and how complicated these relationships can be. And what coercion is, and what power and rape is. We have used oui what power and rape is. We have used our voices to be incredibly vocal and it has really made an impact on societal level. People are looking at these cases differently. No longer can victims of rape be treated like they are the perpetrators with their lives being picked apart by decimating them and getting away with it. That was a failure and a huge win. One thing she said towards the end of the trial in the New York Times if she has never been sexually assaulted because she would never put herself in that position. How did you feel about her saying that . in that position. How did you feel about her saying that . I felt terrible for her because i imagined she had never left the house, gone toa she had never left the house, gone to a still, gone to a nightclub, gone on a taxi or sat on her uncles knee. I imagine she had to really sheltered life. You were actually offered a settlement by the lawyers offered a settlement by the lawyers of Harvey Weinstein last year. You didnt accept because she wanted to be able to pursue the possibility of legal action. Where do you stand now . Well, the settlement has still been. I think it has been on hold. Soiam been. I think it has been on hold. So i am pretty sure that the lawyers involved were trying to push the settle m e nt involved were trying to push the settlement through. We were waiting till this verdict came through but those of us who would like to make sure that settlement does not go through have also been waiting and say that is the next ball in the air. This is not over. By any stretch. We have the appeals, the la case, this farcical settlement. Hopefully we have a class action suit. There is a long way to go. How much where he offered to settle . As you offered. Well, i was told by the class action lawyers i could get as much a 750,000 at the high end. But that was not taking into account the 25 that i would lose in lawyers fees, the money being taxed, me having to pay taxes on the lawyers fees and their being literally millions of dollars in legal fees which would have been shared between the nine of us. So ultimately, that made it sound like we would probably maybe see 100,000 by the end of it. This was never about money for me anyway, it was about Holding People accountable, having Insurance Companies foot the bill so harvey and his employees can get away scot free. That was never going to cut it. You said when he spoke to us in 2017 u would happily face him in court. Do you believe you would still have your day against him . |j still have your day against him . thought i would have my day in this trial that i did not. I put my hand up trial that i did not. I put my hand up to testify and thought i was going to be testifying, perhaps naively, but that did not happen. Again, there will be an appeal. I offered to testify there and i offered to testify there and i offered to testify in the la case. I would love to testify improving predatory rape can be done and i hope i can help prove it. I have the evidence, i have the witnesses, so, you know, we will see. Thank you. Lets bring in jill greenfield, you know, we will see. Thank you. Lets bring injill greenfield, a lawyer representing six alleged victims of Harvey Weinstein who are seeking civil redress against him. How significant is this case . As we we re how significant is this case . As we were hearing from zoe, there were many people who made allegations against him and the prosecutors picked those to put on the stand. It was a complicated case, wasnt it . The complex relationships were poured over in a way i do not recall seeing in any similar sort of pace. How Ground Breaking is it . If you look at the dynamics of power, he was an all powerful, godlike figure in hollywood. Anyone who stood up against him was quite quickly put under scrutiny as we found out through the trial by investigation agencies. It is unusual. Rape is unusual to happen by someone being pulled off the street, it is usually by someone you know. It examined thoseissues by someone you know. It examined those issues very carefully. Because he was so powerful and i was so much pressure on the police and the da to actually prosecute this case, they did that and they did it tremendously well. Victims all around the world help to make it happen. A real seismic moment for women who actually said, you know what . I women who actually said, you know what . Lam not women who actually said, you know what . I am not a liar. Women who actually said, you know what . Lam not a liar. I women who actually said, you know what . I am not a liar. I am women who actually said, you know what . Lam not a liar. Lam prepared to stand up in court and i will have my day in court and i will stand up and challenge him. A wave of female empowerment has led to this decision. It is tremendous it has happened. What is the potential impact for others who have allegations today against him and, more widely for anybody . allegations today against him and, more widely for anybody . I suspect more widely for anybody . I suspect more people might be able to speak out. My clients have a cloak of anonymity around them. People like zoe had been very brave and, that the media spotlight has been on them. That is a very difficult thing, particularly now being called liars. And the wider perspective. What i found as i have had a lot of women coming to me, other high profile people. The first thing i do is either introduced them to the met police were everjurisdiction police and say, i will accompany you and lets do this. I will help you do it. They have contacted me because they know they can talk confidentially about it and i am dealing with the weinstein case. They are not sure what to do. They worry about going straight to the police because they worry they just wont be believed. That is the worst thing ever. I took a case right through to civil trial once actually. It was a long time ago. There was no civil prosecution for various there was no civil prosecution for various reasons. There was no civil prosecution for various reasons. The judge said he believed my client. It was not about the money, it was about being believed and acknowledged in that way. There couldnt be a more high profile conviction in a case like this. Absolutely not. Could that be criminal charges in this country . The met police are investigating and i cannot speak on the half of those. We have la next andl the half of those. We have la next and i will be very interesting as well. The point is, he is now a convicted sexual. He is a predator basically and that has been confirmed by the criminal courts in the us. A really High Standard of proof. The jury saw through all the games, the shenanigans, the accusations of lying. They beat him and that is fantastic. He may die in jail. He may get 25 years and the legal processes are not over. How do you feel about that and about him now . Look, Harvey Weinstein is where he belongs. He is currently injail, and im sure that is shocking for him. Whata and im sure that is shocking for him. What a downfall . An extraordinary day. The jury really had those women. They were put through absolute hell on that stand and yet this jury was woken enough to hear them properly and to understand that you can be in a consensual relationship with someone and still be raped. It does not matter what you are wearing or where you are or what time of the day or night it is, or even it doesnt matter how you react afterwards. In that moment, if you say no, no means no. It is rape. It doesnt matter what happens after, if you try to normalise it and send a nice e mail, you keep working with someone. That is really normal. The factjury was able to get that is just remarkable. The world changed today, it really did. Thank you. That was there we broke, the actor, andjill greenfield, that was there we broke, the actor, and jill greenfield, lawyer. That was there we broke, the actor, andjill greenfield, lawyer. It is understood that Harvey Weinstein is still in hospital, having complained of chest pains after the verdicts we re of chest pains after the verdicts were delivered. He will be sentenced on march 11. Residents of high rise buildings across the country are travelling to Parliament Today, to demand that government does more to protect people in potentially dangerous homes. In may last year the government pledged to fully fund the removal of aluminium composite material cladding on high rise buildings. Thats the same type of cladding blamed for the spread of the Grenfell Tower fire. But campaigners want ministers to commit to funding the removal of other potentially combustible materials, like timber. The mayor of Greater Manchester, labours andy burnham is supporting the campaign. Ive been speaking to him and to three residents of high risk blocks whove got concerns about the cladding on their flats. Ruth, what is your situation at the moment . You dont actually know. No. Your building, whether there is a problem or not. We had two reports carried out that havent really identified anything, so we are having to go back to get new reports carried out, and guidance from the government. But yeah, weve got wooden cladding hpl. We know the hpl has to be replaced. Whats the. High pressure laminate. 0k. The wood, were not so sure about at the moment, but it has to, because we had to whether they are fire barriers because we originally thought they were and now were being told that there probably isnt. So were looking at pictures of your building and this is obviously a lot of work being done on it. It must be stressful with it taking time and also it is costing someone a lot of money. What is the impact on you at the moment . It is very stressful. We are sitting on zero value properties, because we cant sell. We dont know the cost of the work as yet. As you can see from the building, there is the wooden cladding goes from ground floor all the way up and then the hpl. We dont know the cost. Were just going on estimates of other buildings but we think its going to be in excess of £20,000. How does that make you feel . Sick, because i dont think you can recover from that. I dont know whether the Housing Market is going to recover from that. Rebecca, whats the situation with your flat . So our issue is the wall composition behind our cladding. So behind our cladding is a timber frame, and then polystyrene, which is combustible. So the concern in our building is the lack of fire barriers. We are going to see the thing you describe in a moment. Its a brick building up until a certain height and then theres been an extension, and thats where the cladding has come into play. So its what they put behind the cladding to insulate the building. And thats. A wall of polystyrene effectively. A wall of polystyrene. What we are in the process of doing at the moment is finding out if they were barriers in between each apartment that would slow down the speed at which the fire would spread because it is a combustible product, so if there was a fire, that would go up in flames very quickly. How stressful is this for you . Its extremely stressful. They used my bedroom as part of the investigation, so i know that every night when i go to sleep, that im at a real risk if a fire were to break out, and then we have a blank cheque over our heads. I dont know how much we are going to have to pay for the investigations on any rectification works. Weve just not been able to move on. I wanted to move home in may last year and ive not been able to. Ive no idea if that will ever happen. Stuck in a place where every night you go to bed and youre frightened of fire. Yeah. What happens with insurance actually in that context . Well, there were stories in some of the buildings where the Insurance Premium has rocketed, 400 of the previous cost of the premium and the excess. Has that happened for you . Not as of yet because we are still waiting on the outcome of the next stage of the investigation. Mark, what is the situation for you . The situation for my wife and i, we bought the flat as Affordable Housing for our daughter, so she could live in the centre of manchester in 2017. Since then, in 2019, as a result of the government regulations and guidance changing, and it has been found that the wooden cladding at either end of the building is combustible and therefore deemed unsafe. As a result of that, then the fire. The Fire Authority has inspected the building and found. They have decided to change the guidance in terms of what happens in the event of a fire. Initially it was stay put, and now it is get out. Andy burnham, you are in westminster today. What do you want the government to do . The reason why i called this lobby of Parliament Today was to get those in power to hear the voices that had just been on your programme, the voices of residents were trapped in a living nightmare through absolutely no fault of their own. But it feels to me in these two and a half years or so since grenfell, they have been ignored, to be honest. The government hasnt begun to face up to the full scale of the cladding crisis post grenfell. And i dont think it can carry on in this way. They need to listen to what is being said by the residents. They need to act to get rid of this cladding immediately, to give people peace of mind, and then come to an arrangement with the Property Industry as to who pays. One thing im sure about is the residents mustnt be asked to pay. The government says it has committed £600 million forfixing high rise buildings with unsafe acm, thats aluminium composite material cladding, in the social and private sectors. Is that not enough . It has done that, but im afraid thats half a job at best. Your viewers might remember a fire in bolton in november last year. This was a student block and, for those who looked at the pictures of the fire that night, it was horribly reminiscent of the fire at Grenfell Tower. That was hpl, which has already been mentioned on the programme, not the acm grenfell cladding, this was High Pressure laminate. This was High Pressure laminate. Anybody going to say that wasnt highly flammable. Knowing that, knowing that cladding is on buildings up and down the country, and knowing that half a Million People are trapped in buildings that are deemed to be unsafe, my message to the government is, you are gambling with peoples safety if you dont intervene and remove this cladding and make the building safe. Its as simple as that. Theyve got to end the cladding crisis and thats the message that will be ringing out of westminster today. What about the owners of these blocks . Isnt it their responsibility . They put the cladding on in the first place. Possibly. I think there needs to be than a discussion between the government and those owners, those freeholders, as to where the responsibility lies. So it might be that some of the responsibility is to be borne by the Property Industry but its also the case that, under successive governments, fire safety regulations have been weakened when it comes to building and planning, and thats why the uk government has responsibility here for what is going on. Well be outside Parliament Today and people will be able to see the scaffolding all over westminster, and i think they will conclude there is always money that can be found in this country for certain things but not for others. It seems those in power have been able to find billions of pounds to improve the place where they work but not to make safe the place where many millions of people live. They are in westminster today to make their case to the government. The government has issued a statement. Residents safety remains our utmost priority and there is no excuse for building owners not ensuring that residents are safe in their homes. We will continue to support leaseholders and are reviewing options on how best to do so. Over 20 young people have told this programme they have had issues with a Smartphone App they must use as part of their Car Insurance deal. Carrot insurances better driver app uses whats called telematics which measures acceleration, braking, swerving, and the number and length ofjourneys made but users have told this programme they have had their insurance cancelled because of a range of problems with the app. The chair of the all Party Parliamentary group on insurance and Financial Services called on the Financial Conduct Authority to investigate to ensure the service is fit for the market. Shamaan Freeman Powell reports. Car insurance is expensive and its no secret that younger drivers are hit the hardest, as they are considered the riskiest on the road, and are therefore deemed more likely to make a claim. Because of this, Insurance Companies like carrot insurance have introduced Telematic Services, which monitor and score journeys made, with the aim of driving down the price and making insurance more affordable for young people. £800 cheaperfrom a comparison website, but it was, like, significantly. Everywhere i looked, it always came up cheaper. This programme has spoken to some Young Drivers from one particular Company Called carrot insurance, who say that their journeys are not being recorded properly, and eventually, they end up paying the price for it. Georgi is one of their young customers. Fighting with carrot, like, back and forth, to try and make sure they dont cancel my policy. And then when it started to calm down and i had got it connected, itjust started to play up. When it came to myjourneys, it wasnt recording them properly, and for a while that really concerned me. And eventually, you know, i got a bit blase and i was like, oh, it doesnt matter, until i started to realise it wasnt connecting at all and i didnt want to risk having an accident and it kind of falling on me and that i might not be covered at all. Georgi is a 21 year old barista from leicester. She is a customer of carrot insurance and uses their better driver app, which she has issues with. So, as you can see, its not recorded for. Several months. Carrot insurance describe the better driver app as a clever bit of technology which uses telematics that measures acceleration, braking, swerving and the number and length ofjourneys made. Most Telematic Services run from a black box, which is a small device fitted to your car that records how you are driving. But carrots better driver policy solely relies on gps and bluetooth. This means customers have to ensure their phone is connected to the car when driving, have their Location Services set to always, ensure they have access to data connection or wi fi, and leave their bluetooth running at all times. Policyholders also have to let carrot know when they are going on holiday. Once the app is live, it is meant to transmit what they call driving style data every time a journey is made. Layla is a 22 year old personal assistant from lichfield. She says, at first, the app worked fine, but then they updated it in december and it suddenly stopped working. They gave me, like, a list of six things to do, and then about a month later, it was on the 9th ofjanuary, this year, they e mailed me to say, if you do not connect your app to your car, your insurance policy will be cancelled. So, i was then, like, oh, my god, panicking. Layla says many of her journeys are not recorded. There would be times where i would put my phone into its holder and id be swiping to refresh the app because it wouldnt connect. But georgi has difficulties even getting the app to stay open. When you click on this, you should be able to see the journey. But the app crashes. Layla and georgi are not alone. Over 20 carrot customers have told me they have been threatened with cancellations due to issues with the app. If a driver has their policy cancelled, they have to declare it for the rest of their driving lives, and if they cancel, they may have to pay a fee. So, you only have to look at the reviews on the Google App Store or the apple store just to see how bad the problem is. If i click through here, you can see it has only got a 1. 5 rating on the ratings and reviews online. Just to give you an example, this post says, the app randomly cuts out during journeys. I receive passive aggressive messages, where im told i will owe £3500 to the company if i dont ensure my journeys are being recorded. On top of that, they say you must always have your bluetooth on, and the Customer Service leave you waiting on the phone for over an hour. I went down to the houses of parliament to meet craig tracey, a conservative mp that chairs the all Parliamentary Group on insurance and Financial Services, to hear what he thinks about this. The cases that youve given me do seem a bit strange and it seems like the technology is not working, is not fit for purpose. So, it really needs to be looked at, i think. You know, like you say, the black box product seems to be working perfectly well. So there is a glitch somewhere along the line. I think that really does need addressing. We have to recognise that it can be a challenge for young people to get insurance. What the industry really has been trying to do is to encourage them to make sure that that is the right thing, that they are not driving without insurance. So some of these technological advances have been really, really positive. However, when you do hear stories like this, it does highlight that there may be some issues around the regulation and that we have to really ensure that it is keeping up with the technology as it advances. Carrot says on its website its aim is to give Young Drivers a fairer deal, treat every customer as an individual and provide a more rewarding kind of Car Insurance. But the Financial Conduct Authority has told us that for the second half of 2018, carrot insurance had the most complaints relative to the size of the company. A spokesperson for carrot insurance said. It added that many of the issues addressed were resolved when its latest app was released in april 2019. But both layla and georgi say their issues with the app have continued. It makes me overthink what im doing and it actually makes me more anxious to drive than feel more reassured, if anything. Lots of people who have had problems. We can speak now to graeme trudgill, the executive director of the british Insurance Brokers association. Thank you for coming in. We heard from the chairman of the all party to recruit on this issue that he wa nts to recruit on this issue that he wants the Financial Conduct Authority to investigate and see whether this app is fit for purpose, do you think it is . Telematics has been a really good news story over the years, ten years ago there was only a handful of policies, now there is a million. 80 of the policies as a black box wired into your car which is accurate to within two metres, you have the plug in types into the diagnostics port in your car which is accurate. The mobile phone app is the newest incarnation of telematics. We have not had any awareness of any problems until very recently but the good thing craig has highlighted is the Financial Conduct Authority is all powerful and has a particular rule on projects where they say if there is an issue, the provider of there is an issue, the provider of the project needs to deal with that and provide recompense if necessary. Carrots say they believe they have put it right for those who had been in touch with them, but as we are hearing, it is causing people serious concern that they will be left without insurance, it is impacting financially in a big way. 0ne impacting financially in a big way. One person said she lost £1600. While these issues are there, should any Insurance Company be saying to drivers that they should use the carrot app . Telematics is incredibly important, not just for saving money, and it can save hundreds and hundreds of p for Young Drivers. am aware it works, but where it does not, and there are clearly issues here, should it be via news while the teething problems are there . Maybe they should be iron out before roll out . Maybe they should be iron out before rollout . Usually the testing procedure is very strong. I understand this provider has tried to attend to the issues with the glitch on the app and i would hope they have put them correctly now. The important thing to remember is that telematics really improves drivers road safety. Statistics show if you are a new driver, you had just passed your test, you have a one in five chance of having an accident, with a telematics policy introduces to one in 18, so you are almost four times safer. It reduces too. They measure your acceleration, braking, mileage. Because the driver knows that, they will drive more safely, meaning they are will drive more safely, meaning they a re less will drive more safely, meaning they are less likely to have an accident. I would not want to put anybody off telematics. Joe on twitter says carrot cancelled my teenage sons policy. That is because we had failed to declare a modification, said modification was branded stickers already on the car. Another dealer says if the users were not intending to be careful they would not be using the apps, insurance charges for the young are outrageous. Matt says why should Young Drivers be penalised because of what their elders did at that age . Charge everybody the same and then discount or increase based on claims etc. Those are the views of some of our viewers. Thank you for joining us. Up to 1,000 tourists some of them british are being held in quarantine in hotel in tenerife after an italian holidaymaker there tested positive for the coronavirus. Guests at the hotel the costa adeje palace in adeje received a letter this morning which says, we regret to inform you that for Health Reasons the holte has been closed down. You must remain in your rooms. Meanwhile british people returning areas north of pisa in italy have been told to self isolate for a fortnight if they show symptoms of coronavirus. Lets speak to our Health Correspondent nick triggle. Wow, that must have been a pretty horrible thing to wake up to, the hotel is closed, stay in your rooms . The letter said you are told to stay in your rooms, although there is suggestion the guests are now being allowed to move around the hotel. It is after an italian guest from the lombardi region tested positive for coronavirus, it has been reported. Lombardi and a number of other italian towns are in lockdown. The advice for travellers from the uk government has been updated in light of this, they are telling people who have come back from those areas in lockdown, as well as places in south korea and iran, that they should self isolate even if they are not showing symptoms, which puts those places on the same footing as wuhan and china, where the outbreak began. Anyone who has been to northern italy, above the line across from pisa to florence, should keep and i add for symptoms and call nhs111 if they are concerned should keep alert for symptoms. Will strategies change if more gets known about the virus . The World Health Organization has warned countries to prepare for a pandemic, Health Secretary matt hancock in england are still hoping that could be avoided and says much depends on how these countries seeing these outbreaks respond and whether they respond in the right way. In the uk, the focus is very much on containment, we have only had 13 cases and all have been traced back to china or other asian countries, but that could quickly change if we start getting transmission from human to human in the uk. There will still be an attempt to contain it but once you get a few links down the chain and you start getting widespread transmission of this, it is about mitigating the impact it has. The nhs hasa mitigating the impact it has. The nhs has a whole host of plans to scale up its response. Thank you, nick. An internal Scotland Yard investigation has found it credible that one of its former undercover officers, who is now a conservative councilor, had a relationship with a teenage Animal Rights campaigner. Andy coles, currently a member of peterborough city council, denied to investigators that he had an inappropriate relationship with the woman when he posed as an activist in the 1990s. He was a member of metropolitan polices special demonstration squad, which infiltrated protest groups. Councillor coles undercover past was only revealed publicly when his brother, radio four presenter the Reverend Richard coles, wrote about it in his 2014 autobiography. The woman is now asking for an apology and compensation from the metropolitan police. Lets speak to home affairs correspondentjune kelly now. These are issues with a long tail on them, they go back some way . Yes, in this case jessica, them, they go back some way . Yes, in this casejessica, how them, they go back some way . Yes, in this case jessica, how we them, they go back some way . Yes, in this casejessica, how we are referring to her, says that when she was 19 she was a passionate Animal Rights campaigner and met a man calling himself andy davies, she thought he was 2a and single, in fa ct thought he was 2a and single, in fact it turns out he was a police spyr fact it turns out he was a police spy, 32 and married. Calling himself andy davey. He went on to have a public role. General Election Night 2019, and standing at the shoulder of the winning candidate in peterborough is andy coles, a conservative councillor and former police officer. This was him in the 1990s, when he was an undercover officer. He infiltrated protest groups and called himself andy davey. Next to him here is a 19 year old Animal Rights campaigner. Now using the pseudonym, jessica, she says they had a sexual relationship, and she describes him as her first boyfriend. I think it would have been quite obvious that i wasnt sort of very worldly wise with regards to boys. Andy coles has denied having an inappropriate relationship with her. An internal metropolitan Police Inquiry has resulted in no criminal proceedings, and the Police Watchdog found no grounds to investigate andy coles. But the met says it is credible he had a relationship withjessica, and if he was still a serving officer, he would have had a case to answer for alleged gross misconduct. We asked andy coles for an interview or a statement. In response, his lawyer said. If id have known who he really was, he wouldnt have got through the front door. I wouldnt have gone anywhere near him had i known he was a police officer, or that he was 32, or that he was married. Jessica believes he should now resign as a conservative councillor. Personal relationships will be one strand of the forthcoming undercover policing inquiry. It will also look at the way that these police spies infiltrated protest groups like, for example, the campaign to getjustice after the merger of the black teenager stephen lawrence, and also we know that undercover officers took identities of dead babies and children as they were trying to create new identities, what they call their legend. Justice after the murder of black teenager stephen lawrence. It has been criticised for the lack of pace at which it is moving. It was announced in 2015 by the then home secretary theresa may and since then there has been quite and since then there has been quite a delay in things getting going. It is due to start taking evidence this summer but the first phase of the inquiry will focus on what went on in the 60s and 70s, so it will be some time before it gets to stories of women like jessica. June kelly, thank you very much. Bbc newsroom live is coming up next. Thank you for your company today. If you want to see any of the stories we have gathered, you can on the news website. I hope you have a very good day, i will see you seen. Goodbye. Good morning. It is a sunshine and wintry showers kind of day, we have had quite a few showers moving into northern and Western Areas this morning. This was dorset, some hail or sleet coming out of the sky. Wintry showers continue into the afternoon. Snow mainly over the higher ground, afternoon. Snow mainly over the higherground, in any afternoon. Snow mainly over the higher ground, in any heavier showers there could be flakes down to low levels. Some showers drifting eastwards, the majority will be towards the north and west. Sunny spells in between the showers, maximum temperatures five to nine celsius. A brisk north westerly winds making it feel colder than those temperatures suggest. Temperatures will drop away tonight, there will be the risk of frost and ice, especially in northern, western and sudden parts of the uk, as temperatures for close to freezing. Watch out for the chase first thing tomorrow, but on wednesday we are looking at sunny spells or sunni. Watch out for that ice first thing tomorrow. Youre watching bbc newsroom live. Its 11am, and these are the main stories this morning as the fight against the spread of coronavirus continues, the Health Secretary tells people returning from areas of northern italy currently in lockdown to self isolate and seek nhs advice. Anybody who has been to italy, north of pisa, should, if they have symptoms, flu like symptoms, should self isolate, which means go home and try to stay out of contact with other people. Meanwhile, a hotel in tenerife is in lockdown after an italian tourist tested positive for coronavirus. In south korea, a tenth person has died from the illness, and iran has reported another three deaths. Life expectancy among women living in the poorest communities in england has declined since 2011, according to a new report