a huge response to the tv drama about the post office scandal that saw hundreds of innocent branch managers wrongfully prosecuted for theft. we ll hear from one who s fought forjustice for 20 years. whilst there are some brighter skies ahead for us all there is still some rain in the forecast today particularly across the south, i will have your full forecast here on breakfast. it s thursday 4th january. our main story. a row about emergency cover has broken out between nhs bosses and union leaders, as a strike byjunior doctors in england enters its second day. yesterday nhs leaders made 20 requests for striking doctors to return to the wards and help overstretched services but the british medical association accused them of misusing the system, which is known as derogation. a number of nhs trusts have reported long waiting times in a&e, with some declaring critical incidents. here s more from our health editor hugh pym. # hey, vicky, ooh, ahh # i wanna know when you ll pay u
if you have joined if you havejoined us, you are welcome and we are looking at the top business stories. we start here in the uk, where there is some relief for millions of people facing soaring housing costs. lenders have started the new year by slashing the cost of mortgages as financial markets bet the bank of england will soon begin to cut interest rates from their 15 year high. from today banking giant hsbc becomes the first major lender to bring back mortgages below 4% since last march. it comes as rival halifax slashed almost a percentage point off some of its mortgage rates this week. and it s raised hopes of a price war between banks. hsbc is offering a five year fixed rate mortgage at 3.94%. it s only available to people remortgaging their home not to first time buyers. but it s far below rates of almost 6.5% that borrowers were facing just a few months ago. and it will be a welcome development for many uk households as our cost of living correspondent kevin peach