Transcripts For BBCNEWS Victoria Derbyshire 20180205

May is doing a good job, but i think she can do a betterjob, she needs to stand firm. Also on the programme. This programme has been told that thousands of people are desperate to get out of their time share contracts, but cant because theyre far too complex and costly. Every door is closing on me, i cannot go anywhere. I cannot get free of this thing and its like a disease, if you like, hanging over you. That full exclusive report in around 15 minutes time. A doctor said there is no hope for 20 month old alfie evans as doctors wa nt to 20 month old alfie evans as doctors want to switch off his life support. We talk to other parents who have had similar decisions to make. Hello, welcome to the programme, were live until 11 00. Throughout the programme well bring you the latest breaking news and developing stories and, as always, really keen to hear from you on all the stories were talking about. A little later well hear claims that returns on University Degrees can be paltry when you consider the £50,000 many students rack up getting them. We wa nt we want to hear your experiences. If youve recently graduated, do you have any regrets over your degree . Use the hashtag victoria live and if you text, you will be charged at the Standard Network rate. 0ur our top story, a downing street source has ruled out the prospect of britain staying in any kind of European Customs Union after brexit. The statement came days after the strong supporters of leaving had criticised theresa may for not taking a stand on the issue. The Customs Union allows goods made in the eu to move around the block without tariffs and without few checks. But it prevents members from striking their own free trade deals with other countries. Norman smith, all sorted . What we have seen in recent days, we note the tory brexiteers have been on the warpath breathing down theresa mays neck. 0ne on the warpath breathing down theresa mays neck. One of the issues they have been getting to her over is this idea of staying in this eu trading bloc, which we are currently in. Theresa may has always said we will not claim in the Customs Union, but she has been less clear on whether we can stay in some sort of revamped Customs Union, another form of Customs Union. Last night downing street put it down in black and white that we will not be pa rt black and white that we will not be part of any type of Customs Union whatsoever. That will please the brexit is because they regard the great prize of brexit is our ability, once we leave, to go out on strike our own trade deals, which we cannot do if we stay in a Customs Union. Albeit there are plenty of tory remainders, the labour party and the snp and others who do want us and the snp and others who do want us to think about staying in a Customs Union and that was what hilary benn said this morning. The Prime Minister has brexiteers to the left of her, remain as to the right of her but in the end she will need to make a decision because we need to make a decision because we need to make a decision because we need to know what the future relationship is going to be. I think we should stay in the Customs Union andl we should stay in the Customs Union and i think we should stay as close as possible to the Single Market because it is in our economic interests. This noise, argument and accusation assessments are not being done fairly, these are symptoms of the inability of the government to do itsjob. Anyone who has read the papers over the weekend will have read about the various plots to get rid of theresa may and we know about the split in the tory party, will this be enough to quieten those plotters . the tory party, will this be enough to quieten those plotters . I suspect not, it may buy theresa may some breathing space but a lot of the tory brexiteers are suspicious about the sort of deal she will deliver. Throughout this whole process she has had to shimmy this way and shimmy that way, to keep her party together. The basic problems she faced hasnt changed since the election, which is, she has divided cabinet, a divided party and she doesnt have a commons majority, which makes her position incredibly fragile, which is why she has had to be very, very careful, every little step she has taken. But she does seem, over the weekend, to have decided to throw a bit of meat to the brexiteers, 0k decided to throw a bit of meat to the brexiteers, ok on the Customs Union, no question about it, we will not have any Customs Union at all, that will please them. Norman smith, thank you. And a little later in the programme well be asking conservative Party Supporters and activists how they think the government is doing and whether it might be time for theresa may to step aside. We are keen to get your support as well. Annita is in the bbc newsroom with a summary of the rest of the days news. A new ring fenced tax to fund the nhs and social care in england has been proposed by a panel of health experts. The panel, commissioned by the liberal democrats has also recommended a return of caps on personal payments for adult social care. Heres our health editor, hugh pym. Thousands of demonstrators marched through london at the weekend calling for increased funding for the nhs. Health unions joined other campaigners, arguing there was a winter crisis which needed urgent action and investment. Today, a report from health experts, including the former head of nhs england, has called for new answers to nhs funding problems. The report commissioned by the liberal democrats calls for an extra . Billion on top of inflation for the nhs in england in the next financial year, more than double the increase announced in the budget. A single, ring fenced tax for health and social care replacing national insurance. And reinstating a commitment to cap the costs paid by individuals for social care. The report argues that higher funding needed for health and care should come through increased taxation, and that this will be more transparent if there is a dedicated tax for this purpose. Longer waiting lists and rationing for some treatments, it says, are undermining the key principles of the nhs. In response, the department of health and social care said the nhs had been prioritised in the budget, and an extra . Billion had already been provided for social care in england. Hugh pym, bbc news. Customers of the Lloyds Banking group have been banned from using their credit cards to buy Virtual Currencies such as bitcoin. The decision affects all account holders with lloyds bank, bank of scotland, halifax and mbna. The group says its protecting customers from running up debts they could never repay. The surviving suspect from the paris terror attacks of 2015 will go on trial in belgian today. Salah abdeslam faces charges relating to shoot outs he had with police while on the run in belgian in 2016. He faces a second trial relating to his involvement in the paris at later date. 0ur europe correspondent gavin lee is at the court in brussels. Salah abdeslam, at one time the most wa nted Salah Abdeslam, at one time the most wanted man in europe, what can we expect from the court today . This is a separate case because the four months after the paris attacks, the 13th of november 2015 where 150 13th of november 2015 where150 people were killed in the bataclan, restau ra nts a nd people were killed in the bataclan, restaurants and the stade de france, forfour months, restaurants and the stade de france, for four months, Salah Abdeslam, restaurants and the stade de france, forfour months, Salah Abdeslam, was missing, the only sole surviving suspect and he was picked up on cctv ata suspect and he was picked up on cctv at a service station between paris and brussels in the early hours after the attacks. This case in brussels, at the highest court, you can see the police. 200 officers here, Belgian Special police forces, to secure this whole site. This is to secure this whole site. This is to do with when he was first discovered in a flat about three miles from here in a suburb of brussels when police came to the door looking for Salah Abdeslam. As they opened the door they came under gunfire, kalashnikov gunfire. It was sustained for several hours and Salah Abdeslam is alleged to have cleared and fled via rooftops. He was found three days later and shot by police near his family home. Four days after that it was the brussels attacks, 32 people were killed. It is also to be linked. This is to do with the attempted murder of Police Officers at the flat. But his lawyers are saying he is willingly taking part, so he may speak. He arrived flanked by armed Police Officers. This may be the first time we hear evidence from him. Gavin, thank you very much. This programme has been told that thousands of people desperate to get out of their timeshare contracts are currently unable to because it is far too complex and costly. A timeshare usually involves paying a one off lump sum in return for being able to use the property for an agreed number of weeks each year, every year for life. And well have more on that story later in the programme. Many graduates receive paltry returns for their degrees despite racking up £50,000 in debt thats according to the head of the house of commons Education Select Committee. In a speech today, Robert Halfon will argue that too many people are taking academic degrees and that the rewards for taking them vary wildly. But the organisation that represents uk universities says graduates earn more than non graduates and are more likely to be in employment. Snow has caused a number of accidents in south east england, at the start of what forecasters say could be one of the coldest weeks of the winter. This was footage taken by the Police Called out to accidents on the m20 in kent. Luckily no one was seriously injured and the motorway has now been cleared. The met office has issued yellow warnings of snow and ice for large parts of the uk. One woman had a lucky escape when she got stranded on a beach and had to be rescued by the rnli. The woman you can see in the water in these pictures, was forced to climb on to the top of her submerged car, after becoming stranded on the cumbrian coast as the tide came in and the water levels began to rise. She was treated for hypothermia but was otherwise unharmed. Thats a summary of the latest bbc news, more at 9 30am. We wa nt we want to hear from you this morning if you have bought a time share, if you are happy with it 01 time share, if you are happy with it or you time share, if you are happy with it 01 you are time share, if you are happy with it or you are trying to get out it. Peter on facebook said he didnt mind boasting about these holiday homes when you bought them, you take your chance whether you win or lose. Somebody else says, anybody who is stupid enough to fall for a time share deserves what they get. A and his money are easily parted. Do get in touch with us throughout the morning use the hashtag victoria live and if you text, you will be charged at the Standard Network rate. Lets get some sport from sarah. Was the superbowl worth staying up for . It really was. It turned out to be third time lucky for the Philadelphia Eagles. They were runners up in 1980 and 2004 but the franchise finally won their first super bowl overnight. What an upset, theirfans had super bowl overnight. What an upset, their fans had taken to wearing dark masks in the lead up, such was their underdog status coming into the game. But in the final day beat the defending champions in minneapolis. Lets have a look at the touchdown theyre saying will be shown a billion times nick foles who led magnificiently on the night became the first quarterback to throw and catch touchdowns in superbowl history. He only came into the side towards the end of the regular season as an injury replacement. So you can imagine the celebrations ongoing in philadelphia now. And if the football is not your thing theres always the half time show for entertainment. This year it wasJustin Timberlake wowing the crowds. The 12 minute performance included a tribute to prince he ended up in the middle of the crowd. Where this 13 year old mayjust be the most popular person in his school today bagging a selfie with the star. And while it doesnt take long to find that selfie online. Ryan mckenna the lucky 13 year old and it seems the internet has fallen in love with him. Selfiekid seemed to be his twitter name and now many are calling him the superbowls mvp in place of quarterback nick foles. He doesnt look like hes got that much security. Cannot believeJustin Timberlake can go into the centre of a crowd. What a start to the six nations this weekend wales with a stunning victory over scotland and the last minute drop goal for ireland to steal the win against france on saturday, and then yesterday it was englands turn as they began their defence of the title. And it went pretty well. They ran in seven tries for a bonus point win over italy in rome. A nice six nations debut for sam simmonds though with two tries. Worry for ben youngs, the scrum half stretchered off early with a knee injury. 46 15 the final score in rome. There very quiet apart from the final ten minutes to the day. The final ten minutes provided an equaliser, two penalties, one saved and one missed and sandwiched in between was what looked like a stoppage time winner for livepool. Harry kane missed the first but made up for it in the second to give him his 100th premier league goal. And before any of that, came one of the goals of the season. This was the equaliser. Substitute victor wa nyama smashing home an equaliser with ten minutes to go. That cancelled out mo salahs earlier strike, only for the egyptian to score this brilliant goal at the end. In stoppage time. But there was still time for a second spurs penalty. You dont give harry kane a second chance, do you . That levelled things off at 2 2. Relieved to have equalised at the end. Take your hat off to him, he missed the first penalty, saved and he took the second one. Got to be brave. We will speak to you later on. This programme has been told that thousands of people desperate to get out of their timeshare contracts are currently unable to because it is far too complex and costly. Timeshares were very popular in the 19805 and 19905 they were marketed as holidays without the hassle investors were told their timeshares would increase in value and be easy to get out of, whenever they wanted. But for many, this didnt happen and instead theyve been left with increasing maintenance charges on a property they cant get rid off. Cant get rid of. Timeshare groups say the industry provides millions of people with quality holidays every year. 0ur reporter Anna Collinson has more. It was acceptable in the 80s it was acceptable at the time it was acceptable in the 805. Its the 1980s, and hundreds of thousands of people are signing contracts which promise cheap sun and convenient getaways, normally in spain. Ive got love for you if you were born in the 80s, the 805. Many were told their time shares were an investment, that they would increase in value, and that they could get rid of them when ever they wanted. Many of those people are now retired or close to it and they can no longer afford or use their time share. So, what happens then . We had some good years with it but over the years, of course, things have changed. So, quickly, heres how it works. People buy a share in a property for a number of weeks each year, usually paying a one off lump sum. In return, they get the right to use their annual weeks in the apartment, which in some cases can last until they die. Time share owners must also pay maintenance charges, which can increase year on year. Id come back home to mum, i didnt really know anybody that was gay, so it was just like, illjust see if i can find some friends. That was all i wanted, just a friend that i could speak to, that knew how i felt, because i was 40 at the time and it was first time id ever come out in the open, if you like. It was taken outside the lodge. Wendy barker met her partner, anne jackson blanchard, in 1995. Laughter. She was quite punctilious, but quite jolly with it. Does it bring back nice memories . Yes, i suppose it does, yeah, yeah. The couple decided to get a time share. So, this is a photograph of the lodge taken from one angle. The bungalow in the countryside cost nearly £9,000. What it was was an escape for me, really, because i worked within the prison service, it was freedom, if you like, from being shut in those walls. But as the years passed, the couple separated, wendy retired and annes health deteriorated. They could no longer use their time share, but every year were paying around £900 to cover its maintenance fees. So then i tried to sell it, i tried to give it away. It was just, nobody wanted it because the maintenance fees were going up and up and up. We were also told if there comes a time where you dont want it and you decide thats it, well buy it back from you. Never happened. Some companies allow time share owners to terminate agreements on request. Others only allow it if a person is sick, elderly or bankrupt, but anne was told she wasnt sick enough. In october, she died. Anne spent nearly the last ten years of her life worrying about this time share. Yeah. Do you think that impacted on her health . It didnt help, it certainly didnt help her. Its just one of them things, she couldnt help how she was and time beat her. Yeah. Not nice. Industry bodies believe up to 600,000 people own time shares in the uk. The cost can vary, depending on the property, but lawyers at this firm says its clients have paid between £300 £1300. Trading standards say if the person wants to exit a time share, they should contact their company directly and, in most cases, they will let a consumer leave. If they dont, or theres a possibility of mis selling, you can get legal advice. So, welcome to the office. As you can see, there are a number of files here. I would estimate that there are over 1,000 cases, and that number is growing daily. Lawyers have told this Programme Many of their clients were mis sold their time shares, often because Important Information was kept from them. In some cases, annual maintenance fees, which can start in the hundreds and reach into the thousands, have increased by 400 . Citizens advice says its dealt with around 1,600 time share problems in the past two years. Some people have got so desperate, theyre selling their time share online for as little as 25p. Its got a bad reputation, time share, so the time Share Companies, its in their interest to keep them in their time share, so its very difficult to actually get released from them. Law firms are now calling for all people with time shares to be able to give reasonable notice to get out of their contract. Another person struggling to get out of their time share is retiree andrew mcnaught. Nice to meet you. A fan of the sunshine, he bought a time share in gran canaria for nearly £8,000. His family rarely use it now, because of his wifes poor health, but every year they still pay out around £370. But i spoke to a person last time we were there and he said there was a massive, massive waiting list of over 600 people. So. You know, you think, how the heck am i going to get out of it . I saw an advert in the daily newspaper, a full page spread, which said, we can get you compensation for your time share. For your time share. I said to my wife, look, weve got nothing to lose. Weve been told what happened next to andrew has also happened to hundreds of others. A company which promised to help him out of his current time share, out of his current time share managed to persuade him to invest into a second one making his desperate situation even worse. The tactic is known as hot room. They say youve won a holiday. The company said that we needed to go to tenerife. Theyll sit down with a salesman. Most of the time they are given alcohol. The salesman will try and sell them the product. We were made to feel that they were going to get us out of the time share and pay us some silly money. Invariably, after 6 9 hours of this gruelling, gruelling breakdown, they will sign the contract. Its the same routine that happens again and again and again. These people, these salesmen can literally sell snow to eskimos, they are so professional in what they do. We have people from all walks of life, professionals right down to, say, a lollipop lady. The resort Development Organisation is the European Trade Association for time shares and says all of its members are required to sign a code of conduct. Its told this programme that its invested significant amounts of money into investigating Unethical Companies that target consumers. The government says its aware of issues around some time share contracts and has tightened the law to ensure owners are properly informed. Therell be some people who say that you signed a contract and you may not like it, but you have to stick to it. What would you say to that . Yes, and foolishly i suppose i did, and i didnt look deep enough into it. I can imagine now how prisoners must feel initially when they first go in. I know we had a lot of people that used to get really upset because once that door slammed, that was it for hours. And now i feel a bit like that myself. Its like every door isjust shutting on me. I cant go anywhere, you know . I cant get free of this thing and its like a disease hanging over you. That report by Anna Collinson. There is an article on the front page of the bbc news website, it is one of the most popular stories this morning. Really keen to hear from you if you own a timeshare and have struggled to get rid of it do get in touch. Your experiences very welcome. An e mailfrom an e mail from camellia, an e mailfrom camellia, we got out ofa an e mailfrom camellia, we got out of a time share agreement with our solicitor finding a short clause in the agreement specifying we would be able to exchange for what we purchased. Ken says he owns a time share in purchased. Ken says he owns a time sha re in scotland purchased. Ken says he owns a time share in scotland and has done since 1986 and i am currently trying to get out of the contract through a specialist time share release company. Suzie has said my specialist time share release company. Suzie has saic says it billion. The government says it prioritised nhs funding at the last budget providing £2 billion. Schalke. Customers of the Lloyds Banking group have been banned from using their credit cards to buy Virtual Currencies such as bitcoin. The decision affects all account holders with lloyds bank, bank of scotland, halifax and mbna. The group says its protecting customers from running up debts they could never repay. The sole surviving suspect from the paris terror attacks of 2015 will go on trial in belgium today. Salah abdeslam faces charges relating to a shootout he had with police while on the run in belgium in 2016. He faces a second trial relating to his involvement in the paris attacks at a later date. This programme has been told that thousands of people desperate to get out of their timeshare contracts are currently unable to because it is far too complex and costly. A timeshare usually involves paying a one off lump sum in return for being able to use the property for an agreed number of weeks each year, every year for life. Thats a summary of the latest bbc news. Heres some sport now. It was a thrilling super bowl overnight in minnesota. The Philadelphia Eagles beat the favourites, new England Patriots 41 33 the first time theyve theyve won the title. As always the half time show didnt fail to disappoint as Justin Timberlake wowed the crowds. England began their defence of the title with a comfortable victory over italy. They ran in seven tries in rome for a bonus point win. 46 15 the final score. Liverpool versus spurs the game that had everything. A goal of the season contender, two injury time goals, two penalties one missed, and harry kanes100th premier league goal. It ended 2 2 at anfield. Ill be back with more later in the programme. Thanks. Downing street has insisted britain will leave the Customs Union after brexit. The Customs Union is a trade agreement between eu states that allows companies to Exchange Goods across the eu without any taxes on the exports known as a tariff and with a common tariff on imports from outside the eu. The issue has laid bare divisions within the tory party over whether the uk should follow a so called soft or hard brexit. It comes ahead of a week of key brexit meetings with the eu chief negotiator and with her most senior ministers. So how is this going down with tory voters . Do grassroot tories want a change in leader . With us now a selection of tory voters. Weve brought together some conservative Party Supporters lets talk about the Customs Union. Its not an announcement, it was in the manifesto, the florence speech. There have been discussions over the last few weeks and theresa may hasnt said any type of the Customs Union, just a Customs Union we know . Call it what you will, she has ruled out the Customs Union time and time again. She is going to get is the best deal possible, we have to be willing to negotiate and put things on the table. There is scope for a future trade deal between the uk and the eu but right now we are waiting for the eu to come back with something reasonable. She is ruling out staying in what we have now, but shes not ruling out any future relationship . Grace, you are looking unimpressed . It is always going on, this brexit stuff. I suppose she has iiow this brexit stuff. I suppose she has now made a decision so that is good. If we are not in the Customs Union we have Free Movement. Ithink if we are not in the Customs Union we have Free Movement. I think it is good we have made a decision we will not be in the Customs Union. So that is quite good. What about on this site . We talked about earlier, i think i will always want to remain, but you either brexit and you go properly or you do not do it at all. If you want to brexit properly, you need to come out of the Customs Union. Absolutely, there isnt a playbook for this, this is the first timea playbook for this, this is the first time a country has tried to leave the eu, theresa may doesnt have a precedent and theresa may is trying to do as good a job as possible. Things people are saying, Margaret Thatcher wouldnt do this, churchill wouldnt do this. She is not Margaret Thatcher or churchill, she is theresa may. Harry, what do you say . Theresa may is doing as good a job as she can, she is being lambasted by people on the labour side and also think tanks, the cbi who want us to stay in the Customs Union. There are people in the conservative party who want britain to stay in the Customs Union . |j would dispute that. |j to stay in the Customs Union . |j would dispute that. I would disagree, as harry said it wasnt in the conservative manifesto. Most people in the conservative party are united behind the Prime Minister to get the best deal possible. The best deal is a full brexit and nearly way to achieve that is to leave the Customs Union. What do you think, sophie . Europe has plagued the conservative party for decades now, so conservative party for decades now, so its not unusual that the leader is struggling. I think any leader, including Margaret Thatcher would have struggled with this. Yes, i agree with what sophie is saying, it isa hard agree with what sophie is saying, it is a hard one, but i was pleased to hear the Prime Minister has come out and said we will not stay in the Customs Union. I have heard and read there has been different views along there has been different views along the way, different statements made. I think now she has to hold her ground and get with it, do it and stand firm. You cannot keep messing around and playing both sides of your party. Where do we go now . We know it is a critical week, Michel Barnier is having meetings with david davis and also theresa may. Craig, how do you think generally, the brexit negotiations are going . |j the brexit negotiations are going . think they could have gone better. Theresa may doesnt have the authority so even after today when she said we will be staying in, mps will be going on tv saying, i think we should do this, i think we should do that because she doesnt have a grip of hermps do that because she doesnt have a grip of her mps to say, this is what we are doing. They still think they can sway her opinion because she keeps changing her mind. You are nodding . I want to go back when david davis was being appointed as brexit minister. He said in one of the articles, we will do trade negotiations with each country in the eu. It is not possible. How can the eu. It is not possible. How can the brexit minister Say Something like that he should have been aware he has to negotiate with the whole block. In my opinion, the feedback is coming from the wrong people. That is why the government is fractured. We have ministers on one side saying we want a hard brexit and others saying we do not want it. 0ther saying we will stay in the Customs Union. We have dominic ryan saying we want a hard brexit. Dominic raab. Boris johnson saying we want a hard brexit. Dominic raab. Borisjohnson promised 350 million coming back to the uk. Where is it . The nhs is fractured, the nhs is in shambles right now. We have doctors, we need doctors, we need nurses. We are telling people you cannot come in the eu, we are telling people you cannot come from the developing countries, how will we cope with the nhs . Philip asjust tweeted saying i am sick and tired of the National Interest being held hostage to the sectional infighting of the tory party. Stop brexit now. Is that the problem, theresa may cannot keep everybody happy, so should she make a decision and stick to it . Yes, if you make the decision, mps can get behind her, the country can get behind her and she can go to the eu with something solid and a deal can be achieved. She needs to be bold. It is more politics, she needs to be a strong leader because this is what the country voted for so it is time for her to stand country voted for so it is time for herto stand up country voted for so it is time for her to stand up and then the country can get behind her. Her cabinet and mps can get behind her, at the moment she is not showing enough strength. Issue Strong Enough to do that if borisjohnson and other members of the cabinet are saying different things, you are shaking your head . Mps dont respect her enough. She is going to say that and they will go off and do whatever they will go off and do whatever they want as they have been doing. There is no unity in the party. Lets take an example of cricket, if the whole team is trying to win, they will win the game. But if one player does not try, they will not win the game. Theresa may may be trying to win the game, but her ministers are saying things, shes saying something today and then her ministers Say Something tomorrow. You cannot win the game if somebody picks up the bat and takes the ball home. If you ask grassroots members, most of them are behind theresa may. They will say she is doing a difficult job, they will say she is doing a difficultjob, a hard job and nobody knows what is happening. Those are the party members, i am talking about the cabinet. You are shaking your head . Jacob rees mogg, it is a nail in the head every time he speaks about this. Every time he speaks about this. Every time he speaks on the eu issue, it is music to my ears, he is the only one making any sense. Theresa may is scared of making a decision. Bali she has made a decision about the Customs Union. You say one thing but do another, often with the ma nifesto. Do another, often with the manifesto. Who thinks theresa may is doing a good job, show of hands . He was on show . Who think she is doing a terriblejob . Was on show . Who think she is doing a terrible job . 0k. Was on show . Who think she is doing a terriblejob . 0k. Do we think amongst you guys as tory voters, supporters and activists, can she see this out . If you read any of the papers at the weekend there were plots left, right and centre, so we are told to get rid of her . Can you anything worse right now in a fractured party, a leadership election . If we have a leadership election, it would go to a general election. Then Jeremy Corbyn would be Prime Minister and nobody wants that. We are unified behind the Prime Minister staying in place. We have the paper saint borisjohnson will be the Prime Minister, michael gove will be the deputy and amber rudd will be the home secretary, we dont know. You also had jacob riis mark as chancellor of the exchequer. How can you be talking about brexit on the one hand and then a coup on the other hand. It is misleading the public. It is the papers on a slow news week while the Prime Minister was in china. It wasnt a slow news week, was it . Media speculation. The papers want a story to put out. The truth is, there are conservatives on either side who are concerned about certain aspects of the eu negotiation. There are some people who voted remain who might be turning towards softer. Some brexiteers want the done but the party is united behind theresa may. Michael gove lead borisjohnson down a path and then we have the infighting in the party again. Where is the unification . If you dont think theresa may is doing a particularly good job and we hear about these rumours constantly about plotters, lets look at the names being thrown around. Grace has mentioned one, jacob riis mccomish he is the man for you . Yes. Why . The way he conducted himself. Blair said are the peacemakers, jacob. He has got guts. I think he has. My liking, i think he is an excellent parliamentarian and i think the rest of Parliament Love him on both sides. But he is so socially conservative, anti abortion, anti gay marriage and anti drug reform. If we do have another election young voters will not appeal to him at all. Jacob rees mogg, i appeal to him at all. Jacob rees mogg, lam appeal to him at all. Jacob rees mogg, i am an active party member, but ifjacob rees mogg became leader of the party, that would be the trigger for me to my membership. wouldnt go that far, hes a gentleman, a lovely guy. His policies. I think people make a lot out of his social conservatives. If you are Prime Minister i dont think he would have a hard line. That nuance would get through to the media and people would see him as an anachronism. He is too socially conservative people of my generation, certainly for myself. At the moment, i see no alternative to theresa may. I see the fact that the tory party will be fractured if we have another leadership election as it was in the 1990s over europe. That led to tony blair getting a massive majority in 1997. With Jeremy Corbyn being to the left of tony blair, we cannot risk a labour government. Lets look at other names being touted as potential leaders of the conservative party, borisjohnson . Leaders of the conservative party, Boris Johnson . Not a leaders of the conservative party, borisjohnson . Not a safe pair of hands. There was a sharp intake of breath. He says a lot of things and he has got people in trouble. The iranians lady is injail because of the statement said by borisjohnson ina the statement said by borisjohnson in a way. He is too much of a loose cannon . Yes. People liked him before he was foreign minister but now people are not back clean. Would you wa nt people are not back clean. Would you want him in charge . Not at all. When he was mayor of london when he had more freedom and could set his own agenda, he was brilliant. But as a Prime Minister, he would be very constrained, couldnt bring out his owfi constrained, couldnt bring out his own personality. He will have to work ina own personality. He will have to work in a more collegiate environment and i dont think he would fit in that. I do think he would fit in that. I do think he would connect with the public quite well, but at the same time, do we wa nt well, but at the same time, do we want to unleash the beast, as it were . Gavin williamson, another name . I think he can do it. You need someone strong who will keep the party and the government together. We saw him as chief whip and never lost a vote. He is far enough away from the cabinet, not tarnished with the incompetence we have seen in the rest of the cabinet. He is fresh and could potentially do it. rest of the cabinet. He is fresh and could potentially do it. I cannot even rememberwho could potentially do it. I cannot even remember who Gavin Williamson is we will get a picture for you. He is the defence secretary at the moment. Is he, 0k. Another name being mentioned, amber rudd, a female . I think amber rudd, she is a remain and grassroots members will be sceptical about her and she has a tiny majority in hastings and i think labour will target their resources into that seat. People throw around terms of one nation, thatcherite, they are just conservatives, they are terms people use to divide us. She is a very good conservative, will follow the conservative, will follow the conservative manifesto. If she did become the leader, i think she would doa become the leader, i think she would do a good job. I am behind theresa may, but amber rudd, but tensely for the future. She is very charismatic. She connects with people on a personal level. What about dan hannan . He has personally said to me, he will not be pursuing a career in politics when britain leaves the eu when meps have to resign. I really like him, i think he will make a good cabinet minister, but at the same time, i am not sure. Lot of you getting in touch. Ben says this Brexit Programme has been mismanaged. Ministers dodging and lined with no answers to questions. It is going to be a hard brexit, just wait and see. Another tweet saying, without another Customs Union what we do without the irish border. And steve has treated, the Customs Union is more than Free Movement of goods, it is about standards, said goods and safe foods. Perhaps the hash tag biased bbc should state the facts. That is oui bbc should state the facts. That is our intention, some people may disagree. Thank you all for taking the time out to speak to this morning. Coming up the Lloyds Banking group has banned its customers from using their credit cards to buy bitcoin and other Virtual Currencies. Well find out why the bank thinks eight Million People could end up running up debts they could never repay. More than half of former professional sports people have had concerns about their mental or Emotional Wellbeing since retiring. Thats according to a survey which suggests one in two ex players of the 800 who responded to the professional Players Federation survey did not feel in control of their lives within two years of finishing their careers. Retired athletes also told the bbc they lose their identity when they finish playing sport, experiencing loss, regret and devastation. I never want to sit on a horse again. I cant take it anymore. The words of royal ascot winning jockey George Chaloner who was forced to retire at 25 after a number of bad falls. He tells how although the injuries heal relatively quickly, it takes much longer to get over the mental trauma. This is his story. It started when i was in hospital in newcastle. Back around in front. Professor is flying home. Lets talk now to paul highton, hes an ex salford city reds rugby league player. He had three years of Prescription Drug addiction, failed business and suicidal thoughts after retiring from playing. One of his former team mates and Close Friends from his rugby playing days didnt make it out the otherside like him and is now in jail following being convicted for armed robbery. This is his first tv interview about his experiences. Thank you so much for coming in. When you went into rugby league it was a time when the game was turning professional and you decided to leave your studies behind and focus on the game, did that ever feel like a gamble, a risk, in those early days . Not really. It was a child he childhood dream. It was a childhood dream. It was a childhood dream. It was a childhood dream. It was an easy transition for me to jump into that. As you said, i put my studies on the back burner and it was always going to be next season, i will start studying next year and you get wrapped up in a new contract. You think everything is rosy for a few yea rs think everything is rosy for a few years and towards the back end of those careers, those contracts, you think what is next. What is that point in your career . Literally as you are heading towards the end or did you give it any thought before that . I started to consider it when i had that . I started to consider it when ihada that . I started to consider it when i had a pretty bad injury, broke my arm and i had a pretty bad injury, broke my arm and i was ample 16 weeks. It was quite levelling. And i broke my arm and quite levelling. And i broke my arm and i was out for 16 weeks. You think you are a superhero but you are not, you will eventually end your career. My legs stopped being as quick as they should have been. The injuries will get you. I started putting things in place, started seeing people, who got to the end of their careers with nothing. That is not what i wanted to be. Did you have support from within the sport to look ahead to what you might do after your rugby career was over . Back then there was very little. There certainly wasnt the player welfare manager role, which either film now with salford. There was nothing like that. I got a pat on my back, thanks to your efforts and could luck with the next part of your career. could luck with the next part of your career. Good luck with. Could luck with the next part of your career. Good luck with. When your career. Good luck with. When you had effectively retired from by you had effectively retired from rugby league and your contract finished, is it quite frightening . Presumably you have quite a structured life as a sports person and then you can do anything. related quite a lot to the military. Everyday i was told what top to wear, shorts to work, what colour socks, i was told my breakfast s was ready, the pills and potions after a training session, protein. Everything was done for you. When away from you and you leave the sport, is i found myself having to deal with these things myself. That bubble had gone. It is quite frightening. I spent the best part of 20 years with 30 of my best friend and then you play your last game on a sunday and the money morning i am sat on the sofa thinking, is this it, whats next . I set about business and took a lot of my focus. 18 months down the line when i took my eye off the ball, thatis when i took my eye off the ball, that is when things got difficult. What happened . That is when things got difficult. What happened . I had quite a few injuries. I went through a period of time. I was having things patched up andi time. I was having things patched up and i was taking something called tramadol. At the time, that was quite readily available in the sport. It was easy to get hold of. Quite easy to manipulate your club doctor and your personal gp. I started using those for everything apart from what they were there for. They used to chill me out, they helped me sleep, it gave me confidence. I was using them for the wrong thing. Compared to what i should have stayed on, it was almost three years. It should have been two months. It was spiralling from that point. I tried to change where i was thinking with the pills. Was that links to retirement . I think so. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Maybe i have an addictive personality, it doesnt matter if it isa personality, it doesnt matter if it is a bag of midget gems or a strip of tramadol, they went. Looking back, you can join of tramadol, they went. Looking back, you canjoin up the dots as you look backwards. I certainly used prescription. Drugs and other things Prescription Drugs. To stop the way i was feeling at the time. Did yourfamily know . Way i was feeling at the time. Did your family know . They did. I thought i was doing a greatjob of hiding it. I have a really supportive family. My partner at the time. They had got wind of this. They had understood and they made a call to the rugby league which was properly the best phone call they could have made. To the head of welfare. Within two or three days, i was down talking to a guy from Sporting Chance, tony adams. A charity the looks at a sports people with addictive disorders and depression. I was sat in a hotel room talking to a guy i had never met before, telling him my darkest secrets and it was the most cathartic thing i have ever done. Certainly the most worthwhile. I would love to say life got perfect from that point but it certainly gave me clarity and some way of fixing what was going on with myself. Do you think it is harder for successful sportspeople to accent is and say, openly, i cant cope to accept and say. Accent is and say, openly, i cant cope to accept and say. It is difficult. It is a man thing in general. I do a lot of work with a Mens Mental Health charity called 0ff road, that is the theme, getting men to open and be honest about the way they feeling off load, that is the theme. Players tell their story and make this real. It puts everything on a platform, Mental Health doesnt discriminate. It doesnt matter how big your bank balance or your car is. Everyone has Mental Health and some a better Mental Health and some a better Mental Health and some a better Mental Health than other. It is difficult for a rugby player, they are perceived machismo kind of thing, we dont show any emotions. We are warriors and that can only go on for so long. The sport is doing huge things around that at the moment to get people to be honest and open about the way they are feeling. Do you have a definitive moment in your mind that you think was your darkest moment . Where you felt that you actually had to face this. I had wrapped up my business a couple of months prior. Things were not going well with the partner i was with at the time. The only way i felt i could sort this out was to do it myself. That was a big mistake. I moved out of home, i got myself somewhere which would be my haven to get my head sorted and it was just a green light to continue doing what i was doing because i had nobody looking over my shoulder. I got to the point where everybody hits their own rock bottom, doesnt matter what yours is, its personal to you and i got to the point where i was sick and tired of being sick and tired. And upsetting people and worrying my family. It was time to do something about it. That phone call to Sporting Chance was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. Was it about filling your time after retirement . 0r was it about filling your time after retirement . Or is it about getting those highs . That must be the difficult thing, do have those incredible highs. The celebrity, all of that. Do you need to replicate that or do you need to learn that you cant replicate that and you need to do Something Different . You cant replicate that and you need to do Something Different7m is about learning you cant replicate that but finding something to replace that in terms of what gives you purpose, pleasure and gets you up in the morning. That was a difficult thing. I use the term that i still didnt know what i wanted to be when i grew up. I got to the end of my career and set up a supposed abutment company but even that didnt fulfil me in the way my current role does. Itjust filled a gap to speak and pay the bills. It was very difficult going from doing your most favourite thing in the world, playing sport for 20 years and trying to find something that im going to do probably for twice as long again. But wanting to enjoy it again, that was difficult. That loss of identity, structure, that was something i really struggled with. Le and if you want help or support for addiction and gambling issues you can find a list of information on the bbcs action pages bbc. Co. Uk actionline. Lets get the latest weather update with lucy. How much snow is there out there, there have been warnings. There certainly have been warnings, yellow weather warnings in place for today and tomorrow. We have seen some snow showers this morning. This week will stay fairly wintry. Temperatures stay fairly wintry. Temperatures stay involved with a widespread frost and some snow at times. Staying cold. A photo from a weather watcher earlier, some snow in east sussex. Similarly wintry scenes sent in. The majority of the snow this morning has been in the south east. As we move through today, we will start to see showers easing but they will gradually drift west through the day. Away from those showers, there is a lot of dry weather, some good spells of sunshine developing as we move through the day. Brisk north easterly wind in the south which will ease as we move through the day that accentuate the fact that the temperatures are not particularly warm, mid to single figures for many of us. This evening and overnight, the wind will pick up ahead of this band of cloud and rain that will push its way into Northern Ireland and scotland. Firstly falling as rain and then sleet and snow bringing snow for Northern England, wales and into the early hours. Clearerskies, mostly dry england, wales and into the early hours. Clearer skies, mostly dry and it will be cold. 0ne hours. Clearer skies, mostly dry and it will be cold. One or two patches of freezing fog in the midlands. Behind it, heavy wintry showers feeding into the north west. A cold start tomorrow, a frosty start and some of us seeing snow on the ground first thing. It will start to edge south as we move through the day, breaking up as it does. It will become light and patchy. Behind it, bright intervals feeding in. Also, heavy and potentially thundery and wintry showers. In the south east, staying largely dry with some brightness. Temperatures not feeling very warm, maximum of four celsius. Tuesday evening, that band of snow and sleet will reinvigorate. Across east anglia and parts of the south east continuing to see clearer skies behind it. We are looking at another cold and frosty night. The weather front clears the south east as we move through the night into wednesday that already waiting in the wings is the next weather front bringing rain and the risk of snow. Dry weather ahead of the weather front. Some brightness although it will turn increasingly cloudy from the northwest. Another chilly day. Hello, its 10 00am. The uk insists it will lead the Customs Union when it leaves the eu. Is it enough to win theresa may some support with conservative voters . Theresa may is scared of making a decision. At least she has made a decision. At least she has made a decision about the Customs Union, which is unusual for her. Someone says this is the most tha nkless someone says this is the most thankless period any Prime Minister will face, catapulted into a job to ta ke will face, catapulted into a job to take us through the toughest period this country will face. Also on the programme. They were marketed as holidays without hassle but weve been told that thousands of people are finding their timeshares too complex and too costly to get out of. I try to sell it, i tried to give it away. Nobody wanted it because the maintenance fees were going up and up. We were also told, if there comes a time when you dont want it and you decide that is it, we will buy it back from you. More on our exclusive story. One man says he is £20,000 out of pocket after spending money on a time share property in spain. Is it worth getting a degree . In a speech later today an mp in charge of the Education Select Committee will say that between a fifth and a third of graduates are taking on non graduatejobs. Good morning. Heres annita in the bbc newsroom with a summary of todays news. Good morning. A downing street source has ruled out the prospect of britain staying in any kind of European Customs Union after brexit. The statement came after days in which the strong supporters of leaving had criticised theresa may for not taking a stand on the issue. The Customs Union allows goods made in the eu to move around the bloc without tariffs and with few checks, but it prevents members from striking their own free trade deals with other countries. Theres been a significant fall in the number of new cars being sold in the uk, according to figures released in the last hour. Sales fell 6. 3 in january, down to 163,000 cars from 174,000 in the same month a year ago. Most of the decline was down to a large drop in the demand for diesel cars. Customers of the Lloyds Banking group have been banned from using their credit cards to buy Virtual Currencies such as bitcoin. The decision affects all account holders with lloyds bank, bank of scotland, halifax and mbna. The group says its protecting customers from running up debts they could never repay. A new ring fenced tax to fund the nhs and social care in england has been proposed by a panel of health experts. The panel, set up by the liberal democrats, says the nhs in england should be given an extra four billion pounds. The government says it prioritsed nhs funding at the last budget, providing £2 billion for social care. The sole surviving suspect from the paris terror attacks of 2015 will go on trial in belgium today. Salah abdeslam, faces charges relating to a shoot out he had with police while on the run in belgium in 2016. He faces a second trial relating to his involvement in the paris attacks at a later date. This programme has been told that thousands of people desperate to get out of their timeshare contracts are currently unable to because it is far too complex and costly. A time share usually involves paying a one off lump sum in return for being able to use the property for an agreed number of weeks each year, every year for life. The actress, kim cattrall, has confirmed her brother has died unexpectedly, hours after appealing to fans for help in finding him. The sex and the city star had posted a photograph of Chris Cattrall on social media, saying hed disappeared from his home in alberta, canada. Canadian police say theres no reason to believe his death was suspicious. The us reality tv star, kyliejenner, confirmed on sunday that she has given birth to a baby girl. The 20 year old was rumoured to be expecting a child, but had remained quiet about her pregnancy. Jenner announced on instagram that she had given birth on the 1st of february. She apologised for keeping her followers and fans in the dark. Thats a summary of the latest bbc news more at 10. 30. Lots of you getting in touch this morning about the brexit negotiations. It is a big week. David davis, the brexit secretary talking to Michel Barnier from the u. We had a discussion with some voters earlier on about what they we re voters earlier on about what they were making over the conversations. Michelle has e mailed saying it is not good to criticise eu theresa may. Ken has treated, jacob rees mogg, i would find it easier to believe he was a friend of Sherlock Holmes or had invented the vacuum cleaner than be Prime Minister. Do get in touch with us throughout the morning, use the hashtag victoria live and if you text, you will be charged at the Standard Network rate. Heres some sport now with sarah. Lets start with the super bowl, where it was third time lucky for the Philadelphia Eagles runners up in 1980 and 2004, but the franchise finally won their first superbowl overnight. And what an upset they caused, their fans had taken to wearing dog masks in the lead up to this, such was the eagles underdog status coming into this game. But in a final that will go down as one of the best, they beat the favourites and defending champions the new England Patriots in mineappolis. Lets have a look at the touchdown theyre saying will be shown a billion times. Nick foles, who led magnificiently on the night, became the first quarterback to throw and catch touchdowns in superbowl history. He only came into the side towards the end of the regular season as an injury replacement. Imean, i mean, that is what life is about right there. We are super bowl champions, but time does stop when you look at your daughters eyes and you look at your daughters eyes and you get to celebrate this moment. I get to look my wifes eyes. My wife has been there through everything, my family has been there to everything and to be in this moment, celebrate this moment, that is what it is about. I am just grateful. And if the football is not your thing, theres always the half time show for entertainment. This year it wasJustin Timberlake wowing the crowds. The 12 minute performance included a tribute to prince, he ended up in the middle of the crowd. Where this 13 year old mayjust be the most popular person in his school today, bagging a selfie with the star. And while it doesnt take long to find that selfie online. Ryan mckenna the lucky 13 year old and it seems the internet has fallen in love with him. Selfiekid seemed to be his twitter name and now many are calling him the superbowls mvp in place of quarterback nick foles. What a start to the six nations this weekend, wales with a stunning victory over scotland and the last minute drop goal for ireland to steal the win against france on saturday, and then yesterday it was englands turn as they began their defence of the title. And it went pretty well. They ran in seven tries for a bonus point win over italy in rome. A nice six nations debut for sam simmonds though with two tries. Worry for ben youngs, the scrum half stretchered off early with a knee injury. 46 15 the final score in rome. In the womens six nations england put in a huge performance yesterday, beating italy 42 7. England captain sarah hunter went over for a hat trick of tries helping the defending champions secure the bonus point. Finally, chelsea can go third if they win at watford tonight. There was a dramatic finish at anfield. Totten substitute, victor wa nyama, smashed home this. Mo salah popped up smashed home this. Mo salah popped up again in stoppage time to score what looked like a liverpool win but there was time for a second spurs penalty. The referee deemed this foul on erik lamela. And that chloe is your sport for now. The actor, hugh grant has settled his phone hacking damages action against mirror Group Newspapers at the high court. You will remember that has been rumbling on for some time. Hugh grant has saddled the damages action against the mirror Group Newspapers. Also we are hearing Michel Barnier, the eu chief negotiator has spoken this morning and is in meetings this week with theresa may and david davis. He has said he is accelerating all of the contacts said he is accelerating all of the co nta cts in said he is accelerating all of the contacts in the brexit talks because there is not a moment to lose. Speaking as he arrived at the train station in brussels to head to london, he said, i am station in brussels to head to london, he said, iam pleased station in brussels to head to london, he said, i am pleased to catch up with david davis just ahead of the new rounds of negotiations which will begin tomorrow. My feeling is we have not a moment to lose. There is so much work so we have accelerated all the contacts, the useful contacts. We would keep an eye across any developments with that. This programme has been told that thousands of people desperate to get out of their timeshare contracts are currently unable to because it is far too complex and costly. Timeshares were very popular in the 19805 and 19905, they were marketed as holidays without the hassle, inve5tor5 were told their time shares would increase in value and be easy to get out of, whenever they wanted. But for many this didnt happen and instead theyve been left with increasing maintenance charges on a property they cant get rid off. Time share groups say the industry provides millions of people with quality holidays every year. We bought you our reporter Anna Collinson5 full report earlier, heres a short extract. It is the 19805 and hundreds of thousands of people are signing contracts which promise cheap 5un5hine contracts which promise cheap sunshine and convenient getaways. Normally in spain. Many of those people are now retired or close to it and they can no longer afford or u5e it and they can no longer afford or use their time share. So what happens then . Standing outside the lodge. Wendy met her partner in 1985. 1995. Lodge. Wendy met her partner in 1985. 1995. She was quite bumptious, but quite jolly with it. The couple decided to get a time share. The couple decided to get a timeshare. It was an escape for me, because i worked within the prison service, it was freedom from being shot within those walls. But as the years passed, the couple separated, wendy retired and anns health deteriorated. They could no longer u5e deteriorated. They could no longer use their time share but every year we re use their time share but every year were paying £900 to cover its maintenance fees. Then i tried to sell it, i tried to give it away. Nobody wanted it because the maintenance fees were going up and up. We were also told if there comes a time when you dont want it and you decide, thats it, we will buy it back from you. Never happen. Some companies are allowed time share owners to terminate agreements on request, others only allow it if a person is sick, elderly or bankrupt. Ann wa5 person is sick, elderly or bankrupt. Ann was told she was on sick enough. In october, 5he ann was told she was on sick enough. In october, she died. Ann spent the last ten yea r5 of in october, she died. Ann spent the last ten years of her life worrying about this time share, did it impact on her health . It certainly didnt help. But time beat her. Not nice. Indu5try bodies believed up to 600,000 people own time shares in the uk. Trading standards say if a person wants to exit a time share they should contact their company directly and in most cases, they will let a consumer leave. If they dont or there is a possibility of mis selling, you can get advice. Time share has a bad reputation. The time Share Companies are within interest to keep them in their time share. It is difficult to get released from them. The resort Development Organisation says it has invested significant amounts of money into investigating unethical time Share Companies. There will be some people who say you time to contract, you may not like it, but you have to stick to it. What do you say to that . Yes, foolishly i did andi say to that . Yes, foolishly i did and i didnt look deep enough into it. Every door is shutting on me, i cannot go anywhere. I cannot get free of this thing. It is like a disease, if you like, hanging over you. Your experiences of timeshares very welcome. Lets talk to, Stephen Mcglade hes a solicitor, representing people who feel theyve been mis sold time share properties. Paul gardner bougaard is chief executive of the resort development 0rganisation which represents time Share Companies. Also is robert ash, a time share investor who says he has lost over £20,000. Thank you bejoining us. Paul, i would like to start with you, you have seen the film and the longest film earlier on. Very briefly. One woman has compared her time share to living with a disease, can you understand herfrustration . Yes, we come across these cases quite frequently. I did ask the bbc last week to let us know where these results where and who the developers we re results where and who the developers were and the information wasnt available. I did see the picture this morning of that particular bungalow. That isnt a resort member by the looks of things. We have strict code of in allowing people to surrender their time share and provisions for people leaving their time share. We could have tried to help this lady but we werent given the information. We have an organisation called the time share task force which is trading standards approved. They deal with nonmember issues. There is a helpline and website. We camped on you in touch with some of these people if you feel you can assist them and that would be fantastic. call this the 8020 rule. It is legacy time shares, a lot of them. This lady was 2005, i dont know where she got it from. We have put provisions in place to help these people who are now retiring, they are not well, they have died. They all dealt with and a lot of members will allow people to surrender their time share as long as the maintenance is up today and they wish to walk away from it. 1. 2 million and round europe and 145 billion industry across the world. Time share sales were buoyant last year, world. Time share sales were buoyant last yea r, lots world. Time share sales were buoyant last year, lots of people buying time share. Most is short term and the industry is trying to sort out these people who have these long term time shares who bought backin long term time shares who bought back in the 805 and 905. Long term time shares who bought back in the 80s and 90s. Are they sorting it out . Coming back to the legacy time shares, when they first bought them they were buying the dream and they are now a nightmare. They just want dream and they are now a nightmare. Theyjust want to get out. In relation to this exit strategy that you have, iwas relation to this exit strategy that you have, i was glad to hear early on that you are willing to assist with that. More than happy. Your chairperson susan crook . Executive legal vice president. Chairperson susan crook . Executive legalvice president. She happens to be the head of Legal Counsel for diamond resorts. There is a conflict. I would like to put out an invitation, invite her, we will send a taxi, we will put her in a hotel, to look to our files. We have so many clients that fall into this category. Is that a conflict of interest . Of course not, we i trade association. That is a rotating chairperson. Yes, but. She is elected by the board. Lets not go into it personally, we have complaints against Sarah Warrington dealt with by the time share task force about the way you behave in one of your cases has gone to the legal ombudsman. For a moment, ifi may, gentlemen, because also the viewers at home will not be interested in the personal spat between you, they are interested in the thousands of people affected by this story. It is notjust sarah waddingtons solicitors involved. We spoke to a number of legal fans who say that thousands of people have been affected. Can i dealwith say that thousands of people have been affected. Can i deal with this . I know that often you have said before, this is on the fringes of the industry. People who are members of your organisation, this doesnt happen, but that is thousands of people. Its not thousands of people. Its not thousands of people. That is what we are being told by solicitors firms. people. That is what we are being told by solicitors firms. I have two brothers who are solicitors, i know how they were, they get fees. Can i get this entirely clear . Citizens Advice Bureau has said the same thing. They have and we work closely with them. Your viewers may be interested to know that it has cost our organisation over £300,000 in the last year or so to get the authorities interested in bringing fraud charges and some of these people. I am fraud charges and some of these people. Iam not fraud charges and some of these people. I am not talking about solicitors but the claims companies. Lots of claims, it used to do ppi work now do transfer to time share and other stuff. It has taken a squat years and in excess of a quart ofa squat years and in excess of a quart of a million powers to get the authority to do something about this it authority to do something about this it has taken four years. Authority to do something about this it has taken four years. What about the people who use hot housing tactics . Thats not timeshare. There are products being sold. wa nt to there are products being sold. want to bring in robert ash, listening to our conversation. Were you subjected to a hot housing technique to buy a time share . Is that what it is called . What housing . Hot rooming . In europe, yes. Explain what that is for our viewers. I had already bought two time shares in america. In florida. Excuse me. I got igota i got a totally different experience when i signed up to buy one in spain. I got that hothouse treatment. I was in the office of just over six hours. Having facts pounded at me. I definitely was looking for another time share. Because i have three grandchildren, wanted to give them one each as part of a legacy. They rounded on this. They hammered home that i was going to get a special deal, dont worry about finance, we will get finance for you. Everything was hunky dory as far as i was concerned when i came out. After six hours. I was ready to sign my life away, by the time i came out of the office. Because you are exhausted by the whole thing . Yeah. I were diabetic, there was no food during those six hours. I was ready to go and have a meal and take my medication. To revive me. What would you say to paul who is sitting here with me who says these tactics are not used to buy time share . It was the hard sell. I was definitely given the hard sell. I was told lies. Which i had to prove later. I actually bought a six bed apartments. Mixed in with the paperwork at the end of the deal, which i had to sign, were reams and reams and reams of it was a disclaimer saying that property have to call and theyd given me something else. I didnt read the small print. Ijust wanted to get out of the office. I found out four weeks after when they wrote and told me my cooling off period was over. That i had agreed to this. Buying this other property. It was nice, must admit, when i went out to see it the following year it was nice but it wasnt what i wanted in the first place. Let me get paul to respond to that. Again, we dont know who the developer was, we dont approve of this sort of hot selling techniques. These are heavily ventilated by two time share regulations. Are you saying that any organisation or anybody who is selling time share who is there a member of the resource to Relevant Organisation would never and has never use these tactics . Should not. Should not, but has not . Listen, we would always like to know when there are instances of this because we will crack down. If you contact us, we will send you the details. We have thousands, literally, about 2000 clients and we have witness statements. They all show this same procedure, this hothouse, irresponsible lending, a irresponsible lending, a irresponsible lending. In situations where people say we cannot afford to buy a time share and somehow they get credit. We have situations where people are 70 years of age, fall within your category, and instead of being told he can get out in five years, they are sold a fractional time share which binds them in for another 15 years. They are not told about this policy. We have a code of practice, which is one thing, it is meaningless. It is unenforceable. It isa meaningless. It is unenforceable. It is a voluntary code. It is not compulsory. It is not voluntary. We have thrown out members for not abiding. You have put them in a noted that for three years, what does that achieve . No no. We are like a trade association. And youre bankrolled by the time Share Companies. Correct. Your main interest is the time Share Companies. What about people with dementia . We have people who are handicapped and people have died as in that part you saw, they are not allowed out. It is like pulling. Teeth from. We cannot regulate those who are not within the trade association. That is not our problem. As you may know, the European Commission has. We will send a taxi down. Will you ask that question, will you assist . We will send a taxi down, we will put her in a hotel and she can look through our files. You will have to talk to susan crook about that, i cant speakfor susan crook about that, i cant speak for her. Tell her to give us a call, we invite her. Look at our files and all of the ones that come within our criteria, illness, the ones who are financially. You know, cant afford it or 75, you will let them out, can you say that . Its in the code, yes. Good. Thats what we want to hear. People are getting in touch to share their experiences of time share. Sue on Facebook Says my parents were conned into buying a time share in malta with a company i am not going to mention because i dont know whether we are able to. They were unable to use it for over 12 years due to nursing my sister who was terminally ill and then my father being ill. Now my mother is terminally ill and my father is frail. They are in the 805. They continued to pay for it, the £1000 per year, they have tried to sell it to no avail and i have stopped them paying for it now. I have written numerous times to this company to just take it back. But they wont, they sent threatening letters asking for money. The problem is, they know the time share is worth nothing. It is shocking and telling that they trade from the isle of man. Paul, what would you say . What should she do . Go on to our Consumer Services e mail info. Contact us and we look into it. If they are not in the organisation we will send it the task force and they will send it the task force and they will look at it. Can i make the point that i was shouted down last time, the European Commission when they brought the second directive in in 2012, which every regular its the sale of time share. They set up a review of time share two years after that the way the red elation was working. A full consultation with lawyers, the industry and consumer association. The conclusion of the commission was that there was no need for further legislation. Of the commission was that there was no need forfurther legislation. We have had endless discussions with them about this, biz and they take them about this, biz and they take the same view. Were now talking to the same view. Were now talking to the ministry ofjustice and talking to the Financial Ombudsman Service about the abuse of owners by claims companies. But why dont you. There are reams of things where people are saying time share is a dirty word. People dont want to touch it. Its in your interest to get people involved in time share, why dont you clean this whole industry of . Im sorry, we have cleaned. We have teamed the industry up. Listen, for a moment. If people are trying to get at desperately for years trying to get out of the time share, why dont you help them and make it easier . M would make time share more attractive. Are you listening, chloe . 0ccu pancy rates. Attractive. Are you listening, chloe . Occupancy rates. Answer the question, why dont you help the people. We do, this is what we do, we spend all of our time helping people. Most of our Major Developers allow surrender of their time share if they get to the stage where they no longer wish to use it. As long as their maintenance is up to date with various companies, they can either exit as they want or they can pay two years maintenance fees and exit. There are lots of revisions. Why should they pay . There are Resale Companies that resell peoples time share for them, there are exit clu bs, time share for them, there are exit clubs, there is a big exit club which allows people to offer their time share to the exit club. Which allows people to offer their timeshare to the exit club. They are scam clubs. They are there a compareg out a combafltt, out there, i is a company out there. I cant name as is a company opt there. I cant name as as ife the look , is a company opt there. I cant name as 651527 7 the look 5 i a 5; when 55. When ~ won. Ifiliff iii . they they go they go any and 5 ~ with w. F and 5 ~withthe. Time and they continue withthe club. There i mseesfiae of who want to exit. Cant. The who want to exit and cant. The people are exiting. I have checked with bankers and brokers and finance companies. Quick checks, the time share time talks task force works with the trading standards. I would like to say that we have clear examples of irresponsible lending, situations where people are elderly, they might not want, of ford or get rid of theirtime share. All we are not want, of ford or get rid of their time share. All we are saying is that it should be a compulsory and legal requirement that they are allowed to exit, take a lead from the israeli time share. You give one years notice, you pay maintenance and you out. You should not have to pay to war three years because you have to mitigate your loss. Why should they will english a time share, pay three years . You had taken it back, you sell it and you read that they are allowed to exit, ta ke read that they are allowed to exit, take a leaf from the israeli tif§£it§ j§5fil53§f52;. Give m 5 55§f5to 5 5 555 555 to pay 5 555 555 to pay to out. You should not have to pay to war three bgsgusg you have to war three years because you have to mitigate your loss. Why should they within which a time share, pay three years . You have taken it back, you sell it and you re let it, your profiting. It is notjust the companies. Their arsenal owner run resorts who actually, if they are not ina resorts who actually, if they are not in a position where they can ta ke two not in a position where they can take two or three years maintenance, the burden falls on the other time share is to make that up. The burden falls on the other timeshare is to make that up. You can carry on this conversation in the green room, you can switch the taz and hopefully we will get this resolved. That max which details. The director of diamond resorts, the invitation is open for her to look at her files our files. Invitation is open for her to look at her files our files. I will leave that to her. Thank you. The high court will rule today whether a computer hacker, lauri love, can be extradited to america. Mr love is accused of stealing information from the Us Central Bank, the army, the defence department, nasa and the fbi. His lawyers have argued that the 32 year old, who has aspergers syndrome, might kill himself. Five years ago, someone posing as a ups courier turned up at a family home in suffolk. 28 year old lauri love was called downstairs to sign for the package. It was all a deception, a police sting to catch a man now accused of hacking into the fbi, the Us Central Bank and americas Missile Defence agency. Greetings, citizens of the world. We are anonymous. Its suspected love was part of anonymous, a secretive network of hackers, which targets governments and companies. Anonymous are a strange group. They tend to hack not so much because they want to gain from their hacking, they do it because one of their beliefs is that all Corporate Information should be in the public domain, so if people are storing personal data and private data, they want to release it. If they think people are behaving badly, they want to expose that. Two weeks ago today, a line was crossed. Two weeks ago today, aaron swartz was killed. Love is accused of being one of four anonymous hackers behind 0peration last resort, an online protest which followed the suicides of a high profile internet activist. With aarons death, we can wait no longer. The time has come to show the United States department ofjustice and its affiliates the true meaning of infiltration. As payback, its alleged anonymous broke into Computer Systems belonging to the us agencies, including the fbi, the us army and nasa. The americans say they have evidence lauri love himself downloaded thousands of staff records, including credit card details. He allegedly wrote to other hackers with the message, yassss. I am invincible. There is no suggestion, though, that he made money from this or that any individual was harmed. This is particularly serious, but i think its more the embarrassment issue. There is no reason my anybody called a hacker or a security researcher should get into nasa or the federal reserve. The us investigation command said they traced some of the attacks back to romania through a paypal account. Instead, hes wanted by us authorities for accessing us computers in three different states. Lauris spoke to us on this programme back in 2016 he told victoria he was facing a jail term in the us of up to 99 years. Legal experts from the United States have calculated i could be facing up to 99 years, if there are three trials and the charges are presented in a certain way. The department ofjustice then makes an offer where theyll present different charges and theyll reccommend a lower sentence. The problem is, 19 out of 20 people take this offer and i think that maybe demonstrates that theres some problems with that system. Why . Because if 19 out of 20 people never have a trial, im not sure if thats really due process, im not sure if its really justice. Can you get your head around this figure of 99 years . Its quite absurd. I mean, any more than a few decades, you dont really see an end to it. And because theres very poor conditions in us prisons for people with Mental Health difficulties. I think that i would be at risk of dying in some unfortunate way. Right. Thats a serious fear for you, isnt it . Yeah, and this was argued in the extradition hearing, because of depression and aspergers and because the us prisons, theyre not quite as competent as the uk prisons in providing therapeutic assistance to people at suicide risk. You tend to be kept in small room by yourself. Here in the uk, they would attempt to make contact with families and to try and support the person whos at risk. The High Court Judges the high courtjudges do not uphold the appeal and if that is the case we will seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court and we gather that will be granted and it will be dealt with in the highest court in the land. The other alternative is they do uphold the appeal which means larry will not be the subject of an extradition request in going to america but he will face the sanction of the judicial process in this country. If you are successful today and it is upheld the american authorities will say, we will leave it at that . If the High Court Upholds the appeal, it will be the end of the process as far as extradition is concerned. How is he this morning, head of this . He is like a volcano that has not corrupted and will never a rock. Hes full of demotion and very intense. What is the most concerned about, the extradition itself or facing the Legal Process . He has made it clear to us, he will never go to america. When i said to him, how will you stop it . He said, i will take my life. At that point, a certainty comes into his eyes and he cannot cope with the process of going to another country. His fear is greater of going to america than it is of living. So your concern is about the Mental Health provision he would receive in a usjail . About the Mental Health provision he would receive in a us jail . Yes, i have read some of the stuff americans produced about how their Mental Health provision goes and it is woefully inadequate in comparison to what we do in this country. In this country we try to normalise the situation of a prisoner who has Mental Health issues, we try to get them to go to the gym, go to the library, get a job, them to go to the gym, go to the library, get ajob, to library, get a job, to associate. We support them but we try to normalise their situation. In america they put you in isolation and on suicide watch. It is not a good system. For you, the best outcome is your son would face the british legal system . Yes. The irony thing is, the good news would be our son would end up in prison in this country, which is better than america. Not many families would look at that as good news, but we would. Has he spoken to you about the charges he would face and whether he did carry out what he is accused of . Four years ago when this happened, i made a conscious decision, myjob would be his father and support him and not be his inquisitor about what he has done. I have not questioned him over what he did ordidnt do, have not questioned him over what he did or didnt do, i have just supported him. As a parent, we know our kids, we get a sense of what they are capable of and are not capable of . If it happens in the home, and it is a domestic issue owing his dad and i will find out what is going on and i will look him in the eye. But this is something much bigger. I realised i would be ina much bigger. I realised i would be in a difficult situation if i knew the rights and wrongs of it and i chose not to do that. That way i could be objective and show Compassionate Care for him. I have made it clear to him, if he has done wrong, you should face the consequences. Wrong, you should face the consequences. But i dont think the consequences. But i dont think the consequences should be to be taken away to another country for decades and locked up. If he turned round to you and said, i did do this, would you and said, i did do this, would you find it difficult to defend him and come on programmes like this and talk about your son the way you do . Maybe i have not been clear, i am on these programmes, i maybe i have not been clear, i am on these programmes, lam maybe i have not been clear, i am on these programmes, i am doing this and heading up this campaign because i dont want my son to go to america. It is not that i dont want him to face justice, ijust want it to be in britain. Can you understand why the american authorities are so twitchy, you look up investigations taking place russian hacking, it is a huge issue for the us authorities. Can you appreciate from their point of view whyd they would like it to be tried in their courts, in their country . There have been 12 cases in the last few years of individuals in britain hacking into various government establishments in america. Everyone of them been tried in this country. Why should my son be singled out . When 9 11 took place, there were two separate federal jurisdictions place, there were two separate federaljurisdictions in the american said there would be one trial in new york. When it comes to my son, there is a vindictive in this. There are three servers involved and they won three separate trials. Each trial can inflict separate punishments onto my son, added onto the previous one and that can add up to 99 years. This is injustice, it is disruption. That decision is expected today. Still to come. Doctors say theres no hope for seriously ill 20 month old alfie evans as his family try to block a decision to switch off his life support. Well hear from parents whove had similar decisions to make. Have you bought Virtual Currency like bitcoin . Lloyds bank have banned their customers from buying it on their credit cards for fear of them running up debts they will never repay. Well find out why. The bbc News Headlines this morning a downing street source has ruled out the prospect of the uk staying in any kind of European Customs Union after brexit. The statement follows days of contrasting comments from some cabinet ministers over whether britain might remain in a bespoke Customs Union with the eu, as opposed to the current arrangement. Opponents of staying in a European Customs Union say it would prevent the uk from striking free trade deals with other countries. Theres been a significant fall in the number of new cars being sold in the uk, according to figures released this morning. Sales fell 6. 3 in january, down to 163,000 cars from 174,000 in the same month a year ago. Most of the decline was down to a large drop in the demand for diesel cars. Hugh grant has settled his claim out of cause far hacking by mirror Group Newspapers. It is understood he has accepted a 6 figure sum which he has donated to the group hacked 0ff. The sole survivor of the paris attacks at the bataclan and stade de france is on trial. He faces a trial involving the paris attacks at a later date. Lets get some sport from sarah. It was a thrilling super bowl overnight in minnesota. The Philadelphia Eagles beat the favourites, new England Patriots 41 33 for their first super bowl title. As always the half time show didnt disappoint and entertaining the 67,000 strong crowd this year was Justin Timberlake. England began the defence of their six nations title with a comfortable victory over italy. They ran in seven tries in rome for a bonus point win. 46 15 the final score. And liverpool against spurs at anfield served up a frenetic finish. It ended 2 2 after a goal of the season contender, two injury time goals, two penalties one missed and then the next scored by harry kane for his 100th premier league goal. Thats your headlines for now. Lots of you reacting to the conversation we had with the father of larry love. An e mail from steve, if you cannot do the time, dont do the crime. His illness didnt stop him from doing the crime. Any mail says he should have be saved himself. Another one says right on the authorities paying to make their systems a re authorities paying to make their systems are secure. If he can hack, than other countries can hack back. Keep your thoughts coming. Today is expected to be the final day of a hearing by the court of appeal which will determine if alder hay Childrens Hospital in liverpool can withdraw life support from 20 month old alfie eva ns. The hospital say he is in a semi vegetative state and that its in his best interests to withdraw mechanical ventilation. His parents tom and kate evans want to take their son to italy where a doctor has agreed to treat him. Alfie, whos been in a coma for over a year, has a serious neurological condition that hasnt been formally diagnosed. A heart breaking situation for any parent. Earlier i spoke to consultant Pediatrician Dr ravi jaya ram and steph nimmo, whose12 year old daughter was on life support in hospital. She had to make a similar decision to aflies parents. She told us what happened when her daughter daisy was born with costello syndrome. Costello syndrome is a very rare, completely sporadic and very rare gene mutation and the chances of having a child with costello syndrome are one in 1. 25 million, nothing to do with any gene or anything we carried. It was like a euro millions lottery win, having a child like daisy. She was born very prematurely. Just before christmas in 2004. Not long afterwards, she was diagnosed with costello syndrome and we were told that was a life limiting condition. The doctors couldnt tell us how long she would live for, but we knew she wouldnt live until adulthood. It was clear, as the years went on, that she clearly had a very extreme form of the syndrome and was clearly quite unwell. She was in a hospice for many years. With childrens hospices, she was referred to the hospice when she was six months old. The hospice provides respite care. Its very different to adult services. They were very much showing the path with us, are Community Nurses came out and helped with some of the medical interventions. She would go there and she would have respite stays. And what she called sleepovers. We were able to have some family time there. We also knew the reason we had been referred to the hospice was that at some point, daisy would die and she would eventually be going to the hospice for possibly her end of life or afterwards. As if that wasnt difficult enough to deal with, during her palliative care, that is when your husband andy was diagnosed with a really aggressive form of cancer. Daisy was around nine and andy became very ill quickly. And was diagnosed with stage four colorectal cancer. And died a year later. I was then left as a single mother of four children, one of whom was very ill, knowing i was going to have to be here at her end of life. She was deteriorating, without my husband by my side. So youre trying to deal with all of this and then you have that conversation, that conversation that i can only imagine is the conversation you dont want to have with those doctors. Did you expect them to come and say we feel that we should withdraw support to daisy and she should be allowed to die . In some ways we were very fortunate. Because daisy lived longer than we anticipated, those conversations happened gradually over the years and we were very much in daisys hands. It was never clear cut. You find with children it is never clear cut, they very much call the shots. We were able to have some very open conversations very early on. Daisy was referred to the hospital Palliative Services at the age of seven. We started having conversations about end of life planning. At what point would we go, in terms of intervention. For us, it was all about daisys quality of life until the very, very end, when literallyjust one year after andy died she was taken into intensive care, she was very ill with sepsis, she was put on life support. It was at that point we were all very aware that there was not very much more that could be done. I was very pleased that wed had those conversations. Although i was having to make the worst decision a parent could ever make for their child, i was fortunate to be in a place where i had gone through that in my mind. And knew that i was doing the best thing for my daughter. Its one thing to go through it in your mind, isnt it . Separate yourself emotionally, as a parent. But to say those words to the doctor and do it. Yes. Its just. No parent should ever have to go through it. It is the most horrific thing. I remember it so clearly, daly was in intensive care in great 0rmond street hospital on a life support machine. She was so poorly. There were potentially some options that maybe could have brought her a couple more days. Idid not i did not want my daughter to be in pain any more. It was daisys time. Asa pain any more. It was daisys time. As a parent, is the most selfless thing you can do to say i will do Everything Possible for my child and because i love them so much, i need to let them go and be in peace. I had to the nod to the doctor and say, yeah, switch the machine off. Ina way say, yeah, switch the machine off. Inawayi say, yeah, switch the machine off. In a way i knew i was doing the right thing for daisy. I felt i was taking her away from all the medical pain and intervention that she had been through. After she died, i was able to reclaim her. We brought her home. It was incredible. Because of the hospice, the hospice night nurse laid out like old mattress bed on her home hospice nurse. The undertakers brought her home. She was there without any troops, without any beeps and monitors. Myself and the children felt we had daisy back she was there without any beeps. It was healing. It was an important part of the grieving process and giving her a good death although it was incredibly medicalised and sad. We felt we had honoured her wishes and brought her home. All that you have told us about that incredibly painful journey, i am sure you can identify with what the parents of alfie evans are going through right now. My heart goes out to them. I know the pain that they are going through. I cant comment on their specific situation. I can reach out and say i feel your pain because it is something no parent should ever have to go through. Its horrific. And something that never leaves you. Absolutely. In a way, going through that has made me a better person. And having to accompany my daughter on herfinaljourney has and having to accompany my daughter on her finaljourney has definitely made me grow as a person. You just put things in a different perspective. Incredibly moving to to staffs story and incredibly difficult to stephs story. To have those conversations that you cant do any more for their child must be incredibly difficult. As doctors and nurses we wanted to our best. We have conversations we dont want to have. I was listening to daisys story and thinking that is just have. I was listening to daisys story and thinking that isjust how it should be in that situation. Most of the time it is great, we see a sick child, we see them and they get better. The situation we are dealing with and with little alfie in liverpool is different. Whats clear from what we have just heard is that alfies parents are currently in a very different place from where daisys mother was at the end. The example given just before daisys mother was at the end. The example givenjust before is that the fact that when the decision was made, there had been plenty of time, there was sharing of information, everyone was singing from the same hymn book. But with alfie at the moment, its very different because there is a big difference of opinion between the medical professionals, that further treatment is futile. Is there any chance he will get any better or we just prolonging his death . And alfies parents knew where they feel everything should be done because there is still hope. This is a very difficult situation. 0urjob as doctors and nurses is to dictate to parents and say tanner listed it, this is what you must do. And to say in a paternalistic manner. We must collaborate with parents to help them to come to terms with everything to understand the information and help them to make informed decisions together. Could you explain for us and for people who are watching at home, how is that decision reached . How many doctors are involved . What sort of time frame are we talking about . Its as many as it takes. The problem is that in situations like daisys where she had a diagnosis and it was known from the time of diagnosis that she would have a life limiting condition, daisys mum and dad knew from the start this would happen at some point, there are two situations where there could be the acute situation for example, a well child is involved in a road traffic accident, they are on life support and they are brain dead. Those are ha rd and they are brain dead. Those are hard decisions. But it is an immediate occurrence. It makes a bit more sense. What we are dealing with with alfie, one of the difficulties, he doesnt have a specific named diagnosis. As a result, its quite ha rd diagnosis. As a result, its quite hard to prognosticate. Having said that, reading the information and bearin that, reading the information and bear in mind the only information i haveis bear in mind the only information i have is from press reports, i dont know the intimate details of the case that it appears from scams and electrical tests of his brain, his brain function is minimal. When you discuss that with parents, the parents may understand very quickly that there is no hope here. But they may think, well, what if there is hope . In this situation, other doctors have been involved. They have doctors from outside the hospital and other countries to see him, who also agreed in this situation that further treatment is futile. The timing and numbers of doctors very much depend on the individual situation. As we were talking, it made me think that, actually, you and andy had had that conversation before his diagnosis and before he died. And you are on the same page, you both felt the same. It must be incredibly difficult if one parent thinks one thing and another thinks another. Who decides whats best for the child . I know. Ultimately it is about the child. Its such an emotive thing. We were very fortu nate. Its such an emotive thing. We were very fortunate. Andy and i talked and talked and we were in agreement. When it came to the end, although i was on my own, i knew that andy would agree with me that it was time to switch daisys life support off. I found myself having to almost block it out, the emotion, to become almost robotic in trying to make rational decisions. How can you make a rational decision about your childs life . Its your baby. I gave birth to her, i would do anything to have her back with me now. But i know having her back with me now, she was never going to survive for that long and i didnt want to see her in any more pain. It is the ha rd est her in any more pain. It is the hardest thing in the world. Every situation is so different. That was steph nimmo, whose12 year old daughter was on life support in hospital she had to make a similar decision to aflie evans parents and consultant Pediatrician Dr ravi jayaram. A decision in the alfie evans case is expected later in the week. Lots of you sharing your thoughts on this. Martin on Facebook Says pa rents this. Martin on Facebook Says parents should let go, the child cant breathe unaided. Gary on Facebook Says sorry for alfies pa rents Facebook Says sorry for alfies parents but the child is in a semi vegetative state and estimated loss of 70 of his brain nerve fibre. When his family was to keep them alive, after all, what person was to lose a loved one, the question is, is it fair to alfie . Thank you for your comments. Lloyds Banking Group has banned its customers from buying bitcoin on their credit cards following a sharp fall in the value of the digital currency. Theyre concerned they could end up footing the bill for unpaid debts should the price continue to fall. Well find out why shortly, but first, heres everything you need to know about bitcoin, courtesy of radio 1 newsbeat. Lets start with the basics. Did anyone read that article about bitcoin i sent you . Bitcoin is like cash, but its digital. No notes, no coins. And like any money, you can spend it anywhere that will take it. Theres a big industry around bitcoin. Or you can buy and sell it, because the value of bitcoin goes up and down. Worst luck in the bitcoin market. But unlike pounds, dollars and euros, bitcoin is not made or backed by governments or banks. Which means it isnt regulated and cant be traced back to specific individuals. And that makes it controversial. Theres a limited supply of 21 million bitcoins on servers out there and to get them they need to be mined. To earn a set amount of coins, you just solve complex mathematical problems using computer software. I say just, but theyre really, really hard mathematical problems. So while it seems like you crack the codes to get the coins, theres a lot more to it. The reason why many people are so keen to get their hands on some bitcoin is the same reason areas like canary wharf and wall street exist. Profit. Really sky high profits. Its value soared by over 1000 last year, leading to investors jumping on the bandwagon, making the price surge even further. You may certainly make a lot of money. But if youre thinking about putting your life savings into trading bitcoin, id say its probably not going to be that safe. But now theres been a sharp fall in the value of Digital Currencies including bitcoin, prompting fears about people running up debts. For example, if you spent £14,000 on your credit card to buy bitcoin in december, the value of the Virtual Currency has taken a hit of nearly 60 between mid december and today. Meaning that, as of this morning, £14,000 may be owed to the Credit Card Company for something thats worth only £5,700. A straight forward loss of over £8,000 in a little more than a month. Simon taylor is a specialist in Digital Banking and has advised Central Banks and governments on digital currency. Simon, first of all, huge rise in bitcoin and now i drop, is itjust correcting himself or is there some other reason . Its hard to say what is causing it. It has been very volatile. A lot of people as it said in your video package, people rushed in hoping to profit from a boom and with every boom there is a bust. U nfortu nately with every boom there is a bust. Unfortunately that has real human consequences. A lot of its net forums have talked about cryptocurrency s and the number one post they have is suicide prevention, this has a real human cost. Youve missed the boat a bit with bitcoin. If you invest now. Lots of people have made huge amounts of money that if you invest now. Amounts of money that if you invest now. Leiua is the nature of a bubble. People really only notice if the price has gone on for a few months in a row. And if you get in in december when the price is high and people take their money out you are and people take their money out you a re left and people take their money out you are left with something that is not as valuable as it used to be. There will potentially be clamp downs. Reynolds can use Digital Currencies for money laundering. Reynolds can use Digital Currencies for moneylaundering. We have seen governments and regulators starting to look at how they clamp down on cryptocurrency use and abuse. Cryptocurrencies can be used for negative purposes. But so can any currency. You can use cash to buy drugsjust as currency. You can use cash to buy drugs just as well as you can use bitcoin to buy illicit goods. The nature is different. The clamp downs need to be sensible. I fear they might go too far. There is huge potential with the technology after all. Thank you for dropping by. Simon taylor, an expert on bitcoin. Victorias back tomorrow and shell be marking the 100 Year Anniversary since women got the vote with a special version of election blind dates. I will be tuning in, i love that. Thank you for your company, have a lovely day. A cold and for some of us icy start to the day to day, last night we saw wintry showers coming in and this morning. Some of us have seen a touch of snow this morning, this photo sent in by a weather in kent. Today, dry and bright weather, good spells of sunshine, scattering is wintry showers coming in off the east coast graduate drifting west. Not feeling particularly warm, temperatures in the mid single figures. 0vernight, the wind will pick up in the north west. Cloud increasing and outbreaks of rain, sleet and snow pushing into scotland, Northern England and wales as we move through the night. It will be drier in the south and one or two patches of freezing fog not out of question for the midlands. These are temperatures in the cities but it will be cold in the countryside. The snow will make its way south east but dying out. Behind it, more in the way of brightness and some heavy wintry showers. Feeling cold across the boa rd. This is bbc news, and these are the top stories to downing street as it rules out have not a minute to lose, we to a have not a minute to lose, we 5 to a deal. Over the gunfight that saw him arrested. A call for a new ring fenced tax to fund the nhs and social care in england. The thousands who cant get out of their timeshare contracts because theyre too complex and too costly. Also, the largest all female group to ski coast to coast across antarctica. Is the Ice Maiden Team took just 62 days to complete their thousand mile expedition