good morning. it is going to be fairly cloudy and wet today across the central swathes of the uk. to the central swathes of the uk. to the south of that mostly dry and mild. in the north, blustery showers with gales in north—west scotland. details later. good morning. it's wednesday, 13th march. rishi sunak is facing calls to hand back millions of pounds donated to the conservative party by a businessman accused of making racist comments about the mp, diane abbott. tech boss frank hester is reported to have said ms abbott made him want to hate all black women, and that she should be shot. the prime minister called the comments racist and wrong. our political correspondent hannah miller has more. hello, rishi. how are you? very nice to see you. when rishi sunak made this visit to a mill near leeds in november, his helicopter ride had been provided by one of his party's biggest donors, frank hester, who last year donated £10 million to the conservative party, now alleged to have made comments that the prime minister spokesperson has described as racist and wrong. "it's like trying not to be racist. but you see diane abbott on the tv," frank hester is reported to have said in 2019, "and you just want to hate all black women because she's there, and i don't hate all black women at all, but i think she should be shot." mr hester has apologised and said that he abhors racism. in a statement he said that he accepts that he made comments that were rude about diane abbott, but said his criticism had nothing to do with her gender, nor the colour of her skin. the prime minister has suggested that he accepts that apology, but today he's likely to face questions about what will happen to the money frank hester donated. labour are calling for it to be given back. they're absolutely reprehensible comments. rishi sunak should now apologise to diane abbott, and the £10 million the tory party have taken from this individual, rishi sunak should order that money to be paid back. last night a leading member of one conservative pressure group suggested it could be used to promote ethnic minority groups. i would hope that actually hq would use that money to invest in grassroots. there are so many bame activists in the conservative party, there are bame groups and forums, and i think that actually, so many of them are so under supported, that it would be a perfect opportunity to actually improve that engagement. diane abbott has described the alleged comments as frightening, and reported them to the police unit tasked with investigating alleged crimes against mps. but for rishi sunak, a prime minister who stood in downing street and warned against racism and extremism in politics, questions remain about the language used by some of those who support him. hannah miller, bbc news. some of those questions are likely to be asked at prime minister's questions today. henry is there at downing street. this questions today. henry is there at downing street.— downing street. this is likely to dominate? _ downing street. this is likely to dominate? almost _ downing street. this is likely to dominate? almost certainly. i downing street. this is likely to i dominate? almost certainly. there are two questions. 0ne dominate? almost certainly. there are two questions. one is about the money donated to the conservative party by frank hester. and the other is about rishi sunak pass judgment. let's start with the money. frank hester gave £10 million to the conservative partyjust hester gave £10 million to the conservative party just last year. by conservative party just last year. by only one's yardstick, that is an awful lot of money. in practical terms, especially in an election year, you can understand why the conservatives would be so reluctant to hand it back. but those calls to do so are certainly going to intensify at prime minister's questions today. i would be shocked if sir keir starmer doesn't mention at this row. it may well even form the basis of his six questions. i would be shocked if other labour mps do not take the opportunity to grill rishi sunak about it. getting to the question of rishi sunak pass judgment, i think his ability to defend himself, to defend the conservative party because my position on this, has been made harder by the topsy—turvy handling of this row yesterday. the conservative party initially, via mel stride, a cabinet minister, embraced frank hester�*s defence of the comments alleged to have been made in the guardian. we should note that we have not independently verified those comments for ourselves. even conservative mps i spoke to yesterday, who thought the conservatives shouldn't give the money back, was surprised they adopted frank hester�*s zone defence. it flood like an error ofjudgment then. given rishi sunak ended up calling the comment races, by the end of the day it clearly was seen as an error ofjudgment in downing street. when you read this far behind in the polls, you can't afford that many errors ofjudgment. thank you. we will talk about that later. we will also talk to a government minister about this and other things. there is another big issue the government wanted to focus on, sally. yes, it is this. the government is introducing new legislation to automatically quash convictions relating to the post office it scandal. a compensation scheme will also be extended, to help branch managers who were not convicted of crimes. but who lost money due to flaws in the horizon system. colletta smith reports. it's been nearly three years since the first 39 subpostmasters won the legal victory at the court of appeal to overturn their convictions. but despite the legal precedent, it's been a painfully slow process for others to follow suit and have their criminal records cleared. rather than opening the floodgates, there's only been a quiet drip of people being exonerated. the post office minister told bbc breakfast in january that things were going to change. when the first convictions were overturned in 2021, we thought there would be a huge wave of people coming forward to overturn those convictions. we probably hadn't anticipated some of the nervousness around people might have about reopening their case, about going back through a legal process, about interacting with the post office again. so that's why we'd be looking at different options in terms of overturning these convictions more rapidly, and indeed compensating people more rapidly. janet skinner was one of those who won that high court battle. but she's been less than impressed with what's happened since then. is the government going to take back control over the post office? currently, the post office, they are orchestrating convictions, who has a conviction overturned. they're in control of the compensation. they are now classified as the criminals. so why are they having the power to control everything? today that question has begun to be answered. the law being introduced means that hundreds of people still living with wrongful convictions for theft, fraud and false accounting, will now be automatically cleared. if they come forward, there'll be no court process needed, and they'll get access to immediate interim compensation. those not convicted, but who lost money because of the horizon scandal, can now receive a sum of £75,000, and anyone who's already settled for less than that can have their payments topped up to this level. a gradual unpicking of years of injustice. collette smith, bbc news. failed asylum seekers are to be offered up to £3,000 to move to rwanda under a new voluntary home office scheme. the plan is aimed at migrants and foreign criminals with no legal right to remain in the uk, but who cannot be sent back to their home country. labour said the public would treat the plan with scepticism. the labour party has promised to allow a vote on assisted dying if it wins the next general election. sir keir starmer made the pledge in a phone call with the broadcaster and campaigner dame esther rantzen, who has stage four lung cancer. the issue was last voted on by mps nine years ago. two people, arrested in connection with an investigation into a funeral directors in hull, have been released on bail. the bodies of 35 people, and what's thought to be the ashes of a number of others, have now been removed from the site. police have called the incident horrific and traumatising. the first minster of wales, mark drakeford will give evidence to the covid inquiry today. he's expected to face questions over the speed of his response to the pandemic, and tensions between his government and downing street at the time. our wales correspondent, hywel griffith reports. as the man leading wales through the pandemic, mark drakeford gained unprecedented power over people's daily lives, announcing where they could go and who they could see. gradually, his government took a different path to the rest of the uk. by the autumn of 2020, that involved wales having its own separate firebreak lockdown. we have now reached the difficult decision to introduce a two week firebreak. that decision, and others like banning the sale of nonessential goods, were lauded by some and lamented by others, as mark drakeford stressed the need for caution, moving more slowly out of lockdown than other parts of the uk. at his first appearance before the inquiry, the first minister accepted there were flaws in the welsh government's pandemic planning, distracted by brexit and other things. since then, the inquiry has heard his government moved slowly, even after the virus arrived in europe. his relationship with the former prime minister, borisjohnson, has also been laid bare. months went past in the pandemic without the meeting. the inquiry will want to know what went wrong, and if party politics played a part. the questions come just as mr drakeford prepares to leave the political stage. next week he'll stand down as first minister. the inquiry then gives him a last chance to frame his legacy. hywel griffiths, bbc news. a bbc investigation has found dog attacks across england and wales increased by more than 20% last year, compared to the previous 12 months. experts cite a rise in behavioural problems owed to puppies bought during lockdown, who have been missing out on normal socialising. us presidentjoe biden and his predecessor donald trump have both secured their parties' nominations for november's presidential election — prompting a rematch of the 2020 race. our north america correspondent david willis joins us now. so, here we go again? absolutely. it is deja vu all over again. now these ladies formally said for a repeat of the 2020 american presidential election, trump versus biden. in the last couple of hours both candidates haveissued last couple of hours both candidates have issued a statement saying they are honoured to be there party's nominee. joe biden faced only token opposition in his bid to land the democratic party nomination. donald trump won 1a of the 15 state contest at super tuesday last week. and he has done extremely well, proving something of a juggernaut through this whole process, despite the fact he is facing currently more than 90 criminal charges stemming from four separate criminal cases. now what remains to be seen, of course, is what the voters will make of all of this. recent opinion polls have shown that the age of the candidates is an issue. donald trump is 77, joe biden 81. and the majority of those questioned for a recent poll said they would have preferred other candidates, and that they believe at 81 years of age, joe biden would simply be too old for another four years in the white house. david, thank you. the united states says it expects a transitional council to be appointed in haiti soon, following the resignation of the prime minister ariel henry. it comes as the country continues to suffer from a wave of gang violence. our central america correspondent will grant has more. this is the dajabon crossing between the dominican republic and haiti. and we've already seen the dominican authorities deporting haitians back into the poorest country of the americas, at a time that it's facing its most acute humanitarian crisis since the 2010 earthquake. it's also that they're being deported into a political vacuum. prime minister ariel henry stood down, citing the fact that his situation was untenable, given the violence on the streets of the capital, port au prince. his decision came after the caricom group of caribbean nations, and the us secretary of state, held an emergency meeting injamaica, and made clear that they saw the road map towards a transitional administration in haiti, starting with his resignation. so what happens next? well, the truth of the matter is that, unfortunately, things can still get much, much worse in haiti. the gangs are going to feel considerably emboldened by the fact that they have forced mr henry from power, and they already control around 80% of the capital, port au prince. and the hopes for a 1000 strong kenyan led security force are beginning to hit difficulties, as the kenyan authorities themselves are saying that you do not deploy police to the streets of port au prince without a sitting administration. researchers say the planet's largest trees, the giant redwood, are thriving in britain where they can now be found in a bigger number than in their native california. the trees — which can grow up to 90 metres tall — have a staggering 3,000—year life span. they aren't quite as big as those found in california. it's just they haven't been here quite as long — only about 150 years — but they may soon become the tallest trees in the uk. looks like they already have! what i don't understand is how come they love it here so much when actually, california is where they would be most at home? i think there is one person who can help us with this. carol, have we got a californian weather coming? sadly not. this picture tells its own story. the ground is saturated. more rain in the next few days in different parts of the country. good morning. we do have more rain. the other thing you will notice in the next few days is it is going to turn that bit milder. temperatures in parts of the south—east could reach 17 degrees tomorrow, and again on sunday. it has been a wet start to the day to day. you can see the rain pouring in across scotland and northern ireland, getting into northern england and also northern parts of wales. that rain is going to very slowly push southwards through the course of the day. ahead of it there will be a of cloud. some drizzle, particularly marquee on the coasts and hills, windy as well. on the other side of it we are looking at brighter conditions, sunny spells, and blustery showers across scotland and northern ireland, with gales developing in the north—west. temperatures today ranging from eight in the north to 15, possibly 16 in the south east. that is higher than we would expect at this time of the year. through this evening and overnight this band of rain resting by then across northern england and northern wales, retreat northwards once again. to the south of that there will be a lot of cloud, showers in the west, and to the north of it, eventually the showers becoming confined to the north—west. here only very slowly will the strong winds gradually started fees. another mild night in prospect, not as mild as last night, but you can see these temperatures, four to about 10 degrees. as we head into tomorrow, we still do have this band of rain migrated northward. as it bumps into cooler air over the mountains of scotland we could see some snow. to the south, still a lot of cloud. showers from the west. some heavy and thundery. some sunny intervals in eastern england. it is intervals in eastern england. it is in that sunshine where we could hit 16, or possibly even 70 degrees. once again, 16, or possibly even 70 degrees. once a-ain, that is 16, or possibly even 70 degrees. once again, 16, or possibly even 70 degrees. once a-ain, that is hi-h 16, or possibly even 70 degrees. once again, 16, or possibly even 70 degrees. once a-ain, that is hi-h for 16, or possibly even 70 degrees. once again, 16, or possibly even 70 degrees. once a-ain, that is hi-h for this once again, that is high for this time of the year. so, a little bit californian?! no, i know you said not california at all! for many women, freezing their eggs can offer the hope of conceiving a baby later in life — with more than ever now said to be taking up the practice. despite this, there are fears some clinics could be misleading women about success rates, with bbc analysis suggesting dozens may have breached advertising guidance. anna collinson reports. going into the operating theatre, that's when it gets really real. rowe is about to have her eggs retrieved. the idea, to freeze them at a younger, more fertile point, and use them when she's ready to have a baby. so i was supposed to be getting married in a few months' time, but this summer things changed, and i had to make the decision to leave that relationship. i'm an absolute realist going into this, and i know that freezing my eggs does not guarantee me success of having a child in the future. all i know, it's like, it's a positive thing for me to do right now. rowe's been injecting hormones to help her body produce multiple eggs. under sedation, a long, thin needle is carefully inserted into each ovary to retrieve them. each egg is smaller than a grain of sand. they're painstakingly checked, before 13 are frozen and placed in storage. initially, i wasjust doing one injection a day. they've started the process there. you can start to see on my little tum—tum. there's been a boom in social egg freezing, where women undergo the procedure for non—medical reasons, an idea propelled by celebrities like vicky pattison. i thought what i was doing, right, was showing young lasses and young women that there's like, alternatives, you know? that we don'tjust have to rush into things with, potentially the wrong bloke. but women have told us navigating a giant private fertility sector can be daunting. single at 39, natalie decided to freeze her eggs in 2020. you know, as a woman, you do have a biological clock that is ticking. there's a physical toll that it takes on your body. you're injecting yourself multiple times a day. then there's like, the emotional aspect of that. the science teacher says she struggled to understand what her chances of having a baby were. it's just purely now based on trust and hope, rather than data and research. i feel it was a journey that i felt very alone on. i don't think i expected, you know, the financial toll. honestly, it was probably the biggest hit. it was just trying to find the money from anywhere to make this happen. fertility clinic websites can be a key source of free information. but analysis by the bbc found a1% of clinics which offer private egg freezing in the uk may have breached advertising guidance. we found some clinics are prominently displaying attractive sounding success rates with percentages in the high 905. but that's only one stage of the egg freezing journey. the chances of going on to have a baby are far lower, somewhere between 20 and 30%, and that isn't always made clear. we shared our findings with the fertility network. what is missing are the success rates for the ivf process, which are much lower, which are 25%, which are 30%, which depend on age, which could be 5% if a woman was over 40. i feel very angry for patients because they are being misled by this level of information. fertility experts told us patients should get personalised information about their chances of success at a consultation, but stress websites must be transparent. the uk's fertility regulator is clear. the responsibility to inform lies with clinics. freezing eggs for medical reasons is very different to freezing for social reasons. and as a regulator, we are concerned about the success rates. we are concerned about the information women are getting when they're considering this process. although record numbers are freezing their eggs, research shows that very few are actually coming back to use them. natalie has, and fell pregnant in 2022. you're so excited, but then there's this scary kind of, oh, my god, this actually worked, i'm going to have a baby. she now has a son, who will turn one next week. the whole process costs more than £18,000. holding huxley for the first time, i mean, you'rejust — you're in awe that this baby has come from a frozen egg. you know, science is fantastic. it's wonderful, really, that we can do this now. women my age, single, make this decision, make this choice. i have been really, really fortunate, and i'm forever grateful for that. anna collinson, bbc news. and we will be talking to a fertility doctor about that issue later. let's take a look at today's papers. the daily mail says that more than a thousand people have contacted a police hotline set up as part of an investigation into a family funeral director in hull. police have removed 35 bodies and a quantity of ashes from legacy independent funeral directors over concern for care of the deceased. the daily telegraph says that sir keir starmer has promised to give mps a vote on legalising assisted dying, if labour wins the next election. the paper says sir keir made the comments in a phone call with broadcaster dame esther rantzen, who has terminal cancer, and has said she is considering assisted dying. the times are reporting that people whose asylum applications are declined by the uk, but who cannot return to their home country will be offered £3,000 to move to rwanda under a new voluntary scheme. the paper says the scheme would be open to tens of thousands of people in the uk. the sun says paul o'grady has left £125,000 in his will to pay for the care of his five pet dogs. the paper reports that the broadcaster, who died last year, left another half a million to the battersea dogs and cats home. barbie may not have won at the oscars earlier this week, but she has made a new friend. they got one. here's queen camilla, who has been immortalised as one of the iconic dolls. the queen was presented with the one—off barbie in recognition of her work as president of the women of the world foundation. she joked, "you've taken about 50 years off me. we should all have a barbie." i love that, how they are wearing the same outfit in that photo. it is almost like they planted. would you like a barbie? i would love one. yes, please. that's me officially saying yes, please. there is an app. you can barbie yourself. we will be doing that later. grabs found during regional news. correct microphone. # it must be love... still to come on breakfast, we'll hear how the power of love songs is helping bring one couple back together, following a devastating brain injury just days before their wedding. it's an incredible tale. it'll warm your heart. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. hello, good morning from bbc london, i'mjim wheble. the commissioner of the london fire bridgade says there are over 1,2000 the commissioner of the london fire bridgade says there are over 1,200 buildings in the capital with unsafe cladding. seven years on from the grenfell fire in which 72 people died, andy roe said that many high—rises continue to have either grenfell—style cladding or "serious deficiencies". the fire brigade has now implemented all of the recommendations made from the first stage of the grenfell inquiry. it's everything from all the kit you can see behind me. so higher reach ladders, different command units, a completely new generation of breathing apparatus and communication kit. but probably most importantly, the way we train our officers and crews to recognise a building that might be about to fail and then carry out, sometimes in very difficult circumstances, an emergency evacuation. transport for london have started night patrols across the network to provide reassurance for people. officers are being deployed to priority locations to also help tackle anti—social behaviour and they'll also be able to remove passengers from the network if they haven't paid. police are appealing for information about a woman who was last seen in central london nearly three weeks ago. samira ayanle, from westminster, was last seen at her university accommodation near marble arch on the 21st february. the 19—year—old was reported missing on the 8th of march. anyone with any information is being asked to contact the police. the future of children's cancer care in south london is due to be debated in parliament today. treatment for about 1,400 children is currently provided by the royal marsden hospital at sutton and st george's hospital in tooting. the nhs is proposing to move cancer care away from the marsden. a decision will be made on thursday. let's take a look at the tubes now and all good apart from a part closure on the london overground. now onto the weather with kate. good morning. it's a mild start this morning, temperatures overnight widely stayed in double figures. after yesterday's rain, we're left with this legacy of cloud, a couple of spots of light rain and drizzle possible, but largely dry, a few brighter spells. it's a breezy day and temperatures and very mild, 15 celsius. overnight tonight it stays quite breezy. still quite mild overnight, quite a bit of cloud around, its dry. the minimum temperature somewhere between seven and nine celsius. a few bright spells first thing on thursday morning but we have got a front edging in from the west and that's going to bring some showers. we could get some breaks in the cloud so some sunny spells developing through thursday. as a result, those showers through the afternoon especially could be quite sharp, you mightjust hear a rumble of thunder. temperatures tomorrow a touch milder, 16 celsius, just depends on how many sunny spells we get. overnight those showers will clear. it's quite a chilly night into saturday, a cooler day for saturday itself, it will be unsettled into the weekend but those milder temperatures through sunday and into next week. that's it for now, but there's a fascinating story on or our website worth taking a look at about how nhs physios in south london are using virtual reality headsets to help major trauma patients recover from their injuries. i'll be back in half an hour but for now it's back tojon and sally. hello, this is breakfast with sally nugent and jon kay. let's return to our main story now and the prime minister rishi sunak is facing questions over whether the conservative party will return millions of pounds in donations from the prominent tory backer, frank hester. it comes after remarks he was alleged to have made about the mp dianne abbott described by number 10 as racist. we're joined now by the broadcaster and former labour adviser, ayesha hazarika. good morning. i know it has been a... my goodness, an interesting 24—hour hours or so and i have heard what you have said already about the situation butjust what you have said already about the situation but just for what you have said already about the situation butjust for our viewers right now, your reaction to what has happened in the last day also. i think this is a really frightening new low in british politics. there has been a coarsening of language that we have seen recently, but i think what happened yesterday, the comments that were unearthed, really crossed a line and took things to, as i say, a frightening new level. to have that sort of language talking about inciting violence against a black woman, our first ever elected black woman into british politics in british history, is just so incredibly, british politics in british history, isjust so incredibly, it's disgusting, and it's frightening. i spoke with diane abbott yesterday afternoon, and my goodness, what that woman has had to have endured over her political career. and at this stage in our life as we hope to evolve as our society, and have someone make those comments, this kind of thuggish language is the kind of thuggish language is the kind of thuggish language is the kind of thing you would expect from some sort of national front person on the street. this is somebody who is at the highest echelons of government, of our ruling party of the day, somebody who has given £10 million and with that kind of money brings access, that brings you the heir of the prime minister and other senior people in the ruling party, the conservative party. so i think for lots of people, particularly for black women, women of colour, and for anybody who isjust black women, women of colour, and for anybody who is just a decent person, you would have looked at what came out yesterday and handling of it and just feel intensely depressed about british politics. something very ugly is happening in british politics. just a couple of weeks ago, we had lee anderson making is deeply islamophobic comments against sadiq khan. we have seen a hardening of rhetoric from seniorfigures like seen a hardening of rhetoric from senior figures like suella braverman and others and now this. i think this is a really awful, awful moment in british politics and our society. we are meant to look up to our political leaders and that class of people and think, we should take our lead from them, they rule society, they make the rules, and that is what they are saying. and by the way, i'm sure there is other stuff that has been said, to use language that has been said, to use language that extreme, to me, you don't say that extreme, to me, you don't say that as a one—off. so i think for many of us it was a really dark day yesterday. but the person our thoughts should be with the most is diane abbott. you thoughts should be with the most is diane abbott-— diane abbott. you made two interesting _ diane abbott. you made two interesting points. _ diane abbott. you made two interesting points. there - diane abbott. you made two interesting points. there are diane abbott. you made two - interesting points. there are two things, one, what was said, and then the handling of it. you mentioned you spoke to diane abbott yesterday, in terms of what was said, can you share with us what her reaction has been, to the tone of what has been said and her own situation in terms of her personal safety?— said and her own situation in terms of her personal safety? well, she is somebody who _ of her personal safety? well, she is somebody who has _ of her personal safety? well, she is somebody who has had _ of her personal safety? well, she is somebody who has had to _ of her personal safety? well, she is somebody who has had to live - of her personal safety? well, she is| somebody who has had to live under the shadow ofjust horrendous amounts of abuse and hatred. but i think this takes it to a new level because i think she has been used to this in terms of people writing letters to her people, you know, abusing her on social media and studies have been done which show that she is one of the names that disproportionately attracts a huge amounts of racist and sexist abuse and death threats. but for this to come from such a senior person, so connected, in the conservative party, i think it isjust a completely new thing. i think she is very shaken by it, i think she is understandably frightened about what has happened. she has issued a statement saying that she has reported this to the police. i think, if you think about diane abbott's history and the legacy of british politics, she came on in the 19805, british politics, she came on in the 1980s, britain was a very different country then. and we like to pride ourselves that we have changed, we have this incredibly ethnically diverse cabinet. i'm on the other side of politics, i felt proud when rishi sunak became the first british asian prime minister and yet, with this ethnically diverse cabinet, we are seeing these dog whistles towards racism. and the failure of rishi sunak to recognise what had happened, to call it what it was, racist, and to mishandle the response, so to catastrophically yesterday, to send out ministers on the morning round and throughout the day denying that this was anything to do with racism or misogyny, to almost gaslight nation, and then only late yesterday to put a statement out saying, yeah, actually, this was racist after the whole country watched on aghast saying, this is clearly racism. i think diane abbott is an incredibly tough woman, but i think what is it so depressing, all of these decades after she was elected to parliament as the first black woman, to still be treated like this, by some of the most senior, most powerful influential well—connected people in politics is absolutely disgraceful. ayesha hazarika, thank you so much forjoining us. ayesha hazarika, thank you so much forjoining ne— if you are leaving the house and catching the bus this morning, you might be preparing for awaits. bus services vary a lot from region to region, when it comes to things like waiting times and reliability. and that's been reflected in the latest research which reveals how satisfied passengers are with their local buses. ben is looking at this. how many buses will turn up for us today? i! how many buses will turn up for us toda ? ., , ., ., ., today? if only i had that get a hand! there's a phrase we tend to over—use on the news. "postcode lottery". so i'm not going to say that. but let's say there's something of a "bus route" or "bus stop" lottery instead and how reliant you are on buses also affects how you feel about the service. we've just had the results from the first large scale survey of bus passengers since covid and it reveals some important things about the network. the passenger watchdog transport focus analysed 35,000 bus journeys in 3a local authorities in england. the vast majority of passengers were satisfied overall. but there were big differences between regions and dissatisfaction over things like waiting times. nearly half of passengers say they have no alternative to using the bus so reliability and a regular service are vital. more than two thirds believe the bus is good value for money but bear in mind that is in part because of the decision from the government to cap many fares at £2 to combat the effects of the cost of living crisis and encourage more passengers to take the bus. that cap has been extended but only to the end of this year. and remember this survey captured the views of people lucky enough to actually be on a bus. while it remains the most frequently used form of public transport the local bus network shrank 14% in the six years between 2016 and 2022. passenger numbers as a whole are in long term decline and still only at three quarters of pre pandemic levels. the bbc�*s transport correspondent katy austin has been one of the places with the most satisfied bus passengers, east yorkshire, and to one of the places with the least satisfied, west yorkshire. on the number 23 between beverley and hull, plenty of regular passengers. so what do they think of their bus service? how often do you get the bus? every day. are they always on time? no! no. but do they get you where you need to go? yeah, yeah, yeah. i think there should always be more buses, so there could be less cars on the roads. what do you think, are they good? yeah, the buses are good, actually, they're easy, they're convenient. i sometimes they fail. today i could not get on the 121 bus because it did not - show up and now i'm late for work, so. _ so if they turn up, they're good? yeah. when transport focus asked people how satisfied they were with their bus journeys, east yorkshire came top with 90%. they were asked about things like value for money, punctuality, the bus stop and the driver. over the past couple of years, more than £1 billion of government money has been allocated towards trying to make bus services around england outside of london better, after years of falling passenger numbers and cuts to services made much worse by the pandemic. here, the council and bus companies say they've put their share of the money towards more evening and sunday services. i use the bus four or five times a week. i do think it's a very good service, yeah. because some of the villages would be cut off without it, you know. yeah, i'm getting the little local bus, the 527, which is only three a day now where there used to be one every hour. i'm not saying they're all late, but there's quite a lot, you know, that do run late or sometimes they'lljust cut them out, you know, and then people are waiting about another hour for another bus, aren't they? at the bottom of the results table, west yorkshire with a 73% satisfaction rating. people in huddersfield weren't surprised. constantly late, constantly missing, not turning up. yeah, not very good at all. there's been a lot of late buses, a lot of cancellations, and a lot of people are dissatisfied generally because they can't get to college on time. i live in a little village . which is seldom served, so we could do with more . and we could do with better reliability for the school buses. the region's mayor admits there's work to do. i'm a bus user myself. i know there are too many delays, there's not many options, there are too many cuts to the services. and we've been spending 17 million a year to improve journeys across west yorkshire. we've been building bus priority lanes so buses don't get stuck in traffic. we've also been recruiting and running courses for more bus drivers. a decision on whether to bring buses in west yorkshire back under local control is due this week. a charity focused on bus users experiences doesn't think enough people around the country have access to a bus at all. the most recent figures from the dft shows that whilst ridership has increased, in terms of mileage, that's gone down. so that means less frequency and it also means that some services have been axed. without buses, then people find themselves excluded from things like employment, education, health care provision, and even just going to visit their family and friends. delays caused by congestion were a problem issue in transport focus's research, while the £2 bus fare cap boosted value for money scores. the passenger watchdog says wherever they live, people need to see the improvements they've been promised. katie austin, bbc news. the government says buses are a lifeline for many people and that they have invested more than £3.5 billion into the sector since the pandemic. we want to hear from you this morning, are you happy with your local bus route or do you think there needs to be a drastic improvement or does it still even exist? let us know. you may well be watching this on the bus, on your phone, or smart device, or even if you are less lucky, at the bus stop as you wait for it! thank you very much indeed. i don't know which of those statuses paul is in, he literallyjust e—mailed us, saying, lucky viewers who have a bus service to moan about. rural bus services here in suffolk don't even exist in any useful way.— exist in any useful way. that's the roblem. exist in any useful way. that's the problem- we _ exist in any useful way. that's the problem. we would _ exist in any useful way. that's the problem. we would love - exist in any useful way. that's the problem. we would love to - exist in any useful way. that's the problem. we would love to hear. exist in any useful way. that's the . problem. we would love to hear from problem. we would love to hearfrom you. john is here with the sport and my goodness, arsenal last night, tell us all about it. it is my goodness, arsenal last night, tell us all about it.— tell us all about it. it is all hottin: tell us all about it. it is all hotting no _ tell us all about it. it is all hotting no in _ tell us all about it. it is all hotting up in european - tell us all about it. it is all - hotting up in european football at the moment, that is for sure. good morning. manchester city already through to the quarter finals in the champions league as are arsenal now. who were 1—0 down from the first leg, needing extra time, penalties and two crucial saves from their goalkeeper to reach the last eight at porto's expense. joe wilson reports. arsenal got there the hard way. against these opponents, it was the only way. in two ties of normal time against porto, arsenal scored one goal, immaculately prepared by odegaard last night. finished by trossard. arsenal can say they dominated both legs. this was the moment odegaard thought he'd made it 2—1. but havertz�*s grip on pepe's shirt meant foul, no goal. and although the arsenal pressure increased, the overall score remained 1—1. odegaard, nearly. extra time was largely uneventful. penalties for arsenal were perfect. odegaard set the tone. all arsenal's takers followed, all scored. but porto failed twice. ultimately, the hands of david raya won it. the goalkeeper backed and promoted by his boss. there was still time for arteta and conceicao to continue their managerial discussions, but this is the save that takes arsenal forwards. joe wilson, bbc news. asjoe mentioned there, that coming together between the two managers. an accusation was made by porto's sergio conceicao that arteta had insulted his family, something the arsenal manager denies, focusing instead on his side's success. for them to do it when the club hasn't managed to do it for 1h years, i tell you the difficulty of it, and the margins are so small, and we found our way to do it again. and i see how much they want it and how much they try, they are able to sacrifice anything to win. and when you play like this, at the end, it's going to come your way sooner than later and it happened tonight. so arsenal and manchester both in the draw for the quarterfinals of the champions league as are barcelona. they beat napoli 3—1 on the night in spain, 11—2 on aggregate. robert lewandoski with their third, ahead of two more games tonight. now, it's a fixture that was abandoned after footballer tom lockyer collapsed on the pitch. but tonight bournemouth and luton town will replay their rearranged fixture after his cardiac arrest on back in december. lockyer, who we heard from on the programme a few weeks ago, is yet to return to playing, but his manager hopes the day will come when he'll be back. he's got bigger things on his mind at the moment. the new baby, the new arrival. and, yeah, he is in a position where that is his main focus right now. that being said, i think going forward we would love to have him here on a weekly basis and being around here more because we would be able to lean on his experiences and he would be able to help us. caroline wozniacki is through to the quarterfinals at indian wells in california after beating another fellow grand slam champion angelique kerber in straight sets. world number one and top seed iga swiatek awaits the dane. and carlos alcaraz�* defence of his title goes on. the spaniard is into the last eight of the men's draw. he beat czech player fabian marozsan 6—3, 6—3. next up for alcaraz is alexander zverev. and day two of the cheltenham festival today. yesterday legendary irish trainer willie mullins secured three victories on the opening day, including in the feature race, to leave him three short of 100 cheltenham wins. state man won the champion hurdle having come second in the race last year, in the absence of constitution hill. the mullins—trained seven—year—old, ridden by irish jockey paul townend, turned on the power over the final few fences. so a tuesday treble for mullins yesterday, who is now on 97 victories, and has the favourite in the feature race today as well and a host of other runners. he is edging closer to the century of victories. an interesting, if manchester city and arsenal meet in the final, that is at wembley, we have got brighton, liverpool, rangers and west ham in the europa league, we could have a range and liverpool final in the europa league, and that is being in dublin. so that is a big day out for the fans potentially! something of a headache for the organisers, you can imagine. for headache for the organisers, you can imauine. ., ., , ., , imagine. for lots of people, i imagine! _ imagine. for lots of people, i imagine! thank _ imagine. for lots of people, i imagine! thank you, - imagine. for lots of people, i imagine! thank you, john. i here's carol with the weather. i suspect if we are looking at cheltenham, the going is going to be 5°99y cheltenham, the going is going to be soggy to soggy air. i cheltenham, the going is going to be soggy to soggy air-— soggy to soggy air. i think that auoin for soggy to soggy air. i think that going for all — soggy to soggy air. i think that going for all of _ soggy to soggy air. i think that going for all of us _ soggy to soggy air. i think that going for all of us today - soggy to soggy air. i think that going for all of us today is - soggy to soggy air. i think that. going for all of us today is going to be fairly soggy. i can see some rain! there is rain in the forecast but although we complain about the rain, it's nothing like they have had a monday to tuesday in buenos aires, look at this car, virtually half submerged. these pictures are from buenos aires on the outskirts, and in some parts of this area, they had 140 millimetres of rain, 100 millimetres falling in less than six hours, leading to flash flooding. more rain on the cards today and thunderstorms, but it should ease up a touch after that. so that puts things into perspective. what we have got is more rain at times in the next few days, and it is going to turn it milder. the wind is coming up from the south, but in the north, we have got some blue colours. wind is coming from the north, a cooler direction for us. there is a weather front slipping southwards bringing rain with it across scotland, northern ireland and moving slowly through the day into northern england and north wales. ahead of that, particularly in the west on the coasts and the hills, it is murky with some drizzle, coastal and hill fog, hills, it is murky with some drizzle, coastaland hill fog, but on the north of the weather front we are back into sunshine but also some blustery showers. windy in scotland and northern ireland, with gales across the far north—west. temperatures today will be on the mild side of the time of year. eight in theirwake, 12 mild side of the time of year. eight in their wake, 12 in glasgow, 14 or 15 towards the south—east in any brightness. the weather front ensconced in northern england and north wales overnight retreats north, back into southern scotland. it is being enhanced in the west by some further showers from another weather front. some further showers from another weatherfront. to some further showers from another weather front. to the some further showers from another weatherfront. to the north, it is drier, the winds will slowly ease, and it's going to be cooler across parts of scotland, still miles across northern ireland in through england and wales. tomorrow the band of rain continues to slowly push northwards, as it bumps into the cold air above about 800 metres we will see some snow across parts of scotland. some sunshine in the far north with lighter winds than today but we are looking at a good packet of showers coming in across england and wales. some of those will be heavy and thundery, we will see some brightness develop, to the east of the pennines, east anglia, parts of south—east with some sunshine. it will be a windy day across england and wales and across the english channel. nonetheless it is a mild one. tomorrow depending on the amount of sunshine we get, we could get 17 degrees and in the north, 8-11. if get 17 degrees and in the north, 8—11. if you think that is it for 17, that is there is a chance on sunday we could see something similar. i sunday we could see something similar. ., ., ., , ., ., ., similar. i have got to plant a lot of [ants similar. i have got to plant a lot of plants in _ similar. i have got to plant a lot of plants in the _ similar. i have got to plant a lot of plants in the next _ similar. i have got to plant a lot of plants in the next few - similar. i have got to plant a lot of plants in the next few days, | similar. i have got to plant a lot i of plants in the next few days, but it is good planting weather, wet and mild. it it is good planting weather, wet and mild. , , mild. it will be muggy. -- it will be muddy- _ mild. it will be muggy. -- it will be muddy- it— mild. it will be muggy. -- it will be muddy. it will— mild. it will be muggy. -- it will be muddy. it will be _ mild. it will be muggy. -- it will be muddy. it will be easy - mild. it will be muggy. -- it will be muddy. it will be easy to - mild. it will be muggy. -- it will| be muddy. it will be easy to dig. mild. it will be muggy. -- it will. be muddy. it will be easy to dig. i 'ust need be muddy. it will be easy to dig. i just need to _ be muddy. it will be easy to dig. i just need to avoid _ be muddy. it will be easy to dig. i just need to avoid a _ be muddy. it will be easy to dig. i just need to avoid a cold - be muddy. it will be easy to dig. i just need to avoid a cold snap. i be muddy. it will be easy to dig. i i just need to avoid a cold snap. next week is going _ just need to avoid a cold snap. next week is going to _ just need to avoid a cold snap. next week is going to be _ just need to avoid a cold snap. next week is going to be colder. don't i week is going to be colder. don't tell me that. _ week is going to be colder. don't tell me that, the _ week is going to be colder. don't tell me that, the plants - week is going to be colder. don't tell me that, the plants will - week is going to be colder. don't tell me that, the plants will still| tell me that, the plants will still be there next week! i’m tell me that, the plants will still be there next week!— tell me that, the plants will still be there next week! i'm not sure monty don _ be there next week! i'm not sure monty don is _ be there next week! i'm not sure monty don is still— be there next week! i'm not sure monty don is still nervous - be there next week! i'm not sure monty don is still nervous about| monty don is still nervous about this _ monty don is still nervous about this. �* ,., monty don is still nervous about this. �* ., ., monty don is still nervous about this. ~ ., ., monty don is still nervous about this. ., ., ., . this. about carroll offering advice? about ou this. about carroll offering advice? about you and _ this. about carroll offering advice? about you and your _ this. about carroll offering advice? about you and your planting? - we've talked a lot on breakfast about the power of music and this morning we have the story of one couple with a very special love song. six years ago, jackie lewis bayton suffered a devastating brain injuryjust days before she was due to get married to matt. the song they were due to have at their wedding has now become a source of strength for them both, as tim muffett reports. jackie was a very caring person, a mental health nurse for the nhs. # i never thought i'd miss you # half as much as i do... the song, which was going to be the song that we walked out of the registry office to, was it must be love. but four days before their wedding in 2018, jackie suffered a bleed on the brain, which left her permanently brain damaged. jackie is nonverbal, so all her communication is through her eyes and through facial expressions. matt has visited jackie in her care home every day without fail for five years. # it must be love, love, love. you're looking beautiful, aren't you? got the musicians coming today. the musicians are from the spitz charitable trust. its mission is to relieve isolation and loneliness through the power of live music. # every little thing i is gonna be all right. there's a lot of preconceptions about who's in our care homes. and i think some people still seem to think that everyone wants the white cliffs of dover still. and really they don't. there's a very, very broad wish for all sorts of different kinds of music. # i don't want to wait in vain for your love. i of course, during the pandemic, it was very difficult. because for a lot of the time i wasn't allowed into the building, but i would still go down to the care home and luckily her room is on the ground floor so i was able to basically sit outside her window. the power of music is extraordinary, isn't it? what effect do you see it having onjackie? it makes her happy. it stimulates her, bringing her back to us. that's really, you know, what we're trying to do. # i've got to be near you, every night, every day. jackie and matt's favorite song, it must be love, was originally written and performed by labi siffre in 1971. # it must be love, love, love. it was a huge hit for madness ten years later. # nothing more, nothing less, love is the best. it has a very special meaning for both of us. and it's a song that we'll always love to hear. # it must be love, love, love. we've noticed jackie, that she responds very well to music. i using facial expressions, she can use her eyes- or clenching of teeth. we've seenjackie being| really calm and relaxed. before having music, - jackie wasn't able to do that. music is very powerful. # bless you and bless me... bringing music into a place where people can't go and see live music, it does trigger things for both them and us. and i find it really interesting, but also it feels like, i don't know what it is we're doing, but it feels like we're doing something. this is a heart thatjackie made for our wedding over a period of about three or four months. something we will always treasure. and we still hope that one day it might be possible that we can still get married. and if you were to get married, what song would you have playing when you came out the registry office? it must be love, that is the only song that it would ever be. # it must be love one song can mean so much as jackie and matt have discovered. # love is the best. tim muffett, bbc news. the power of music. it must be love, ”oreous the power of music. it must be love, gorgeous stuff- _ still to come on breakfast, bestselling author lesley pearse spent nearly 60 years looking for the child she gave up for adoption. they finally met in 2022. now she's written about it in her memoir. shejoins us later, alongside her son martin. it's a remarkable story, worthy of one of her best sellers. but this was real life. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. hello, good morning from bbc london, i'mjim wheble. the commissioner of the london fire bridgade says there are over 1200 buildings in the capital with unsafe cladding. seven years on from the grenfell fire, in which 72 people died, andy roe said that many high rises continue to have either grenfell—style cladding or serious deficiencies. the fire brigade has now implemented all of the recommendations made from the first stage of the grenfell inquiry. it's everything from all the kit you can see behind me. so higher reach ladders, different command units, a completely new generation of breathing apparatus and communication kit. but probably most importantly, the way we train our officers and crews to recognise a building that might be about to fail and then carry out, sometimes in very difficult circumstances, an emergency evacuation. transport for london have started night patrols across the network to provide reassurance for people. officers are being deployed to help tackle anti—social behaviour, and they'll also be able to remove passengers from the network if they haven't paid. police are appealing for information about a woman who was last seen in central london nearly three weeks ago. samira ayanle, from westminster, was last seen at her university accommodation near marble arch on the 21st february. the 19—year—old was reported missing on friday. anyone with any information is being asked to contact the police. the future of children's cancer care in south london is due to be debated in parliament today. treatment for about 1,400 children is currently provided by the royal marsden hospital at sutton and st george's hospital in tooting. the nhs is proposing to move cancer care away from the marsden. a decision will be made on thursday. let's take a look at the tubes now. and all good, apart from a part closure on the london overground. now onto the weather with kate. good morning. it's a mild start this morning, temperatures overnight widely stayed in double figures. after yesterday's rain, we're left with this legacy of cloud, a couple of spots of light rain and drizzle possible, but largely dry, a few brighter spells. it's a breezy day and temperatures and very mild, 15 celsius. overnight tonight it stays quite breezy. still quite mild overnight, quite a bit of cloud around, its dry. the minimum temperature somewhere between seven and nine celsius. a few bright spells first thing on thursday morning but we have got a front edging in from the west and that's going to bring some showers. we could get some breaks in the cloud so some sunny spells developing through thursday. as a result, those showers through the afternoon especially could be quite sharp, you mightjust hear a rumble of thunder. temperatures tomorrow a touch milder, 16 celsius, just depends on how many sunny spells we get. overnight those showers will clear. it's quite a chilly night into saturday, a cooler day for saturday itself, it will be unsettled into the weekend but those milder temperatures through sunday and into next week. that's it for now. but there's a fascinating story on or our website worth taking a look at about how nhs physios in south london, are using virtual reality headsets to help major trauma patients recover from their injuries. i'll be back in half an hour. good morning, welcome to breakfast with sally nugent and jon kay. our headlines today. racist and wrong — the prime minister condemns comments allegedly made by a tory donor, aimed at mp diane abbot. a law aimed at quashing the wrongful convictions of subpostmasters caught up in the post office scandal, is being introduced by the government today. joe biden and donald trump are set for an election rematch, after both men win their parties' us presidential nominations. in sport, arsenal reach the champions league quarter—finals. goalkeeper david raya makes two penalty saves as they beat porto on a dramatic night in north london. good morning. we have got a swathe of cloud and rain across central parts of the uk today. to the north of that blustery showers and gales in the north—west of scotland. to the south, quite a bit of cloud, but mild. good morning. it's wednesday, 13th march. rishi sunak is facing growing calls for the conservatives to give back millions of pounds donated by a businessman accused of making racist remarks about the mp, diane abbott. downing street last night described the comments reportedly made by frank hester as racist and wrong, but said his remorse should be accepted. labour said keeping his money was completely wrong. our political correspondent hannah miller has more. hello, rishi. how are you? very nice to see you. when rishi sunak made this visit to a mill near leeds in november, his helicopter ride had been provided by one of his party's biggest donors, frank hester, who last year donated £10 million to the conservative party, now alleged to have made comments that the prime minister's spokesperson has described as racist and wrong. "it's like trying not to be racist. but you see diane abbott on the tv," frank hester is reported to have said in 2019, "and you just want to hate all black women because she's there, and i don't hate all black women at all, but i think she should be shot." mr hester has apologised and said that he abhors racism. in a statement he said that he accepts that he made comments that were rude about diane abbott, but said his criticism had nothing to do with her gender, nor the colour of her skin. the prime minister has suggested that he accepts that apology, but today he's likely to face questions about what will happen to the money frank hester donated. labour are calling for it to be given back. they're absolutely reprehensible comments. rishi sunak should now apologise to diane abbott, and the £10 million the tory party have taken from this individual, rishi sunak should order that money to be paid back. last night a leading member of one conservative pressure group suggested it could be used to promote ethnic minority groups. i would hope that actually hq would use that money to invest in grassroots. there are so many bame activists in the conservative party, there are bame groups and forums, and i think that actually, so many of them are so under supported, that it would be a perfect opportunity to actually improve that engagement. diane abbott has described the alleged comments as frightening, and reported them to the police unit tasked with investigating alleged crimes against mps. but for rishi sunak, a prime minister who stood in downing street and warned against racism and extremism in politics, questions remain about the language used by some of those who support him. hannah miller, bbc news. mps gathering in westminster for prime minister's questions at lunchtime. henry is there for us. we are talking about the comment, but also about these millions of pounds. is there any chance the conservatives will hand it back? they will certainly come under a lot of pressure to do so today. i think thatis of pressure to do so today. i think that is one of two questions hanging over this row today. one of them is about the money and what the conservative party do with it. and the other one is about rishi sunak�*s judgment. £10 million, you don't need me to tell you, is not a lot of money. and even in politics it's an awful lot of money. that is the amount of money that frank hester gave the conservative party last year. it made him their biggest donor last year by some stretch. and in an election year that is a big part of the conservative party �*s election war chest. in simple practical terms you can understand why they would be reluctant to give it back. but i think it is going to be harderfor them to hold it back. but i think it is going to be harder for them to hold that line. that is partly because of how they handled yesterday. that gets to they handled yesterday. that gets to the second question about rishi sunak�*sjudgment. all morning sunak�*s judgment. all morning yesterday sunak�*sjudgment. all morning yesterday government ministers, including a cabinet minister, didn't just resist calls to hand back the money, they embraced frank hester�*s defence of the comments he made that were reported by the guardian newspaper. even conservative mps i was speaking to thought it was right for the conservatives to keep hold of the money, but they were pretty confused about why the conservative party did that. ultimately, the fact rishi sunak change position and declared through a spokesman that he thought the comment was racist, suggests he thought it was an error ofjudgment. when you read this far behind in the polls, you can't afford that many errors ofjudgment. thank you. we will speak to a government minister later. what else do we need to know this morning? sally can tell us. new legislation to automatically quash convictions relating to the post office it scandal, is being introduced by the government. a compensation scheme will also be extended, to help branch managers who were not convicted of crimes, but who lost money due to flaws in the horizon system. colletta smith reports. it's been nearly three years since the first 39 subpostmasters won the legal victory at the court of appeal to overturn their convictions. but despite the legal precedent, it's been a painfully slow process for others to follow suit and have their criminal records cleared. rather than opening the floodgates, there's only been a quiet drip of people being exonerated. the post office minister told bbc breakfast in january that things were going to change. when the first convictions were overturned in 2021, we thought there would be a huge wave of people coming forward to overturn those convictions. we probably hadn't anticipated some of the nervousness people might have about reopening their case, about going back through a legal process, about interacting with the post office again. so that's why we'd be looking at different options in terms of overturning these convictions more rapidly, and indeed compensating people more rapidly. janet skinner was one of those who won that high court battle. but she's been less than impressed with what's happened since then. is the government going to take back control over the post office? currently, the post office, they are orchestrating convictions, who has a conviction overturned. they're in control of the compensation. they are now classified as the criminals. so why are they having the power to control everything? today that question has begun to be answered. the law being introduced means that hundreds of people still living with wrongful convictions for theft, fraud and false accounting, will now be automatically cleared. if they come forward, there'll be no court process needed, and they'll get access to immediate interim compensation. those not convicted, but who lost money because of the horizon scandal, can now receive a sum of £75,000, and anyone who's already settled for less than that can have their payments topped up to this level. a gradual unpicking of years of injustice. colletta smith, bbc news. we have the very latest figures on the uk economy. ben has more. figuresjust out to suggest the uk is slowly and slightly emerging from recession. the office for national statistics estimates the uk economy grew by 0.2% injanuary, compared with december. that is what economists were expecting. when we talk about the size of the economy, or gdp, tells us how much activity is going on. it is a measure of how much we are making, doing, building, buying and selling. a growing economy means more of that going on, more money going around, morejobs, and so on. when you break it down the growth in january seems to have been driven mainly by construction. services also group. but production, or manufacturing, slowed down ever so slightly. important things to remember. this is only very slight growth. so, the engines of the economy are hardly firing at full back. they are more staggering back to life. it is a measure of the economy in one month. we tend not to draw firm conclusions until we have more data. three months row —— in a row. this isjust an initial estimate. they tend to revise these later. in summary, we have an economy that appears to be growing again, albeit weekly, even weak growth is better than a shrinking economy, which we saw last year. don't get too excited. hardly a cause just yet to start firing the economic growth confetti cannonss. thank you. failed asylum seekers are to be offered up to £3,000 to move to rwanda under a new voluntary home office scheme. the plan is aimed at migrants and foreign criminals with no legal right to remain in the uk, but who cannot be sent back to their home country, because it's not deemed to be safe. labour said the public would treat the plan with scepticism. the labour party has promised to allow a vote on assisted dying if it wins the next general election. sir keir starmer made the pledge during a phone call with the broadcaster and campaigner dame esther rantzen, who has stage four lung cancer. the issue was last voted on by mps nine years ago. a bbc investigation has found dog attacks across england and wales increased by more than 20% last year, compared with the previous 12 months. experts say a rise in behavioural problems is partly down to puppies bought during lockdown, missing out on normal socialisation. us presidentjoe biden and his predecessor donald trump have both passed the delegate thresholds to claim their parties' nominations for november's presidential election, prompting a rematch of the 2020 race. earlier, our north america correspondent david willis outlined the reaction from both candidates. it is deja vu all over again, isn't it, sally? now the stage is formally set as you mentioned there for a repeat of the 2020 american presidential election, trump versus biden. in the last couple of hours both candidates have issued statements saying they are honoured to be their party's nominee. joe biden of course faced only token opposition in his bid to land the democratic party nomination. donald trump won 14 of the 15 state contests at super tuesday last week. and he has done extremely well, proving something of a juggernaut throughout this whole process, despite the fact he is facing currently more than 90 criminal charges stemming from four separate criminal cases. now what remains to be seen, of course, is what the voters will make of all of this. recent opinion polls have shown that the age of the candidates is an issue. donald trump is 77, joe biden 81. and the majority of those questioned for a recent poll said they would have preferred other candidates, and that they believe at 81 years of age, joe biden would simply be too old for another four years in the white house. the un says that a new land route has been used to deliver urgently needed food to northern gaza for the first time in three weeks. a boat carrying 200 tonnes of food is also expected to dock later today. our middle east correspondent yolande knelljoins us now. yolande, how significant is this aid delivery? it's very significant. and as the boat open arms makes its way to gaza truce —— from cyprus, we have had lots of reminders from aid agencies that really the most effective way to get aid quickly into gas or is simply by road. and now the un is saying that last night it was able to use a military road that goes along the edge of the gaza strip and then cross in to reach gaza city. they are, its convoy was able to deliver 25,000 people some food aid. now that is a big development. andy world food programme says it shows that deliveries by road are possible. —— and the world food programme. it is part of a pilot project. it comes at a time when we have got to be qataris and the egyptian mediators trying very hard going between israel and hamas to come up with a new ceasefire deal, we are told. it is a time also intentions are extremely high. more warnings of that in the occupied bank west and jerusalem overnight, where we have had at least five palestinians killed, shot by israeli security forces. two of those killed were children. we are hearing this morning about a stabbing attack against israelis, two israelis injured. that was at an israeli military checkpoint just outside injured. that was at an israeli military checkpointjust outside of jerusalem. the palestinian attacker killed, we understand. the first minster of wales, mark drakeford, will give evidence to the covid inquiry later. he 5 expected to be questioned over whether he was slow to react to the spread of the virus, and how tensions grew between his government and downing street during the pandemic. our wales correspondent, hywel griffith has more. as the man leading wales through the pandemic, mark drakeford gained unprecedented power over people's daily lives, announcing where they could go and who they could see. gradually, his government took a different path to the rest of the uk. by the autumn of 2020, that involved wales having its own separate firebreak lockdown. we have now reached the difficult decision to introduce a two week firebreak. that decision, and others like banning the sale of nonessential goods, were lauded by some and lamented by others, as mark drakeford stressed the need for caution, moving more slowly out of lockdown than other parts of the uk. at his first appearance before the inquiry, the first minister accepted there were flaws in the welsh government's pandemic planning, distracted by brexit and other things. since then, the inquiry has heard his government moved slowly, even after the virus arrived in europe. his relationship with the former prime minister, borisjohnson, has also been laid bare. months went past in the pandemic without the meeting. the inquiry will want to know what went wrong, and if party politics played a part. the questions come just as mr drakeford prepares to leave the political stage. next week he'll stand down as first minister. the inquiry then gives him a last chance to frame his legacy. hywel griffiths, bbc news. 16 minutes past seven. she has access to _ 16 minutes past seven. she has access to priceless _ 16 minutes past seven. she has access to priceless jewels - 16 minutes past seven. she has access to priceless jewels and l access to priceless jewels and artwork. now queen camilla has been given something else to treasure. have a look. she has been given her own barbie doll in recognition of her role as president of the women of the world foundation. it is even wearing the same outfit. a blue dress, black cape, black boots. she rather liked it. she said it was the ultimate compliment. she said of the doll had taken 50 years off me. who wouldn't like it?! ithink taken 50 years off me. who wouldn't like it?! i think we should get a can one for you. i really don't! she will give it to her grandchildren to play with. it is just a one—off. we have got a life—size carol doll in the studio with us this morning. look at that. amazing! look at that. amazinu! ~ . ~ look at that. amazinu! ~ ., ~' ., ~ look at that. amazinu! ~ ., ~ ., ~ amazing! walking, talking as well, but not necessarily _ amazing! walking, talking as well, but not necessarily bringing - amazing! walking, talking as well, but not necessarily bringing good l but not necessarily bringing good news. good morning. forsome of but not necessarily bringing good news. good morning. for some of us it is a cloudy, drizzly, dang start to the day. that's what we have got in nairn in the highlands. it is not a cold start wherever you are. temperatures 12 in edinburgh, inverness is about nine. yesterday this time it was only 2 degrees. leeds, cardiff, southend—on—sea looking at 11 degrees. what is happening is we have got a weather front of that is continuing to slip slowly southwards. into northern england and also ways. behind it, for scotland and for northern ireland we are looking at sunshine and blustery showers. the wind strengthening through the course of the day. for northern england and wales we have a weather front producing some rain. to the south and east of that there is a lot of cloud. we will see some brighter spells develop. in the west, south—west, murky conditions. some drizzle at times. through the day you can see this band of rain slowly pushes southwards across southern scotland and out of northern ireland. the winds will strengthen. gales in the far north—west. but in any brightness that develops in the south—east, for example, we could reach 15, maybe even 16 degrees. this evening and overnight at this weather front ensconced across north wales and ordering them to retreat northwards back into scotland and northern ireland. a lot of cloud to the south. some showers in the west. in the north of scotland the winds will ease and we will see some clear skies. tomorrow we have got rain continuing to drift steadily northwards. a good packet of showers coming in across england and wales. some northwards. a good packet of showers coming in across england and wales. some will heavy and thundery. wendy across england and wales tomorrow as well. in any sunshine we could reach 16 or 17 degrees. somewhere like east anglia. carol, thank you. those wrongfully convicted in the post office horizon it scandal are set to have their convictions automatically quashed as new legislation is introduced later. it comes alongside the widening of a compensation scheme to include others who were never found guilty, but still lost money as a result of the system. we can speak now to former subpostmaster, tim brentnall. morning. thank you for talking to us this morning. what is this day going to mean for those of you who have been affected by this? it’s to mean for those of you who have been affected by this?— been affected by this? it's very welcome news _ been affected by this? it's very welcome news that _ been affected by this? it's very welcome news that people - been affected by this? it's very| welcome news that people who been affected by this? it's very - welcome news that people who haven't had their convictions overturned will have them quashed. for us on the ground today's news, apart from that it doesn't really change anything. that it doesn't really change an hina. , that it doesn't really change an him, , ., anything. because your own conviction — anything. because your own conviction was _ anything. because your own conviction was already - anything. because your own i conviction was already quashed anything. because your own - conviction was already quashed but you are still waiting for the compensation, which you say you are owed? . �* , compensation, which you say you are owed? ., �* , ., , compensation, which you say you are owed? ., �*, .,, ., ., owed? that's right. it was one of those quashed _ owed? that's right. it was one of those quashed back— owed? that's right. it was one of those quashed back in _ owed? that's right. it was one of those quashed back in 2021. i owed? that's right. it was one of those quashed back in 2021. as l owed? that's right. it was one of l those quashed back in 2021. as yet we haven't had any meaningful kind of recompense. bre we haven't had any meaningful kind of recompense.— of recompense. are you hearing an hinu of recompense. are you hearing anything about _ of recompense. are you hearing anything about whether - of recompense. are you hearing anything about whether that i of recompense. are you hearing i anything about whether that changes today? a law goes through parliament but will your conversation be speeded up?— but will your conversation be seeded u? ., , ., speeded up? no. there is nothing that speeds _ speeded up? no. there is nothing that speeds up — speeded up? no. there is nothing that speeds up any _ speeded up? no. there is nothing that speeds up any kind _ speeded up? no. there is nothing that speeds up any kind of - that speeds up any kind of compensation. brute that speeds up any kind of compensation.— that speeds up any kind of com ensation. ~ ., , ,., ~ that speeds up any kind of comensation. ~ ., , , ., compensation. we have spoken before, but at this point — compensation. we have spoken before, but at this point how _ compensation. we have spoken before, but at this point how frustrated - compensation. we have spoken before, but at this point how frustrated are i but at this point how frustrated are you about the progress, or lack of progress? yeah yeah, it's very frustrating, because my conviction, along with up to 100 other people's, was quashed over three years ago. we was quashed over three years ago. - spent the last three years trying to build our cases to claim the recompense from the post office. it is welcome that the remaining convictions are quashed and that there are payments made available to people in the other schemes, likely historical shortfall scheme, but for people in any group, whether it is quashed convictions or people left from the jell—o quashed convictions or people left from thejell—o group, payments need to be sped up. a lot of people are a lot older than me and haven't got the time to wait for these payments to come through. that the time to wait for these payments to come through.— to come through. that is the thing. you are living _ to come through. that is the thing. you are living and _ to come through. that is the thing. you are living and breathing - to come through. that is the thing. you are living and breathing this i you are living and breathing this every single day and you know only too well the different groups and arrangements and offers and all that kind of thing. but for those of us on the outside it is really complicated how all this fits together. taking it down to basics, you have been offered i think a fast track £600,000 settlement, is that right? track £600,000 settlement, is that riuht? . �* , track £600,000 settlement, is that riuht? . 3 but track £600,000 settlement, is that right?_ iout you - track £600,000 settlement, is that right?_ but you are i right? that's right. but you are -auttin right? that's right. but you are putting that — right? that's right. but you are putting that on _ right? that's right. but you are putting that on hold _ right? that's right. but you are putting that on hold because i right? that's right. but you are i putting that on hold because you think given your young age and what happened to you, you should be getting more?— happened to you, you should be getting more? yes, people in my osition getting more? yes, people in my position could _ getting more? yes, people in my position could take _ getting more? yes, people in my position could take that - getting more? yes, people in my. position could take that £600,000. but for the majority of us that doesn't come close to covering what it has cost us. people have died. people spend months in prison. we have had a decade of having a criminal conviction and not being able to find proper employment. so, that figure would be welcome for some people, but for most of us it doesn't come close to what we need to claim. i doesn't come close to what we need to claim. , , , , to claim. i guess they will be --eole to claim. i guess they will be people getting _ to claim. i guess they will be people getting ready - to claim. i guess they will be people getting ready for i to claim. i guess they will be | people getting ready for work to claim. i guess they will be i people getting ready for work this morning who think, £600,000 it sounds like an awful lot of money, why notjust sounds like an awful lot of money, why not just take sounds like an awful lot of money, why notjust take it? what do you say to them? it why notjust take it? what do you say to them?— why notjust take it? what do you say to them? it does sound like an awful lot of — say to them? it does sound like an awful lot of money, _ say to them? it does sound like an awful lot of money, even - say to them? it does sound like an awful lot of money, even to i say to them? it does sound like an awful lot of money, even to me or| awful lot of money, even to me or anyone else, but when you add up what the post office cost us, it killed my thriving business, and cost me the last ten years of employment and probably 40 years of business ahead of me. our claims have not been picked out of thin air. they have been put together by forensic accountants. and they need to pay what we are owed. haifa to pay what we are owed. how apprehensive _ to pay what we are owed. how apprehensive are _ to pay what we are owed. how apprehensive are you - to pay what we are owed. how apprehensive are you that heading into a general election this year things will not be solved for you before that?— before that? yeah, any kind of distraction _ before that? yeah, any kind of distraction can _ before that? yeah, any kind of distraction can take _ before that? yeah, any kind of distraction can take away i before that? yeah, any kind of distraction can take away from j before that? yeah, any kind of. distraction can take away from it. it took the drama to get the public support behind us. and that's really what pushed the politicians forward to actually do something. they could have done something about this at any point in the last decade, but have had to wait until there is that pressure on them. as soon as other things like general elections started to happen, that pressure may dissipate. brute started to happen, that pressure may dissiate. ~ ., ., started to happen, that pressure may dissiate. . ., ., ., started to happen, that pressure may dissiate. ~ ., ., ., ,, .,~ started to happen, that pressure may dissiate. ., ., ., ,, .,~ ., dissipate. we are going to speak to the post office _ dissipate. we are going to speak to the post office minister, _ dissipate. we are going to speak to the post office minister, kevin i the post office minister, kevin hollinrake, in a few minutes. is there anything you would like us to ask on your behalf? just. there anything you would like us to ask on your behalf?— ask on your behalf? just, he needs to be pressed _ ask on your behalf? just, he needs to be pressed to _ ask on your behalf? just, he needs to be pressed to speed _ ask on your behalf? just, he needs to be pressed to speed up - ask on your behalf? just, he needs to be pressed to speed up the i to be pressed to speed up the processes of people who have claims larger than the amount they are offering, because of people sign up to the 600,000, or any other group, the 75,000, those payments can be made almost within a week. why are people with larger claims being forced to wait years?— people with larger claims being forced to wait years? switch on the tell , forced to wait years? switch on the telly. tim. — forced to wait years? switch on the telly, tim, watch _ forced to wait years? switch on the telly, tim, watch bbc— forced to wait years? switch on the telly, tim, watch bbc one, - forced to wait years? switch on the telly, tim, watch bbc one, and i forced to wait years? switch on the telly, tim, watch bbc one, and wej telly, tim, watch bbc one, and we will put that question to the minister in the next few minutes. thank you forjoining us. we appreciate your time.- thank you forjoining us. we appreciate your time. 25 appreciate your time. thank you. 25 ast appreciate your time. thank you. 25 past seven- — police in hull have described their investigation into a firm of funeral directors in the city as horrific and traumatising, after the bodies of 35 people and what's thought to be the ashes of a number of others were removed from the site. two people, arrested on suspicion of preventing a lawful and decent burial, and fraud, have been released on bail. jessica lane has more. people have been leaving flowers here. the messages send condolences and read "rest in peace". but for families who've used legacy, there is no peace to be found. peter's wife of 50 years died in december. i don't know if she's my home or if she's back in the mortuary, and i just want to know quick answers. the families are devastated. they just want answers, that's all. i've had no phone call or anything from the police, but i know they've got a lot to do, like, but i'm feeling down, down, down all the time. i just want answers, i just want to know if she's in there with me at home. am i... i'm just sat there staring at and wondering if she's in there or if she's somewhere else. billy—jo's dad and brother died within five days of each other injuly 2022. she also can't rest. have you phoned the hotline? i have, yeah. what happened when you phoned it? just asked me questions. like if i knew about distinctive tattoos and scars and like when they'd passed away and obviously... i'm sitting with my dad's ashes, it's a bit concerning now that i think about it. the police investigation began here last wednesday and has gone on for nearly a week. at a press conference today, they said they have 120 members of staff working on it. we have now recovered a total of 35 deceased who have now been respectfully transported to the mortuary in hull. and formal identification procedures are now taking place. in addition, we have also recovered a quantity of what we suspect to be human ashes. we're in the process of carefully recovering all of those ashes and taking those to the mortuary. we are continuing to support the families involved through this extremely difficult and distressing time. this has been a truly horrific incident. and understandably, they are distraught and have many questions to be answered. police say that their investigation is likely to take some time. a 46—year—old man and a 23—year—old woman who were arrested on suspicion of prevention of a lawful and decent burial, fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position, have been released on bail. the helpline set up by police has had over 1,000 calls already, each one from a worried family member wanting more information about what's happened to their loved ones. pennies here and he has been talking about bus services this morning after a new satisfaction survey showed mixed results. —— ben is here. we didn't have to wait long for people's reactions. they came flooding in. stephen wright still says, you should try the buses near here, absolutely shocking, constantly now show when they are supposed to be every 15 minutes. he also says the drivers have no manners. john from hastings, a similar story. manners. john from hastings, a similarstory. most manners. john from hastings, a similar story. most of their buses are either cancelled or delayed. they also run lead. carrie from portsmouth made the point about the survey by saying that she took part in the server but she was told it could only relate to the service she was on, not generally. she said that one was fine. but a try an early morning commuter bus and it is like being in a sardine can. elsewhere we were talking about the cap on fares. it doesn't apply everywhere. we had a message from one of our viewers who said that in swansea their bus service is horrendous, doesn't turn up, cancellations, tickets going up to £6 for them. no bus cap year. this is somebody who relies on the bus to get to work. one more from whitby. ian says as a wheelchair user he relies on the twice hourly bus service to get to the surgery and supermarket, constant breakdowns because of old buses, some of which he says are not fated to be on the road. , he says are not fated to be on the road. _.,_ he says are not fated to be on the road. _._, , ., road. danny says it is not 'ust about the fi road. danny says it is not 'ust about the times i road. danny says it is not 'ust about the times they i road. danny says it is notjust about the times they turned l road. danny says it is notjust i about the times they turned up, it is also things like anti—social behaviour, smoking, vaping, loud music on board, bring back the inspectors. that could easily have been from ben in salford. absolute bugbear, music without headphones. keep in salford. absolute bugbear, music without headphones.— without headphones. keep those messaues without headphones. keep those messages coming _ without headphones. keep those messages coming in. _ time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. hello, good morning from bbc london, i'mjim wheble. the commissioner of the london fire bridgade says there are over 1,200 buildings in the capital with unsafe cladding. seven years on from the grenfell fire in which 72 people died, andy roe said that many high—rises continue to have either grenfell—style cladding or "serious deficiencies". the fire brigade has now implemented all of the recommendations made from the first stage of the grenfell inquiry. it's everything from all the kit you can see behind me. so higher reach ladders, different command units, a completely new generation of breathing apparatus and communication kit. but probably most importantly, the way we train our officers and crews to recognise a building that might be about to fail and then carry out, sometimes in very difficult circumstances, an emergency evacuation. transport for london have started night patrols across the network to provide reassurance for people officers are being deployed to help tackle anti—social behaviour and they'll also be able to remove passengers from the network if they haven't paid. police are appealing for information about a woman who was last seen in central london nearly three weeks ago. samira ayanle, from westminster, was last seen at her university accommodation near marble arch on the 21st february. the 19—year—old was reported missing on friday. anyone with any information is being asked to contact the police. the future of children's cancer care in south london is due to be debated in parliament today. treatment for about 1,400 children is currently provided by the royal marsden hospital at sutton and st george's hospital in tooting. the nhs is proposing to move cancer care away from the marsden. a decision will be made on thursday. let's take a look at the tubes now and all good apart from minor delays on the bakerloo line. now onto the weather with kate. good morning. it's a mild start this morning, temperatures overnight widely stayed in double figures. after yesterday's rain, we're left with this legacy of cloud, a couple of spots of light rain and drizzle possible, but largely dry, a few brighter spells. it's a breezy day and temperatures and very mild, 15 celsius. overnight tonight it stays quite breezy. still quite mild overnight, quite a bit of cloud around, its dry. the minimum temperature somewhere between seven and nine celsius. a few bright spells first thing on thursday morning but we have got a front edging in from the west and that's going to bring some showers. we could get some breaks in the cloud so some sunny spells developing through thursday. as a result, those showers through the afternoon especially could be quite sharp, you mightjust hear a rumble of thunder. temperatures tomorrow a touch milder, 16 celsius, just depends on how many sunny spells we get. overnight those showers will clear. it's quite a chilly night into saturday, a cooler day for saturday itself, it will be unsettled into the weekend but those milder temperatures through sunday and into next week. that's it for now but there's a fascinating story on or our website worth taking a look at about how nhs physios in south london, are using virtual reality headsets to help major trauma patients recover from their injuries. i'll be back in half an hour but for now it's back to sally and jon. hello, this is breakfast with sally nugent and jon kay. as part of new legislation announced today, hundreds of innocent sub—postmasters prosecuted by the post office or the crown prosecution service will have their convictions quashed. the bill will cover offences carried out in connection with the post office business between 1996 and 2018. the blanket exoneration will cover offences of theft, fraud and false accounting, clearing the names of many people who have had their lives ruined by a wrong conviction. as well as sub—postmasters and their relatives, the new legislation will also cover other employees of the post office who have also been wrongly convicted. we're joined now by the post office minister, kevin hollinrake. good morning, thank you forjoining us here. we havejust heard from good morning, thank you forjoining us here. we have just heard from a former sub—postmaster here talking about his own experiences. he welcomes this change today and then you'll all finally going to parliament but he is worried that an election by might get in the way or parliamentary processes might delay it. when you think this law that quashes convictions will come into effect. in quashes convictions will come into effect. , , r quashes convictions will come into effect. , , a quashes convictions will come into effect. , , ., effect. in july. as soon as that has happened. — effect. in july. as soon as that has happened. it _ effect. in july. as soon as that has happened, it means _ effect. in july. as soon as that has happened, it means we _ effect. in july. as soon as that has happened, it means we can i effect. in july. as soon as that has happened, it means we can get i happened, it means we can get compensation to those people to overturn those convictions. we think the legislation will affectjust around 700 people, we will have done it by the summer recess, that is the plan, clearly parliament works in mysterious ways so we need the support of the house of lords, and the house of commons to be able to do that. but we are confident, we have got the support and we are confident we can pass this legislation and put it into effect in july and legislation and put it into effect injuly and start paying people as soon as possible after that. it should be in august. i5 soon as possible after that. it should be in august.- soon as possible after that. it should be in august. is that as soon as possible — should be in august. is that as soon as possible phrase, _ should be in august. is that as soon as possible phrase, that _ should be in august. is that as soon as possible phrase, that is - should be in august. is that as soon as possible phrase, that is pricking l as possible phrase, that is pricking up as possible phrase, that is pricking up this morning, one thing that tim told us is he appreciates this will get money to people soon and he is grateful but he says people like himself who feel they are owed the bigger sums in compensation, they are still facing enormous delays and what he wanted to know is, can you speed up the money that he feels he is owed? brute speed up the money that he feels he is owed? ~ .., speed up the money that he feels he is owed? ~ .. ., , speed up the money that he feels he is owed? ~ ., , ., 4, is owed? we can we have been working on it for some — is owed? we can we have been working on it for some time. _ is owed? we can we have been working on it for some time. last _ is owed? we can we have been working on it for some time. last autumn i is owed? we can we have been working on it for some time. last autumn we i on it for some time. last autumn we introduce a route for people whose convictions have been overturned to give them, instead of a very complex and rather long—winded compensation scheme of assessing each individual claim, people could take a fixed sum award of £600,000. i know tim's claim is bigger than that, i saw him giving evidence at a select committee recently. the people who have to go through that route it is more complex and slower but we are speeding up that compensation route as well by putting some other measures in place as recommended by some of the solicitors involved in the process so we are accelerating competition. we also announced today people in the original compensation scheme called the horizon shortfall scheme, 2700 people have gone through that so far, will get access to a fixed sum award in that compensation scheme. people with planes below £75,000, if you took a few tens of thousands for example in compensation on that scheme, you will get an uplift to £75,000 automatically and also take that route for more rapid compensation if you are newly into the scheme. we have a nice number of measures to accelerate compensation as well as the announcement to overturn convictions in this way. i guess eo - le convictions in this way. i guess people like _ convictions in this way. i guess people like him _ convictions in this way. i guess people like him will— convictions in this way. i guess people like him will be - convictions in this way. i guess| people like him will be pleased convictions in this way. i guess i people like him will be pleased to hear that but they might doubt whether it will actually happen —— people like him. they are still massively frustrated that this was a scandal that started in 1999 and here, so many of them are still waiting for money and their names to be cleared. you could surely have dealt with this more quickly. yes. dealt with this more quickly. yes, we could, dealt with this more quickly. yes, we could. of— dealt with this more quickly. yes, we could, of course, _ dealt with this more quickly. yes, we could, of course, in _ dealt with this more quickly. yes, we could, of course, in a - dealt with this more quickly. yes we could, of course, in a complex process like this, if we knew what we had known today we would have done it differently. that is the reality of these schemes. i have been compensation schemes in other areas as a backbencher in terms of banking scandals, it always complex and too slow but we are now much more quickly bringing in new measures to accelerate that, that is working for people in the group litigation order scheme, there are three different schemes which doesn't help, that's another complexity. we are rapidly accelerating compensation in that scheme. 120 —— 120 people have applied and 110 people have had their offers agreed and those people have been paid more rapidly. the amount of claims that have been assessed and agreed in that particular scheme, the pace of that has doubled in the last month. so we are doing things much more quickly on the back of the learning and the new measures we have put in place. can i also ask you about this racism row facing the conservative party again this morning? your top donor frank hester is alleged to have made comments in 2019 about the then labour mp diane abbott. do you think what he said was racist? yes. labour mp diane abbott. do you think what he said was racist?— what he said was racist? yes, i do. you don't — what he said was racist? yes, i do. you don'tjudge — what he said was racist? yes, i do. you don'tjudge somebody's i what he said was racist? yes, i do. i you don'tjudge somebody's character by their skin colour, it's totally wrong what he said. so by their skin colour, it's totally wrong what he said.— by their skin colour, it's totally wrong what he said. so why did it take 24 hours _ wrong what he said. so why did it take 24 hours for— wrong what he said. so why did it take 24 hours for the _ wrong what he said. so why did it take 24 hours for the prime i wrong what he said. so why did it i take 24 hours for the prime minister to say it was racist? i take 24 hours for the prime minister to say it was racist?— to say it was racist? i don't know his movements _ to say it was racist? i don't know his movements yesterday. i to say it was racist? i don't know his movements yesterday. what | to say it was racist? i don't know| his movements yesterday. what i to say it was racist? i don't know- his movements yesterday. what i saw from number 10 was a clear statement that they felt it was racist. we are not a racist party. i have never met mr hester and i don't think he is a racist person, i think he said something stupid and completely inappropriate, we'll say stupid things at times. i don't think people generally say something as stupid as that but he has apologised and i think we should try and move on from that. i would reiterate to people that the government has the most diverse cabinet in history, the first british asian prime minister in history, we have a proud record in history, we have a proud record in terms of diversity and equality. that's what we stand for, that's what people should have the confidence in that that is the case. i guess given his own heritage, that made people even more surprised that mr sunak wasn't quicker to condemn this as racism. were you as ministers come as a government team, being told yesterday before the prime minister said it was racist, not to say it was racist, or deny it was racist?— not to say it was racist, or deny it was racist? ida. because we have got was racist? no. because we have got a cli - , i was racist? ila because we have got a clip, ijust want to play, which goes back to a couple of your colleagues yesterday where it is almost like they were bending over backwards not to use the r word, listen. mr backwards not to use the r word, listen. ~ . backwards not to use the r word, listen. ~ , ., , ., . ., listen. mr hester has made clear that he was _ listen. mr hester has made clear that he was rude _ listen. mr hester has made clear that he was rude and _ listen. mr hester has made clear that he was rude and his - listen. mr hester has made clear| that he was rude and his criticism had nothing to do with the colour of diane _ had nothing to do with the colour of diane abbott's skin and he has rightly— diane abbott's skin and he has rightly apologised. this is a story which _ rightly apologised. this is a story which hasn't yet been verified. what is clear that — which hasn't yet been verified. what is clear that is _ which hasn't yet been verified. what is clear that is what _ which hasn't yet been verified. what is clear that is what he _ which hasn't yet been verified. what is clear that is what he said is inappmpriate _ is clear that is what he said is inappropriate. he _ is clear that is what he said is inappropriate. he has - is clear that is what he said is inappropriate. he has as- is clear that is what he said is inappropriate. he has as i- inappropriate. he has as i understand _ inappropriate. he has as i understand it _ inappropriate. he has as i understand it apologised i inappropriate. he has as i. understand it apologised for inappropriate. he has as i- understand it apologised for those remarks — understand it apologised for those remarks i— understand it apologised for those remarks. i think— understand it apologised for those remarks. i think the _ understand it apologised for those remarks. i think the critical- understand it apologised for those remarks. i think the critical point i remarks. i think the critical point here _ remarks. i think the critical point here is— remarks. i think the critical point here is that — remarks. i think the critical point here is that i _ remarks. i think the critical point here is that i don't _ remarks. i think the critical point here is that i don't think- remarks. i think the critical point here is that i don't think what i remarks. i think the critical point here is that i don't think what he| here is that i don't think what he was saying — here is that i don't think what he was saying was _ here is that i don't think what he was saying was a _ here is that i don't think what he was saying was a gender—basedl here is that i don't think what he i was saying was a gender—based or race-based — was saying was a gender—based or race—based comment, _ was saying was a gender—based or race—based comment, but- was saying was a gender—based or race—based comment, but it - was saying was a gender—based or race—based comment, but it was i race—based comment, but it was clearly— race—based comment, but it was clearly inappropriate, _ race—based comment, but it was clearly inappropriate, he - race—based comment, but it was clearly inappropriate, he has - clearly inappropriate, he has apologised _ clearly inappropriate, he has apologised and _ clearly inappropriate, he has apologised and we _ clearly inappropriate, he has apologised and we need - clearly inappropriate, he has apologised and we need to l clearly inappropriate, he has - apologised and we need to move on from that _ apologised and we need to move on from that. , s, s, apologised and we need to move on from that. , t, t, ,, t, apologised and we need to move on from that. , ., ., ,, ., ., ~ from that. graham stuart and mel stride your _ from that. graham stuart and mel stride your colleagues _ from that. graham stuart and mel stride your colleagues are - from that. graham stuart and mel stride your colleagues are saying l from that. graham stuart and mel| stride your colleagues are saying it wasn't racist. now rishi sunak says it is and you say it is, it does seem like that something fundamentally changed as the prime minister was put under growing pressure yesterday. bath minister was put under growing pressure yesterday.— pressure yesterday. both my ministerial _ pressure yesterday. both my ministerial colleagues - pressure yesterday. both my ministerial colleagues there | pressure yesterday. both my| ministerial colleagues there i pressure yesterday. both my - ministerial colleagues there i have a great deal of time for an confidence in, they both said that mr hester was apologising, and that that, it was completely inappropriate.- that, it was completely inappropriate. that, it was completely inauroriate. ., , ., inappropriate. you can see that --eole inappropriate. you can see that peeple watching _ inappropriate. you can see that people watching yesterday - inappropriate. you can see that people watching yesterday and | inappropriate. you can see that - people watching yesterday and now today and hearing the change in language and tone might think that the prime minister didn't have a grip on this. i know he has got a lot of stuff on his plate but this was the big story yesterday, it's the big story today and there seems like there was not a great deal of directional consistency coming from number 10. you directional consistency coming from number10. ., ,, directional consistency coming from number 10-— directional consistency coming from number 10. you can assess what he said in lots — number 10. you can assess what he said in lots of— number 10. you can assess what he said in lots of different _ number 10. you can assess what he said in lots of different ways. - number 10. you can assess what he said in lots of different ways. in - said in lots of different ways. in terms of howl said in lots of different ways. in terms of how i read it and howl said in lots of different ways. in terms of how i read it and how i see it, he was talking about diane abbott's skin colour, and using that as a way to judge her character, thatis as a way to judge her character, that is absolutely the wrong thing to do and he has apologised for it. the prime minister has been clear it was the wrong thing to say end it is right he is apologised. i don't believe mr hester is a racist person, i've never met him, i can't make thatjudgment but we should always try and judge people's character in the most, you know, fairly, based on what they say, and what he said here in a private conversation half a decade ago, he has apologised for. i don't think we need to spend too much time on that given he has made that apology. apart from the fact that what we know for sure is he is the conservative party's biggest donor, £10 million he has given to the conservative party. and a lot of people, even within your own party, are saying this morning that that doesn't sit right, that you should give the money back. do you agree? i give the money back. do you agree? i don't agree with that, if mr hester was a racist and he refused to apologise for what he said, that would be different. he has apologised, i don't believe he is racist. in terms of the context we have got going on now, and i'm here really to talk about the post office and trying to exonerate postmasters, there are bigger issues at play here in terms of what our greater priorities for people watching this programme. i priorities for people watching this programme-— priorities for people watching this rouramme. ~ . ., ., , .,, programme. i think a lot of people watchin: programme. i think a lot of people watching this _ programme. i think a lot of people watching this programme - programme. i think a lot of people watching this programme have - programme. i think a lot of people | watching this programme have been deeply shocked by this story over the last 36 hours and for them it is a big issue because it tells them a lot about the government and what the government thinks and operates, and about community cohesion, and they have been really disturbed by this and they would like you to give the money back. if mr hester today said, i would like to give you another 10 million, would you take it? , , ., ., �* it? on the basis that we don't believe he — it? on the basis that we don't believe he is _ it? on the basis that we don't believe he is a _ it? on the basis that we don't believe he is a racist, - it? on the basis that we don't believe he is a racist, yes. - it? on the basis that we don't believe he is a racist, yes. allj it? on the basis that we don't - believe he is a racist, yes. all the people i spoke to yesterday, i spoke to members of the public and postmasters and nobody mentioned this story to me in terms of the context of what we are trying to do it which is overturned convictions and pay people compensation. that's what i am focused on and quite rightly so. what i am focused on and quite rightly sm— rightly so. let's be absolutely clear. yesterday _ rightly so. let's be absolutely clear. yesterday the - rightly so. let's be absolutely clear. yesterday the prime i rightly so. let's be absolutely - clear. yesterday the prime minister said that this man's alleged comments were racist and wrong, and you say if this is a man wanted to give another 10 million to the conservative party, you would take the money. conservative party, you would take the money-— conservative party, you would take the mone . . �*, ., , . the money. that's howl understand the money. that's howl understand the situation. _ the money. that's howl understand the situation, yes. _ the money. that's howl understand the situation, yes. thank _ the money. that's howl understand the situation, yes. thank you - the money. that's howl understand the situation, yes. thank you very l the situation, yes. thank you very much indeed. _ the situation, yes. thank you very much indeed, we _ the situation, yes. thank you very much indeed, we will _ the situation, yes. thank you very much indeed, we will get - the situation, yes. thank you very much indeed, we will get more i much indeed, we will get more reaction to that as the programme goes on. john is here to talk about drama for arsenal. . ., john is here to talk about drama for arsenal. , ., ., arsenal. yes, through to the quarterfinals _ arsenal. yes, through to the quarterfinals of— arsenal. yes, through to the quarterfinals of the - arsenal. yes, through to the l quarterfinals of the champions league and they have their goalkeeper to thank because he made some crucial saves in the penalties. but we could have a all british final in the champions league at wembley and also in the europa league. and it's busy in the premier league. and it's busy in the premier league as well. that all english final a real prospect, with arsenal through to the last eight. they were 1—0 down from the first leg, and needed extra time, penalties and two crucial saves from their goalkeeper david raya to reach the last eight at porto's expense. joe wilson reports. arsenal got there the hard way. against these opponents, it was the only way. in two ties of normal time against porto, arsenal scored one goal, immaculately prepared by odegaard last night. finished by trossard. arsenal can say they dominated both legs. this was the moment odegaard thought he'd made it 2—1. but havertz�*s grip on pepe's shirt meant foul, no goal. and although the arsenal pressure increased, the overall score remained 1—1. odegaard, nearly. extra time was largely uneventful. penalties for arsenal were perfect. odegaard set the tone. all arsenal's takers followed, all scored. but porto failed twice. ultimately, the hands of david raya won it. the goalkeeper backed and promoted by his boss. there was still time for arteta and conceicao to continue their managerial discussions, but this is the save that takes arsenal forwards. joe wilson, bbc news. asjoe mentioned there, that coming together between the two managers. an accusation was made by porto's sergio conceicao that arteta had insulted his family, something the arsenal manager denies, focusing instead of the heroics of his goalkeeper. but it's a huge experience for us, we had to do it in the entry penalties, we prepared well, credit to the coaches as well, and we had some difficult moments to start, with david but he has stood up an incredible personality and ambition at at the end he got rewarded. 50 arsenal and manchester city both in the draw for the quarterfinals of the champions league as are barcelona. they beat napoli 3—1 on the night in spain, 11—2 on aggregate. robert lewandoski with their third, ahead of two more games tonight. jannik sinner�*s unbeaten run in singles goes on. he's not lost a match in 202a. the australian open champion made it 18 straight wins as he beat american ben shelton to get through to the last eight in indian wells. jiri lehecka awaits the italian. and carlos alcaraz�* defence of his title goes on. the spaniard is into the quarterfinals of the men's draw. he beat czech player fabian marozsan 6—3, 6—3. next up for alcaraz is alexander zverev. and could today be the day legendary irish trainer willie mullins gets his 100th winner at cheltenham? he needs three more after three winners on day one. the mullins trained state man, ridden by irishjockey won the feature race the champion hurdle having come second in the race last year. in what was a tuesday treble for mullins yesterday, who is now on 97 victories, and has the favourite in the feature race today as well and a host of other runners. i should probably offer you both an apology because i gave you a couple of pics yesterday, sally, yours didn't even run.— of pics yesterday, sally, yours didn't even run. that sounds very much like — didn't even run. that sounds very much like me. — didn't even run. that sounds very much like me, it _ didn't even run. that sounds very much like me, it didn't _ didn't even run. that sounds very much like me, it didn't even - didn't even run. that sounds very | much like me, it didn't even make it? , �* . ~ ., , . it? didn't even make it to the start line. you finished _ it? didn't even make it to the start line. you finished seventh. - it? didn't even make it to the start line. you finished seventh. so - it? didn't even make it to the start line. you finished seventh. so not| line. you finished seventh. so not much better. line. you finished seventh. so not much better-— line. you finished seventh. so not much better. seventh! at least you run a race- — much better. seventh! at least you run a race- we _ much better. seventh! at least you run a race. we will _ much better. seventh! at least you run a race. we will never _ much better. seventh! at least you run a race. we will never listen - much better. seventh! at least you run a race. we will never listen to i run a race. we will never listen to ou run a race. we will never listen to you again- — run a race. we will never listen to you again- but— run a race. we will never listen to you again. but your _ run a race. we will never listen to you again. but your once - run a race. we will never listen to you again. but your once a - run a race. we will never listen to you again. but your once a day, i you again. but your once a day, trained by _ you again. but your once a day, trained by willie _ you again. but your once a day, trained by willie mullins, - you again. but your once a day, trained by willie mullins, it - you again. but your once a day, | trained by willie mullins, it goes in the third race of the day, and that could be the race that he gets to the magic 100 range. he that could be the race that he gets to the magic 100 range.— that could be the race that he gets to the magic 100 range. he can do no wron: at to the magic 100 range. he can do no wrong at cheltenham. _ to the magic 100 range. he can do no wrong at cheltenham. you _ to the magic 100 range. he can do no wrong at cheltenham. you are - to the magic 100 range. he can do no wrong at cheltenham. you are not. wrong at cheltenham. you are not auoin to wrong at cheltenham. you are not going to listen _ wrong at cheltenham. you are not going to listen to _ wrong at cheltenham. you are not going to listen to him _ wrong at cheltenham. you are not going to listen to him again? - wrong at cheltenham. you are not going to listen to him again? i - wrong at cheltenham. you are notj going to listen to him again? i will have faith- — going to listen to him again? i will have faith. your— going to listen to him again? i will have faith. your three _ going to listen to him again? i will have faith. your three legged - going to listen to him again? i will i have faith. your three legged donkey fails to finish! _ have faith. your three legged donkey fails to finish! i— have faith. your three legged donkey fails to finish! i liked _ have faith. your three legged donkey fails to finish! i liked the _ have faith. your three legged donkey fails to finish! i liked the name, - fails to finish! i liked the name, thouuh. i fails to finish! i liked the name, though. iwill_ fails to finish! i liked the name, though. i will pick _ fails to finish! i liked the name, though. i will pick one - fails to finish! i liked the name, though. i will pick one for- fails to finish! i liked the name, though. i will pick one forjohn, j though. i will pick one forjohn, aet our though. i will pick one forjohn, get our own _ though. i will pick one forjohn, get our own back. _ for some, the sight of tens of thousands of starlings coming together to take to the skies at sunset in a phenomenon known as a murmuration is nothing short of spectacular, but it can have its downsides. splat—tacular! residents of one lincolnshire village say the daily pitter—patter of poo is overwhelming villagers, their homes and cars and leaving some running for cover. harry parkhill has more. a natural wonder. murmurations of starling swirling overhead in great gonerby near grantham. but on the ground, it's not so pretty. like clockwork, every evening the birds come, and it literally rains with poo. it covers the back door, covers the cars, covers the road. you could do dot to do on the road, it's that close and that much. it's literally been a nightmare. literally. i've had to get my bucket out for about five times. everybody found it fascinating to start with. now they're fed up with it, because they wash the car in the morning and at night it's just as bad. it's come to the point now where it's pointless - washing the windows, . and my wife comes out, you get to the bin, you get bird poo on your head! - pitter— patter of poo! my son's car, it's a black car and it looks like a dalmatian! put it on the best you can hope for the best. i mean, i like to wash the sheet off even yesterday, there was that much poo on the sheet. jonathan brown says he's been trying to protect his car from the deluge of poo. it's that bad, you know? i mean, everybody's washing the car on a daily basis. so whether you can afford to wash your car on a daily basis, orjust take the time to, you know, sheet it up and hope for the best sort of thing, you know. give it a few days, you won't get out the windows of your car, there's not much of it. they're just like thick black clouds. you can hearthem. they'lljust come around in really tight, dark, deep groups, and you canjust hear the rain of bird poo coming down as they land in these trees at the back of the house here. the experts say that the birds tend to not stay in the same place for more than a few weeks, but they might be here for a little longer. so in the meantime, if you're visiting, maybe you need one of these. that looks like a very good idea. it looks so beautiful but may be no good if you live there! chris nelson was planning to run as the liberal democrat candidate for kettering in the next election. but after suffering what he described as "intolerable abuse" because of his stammer, he pulled out. he says it included �*cruel and personal�* jokes from politicians, and now he's joined forces with a leading charity to try and change attitudes chris joins us along with mandy taylor, who is a trustee at �*stamma', to tell us more. thank you so much for coming in. chris, if you want to be a politician, pulling out is a big decision, a painful decision, took us through why you came to that. it is a high decision, it is a painful thing, it's something i have been involved in and i'm passionate for about 20 years or so. it's something where the level of abuse, the load that you get, both as a politician but you add onto that the abuse directed at stammerers in general, it became too much for me. i have stammered for as long as i remember, i don't view it as a problem, i communicatejust fine, i might i don't view it as a problem, i communicate just fine, i might take a bit longer or sound a bit strange but people need to get over it. i think this is symptomatic of the problem that a lot of disabilities are a problem because the general public are not always understanding. and thatjust public are not always understanding. and that just accumulates, public are not always understanding. and thatjust accumulates, and unfortunately, i had an incident last august which was just the final straw, where the armour that i normally wear to protect myself, that wasn't that day and it hurt me quite severely and i thought, do you know what, it's getting worse and i need to make a stand.— know what, it's getting worse and i need to make a stand. when you say the armour — need to make a stand. when you say the armour that _ need to make a stand. when you say the armour that you _ need to make a stand. when you say the armour that you normally - need to make a stand. when you say the armour that you normally wear i the armour that you normally wear was not working, do you think you have got to a point where you had taken so much negativity, is like a bath overflowing, you got the point where you could not take another thing and your vulnerability was the thing and your vulnerability was the thing which shone through in a way and you could not continue to be brave about it? that's a lot of the time what you have to do, isn't it? it is an unfortunately this is something that a lot of stammerers have to deal with on a day—to—day basis because there is a lot of ignorance and lack of understanding, particularly from adults, adults are worse than children. i think there is also an issue with political candidates, there are people who have had much worse experiences than i have, particularly women, people from ethnic minorities, who have had much more intolerable abuse that they don't feel safe enough sharing. 50 i think with the combination of so i think with the combination of all of that, i thought it was important to do so.- all of that, i thought it was important to do so. you are not a politician. — important to do so. you are not a politician, mandy, _ important to do so. you are not a politician, mandy, you _ important to do so. you are not a politician, mandy, you are - important to do so. you are not a politician, mandy, you are a - important to do so. you are not a i politician, mandy, you are a trustee at stamma, an organisation trying to make change and educate all of us. i guess you all —— this story resonate on a personal level with you? absolutely, i think people over the year people that stammer can face so much _ year people that stammer can face so much in _ year people that stammer can face so much in the _ year people that stammer can face so much in the way of discrimination at every— much in the way of discrimination at every level — much in the way of discrimination at every level. and at stamma, we hear so many _ every level. and at stamma, we hear so many stories from members and their families. at stamma, so many stories from members and theirfamilies. at stamma, we so many stories from members and their families. at stamma, we then thought. _ their families. at stamma, we then thought, we need to approach this at a much _ thought, we need to approach this at a much higher level, and now, so, we have _ a much higher level, and now, so, we have launched — a much higher level, and now, so, we have launched this petition, which is going _ have launched this petition, which is going to — have launched this petition, which is going to be to really, to really called _ is going to be to really, to really called for— is going to be to really, to really called for parliament to be inclusive of all, all differences, of communications. because it should be leading _ of communications. because it should be leading by example, it should be standing _ be leading by example, it should be standing up there for integrity, for equality. _ standing up there for integrity, for equality, and actually, it's doing anything — equality, and actually, it's doing anything but there. the name—calling and the _ anything but there. the name—calling and the jeering through prime minister's questions, all those different— minister's questions, all those different televised events, it's 'ust different televised events, it's just an — different televised events, it's just an embarrassment, and it's also disgusting _ just an embarrassment, and it's also disgusting that people have got to india that kind of —— injaw that kind _ india that kind of —— injaw that kind of— india that kind of —— injaw that kind of behaviour in the one place which _ kind of behaviour in the one place which is _ kind of behaviour in the one place which is supposed to be the centre of all— which is supposed to be the centre of all our— which is supposed to be the centre of all our equality and everything else, _ of all our equality and everything else, you — of all our equality and everything else, you know. it'sjust very hard to hear~ _ else, you know. it's 'ust very hard to hear. , . , ., to hear. so, chris, what should chance, to hear. so, chris, what should change. in _ to hear. so, chris, what should change, in terms _ to hear. so, chris, what should change, in terms of _ to hear. so, chris, what should change, in terms of political i to hear. so, chris, what should i change, in terms of political life, what could change?— change, in terms of political life, what could change? there are a whole load of things — what could change? there are a whole load of things which _ what could change? there are a whole load of things which could _ what could change? there are a whole load of things which could change i load of things which could change and should change. i think the first thing that could change is the culture, and leadership comes from the top. in teaching, there is a saying, because i am a teacher, that what you walk past, you accept. and you walk past personal abuse every single day. i'm pretty sure there will be people watching going, politics is a tough sport, yes, it is. i expect to have tough, emotional, sometimes brutal challenges in policy and character, i don't expect to have abuse directed at personal characteristics. we have seen so much of that in the last month alone. i think an acceptance by all the parties that it doesn't serve anybody, and to switch the house of commons towards a more respectable standard of debate, as we see in the house of lords, the scottish parliament, the welsh senedd, all these things are possible but for some reason we don't do that. what message does that send to police, schools, and people in the media, it all starts from the top and that you can start to change from the top. politicians have the confidence to stand up and address meetings and give speeches at times and things, most of them don't get it, they don't suffer and they don't understand the issues that some people with a stammer face. most of them, it doesn't fit in to their view in the world. i them, it doesn't fit in to their view in the world.— them, it doesn't fit in to their view in the world. i think there are more people _ view in the world. i think there are more people who _ view in the world. i think there are more people who have _ view in the world. i think there are | more people who have stammerers view in the world. i think there are i more people who have stammerers who do not have stammerers, i came out as bisexual but i didn't think i did not have to do —— i would have to come out as a stammer. i think people do not want to share their disabilities. and i think that weakens all of us.— disabilities. and i think that weakens all of us. thank you both very much — weakens all of us. thank you both very much indeed. _ very much indeed. if you have comments, thoughts or experiences you would like to share on that or anything else, as ever, we await your messages. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. hello, good morning from bbc london. i'mjim wheble. the commissioner of the london fire bridgade says there are over twelve—hundred buildings in the capital with unsafe cladding. seven years on from the grenfell fire, in which 72 people died, andy roe said that many high—rises continue to have either grenfell—style cladding or serious deficiencies. the fire brigade has now implemented all of the recommendations made from the first stage of the grenfell inquiry. it's everything from all the kit you can see behind me. 50 higher reach ladders, different command units, a completely new generation of breathing apparatus and communication kit. but probably most importantly, the way we train our officers and crews to recognise a building that might be about to fail and then carry out, sometimes in very difficult circumstances, an emergency evacuation. transport for london have started night patrols across the network to provide reassurance for people. officers are being deployed to help tackle anti—social behaviour, and they'll also be able to remove passengers from the network if they haven't paid. let's take a look at the tubes. and the weather — this morning will be mostly cloudy and dry with some bright spells this afternoon. a mild day though with a top temperature of 15 degrees. that's it for now, but check out our website for a story about how physios are using virtual reality headsets to help patients recover. for now though, back to sally and jon. good morning, welcome to breakfast with sally nugent and jon kay. our headlines today. racist and wrong — the prime minister condemns comments allegedly made by a tory donor, aimed at mp diane abbott. a law aimed at quashing the wrongful convictions of subpostmasters caught up in the post office scandal is being introduced by the government today. fears that women are being misled about the chances of succesfully conceiving after having their eggs frozen. how happy are you with your local bus service? waiting times and frequency vary a lot depending on where you are, giving a mixed picture when it comes to passenger satisfaction. i'll have the results of the latest survey on that. good morning. we have got a band of cloud and also rain ensconced across the central swathe of the country. to the north of that we are looking at sunshine and blustery showers, with gales in north—west scotland, and to the south of that fairly cloudy but mild. good morning. it's wednesday, 13th march. rishi sunak is facing growing calls for the conservatives to give back millions of pounds donated by a businessman accused of making racist remarks about the mp, diane abbott. downing street last night described the comments reportedly made by frank hester as racist and wrong, but said his remorse should be accepted. labour said keeping his money was completely wrong. our political correspondent hannah miller has more. hello, rishi. how are you? very nice to see you. when rishi sunak made this visit to a mill near leeds in november, his helicopter ride had been provided by one of his party's biggest donors, frank hester, who last year donated £10 million to the conservative party, now alleged to have made comments that the prime minister's spokesperson has described as racist and wrong. "it's like trying not to be racist. but you see diane abbott on the tv," frank hester is reported to have said in 2019, "and you just want to hate all black women because she's there, and i don't hate all black women at all, but i think she should be shot." mr hester has apologised and said that he abhors racism. in a statement he said that he accepts that he made comments that were rude about diane abbott, but said his criticism had nothing to do with her gender, nor the colour of her skin. the prime minister has suggested that he accepts that apology, but today he's likely to face questions about what will happen to the money frank hester donated. labour are calling for it to be given back. they're absolutely reprehensible comments. rishi sunak should now apologise to diane abbott, and the £10 million the tory party have taken from this individual, rishi sunak should order that money to be paid back. last night a leading member of one conservative pressure group suggested it could be used to promote ethnic minority groups. i would hope that actually hq would use that money to invest in grassroots. there are so many bame activists in the conservative party, there are bame groups and forums, and i think that actually, so many of them are so under supported, that it would be a perfect opportunity to actually improve that engagement. diane abbott has described the alleged comments as frightening, and reported them to the police unit tasked with investigating alleged crimes against mps. but for rishi sunak, a prime minister who stood in downing street and warned against racism and extremism in politics, questions remain about the language used by some of those who support him. hannah miller, bbc news. we're nowjoined by our chief political correspondent henry zeffman. pm queue today in the commons. this is not going away, is it? —— prime minister's questions. it is certainly _ minister's questions. it is certainly not. _ minister's questions. it is certainly not. two - minister's questions. it is certainly not. two big i minister's questions. it 3 certainly not. two big questions. one is about frank hester�*s donations to the conservative party. the others about rishi sunak pass judgment. frank hester gave the conservative £10 million last year. by conservative £10 million last year. by any body's measure that is an awful lot of money. and there are calls for the labour party —— from the labour party and others for the conservative party, especially since rishi sunak alleged the comments were racist, to hand back the money. kevin hollinrake, a government minister, says they won't hand back that money. in another interesting exchange you asked him if they would accept future donations from frank hester. �* . . accept future donations from frank hester. �*, , . , , accept future donations from frank hester. �*, , , . . hester. let's be absolutely clear. yesterday the _ hester. let's be absolutely clear. yesterday the prime _ hester. let's be absolutely clear. yesterday the prime minister i hester. let's be absolutely clear. yesterday the prime minister is l hester. let's be absolutely clear. i yesterday the prime minister is said that this man's alleged comments were racist and wrong, and you say if they say man wanted to give another £10 million today to the conservative party, you would take the money?— conservative party, you would take the money? yes. it is a delicate line from _ the money? yes. it is a delicate line from the _ the money? yes. it is a delicate line from the conservative party. you have kevin hollinrake saying that the commons has reported were racist, but he does not believe frank hester is a racist. —— comments. not only will they not be handing back the donation so far, but they would accept further donations. moving forward, i think there is still some concern in the conservative party about how the government have —— how the conservative party handled this yesterday. for most of the day yesterday. for most of the day yesterday the conservative party position was to defend frank hester, but also to reiterate his defence of the comments. frank hester has said what he is deeply sorry for his comments command while they were rude, they want about diane rab abbott, race or her gender. most people in the conservative party now believe that line was unforced error. when you are a prime minister who is so far behind in the polls, you can't make that many unforced errors. thank you for bringing us up to date with that this morning. ahead of prime minister's questions at lunchtime. the thing the government wanted to be talking about the day at parliament, very different. that's right. new legislation to automatically quash convictions relating to the post office it scandal is being introduced by the government. a compensation scheme will also be extended, to help branch managers who were not convicted of crimes, ut who lost money due to flaws in the horizon system. colletta smith reports. it's been nearly three years since the first 39 subpostmasters won the legal victory at the court of appeal to overturn their convictions. but despite the legal precedent, it's been a painfully slow process for others to follow suit and have their criminal records cleared. rather than opening the floodgates, there's only been a quiet drip of people being exonerated. the post office minister told bbc breakfast in january that things were going to change. when the first convictions were overturned in 2021, we thought there would be a huge wave of people coming forward to overturn those convictions. we probably hadn't anticipated some of the nervousness people might have about reopening their case, about going back through a legal process, about interacting with the post office again. so that's why we'd be looking at different options in terms of overturning these convictions more rapidly, and indeed compensating people more rapidly. janet skinner was one of those who won that high court battle. but she's been less than impressed with what's happened since then. is the government going to take back control over the post office? currently, the post office, they are orchestrating convictions, who has a conviction overturned. they're in control of the compensation. they are now classified as the criminals. so why are they having the power to control everything? today that question has begun to be answered. the law being introduced means that hundreds of people still living with wrongful convictions for theft, fraud and false accounting, will now be automatically cleared. if they come forward, there'll be no court process needed, and they'll get access to immediate interim compensation. those not convicted, but who lost money because of the horizon scandal, can now receive a sum of £75,000, and anyone who's already settled for less than that can have their payments topped up to this level. a gradual unpicking of years of injustice. colletta smith, bbc news. failed asylum seekers are to be offered up to £3,000 to move to rwanda under a new voluntary home office scheme. the plan is aimed at migrants and foreign criminals with no legal right to remain in the uk, but who cannot be sent back to their home country, because it's not deemed to be safe. labour said the public would treat the plan with scepticism. the labour party has promised to allow a vote on assisted dying if it wins the next general election. sir keir starmer made the pledge during a phone call with the broadcaster and campaigner dame esther rantzen, who has stage four lung cancer. the issue was last voted on by mps nine years ago. the uk economy returned to growth injanuary, according to new figures. ben is here to tell us more. figures just out suggest the uk is slowly and slightly emerging from recession. the office for national statistics estimates the uk economy grew by 0.2% injanuary compared with december. and that's what economists were expecting. when we talk about the size of the economy ? or gdp ? it tells us how much activity there is going on. its a measure of how much we are making, doing, building, buying and selling. a growing economy means more of that is going on and that generally means more money going round, morejobs, easier to get a pay rise and so on. when you break it down —the growth injanuary seems to have been driven mainly by construction. services also grew. but production or manufacturing slowed down. chancellorjeremy hunt said: "today's numbers show we are making progress in growing the economy — part of which makes it possible to bring down national insurance contributions by £900 this coming year." but some important things to remember. this is only very slight growth so the engines of the economy are hardly firing at full whack, more stuttering back to life. it's just a measure of the economy in one month, and we tend not to draw firm conclusions until we have three months in a row. also, this isjust an initial estimate and they tend to revise these later. so, in summary, an economy that appears to be growing albeit weakly. even weak growth though is better than a shrinking economy, which we saw at the end of last year. but don t get too excited about this. hardly a cause just yet to start firing the economy growth confetti cannons. us presidentjoe biden and his predecessor donald trump have both passed the delegate thresholds to claim their parties' nominations for november's presidential election. it comes after four states, one american territory and democrats living abroad held their primaries on tuesday. the result means the president and former president will face a rematch of the 2020 us election in eight months' time. the first minster of wales, mark drakeford, will give evidence to the covid inquiry later. he 5 expected to be questioned over whether he was slow to react to the spread of the virus. our wales correspondent tomos morganjoins us now. tomos, what else can we expect today? this is a significant day because mark drakeford is giving evidence all day today. he is the only witness. they ceases last week in office. this will be the last significant thing he does as first ministerfor wales. significant thing he does as first ministerforwales. on significant thing he does as first minister for wales. on saturday a new welsh labour leader will be announced. and a week today that welsh labour leader will almost certainly become the next first minister. the things that will come up minister. the things that will come up in conversation, whatsapp messages. we have the former health minister saying on monday it was an embarrassment for him that is whatsapp messages had been deleted when he had given it in for maintenance in 2022. the first minister has been not really consistent with the way that he used whatsapp during covid. they will be looking to get a bit more information on that today. secondly, there will be some questions on the relationship with the uk. mark drakeford has always been slightly disparaging of borisjohnson during those times. we have the chief medical officer here also saying that the situation between the uk and he was comment was described as and he was comment was described as a nominee shambles at times. we also have the welsh secretary of the welsh government singly was government were make a decision to be different from the uk government. and lastly, how seriously was the welsh government taken? i think mark drakeford undoubtedly got a reputation for being calm and collected and much lower in reduced —— reducing restrictions. the cabinet didn't have their first meeting about covid until a month before the pandemic started. thank you. coming up to a quarter past eight. queen camilla has been immortalised in plastic with her own barbie doll, and she joked the toy made her look 50 years younger. the queen, who has currently stepped back from royal duties following the king's cancer diagnosis, was presented with the gift in recognition of her work as president of the women of the world foundation. the doll was dressed in a scaled down version of her outfit — a blue dress, black cape and black boots. coming toa coming to a toy shop near you. no, it is a one—off. carol is in the studio with the weather. it is wet, wet, wet. it absolutely is. rain in different parts of the country in the next few days. it has been weather throughout the month of march. we halfway through. if i show you some statistics. we have had in excess, in some places, 50 millimetres of rain. in excess of two inches. that is more than a month's worth of rainfall. at heathrow we have had 52 millimetres. the average for march is 42 millimetres. it put it into context. we have got more rain coming in the next couple of days, including today. here is the amount of rainfall. we have got the dark blue we are looking at between 30 and 50 millimetres of rain. where we have the jade collars, that is up to 70 millimetres of rain. the ground is already saturated. this will exacerbate the risk of flooding. a little bit of a reprieve for a time any where in the far south—east. today we have got a weather front which are sinking southwards, slowly. it is taking its rain across northern england and wales. to the south of that there is a lot of cloud around, murkier around the coasts and hills. also, some drizzle coming out of the cloud, especially in the west. in the east we are more likely to see brighter breaks. the rain continuing in the isle of man coming to northern indian. brighter skies following into northern ireland and scotland, where it will be windy with some blustery showers. through the day we will see gales start to develop across the far north—west. in any breaks in the cloud in the south east we could reach temperatures of 15, possibly even 16 degrees today. in the north we are looking at eight to 12. but tomorrow, we could well see a 70 degrees summer —— somewhere in the south—east. once again we will see that likely on sunday. there is a dip in the temperatures. not to ice age level, but dropping a bit. a little bit springlike before that? well, there is more rain in the forecast! 17 minutes past eight. for many women, freezing their eggs can offer the hope of conceiving a baby later in life, with more than ever now said to be taking up the practice. despite this, there are fears some clinics could be misleading women about success rates, with bbc analysis suggesting dozens may have breached advertising guidance. anna collinson reports. going into the operating theatre, that's when it gets really real. r0 is about to have her eggs retrieved. the idea, to freeze them at a younger, more fertile point, and use them when she's ready to have a baby. so i was supposed to be getting married in a few months' time, but this summer things changed, and i had to make the decision to leave that relationship. i'm an absolute realist going into this, and i know that freezing my eggs does not guarantee me success of having a child in the future. all i know, it's like, it's a positive thing for me to do right now. ro's been injecting hormones to help her body produce multiple eggs. under sedation, a long, thin needle is carefully inserted into each ovary to retrieve them. each egg is smaller than a grain of sand. they're painstakingly checked, before 13 are frozen and placed in storage. initially, i wasjust doing one injection a day. they've started the process there. you can start to see on my little tum—tum. there's been a boom in social egg freezing, where women undergo the procedure for non—medical reasons, an idea propelled by celebrities like vicky pattison. i thought what i was doing, right, was showing young lasses and young women that there's like, alternatives, you know? that we don'tjust have to rush into things with, potentially the wrong bloke. but women have told us navigating a giant private fertility sector can be daunting. single at 39, natalie decided to freeze her eggs in 2020. you know, as a woman, you do have a biological clock that is ticking. there's a physical toll that it takes on your body. you're injecting yourself multiple times a day. then there's like, the emotional aspect of that. the science teacher says she struggled to understand what her chances of having a baby were. it's just purely now based on trust and hope, rather than data and research. i feel it was a journey that i felt very alone on. i don't think i expected, you know, the financial toll. honestly, it was probably the biggest hit. it was just trying to find the money from anywhere to make this happen. fertility clinic websites can be a key source of free information. but analysis by the bbc found a1% of clinics which offer private egg freezing in the uk may have breached advertising guidance. we found some clinics are prominently displaying attractive sounding success rates, with percentages in the high 905. but that's only one stage of the egg freezing journey. the chances of going on to have a baby are far lower, somewhere between 20 and 30%, and that isn't always made clear. we shared our findings with the fertility network. what is missing are the success rates for the ivf process, which are much lower, which are 25%, which are 30%, which depend on age, which could be 5% if a woman was over 40. i feel very angry for patients because they are being misled by this level of information. fertility experts told us patients should get personalised information about their chances of success at a consultation, but stress websites must be transparent. the uk's fertility regulator is clear. the responsibility to inform lies with clinics. freezing eggs for medical reasons is very different to freezing for social reasons. and as a regulator, we are concerned about the success rates. we are concerned about the information women are getting when they're considering this process. although record numbers are freezing their eggs, research shows that very few are actually coming back to use them. natalie has, and fell pregnant in 2022. you're so excited, but then there's this scary kind of, oh, my god, this actually worked, i'm going to have a baby. she now has a son, who will turn one next week. the whole process costs more than £18,000. holding huxley for the first time, i mean, you'rejust — you're in awe that this baby has come from a frozen egg. you know, science is fantastic. it's wonderful, really, that we can do this now. women my age, single, make this decision, make this choice. i have been really, really fortunate, and i'm forever grateful for that. anna collinson, bbc news. we're joined now by dr ippokratis sarris who is a consultant in reproductive medicine. morning to you. we just saw that gorgeous image at the end of our film, this is what women who choose to freeze their eggs are hoping for, it is the dream. but how many times do you think they are being sold to something that might not be quite as definitive as they are being told? i think it's very important that all the information being given to patients, whether that be on a website or at a clinic, is accurate. 40% of websites potentially don't have the full information. 60% do. what we need to do is we need to push that from 60% to 100%, to make sure that information notjust complies with regulation, but good practice as well. it is complies with regulation, but good practice as well.— practice as well. it is such an emotional— practice as well. it is such an emotional decision, - practice as well. it is such an emotional decision, an i practice as well. it is such an i emotional decision, an emotive practice as well. it is such an - emotional decision, an emotive point in someone's life, where they think for whatever reason, they take that decision that freezing their eggs is probably the right thing to do. women at that point are very vulnerable, aren't they? it is not 'ust ea . vulnerable, aren't they? it is not just egg or— vulnerable, aren't they? it is not just egg or freezing, _ vulnerable, aren't they? it is not just egg or freezing, it _ vulnerable, aren't they? it is not just egg or freezing, it is - vulnerable, aren't they? it is not just egg or freezing, it is all i vulnerable, aren't they? it is not just egg or freezing, it is all the | just egg or freezing, it is all the fertility treatments. all the information has to be accurate. what we have to do is give information for people to make an informed decision about what is right for them. �* . decision about what is right for them. �*, ., ., . . them. it's emotional, as we have 'ust them. it's emotional, as we have just heard. _ them. it's emotional, as we have just heard. it's — them. it's emotional, as we have just heard, it's also _ them. it's emotional, as we have just heard, it's also very - them. it's emotional, as we have i just heard, it's also very expensive for some women if this goes on for many months, many attempts. there will be people watching this morning who say, is the lack of correct information because these clinics are trying to make more money, is that what it is about?— are trying to make more money, is that what it is about? honestly, all information — that what it is about? honestly, all information out _ that what it is about? honestly, all information out there _ that what it is about? honestly, all information out there has - that what it is about? honestly, all information out there has to i that what it is about? honestly, all information out there has to be i information out there has to be accurate. health care is expensive, notjust accurate. health care is expensive, not just fertility, accurate. health care is expensive, notjust fertility, but accurate. health care is expensive, not just fertility, but all of health care. the problem is there is not enough provision of funding on the national health service for all fertility treatments. of course, then people have to pay out of their pocket. it is important when people pay for things. but at least they have the correct information to make the correct decision which is right for them. the correct decision which is right forthem. ii the correct decision which is right for them. , ., . ~ ., . for them. if you were talking to a woman asking — for them. if you were talking to a woman asking about _ for them. if you were talking to a woman asking about the - for them. if you were talking to a woman asking about the options| for them. if you were talking to a i woman asking about the options of freezing her eggs and options further down the line, how does that conversation go, what do you say? first of all you have to assess the individual to see what the chance of 999 individual to see what the chance of egg freezing is, is it safe, possible? there is a huge chance of success. you give that information. it is not for doctors to tell people if they should or should not freeze their eggs. they have to give the proper information and people can make informed decisions. what make informed decisions. what factors come — make informed decisions. what factors come into _ make informed decisions. what factors come into play? - make informed decisions. what factors come into play? if- make informed decisions. what factors come into play? if a i make informed decisions. what factors come into play? if a woman comes to you late 305, and she is asking about that, what are the health issues you might be taking into consideration when you are then giving her the percentages and the statistics? . ., , statistics? there are two things. one is the _ statistics? there are two things. one is the percentage _ statistics? there are two things. one is the percentage chance i statistics? there are two things. one is the percentage chance of| one is the percentage chance of success. that is basically based on the age. that's very important. so, for example, you need for a 75% chance of success, if you are 3a you need ten eggs, 47... it is notjust how many eggs you need, it also has to do with how many cycles you might need because what happens over time is that of the number of eggs in a woman pass '5 ovaries go down, so it could be you need more eggs. we will get fewer with every attempt you undertake. 50 get fewer with every attempt you undertake. . . . , , undertake. so even if a clinic puts the riaht undertake. so even if a clinic puts the right information _ undertake. so even if a clinic puts the right information out - undertake. so even if a clinic puts the right information out there, . undertake. so even if a clinic puts i the right information out there, the headline number isn't necessarily realistic for the individual patient if they are older or have other health issues?— if they are older or have other health issues? ~ , ,., , . health issues? absolutely. headline fi . ures are health issues? absolutely. headline figures are there _ health issues? absolutely. headline figures are there to _ health issues? absolutely. headline figures are there to guide _ health issues? absolutely. headline figures are there to guide but i health issues? absolutely. headline figures are there to guide but it i health issues? absolutely. headline figures are there to guide but it is i figures are there to guide but it is important to individualise them. that can only happen in a clinic, new proper consultation with proper information. new proper consultation with proper information-— information. thank you for coming in. very interesting _ information. thank you for coming in. very interesting subject. i i information. thank you for coming | in. very interesting subject. i know it affects a lot of people watching this morning. you can watch anna collinson 5 exclusive film ? egg freezing and me ? on bbc iplayer now. morning live follows breakfast on bbc one this morning. let's find out what they have in store. coming up, a week on from the spring budget, we've got the very latest financial support with bbc�*5 cost of living correspondent colletta smith. i'm talking about the household support extension, and how councils are choosing to dish it out, with things like supermarket vouchers. and the way to apply for child benefit, as the eligibility threshold rose from 50 to £60,000. plus, we're continuing our conversation about free wills month. legal eagle gary rycroft is talking probate — it's the legal right to deal with someone's possessions when they die. and after loads of questions from you, he explains when you need a solicitor, and how to do it yourself. also, as one in ten live with autoimmune conditions, dr ranj answers your concerns. i'll share how to deal with debilitating fatigue, and why waving your hands for 30 seconds can ease raynaud's. all of that plus, with 4.4 million spuds chucked every day, we've got a freezer masterclass with a food waste expert, including how to defrost mash without making it watery. and as the official broadcast partner, we're exclusively catching up with bbc radio 1's mollie king on day three of her pedal power challenge for red nose day. she's got her longest stint of over 68 miles today! she will be arriving actually not far from you to grow there, media city. in about nine hours. see you at 9:30. she has still got a way to go. loving the stripes come about. i like how you have coordinated. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. good job they have gone. always make the dig at the end. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. hello, good morning from bbc london, i'mjim wheble. the commissioner of the london fire brigade says there are over 1,200 buildings in the capital with unsafe cladding. seven years on from the grenfell fire in which 72 people died, andy roe said that many high—rises continue to have either grenfell—style cladding or "serious deficiencies". the fire brigade has now implemented all of the recommendations made from the first stage of the grenfell inquiry. it's everything from all the kit you can see behind me. so higher reach ladders, different command units, a completely new generation of breathing apparatus and communication kit. but probably most importantly, the way we train our officers and crews to recognise a building that might be about to fail and then carry out, sometimes in very difficult circumstances, an emergency evacuation. transport for london have started night patrols across the network to provide reassurance for people. officers are being deployed to help tackle anti—social behaviour and they'll also be able to remove passengers from the network if they haven't paid. police are appealing for information about a woman who was last seen in central london nearly three weeks ago. samira ayanle, from westminster, was last seen at her university accommodation near marble arch on the 215t february. the 19—year—old was reported missing on friday. anyone with any information is being asked to contact the police. the future of children's cancer care in south london is due to be debated in parliament today. treatment for about 1,400 children is currently provided by the royal marsden hospital at sutton and st george's hospital in tooting. the nhs is proposing to move cancer care away from the marsden. a decision will be made on thursday. let's take a look at the tubes now and all good apart from minor delays on the bakerloo and london overground. now onto the weather with kate. good morning. it's a mild start this morning, temperatures overnight widely stayed in double figures. after yesterday's rain, we're left with this legacy of cloud, a couple of spots of light rain and drizzle possible, but largely dry, a few brighter spells. it's a breezy day and temperatures and very mild, 15 celsius. overnight tonight it stays quite breezy. still quite mild overnight, quite a bit of cloud around, its dry. the minimum temperature somewhere between seven and nine celsius. a few bright spells first thing on thursday morning but we have got a front edging in from the west and that's going to bring some showers. we could get some breaks in the cloud so some sunny spells developing through thursday. as a result, those showers through the afternoon especially could be quite sharp, you mightjust hear a rumble of thunder. temperatures tomorrow a touch milder, 16 celsius, just depends on how many sunny spells we get. overnight those showers will clear. it's quite a chilly night into saturday, a cooler day for saturday itself, it will be unsettled into the weekend but those milder temperatures through sunday and into next week. that's it for now but there's a fascinating story on or our website worth taking a look at about how nhs physios in south london, are using virtual reality headsets to help major trauma patients recover from their injuries. i'll be back in half an hour but for now it's back to sally and jon. hello, this is breakfast with sally nugent and jon kay. bus services vary a lot from region to region, when it comes to things like waiting times and reliability. and that's been reflected in the latest research which reveals how satisfied passengers are with their local buses. ben is looking at this. there's a phrase we tend to over—use on the news, "postcode lottery". so i'm not going to say that. you just did! youjust did! i know, forgive me! but let's say there's something of a "bus route" or "bus stop" lottery instead — and how reliant you are on buses also affects how you feel about the service. we've just had the results from the first large scale survey of bus passengers since covid and it reveals some important things about the network. the passenger watchdog transport focus analysed 35,000 bus journeys in 34 local authorities in england. the vast majority of passengers were satisfied overall. and dissatisfaction over things like waiting times. nearly half of passengers say they have no alternative to using the bus so reliability and a regular service are vital. more than two thirds believe the bus is good value for money but bear in mind that is in part because of the decision from the government to cap many fares at £2 to combat the effects of the cost of living crisis and encourage more passengers to take the bus. that cap has been extended but only to the end of this year. and remember this survey captured the views of people lucky enough to actually be on a bus. while it remains the most frequently used form of public transport, the local bus network shrank 14 percent in the six years between 2016 and 2022. passenger numbers as a whole are in long term decline and still only at three quarters of pre pandemic levels. the bbc�*5 transport correspondent katy austin has been one of the places with the most satisfied bus passengers, east yorkshire, and to one of the places with the least satisfied, west yorkshire. on the number 23 between beverley and hull, plenty of regular passengers. so what do they think of their bus service? how often do you get the bus? every day. are they always on time? no! no. but do they get you where you need to go? yeah, yeah, yeah. i think there should always be more buses, so there could be less cars on the roads. what do you think, are they good? yeah, the buses are good, actually, they're easy, they're convenient. i sometimes they fail. today i could not get on the 121 bus because it did not - show up and now i'm late for work, so. _ so if they turn up, they're good? yeah. when transport focus asked people how satisfied they were with their bus journeys, east yorkshire came top with 90%. they were asked about things like value for money, punctuality, the bus stop and the driver. over the past couple of years, more than £1 billion of government money has been allocated towards trying to make bus services around england outside of london better, after years of falling passenger numbers and cuts to services made much worse by the pandemic. here, the council and bus companies say they've put their share of the money towards more evening and sunday services. i use the bus four or five times a week. i do think it's a very good service, yeah. because some of the villages would be cut off without it, you know. yeah, i'm getting the little local bus, the 527, which is only three a day now where there used to be one every hour. i'm not saying they're all late, but there's quite a lot, you know, that do run late or sometimes they'lljust cut them out, you know, and then people are waiting about another hour for another bus, aren't they? at the bottom of the results table, west yorkshire with a 73% satisfaction rating. people in huddersfield weren't surprised. constantly late, constantly missing, not turning up. yeah, not very good at all. there's been a lot of late buses, a lot of cancellations, and a lot of people are dissatisfied generally because they can't get to college on time. i live in a little village i which is seldom served, so we could do with more . and we could do with better reliability for the school buses. the region's mayor admits there's work to do. i'm a bus user myself. i know there are too many delays, there's not many options, there are too many cuts to the services. and we've been spending 17 million a year to improve journeys across west yorkshire. we've been building bus priority lanes so buses don't get stuck in traffic. we've also been recruiting and running courses for more bus drivers. a decision on whether to bring buses in west yorkshire back under local control is due this week. a charity focused on bus users experiences doesn't think enough people around the country have access to a bus at all. the most recent figures from the dft shows that whilst ridership has increased, in terms of mileage, that's gone down. so that means less frequency and it also means that some services have been axed. without buses, then people find themselves excluded from things like employment, education, health care provision, and even just going to visit their family and friends. delays caused by congestion were a problem issue in transport focus's research, while the £2 bus fare cap boosted value for money scores. the passenger watchdog 5ay5 wherever they live, people need to see the improvements they've been promised. katy austin, bbc news. the government says buses are a lifeline for many people and that they have invested more than £3.5 billion into the sector since the pandemic. we want to hear from you this morning, are you happy with your local bus route or do you think there needs to be a drastic improvement or does it still even exist? a lot of you have been in touch already. brian in shanklin says, on the isle of wight we have old london double decker buses travelling on roads built for "horse and cart travel" and pensioners using them cannot get upstairs. what we need are single decker buses perhaps more of them, although that increases costs. angela 5ay5, no—one has yet mentioned the number of bus stops closed with no temporary stop created. i have had to walk late at night twice this month from one closed bus stop only to find the next one is closed too. no temporary bus stop was created. i am 78 with a hip replacement that hasn't worked. the lack of care is astounding. where have temporary bus stops gone? julie from coventry 5ay5, bus services in coventry are second to none. regular, timely and i can go to towns around me, as well as getting around in the city. thank you for your comments, keep them coming in, e—mail, whatsapp, social media. i think what is reflected wear is what we were talking about, the picture varies so much depending on where you are under the service you receive. i know you are going to come back until it about this before the end of the programme, we have been inundated. , of the programme, we have been inundated-— of the programme, we have been inundated. , ., , , inundated. mary has 'ust messaged, mornin: , inundated. mary has 'ust messaged, morning. mary. — inundated. mary has 'ust messaged, morning, mary. she i inundated. mary hasjust messaged, morning, mary. she says, _ inundated. mary hasjust messaged, morning, mary. she says, no - inundated. mary hasjust messaged, morning, mary. she says, no buses| morning, mary. she says, no buses here in bristol, used to be three a day and they have all stopped, devastating for people like me, i can no longer socialise and i'm just housebound, it is very depressing. keep your messages coming in. it's the world's largest tree and can live for more than 2000 years, and now the giant redwood is thriving in the uk. in fact it's doing so well here that it now outnumbers those found in its native california and may soon become the tallest trees growing on our islands. our science editor rebecca morelle has more. they're becoming a standout feature of our forests. giant redwoods are the biggest trees on the planet. these native californian wonders are fast growing and can lock up vast amounts of carbon. and now they're looming large across the landscape in the uk. well, these giant redwoods really live up to their name. they are suitably huge. so here are a couple of questions. how many of these trees do you think there are in their native californian region? well, the answer is only about 80,000. and how many giant redwoods do you think there are here in the uk? well, you might be surprised to learn that there's an estimated 500,000 and that number is growing. the latest stocktake shows the trees are thriving here. these giant redwoods were planted in wakehurst in sussex about 150 years ago. and it turns out that the damp british weather, especially a misty day like this, is good for them. so where they grow in california is cooler and moister than you would typically envisage california and we have a reasonably similar climate here. it's very wet, they need the moisture to grow. the estimate of how many there are here in the uk seems to be an awful lot. i mean, were you surprised by that? yeah, absolutely, yeah. half a million trees is quite a lot to sort of go under the radar until now. but when you start looking for them in the landscape and compiling these data sets together, that you realise how many there are. so here's the next question. how high do you think these trees can grow? well, the answer is up to 90 metres tall, but this one's not quite there yet. for their study, scientists have been using lasers to scan the trees. it means they can build up a detailed 3d picture of each one so they can accurately measure them. this giant redwood i5 46 metres tall, but the scans also let scientists calculate the weight of the tree so they can work out how much carbon is being soaked up. these trees there are about 30 tonnes, which means they have about ten to 15 tonnes of carbon stored in their tissues. compared to the largest tree in california, which has about 250 tonnes of carbon stored in it, they're quite small, but you know, these could get as big. havering country park in essex is one of the sites that's being surveyed by the researchers. it has an avenue of giant redwoods planted to provide a grand entrance for a stately home that's no longer here. these trees were once the ultimate status symbol. i see them all over the place, and they pop up in the kind of most weird and wonderful places. and i think partly they have this sort of iconic status because they are the biggest organisms on earth and they're some of the oldest organisms on earth. so we we kind of hold them in a regard of this kind of exotic species. final question, how long do you think these trees can live? well, the answer to that is a very long time. more than 2,000 years. in california, ancient redwood forests show how colossal these trees can get, but they're under threat in their natural home from climate change. in the uk, though, they seem to be flourishing. but in terms of climate, it's probably the case that they're going to have a, you know, a less pressured existence here than they would do in california. so this could be the new home of the giant redwood? yeah, absolutely, i mean, here they are. even in ourfoggy weather, the uk'5 giant redwoods are hard to miss, but there's still a lot we need to find out, like how well they fit into our forests and the heady heights they'll eventually reach. rebecca morelle, bbc news. i told you i was looking for a tree to plant in my garden. tsine i told you i was looking for a tree to plant in my garden.— i told you i was looking for a tree to plant in my garden. one of those? i am not to plant in my garden. one of those? i am not sure — to plant in my garden. one of those? lam not sure i— to plant in my garden. one of those? i am not sure i have _ to plant in my garden. one of those? i am not sure i have got _ to plant in my garden. one of those? i am not sure i have got 100 - to plant in my garden. one of those? i am not sure i have got 100 years i i am not sure i have got 100 years too late. , , , too late. they can live but my carden too late. they can live but my garden is _ too late. they can live but my garden is about _ too late. they can live but my garden is about the _ too late. they can live but my garden is about the size i too late. they can live but my garden is about the size of i too late. they can live but my| garden is about the size of the table. �* , garden is about the size of the table. �* ._ ., ._ garden is about the size of the table. �* ., ,. ,. table. big day today, plants and nets table. big day today, plants and gets under— table. big day today, plants and gets under way _ table. big day today, plants and gets under way today. _ table. big day today, plants and gets under way today. there i table. big day today, plants and gets under way today. there is i table. big day today, plants and i gets under way today. there is some very dramatic weather elsewhere that we can talk about, carol. yes, parts of the south—east of england have already had more than the average amount that you would get in march, but these are some pictures from argentina, around the outskirts of buenos aires. this place has had, since late on on monday and tuesday morning, 114 millimetres of rainfall, flash flooding of course, thunderstorms, and a lot of that fell in less than six hours. there is more to come as we go through the course of the day, and then that will push further north—east. look at this motorbike, for example, almost submerged, half submerged, anyway. we have more rain on the cards as well in the next few days, it will turn milder, the air is coming up from the south—west on this south—westerly wind, whereas in the north you can see the blue. more of a northerly component to the wind here. we have a weather front which has been drifting south, out of a lot of scotland and northern ireland, into northern england, and north wales. it has produced a lot of rain through the course of the night. so there will be a lot of surface water and spray around first thing this morning. further south, fairly cloudy and we have got some drizzle, particularly in parts of the west. brighter skies at times in the west. brighter skies at times in the east. so as this weather front pushes out of southern scotland and northern ireland, it will brighten up northern ireland, it will brighten up for you, there will be some sunshine and blustery showers, a windy day with gales developing across the north. temperatures ranging from eight in lerwick to 14 in newcastle and hull, 15 to 16 and brighter skies in the sunshine over the south—east. into tomorrow, we are looking at a fairly mild night except for in the north of the country. here it will be colder. that is because we have got this weather front pushing steadily northwards, cooler air already ensconced, and at times we will see some wintriness above 800 metres in the hills in scotland. another weather front coming in from the west will produce some showers, some heavy and thundery, and there will be sunshine in northern scotland, parts of north—east england and south—east england. it will be a windy day for england and wales, particularly close to the english channel. temperature wise, in the sunshine we could hit 16 or 17 degrees at best, above average for this stage in march. thursday into friday, this area of low pressure is coming in, weatherfront pushing towards the east, the isobars telling you it is going to be windy again through england and wales. quite a messy picture, there will be some showers and rain around, some of the showers will be per heavy and potentially thundery. temperature wise, a slight dip during the course of friday, we are looking for five in lerwick to 13 in the south—east. but the temperature by sunday will start to pick up again for some of us, more especially in the south. we've talked a lot on breakfast about the power of music and this morning we have the story of one couple with a very special love song. six years ago, jackie lewis bayton suffered a devastating brain injury just days before she was due to get married to matt. the song they were due to have at their wedding has now become a source of strength for them both, as tim muffett reports. jackie was a very caring person, a mental health nurse for the nhs. # i never thought i'd miss you # half as much as i do... the song, which was going to be the song that we walked out of the registry office to, was it must be love. but four days before their wedding in 2018, jackie suffered a bleed on the brain, which left her permanently brain damaged. jackie i5 nonverbal, so all her communication is through her eyes and through facial expressions. matt has visited jackie in her care home every day without fail for five years. # it must be love, love, love. you're looking beautiful, aren't you? got the musicians coming today. the musicians are from the spitz charitable trust. its mission is to relieve isolation and loneliness through the power of live music. # every little thing i is gonna be all right. there's a lot of preconceptions about who's in our care homes. and i think some people still seem to think that everyone wants the white cliffs of dover still. and really they don't. there's a very, very broad wish for all sorts of different kinds of music. # i don't want to wait in vain for your love. i of course, during the pandemic, it was very difficult. because for a lot of the time i wasn't allowed into the building, but i would still go down to the care home and luckily her room is on the ground floor so i was able to basically 5it outside her window. the power of music is extraordinary, isn't it? what effect do you see it having onjackie? it makes her happy. it stimulates her, bringing her back to us. that's really, you know, what we're trying to do. # i've got to be near you, every night, every day. jackie and matt's favorite song, it must be love, was originally written and performed by labi siffre in 1971. # it must be love, love, love. it was a huge hit for madness ten years later. # nothing more, nothing less, love is the best. it has a very special meaning for both of us. and it's a song that we'll always love to hear. # it must be love, love, love. we've noticed jackie, that she responds very well to music. i using facial expressions, she can use her eyes- or clenching of teeth. we've seenjackie being| really calm and relaxed. before having music, - jackie wasn't able to do that. music is very powerful. # bless you and bless me... bringing music into a place where people can't go and see live music, it does trigger things for both them and us. and i find it really interesting, but also it feels like, i don't know what it is we're doing, but it feels like we're doing something. this is a heart thatjackie made for our wedding over a period of about three or four months. something we will always treasure. and we still hope that one day it might be possible that we can still get married. and if you were to get married, what song would you have playing when you came out the registry office? it must be love, that is the only song that it would ever be. # it must be love one song can mean so much as jackie and matt have discovered. # love is the best. tim muffett, bbc news. loveis love is the best, we wish them all the best, thank you for sharing your story. she's written more than 30 works of fiction, with a copy of her books bought every four minutes across the uk. but now bestselling author lesley pearse has decided to tell her own story. the long and winding road documents lesley�*s real—lifejourney, including a nearly 60 year search for the baby she had to give up as a teenager. she joins us now alongside that baby — herson, martin hartland. good morning to both of you. what a beautiful baby you have! he is good morning to both of you. what a beautiful baby you have!— beautiful baby you have! he is still as lovely now _ beautiful baby you have! he is still as lovely now as _ beautiful baby you have! he is still as lovely now as he _ beautiful baby you have! he is still as lovely now as he was _ beautiful baby you have! he is still as lovely now as he was then! i beautiful baby you have! he is still| as lovely now as he was then! shall we no as lovely now as he was then! shall we go back— as lovely now as he was then! shall we go back to _ as lovely now as he was then! shall we go back to the _ as lovely now as he was then! shall we go back to the beginning, when you had to make that decision to give up your baby? can you tell it about the circumstances? i give up your baby? can you tell it about the circumstances?- about the circumstances? i was determined _ about the circumstances? i was determined to _ about the circumstances? i was determined to keep _ about the circumstances? i was determined to keep him, i- about the circumstances? i was determined to keep him, i did i determined to keep him, i did everything i could. but finally when he was four months, i couldn't get a flat, i couldn't get a job, you can get in a nursery, everybody told me it was impossible before he was even born and i didn't believe them. i thought i could do it. you born and i didn't believe them. i thought i could do it.— born and i didn't believe them. i thought i could do it. you were how old? i thought i could do it. you were how old? i was — thought i could do it. you were how old? i was 19 _ thought i could do it. you were how old? l was 19 by— thought i could do it. you were how old? i was 19 by the _ thought i could do it. you were how old? i was 19 by the time _ thought i could do it. you were how old? i was 19 by the time he - thought i could do it. you were how old? i was 19 by the time he was i old? i was 19 by the time he was born but i _ old? i was 19 by the time he was born but i was _ old? i was 19 by the time he was born but i was a _ old? i was 19 by the time he was born but i was a very _ old? i was 19 by the time he was born but i was a very immature i old? i was 19 by the time he was i born but i was a very immature 19. i wanted a baby so badly. my only ambition was to have babies and get married and live happily ever after but i did it around the wrong way. i really wanted him but at four months i realise i couldn't go on like this and it wasn't there on him, he wasn't going to have a good life. so i finally made the decision, i put him in the carrycot and i wheeled him in the carrycot and i wheeled him across regents park to the adoption society, and i thought that they would take him immediately, i thought if i wrote to them i would have too much time to think about it and change my mind, so that was pretty awful. it was tipping down with rain and fortunately they had two couples who are perfect for him. and a few weeks later, i had to hand him overjust before christmas. and that was just the worst thing in the world. it was like being executed, really, waiting for an execution, and they took him out of my arms and the woman who took him out of my arms, i thought she just wanted to cuddle him and she was gone and i was there, the door was locked, and i was kicking and screaming. the social worker said to me, just, listen, lesley. so i shut up for a minute and i could hear this deal of joy which must have been your adoptive mother from upstairs joy which must have been your adoptive motherfrom upstairs and she said, your sadness i5 adoptive motherfrom upstairs and she said, your sadness is that woman's joy. she said, your sadness is that woman'sjoy. and she said, your sadness is that woman's joy. and that saved my bacon that day because that was what i kept thinking about, and i still feel indebted to her giving him such a good life and turning him into the man he is now. find a good life and turning him into the man he is now— man he is now. and you didn't 'ust think about — man he is now. and you didn't 'ust think about that, i man he is now. and you didn't 'ust think about that, but i man he is now. and you didn't 'ust think about that, but you i man he is now. and you didn'tjust think about that, but you thoughtl think about that, but you thought about your baby every day for how many years?— many years? well, in the early ears, i many years? well, in the early years. i used _ many years? well, in the early years, i used to _ many years? well, in the early years, i used to write - many years? well, in the early years, i used to write a - many years? well, in the early i years, i used to write a continual sort of diary of howl years, i used to write a continual sort of diary of how i felt and wondering what he was doing, that sort of stuff. and i tried, when i joined the natural parents association, to find him, but all of the stuff was gone in a fire in the national adoption society, all this so they say it, and when he was the —— also they said, and when he was 18 it was made legalfor children —— also they said, and when he was 18 it was made legal for children to come forward and find their parents. i remember coming back from spain and i said to my then husband, and wouldn't it be wonderful if he turned up? to be fair to nigel he said, i always wanted a boy, and my three girls wanted a big brother. so, martin, how did this wonderful reunion come about? mr; so, martin, how did this wonderful reunion come about?— so, martin, how did this wonderful reunion come about? my wife svetlana ut me u- reunion come about? my wife svetlana put me up to — reunion come about? my wife svetlana put me up to do _ reunion come about? my wife svetlana put me up to do some _ reunion come about? my wife svetlana put me up to do some dna _ reunion come about? my wife svetlana put me up to do some dna testing, i put me up to do some dna testing, she was— put me up to do some dna testing, she was teasing me a lot, she said, i she was teasing me a lot, she said, i am _ she was teasing me a lot, she said, i am sure _ she was teasing me a lot, she said, i am sure you — she was teasing me a lot, she said, i am sure you are an eskimo, things like that _ i am sure you are an eskimo, things like that she — i am sure you are an eskimo, things like that. she said, let's sort this out, _ like that. she said, let's sort this out, let's— like that. she said, let's sort this out, let's get dna testing done. i opened _ out, let's get dna testing done. i opened mine and she was 20% in you and so _ opened mine and she was 20% in you and so we _ opened mine and she was 20% in you and so we had a lot of —— inuit so we had— and so we had a lot of —— inuit so we had a— and so we had a lot of —— inuit so we had a lot— and so we had a lot of —— inuit so we had a lot of fun about that. i went— we had a lot of fun about that. i went to — we had a lot of fun about that. i went to visit one of my cousins in palm _ went to visit one of my cousins in palm springs, and i said, iam looking — palm springs, and i said, iam looking for— palm springs, and i said, iam looking for my mother, my name —— her name _ looking for my mother, my name —— her name is — looking for my mother, my name —— her name is lesley sergeant. i had lost track— her name is lesley sergeant. i had lost track of — her name is lesley sergeant. i had lost track of her because she had -ot lost track of her because she had got married and i had lost track of her, got married and i had lost track of her. it— got married and i had lost track of her. it was— got married and i had lost track of her, it was her surname was pearse. they— her, it was her surname was pearse. they said. _ her, it was her surname was pearse. they said. we — her, it was her surname was pearse. they said, we are going to a family reunion _ they said, we are going to a family reunion so — they said, we are going to a family reunion so we will look out for her. and they— reunion so we will look out for her. and they started talking to my mum there _ and they started talking to my mum there at— and they started talking to my mum there at that event, and she mentioned her father was called sergeant— mentioned her father was called sergeant to sergeant. and immediately, they realise that this was my— immediately, they realise that this was my mother. so they quickly sent me a _ was my mother. so they quickly sent me a video. — was my mother. so they quickly sent me a video, it was a sundayjust before _ me a video, it was a sundayjust before easter, and i went online and i before easter, and i went online and i found _ before easter, and i went online and i found some information and then we -ot i found some information and then we got in _ i found some information and then we got in contact like that. the}r i found some information and then we got in contact like that.— got in contact like that. they told me the next _ got in contact like that. they told me the next day _ got in contact like that. they told me the next day before - got in contact like that. they told me the next day before i - got in contact like that. they told me the next day before i flew- me the next day before i flew back to dublin, and they came down to breakfast with half a bottle of champagne, and i had said the day before to my relations, because they were religious when i was younger, i don't really take any notice about god any more, don't go to church and as we left i said, i believe in now. that's what it felt like —— i believe in god now. it felt like the hand of god had come down and put the world right. i'm going to start crying. the world right. i'm going to start c inc. �* , ., . the world right. i'm going to start c in. �* . , crying. are you all right? tell us about the _ crying. are you all right? tell us about the moment _ crying. are you all right? tell us about the moment when - crying. are you all right? tell us about the moment when you i crying. are you all right? tell us i about the moment when you met? we were about the moment when you met? , were in a hotel in london and he came to the door, and the concierge afterwards said, what was that about? i said, afterwards said, what was that about? i5aid, i afterwards said, what was that about? i said, i will tell you another day. ba; about? i said, i will tell you another day.— about? i said, iwill tell you. another day._ he about? i said, iwill tell you i another day._ he didn't another day. by my book! he didn't even know about _ another day. by my book! he didn't even know about the _ another day. by my book! he didn't even know about the book. - another day. by my book! he didn't even know about the book. you i another day. by my book! he didn't i even know about the book. you don't even know about the book. you don't even know about the book. you don't even know what to talk about because there's so much cover. look even know what to talk about because there's so much cover.— there's so much cover. look at that, i bet ou there's so much cover. look at that, i bet you can't— there's so much cover. look at that, i bet you can't believe _ there's so much cover. look at that, i bet you can't believe it _ there's so much cover. look at that, i bet you can't believe it when i there's so much cover. look at that, i bet you can't believe it when you . i bet you can't believe it when you see that picture. m0; i bet you can't believe it when you see that picture.— i bet you can't believe it when you see that picture. no, it's amazing. in a girlfriend _ see that picture. no, it's amazing. in a girlfriend of _ see that picture. no, it's amazing. in a girlfriend of mine _ see that picture. no, it's amazing. in a girlfriend of mine was - see that picture. no, it's amazing. in a girlfriend of mine was with - see that picture. no, it's amazing. i in a girlfriend of mine was with me and she kept coming around the corner and waving it like a white flag and it was very funny. i know lots of people were rooting for me because they knew i was meeting him and how much it went to —— it meant to me so you are bolstered by that family and friends who care. there was a lovely _ family and friends who care. there was a lovely moment _ family and friends who care. there was a lovely moment before - family and friends who care. there was a lovely moment before you i family and friends who care. there was a lovely moment before you came on air and you said to us, and you looked at him and said, i could have picked him out of a line—up, he has the same face he has a four months old. he is still your baby, isn't he? , , , , he? yes, yes. the first thing when i not saw he? yes, yes. the first thing when i got saw him. _ he? yes, yes. the first thing when i got saw him. i _ he? yes, yes. the first thing when i got saw him, i wanted _ he? yes, yes. the first thing when i got saw him, i wanted to _ he? yes, yes. the first thing when i got saw him, i wanted to get - he? yes, yes. the first thing when i got saw him, i wanted to get hold l he? yes, yes. the first thing when i | got saw him, i wanted to get hold of his face like that, little fat cheeks, like a baby. you hold back because you think this is a bit silly. come on, we are grown—ups now. but it is that wonderful. and i haven't forgotten anything. i have got a very good memory i must say that i am glad i can remember it also clearly. it’s that i am glad i can remember it also clearly-— also clearly. it's so lovely to see the bond between _ also clearly. it's so lovely to see the bond between you _ also clearly. it's so lovely to see the bond between you both - also clearly. it's so lovely to see the bond between you both and| also clearly. it's so lovely to see l the bond between you both and to hear the whole story. you have got a lot of catching up to do. he hear the whole story. you have got a lot of catching up to do.— lot of catching up to do. he is in my book. _ lot of catching up to do. he is in my book. he — lot of catching up to do. he is in my book. he can _ lot of catching up to do. he is in my book, he can read _ lot of catching up to do. he is in my book, he can read my - lot of catching up to do. he is in my book, he can read my whole i lot of catching up to do. he is in - my book, he can read my whole life story there. so i want him to sit down with me one of these days if i can keep him with me forfive minutes, because he is always off on a boat! ., ., ., ., ~ , a boat! you have got to keep him! and sa , a boat! you have got to keep him! and say. come — a boat! you have got to keep him! and say, come on, _ a boat! you have got to keep him! and say, come on, tell— a boat! you have got to keep him! and say, come on, tell me, - a boat! you have got to keep him! and say, come on, tell me, when| a boat! you have got to keep him! i and say, come on, tell me, when did you lose yourfast and say, come on, tell me, when did you lose your fast teeth and all —— first teeth and all that stuff. thank you both so much. live from london. this is bbc news. labour is urging the conservatives to give back millions of pounds donated by a businessman accused of making racist remarks. i of making racist remarks. have never met mr hestw think i have never met mr hester, i don't think he is a racist person, i think he said something stupid and we all say stupid things at times. new legislation will be introduced to automatically quash the convictions of subpostmasters, who were wrongly prosecuted in the horizon it scandal. a presidential rematch. joe biden and donald trump secure their parties' nominations for november's election. and as a boat carrying aid makes its way, the un says a new [and route has been used to deliver food to northern gaza for the first time in three weeks. hello, i'm azadeh moshiri, welcome to the programme. prime minister rishi sunak has said that alleged comments about mp diane abbott made by a top conservative donor were "racist and wrong"

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