by the end of 2018, there were over 11,000 people waiting to access a first appointment at a gender clinic. five years later, that figure had almost trebled to over 31,000 people. two nhs chief executives have told newsnight that demand has far outrun investment in their services, and that was further hampered by difficulties recruiting staff. they tell us that without significant ringfenced funding and dedicated pathways to get clinicians into crucial roles, waiting lists will remain excessively long. we asked nhs england for an interview with their chief executive. they refused, but told us in a statement they'd... the department of health and social care said... elliot colburn is a conservative mp who sits on the women and equalities select committee. i think there is an incredibly long way to go until we can claim that there is equitable levels in health care for trans people. we know that waiting times are far beyond other conditions within the nhs. what needs to be done by the government, by nhs england to realistically bring these lists down? i think one of the major things is workforce, actually having the staff who are sufficiently trained to be able to deal with these complex matters of trans health care. so when it comes to waiting times, i don't want a loud, angry argument and i don't think trans people either want a loud, angry argument about their very existence. it would actually be nice just to have a discussion based on one issue, an issue of waiting times and how we can get those down and how we can get people the support that they need in a timely manner. you talked about the toxicity of the debate. do you think that toxicity means that the government, the department of health, nhs england are unable to make changes and reforms in this area? i wouldn't say they're unable to, but i think it has made it difficult in terms of the appetite from leadership of all organisations. so i don't think it's a case of being unable to — i think it's more a question of willing. trans patients say all they want is parity with waiting lists for any other health condition. nhs leaders tell us the only path to reduce them is wholesale reform of the service. and today, nhs england confirmed to newsnight they will now begin a review into the standard of care at adult gender clinics. michael cowan. if you've been affected by any of the issues raised in michael's report, you can get in touch with the bbc action line on bbc.co.uk/actionline or 08000 155 947. that's all from us tonight. mark's here tomorrow. join him live at 10.30. goodnight. breaking news from around the world, this is bbc news. it's come under sustained shelling from across the border in ukraine. and civilian casualties have been rising. this never happened before russia invaded ukraine. translation: we can, of course, respond in the same way, - striking civilian infrastructure and all similar sites that are the enemy is targeting. we have our own views on that, our own plans, and we will follow them. and, post—election, vladimir putin will claim he has a popular mandate for whatever plans he makes, and whatever decisions he takes. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. you're live with bbc news. the irish prime minister leo varadkar has announced he is stepping down as taoiseach and leader of fine gael for reasons which are both "personal and political". speaking in dublin, he said that being taoiseach had been the most fulfilling time of his life, with ireland becoming a more equal and modern place. here's our ireland correspondent sara girvin. just days ago, marking st patrick's day in washington, there was no sign of the shock resignation to come. my reasons for stepping down are both personal and political. i believe this government can be re—elected. but after careful consideration and some soul—searching, i believe that a new taoiseach and a new leader will be better placed than me to achieve that. his appointment as taoiseach for the first time in 2017 was history—making. at 38, he was the youngest ever irish prime minister, the first from an ethnic background and the first gay leader. his appointment personified a changing and more modern ireland. he championed referendums legalising same sex marriage and abortion. he championed referendums legalising same—sex marriage and abortion. but it was the brexit negotiations that saw him make his mark on the world stage, with other leaders describing him as a sharp shooter and straight talker. today, the prime minister, rishi sunak, thanked leo varadkar for his dedicated service. but political opponents who want their party to take the top job next called for an early election — today's resignation doesn't immediately trigger one. it's not a time for a rearranging of the deckchairs, and ultimately, it's for the people to decide who will be the taoiseach. so i think it's now over to the people. there should be an election. the republic of ireland is grappling with a cost of living crisis, issues around immigration and massive problems around housing. that's led to a lot of frustration with the current government, particularly among young people. ifeel like everyone in ireland is struggling at the moment, like, with the housing crisis, cost of living. there's not one person we'd speak to who actually like the government that's in now. you think, like, you're going to be living with your parents until 40 years of age, like, you know what i mean? like, you don't want to be living there. you want to go out and be independent. the republic of ireland has witnessed much change during leo varadkar�*s political career. even if there's no early general election, one is looming within a year, and with a new taoiseach set to be named within weeks, there will be much more change to come. sara girvin, bbc news in dublin. speaking of change... the vietnamese president vo van thuong has resigned, after only one year in office. after a meeting of the ruling communist party the government issued a statement saying he had broken party rules and had negatively affected public opinion, and the reputation of the party. he is believed to have resigned over his links to a corruption scandal in his home province. mr thuong was appointed last year to replace another president forced to step down over corruption, which the party leadership has prioritised as a problem it needs to address. new zealand's economy has entered recession, according to government data. new zealand's economy shrank slightly in the fourth quarter as a number of industries including wholesale trade, retail and accommodation and manufacturing all weakened. baseball sensation shohei 0htani has made his regular season debut with the la dodgers in seoul. the japanese sports hero sent his fans into a frenzy on wednesday — with game tickets and 0htani merchandise selling out since he landed in south korea last week. widely regarded as one of the best to have ever played the game, 0htani was the mlb�*s most coveted target during off—season. for more on this, let's speak to sports pundit mike carlson. for those not familiar, why is he such a big deal? isa is a japanese player who has been a star in major league baseball for the fast years. what makes him special is that he's an exceptionally good hitter who also is a very good pitcher. nobody... even babe ruth crack in the 1920s, when they realise what a great hitter he was, they stopped him pitching and he played every day as a hitter. so, nobody has done what max who is doing. he plays every fifth day —— what 0htani is doing. he actually still hitting and he was in the designated hitter position for the dodgers in their opening game against the san diego padres. and he's elite and both of those fields? �* , , �* , fields? he's very elite! he's elite as a hitter _ fields? he's very elite! he's elite as a hitter and _ fields? he's very elite! he's elite as a hitter and he's _ fields? he's very elite! he's elite as a hitter and he's very - fields? he's very elite! he's elite as a hitter and he's very good - fields? he's very elite! he's elite as a hitter and he's very good as| fields? he's very elite! he's elite l as a hitter and he's very good as a pitcher. probably one of the top ten starters in the american league, but in effect, when they gave him his ten—year $700 million contract, they were paying for two players, not just one. is were paying for two players, not 'ust one. , ., , ., ., just one. is quite a show of faith in him. just one. is quite a show of faith in him- give _ just one. is quite a show of faith in him. give assistance - just one. is quite a show of faith in him. give assistance how- just one. is quite a show of faith in him. give assistance how big| just one. is quite a show of faith l in him. give assistance how big he is in the context of asia and what does it mean for the la dodgers and the mlb to have such a high—profile athlete from japan? it the mlb to have such a high-profile athlete from japan?— athlete from japan? it means a lot because he's _ athlete from japan? it means a lot because he's not _ athlete from japan? it means a lot because he's not the _ athlete from japan? it means a lot because he's not the first - athlete from japan? it means a lot because he's not the first mlb - because he's not the first mlb japanese star. when they opened in 2019 tokyo, suzuki, i started down the hall of fame, was playing his last game. —— a star in the hall of fame. camera crews follow him around from japan. it's a big thing because baseball fans all over the world, he's anything you popular. but when this game was played, park, the first korean player in mlb, throughout the first pitch and the padres started short, in the last year with contract himself. korea produces very good players on their own and the asian impact between japan, korea, and taiwan and to a lesser since australia, they're in the 0ceania division. it's been monstrous. the starting pitchers for the padres was a japanese, and today, yamamoto will be the starting pitcher. it's a real sense of baseball trying to promote mlb in an area where baseball is already popular. d0 area where baseball is already --oular. ,, area where baseball is already --oular. ~ ., ”~ 11: popular. do you think that $700 million price _ popular. do you think that $700 million price tag _ popular. do you think that $700 million price tag will _ popular. do you think that $700 million price tag will be - popular. do you think that $700 million price tag will be a - popular. do you think that s700| million price tag will be a bargain by the time he hangs up his gloves? the important thing is the way it's structured. it's the first contract of its time. he just structured. it's the first contract of its time. hejust paid 2 million a year, and then they put 44 million into an escrow account. that will grow and make it worth 700 million. but for the ten years, and only cost the dodgers 46 millions, which makes the dodgers 46 millions, which makes the fly is played player in baseball. —— high—speed. —— highest paid. he can go back tojapan and pay less taxonomists. it's a very shrewd move by their great player! very smart indeed. my car �*s in there. and finally — a 30—foot mural painted by the street artist banksy has been vandalised, days after it appeared on the side of a residential building in north london. the art features green paint sprayed on a wall behind a cut—back tree to look like foliage. but it's been defaced with white paint. seems it so difficult to have nice things. that's it from newsday. bye for now. hello there. it's been very mild to start this week, very spring—like indeed. and in fact, on wednesday, we saw a temperature of 19 celsius in charnwood in surrey, making this the warm spot of the day, but also the highest temperature in england so far this year. things are set to change, though, for the end of the week into the weekend — colder air moving in behind this low pressure system will extend across all areas. it'll feel very different to how the week's begun. but still some mild air for england and wales on thursday, much windier with outbreaks of rain. scotland and northern ireland, thanks that area of low pressure, gusts up to 60 mph for the northern and western isles. a bit of sunshine here and there. for england and wales, rather cloudy, some sunshine at times. we're still in the mild air mass here. so, given some sunshine, could see temperatures up to 16 or 17 degrees again, but it will be cooler across the north with a stronger winds. as you move through thursday night, the cooler air and this band of rain, a cold front will sing southwards across england and wales. behind it's much colder, there'll be a rash of showers, these these wintry on the hills across scotland. you can see the temperatures there to start friday, but milder for england and wales. but it won't last as that cold front sinks southwards across the midlands, southern england through friday. eventually, it'll clear through. skies will brighten up, but we'll all be into the cooler air by the end of friday and there'll be a rash of blustery showers again for scotland, northern ireland, maybe northwest england. they will be wintry on the hills across scotland. last, the mild weather across the south east, 12 or 13 degrees into the weekend. it'll be noticeably colder and windier for all areas. though a mixture of sunshine and showers and these showers will have a wintry element to them, certainly on the hills. you can see the colder air moving in behind that cold front. by the time we move out of friday night into saturday, we're all into that colder air. lots of isobars and the charts, so it's going to be blustery, windy, particularly in exposure with strong west—northwesterly winds. lots of showers rattling through, as you can see. the white colours indicating hail, maybe some sleet, snow over the hills, some sunshine in between. it's not going to be raining all the time. these are the temperatures, though, 7—10. though, 7—10 degrees. factor in the wind, it could feel even colder than that. even colder than that, so a bit of a shock to the system after such a mild start to the week. sunday marginally better, i think, although a blustery day, not quite as windy and we should see more sunshine around. there'll still be few showers dotted around northern and eastern areas, but more sunshine around, slightly lighter winds. it may feel a little bit better across the board. take care. this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, as newsday continues straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. trust underpins the unwritten contract between the citizen and the state in a democratic society. the citizen trusts the state to ensure that the enormous powers vested in key institutions like the police and the courts are exercised fairly and responsibly. well, that's the theory. in practice, things go wrong. 50 years ago, six men were wrongly convicted and imprisoned for terrible ira bombings in birmingham. my guest, writer and former politician, chris mullin, was instrumental in exposing this grave injustice. much trust was lost then. has it been restored? chris mullin, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me. 00:20:54,563 --> 2147483051:47:11,997 it's great to have 2147483051:47:11,997 --> 4294966103:13:29,429 you in the studio.

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