Questions continue. The covid questions continue. Just were large scale just why were large scale sporting permitted the sporting events permitted as the disease uk . Disease ran rife across the uk . Were todays crucial were live at todays crucial stage of baroness hallett key inquiry from inquiry and were live from a bma in manchester as bma rally in manchester as doctors call on ministers end doctors call on ministers to end the deadlock or risk walkouts running into the winter. The past hour, speaking in the past hour, Health SecretarySteve Barclay says bmas leadership says the bmas leadership is not on patients. On the side of patients. And live and let by as roger moores bond suits and props go to auction for charity , well be to auction for charity, well be finding out why he truly has become the man with the golden gun. First, the latest news headunes first, the latest News Headlines with. Aaron headlines with. Aaron good afternoon. Its a minute past 12. Im Aaron Armstrong in the gb newsroom. Businesses are demanding immediate clarity as confusion continues over the future of the northern leg of hs2. Rishi sunak says a decision hasnt been made , but hes hasnt been made, but hes expected to scrap the line to manchester at the conservative Party Conference tomorrow because of spiralling costs. However the times claims hs2 will now terminate at euston in Central London rather than at the western suburb of old oak common. Its understood the pm will soften the blow by announcing other spending on Infrastructure Projects for the north. Hello. Hello. Hello. The government plans to ban trans women from female hospital wards. Under the changes, trans patients would be treated in separate accommodation. The separate accommodation. The Health Secretary, Steve Barclay , spoke at the conference a short time ago. We will change the nhs constitution following a consultation later this year to make sure we respect the privacy , dignity and safety of all patients. Recognise the importance of different biological needs and protect the rights of women. Rights of women. Well, Junior Doctors are to hold a rally outside the Conference Centre in manchester shortly. They have started a shortly. They have started a three day strike in england , three day strike in england, along with consultants in their row over pay. Radiographers have also walked out. Thats for 24 hours. So tens of thousands of patients wont be able to have scans. The bma wants the government to return to the negotiating table and theyve threatened new strike dates for november and december if a credible offer isnt received. Well. The government says that this years pay rise was a final and fair settlement. Murderers and fair settlement. Murderers who carry out sexually motivated attacks will automatically face attacks will automatically face a whole life sentence under new powers. The legal expectation on judges will apply retrospectively to those whove already been charged with the crime, but are yet to be sentenced. Justice secretary alex chalk says for the most dangerous and depraved killers, life really should mean life. Life really should mean life. Where that is the option that judges should be thinking about as an initial proposition. It now becomes the default. So its what should happen unless, of course, the judge decides there are exceptional circumstances. And think that puts law and we think that puts the law in right place. That meets and we think that puts the law in instincts lace. That meets and we think that puts the law in instincts ofce. That meets and we think that puts the law in instincts of thethat meets and we think that puts the law in instincts of the british sets the instincts of the british people and, as i say, does justice provides, know, justice and provides, you know, a of comfort for families a crumb of comfort for families after the most appalling crimes that they feel justice is truly being served by the home secretary has accused some immigrants of not embracing British Values and says they are living parallel lives to the rest of the country. On a visit to bolton, Suella Braverman said they are coming from abroad. They are not learning language and learning the language and theyre not taking in theyre not taking part in british life. She added. It british life. She added. It is her job to be fearless in calling that out. A 13 year old calling that out. A 13 year old boy has admitted killing his grandmother in sheffield. Marcia grandmother in sheffield. Marcia grant died when the child who was driving her car dumas hit her with the vehicle. The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons , was 12 at the time. He reasons, was 12 at the time. He will be sentenced in december after guilty to causing after pleading guilty to causing death dangerous driving. The death by dangerous driving. The 12 year old boy is in Critical Condition after being struck by lightning in hertfordshire. It lightning in hertfordshire. It happened during a football tournament at the suella school in hertford on monday afternoon. The boy, who was from a different school, was taken to addenbrookes hospital in cambridge. A man in his 50s was also struck by lightning. Also struck by lightning. Meanwhile ball lightning hit a recycling plant in oxfordshire yesterday , causing a huge fire. Yesterday, causing a huge fire. This fireball lit up the sky when a gas tank exploded. It was at a Food Processing plant in cassington. Firefighters tackled cassington. Firefighters tackled the blaze overnight and they remained there to monitor the situation. No injuries have been reported. Donald trump has reported. Donald trump has attacked a judge and a prosecutor on the first day of his fraud trial in new york. The former us president is accused of falsifying Business Records and Financial Statements to inflate his own fortune by as much as 2. 2 billion. The attorney general , letitia james, attorney general, letitia james, accused him of lying about his property empire and overvalued assets to get favourable bank loans. Trump assets to get favourable bank loans. Trump hit assets to get favourable bank loans. Trump hit back, saying loans. Trump hit back, saying the trial is a sham. Ms jamess corrupt and the judge should be disbarred. He also made fresh disbarred. He also made fresh claims of election interference. It has been very successful for them because they took me off the campaign trail because theyve been sitting in a courthouse all day long. Instead of being in iowa , new hampshire, of being in iowa, new hampshire, South Carolina , or a lot of South Carolina, or a lot of other places, i could be at. This is a horrible situation for our country. Its never happened our country. Its never happened before. Its election before. Its election interference. Theyre interference. Theyre interfering with the president ial election of 2024. And the people of our country see it. See it. And if youve ever wanted to own a piece of film history , own a piece of film history, well, now may be your best chance. Well, now may be your best chance. C 3pos head as the chance. C 3pos head as the original from 1977 captain america shield and the whip of Indiana Jones are all up for auction. Its part of the entertain memorabilia auction in hertfordshire. But you need your hertfordshire. But you need your chequebook and you need plenty of money in the bank. C 3po alone could set you back £1 million. But if youve got that million. But if youve got that to spare, then hertfordshire is the place. Were on tv, on Digital Radio, and on your smart speaken Digital Radio, and on your Smart Speaker, too. But for now, its speaker, too. But for now, its back to mark and. Pip to look at lis. Us. Us. Yeah , right. Yeah, right. Yeah, right. Thank you very much , aaron. Thank you very much, aaron. Now, the big question , what on now, the big question, what on earth is going on with hs2 . Well, the Prime Minister has so far refused to confirm that he will scrap the birmingham to manchester leg of hs2, despite widespread speculation that he will axe the project. He has, will axe the project. He has, however, indicated that the cost of the scheme has gone far beyond what had been originally planned. Well, at the conference, of course, in manchester, its been suggested there may be an emergency Cabinet Meeting today ahead of the Prime Ministers key Conference Speech tomorrow, which may include that official announcement. Lets get more with Catherine Forster political correspondent, of course, broke the news at the conference for us yesterday. This was under consideration and, well, theyve sort of, if you pardon the expression, try to cover their tracks. Since then, it seems , catherine. Yes, i see what you did there, mark. Welcome to manchester. Welcome to manchester. It is absolutely heaving in conference, which of course, as i said yesterday , is in the i said yesterday, is in the sight of what was once a railway station. Taking trains. Yes from station. Taking trains. Yes from london to manchester. You really couldnt make it up, could you . So its super busy. As you can see, this morning, weve had the Health Secretary talking about banning women from sorry , banning women from sorry, banning women from sorry, banning trans women from single sex wards in hospitals. Weve had the levelling up secretary not talking about hs2. Well have Suella Braverman and the home secretary this afternoon soon. The government would like to talk about lots of things, but all anybody is still talking about here is , yes, hs2, not so about here is, yes, hs2, not so much. Will it or wont it ever come to manchester because despite the government still insisting that no final decision has been made , its widely has been made, its widely expected. And i was told categorically yesterday that michael gove has said its being axed. Michael gove has said its being axed. And now apparently the axed. And now apparently the money is going to be repaid , money is going to be repaid, purchased or some of the money potentially towards roads and potholes, etcetera. And transport in the north, potentially Northern Powerhouse rail that weve heard about for many, many years. But its never happened. You know, high speed rail running, connecting liverpool through manchester to leeds. Its etcetera to hull up to newcastle. But some reports to newcastle. But some reports today that that may be under threat as well. Now this is threat as well. Now this is managed to unite people pretty much from across the political spectrum. Previous Prime Minister actors Boris Johnson , minister actors Boris Johnson, David Cameron who rarely intervene as previous chancellors George Osborne been speaking today, saying what a terrible decision this would mean. The labour mayor of greater manchester, andy burnham , absolutely appalled, saying it will be a betrayal of the north if they pull the plug on this and even the conservatives lviv mayor of the West Midlands , andy mayor of the West Midlands, andy street and bear in mind this high speed rail is definitely going to birmingham , though we going to birmingham, though we dont know if its going to end in houston or old oak common, he is saying , too, that its is saying, too, that its critically important that this connect, this line is built in to full manchester and hes not going down without a fight. So lets see what happens. Lets lets see what happens. Lets see tomorrow we expect the Prime Minister to make this announcement. What will he do instead . How is he going to sweeten this very bitter pill if they pull the plug on Northern Powerhouse rail . I honestly do not think they would dare. There would be absolute uproar, but i suspect theres going to be an almighty row , whatever. But for almighty row, whatever. But for now, back to you in the studio. So sorry. Okay, catherine. And just just one more question. Actually in terms of the mps that youre talking to, is there not a lot of frustration that all this talk about hs2 is threatening to overshadow Everything Else about the conference . It is completely overshadowing the conference. The government has messaged edges that it wants to get out. Edges that it wants to get out. Theyre struggling to do that. Theyre struggling to do that. And also, of course, weve had the Prime Ministers previous Prime Ministers, liz truss, stealing a lot of Media Attention yesterday with these messages from the sidelines about what she thinks. Rishi sunak should be doing differently. Now of course they say dont they, that divided parties do not win elections. Rishi sunak needs to try to present a united front, but unfortunately , although there unfortunately, although there are some mps think , yes, they are some mps think, yes, they can still win the next election. Rishi sunaks on the right track. The polls are beginning to close. Theres many that think the elections already lost. Theyre jostling for position. People like Suella Braverman kemi badenoch, priti patel all really fancy being next leader of the conservative party and in quite a difficult time for rishi sunak yeah. And in the shorter term, catherine, we understand there may be an emergency Cabinet Meeting there in manchester rather than being held around the cabinet table at number 10. Does that indicate that there are the cabinet are concerns within the cabinet itself, not just at the decision , but the way its been presented by the government . Presented by the government . Well , certainly. Are concerns well, certainly. Are concerns within the cabinet. We have heard that mark harper , the heard that mark harper, the transport secretary, isnt very happy. Ditto michael gove, the levelling up secretary who has told an impeccable source that its not happening. But the thing is that rishi sunak does need the cabinet stamp of approval to make this announcement. Now, there were announcement. Now, there were rumours that Cabinet Meeting might be held yesterday didnt happen. It may well be held today to rubber stamp this plan, but all eyes on hs2 and the irony of standing in an old train station in manchester at a time where trains and manchester are at the centre of a very big political storm. Catherine at platform 13. 5, if we take that analogy from harry potter, thanks very much for taking us through that. I think weve got some pictures coming in just to break away from manchester because were going from manchester to cardiff , something completely different for you. Some lovely pictures here of the prince and princess of wales visiting cardiff as celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the hmt empire. Windrush to the uk. Get undennay. And it also this marks the start of black history month. Now it is the second visit of the prince and princess of wales to wales in just over a month because they were there last month to attend a service at saint davids cathedral to mark the First Anniversary of the queens passing and there they are getting a glorious welcome from youngsters in cardiff. Yes afternoon, all turning out in their best School Uniform , neatly pressed and uniform, neatly pressed and washed, of course, but just reflect cardiff very much at the centre of that post war multicultural change in britain with tiger bay in particular down on the front there in cardiff. Cardiff. But william and kate so celebrating the work of the Diverse Community groups, trying to bring about more positive change in wales. And the flags fly by the cheers and the wave there from the princess of wales , as i think thats been a bit of a hit, that visit by the sound of it, more from wales , of sound of it, more from wales, of course, as that visit continues throughout the day. Throughout the day. Lets take you back to manchester, though, and gloria shapiro, who is now joined by conservative mp for stroud. Conservative mp for stroud. Siobhan bailey , gloria will, siobhan bailey, gloria will, siobhan bailey, gloria will, siobhan , talk to you about hs2 siobhan, talk to you about hs2 and what the heck is going on . Lets look ahead to the Prime Ministers speech tomorrow with siobhan baillie. You have got a majority of less than 4000. You really need the Prime Minister to pull it out of the bag to keep stroud conservative for you at the next election. What does he need to do, siobhan . Well, listen, i do have a marginal seat. You know what thats like. You know what thats like. 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