And, its the robot challenge. Can jobs be protected when automation takes over . And in sportsday on bbc news, Alastair Cook speaks after stepping down as england cricket captain, saying he could no longer give his all in the job, but wants to continue playing for his country. Good evening. We start tonight with the second of our special reports on the state of the nhs in england, as it struggles to cope with ever rising demand. The Institute For Fiscal Studies has warned that spending on health is unlikely to rise sufficiently to cope with the demands of a growing and ageing population. More on that in a moment, after our special correspondent ed thomas reports from the royal blackburn hospital, which was built to serve a population of 300,000 people, but is now serving more than half a million. Every bed on every ward. Never know what is coming through the door. Never. Lives depending on the nhs. I wouldnt be here today but for them. For a week the bbc was allowed inside the royal blackburn hospital. A rare opportunity to see the every day pressures. Its a fight today for the beds. By Monday Morning the medical wards in a e are full. If that lady goes today, we can give that bed back. But in Intensive Care Space must be found. So that gives one bed on the unit. 0perations are planned, and patients need to recover here. Get that bed turned round as quickly as possible, cos thats going to be our only bed. We didnt get up this morning to think we are going to ruin somebodys life by telling them they cant have their operation. We are trying to juggle the beds. Sometimes the staff laugh at me because i walk up and down like this, and i go, were still spinning. Were still spinning. At some point today the plates wont crash and we will have enough beds for everybody. That is the same today, hopefully today we will have enough beds for everybody. Right now this means patients are waiting. Steven has elective surgery, for throat cancer. He has been told if no Recovery Beds are available. Im in limbo really. It might be cancelled. Hopefully it is today. 0bviously with the cancer youve got to get it out as fas as. To get it out as fast as. Across the week, staff talked about the challenges of finding beds. In theatre, Vascular Surgeon robert gets a call from the a e. Im trying to sew quickly because im needed downstairs. On his mind, beds. You are having your hand on somebodys aorta, is what you do. But having to do that and have phone calls from someone else and someone else on the ward, and you have another patient to do and you dont know if you have a bed, that stresses you. Minutes later. He has come into hospital with pain in his abdomen and his Blood Pressure has gone down. He is on his way to the emergency department. Ronald is 84 and has collapsed. Another elderly patient with an acute complex condition. Another family desperate. How important is is this place to you . Lifeline. A lifeline, because her mother, ronalds wife, has been admitted on the same day. Upstairs, waiting for an operation. Betty has type two diabetes. She has been told she could lose her foot and with it her independence. So you are waiting for your operation and you are worried about your husband 7 well, thats it, yeah, because he is blind and deaf, he cant do anything for himself. You have to concentrate on your operation, havent you . I cant concentrate on that until i know he is all right. I dont particularly want my foot gone and my leg, because i wont be able to stay at home. I wont be able to walk. They will have to put me in a nursing home. I am not going in a nursing home without my husband. Thats not going to happen, is it . Theyll put us in two different places. But this is the reality of the nhs today. Increasing demands, inside and outside the hospital. It is notjust bedding i am worried about. It is her husband. They have been with each other for 50 years, they co depend on each other. Its just dreadful. If you lock at bed capacity, cost, management of patients with ulcers, it is enormous. Type two diabetes. It is just i cant even convey what a serious problem it is to society, the nhs, and us on the front line. And this is what the front line looks like. The davenports, waiting six hours in a e. Ready for the surgery. It seems to be the bed thats the problem. 0n the medical wards we have used every possible bed available. Daily meetings to find beds. Senior nurses, trying to move people through the hospital. Females arent moving off here. There are no female beds in the hospital at the minute. And some surgeons and nurses left upset and frustrated. Every year we have to make savings, and most people are feeling like there is is not a lot of fat left on the bone, and we still dont have enough to do what we need to do. There is not enough staff. Too many patients coming in and out. Its a number of things. We go home deflated and upset because we feel cant cant do any more than we are doing. The Chief Executive here wanted to show this pressure for beds, and the need for solutions, outside his hospital. We are trying to support staff, by looking at the bed capacity we have, by trying to work with partners to keep people out of hospital, where they dont need to be in hospital. Would you rather have another ward being built or a care home in the community . It has to be a care home in the community. You dont want to be in hospital if you dont need to be in hospital. I would far rather have capacity any the community, in terms of Nursing Homes and care homes. Everyone here is treated, no one is turned away. Bettys operation was a success. Shell be moved into a care home this week. But not alone shell be reunited with her husband, ronald. And this is the moment a bed was found and steven got his cancer operation. What about that . Couldnt have been timed better. Are you ready . Yeah. Brilliant. Life, inside the royal blackburn hospital. Ed thomas, bbc news. The pressure exerted on the nhs by the demands of an ageing population was underlined today by the latest analysis from the Institute For Fiscal Studies. It said that although nhs funding by 2020 would be higher than it was before the financial crash, it would still fail to keep pace with Population Growth and ageing. 0ur Health Editor hugh pym is here with his analysis. Well huw, does the nhs need a lot more money or could there be a more efficient use of resources, how much responsibility do we have as patients to avoid lifestyle related diseases . There are many questions in the search for long term solutions. Health care is all about looking after the changing needs of the population. Its growing and people are living longer. There are big demographic changes. Those are challenges facing the nhs in the nations of the uk, and Health Systems in leading economies around the world. New analysis from the Institute For Fiscal Studies illustrates the problem. Health spending in england after allowing for inflation has gone up for the last few years. 0n current plans it carries on rising, though it tails off a bit in a couple of years time. But spending per person adjusted for the changing age profile of the population has risen more slowly, and by 2020 it will actually have fallen back. And thatll leave a £1. 3 billion shortfall on whats needed just to get back to where it was in 2010. Health spending is rising but the populations getting bigger, quite a bit bigger, and the populations getting older. Once you take account of the size and age of the population, actually, Health Spending per person, taking account of their age, will be a little bit lower by the end of this parliament than it was back in 2010, something weve never seen before. The challenge of an ageing population with more complex health needs was illustrated by head of nhs england simon stephens. He said a million more over 755 are being treated now than there were five years ago, and in five years time well be looking after another million. While Health Care Spending in england rose by 9 since the 2009 10 year, more than in scotland, wales and northern ireland, Adult Social Care was cut by 6. 4 over that time, a bigger reduction than in other parts of the uk. Thats affected the Elderly Population which puts more pressure on the nhs. But some argue its about more than money, and their need to be than money, and there need to be new ways of working in health and social care as well as more efficient management in hospitals and across the nhs. Theres huge variations in the way care is offered, in the amount of medical care offered for example, and in the outcomes of care for patients. So that is the area now to focus a lot more attention, and that is outwith any funding level. Lifestyle related Health Conditions are another challenge. Schemes like this help children learn about exercise and diet. A Government Minister today said the uk was addicted to sugar with children among the highest consumers in europe. The cost of treating type two diabetes and related complications is nearly 10 of the nhs budget. So prevention as well as cure has to be part of the long term answer, or the nhs could come under such strain that the whole system becomes unsustainable. Thats just a sketch of some of the challenges. Theres lots more data, analysis and detail on our website bbc. Co. Uk health. Huw. Mps At Westminster will be given a vote on the governments brexit deal before it is finalised by the European Union. The announcement was seen by some as a major concession until ministers pointed out that if mps rejected the terms there would be no Re Negotiation and britain would then leave the European Union without a deal. 0ur Political CorrespondentCarole Walker has more details. How much say will parliament have as the government negotiates our departure from the eu . 0rder. More than seven hours of debate began with what some saw as a concession from the government. I can confirm that the government will bring forward a motion on the final agreement to be approved by both houses of parliament before it is concluded, and we expect and intend that this will happen before the European Parliament debates and votes on the final agreement. But theresa mays negotiations with other eu leaders are likely to be difficult and complex, and some mps are worried about her threat to leave without a deal if she doesnt get her way. What the house wants is the opportunity to send the Government Back to our eu partners to negotiate a deal if one has not been reached. I cant think of a greater signal of weakness than for this house to send the Government Back to the European Union and to say we want to negotiate further. I think that that would be seized upon as a sign of weakness. So the choice for mps on any deal will effectively be take it or leave it. If you just wait until everythings hands have been shaken with all the other europeans and then you come here then it means parliament is told, if you reject it, of course you have nothing. This is about this house having a genuine choice at some stage and looking at what the government has negotiated and then to say yes or no without that sword of damocles, that bad deal or no deal which was the threat from the Prime Minister. And some were concerned about the whole tone of the debate. I feel sometimes im sitting with colleagues who are like jihadis in their support for a hard brexit. No brexit is hard enough, be gone you evil europeans, we never want you to darken our doors against. The Prime Minister sought to persuade wavering mps as they went to vote. In the end just seven tories rebelled on the key amendment. The ayes to the right, 293, the noes to the left, 326. A comfortable majority for the government and ministers hope that will curb potential rebellions in the lords. The government hopes to get its bill through the commons tomorrow night and the labour Leaderjeremy Corbyn has ordered his mps to back the legislation. But thats already resulted in three resignations from his Shadow Cabinet and there could be even more to come. More votes lie ahead but tonight the government is confident it will get the backing of parliament to begin the formal brexit negotiations as planned by the end of march. The Scottish Parliament has voted by 90 to 3a against plans to leave the European Union. In last years referendum a majority of scottish voters wanted to remain. The motion passed today had been put forward by the Scottish Government but the Uk Supreme Court has already ruled that there is no legal requirement to consult the devolved administrations before the Brexit Process can start. 0ur Scotland Editor sarah smith is at holyrood tonight. If this isnt legally binding, why does the First Minister Stage say it is one of the most important in the history of the Scottish Parliament . Because even though the Scottish Parliament cannot delay or prevent the triggering of article 50, the snp still think it is highly significant because they believe it will now be harder for the significant because they believe it will now be harderfor the Prime Minister to ignore their demands for a different Brexit Settlement for scotla nd a different Brexit Settlement for scotland now that msps have voted 31 scotland now that msps have voted 3 1 against the governments plans. Scottish government wants scotland to stay in the eu Single Market even after the rest of the uk leaves, but they becoming deeply frustrated because they think the primness the Prime Minister is not giving their proposal serious consideration. They repeated that today, and then labour and the tories accused them of trying to stoke up grievances Against Westminster to further their agenda for scottish independence. Mike russell said the clock is ticking and time is running out to try and agree a and time is running out to try and agreea uk and time is running out to try and agree a uk wide approach to the brexit negotiations before the end of march when the government figures article 50. Sarah, thank you. Lawyers acting for a royal marine who was given a Life Sentence for shooting dead an injured afghan insurgent have argued that he was suffering from a Mental Illness at the time. Sergeant alexander blackman, described as a superb soldier, has started a new appeal against his conviction in 2013. A Video Recording of the shooting was shown in court today, as our defence correspondent Jonathan Beale reports. This video shows the moment an Apache Helicopter opens fire on two taliban insurgents. All filmed by one of the marines on patrol who wait and then cheer. Yeah sergeant blackmans defence team called it a tough tour in an austere place. Helmand, in their words a Breeding Ground for Mental Health problems. We can only show what happened before the insurgent was killed. Sergeant blackman and one of his patrol cautiously approached the wounded man. The court refused an application by the bbc to release the clips of the next moments, when he was dragged across the field and then shot. In 2013, a Military Court found alexander blackman, also known as marine a, guilty of murder. Today, his wife arrived at court at the start of a fresh appeal from the Wiltshire Prison where he is serving an eight year sentence. His new defence team argued to a Panel Ofjudges that he was mentally ill at the time. In court, blackman was described as very reserved, a john wayne like a character who downplayed his Mental Health problems at the time of his original trial. But giving evidence, three psychiatrists said he was in fact suffering from an Adjustment Disorder that impaired his ability to make rational judgments and that led to a loss of self control when he shot the insurgent. But were these the words of a man who didnt fully comprehend what he was doing . And then this. The prosecution argued that blackman was in control of his actions, even making sure he couldnt be seen by a helicopter above before he fired the fatal shot. Marine as supporters will be back tomorrow to hear more evidence but his defence has to prove that his symptoms were substantial and significant if hes to have his murder conviction quashed. The Housing Market in england is broken and needs fixing that was the message from ministers