07/01/2018 BBC News at Ten

Tonight at ten, Theresa May

defends the Government's

handling of the NHS,

as she prepares a cabinet reshuffle.

Outlining her plans

for the new year, she insists

the health service is performing

better than before, but admits

"nothing is perfect".

There is more for us to do. We have

planned for the winter pressures

this year. We did put some more

money in and there has been

planning, and hospitals have been

dealing with it in different ways.

We'll be looking at

the debate surrounding NHS funding

and what to expect from

tomorrow's cabinet reshuffle.

Also tonight...

Some of the UK's biggest retailers

agree to stop selling acid

and corrosive chemicals

to curb violent assaults.

And gearing up for

the Golden Globes...

why black will be the colour

on the red carpet this year.

And England are heading for defeat

in the final Ashes Test,

needing to bat all day in Sydney

just to get a draw.

Good evening.

The Prime Minister has

defended her government's

handling of the NHS,

as she set out her plans

for the coming year, including

a cabinet reshuffle due tomorrow.

Theresa May insists the NHS has

never been better prepared

for winter pressures,

and described thousands

of postponed operations as "part

of the plan" to cope.

Tomorrow's reshuffle,

prompted by the forced resignation

of the First Secretary

of State Damian Green, was described

by Labour as a PR exercise.

Our political correspondent

Eleanor Garnier reports.

A new year, perhaps a fresh

start after a torrid 2017

in which Theresa May

lost her majority in the general

election, faced a rebellion

from some of her own MPs,

was forced to deal with Cabinet

resignations and even had

to sack her second-in-command,

Damian Green.

It means she starts

the year with a reshuffle.

Well, no prizes for guessing,

Andrew, that obviously,

Damian Green's departure before

Christmas means some

changes do have to be made.

Speaking exclusively to the BBC,

the Prime Minister has made clear

that she wants her government to be

about more than just Brexit,

insisting she is in listening mode.

One of the clear messages we got

was that there are a number of areas

in which people were concerned

about what we were proposing.

So just as we've looked at issues

on school funding, on tuition fees,

on housing and we're taking forward

approaches in relation to that,

on this issue of fox-hunting,

what I can say is that there

won't be a vote

during this Parliament.

That decision to scrap a vote that

could have seen fox hunting return

is part of an attempt to win over

new voters and those who have

drifted away, just as with plans to

plant 50 million more trees and the

party's renewed focus on the

environment.

But the new year has already

brought in old problems,

under pressure on rising train

fares, and claims

that this winter crisis

is the toughest yet for the NHS.

The NHS has actually been better

prepared for this winter pressure

than it has been before.

You mentioned operations

being postponed.

That was part of the plan.

Of course, we want to ensure

that those operations can be

reinstated as soon as possible,

but it's about making sure

that those who most urgently need

care are able to get that treatment

when they need it.

Labour's blamed Government cuts

for the problems in the NHS

this winter and warned

the Prime Minister against promoting

the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt,

in this week's reshuffle.

She hasn't got a plan

to get those people off

the trolleys in corridors,

those elderly people

this freezing January,

being treated in ambulances.

She's got no plan for them.

Her only plan, apparently,

is to promote this Health Secretary.

They should be demoting

this Health Secretary.

If she promotes this

Health Secretary tomorrow,

it is a betrayal of those 75,000

people in the back of ambulances.

The Prime Minister said today

she's not a quitter,

and she'll want and need the best

possible team around her to get her

through what many predict

will be a tough year ahead.

Eleanor Garnier, BBC

News, Westminster.

Well, Theresa May insists the NHS

is being properly funded,

despite accusations from Labour.

The NHS Confederation,

which represents health service

employers, has called for a major

new study of costs.

Our Health Editor Hugh Pym has more.

There's 73 outstanding

ambulances right now.

It was a striking image from a week

of intense pressure on the NHS.

Leah Butler-Smith's video

of ambulances queueing at a hospital

with her mother waited,

even as she was having a stroke.

Events like these have

fired up a new debate

on the NHS and its funding.

Health spending needs to keep rising

to pay for new medicines and meet

the sometimes complex needs

of a population which

is living longer.

The percentage of the population

aged over 65 in the UK was under 15%

in the 1970s and is projected to get

close to 25% by 2044.

Health spending across the UK has

grown a lot since the 1950s,

shown here after adjusting

for inflation, and has now reached

more than £140 billion per year.

Average annual government spending

on health since the 1950s has gone

up around 4% a year in real terms.

But under the coalition

government from 2010,

the average increase in England

was only just over 1% a year.

Under the Conservatives

in the last couple of years,

the average increases have been over

2%, but most in the health world

argue that it hasn't been enough

to keep up with patient demand.

Now there are calls for urgent

new thinking on what the NHS needs

and how it should be paid for.

The NHS and social care

are not sustainable under

current Government plans,

and we have told them

that repeatedly.

It's time now for a wake-up call not

just for the government,

but for the whole political class

to face up to the fact that over

the next ten or years,

health and social care

will need additional funding.

We need some objective evidence

to demonstrate what is required over

that period and as a society,

we need to think and reflect

on whether we are prepared

to put in the funding that

will be required.

Few doubt that the NHS

could be more efficient,

but in its 70th birthday year,

there are growing demands

for a cross-party approach to work

out how the service can be financed

in the decades ahead.

Hugh Pym, BBC News.

Let's return to Eleanor Garnier,

who's outside Number Ten for us.

What are you hearing about the

reshuffle tomorrow?

This is a

long-awaited reshuffle and of

course, Theresa May will want to be

seen to be on the front foot,

choosing the people around her,

building our own team. Her

supporters will suggest that a

reshuffle is a sign of a

strengthened Prime Minister. Others,

though, might ask, if those in the

top jobs stay the same, is this any

more than tinkering around the

edges? Labour have called this a

desperate PR exercise. When it comes

to the winners and losers in this

reshuffle, I would be surprised if

those in some of the biggest jobs

are moved. The Chancellor, the

Foreign Secretary, the Home

Secretary and the Brexit secretary,

for example. I think we should

expect a more diverse team, though,

perhaps an emphasis on bringing in

more women and more MPs from ethnic

minorities into the government. I

think Theresa May also might want to

balance her cabinet in terms of

Brexit. The big issue is dominating

the government's time and effort.

And remember, many people think the

toughest decisions are still to come

in those Brexit negotiations and

with them, the opportunity for

trouble and testing times for the

Prime Minister.

Eleanor Garnier,

thank you.

Donald Trump's former

Chief Strategist, Steve Bannon,

has expressed regret

for comments attributed to him

in a book depicting the president

as being unfit for office.

In a statement, he said his remarks

were aimed at Mr Trump's

former campaign manager,

Paul Manafort, not the President.

Mr Bannon's also rowed back

on quotes in the book

about Mr Trump's son,

Donald Junior.

Major retailers have signed

up to a voluntary ban

on selling corrosive liquids

to under-18s in a bid to

reduce the number of acid attacks.

Drain cleaner and paint stripper

are among the substances.

The Government is promising

new legislation.

Here's our Home Affairs

Correspondent Dominic Casciani.

Arthur Collins, jailed for 20 years

for an appalling nightclub attack.

Watch this CCTV.

You can see him throwing

acid on his victims,

22 people left with burns,

a crime involving a household

product that's been

growing, year on year.

Police recorded more than 500

attacks involving corrosive

substances in England and Wales

in the year to last April.

Officials think the true figure

could be twice as high.

Ministers have launched an action

plan, including a review of how

cases are prosecuted and first aid

training for police.

And from today, a voluntary ban

by DIY chains including

Supermarkets will also

challenge underage customers

just like they would

if they were buying alcohol.

Acid attacks are the most horrific

crimes, and we want to make

sure we restrict access,

that we support victims,

that we police these

attacks really effectively.

Jabad Hussain was

attacked last year.

Police officers poured water

into his eyes to save his sight.

So what does he think of the plan?

I'd like to give welcome

and thanks to the Government

for what they're trying to do.

But this is not the right way to do

that and handle this problem.

There's not enough police

on the streets to chase them.

This is my home city.

I shouldn't tolerate that.

You shouldn't tolerate that.

No one should tolerate that.

Thousands of independent hardware

shops selling household chemicals

are also being asked to sign up.

But while a shopkeeper can challenge

a teenager at the counter,

adult criminals will still be able

to buy the products

on the high street and online.

Only one in five attacks

are carried out by under 18s,

so four in five adults will still be

able to get hold of acid and use

them as they have been doing over

the last year or two.

These voluntary measures

can only go so far.

Ministers ultimately want to create

a new offence of carrying

over-the-counter chemicals in public

without good reason.

But so much of this type

of crime remains unknown,

so academics are now looking

at what motivates a criminal to turn

a household product like drain

cleaner into a weapon,

one that has lifelong consequences.

Dominic Casciani, BBC News, at

the Home Office in central London.

A new round of strikes

on the railways in England is due

to begin at midnight,

just as millions of people

are returning to work

after the Christmas break.

Our business correspondent

Joe Lynam, is at London's

Waterloo station.

Joe.

More than 1000 cane services and

hundreds of thousands of passengers

including some from here at Waterloo

station, one of Britain's busiest

stations, will be affected by this

strike. In total, five companies are

affected, Southern, Northern,

south-western, Greater Anglia and

Merseyrail. With the exception of

Southern, there will be three days

of strikes this week starting

tonight at midnight the 24 hours and

then again on Wednesday and then

again on Friday. In terms of

mitigation, some of the train

companies will be offering a rail

replacement bus service, and some

rival train companies will be

accepting tickets even though they

are not directly involved in the

dispute, which centres on the role

of guards and one person operated

trains. As ever, passengers are

caught up in the dispute and it is

only a few days since rail fares

went up substantially at the start

of the year.

Joe Lynam, many thanks.

Let's take a look at some

of the day's other top stories.

There's to be a review into how

the Parole Board makes decisions,

after the imminent release

was announced of the serial sex

offender John Worboys.

The former London taxi driver

was convicted of 20 offences,

including rape, but police say

they believe he attacked

many more women.

He's been given parole,

after serving a minimum

term of eight years.

The German Chancellor,

Angela Merkel, says she's

optimistic that her centre right

Christian Democrat Party

can reach a coalition deal

with the centre-left Social

Democrats.

Five days of talks have begun,

three months after Mrs Merkel failed

to win a Parliamentary majority.

A 60-year-old man has

been killed in Sweden

after picking up an object

which exploded in his hand.

Police say it was

probably a hand grenade.

The object was found outside

an underground station

in a suburb of Stockholm.

The incident is not being

linked to terrorism.

The BBC's China Editor Carrie Gracie

has resigned from her post,

citing pay inequality with male

colleagues doing

the same kind of work.

In an open letter to licence fee

payers, she accused the corporation

of having a "secretive

and illegal pay structure".

The BBC has responded saying

a review last year showed "no

systemic discrimination

against women" among

rank and file staff.

Our Media Editor Amol Rajan is here.

What does the letter a?

Carrie

Gracie is a hugely respected

international editor who has been at

the BBC for over 30 years, and her

central allegation is that the BBC

discriminate illegally against women

by paying many of them less than men

doing equivalent jobs. Her key point

is that she says she doesn't want a

pay rise, she wants to be paid the

same as men who do an equivalent job

of being an international editor.

The BBC say they take this issue

seriously, that they have undertaken

three internal audits of pay and

that they go further than other

public organisations on the issue of

inequality. But this is a moment of

danger for the corporation because

last summer it was forced to publish

the salaries of staff getting over

£150,000. Now they will be on the

front page of tomorrow morning's

Times. Some 200 women have

complained internally and there is

huge anger among female staff about

this. This is not just about

internal staff management, it is

also about public perceptions of the

corporation. There is a danger that

if Carrie Gracie's letter leads to

legal action, then BBC News could be

generating headlines for all the

wrong reasons.

Many thanks.

The film awards season kicks off

in three hours' time,

with the Golden Globes in Los

Angeles.

They're the first major ceremony

since Hollywood was hit

by the Harvey Weinstein scandal.

Stars of film and television

will be wearing black

on the red carpet, in protest

against sexual harassment.

James Cook reports from Los Angeles.

This year, the red carpet will host

a protest, not a party.

The downfall of movie mogul,

Harvey Weinstein, exposed decades

of sexual abuse and harassment

in Hollywood, and now scores

of stars are wearing black

to the Golden Globes in solidarity.

People will be in black,

but I don't think it'll be funereal,

I think it'll be a celebration

of all of us saying it's time

to deal with this and not

put up with any more.

We're wearing black not only

to represent Hollywood,

but to stand up for women

across all industries

and to support them.

So much darkness is creating unity

and people are standing together.

Unfortunately, tragic

times bring unity.

The cleansing has already begun.

Accused of sexual assault,

Kevin Spacey was cut from this film

and replaced with Christopher

Plummer.

Co-star Michelle Williams told me

she shot her scenes again for free.

Films, because they're larger

than life, they glorify people,

and I couldn't bear the thought

of being in a movie that glorified

somebody who had hurt people.

Is what is happening

in Hollywood a permanent,

significant change, do you think?

Everyone is working day and night

to create the kind of change

that will be permanent.

Our hope is to hand our

daughters a different world.

The mood at the Golden Globes

is different this year.

Some of the world's most famous

actresses are going to be

accompanied on the red carpet

by activists as part of their demand

for equality in the entertainment

industry and the wider world.

James Cook, BBC News, Los Angeles.

The distinguished journalist

Peter Preston has died.

He was 79.

One of the towering figures

of Fleet Street, he joined

the Guardian newspaper in 1963

and became a foreign

correspondent, before taking

over as editor in 1975.

It was a job he held for 20 years.

More recently, he was

a columnist for the Observer.

He died at home.

With all the sport,

here's Olly Foster at

the BBC Sport Centre.

The final day of the Ashes starts

in just over an hour.

England have already lost the series

and will lose the final Test

unless they can bat out the day

for an improbable draw, and

their cause hasn't been helped

by the news that the England captain

Joe Root has been taken to hospital.

Let's get the latest from Sydney.

Patrick Gearey is there for us.

Patrick, Root is due at the crease

in just over an hour.

What is the latest?

The effect of

that batting effort in the soaring

temperatures in Sydney has taken its

toll on Joe Root. He is in hospital

with dehydration. It's not clear

whether he will be able to resume

his innings and come to the crease

this morning. He was part of

England's last chance of taking

anything from this match after their

top order subsided. He was there

with Jonny Bairstow at the end, but

it's not clear whether he will be

able to go back to the crease and

help England somehow get through the

rest of the day.

Whatever happens today,

it won't gloss over

a very poor series for England.

England would have to survive the

rest of the day to get a draw.

Australia need six wickets to win

the series 4-0. England have been

disappointing from the start. They

have not completely fallen apart,

but they simply haven't competed

often enough in enough Test matches

in this series. If Australia can

complete this victory, questions

will be asked about what went wrong

for England over here and how

English cricket can stop it

happening again.

Patrick Gearey at

the Sydney cricket ground, many

thanks.

Match Of The Day follows the news.

There were only four 3rd round ties

in the FA Cup but there was plenty

of drama...if you want to know

what happened, then here come

the results.

The holders Arsenal are out,

beaten by Nottingham Forest.

Arsene Wenger,

who made nine changes to his team,

has won the FA Cup a record seven

times and had never lost

in the 3rd round before.

Managerless Forest are in mid table

in the Championship but won

4-2 at the City Ground.

Newport County from League 2

are into the 4th round draw for

the first time in almost 40 years.

They beat Championship side

Leeds United 2-1, thanks

to Shaun McCoulsky's header

in the final minute.

Elsewhere, Tottenham beat AFC

Wimbledon, but West Ham were held

by League One Shrewsbury.

Manchester City women have made it

six wins out six in this season's

Super League.

They beat Reading 5-2 away,

Scotland's Claire Emslie

with the pick of their

goals at Adams Park.

City are two points clear

of Chelsea, who beat Arsenal today.

Exeter's lead in the Rugby Union

Premiership is down to 5 points.

The champions were

beaten by Newcastle.

Second placed Saracens made up

ground with a bonus point win

at 3rd placed Wasps.

Alex Goode scored two of their five

tries in the 38-15 win.

Don't forget, the BBC

Sport website for more

on all those stories,

and from 11.30, you'll find text

coverage and radio commentary

from the Final Ashes Test.

The breaking news is that Joe Root,

the England captain, has been taken

to hospital with dehydration. His

participation in the final test is

now in doubt. Olly Foster, many

thanks.

That's it.

You can see more on all of today's

stories on the BBC News Channel.

That will include a first look at

tomorrow's front pages.

But do stay with us on BBC One, it's

now time for the news where you are.

Have a very good night.