0:00:03 > 0:00:05Try not to get sick this winter.
0:00:05 > 0:00:08The NHS is overstretched as it is, and will struggle to cope
0:00:08 > 0:00:12with too much more.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15The way that things have become in A&E over the last two years,
0:00:15 > 0:00:18we're at breaking point. It can't carry on.
0:00:18 > 0:00:24The queues on the corridor and the situation
0:00:24 > 0:00:26the patients are in, and the department's in, it's unsafe.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29Tonight, we go inside Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham
0:00:29 > 0:00:32to see just what the pressure is now.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35And the chief executive there is with is to explain
0:00:35 > 0:00:38how bad it might get as the peak season arrives.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41We've heard a lot about Trump and the Russians
0:00:41 > 0:00:45allegedly digging the dirt on Hillary Clinton last year.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47It seems her campaign was paying for dirt to be
0:00:47 > 0:00:50found on Donald Trump. Awkward? Or obvious?
0:00:50 > 0:00:58We talk to her trusted advisor, Sidney Blumenthal.
0:00:58 > 0:00:59And from Trump, to the Queen,
0:00:59 > 0:01:01Annie Leibowitz has photographed them all.
0:01:01 > 0:01:02I just thought, "That's my photograph
0:01:02 > 0:01:05of the President and First Lady."
0:01:05 > 0:01:10It was a classic Helmut Newton-style photograph
0:01:10 > 0:01:13of Melania with Donald Trump, sort of, as an ornament.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21Hello. We are giving you a forewarning of something
0:01:21 > 0:01:23important tonight, a possible impending crisis in the NHS.
0:01:23 > 0:01:28Winter is coming, and that is the busy season.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31But strange things have been happening to climate in the NHS,
0:01:31 > 0:01:34there appears to have been no summer, no quiet season.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37It's operating at full pelt through the year so we are heading
0:01:37 > 0:01:41into winter without any slack, and that could be catastrophic
0:01:41 > 0:01:44for waiting times over the next few months.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47You will see what I'm talking about in this film
0:01:47 > 0:01:51made by Nick Blakemore, documenting a slice of life
0:01:51 > 0:01:54at Queen Elizabeth's Hospital in Birmingham over a four day period.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57Before you watch, remember that while the NHS is
0:01:57 > 0:01:59a caring human service, it can also be seen
0:01:59 > 0:02:01as a production line.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04There is a flow of people in and out of treatment
0:02:04 > 0:02:06and the two have to match.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08If the back end is clogged up, the effects ripple back
0:02:08 > 0:02:15through the system.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17ED sister, can I help?
0:02:17 > 0:02:25My name's Eve Gillepie, sisters I'm one of the senior
0:02:25 > 0:02:28sisters in the A&E Department at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
0:02:28 > 0:02:33So you've still got two empty at the moment? Lovely.Yeah.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35As soon as we get some space out here we'll
0:02:35 > 0:02:37think about shoping some people around, OK?
0:02:37 > 0:02:41The way that things have become in a A&E over the last two years,
0:02:41 > 0:02:43we are at breaking point. It can't carry on.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45The queues on the corridor, and the situation the patients
0:02:45 > 0:02:47are in and the Department's in, it's unsafe.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50I slipped down the stairs, and I think I broke my foot.
0:02:50 > 0:02:56I'm in a lot of pain. Very bad.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58You just don't expect to see so many people, and you know,
0:02:58 > 0:03:01people not having beds, not being seen to by doctors.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04It just feels like we're in a third World country,
0:03:04 > 0:03:12to be honest with you.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15We're probably seeing 100 patients more a day than we were a year ago.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17Two or three patients used to be stressful,
0:03:17 > 0:03:20but over the last couple of years, this is just an average day
0:03:20 > 0:03:22that we would have this many patients
0:03:22 > 0:03:24on the corridor at one time.
0:03:24 > 0:03:31And we're not even in winter yet. No. No, sorry. Excuse me.
0:03:31 > 0:03:37We're going into the emergency department to see a gentleman
0:03:37 > 0:03:39who's already been in the emergency department for over eight hours.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41So where are we going? We're going to resus.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45He needs to be in a bed on our medical admissions unit.
0:03:45 > 0:03:51We haven't been able to find that space for him.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53I think the delay we've got is because we're
0:03:53 > 0:03:56waiting for a side room. Yeah, OK.
0:03:56 > 0:04:00So, is he going to be stable enough to go into a side room?
0:04:00 > 0:04:01He probably is, actually.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04Year, I think if we can get him a little bit more fluid.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06The NHS is breaking at the seams.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08The amount of people who need the services
0:04:08 > 0:04:11we can offer is growing, and we just do not have the resource
0:04:11 > 0:04:14to deal with that.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Although he's not full resuscitation, I would expect him
0:04:17 > 0:04:22to recover from this episode, if that makes sense.OK.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24Brilliant.
0:04:24 > 0:04:28Thank you, Adam.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30The reason we have people queueing round the corners in the emergency
0:04:30 > 0:04:33department is because the whole system is stuck. We're congested.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36There's nowhere for anybody to go.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39If I can't discharge people from the back end of the hospital,
0:04:39 > 0:04:41so people needing the long-term care because of lack of community
0:04:41 > 0:04:44services, that means there's no beds that come up on the acute wards.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48Which means there's no beds coming up on the medical admissions unit,
0:04:48 > 0:04:50and that's why people are stuck in A&E cubicles or even
0:04:50 > 0:04:52on the corridor in the emergency department.
0:04:52 > 0:04:57Right, then, Bernard. How are you feeling?
0:04:57 > 0:05:00I'm knackered all the time.
0:05:00 > 0:05:05I can't use energy up doing anything else.
0:05:05 > 0:05:11I've been a pain in the arse on the ward, because I know I am,
0:05:11 > 0:05:15because I'm blocking a sick person's bed up.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17And I know they can't do anything else for me.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20And you've been in hospital for, it's about five weeks this time,
0:05:20 > 0:05:21isn't it?
0:05:21 > 0:05:27And because of you getting so breathless, that's why we looking
0:05:27 > 0:05:36for you to move into 24-hour care. Sure, yeah.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40I must have had four people come to talk to me.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43I've been rejected by all of them, because of this.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47Because care homes don't normally have built in oxygen.
0:05:47 > 0:05:48Bernard's told us that four different places have
0:05:48 > 0:05:50turned him down so far.
0:05:50 > 0:05:53And when I asked him how that made him feel,
0:05:53 > 0:06:03he pointed out that nobody actually gives him the direct message
0:06:05 > 0:06:08it's the staff come and assessing, and they never actually say
0:06:08 > 0:06:09to his face, "We don't want you."
0:06:09 > 0:06:11I ain't bothered snuffing it tomorrow.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14I wouldn't do anything to help it. I don't want reviving again.
0:06:14 > 0:06:15I don't want to keep coming backwards.
0:06:15 > 0:06:22I don't want to live whatever the rest of my life is like this.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25I'm going to leave you, all right? Is that still hot?
0:06:25 > 0:06:28Yeah. That's still warm. That's still hot.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31Can we start moving some people down into rooms for me,
0:06:31 > 0:06:34the one at the front into two. The one behind into three.
0:06:34 > 0:06:35And then we'll go in...
0:06:35 > 0:06:37This chappie into two for me.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40And the lady behind into three.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43I've got cancer.
0:06:43 > 0:06:49And what happened today? I've been very weak.
0:06:49 > 0:06:57And so, I had to get in touch with relatives.
0:06:57 > 0:07:07Who got in touch with the doctors, and here I am.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10I phone up every morning, because we live a bit
0:07:10 > 0:07:11of a way away from Frank.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14And over the past few days, he's become progressively weaker.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16How do you feel about having to wait in the corridor?
0:07:16 > 0:07:18It's a sign of our times, isn't it.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21I mean, they're under so much pressure now from various things.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23It's what you expect, really.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26Ten years ago, I never once nursed a patient in a corridor.
0:07:26 > 0:07:33Never once had to shuffle people around, and explained why
0:07:33 > 0:07:35we were sending them out into the waiting room.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38It was easily managed within the department.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41Over the years, especially the last two years.
0:07:41 > 0:07:46The renal colic man can go into six. It's just dreadful.
0:07:46 > 0:07:51There's just no space for people.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54Walk round and see if there's anyone that can move out of cubicles,
0:07:54 > 0:07:58so we can off-load the new ones.
0:07:58 > 0:08:06So we asked you to come here so we can complete
0:08:06 > 0:08:09an assessment on your mother, who is Vera Yates, yeah?
0:08:09 > 0:08:11Date of birth, the 30th of August, 1924.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13She's got advanced vascular dementia.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16I won't be recommending continuing health care at this moment in time.
0:08:16 > 0:08:22Where does this leave mum as far as her care?
0:08:22 > 0:08:26It just means now that her care will not be funded by health.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28So shewill receive £155.05 per week from the NHS
0:08:28 > 0:08:31towards her care in a nursing home.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34I have 30 beds on this ward.
0:08:34 > 0:08:42Back in January, I had three or four patients, possibly,
0:08:42 > 0:08:45who had been on here for a few weeks, most people are on here
0:08:45 > 0:08:47for two or three weeks up the mess.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51Now, I have at least ten patients who are out on the social services
0:08:51 > 0:08:52computer system waiting for a long-term placement.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54I'm getting people with more challenging behavioural
0:08:54 > 0:08:58problems on the ward.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01They're people who find it hard to find a care home that
0:09:01 > 0:09:02can meet their needs.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04Have you had a cup of tea this afternoon, mum?
0:09:04 > 0:09:06I think so. You think so?
0:09:06 > 0:09:10The overall process of moving from where we are now to where mum
0:09:10 > 0:09:12needs to be during the next few weeks is just the concern
0:09:12 > 0:09:19we have at the moment.
0:09:19 > 0:09:20SINGING
0:09:20 > 0:09:23She's off now.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28My background is, when you start the process off, you create
0:09:28 > 0:09:34a deadline, don't you. I don't know whether that's there.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37And I'm just concerned that this thing will drag on.
0:09:41 > 0:09:42PHONE RINGS
0:09:42 > 0:09:46QE alert phone. Hi, trauma desk.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48I'm ringing from A&E. We're getting a code red through.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50So if we could have...
0:09:50 > 0:09:54Pelvic... TXO...
0:09:54 > 0:09:5915 minutes... By land. OK.
0:09:59 > 0:10:04I'll call you back as soon as have a hostel number and trauma name.
0:10:04 > 0:10:08It's a 30-year-old male...
0:10:08 > 0:10:13We've got no ITU beds for the code red.OK.
0:10:13 > 0:10:17Which I'm addressing at the moment.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21I'm going to have to pull someone out of ITU into the beds...
0:10:21 > 0:10:26To see the NHS as it is now, I don't see it getting any better.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29I don't know what the answer is to it.
0:10:29 > 0:10:34But in my eyes, it's just going to get worse.
0:10:35 > 0:10:41So, he's had agonal breathing, they're worried cardiovascularly,
0:10:41 > 0:10:45so agonal breathing was agitated.
0:10:45 > 0:10:53It was a push bike. A code red?
0:10:53 > 0:10:56We've got a code red trauma call in about 15 minutes.
0:10:56 > 0:10:57A 30-year-old male.
0:10:57 > 0:10:58I feel for the patients.
0:10:58 > 0:11:03How long have we got? 15 minutes.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06I feel for the new nurses coming through that have to work
0:11:06 > 0:11:12in an emergency department like this, to never have known it
0:11:12 > 0:11:15how it was, it's a shame.
0:11:19 > 0:11:24It just seems to be acceptable to treat people on the corridor,
0:11:24 > 0:11:27and you know, it's not dignified, really, is it.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30It's not the way we want to treat our patients,
0:11:30 > 0:11:36but we don't have a choice.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52Heroic efforts to cope at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55That's how it feels at one very large hospital, and we'll talk
0:11:55 > 0:11:56to the chief executive shortly.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59But I'm with our policy editor Chris Cook, so let's get more
0:11:59 > 0:12:00on the national picture.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02Give us a wider sense of what's going on in the emergency services
0:12:02 > 0:12:08all over the country.Birmingham is not alone, there is a structural
0:12:08 > 0:12:13problem with A&E at the moment. At the moment, what we look for in
0:12:13 > 0:12:20A&Es, 95% of patients should be done with within four hours of coming in.
0:12:20 > 0:12:25This is the 95% mine, where they are supposed to be, 2011-12. On the left
0:12:25 > 0:12:29side of the graph, that is 2011 summer. There is a dip in the
0:12:29 > 0:12:36winter.They mostly at 95%.There is a wobble in the winter and that is
0:12:36 > 0:12:42it. The year after that, 2012-13, there is a bigger wobble in the
0:12:42 > 0:12:47winter, it takes longer to get back to the line, but we are up there. In
0:12:47 > 0:12:56the game for 95%. 2015-16 is a different year. It starts lower. It
0:12:56 > 0:13:00dives deeply, and doesn't really recover. We lose a chunk of
0:13:00 > 0:13:03performance this year, which we have never got back. If we draw in the
0:13:03 > 0:13:10line from last year, we can see the server started lover, died really
0:13:10 > 0:13:14low, pulled it back, but we are going into this winter a long way
0:13:14 > 0:13:20from where we are supposed to be. That's A&E, hospitals do more than
0:13:20 > 0:13:23A&E, what is the importance of the accident and emergency?Apart from
0:13:23 > 0:13:28the intrinsic and potent as health providers, what you saw in the film
0:13:28 > 0:13:31was an example of how they are interconnected to everything else.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34You can't run a good tip to everything else. You can't run a
0:13:34 > 0:13:37good 2-2 without good social care and without other hospitals and
0:13:37 > 0:13:42effective GPs. The measure of A&E is helpful, it is a canary in the coal
0:13:42 > 0:13:45mine, it helps us see the bigger picture, the health of the health
0:13:45 > 0:13:46system.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48Well, back in February we showed you a film about
0:13:48 > 0:13:50how they were coping at Queen Elizabeth Hospital
0:13:50 > 0:13:51in Birmingham.
0:13:51 > 0:13:56And we spoke to Dame Julie Moore, the woman in charge there.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58She was candid about the problems.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01But that was the end of winter, so we have her back now
0:14:01 > 0:14:03to see how the management is coping with the pressure
0:14:03 > 0:14:05we saw in the film.
0:14:05 > 0:14:12Good evening to you. What is your best case for this winter?I think
0:14:12 > 0:14:17the film has really said it all, that A&E is just a part of an
0:14:17 > 0:14:20overall process. I'm slightly more optimistic this winter because what
0:14:20 > 0:14:23we have done, and this is a relatively new building at the Queen
0:14:23 > 0:14:26Elizabeth Hospital, is over the summer, starting at the end of last
0:14:26 > 0:14:30winter, we stripped out all the nonclinical accommodation around the
0:14:30 > 0:14:34A&E department which is due to open next week or the week after to
0:14:34 > 0:14:37create additional capacity but the walls are not elastic, there's very
0:14:37 > 0:14:43little else we can do. Rooms, offices have all gone.You've turned
0:14:43 > 0:14:48them into more warts?More beds and assessment areas and they will open
0:14:48 > 0:14:54up next week.OK.That is one she bucked the second is staffing. Even
0:14:54 > 0:14:59if we could open up lots more capacity, A&E is not proving to be a
0:14:59 > 0:15:02popular profession for people any more because of the pressures we
0:15:02 > 0:15:06have just seen. I worry about how we will staff them in the future.It
0:15:06 > 0:15:09does not have to be bad this winter but what is the worst case because
0:15:09 > 0:15:14we have heard worries about flu from Australia and these kind of things,
0:15:14 > 0:15:19what might you lose sleep over? Well, it came out in the film that
0:15:19 > 0:15:23one of the things that has really changed in the past couple of years
0:15:23 > 0:15:26is patients who are delayed in hospital who no longer needed acute
0:15:26 > 0:15:30medical care but can't get out into the social care system or into other
0:15:30 > 0:15:34NHS provision. Both of those are causing delayed transfers that those
0:15:34 > 0:15:38patients and we have seen that go from average about 20 patients three
0:15:38 > 0:15:43or four years ago to now in excess of 71 and last year we lost 25,000
0:15:43 > 0:15:46bed days to patients who don't need to be there. I'm a bit more
0:15:46 > 0:15:51optimistic at the moment because we have a change in approach from the
0:15:51 > 0:15:55executive leadership of our local authority who are making good
0:15:55 > 0:15:58strides, whether it will be enough and in time, but it seems positive
0:15:58 > 0:16:02moves about how we can help people get to the right place more quickly.
0:16:02 > 0:16:07This is about providing good care, not just about beds.Let's focused
0:16:07 > 0:16:10on the delayed transfer of care because when we spoke to in February
0:16:10 > 0:16:14it was clearly a huge issue and the government says it has provided £2
0:16:14 > 0:16:17billion additional funding for social care. Are you confident it
0:16:17 > 0:16:22will make a difference, at least on the blockage at the end of the
0:16:22 > 0:16:26system?Well, what we have seen, we work with quite a lot of local
0:16:26 > 0:16:32authorities, mainly Birmingham and Solihull, and Solihull has gone from
0:16:32 > 0:16:35over 400 days lost to delayed transfers of care in June to fewer
0:16:35 > 0:16:40than 11 in September. With a concentrated effort you can do that
0:16:40 > 0:16:44and that has been magnificent, and Birmingham, it started a bit later
0:16:44 > 0:16:47because the new leadership team came in later but they are doing similar
0:16:47 > 0:16:50things so I'm confident we will see some movement happening but I would
0:16:50 > 0:16:55also want like to look at what the NHS does.There is a care issue in
0:16:55 > 0:16:59the NHS as well.Something called continuing health care where people
0:16:59 > 0:17:02have health care needs which are assessed as belonging to the NHS and
0:17:02 > 0:17:05one of the things that has been particularly upsetting I think is
0:17:05 > 0:17:10that when people want to go home to die, they are assessed as needing
0:17:10 > 0:17:13continuing health care and put on a fast track system but in the past
0:17:13 > 0:17:17six months alone, 75 people have died in one of the hospitals I'm
0:17:17 > 0:17:21responsible for, waiting for that continuing health care.So they have
0:17:21 > 0:17:26died in hospital?Rather than a time.So the fast track system are
0:17:26 > 0:17:31taking months?Sometimes it does, yes.There's a story in the Guardian
0:17:31 > 0:17:35today suggesting the government will pay people £1000 a month to take
0:17:35 > 0:17:39someone in, to take them out of hospital for recuperation. Does that
0:17:39 > 0:17:44work, putting them in my spare bedroom?I'm not sure, it is
0:17:44 > 0:17:47certainly an idea which has been touted run before and people have
0:17:47 > 0:17:50concerns about how you get the individuals and check up on progress
0:17:50 > 0:17:54and how you would monitor that but at the moment, anything is worth a
0:17:54 > 0:18:00try.Do you think we ever get back to the A&E times of 95%? Basically
0:18:00 > 0:18:04we are way off the target, 95% of people seen in four hours is the
0:18:04 > 0:18:10sign of a system that is working and we are way off it.One of the things
0:18:10 > 0:18:13that is quite difficult is how you measure this so if you bring in a
0:18:13 > 0:18:17system to improve care for patients, for example, we saw patients coming
0:18:17 > 0:18:19through the emergency department who could have more appropriately gone
0:18:19 > 0:18:24to someone else so the man who came in and said he had cancer, we've set
0:18:24 > 0:18:27up an acute oncology units are people bypass the emergency
0:18:27 > 0:18:30department and go straight to the ward. You can't count those in the
0:18:30 > 0:18:33numbers going through the emergency department and if you start trying
0:18:33 > 0:18:41to count in all the other pathways you put in to try to speed things up
0:18:41 > 0:18:44a patience, you get closer to it but we don't consistently measure it. If
0:18:44 > 0:18:45you provide care outside of hospital, so people don't come
0:18:45 > 0:18:48through the emergency department, again... We are not always measuring
0:18:48 > 0:18:52the same thing.OK. We have talked about people coming out of the
0:18:52 > 0:18:56system into care or whatever they need. The numbers coming in is
0:18:56 > 0:19:00another part of the problem your staff were talking about. There are
0:19:00 > 0:19:05more people coming in. Is it a problem with GPs or population
0:19:05 > 0:19:08growth or what?I don't think it is so much a problem with GPs because a
0:19:08 > 0:19:11lot of the patients there really needed to be in, it is not something
0:19:11 > 0:19:16GPs could necessarily deal with. It is a symptom of we are living
0:19:16 > 0:19:19longer, longer with more diseases and we have seen a 16% rise in the
0:19:19 > 0:19:23emergency departments at the Queen Elizabeth in the past two years
0:19:23 > 0:19:27which is a massive increase by anyone's imagination. As I said at
0:19:27 > 0:19:30the start, the walls are not elastic and we don't have all the staff in
0:19:30 > 0:19:34the world so we will do what we can to do that but we have do have the
0:19:34 > 0:19:37whole hospital system working together.What would it take to go
0:19:37 > 0:19:40back to the good old days? Chris showed us the picture when there was
0:19:40 > 0:19:46a bit of a dip in winter but it was basically 95%. What would it take?
0:19:46 > 0:19:50So far, you have not presented is usually grim picture of this winter,
0:19:50 > 0:19:54actually rather better than some other doctors I have heard talking
0:19:54 > 0:19:58about the prospects. But what would it take to go back to a kind of well
0:19:58 > 0:20:02functioning system that met the targets?We have not got enough
0:20:02 > 0:20:06capacity, bedsore staff and that is what we need to focus on.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09Alternatives to hospital care are great and we need to do that but at
0:20:09 > 0:20:13the moment, a lot of the patients need to be in hospital. We need to
0:20:13 > 0:20:17train a lot more staff as well. One of the other problems, why there are
0:20:17 > 0:20:20problems with delayed transfers of care is it is quite difficult to
0:20:20 > 0:20:23staff the nursing homes and certainly for us to be able to
0:20:23 > 0:20:27afford the nursing homes, to get people to provide care at home. We
0:20:27 > 0:20:31don't value caring as an occupation very much in this country. Often,
0:20:31 > 0:20:35some of the carers are paid minimum wage or just above when actually, it
0:20:35 > 0:20:38is one of the most important jobs you can do and we need to value it
0:20:38 > 0:20:42far more highly.Dame Julie Moore, they give very much and thank you
0:20:42 > 0:20:46for letting us into film in the hospital. -- thank you very much.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49The Labour MP Jared O'Mara has been suspended by the party while it
0:20:49 > 0:20:51investigates numerous allegations of misogyny and homophobia,
0:20:51 > 0:20:53mostly but not all rather old.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55The question the Labour Party has found itself asking today though,
0:20:55 > 0:20:58is less about O'Mara himself, more about its procedures
0:20:58 > 0:20:59for selecting candidates.
0:20:59 > 0:21:04I'm joined by Nick Watt, our political editor.
0:21:04 > 0:21:09We should say, he was not expecting to win, he was kind of what they
0:21:09 > 0:21:12call a paper candidate, shoved on the ballot, never dreams of winning
0:21:12 > 0:21:18and ending up in Westminster.It's imported to say white Labour
0:21:18 > 0:21:21suspended in today because a website revealed he'd made some really
0:21:21 > 0:21:24offensive remarks this year and the significance of that is in a lengthy
0:21:24 > 0:21:28apology to the Parliamentary Labour Party, on Monday night he said he'd
0:21:28 > 0:21:30make those kind of remarks many years ago and he'd been on a journey
0:21:30 > 0:21:35but what is interesting is that Labour's National executive
0:21:35 > 0:21:39committee is looking at how they selected Jarrod O'Mara. As you say,
0:21:39 > 0:21:42it was last minute, snap election and the National executive committee
0:21:42 > 0:21:45in those circumstances use the rules where you select by-election
0:21:45 > 0:21:51candidates and they run the process. They did not interview him.Know?
0:21:51 > 0:21:57Know and there was a cursory look at his social media and they are
0:21:57 > 0:22:00essentially saying, how can we make sure we don't do this again? For
0:22:00 > 0:22:02example, Newsnight understands they will be selecting 75 Labour
0:22:02 > 0:22:05candidates between now and Christmas and making sure, remember, they did
0:22:05 > 0:22:08not expect to get Sheffield Hallam, those kind of Skeet -- seats, they
0:22:08 > 0:22:13will have a more robust process. Meanwhile in Brexit land, we have
0:22:13 > 0:22:16this bill which has been sitting around, the withdrawal bill, which
0:22:16 > 0:22:19has been in the sidings for a bit and it's got to come out, they have
0:22:19 > 0:22:23to put it to parliament.There's a strong expectation the committee
0:22:23 > 0:22:28stage will begin on the 14th and 15th of November, tee days per week
0:22:28 > 0:22:32for four weeks which means it should be done by Christmas. There's been a
0:22:32 > 0:22:35lot of discussion about the government in negotiation with Tory
0:22:35 > 0:22:39rebels but I understand one of the big stumbling blocks has been over
0:22:39 > 0:22:42devolution and the need to reach an agreement with the devolved bodies.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46I understand a cabinet meeting last Tuesday, a rather sombre meeting,
0:22:46 > 0:22:52David Mundell, the Scotland Secretary, said, "We've got to get a
0:22:52 > 0:22:55legislative consent motion from the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish
0:22:55 > 0:22:59Parliament has got to take this". Intense talks have been under way.
0:22:59 > 0:23:04There is a hope there will be a deal that will mean that Holyrood will be
0:23:04 > 0:23:09able to say it is OK but a sign of how important that is, if there were
0:23:09 > 0:23:11a vote at Holyrood tomorrow, the expectation is that Ruth Davidson
0:23:11 > 0:23:16and the Scottish Conservatives would not be able to give their consent to
0:23:16 > 0:23:20the bill. But there is not going to be a vote tomorrow and there are
0:23:20 > 0:23:22lots of negotiations and big confidence there will be a deal.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24Thank you for joining us.
0:23:24 > 0:23:26You remember the dossier on Donald Trump.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28It emerged in a leak in January, and had been
0:23:28 > 0:23:30compiled by a British agent called Christopher Steele.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33It was the one with some salacious allegations involving Trump's
0:23:33 > 0:23:35behaviour in a Russian hotel.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38Well, the Washington Post has uncovered something interesting.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40Mr Steele was ultimately being partly paid by
0:23:40 > 0:23:43Hillary Clinton's campaign.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49The dossier made headline news, even though most media outlets felt
0:23:49 > 0:23:53uncomfortable spelling out all the allegations.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57The thrust of it was that the Russians might have some
0:23:57 > 0:24:00serious dirt on President Trump, so-called Kompromat, thus
0:24:00 > 0:24:08potentially compromising his policy towards President Putin.
0:24:08 > 0:24:17Are you sure Russia was behind hacking?I mean, maybe.But are you
0:24:17 > 0:24:22really, really sure?It was China.
0:24:22 > 0:24:23It hit the public domain after the election,
0:24:23 > 0:24:27but its existence had been the talk of many in Washington prior to that.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30We knew it had been paid for by supporters of Clinton,
0:24:30 > 0:24:33just not that the campaign itself and the Democratic
0:24:33 > 0:24:36Party contributed.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39The Washington Post says that the campaign lawyer paid
0:24:39 > 0:24:47a company which then hired Steele to do the research.
0:24:47 > 0:24:48Nothing new.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51But many have been critical of President Trump's son who met up
0:24:51 > 0:24:54with a Russian offering tempting dirt on Hillary.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58No Democrat thought it expedient to explain that the Democrats
0:24:58 > 0:25:02were themselves indirectly hiring a foreigner to dig up dirt on Trump.
0:25:02 > 0:25:06Sidney Blumenthal is long-time advisor to both
0:25:06 > 0:25:12Bill and Hillary Clinton, and joins me now from Washington DC.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15Good evening. So much going on in American politics but I want to
0:25:15 > 0:25:19start with this dossier. Did you personally know that the campaign
0:25:19 > 0:25:27was partly financing it and its research?Erm, I did not but it was
0:25:27 > 0:25:31fairly well known last year that without knowing exactly, that there
0:25:31 > 0:25:38were Democratic donors who were paying for this investigation into
0:25:38 > 0:25:44the Russian intervention into the US presidential election, which
0:25:44 > 0:25:51subsequently, all US intelligence agencies concurred and was done in
0:25:51 > 0:25:57order to help elect Donald Trump. And they found in hiring Christopher
0:25:57 > 0:26:01Steele, the most professional and credible person they could, who also
0:26:01 > 0:26:06held the trust of the FBI and had worked on dozens of investigations
0:26:06 > 0:26:14with the FBI, and he has turned over his material long ago to the FBI
0:26:14 > 0:26:19counterintelligence unit, which is now investigating it and has in turn
0:26:19 > 0:26:22turned the material over to the special prosecutor, Robert Muller,
0:26:22 > 0:26:27the former director of the FBI.A lot of people looking at this will
0:26:27 > 0:26:31say, really, this is both sides digging up dirt. Possibly Donald
0:26:31 > 0:26:34Trump did it better than Hillary Clinton because he had a stash of
0:26:34 > 0:26:38e-mails, or there was a stash of e-mails but both sides were doing
0:26:38 > 0:26:43it. It is kind of dragging American politics into which both parties are
0:26:43 > 0:26:48bad or -- as bad as each other.It is unprecedented that an anniversary
0:26:48 > 0:26:52foreign power, in this case, Russia, intervened in the presidential
0:26:52 > 0:26:57election in order to determine its outcome. We have learned since
0:26:57 > 0:27:02Christopher Steele's dossier became public that there was a lot more to
0:27:02 > 0:27:08those active measures, including exploitation extensively of social
0:27:08 > 0:27:13media and we are going to see on the 1st of November testimony before
0:27:13 > 0:27:18congressional committees of the heads of Google and Facebook about
0:27:18 > 0:27:26that. So this is a major issue involving the tech companies,
0:27:26 > 0:27:29American political life, the future of our democracy and how Donald
0:27:29 > 0:27:34Trump became president.And went Donald Trump Jr went to see a
0:27:34 > 0:27:39Russian lawyer who said, "I've got dirt on Hillary Clinton", it was
0:27:39 > 0:27:42only because she was Russia and that there was a problem with that.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46People said it was terrible he accepted such an invitation when in
0:27:46 > 0:27:49fact in your view, it was only because she was Russian and it is
0:27:49 > 0:27:55fine to get dirt on the opponent. Well, let's see what Robert Muller
0:27:55 > 0:28:01determines about that incident and how he sorted out. I believe that
0:28:01 > 0:28:10Donald Trump is panicked about the investigation conducted by Robert
0:28:10 > 0:28:16Mueller, and it is very tightly held, there are no leaks from it. He
0:28:16 > 0:28:19has all this material. He will determine its validity and
0:28:19 > 0:28:24credibility and he has much more material than simply be Christopher
0:28:24 > 0:28:27Steele dossier. He has intercepts of Trump associates with Russians and
0:28:27 > 0:28:33he now has, through subpoenas, documents, e-mails, phone
0:28:33 > 0:28:40conversations and he has begun to gather testimony. So let us wait and
0:28:40 > 0:28:45see what Mr Mueller does but I think we can detect in the creation of
0:28:45 > 0:28:50conspiracy theories on the part of Donald Trump, nothing new, a whiff
0:28:50 > 0:28:54of panic.Let's talk about the Republicans because something rather
0:28:54 > 0:28:56interesting happened yesterday with Senator Jeff Flake making an
0:28:56 > 0:29:01impassioned speech that he had given up and Constable Donald Trump. He
0:29:01 > 0:29:06obviously thinks he has calls and American politics. Did you see that?
0:29:06 > 0:29:09I know you are a Hillary Clinton supporter but did you see that as an
0:29:09 > 0:29:13important moment, if you like, in the revolution of the Republican
0:29:13 > 0:29:18party and how it relates to drop? Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona's
0:29:18 > 0:29:22speech, which was extraordinary, yesterday, on the floor of the
0:29:22 > 0:29:27Senate, denouncing Donald Trump on every level and calling him indecent
0:29:27 > 0:29:33and a threat to our democracy, unprecedented from a member of one's
0:29:33 > 0:29:39own party. It was not the only speech making these points. There
0:29:39 > 0:29:42was Senator Bob Corker, the chairman of the foreign relations committee,
0:29:42 > 0:29:46Saint Donald Trump is a threat to national security. There was the
0:29:46 > 0:29:50speech of former President George W Bush, making all of these speeches
0:29:50 > 0:29:54about the destruction of civil society by Donald Trump, without
0:29:54 > 0:29:57naming him. And there were the comments and the speech of Senator
0:29:57 > 0:30:03John McCain, who was a former Republican presidential candidate,
0:30:03 > 0:30:07and who is critically ill and feels unbound, now, to say whatever is on
0:30:07 > 0:30:11his mind. So we have four distinguished Republicans now
0:30:11 > 0:30:16stepping forward, making a consistent case about Donald Trump
0:30:16 > 0:30:21and what we are seeing is a party that is fracturing before our eyes.
0:30:21 > 0:30:23Sidney Blumenthal, thank you.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28For some, Annie Leibovitz is most famous as the photographer who took
0:30:28 > 0:30:30portraits of the Queen ten years ago, and who unwittingly featured
0:30:30 > 0:30:33in a BBC documentary film scandal in which footage was edited
0:30:33 > 0:30:37to falsely look as though the Queen had stormed out in a huff.
0:30:37 > 0:30:42It would be a pity if that's all you know of Leibovitz, though.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44Her portraits are highly valued by subjects and viewers alike,
0:30:44 > 0:30:46from the beautifully intimate, to lavish,
0:30:46 > 0:30:52over-the-top constructions.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55And a new book of them has just been published -
0:30:55 > 0:30:56Portraits 2005 to 2016.
0:30:56 > 0:30:58Odd title, as some of there are actually portraits from years
0:30:58 > 0:30:59either side of those dates.
0:30:59 > 0:31:03But when I sat down with Annie Leibovitz I didn't ask about that.
0:31:03 > 0:31:05We talked about some of her photos, and inevitably,
0:31:05 > 0:31:08the politics behind them.
0:31:08 > 0:31:10Annie Leibovitz, let's start with Hillary Clinton,
0:31:10 > 0:31:13because you'd planned to finish the book, so to speak,
0:31:13 > 0:31:16with a portrait of Hillary Clinton in the White House.
0:31:16 > 0:31:18Yeah, it was almost worse than that.
0:31:18 > 0:31:23I actually really thought about doing the book,
0:31:23 > 0:31:27a good reason to do the book at this time, and that time was just
0:31:27 > 0:31:30literally over a year ago, not that long ago, was with the idea
0:31:30 > 0:31:33that it would end with Hillary Clinton, which would be,
0:31:33 > 0:31:34you know, sort of a beginning.
0:31:34 > 0:31:38I imagined Hillary Clinton, you know, in the Oval Office
0:31:38 > 0:31:42and that was my ending. Let's just say...
0:31:42 > 0:31:48When it didn't happen, when she was not elected and, you know...
0:31:48 > 0:31:53I really thought about not doing the book.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56It was just topsy-turvy, you know, I mean, this kind
0:31:56 > 0:32:01of amusing character, you know, became the President
0:32:01 > 0:32:05of the United States and this woman who had
0:32:05 > 0:32:06all the credentials, all...
0:32:06 > 0:32:08Should have been the President of the United States.
0:32:08 > 0:32:12It was a big blow.
0:32:12 > 0:32:14What was interesting is, you've got a picture
0:32:14 > 0:32:15of Hillary in the book.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18It's not at the end, it's a picture of her as Secretary of State.
0:32:18 > 0:32:20It was a tough decision about...
0:32:20 > 0:32:24You know, as I was finishing the book, I had pictures
0:32:24 > 0:32:28of Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail, and you know,
0:32:28 > 0:32:33I had a photograph of Obama, you know, literally his last day
0:32:33 > 0:32:37in office, in the Oval Office, and it looked...
0:32:37 > 0:32:41And that's how the book was ending and it looked sad.
0:32:41 > 0:32:47I did not want it to look like we... That Hillary lost, you know.
0:32:47 > 0:32:50And so on purpose, I kept Hillary at work, during that period
0:32:50 > 0:32:56of the Obama administration.
0:32:56 > 0:32:58You've got an extraordinary picture of Donald Trump
0:32:58 > 0:33:00and Melania in the book. Right, right.
0:33:00 > 0:33:02Very pregnant. Yes, very pregnant.
0:33:02 > 0:33:04Tell us the story of that. Well, the elements were there.
0:33:04 > 0:33:06It's not like...
0:33:06 > 0:33:11We were supposed to meet them on the tarmac, I think
0:33:11 > 0:33:14they were on their way back to New York, the plane was there.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17You know, basically, in the stairway, the back entrance
0:33:17 > 0:33:22to the Trump aeroplane, you know, the motors on both sides.
0:33:22 > 0:33:24I just thought, "That's my, that's my photograph
0:33:24 > 0:33:25of the President and first Lady".
0:33:25 > 0:33:28Sorry, we're going back to the early 2000s, now, so it's...
0:33:28 > 0:33:30Yes, so this is very... It's not as president.
0:33:30 > 0:33:35No, it's not as president, no, no. But did...
0:33:35 > 0:33:42But it tells you who they are. There's a gold bathing suit.
0:33:42 > 0:33:45Helmut Newton used to get clothing that was always like a size
0:33:45 > 0:33:48too small for the person, so it always looked like it was
0:33:48 > 0:33:50going up their bottom or whatever.
0:33:50 > 0:33:53So it was, it was a classic, you know, kind of, you know,
0:33:53 > 0:33:56Helmut Newton-style photograph of Melania, sort of with...
0:33:56 > 0:34:00You know, Donald Trump as sort of an ornament.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03You've obviously not a fan of Donald Trump as president.
0:34:03 > 0:34:05Do you have to like the people you take?
0:34:05 > 0:34:09I mean, you... You know, we're not...
0:34:09 > 0:34:13I personally have this issue where I, I think it's a weakness
0:34:13 > 0:34:18in my work where I do like to admire and like people I photograph.
0:34:18 > 0:34:22But that, that's not the nature of my work in the long run.
0:34:22 > 0:34:26I believe you should be able to photograph people you don't like.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29But you never make any of them look bad.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32I suspect you sometimes, you pick up the vanity
0:34:32 > 0:34:35or the grandeur they think of themselves with but you don't...
0:34:35 > 0:34:38I think if...
0:34:38 > 0:34:41You know, I think that old saying, "If you give some enough rope,
0:34:41 > 0:34:43they hang themselves", I think that actually is really
0:34:43 > 0:34:45very, very true in this work.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47Now talking about controversial people...OK!
0:34:47 > 0:34:52Harvey Weinstein. Yes.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55There's a picture of Harvey Weinstein, Bob Weinstein,
0:34:55 > 0:34:57with their mother, actually, again going back to the early 2000s.
0:34:57 > 0:35:04Yes, and because this book is so new, it just
0:35:04 > 0:35:07just came out, I'm like, "Oh, my God, Harvey Weinstein's in there!"
0:35:07 > 0:35:09Erm, but, I stand by the photograph in some ways
0:35:09 > 0:35:11because he is with his...
0:35:11 > 0:35:13You know, I think this idea of putting him and his
0:35:13 > 0:35:16brother with their mother. It's poignant, actually.
0:35:16 > 0:35:19There's a subconscious aspect there of bringing him down to size,
0:35:19 > 0:35:22basically, you know, with his small mother
0:35:22 > 0:35:26standing in front of him. I think it says a lot.
0:35:26 > 0:35:28Did... It's become a very common question
0:35:28 > 0:35:30to everybody in this, your circle, I mean,
0:35:30 > 0:35:32did you know, had you heard much about Harvey Weinstein?
0:35:32 > 0:35:37I, I didn't know the, the details.
0:35:37 > 0:35:40That all of this is coming to the surface is so long overdue
0:35:40 > 0:35:44and, and that we are, as a society, recognising,
0:35:44 > 0:35:50you know, all of this. I mean, I, I haven't had...
0:35:50 > 0:35:53You know, the most pleasant experiences.
0:35:53 > 0:35:57You know, I've seen him more as a bully, you know,
0:35:57 > 0:36:04in a couple of instances, and you know,...
0:36:04 > 0:36:08You know, actually said I would not work on any of his sets any more.
0:36:08 > 0:36:11But I didn't know about any of his, erm...
0:36:11 > 0:36:15The sexual predation was a different thing?Yeah.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18There was one woman who has, there's no shortage of pictures of,
0:36:18 > 0:36:24of course, Queen Elizabeth.
0:36:24 > 0:36:26And you got a really quite extraordinary and wonderful picture
0:36:26 > 0:36:28of her with Princess Anne in an incredibly...Right.
0:36:28 > 0:36:34It makes me cry, that picture. I love it because it feels...
0:36:34 > 0:36:39I feel out of all the photographs I've taken, it's not a great
0:36:39 > 0:36:44photograph but it's a very genuine look or feel from Queen Elizabeth.
0:36:44 > 0:36:46And I think they were very happy, you know, to be together
0:36:46 > 0:36:50in that photograph.
0:36:50 > 0:36:53Interestingly, that was of course the second time, and she must have
0:36:53 > 0:36:57liked you because she would not have sat for you a second time if she
0:36:57 > 0:36:59didn't appreciate the first time. I, I...
0:36:59 > 0:37:01One thinks when you have that opportunity, it is never
0:37:01 > 0:37:04going to happen again so when it came up again, it was very...
0:37:04 > 0:37:07Very humbling and amazing.
0:37:07 > 0:37:10And she, she's such a willing subject.
0:37:10 > 0:37:13I mean, this is just, the other thing is, imagine sitting
0:37:13 > 0:37:16for Lucien Freud and that very strange painting, and,
0:37:16 > 0:37:18you know, when I look at all the sittings she does,
0:37:18 > 0:37:20she basically understands that she is the muse
0:37:20 > 0:37:23and she is to sit there and be interpreted in as many
0:37:23 > 0:37:30different ways as possible. And, erm, she goes along with it.
0:37:30 > 0:37:32I mean, she's totally giving herself over to, to your vision.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35You don't like being called a celebrity photographer.
0:37:35 > 0:37:40No, I can't stand that word. I just, it just sounds cheap to me.
0:37:40 > 0:37:44I feel like I'm in a long-standing tradition of portrait photographers,
0:37:44 > 0:37:49especially in these edits of these books.
0:37:49 > 0:37:54The work is really, erm, hopefully you can see our time.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57It is a story, you know, about our time, the people that,
0:37:57 > 0:38:02you know, are making our time and do things...
0:38:02 > 0:38:08My portraits are about people who, who either have achieved something
0:38:08 > 0:38:12or, or are doing something that matters, or...
0:38:12 > 0:38:13An upbeat note to end.
0:38:13 > 0:38:15Annie Leibovitz, lovely to talk to you.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18OK, thank you. Thank you very much. Thanks.
0:38:18 > 0:38:20That's almost it.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23We leave you with the man who was hailed by Elvis Presley
0:38:23 > 0:38:26as the true King of Rock and Roll, Fats Domino, who died
0:38:26 > 0:38:29yesterday at the age of 89. Here he is way back in 1956.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31Goodnight.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34# Ain't that a shame
0:38:34 > 0:38:38# My tears fell like rain
0:38:38 > 0:38:41# Ain't that a shame
0:38:41 > 0:38:47# You're the one to blame
0:38:47 > 0:38:50# Oh well, goodbye
0:38:50 > 0:38:53# Although I cry
0:38:53 > 0:38:57# Ain't that a shame
0:38:57 > 0:39:01# My tears fell like rain
0:39:01 > 0:39:05# Ain't that a shame
0:39:05 > 0:39:11# You're the one to blame...#