21/02/2017 Victoria Derbyshire

I'm Victoria Derbyshire, welcome to the programme.

This morning - will huge rises in business rates force shops around

Coco my name is Rebecca Bishop, I run a small Artisan bakery in

Suffolk. My business rates are June to go up by nearly 500% in the next

year, which will have serious detrimental effects on my business

and other small independents in Southwold in Southwark. My name is

Sheila, I run a fancy dress shop in Berkshire, my business rates at you

to go up by 64% this year, raising to 250% in -- 257% over the next two

years, which will have a serious effect on my business and businesses

in the area. We will hear more from Sheila and Rebecca and from you, if

you run your own business could you get in touch?

So could the Government be forced to soften the blow

We'll get reaction from conservative MPs shortly.

Also on the programme - this is the House of Lords.

Brexiters the most important single issue which has faced the country

for decades. We also have the terrible situation of losing an

empire at the same time. How deep is our grasp, if we are honest, of what

is actually going on in the EU machinery operating below us?

800 unelected politicians get paid to sit here,

but it's been rocked by another scandal after claims that

some members collect their daily allowance whilst

And this is the dramatic moment a crying girl was rescued

from rubble after an air strike in Syria.

Welcome to the programme, we're live until 11am.

Throughout the morning we'll bring you the latest breaking news

After 10am we'll cross to the Court of Appeal where a straight couple

will find out whether the courts support their argument that civil

partnerships should be open to heterosexual

We'll speak to the couple as soon as the decision is made.

As always, really keen to hear from you this morning -

Letters know if you are affected by the revaluation of properties around

the country and whether it means your business rates will go up,

because to all be frozen. -- be cut or be frozen.

And if you text, you will be charged at the standard network rate.

Our top story today: Most areas of England will see hospital

services cut or moved under plans to save money and

Analysis by the BBC has also found that about a third of the proposals

would see a reduction in the number of hospitals offering

The Government says patients will receive better

Our health reporter Sophie Hutchinson has the details.

Protests outside Horton Hospital in Oxfordshire just a few months ago

where there are concerns about bed closures and cuts to

Right across England proposals for big changes

The BBC has analysed 44 of the transformation

Two thirds include either hospital closures or moving treatments

More than a third involve cuts to the number of hospitals providing

non-emergency treatments and around one third plan to reduce

the number of hospitals offering emergency care.

Proposed closures to hospital beds have been heavily criticised

More generally, though, it says the plans are the best hope

of delivering essential reforms to the NHS, but it says it can't be

Ideally there ought to be an earmarked fund

for new investment, to strengthen and improve the out-of-hospital

services, and to shore up adult social care, which is really

If those additional funds aren't forthcoming, the Government needs

to be honest about the consequences for patients and what the offer

The Department of Health says it's confident the NHS plans will help

patients get better care, with improvements to mental

health and cancer services and more access to GPs.

Our correspondent Kathryn Stanczyszyn is here with me now.

These are big changes and people will face cuts? The sustainability

and transformation plans are what has been keeping NHS bosses up at

night recently as they try to make ?22 billion worth of savings by

2020, meaning some pretty drastic changes on the cards. Some examples,

the of two out of three A in mid and South Essex, a reduction of

major hospitals in south-west London from five to four, cutting the

hospitals in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland from

three to two. You could say it sounds like an obviously bad idea

but the King 's fund, which has been looking into it, says there is a

case for it if done well and it improves patient care. They believe

there should be essential reform of the NHS away from hospital services

but they say that the crucial thing is what it is replaced with, they

need massive investment into community provision because if we

don't get that we are heading for serious problems.

Joanna is in the newsroom with a summary of the day's news.

The shortage of teachers in schools in England is getting worse,

affecting key subjects like physics and maths, according

The Commons Education Committee says recruitment targets have been missed

for five years in a row and there should be more

focus on keeping teachers in the profession long-term.

The actual sums are adding and taking...

Maths class for these children with Mr Walton.

But professionals like him are increasingly hard to come by,

that's according to a group of MPs, who say school teacher shortages

I'm into my fourth year of teaching now.

I think that's mainly due to workload and pressure

The Education Select Committee is calling for a long-term plan

to recruit more teachers and a bigger emphasis to be

placed on retaining them, warning many are leaving.

Reasons include a lack of job satisfaction,

Research has found teachers in England work nearly 20% more

than they do in other similar countries, an average

20 of those are spent here in the classroom teaching.

MPs say secondary schools are hardest hit in subjects

What we've got to get across is just how important

teachers are to our society and to our economy.

They need to feel valued, they need to feel trusted.

The Department for Education says it is investing in teacher

recruitment and development to make sure the best in the

Profits at Britain's biggest bank, HSBC, fell

The bank has blamed slowing growth in the UK, which it has linked

It's also repeated a warning that it could move a thousand staff

Five people have been killed after light plane crashed

into a shopping centre in the Australian city of Melbourne.

It suffered an engine failure and crashed into a shopping centre which

was prepared to open. The impact sent a large fireball into the sky

and sent debris onto the road nearby. Nobody on the ground is

thought to have been injured. The American president Donald Trump

has named General HR McMaster as his new National Security

Advisor. He replaces General Michael Flynn,

who resigned just three weeks into the job after misleading

the vice-president over talks he'd had with Russian

government officials. President Trump has described his

new appointment as a man Iraqi forces say they are closing

in on western Mosul, the last major stronghold

of so-called Islamic State in Iraq. A military spokesman said that

government troops had entered the last town on the road leading

to Mosul airport, as the offensive to recapture the western half

of the city continues. The Chancellor Philip Hammond has

assured Conservative MPs that he's listening to concerns

about a business rate revaluation The rates are being updated

for the first time in seven years, and will leave more than a quarter

of companies facing higher bills. Mr Hammond is facing pressure to do

more to help those affected. A heterosexual couple will find out

today if they can have a civil Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan

from London took their case to the Court of Appeal

following a defeat at They say it's unfair that only

same-sex couples can Specialist police teams are digging

up the gardens of two One is believed to be the former

home of Christopher Halliwell, who's serving a whole life sentence

for the murders of two women, A man in New York had a lucky escape

while shopping at a mini-mart. He was about to pay

for his groceries when he returns to the shelves -

unaware of the imminent danger. A car smashed through the window

of the mini-mart, crushing him Amazingly, no-one was

hurt in the accident. He and the driver were both taken

to hospital but neither had Thank goodness for that! That could

have been so much worse. Cheers, Joanna.

Do get in touch with us throughout the morning -

Listen, you are a bit cross about the story of the peer who apparently

left a taxi running outside the House of Lords while he went in for

a moment to clock on in order to qualify for his ?300 daily

allowance, then nips back out to the taxi. Morag on Twitter, peers who

clock in and clear out without doing any work should pay the money back.

Else but on Facebook said ?300 per day is double my weekly stately

pension, it is a disgrace that this is being abused by those not

financially struggling to heat homes or put food on the table, it is

greed. Your views I'll welcome, we will talk about that just after

9:30am. -- your views are welcome. Olly Foster is at

the BBC Sport Centre. Sutton did themselves proud? A

terrific cup tie, 5000 fans, 105 places between Sutton United and

Arsenal. Arsene Wenger did not underestimate the non-league team,

he put out a team that was just too strong, parents with a fairly lucky

goal. 1-0 to the gunners. Theo Walcott, a tap in, his hundredth

goal for the gunners. He did not celebrate too much. Their manager

was just shaking hands with Arsene Wenger, he says they have made ?1

million out of the cup run this year but we still have one more

non-league team left in the cup, Lincoln city, they came through over

the weekend. They play Arsenal in the quarterfinals, what a tie!

Let's talk about the guy eating the pie at half-time, is he in trouble?

He probably will be, his name is Wayne, he is a cult figure in

Sutton, 23 stone reserve keeper who does not play very much, he does

more around the club. He did that in the second half. Spotted on camera

in the 82nd minute. It is a fun picture but a betting company had

put their sponsorship boards of everywhere, sponsoring Sutton United

and they had got a fun bet on 8-14 Wayne sure to be filmed eating up

high. Afterwards, Wayne Shaw admitted some of his mates were in

on it and they had a flutter as well. Players are strictly not

allowed to come he said he did not and one of the other players did.

The FA regulations and gambling say that a player should not instruct,

permit, cause or enable any person to bet the results, progress,

conduct or any other aspect of an occurrence in a football match, and

that covers eating pies. Of course it does, they have made many macro

out of it. Of course you are not allowed to bet on anything to do

with the football match, but it seems slightly Po faced. It is a bit

cynical, I know the Sutton manager was not happy about it at all and

said it took the shine off what was a terrific occasion for the club. I

am sure the FA will look into it. There was fighting and a pitch

invasion towards the end, a bottle was thrown towards the dugouts, so

the FA will have a bit to look at. You talked about the funding story

guest today for the various would-be Olympic sports, appealing to UK

Sport to get their money back heading into Tokyo, none of them got

it back? In our time, wheelchair rugby, we revealed they would get no

funding. Fencing, weightlifting, archery Badminton were funded for

the four years leading up to Rio, all five were unsuccessful in the

appeals, badminton especially, because they hit their medal target

of getting a medal in Rio, are said to be staggered. UK Sport said there

was no compelling evidence to make them change their minds. They can

take another path, another appeal process, but it is a real long shot.

All those five governing bodies were very, very upset.

The head of golf's governing body, who makes the rules, there could

good news from Muirfield? Last year Muirfield, an all-male membership,

voted against allowing female members to play. The RNA, the

governing body, threw them off the roads are for hosting the Open

Championship, they have posted it over a dozen times recently -- they

have hosted it. 750, the all-male membership, are holding another

ballot right now. The RNA chief has given an interview and says he is

delighted, they can't get involved in club matters but if it is a

positive outcome the course will be reinstated very quickly right back

onto the list of open venues, lots of players were very vocal when the

vote came to last year. Another interesting thing, Brexit, we have

spoken about that forever, but the head of the RNA says it might

consider paying the winner this year in dollars because the pound has

been hit so badly. It has knocked an awful lot of the value of the price

money of the Open if the pound continues to be as weak.

Business rates are also being revalued in Scotland and Wales.

In England, there's plenty of disquiet about how some big

retailers wont be affected as much as smaller ones.

This morning - will the government come under pressure to soften

If you own a shop or business, chances are you're worried about it.

Around a quarter of firms could see a rise in the amount they pay,

with some facing rises of up to 500%.

Business pay roughly half of the value of their

In a moment, we'll talk to those affected, but first,

Business rates - they are what companies large

Think of them as like council tax, but for companies.

They are the charge on a business' property and that charge is decided

in proportion to the value of the land.

The Government has decided that the rates need to be revalued,

which they are supposed to do every five years, but they didn't do it

when they should have last time, so it's been seven years

That seven-year gap means that some companies are bracing themselves

for a whopper of a rise, while others may see

So the extra rates paid by an online retailer who owns a huge warehouse

in the middle of the countryside will in some cases pay less

than a cafe in London, and that's why we're here.

Alex is the manager and owner and it looks like his rates could double.

It's one of the now longest running businesses left in Victoria.

At the present moment, we're just shy of 11,000 and come April,

I've been advised I'm going to be paying just shy of ?22,000,

And if you even go further back, three, four years ago,

we were only paying about ?7,000, so the rates have

Ministers and MPs have been lobbied by businesses to either water down

or scrap the increases, but the Government says

that the majority of people will see their rates

The Government believes around 520,000 ratepayers

will see their bills increase as a result of the revaluation.

While 920,000 will see their bills fall and 420,000 will see no change.

But despite these assurances opposition to the upcoming changes

isn't dying down and the changes kick in on 1st April.

Business rates are also being revalued in Scotland and Wales.

In England, there's plenty of disquiet about how some big

retailers won't be affected as much as smaller ones.

For instance Amazon's rates will increase by 0.95%,

miniscule compared to some of the increases across

Online fashion retailer BooHoo.com will see their rates cut by 13%.

Fashion giant Asos - their rates will stay exactly the same.

Whereas in Southwold in Suffolk the average business will see

Her rates are going up by almost 500%.

Sheila Tims owns a fancy dress shop in Berkshire.

Her rates are going up and she says she'll have to close

Also with us two Conservative MPs who are campaigning

Grant Shapps, MP for Welyn Hatfield and former

Andrew Bridgen is the Conservative MP for NW Leicestershire

who was supporting the business rates rise until he met

the Chancellor Philip Hammond last night.

Let me hear from Rebecca and Sheila. You pay Rebecca ?2,000 a year in

business rates. What will it increase to? Well, I did some sums

yesterday after I quoted the figure, ?2,000 and when I looked back at my

rate bill, if you actually take off the business relief that I pay at

the moment, I'm only paying ?835. OK. With my transitional relief

which I'm given at 12.5%, next year I will be paying ?4028 which is a

482% increase. And what impact will that have on your bakery? It's going

to have repercussions, obviously next year is not the full increase.

Over the five years, it will increase year-on-year. It'll be

affecting my expansion plans. It will be affecting my ability to

recruit. The money represents probably at least two part-time

people. It will affect my ability to put money into training. It just is

a damaging effect on all the businesses, all the independent

businesses, in Southwold. Sheila, you run a fancy dress shop, which I

think you were looking to sell after 30 years, but the buyer pulled out

when they found out about your rate rise? That's correct. What do you

pay at the moment and what will it go up to? At the moment I'm paying

?3300 a year. It's going up to ?5200 this year, that's with the

transitional relief and up to ?8500. Can you afford it? No. What will you

do? We're going to close. Seriously? We can't afford it. We've already

made the decision to shut because we've lost our buyer now, but I am

still fighting this because this is my village and it's the whole

village that's suffering, all of the business rates have gone up, the

actual value of the rateable value has gone up by 75% on every business

here. Will other independent shops, do you think, have to close? Yeah,

two have told me, I'm in a small parade of shops. I'm not in a high

street. There are 20 of us and two of the others have said if it can't

be resolved they can't sustain the increases either. I know one shop

that's got 1,000% increase. 1,000%, OK. I mean, if it wasn't so serious,

this was absurd, what did the Chancellor say to you when you met

him last night and you relayed the concerns? Well, I gently reminded

the Chancellor and colleagues that something we should all remember is

that all the wealth of our country that pays for our public sector and

those of us who work in the public sector's wages is generate from

business and commerce. We've already shifted huge amounts of burden on to

business, you've got the national Living Wage and huge pension

provisions going forward and now we've got business rate rises. At

the end of the day we're in danger of killing the golden goose of

growth. What did he say? He said he was in listening mode, but the bills

for the business rate increase are going out next week, but we have

time for a period of contemplation and discussion and we certainly

need, where people are getting huge increases, we need a longer period

for those to be phased in. Right. Would that be enough Grant Shapps?

One of the problems... Yes, it would be enough? I'm not sure it would be.

One of the problems is this hasn't been changed for seven years. We had

the same issue with domestic rates, that's council tax, it was I was the

Local Government Minister and decided not to do the revaluation

and just leave it because we knew it would be a disaster to try to do the

revaluationsment we need to reform this and have a proper look at how

business rates are done. You can't leave it five or seven years and

suddenly have these increases because unsurprisingly, that's an

enormous shock to smaller businesses... And the wider economy?

As Andrew says all money in this country is generated from business

and commerce and this is going to really create a problem. I suggested

to the Chancellor in the same meeting last night that perhaps we

should still do the same thing that's been done with the council

tax which is just not to revalue them. The Chancellor says that's not

possible. The letters are going out next week. I think one of the

problems here has been that rather than present this as what it really

is, which is about another ?1 billion collected for the economy,

and let's face it, we're still grappling with the deficit, we need

to do those things, but be straightforward and say yes, we need

to raise the money. Instead it has been presented as if somehow it was

a cut to business. I received a letter saying that businesses in my

constituency would pay less, but about 1.4% less. In fact they're

going to pay more than 5%. How did that mistake happen? It looks like

they have already factored in the fact that so many people will appeal

the rate bill that they get. And that some of those appeals will be

successful and then some issues with inflation and in fact, it turns out

that this is actually a rate rise in my area, not a cut.

Can I just say something? Yes, go ahead? There needs to be a

fundamental review of what constitutes a small business. This

is the major flaw in this re-evaluation. I was a small

business. My rates were 7.2 per year and I was eligible for small

business rate relief and a recognition that a small business

does need specific help. With this re-evaluation, my rates have been

moved to ?25,000 a year and I'm classed as a medium business. My

business hasn't actually changed. I employ the same amount of people. I

have the same amount of sales and the same amount of foot fall and

yesterday suddenly I've been moved out of any relief and any help and

this is what's going to kill the high street and kill small

businesses. The lack of recognition of what a small business means. Fair

point? Absolutely. In my situation, it is similar to Grant's. The letter

that came out at the weekend indicates 1.3% average cut in

business rates, but when I looked through the sectoral analysis, they

are showing an increase and we're going to end up with a 5%, 6%

increase. Business in my seat, since 2010, economic growth, they have

reduced unemployment by 75% in my seat and youth unemployment by

almost 80%, I don't want to see that economic growth put at risk by these

sort of punitive rises. OK. If they close shops on the high street,

people are going to lose their jobs. There is going to be increased

unemployment as a result of this. Sheila wants to come back in. I just

wanted to reiterate with regards what Rebecca was saying about the

small business relief. I got the small business relief because my

rateable value was ?10,000, they have put that up to ?17500, but the

small business relief is only up to ?15,000 so I don't constitute any

small business relief. They haven't moved president goal posts enough.

They have moved them so slowly that we are not going, I'm still classed

as a small business because I'm under ?18,000, but I don't get any

relief whatsoever. Understood. OK. So you Andrew have suggested to the

chancellor, a tapering of the rises so, you know, bring them in more

gradually. Grant, what do you want to see? We need to look at the

entire system again. But how does that help Rebecca and Sheila right

now? I think what Andrew and I and other colleagues are trying to do is

say to the chancellor, look, there are businesses like theirs, other

shops, restaurants, pubs, who are really going to suffer and

potentially close which is not where I think a Conservative Government

who should be very pro-business wants to be or should be. So they

need to resolve that in the short-term through the Budget.

Probably altering the rate reliefs, it is crazy to have a system which

we haven't reviewed these for seven years, but that woor five years and

any anything else you do every year. People know where they are. They can

plan their business future rather than this coming out of the blue. If

there is no relief or help in the Budget, would you consider voting

against the Budget? It is a single vote on the whole economic plan, it

is difficult to vote against individual items. Would you vote

against the whole Budget if there is nothing to help small businesses?

The way to do this is to ask the Chancellor to look with a lot of

interest and concern at businesses like that. He indicated that's what

he will do. And then my further concern is to make sure we don't end

up in this mess again, whether it is in myself years or what have you.

We invited the Department for Communities and Local Government

and the Treasury onto the programme today, but both declined.

A viewer says, "My family business has been trading in the town for 165

years. I wonder how much longer you can survive with such a huge rate

rise coming of 185% this. Is horrendous. The smaller shops will

disappear to be replaced by more charity shops and chain stores which

crept in over the last few years pushing up rents to unsustainable

levels." We will see what happens. Thank you very much for coming on

the programme. Sheila and Rebecca, thank you for your input. We will

see happens over the coming weeks and on Budget Day.

Your views are welcome. If you run a small shop, a medium sized business,

tell what yous is happening with your business rates because some

rates are being frozen. Some people are getting a rate reduction. We

must bear that in mind as well. Take a minute to watch this dramatic

footage of the moment a crying girl is pulled alive from rubble

following an air strike in Syria. While the little girl was rescued

we don't know what happened to her. The footage was released

by Syria Civil Defence, It was apparently taken in Damascus'

Tishreen neighbourhood on Sunday. Activists reported air

strikes in two other The House of Lords faces questions

after claims that some members collect their 300 quid daily

allowance whilst contributing nothing. We will get reaction from

peers in the next few minutes. Joanna is in the newsroom

with a summary of the day's news. Most areas of England will see

hospital services cut or moved under plans to save money

and improve efficiency. Analysis by the BBC has also found

that about a third of the proposals would see a reduction in the number

of hospitals offering The Government says patients

will receive better There ought to be an earmarked fund

for new investment to strengthen and improve the out of hospital

services and to shore If you are concerned about NHS cuts,

sending your questions. We will put them to Chris Ham, you have just

heard from, at 12:30pm. Contact details are on screen.

The shortage of teachers and schools in England is getting worse,

affecting key subjects like the six months, according to a report by

MPs. The House of Commons education committee says will group and

targets have been missed for five years in a row and once there should

be more focus on keeping teachers in the profession long-term.

We had to get across just how important teachers are to society

and our economy, they need to feel valued and trusted.

Profits at Britain's biggest bank, HSBC, fell

The bank has blamed slowing growth in the UK which it has linked

It's also repeated a warning that it could move a thousand staff

Benefits claimants face "unacceptable" variations

in the number of payments being docked or removed entirely,

depending on where in the UK they live, MPs have said.

The Public Accounts Committee said those penalised for missing job

centre appointments or other failings often faced

It's urging the Department for Work and Pensions to monitor

Five people have been killed in a plane crash in Melbourne. The light

aircraft suffered engine failure and crashed into a shopping centre which

was prepared to open for the day. It threw debris onto the road nearby.

Nobody on the ground is thought to have been injured. There was a large

fireball. Here's some sport now

with Olly Foster. These are our sports

headlines this morning. Sutton United's FA Cup

adventure is over. Theo Walcott scores his 100th goal

for Arsenal in a 2-0 win that sets up a quarter-final tie for them

against another non-league Newcastle are back on top

of the Championship after a 2-0 win Goals from Yoan Gouffran

and an own goal from Henri Lansbury see them knock Brighton off

the top. Badminton are one of five Olympic

and Paralympic sports to have had their funding appeals rejected

by UK Sport. The body that allocates

National Lottery money says none of the sports had strong enough

medal potential in Tokyo 2020 I will be back after 10am with a

full update. Thank you.

This morning, claims that members of the House of Lords

collect their full daily allowance of ?300 whilst contributing

A former Speaker of the Lords has described how one peer left a taxi

waiting outside so he could nip in for a sec to clock on in order

to claim his 300 quid, before leaving immediately.

Unlike the House of Commons, which is made up of elected MPs,

the House of Lords is made up of people who are

There are over 800 of them, including 90 hereditary

So what should be the sanction for a peer like this

who's spending your taxes for doing nothing?

If he was a benefit claimant, let's be honest, he'd be called

The claims were made in a 3-part BBC Two documentary. Here is a clip.

To be in the Lords you have to be punctual... Sometimes you have to

literally slammed the door and somebody's face. What right do they

had to tell me about their fashion sense? And conduct yourself

correctly? Can you control your bad language, otherwise you will be

drummed out. To win on something as important at this is phenomenal.

This is how we make laws. Another member of the so-called

second Haas has described the House of Lords as the best daycare centre

for the elderly in London. He is a Lib Dem lord called Lord Taylor, the

party's spokesman on constitutional reform. He joins us.

Katie Ghose is Chief Executive of the Electoral Reform Society

Michael Cockerell is a BBC documentary-maker.

He did not make this documentary. Lord Tyler, what do you think of

some of your peers clocking in and to bring nothing but still taking

home the ?300 daily allowance? I have worked for 15 years to try to

make House of Lords more democratic and accountable to the public, I

welcome the opportunity for the public to see the weaknesses and the

strengths of the House of Lords that I question really whether it is a

large number of peers who use the place in the way it is described.

From the former Lords Speaker's comments, I find them entirely

because she does not know whether the pier that is opposed to have

kept the taxi running spent the rest of the afternoon there and was just

coming back for their code. If she thought it was such a bad thing that

so many peers were not doing the job that they were therefore, why did

she do nothing about it? She did, she says. We have invited her onto

the programme, as you would expect, she did not want to join us but she

will speak after the documentary goes out. She says she tries to --

try to raise it with various whips but nothing could be done because

this gentleman turned up and clocked in, no sanctions could be placed

upon him. What do you think should happen to him? I think she should

have supported the coalition Government's reform at the House of

Lords, which is a very effective reform and would have meant by now

we were getting rid of people who could not really contribute to the

work of the Lords. The Lords have a very important job, not least with

Brexit, whether Government is pushing something through with no

proper mandate. The Lords is an important part of our Constitution

and most peers take it very seriously indeed. I accept there is

a minority... I understand you want to talk about reform but I want to

talk about what you think should be the sanction for a pier that turns

up to clocking just to get the ?300 daily allowance of taxpayers money?

The answer is that it should be for a full-day's work. The answer is

what? For doing a full day's work. And if no work is being done but the

still being claimed, what should be the sanction? The answer is, of

course, there are powers for the pier concerned to be told thank you,

goodbye. Are there?! Baroness D'Souza tells us, quote, I mentioned

this behaviour regularly to the relevant whips whose responsibility

it was handed weekly meetings we up any transgressions for the parties

to deal with. Furthermore, the PSU dashed in to get his tick was not

infringing any rule, nothing says Apia has to be in the chamber for

any particular amount of time. She could have supported more effective

reforms are persistent, including the sanctions available. I entirely

accept that it is a minority who make no contribution, but I think it

is difficult for her after this experience to get away with saying

there was nothing she could have done, she could have supported the

Major reforms there on the table in 2012.

The House of Lords got in touch to ask us to point out that

Parliamentary work is not limited to amending legislation and most of the

members' work would not leave a record in Hansard, which officially

records debates in Parliament. The statement said all members had to

certify they have undertaken Parliamentary work when claiming for

the House. Where members are shown to have claimed when they have not

undertaken Parliamentary work the House can suspend them, as in the

case of law tanning fields. The Haas has a robust code of conduct. -- the

House has. Katie, what do you think of this practice? These outrageous

abuses of privilege happen because we have no accountability

whatsoever, it is an appointed second chamber, not elected. We want

the Government to take action. This is absolutely shocking for people to

see that members of the House of Lords can claim ?300 a day without

doing any work, this has been going on for some time and is nothing new,

we want concrete proposals from the Government to move towards unelected

House of Lords. It is over 800 peers, the second-largest

legislation chamber in the world. -- to move towards an elected House of

Lords. A peer who has done this can be suspended, is that enough? Of

course not, people are powerless because they cannot kick peers out

of this kind of shocking behaviour because they are not elected, there

is no accountability. Taking back control was such a big theme of the

EU referendum, this is a fantastic opportunity for the Government to do

something where power lies and to modernise democracy by introducing a

smaller, more effective and, crucially, an elected second

chamber. Michael, you have made an cycle and thoughtful documentaries

about the working of Parliament, what do you think of this? -- made

insightful and thoughtful. Suppose that person with the taxi running

was going to lunch and then coming back to do a full-day's work, not

necessarily in the chamber but anywhere else, we don't know. Just

because the taxi was running, we don't know what happened. Baroness

D'Souza seems pretty clear, she reported it to the relevant whips.

She spent her whole time looking round in every nook and cranny of

this extraordinary place, looking for this chap and he was not there?

You are sceptical? The fact that the taxi was running is a wonderful

anecdotes, but he could have come back from lunch and dinner

full-day's work. Doesn't seem harsh to criticise her for raising this?

-- does it? Who is criticising her? It is up to how Lord Tyler wants to

play it. Are resurgent couple of years ago shows that a huge amount

of public money is going towards peers who do not do a day's work,

others work hard, this is an established practice. It is shocking

how long it has gone on for, it is right that Baroness D'Souza has

lifted the lid on the scandal. The time for talking is over, we are

looking to the Government to take concrete action to sort this out.

Katie says about the time for action, I have been hearing this for

all professional life and long before, 1909 when the peers

throughout Lloyd George's people's Budget, they said the House of Lords

should be amended or entered. For 100 years, governments have tried to

reform the House of Lords and failed. One way or another, it will

probably end up in the sand. Why have so many governments failed?

Partly because the House of Commons does not want to see a reformed

House of Lords that is elected, because it is the most damning thing

you can say about the House of Lords, these unelected, and

representative people. If they were elected then there would be two

elected houses, which one has power over the other? That is one of the

things that successful governments have struggled with. Tony Blair, to

his credit, got rid of most of the hereditary peers, because that was

complete nonsense, and there have been the reforms in the past when

they invented life peers, which brought a really new life into the

House of Lords. The House of Lords is quite a nice place in a lot of

ways, it is amazingly civilised, even get nursery food,

bread-and-butter pudding. It is very courteous, unlike the House of

Commons. Interestingly, when Theresa May went yesterday and sat on the

steps to send a message to the House of Lords, don't mess with me, she

looked around that House of Lords and there were no former Prime

Minister is there. There used to be as many as five former Prime

Minister is, they used to go... It is not enough of them, ?300 a day.

The House of Lords, there is a Register of Members' Interests and

of to declare your earnings now. A succession of recent Prime Ministers

have not wanted to declare their earnings so they haven't taken the

peerage that they could have taken. Thank you very much.

We will see how this debate develops. Thank you very much for

coming on the programme. Coming up just after 10am,

benefit sanctions have "increased in severity in recent years and can

have serious consequences", We'll speak to some

of those affected. Ukip leader, Paul Nuttall,

has said he has been the victim It folts the regular ig nations of

two party members. His comments come after

the resignations yesterday of two Ukip party chairmen in Merseyside -

furious over false claims about Hillsborough published

on Mr Nuttall's website. Mr Nuttall has now apologised

that the claim that he lost close friends at Hillsborough ever

appeared, but it's cast a shadow over his campaign to win

the Stoke by-election, Stoke was a strong Brexit voting

area and Mr Nuttall is hoping he can But Labour have held this

seat for nearly 70 years they have a local candidate

and Prime Minister Theresa May visited the constituency yesterday

in a bid to show this isn't just Our reporter Gillian Hargreaves

was born and brought up in Stoke. She's returned to her home town

to talk to people there. What I like about Stoke

is that I think it is You can guarantee that

people are going to be Hopefully, touch wood,

there's not much trouble, They're so friendly,

but they are fiercely proud and outspoken and I'd say that kind

of covers myself as well. I'm quite an outspoken person

and I'm proud to be from Stoke. The sense of community and the fact

that everyone has a real passion It doesn't matter how tough things

get, everyone still sticks together # This is all that

we've been left with.# It's where I was born

and brought up. My dad worked in a factory further

along the canal here. When I was a child I used to come

down here and hundreds of people We cannot underestimate

the importance of this by-election. Labour is desperate to hold

on to Stoke Central, a seat it's held 67 years,

but in a city where the majority of the people voted to leave

the European Union, the stakes Kelly's dad runs He and

She Hair Fashions in Stoke. Honestly, I'm to the point

where I don't know who to vote No matter who is in,

everything is always, You're promised a lot of things

and they never happen, so you get to the point

where you think, what's And you've got real examples,

haven't you, with your children of services that have

just gone completely? I've got my oldest where I've

had to appeal for him My youngest, he's seven months

and I've noticed they are closing the children's centres since I've

been trying to take him out. So the politicians

aren't listening to you? No, they're not listening

to anybody, no. They need to come out

in the real world and see All these old buildings

need filling up. Everyone happy and just

getting about their life, whereas at the moment you drive past

everywhere and buildings are empty, Ukip and Labour both have a good

chance of appealing to voters, but both have managed

to court controversy. Ukip's candidate and leader,

Paul Nuttall, full screen claimed a personal loss

in the Hillsborough Stadium disaster There's been a scandal

here about him using an address Labour's candidate Gareth Snell has

been in trouble for tweeting And don't rule out

the Conservative Party. They insist they are taking this

by-election very seriously. Jack Brereton is their

choice and he's a local. Linda, what is it about Ukip that

appeals to you then? What they say appeals to me more

than what Labour says. It's not just about immigration

and things like that, it's before we had the referendum,

I felt as if though they spoke more about what I felt

than anybody else did. Because it is awkward talking

about immigration, isn't it? If you have a conversation

with people, they'll often say, You daren't not say anything

really about colour All these politicians just say

what they want you to hear and then when they get elected,

they forget about you. You can't miss Ukip's campaign

headquarters in the centre They are throwing everything

at this campaign. Nigel Farage likens it

to be triple in football. Nigel Farage likens it

to the triple in football. First there was Brexit, then

there was Trump, now there's Stoke. Although Ukip would have

to do exceptionally well to overturn Labour's majority,

there's a strong sense that Labour is complacent

and failed to do its job. When I was a child this

street was full of shops. What you see here is probably

a failure of politicians to bring Dancers Page and Ben should be

in the political spotlight. After all, they are the future

for Stoke, but does Labour In the past 20 years

a share of the vote Dawn has voted Labour in the past,

but she is frustrated. The regeneration of the buildings,

there's never been any help. If you try to get anything

with the of outside of buildings, I've got a young son

who is on a gifted and talented register, but the schools that way

looking at for higher education in our catchment area

are both underperforming. For my thoughts it's that

if you are an MP that cares about the next generation and you're

going to see opportunities then the only way to regenerate the city

really is to look at the younger generation, put the quality

into the teaching environment and actually that generation

will grow with the city, make it a city to be proud

of and that's where your glory I think the reason I'm not

going to vote is because if I voted, I don't think anything

is going to change. It doesn't matter if I vote

for Labour, Ukip, I mean I don't know a lot about it because I don't

follow politics, but I don't think I think we're still good

to be living in poverty. I think the poor stay the poor,

the rich stay rich. Everything, like I said,

wages are staying as it is. He came to live in Stoke 12

years ago from Pakistan. At the moment he's kitting

out a local mosque with The cuts we're suffering,

the poor people, the poor families, like me, I'm an electrician,

working very hard, eight to ten hours a day, but we still have

to pay a lot of things. The elite people are getting richer

and richer and who is it affecting because of these cuts,

or the circumstances? People who can't

afford to buy a house. What do you want politicians

to give your children? Peace, and try to take the,

you know, my children They are half white,

half Pakistani and nowadays, As soon as his name comes up,

I want people not to think anything So you don't want prejudice

because he has a Muslim I want some sort of culture

or system that gives me the satisfaction that my child

is going to have the full rights There's no doubt that

Stoke is a poor city. The average weekly wage

here is ?424, that's ?100 less 17% of people living

in Stoke Central will have been Nationally it's more like 27%,

and this is one of the cheapest But there are plenty

of people fighting back, trying to do their bit

to restore prosperity. Georgie is the kind of entrepreneur

any city would want. A self-starter running

a pizza business in Has been a problem with

the reputation of the city? I remember a few years back

Nick Griffin and the BNP called us the jewel in the BNP crown,

was something that really disheartened me because I know

that's not the case and I know there's a lot of people in this city

who are so accepting For someone to come along from any

political party and tar us with a negative brush,

or use our city in their own kind of agenda to get into Westminster,

I find that quite offensive because that's not

what we're about at all. We need to make an attractive

city so that all these other companies come in,

they open up job opportunities and then the regeneration

continues to spread. I'd love investment so I could open

up the top floor which would then I mean us alone, we've created ten

jobs, which might not seem a lot, but if every single business on this

street can do that, you know, hopefully by the end of this year

we could have 200 workers, He's a new dad and runs

a craft beer business. I always vote Labour

in the elections and probably world time, but I'm worried that some

people have seen the amount of work and effort that Ukip have put

into taking the seat and yes, it does concern me that we might

see a Ukip victory. What do you need the politicians

to do now to make this I think investment in local

infrastructure and local economy. Local people bringing local jobs,

so the local market and putting back I think that's absolutely vital to

the redevelopment of Stoke-on-Trent. Chris, what do you

I'd just like an upward, progressive mobile society

I'd like to have hope and have dreams and that have a realistic

I'd like to want more for herself than I've had and I hope

This is an exciting time for Stoke, but whoever wins, people don't just

They need well-paid jobs, good schools, decent housing,

and a sense that this once glorious Victorian city, my

The by-election in Stoke-on-Trent takes place on Thursday.

Here's a full list of the candidates taking part, and this list is also

Let's get the latest weather update with Phil Avery.

Minister is, they used to go... It is not enough of them, ?300 a day.

Good morning. Grey, mild face of February at the moment. The air

streaming in from the Atlantic made it so mild yesterday, another mild

day for many but it is turning increasingly wet across Wales, part

of the south-west and eventually into the north-west of England,

wetter this afternoon for Northern Ireland and the rain quite extensive

across a good part of Scotland, perhaps in parts of the east you

will get away with the dry afternoon. Try in the eastern side

of England, temperatures pretty spectacular for the time of year.

Overnight, the rain will drag down across Scotland and Northern Ireland

eventually. South of that, very mild overnight. A fresher look to

proceedings under really windy start for the north of the mainland, the

Northern Isles, gusts of possibly 80 mph and a bright and showery Dave

the northern Britain. Further south, you still have the weather front, so

murky, mild and pretty damp but at least temperatures are in double

figures. Hello, it's Tuesday,

it's ten o'clock. The Government's under

pressure to soften the blow Shop owners we've spoken to say it

will have disastrous effects It will affect my ability to put

money into training and it just is a damaging effect on all the

businesses, all the independent businesses in the area.

Also on the programme - this is the House of Lords.

The most reported single issue which has faced the country for decades.

And we also have the terrible situation of having to live with

losing an empire at the same time. How deep is our grasp, if we are

honest, of what is actually going on in the EU machinery operating at the

moment? 800 unelected peers

get paid to sit here - but it's been rocked by another

scandal after claims that some members collect their 300 quid

daily allowance whilst What sanction should they face? Lots

of you getting into. One text said the Lords should be ashamed of

themselves. Your views are welcome as always. Should there be tougher

sanctions for Lord's doing that? We will also look at claims that people

on benefits sanctioned for not coming into interviews have been put

in an appalling situation, we will speak to those affected shortly.

And a heterosexual couple who went to the court of appeal

after being told they could not have a civil partnership

We expect to hear shortly from Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles

Keidan, who have lost their appeal. They wanted to form a civil

partnership and cannot because that is only available to same-sex

couples in law. They argue that discriminates against them but they

have lost their appeal here. Good morning. Time for the latest

BBC News with Joanna. Most areas of England

will see hospital services cut or moved under plans

to save money and Analysis by the BBC has also found

that about a third of the proposals would see a reduction in the number

of hospitals offering The Government says patients

will receive better There ought to be an earmarked fund

for new investment to strengthen and improve the out of hospital

services and to shore And if you're concerned about NHS

cuts, send your questions in. We'll put them to Chris Ham, who

you've just heard from, at 12:30pm. You can text 61124, email

[email protected] and Tweet In the last few minutes,

the Court of Appeal has rejected a heterosexual couple's legal bid

to be allowed a civil partnership Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan

from London, took their case to appeal court following a defeat

at the High Court last year. They claimed it was unfair that only

same-sex couples can We will hopefully hear from Rebecca

Steinfeld and Charles Keidan from the Court of Appeal in the next few

minutes. The shortage of teachers in schools

in England is getting worse, affecting key subjects like physics

and maths, according The Commons Education Committee says

recruitment targets have been missed for five years in a row

and there should be more focus on keeping teachers

in the profession long-term. Five people have been killed

in a plane crash in Melbourne. The light aircraft suffered

engine failure and crashed into a shopping centre,

which was preparing The impact sent a large fireball

into the sky, and threw debris No one on the ground is thought

to have been injured. The Chancellor Philip Hammond has

assured Conservative MPs that he's listening to concerns

about a business rate revaluation The rates are being updated

for the first time in seven years, and will leave more than a quarter

of companies facing higher bills. Mr Hammond is facing pressure to do

more to help those affected. For example, this local business

owner who faces a huge increase in rates. With my transitional relief

which is given a 12.5%, next year I will pay ?4028, 482% increase.

Moore at 10:30am. James Anyon Mel says the main way to stop Lord's

fiddling expenses is to make it voluntary. -- James on e-mail.

Another person says that the media should stop attacking the House of

Lords, they are an important part of the democratic process with many

experts reviewing legislation. MPs are not always special as standard

is crucially important for watchdog to oversee potential impact of

legislative procedures. Leslie says these peers are getting

almost two weeks' worth of my pension in one day, except my

pension has been put back by five years one month. James says it is

not just going on in the Lords, MEPs were outed years ago and that may

still be happening. Thank you for those.

Do get in touch with us throughout the morning -

If you text, you will be charged at the standard network rate.

Here's some sport now with Olly Foster.

The Arsenal manager was full of respect for Sutton United last

night. He described them as astonishing.

though, it was 2-0at Gander Green Lane with a goal

Lucas Perez with a fortuitous first and Theo Walcott

105 places separate the two sides through the Leagues.

Arsenal will face another non-league side, Lincoln City

For Sutton it's back to their relegation battle

in the National League, but they have made ?1 million

I think the players have been absolutely magnificent. So have the

volunteers. They have given up Sundays to sell the tickets,

everyone is a volunteer, we are not leak two club in the National

League, we are rich additional non-league club. Lincoln and certain

Houston competition very, very proud to -- Lincoln and Sutton have done

the competition very, very proud. I hope Lincoln have their day in the

sun like we had today, it is one of the best experiences you will ever

have. Newcastle are back on top

of the Championship this morning Goals from Yoan Gouffran

and a mistake from Henri Lansbury on the Villa goal line see them move

above Brighton by a point. The chief executive of UK Sport, Liz

Nicholl, says sports can have no excuses for the failure to look

after the welfare of athletes. Report into alleged bullying,

sectors and discrimination in British cycling is expected to be

published in the next month. Liz Nicholl says they were never given

the full details of the 2012 internal review into cycling but

might have highlighted some of the current issues being investigated.

It is no excuse for not actually addressing duty of care

responsibilities to athletes, no excuse to not putting them first,

they are the greatest assets, the ones that will deliver the medals.

Every programme should be trying to ensure they have happy and

successful athletes. There probably has not been enough attention given

in sport, if I am honest, about how they do things. There is a lot of

focus on operational delivery, probably not enough on leadership,

management and communication. The Chief Executive of the RNA,

Martin slumbers, says they are considering awarding the prize money

at the Open in golf in dollars rather than pounds after the

weakening of the pound following the Brexit vote and other circumstances.

Since that, the Open prize fund has fallen significantly behind the U.S.

Open. Henrik Stenson won over ?1 million last year, but the prize

money has decreased in dollars over the past two championships.

It is very important for our game, for golf in the UK, that the Open is

viewed as one of the world was my great sporting events. As part of

that it is important that we get the right framework, the right structure

in place. This is a professional game and the players play for money.

Dollars is one option. Could be a couple of hundred thousand dollars

difference, Victoria. Live to the Court of Appeal to get

more on the straight couple who have been fighting to have a civil

partnership. They have lost their case in the last few moments. Daniel

Boettcher is there, tell us about the case and why they lost?

Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan want to form a civil partnership,

they can't because under the law as setup in 2004 it is only available

to same-sex couples. Since 2014, same-sex couples can get married in

England, Scotland and Wales. The couple this appeal say because they

don't have the option of a civil partnership they have been

discriminated against and they argue that it is incompatible with their

right to private and family life under the European Convention of

human rights. They first brought this case to court to just over a

year ago, they lost, they brought it back to appeal, that was heard in

November, two day this judgment. They have lost their appeal. It is

slightly more nuanced because all three judges accepted there was a

potential breach of their human rights, but one of the three judges,

Lady Justice Arden, accepted that time had run out for the Government

to address the issue of discrimination. The Government's

wait-and-see policy, they start looking at the take-up of same-sex

civil partnerships, was found by Lady Justice Arden not good enough

to address discrimination faced by heterosexual couples. What happens

next? The couple has indicated they will seek leave to appeal to the

highest court, the Supreme Court, we will have to wait and see in the

light of this judgment, which as I said is slightly more nuanced, what

the Government plans to do, whether it will look again at whether this

should be changed. We hope to hear from the couple that brought the

appeal shortly, but I can't tell you exactly how long that will be at the

moment, but they have lost. We will come back to you, Daniel, as

soon as the couple emerge. Benefit sanctions have increased

in severity in recent years and can That's according to a group of MPs

who say those who see their benefit reduced or stopped altogether

for missing Jobcentre appointments often face an appalling situation,

leading them into debt, rent arrears and

sometimes homelessness. More than a million people who claim

unemployment benefits are expected to meet certain conditions in order

to get those payments - such as showing they

are looking for work. Around 400,000 sanctions

were imposed in 2015. Her brother, a former soldier,

died weeks after his He'd missed two appointments with

the Government's work programme. Charlotte Hughes' daughter

was sanctioned after she turned down going to an interview

when 23 weeks pregnant. Bob Blackman is a Conservative

MP for Harrow. He supports the work the Government

is doing to encourage Welcome, all of you. Gill, your

brother was on jobseeker's allowance, he missed a two meetings.

What was his sanction? He was sanctioned totally, he lost all the

money, he was left penniless. He was an insulin-dependent diabetic, and

the DWP were aware of this. He was left destitute. He had no money? No

money, no food, he could not chill his insulin and he died with no food

in his stomach. Obviously we invited a member of the DWP to come on the

programme, they gave a statement saying our sympathies are with your

family, decisions on sanctions are not taken lightly, there is a chain

of processes we follow before a sanction comes into effect,

including taking every opportunity to contact the claimant several

times. People can appeal if they disagree. Your brother did not

appeal or ask for a reconsideration or apply for a hardship payments.

David would not have been eligible for a hardship payments. It has been

looked into. We have looked at all the paperwork and he probably would

not have been eligible for a hardship payments. David was a very

quiet and private person, he never moaned and would not have

complained. Plus, as well, a letter was received on the 15th saying that

David was going to be sanctions. David was found dead on the 20th. Do

you say there is a link between the two? David died with no food in his

stomach, he died in the middle of a benefit sanction. Diabetes is a

serious condition where you need food and insulin, he was sanctioned

until the 9th of August. I feel that they should have, before sanctioning

him, looked at his medical condition more. And taken advice, because it

is not... It is a serious condition. I feel that sanctioning him when

they did, they put him at risk. As a Conservative MP, a Labour MP

says sanctions are a blunt instrument that this Government has

been using. Do you agree? Well, I think we should recognise that the

level of employment now is at a record level. The numbers of people

that are disabled, women, young people, in work, are now at an

all-time high, what we were elected to do was to make sure that work

always pays and people should be encouraged to work. However, when we

come on to situations like this... Individuals? Individuals. Real

people. What should happen is clearly sanctions should only be

applied in the most extreme circumstances. This seems to me a

case obviously, each individual case is very difficult to deal with,

where a sanction was a blunt instrument was completely wrong.

What is important, I think, is people who are in this position

should approach their MPs. If they are submitted to sanction, they

should approach their councillors fore help and advice. In the

meantime, what do they live off? A sanction means the money is stopped

or reduced while they are appealing or writing a letter or waiting for a

reply, what do they live off? They should seek advice straightaway.

What do they live off? The clear position is they should seek advice

and help. That doesn't give them money. An MP can be in a position

whereby they can help and get advice and get this sanction overturned

provided... How quickly? Well, it can be very quick indeed. How quick?

Well, it depends on the circumstances and what has led to

the Position. Weeks, months? No, it can be a matter of weeks. A matter

of weeks? I understand the circumstances. They could have been

dead. I understand the circumstances and clearly the medical conditions

of a claimant should be taken into account fully before any sanction

should be applied. The other thing from the report today, it suggests

that some Jobcentres are referring twice as many people for sanctions

as others in the same area and it is completely inconsistent. That is a

postcode Lottery that clearly is unacceptable. And it has to be

addressed. Let me bring in Charlotte. Your daughter was 23

weeks pregnant when she was sanctioned. What was the impact on

her? It was devastating and she has never got over T she was ill at the

time, but we didn't realise, you've got to remember when you're

sanctioning a pregnant lady or anybody, she was feeding an unborn

child, OK. So there wasn't only her life, there was a baby's life and

when she told this and she said to the advisor, look, you're not just

sanctioning me, you're sanctioning my baby. They said, "Tough. Get on

with it." Those words were noted. She came out of the Jobcentre

crying, they had no sympathy. She has never actually mentally

recovered from that and I don't think she ever will do. We have

claims today of a peer in the House of Lords clocking-on, while his taxi

is waiting outside in order to claim his ?300 daily allowance and doing

no work and yet we have stories of people who are trying to survive on

not very much to start, ?70 a week, having their money cut off if they

miss a meeting. There are double standards. Clearly, that's

unacceptable and I would never defend that. Can you see that there

are double standards here? Well, there are double standards being

applied. One of issues that we're trying to deal with is a very

complex set of welfare conditions and reforming it so people apply

once and they are properly assessed and they get the been fits they're

due. The fact is people who have medical conditions, as we're hearing

here, should not have sanctions applied. The medical staff who

obviously they are assisted by should be in a position to help and

advice those making those decisions. Do you agree with this

recommendation from the Public Accounts Committee report. There

should be a trial of warnings rather than sanctions for the first

sanctionable offence? Absolutely. I completely agree with that. I think

it's right and when they get a verbal warning then, that's the time

when they can go to the doctor, they can go to get their MP's help, a

councillor's help, they can get the advice they need so they can make

sure that the DWP staff are informed of the problems and particularly

medical problems, that people face. I have every sympathy with people in

this position and we've got to make sure that it is right and people get

the help they need and people are not sanctioned in a completely

unacceptable way. There are a lot of criticisms of the sanctions, the

inconsistencies and the fact they have increased in severity. It

points out sanctions do encourage some people into work. Well, I've

heard different. I've heard and seen different reports. You know, making

people destitute and in such a state, how that can be

encouragement? I mean they say sanctions are issued as a last

resort. We have seen two meetings, is that a last resort? No and that's

the point I would be making. I don't understand that. Plus as well, David

didn't have an inquest when he died because he died of a fatal diabetic

condition. I asked for an inquest into David's death. It has been

refused because they say there is no connection with his death and the

benefits. It is going to be judicial review and I'm just hoping by doing

this that showing that you know, what happened to David, you know,

the sanctions didn't help and I hope that this will help to get

prevention of future deaths. That's all I'm asking for. I have another

statement from the Department of Work and Pensions.

"Our sanctions guidance is the same right across the UK

and the fact is the number of sanctions has more

Sanctions are an important part of our benefits system,

and are only used in a very small percentage of cases as a last

resort when people don't fulfil their commitment

A quick final word. There has been reports from the Trussell Trust, the

foodbank saying that their report showed that a lot of what's

happening with the foodbanks was due to benefit problems and you know,

it's still going on. People are still dying and people are still

suffering and this shouldn't be happening. We're meant to be, the

fifth richest country in the world and people are dying. I just, I just

think it should stop and you should just look at, you know, all I want

is for them to look at the guidance, you know, we've now produced

professional medical reports from Diabetes specialist. There was an

independent review asked for in 2015 at the Select Committee inquiry and

that was refused. That was refused. Thank you for coming on the

programme. We'll follow your progress and your fight on behalf of

your brother. Thank you. Thank you to Charlotte as well. A

quick word. Can I just say, there is no evidence to prove that a sanction

encourages people into work. In fact, it does the opposite. I quote

that had from today's report, but I appreciate your point, thank you.

You're not a minister yet, you're a Conservative MP. I'm piloting my

homelessness reduction Bill which improves the position for people who

are homeless and face some of these problems. It shouldn't get to this

stage, but I'm taking action to make sure the law is changed so the local

authorities will provide the help and the assistance people in this

vulnerable position need. Thank you.

Still to come, the stand-off in a Hungarian village

between its mayor who is banned Muslim traditions such as the call

to prayer and the central government which says his action is illegal.

Last night Gary Barlow's new play The Girls opened

It is a musical based on the film Calendar Girls which starred

It's the real life story of a group of Yorkshire women who raise money

for Cancer research by selling a calendar with nude pictures

of themselves after one of them lost their husband to leukaemia.

Gary Barlow and Tim Firth, who wrote the play, spoke

to our entertainment reporter Chi Chi Izundu.

It has been five years' work this and I've realised now that one

of the nicest things has been working on this.

To think that now it is just managing what is on the stage...

It was taking your hands off the wheel and just saying,

"We have done all we can, you set sail.

You are not on your own, but you have to make it your own now."

That was strange, it's like letting our child run

Well, the film and the play were already in existence.

When I was writing the play, you could feel that there were areas

I was writing speeches that were longer than I would normally

write because these characters had something that they need to say,

I collared him and said, "Come to Milton Keynes,

It was interesting, because I thought it was just

showing me as work, because Tim would always tell each

other what we were doing, and in the break, he said,

Then when I was watching act two, I could hear the music,

it was so strange, what it should sound like, how we should

So we began the journey literally five years ago.

How nice was it to have the children of the man that lost his life see

We constantly keep in touch with the Calendar Girls,

they come to the workshops, it's so important.

It's a living story, it has been important for us to know

that they like the way they are being portrayed.

But this was the first time we have seen those guys at the show.

They've never come onstage before, it was quite a thing.

It's a living story because every performance of the musical earns

money for the charity, and they will be out now,

there will be people outside collecting with buckets,

so in many ways it's a living story for them and for

Joanna is in the newsroom with a summary of the day's news.

Most areas of England will see hospital

services cut or moved under plans to save money and

Analysis by the BBC has also found that about a third of the proposals

would see a reduction in the number of hospitals offering

The Government says patients will receive better

If you're concerned about NHS cuts, send your questions in.

We'll put them to Chris Ham, who you've just heard from, at 12.30pm.

You can text 61124, e-mail [email protected] and Tweet

The Court of Appeal has rejected a heterosexual couple's legal bid

to be allowed a civil partnership instead of a marriage.

Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan from London, took their case

to appeal court following a defeat at the High Court last year.

They claimed it was unfair that only same-sex couples can

Five people have been killed in a plane crash in Melbourne.

The light aircraft suffered engine failure and crashed

into a shopping centre, which was preparing

The impact sent a large fireball into the sky, and threw debris

No one on the ground is thought to have been injured.

A British man is to be convicted of group assault

resulting in the death of an Indonesian police officer.

Prosecutors are calling for David Taylor to be convicted

of group assault leading to the death of a police

Mr Taylor, who performs as DJ Nutzo, is originally from Halifax,

and admits hitting the police officer with binoculars

The singer and actor David Cassidy has revealed

He made the announcement after he forgot his words

during shows in California at the weekend.

Cassidy, who's 66, rose to fame in the TV series

The Partridge Family before becoming a teen idol, and recording a string

That's a summary of the latest news, join me for BBC

These are our headlines this morning.

Non-League Sutton United are out of the FA Cup.

Theo Walcott scored his 100th goal for Arsenal

They won 2-0 to set up a quarter-final tie at home

to another non-league side, Lincoln City.

Newcastle are back on top of the Championship after a 2-0 win

Goals from Yoan Gouffran and an own goal from Henri Lansbury

And Open golf prize money could be paid in dollars rather

It's because of the falling value of sterling following the Brexit vote.

That's all for now, I'll be back with the sport on the BBC

News Channel for the rest of the morning.

Thank you. Let's go back to the Court of Appeal. We will in a few

minutes. Before that, officers have begun searching the Garden of a home

in Wiltshire once owned by a convicted murderer in Wiltshire.

Becky Godden was just 20 years old when she was murdered in 2003.

Last year taxi driver Christopher Halliwell was given

a rare life sentence for her murder - meaning that he will never be

Wiltshire Police say the excavation is related to new intelligence. Will

Glennon is in Swindon with more. What is happening? The whole

alleyway is sealed off behind me at the back of a row of terraced houses

here on broad Street in Swindon. Police are working at the back of

those houses, drilling away, we can hear them this morning, they sound

like they are trying to break through concrete. If you look behind

the tarpaulin you can see two white police scenes of crime tents at the

back. Police have given a statement, Wiltshire Police, saying specialist

officers are carrying out excavation work within the gardens and garages

are two properties, an investigation by the major crimes team which they

say relates to intelligence the force has. They say there are no

plans to search inside the properties and people living there

at the moment have no involvement with the investigation. Police have

not told us what intelligence they have and what exactly they are

looking for but they say the surge could last for five days. As you

mentioned, it is very significant, this is whether convicted double

murderer Christopher Holley well lived between 1996 and 2000. Tell is

Becky Godden and the background? -- tell us about Becky Godden and the

background? In September last year he was convicted of the murder of

Becky Godden, a young Swindon woman who disappeared in 2003. Her body

was found in 2011 in a rumoured field in East Leach in

Gloucestershire. Christopher Halliwell received a whole life

sentence in September for the murder of Becky Godden because he was

already serving a life sentence for the murder of another young Swindon

woman, Sian O'Callaghan. She disappeared in 2011 and was last

seen after a night out in old town in Swindon getting into the taxi

belonging to Christopher Halliwell, her body was later discovered in

nearby woodland. There are eight years between those two murders,

Becky disappeared in 2003, Sian in 2011, there is significant

speculation that there may be more victims that Christopher Halliwell

may be responsible for killing more women. Wiltshire Police have not

linked into any more crimes but have appeal to Halley well's conscience

and asked him to come clean and tell them all. -- have appealed to

Halliwell's conscience. A straight couple have lost their

battle for the right to enter into a civil partnership at the Court of

Appeal. They were challenging the ruling that they could not have a

civil partnership because they were not same-sex, they claimed it was

discrimination. Daniel Boettcher is with the couple.

They argue that a civil partnership is not available to them because

when the law was set up in 2004 it stipulated that civil partnerships

were between two people at the same sex, in 2014 in England, Scotland

and Wales, same-sex marriage was made available, so same-sex couples

have the choice of marriage or civil partnership, they do not. They argue

that is discriminatory and incompatible with their right to

family and private life. That is what the court has been deciding on,

they have lost that appeal. Let's speak to them. Firstly, explain why

a marriage, whether in a church or registry office, is not something

that you want? Marriage, we recognise it as a body blow and

meaningful institution for many, just not for us. We see ourselves as

partners in life and want to be partners in law, many thousands of

others be the exactly the same way. There are over 3 million non-married

couples, the fastest-growing family type, they lack financial and legal

protection and civil partnerships would improve the stability of

family life in this country. I happened to land some of the points

that the court has considered, but what is at the bottom of your legal

action, innocence? -- I underlined some of the points. We are being

treated unfairly based on our sexual orientation. We lost today in court,

it was a split decision from the judges, 2-1. On many points the

judges agreed with each other and is that we are being treated

differently because of our sexual orientation, it impacts on our

private and family life and it is an unsustainable difference in

treatment. The Government needs to act now and extensible partnerships

to everybody so the 3 million cohabiting couples that Charlie with

O2 can have the legal and financial protection they deserve. -- that

Charlie referred to. What happens now? It depends on the Government,

if the Government response to the fact that 72,000 people had signed

our petition, thousands are supporting our efforts and they

recognise that it is time for Parliament to catch up with where

society isn't introduced a measure in the Queen's Speech, none of this

will be necessary any more. If they are not willing or able, and we hope

that is not the case, we will continue to the Supreme Court and

solicitors have filed for permission to do that. In same-sex marriage was

introduced, the number of civil partnerships has fallen -- since

same-sex marriage. Do you think there is a danger that the end

result is that civil partnerships will be ruled out that everyone?

Possibly, but it would be retrograde. A significant minority

of same-sex couples want to form a civil partnership, the majority have

not converted them to a marriage. Given that they exist, why not say

everyone is welcome, should their conscience mean they want one? Many

thanks. Although this appeal has been lost, this is not the end of

the story, the couple say that the ball is in the Government's chords

and if the Government does not indicate there will be change, it

could go to the Supreme Court. We will see what happens.

This morning - claims that members of the House of Lords

collect their full daily allowance of ?300 whilst contributing

A former speaker of the Lords has described how one peer left a taxi

waiting outside so he could nip in for a sec to "clock on",

in order to claim his ?300 before leaving immediately.

Another member of the so-called upper house has described it

as the "best day care centre for the elderly in London".

It's inevitably led to more claims of reform of the Lords

Our political guru Norman Smith has been looking at how

There are so many, over 800? Welcome to the longest-running

parliamentary show in town, House of Lords Reform, it has been running on

Darfur more than 100 years. What you need to know about the

House of Lords? Let's start with their Lordships and Lady ships.

There are just under 800 of them, around a quarter of which women.

Most of the Lords had been appointed as life peers that almost 90 are

still classed as hereditary peers. How much do they cost? Most don't

get salaries but they can get around ?300 a day for turning up. With a

total cost of the Lords running to nearly ?90 million.

Lloyd George first got the ball rolling on House of Lords reform,

but another Liberal leader had the latest attempt, Nick Clegg. His

efforts, predictably enough, like any other effort, ended in total

defeat and disarray. What was in the Clegg package of reforms for the

House of Lords? He wanted to cut the number of peers in half, to 450. He

wanted to ensure 80% of them were elected and he wanted to bar peers

from serving more than 15 years. But will this latest controversy

spark renewed calls for reform? With every member of the House of Lords

entitled to ?300 a day, tax-free, just for showing up, that puts the

cost per peer at ?118,000. That is a lot of money, and with more

appointments on the way, more political appointments, that is a

lot more taxpayers' money being spent on people not accountable to

them. For all the good walk -- work that the House of Lords does, it is

undermined by the size and cost, which is out of

control. That's Darren Hughes

from the Electoral Reform Society. Let's speak to the Deputy Speaker

of the House of Lords, Lord McFall, and Lord Pearson who was the former

Leader of Ukip Welcome, both of you. What do you

make of these fresh claims, Lord McFaul? There is the reform of the

House of Lords and the issue with the alleged peer who was claiming

money. On the latter point there is a code of conduct and an independent

commissioner who oversees this issue. If any member has an issue

and a complaint, it should go directly to her, she investigates it

completely independently from the House of Lords. In the case of

Baroness D'Souza, what surprises me is that as the Lords Speaker at the

time she did not take the opportunity to refer it to the right

place, namely the independent commissioner, who has investigated a

number of complaints over begins. Only last year she investigated a

complaint by Lord Hanningfield, who was suspended from the Parliament

until the end of that session. Now that code of conduct has been

toughened up undergoes Haitians between the commission and the House

of Lords, and we have the penalties of exclusion if need be. It is very

important that the Nolan principles established in the 1990s following

the scandal of the expenses in the House of Commons is adhered to. If

it is still happening, what do you think about it? If it is still

happening then the Avenue is to the independent commissioner. What do

you think if one of your peers is doing this? I think it is wrong,

completely and utterly wrong. By the way, in my position I engage with

the crossbenchers, with the official opposition, Labour, with the

Conservatives. Tomorrow I will be speaking to the Liberal Democrats

and will reinforce that very point. If they feel there is any problem,

go straight to the commission. Lord Pearson, do you hear of this going

on? No. Do you see it? I think what we have to be careful of here is you

can't measure the value of a peer to the nation by how long he actually

spends in the chamber. Well, it helps, it is part of the measure. Of

course, there may be a few peers who are doing unacceptably little and

taking the daily allowance. I think you will probably get that in any

organisation of 800 people or so on who are largely self-regulating.

Into this conversation I would like to reject the idea that lots of

peers go into the chamber not for very long, but they are doing a lot

of work outside the chamber for charities, where lots of peers are

involved, work overseas and so on. It is not a simple black and white

one. Nevertheless, I agree that if there are a few scroungers then we

should put irresistible pressure on them to resign or mend their ways.

It is interesting... Sorry to interrupt, it is interesting you use

the word scroungers, that is the word that some of our audience

watching, taxpayers who pay the ?300 daily allowance, they point out that

if it was then, a benefit claimant, who had broken the rules, they would

face really harsh penalties. In your case... They are not breaking the

rules, is the trouble as I understand it. Lord McFall is

shaking his head in disagreement. Is a peer breaking the rules if they

simply clerk in without doing any thing and leave in order to claim

the allowance? I think that is to Lord McFall? They are breaking the

rules because they had to engage in Parliamentary work. Lord Pearson

makes the point that it can be a range of Parliamentary work, maybe

not recorded in Hansard. Yesterday 191 peers spoke on the House of

Lords, starting at 2:30pm and finishing at midnight, starting at

11 o'clock today and finishing at midnight. There was an overflow of

people speaking and there is an element of peers who are listening.

I would consider that parliamentary work because it is a very important

issue and peers are in there. They can be in committees and

delegations, they can be meeting interest groups coming along who

hope to involve themselves and influence legislation. The main

point is they have to do parliamentary work. Why is it ?300 a

day, viewers are saying that that is two weeks worth of my pension. I

think that was set in 2011. I wonder why. Does it strike you as being a

lot? For quite a number of peers it includes attendance in the house and

overnight allowance in London. When you consider that it could be a

hotel bill, lots of that could be taken up with the subsistence of the

overnight stay in London. Some of us are working absolutely full-time for

the Lords. I think I am probably one of the more active backbench peers,