20/12/2017 Victoria Derbyshire

Good morning. It's Wednesday, it's

9am. I'm Victoria Derbyshire.

Welcome to our programme. Ministers

are facing severe criticism over

what's been described as their

abject failure to tackle

homelessness in England.

It is two too many. The council,

there needs to be something done.

Why are we not looking after these

people?

We'll hear how 120,000 children

are homeless and look at the impact

it has on them and their education.

The Metropolitan Police is looking

at all ongoing cases. People in jail

right now, where evidence that could

have proved their innocence hasn't

been disclosed?

I think yeah. I

mean, there is going to be you can't

really stop false accusations.

People do have a spiteful side and

when people are hurt they react in a

way but wouldn't really expect.

We'll look at whether these

mistakes are incompetence,

carelessness or "unconscious bias"

against alleged

perpetrators in rape cases.

Plus, should fathers taking

parental leave be entitled

to the same level of pay as mothers

on maternity leave?

An employment tribunal will hear

a case this morning which argues

dads are discriminated against.

If you're a dad who has taken

shared parental leave,

how have you afforded it?

Hello and welcome to the programme,

we're live until 11am.

Throughout the morning

the latest breaking news

and developing stories -

a head's up that later

the International Monetary Fund

will set out their annual review

of the UK economy.

We'll bring you some of that

and we'll talk to people who are

spending their Christmas away

from their family.

If that's you - do get in touch

and tell us how you'll be

spending your Christmas -

use the hashtag Victoria Live

and If you text, you will be charged

at the standard network rate.

Our top story today.

The extent of homelessness

in England has been described

as a "national crisis"

by a committee of MPs.

A report by the all-party

Public Accounts Committee says

the Government's attitude

to tackling it is

"unacceptably complacent".

The Government says it's investing

more than £1 billion

to help make more affordable

housing available.

Andy Moore reports.

This report says the problem

of homelessness has been growing

for years, with a number of people

in short-term accommodation

up by 60% since 2010.

The MPs say there is

an unacceptable shortage

of realistic housing options.

There are estimated to be 9,000

people sleeping rough

on the streets every night,

that's more than doubled

the number in 2011.

There are a further 78,000 families

living in temporary accommodation,

often of a poor standard,

and that includes 120,000 children.

The committee has described

the situation as shameful.

It's called on the Government

to focus on the supply

and affordability of decent housing.

You need to stop being

complacent about this.

It is not enough also

to just throw money at it,

it needs to be money that is fixing

the core root of the problem,

that looks at why people

are homeless in the first place.

Critically you need to be

building more houses,

yes, but they need to be

truly affordable houses.

The committee now wants

the government to come up

with a strategy for tackling

the issue by the middle

of next year.

Labour said this report showed

the Conservatives had caused

the crisis of rapidly rising

homelessness but had

no plans to fix it.

The Government said homelessness

was a complex problem

and it was providing over £1 billion

over the next few years to help

deal with the issue.

Our correspondent

Dan Johnson is here.

What stands out from the report

then?

The figures and the fact that

this problem has grown consistently.

9,000 people at least sleeping

rough, but another 78,000 households

that are part of the hidden homeless

problem, living somewhere, but not

having their own home and that

includes 120,000 children. That's a

staggering figure, but the language

in here about the Government's

response that does stand out, the

fact that the department dealing

with this apparently, the committee

says its approach has been

unacceptably complacent and the

limited action it has taken has

lacked the urgency that is needed.

This light touch approach by the

Government, the committee says, has

clearly failed. The Government says

it is putting £1 billion into this.

The Government says its homeless

reduction Act and its rough sleeping

taskforce will tackle this problem,

but clearly a huge issue and talked

a lot about at this time of year and

something that's difficult to get

right.

We are going to talk about

children who are homeless later on.

Annita is in the BBC

Newsroom with a summary

of the rest of the day's news.

Good morning.

The Metropolitan Police is launching

a review of all current sex

offence investigations,

after the collapse of a second

rape case in a week.

The prosecutions were halted

because of the late

disclosure of evidence.

Scotland Yard has confirmed the same

officer was involved

in both investigations.

BBC News has learnt that EU banks

will be allowed to continue

operating in the UK as normal

after Brexit even if

the European Union and Britain

fail to reach a deal.

The plans from the Bank of England

mean that European banks operating

through branches in the UK will not

have to go through the expensive

process of creating

British subsidiaries.

Police will continue

searching two properties,

including a community centre,

this morning, following anti-terror

raids in Sheffield and Chesterfield.

Four men have been arrested and held

over an alleged Islamist terror plot

that officers say could have been

carried out this Christmas.

People forced to evacuate

their homes to allow the bomb

A man has admitted knocking

a cyclist off his bike

after the shocking incident

was captured on dash-cam.

This footage shows the driver swerve

towards the cyclist and knock him

off his bike before driving off

and leaving him lying in the road.

30-year-old Ashley Wallace Merrett

pleaded guilty to dangerous driving,

actual bodily harm and common

assault following the shocking

incident in Colchester in Essex.

The cyclist needed hospital

treatment but his injuries

were not serious.

British homes and businesses

will have a legal right

to high-speed broadband by 2020

as part of plans to improve

broadband speeds in rural areas.

Under the proposals, broadband

providers will face a legal

requirement to provide high-speed

broadband to anyone requesting it,

subject to a cost threshold.

The Government has decided

to regulate the industry rather

than have a voluntary agreement.

The European Court of Justice has

decided that the taxi hailing app

Uber should be considered a

transport company. The ruling means

that the firm should be subjected to

tighter EU regulation in the

countries in which it operates.

Only 62% of the British population

will spend most of the Christmas Day

with their closest relatives a

survey suggests. The poll of 2,000

people by YouGov for the Stand Alone

charity which helps people estranged

from their families suggests 12%

will spend it with their partner's

immediate family and just 39% said

they found the day joyful.

The BBC is to broaden its coverage

of religions, devoting more time

to non-Christian faiths.

The decision follows a review

of the Corporation's output

in response to claims it was out

of step with its audience.

There will also be more religion

reflected in mainstream programming.

Christmas jumpers, Prosecco, all

good giftsz gifts to find out under

the tree. Many dog owners are

splashing out. Fiona Lamdin has been

finding out.

More and more are dressing dogs

in Christmas costumes.

Just last week, 300 dogs in jumpers

smashed a world record in London.

# The weather outside

is a frightful, but the fire

is so delightful.

Not hugely surprising then

that we are spending

a lot more on them.

Just a couple of miles across town,

much thought and planning has gone

in to Suki the pug's wardrobe.

On Christmas Day she will have

three changes of clothes.

When I was a kid my parents got me

clothes for Christmas,

and I was excited to wear

the clothes, going to see my family

on Christmas dinner,

so it is kind of the same thing.

She is like my daughter.

I am like, whoa, she is.

It is not just clothes.

She'll have a small mountain

of presents under the tree.

I think we spend more money

on her than on each other.

If you come to the kitchen, there

is a section for her in the fridge.

So you can start the day

with a mince pie,

and your Christmas dinner.

You have got a choice of red or

white.

And it seems Suki isn't alone.

Around the corner at

the local groomers...

We have given her

a lovely warm bath.

I can't keep the stock

on the shelves long enough.

Sometimes I come in and wonder

what I am going to fill them with?

Let's look around for things to get

in quickly because we can't keep up.

I have to admit this

is a whole new world.

I adore my dog Mouse,

but I have never bought him

a Christmas present before.

There are so many

things I could get him.

A raincoat, socks, or even boots.

UK consumers are spending more every

single year on accessories for pets.

Just over £900 million is expected

to be spent in 2017,

that's up 16% since 2012.

This is an ongoing shift

towards treating pets

much more like people.

This really comes from

the really strong parent bond

between owners and pets.

# Let it snow, let it

snow, let it snow.

It is nice to have a puffer

jacket when it is cold.

I am buying my friends' a presents.

The more that you treat

your dog like a human,

the more likely they are to

develop behavioural problems.

Shall we pack your stocking?

Many dogs across the country

will have something under the tree,

though I am not so sure how

many of us will be

in matching attire!

Definitely some pampered pooches.

They deserve it!

That's a summary of the latest BBC

News - more at 9.30.

I have doggy chocs and a toy for

Gracy. It is an elf with a bell on

and Gracy will adore it.

Do get in touch with us

throughout the morning -

use the hashtag Victoria LIVE

and If you text, you will be charged

at the standard network rate.

Let's get some sport now with Holly

- and the former Wimbledon

champion Marion Bartoli has

announced her return

to tennis - that's a bit

of a surprise, isn't it?

It has been a shock when she put

this video online last night. She

has been dropping a few ominous

hints on social media I think it is

fair to say, talking about exciting

things to come, but I don't think

anyone expected this. It is quite a

surprise when you consider she just

retired well nearly five years ago

now after a rather successful career

which saw her winning eight tour

titles and reached a career high

ranking of seventh in 2012 and then

in 2013, she fulfilled her life long

dream of winning Wimbledon and that

was her first Grand Slam title. So,

it's going to be a surprise to many.

It was a surprise then when she

walked away from the sport in the

first place and many were quite

disappointed to see her retire, but

now, at the age of 33, it looks like

we'll get to see more of that

well-known two-handed fore hand once

again and she posted that video to

our Instagram last night and she

said she will be making her return

at the Miami Open next year. She has

admitted she has a lot of training

to do, but she hopes she will be

ready for March and she has her

sights on Wimbledon.

In retirement

she had serious health problems,

hasn't she?

That's right. And it

was, she made no secret of it at the

time to be honest. She revealed that

actually at one point she had feared

for her life and that was

contracting an unknown virus. It was

never really confirmed what had

happened, but it did cause her to

lose a dramatic amount of weight. I

think people were really quite

shocked when they saw her at

Wimbledon and she was commentating

for the BBC and she was almost

unrecognisable. Those images of her

looking extremely thin made

headlines across the world with many

people understandably concerned

about her health. Thankfully, since

then, she has been seen looking

healthier and admitted she has been

working on her gym routine and

eating healthier and playing more

tennis. She said in a video as well

last night that she has been

training in secret since October.

Hopefully she will able to come out

more publicly and do a bit more

training now. She is a such a bubbly

and larger than life character. Many

people will be so pleased to see her

back on the tour, we are looking

forward to seeing her getting back

in training and looking out for her

in March, Victoria.

Thank you very

much, Holly, thank you.

All of the Metropolitan Police's

current sexual offences

investigations are to be reviewed

after a second rape prosecution

collapsed because the defence

was only shown evidence helpful

to its case three months

after asking for it.

The trial was due

to begin next month.

The earlier case against

Liam Allan was halted

in Croydon Crown Court last week.

He spoke to us on this programme

on Monday and told us he wouldn't be

surprised if there were further

cases like his.

You can't really stop false

accusations. People do have a

spiteful side and when people are

hurt they react in a way that you

wouldn't really expect. So you know,

we rely on the procedure to find the

right sort of things and as far as

I'm aware if I have been through it,

I'm not the only one, just because

I'm the one in the media. There are

people going through it now and you

know, that's the aim now is just

sort of, the procedure may need to

change in order to make sure that

this doesn't happen again, but for

the people that are going through it

now, you know, can that change?

Reviews of other cases might happen.

But the first step is making sure

that the procedure changes in the

right direction so you know what

you're looking for.

Why do you think the police didn't

disclose those 40 thousand messages

which proved your innocence?

I

wouldn't know why. It could be a

mistake. It could have been been I

haven't got the time to read 47,000

messages. For me, for something this

serious and others have gone through

the same thing, your life's on hold.

So there isn't, I would have happily

waited another month if it meant

they would have read those properly

and this could have been avoided. It

would saved another eight or nine

months waiting for a trial. I think

they're under a lot of pressure,

given how much media pressure there

is.

You don't think it was

malicious.

I find it hard to believe

it was malicious. Thank goodness for

the prosecution barrister who was

insisting they should be disclosed,

because he had been to fobbed off

and he was told there was nothing

relevant. I mean there is a lot of

credit in terms of, this is where I

consider myself lucky, the judge

handled it so well from a neutral

point of view and that was nice to

see, you don't feel so alone. The

prosecutor was very understanding in

the respect that we should have that

information. But I have got to give

credit to my barrister, which is

Julia Smart and Simone from the law

firm, their persistence and their

work attitude has been amazing.

There is nobody else like them for

me and I do owe my life to them all

equally.

Liam Allan.

The second case involves a

25-year-old man called Isaac Itiary

who spent four months in jail

awaiting trial after being charged

with raping a child girl

under the age of 16.

The defence asked for details

of her text messages in September,

but they were only just

provided this week.

They showed she regularly

posed as a 19-year-old.

All charges were

subsequently dropped.

We can speak now to Lord Paddick -

he is a former Deputy

Assistant Commissioner

of the Metropolitan Police

and a Liberal Democrat peer.

He says the public would be more

reassured if the current review

of all rape investigations

being carried out was done

independently, or by another

force instead of the Met.

Chris Henley QC is Vice Chair

of the Criminal Bar Association -

he believes both the Crown

Prosecution Service

and the police have shared

responsibilities in these failings.

Peter Kirkham - a former

Detective Chief Inspector

who spent 21 years with the Met.

During his time he investigated many

rape cases and believes the police

is under huge pressure

and are not at fault.

Why do you say they're not at fault?

I need to make it plain, I'm not

saying they're not at fault in there

was nothing done wrong. What I'm

saying is they're not able to do

their jobs properly. They weren't

able to do their jobs properly in

2010. In 2010 we had about 12,000

rapes a year being reported. We now

have about 48,000. And since 2010 we

have reduced the number of police

officers by 20,000. That is about

15%.

If there are text messages and

what's app messages, digital media,

how can you as a police officer

sleep when you know you haven't

checked them.

You can't. If you go

and speak to any police officer on

any of the Metropolitan Polices,

they were sapphire units, they're

now two units rolled together. You

speak to any officer, they're not

sleeping at night. They're suffering

from stress.

Why aren't they

disclosing the messages?

Because

they haven't got time to do their

jobs.

They could disclose them.

How

many officers do you think are

allocated to a rape inquiry on the

day it comes in.

It doesn't take

much to disclose stuff.

How many

officers do you think are allocated

to a rape inquiry.

Tell us how many

it is now and what it used to be.

If

I told you officers have over 20 on

going rape and serious allegations

on the go at once with no support

and insufficient supervision and

insufficient training, because you

can't train officers if they haven't

got time to come away from

operations, with no support and

budgets for things like laboratory

examinations cut.

I hear that, but I

don't know why that would stop the

police saying to the Crown

Prosecution Service there is a load

of messages here, let's disclose

them and give them the opportunity

to look at them.

That is a minor

issue. Of course that is wrong and

in an individual case there will be

problems like that. This officer

will be hauled over the coals and I

wouldn't be surprise if they were

pushing to put him in jail. It won't

solve the problem. Chris Henley was

surprising, deputy of the Criminal

Bar Association, why are you

smiling?

That is an overreaction.

But what is important is that the

police are able to do their jobs

properly. Because what is at stake

is the liberty of in Liam Allan's

case an innocent man.

Of course.

Because the investigates process was

not carried out effectively, his

liberty was put at risk and its

unacceptable. If there is a resource

problem, it falls to the officer

investigating the case and the Crown

Prosecution Service lawyer and the

barrister who stepped up in this

case to say to the judge we are not

ready. This is too important.

Let me

ask you, Lord Paddick, is it

reasonable for an investigating

officer to say there is a load of

messages, we haven't had time, here

they are.

Yes it is reasonable. What

is not reasonable...

Being

transparent about the fact that

there is other evidence there.

What

is not reasonable is not to look at

the messages and tell the defence

there is nothing to see.

Or the

prosecution.

Yes. What I'm concerned

about and why we need an independent

review is that the culture may have

shifted. When I did a review of rape

investigation in 2005 the problem

was the police didn't believe the

people making the allegations. Now,

my concern is and I'm not sure

whether it is true, that the culture

may have smifted, so -- shifted so

the complainant is always believed.

What the previous, what the previous

speaker has said is right. In that

there has been a massive increase in

the number of cases. There has been

a significant reduction both in

terms of the numbers of police

officers and the seniority of the

officers investigating the cases. In

the time which were in the Met it

was at least a detective sergeant

and now you have got constables

investigating these very serious

crimes. There is a question about

supervision of the officers and

about culture and resources. There

is a question about the volume of

this thing. In Liam Allan's case it

was over 2,000 pages of text

messages. That is a lot of stuff.

As

it has happened twice and it is the

same investigating officer we are

told, what do you read into that?

Clearly there is, there may be an

issue with that office and an issue

with supervision of that officer. It

might be as the prosecution

barrister said it maybe a systemic

problem. I don't think we can leave

to it the police and the Crown

Prosecution Service to get to the

bottom of it, there needs to be an

independent look at this.

Chris

Henley, do you, you, the chair of

your organisation warned unconscious

bias could be preventing the police

from investigating, do you agree

with that?

Yes it is possible. What

Brian has said about the history of

the investigation of these cases is

right. Complaintants used to be

treated badly. Now it has gone the

other way.

That still doesn't make

sense from a police officer's point

of view, you follow the evidence.

That what is should happen. An

allegation is made, a complaint is

made, of course the complaintant

should be treated with respect. But

then the allegation needs to be

tested and be set against what the

answer is whether ten suspect is

interviewed. This material was in

the possession of the police and it

obviously wouldn't have taken long

if it was sifted through and it

wasn't, because the defence

barrister sat up all night to do her

job, hours for which she won't be

paid, because of the cuts across the

system, not just the barristers, the

the courts are crumbles. The

inspectorate reviewed the disclosure

process and July said there were

fails.

What would your advice be to

anybody who maybe investigating now,

for crimes of a sexual offence or

who may be in jail now as I was

putting to Liam Allan and

potentially wondering if they're a

victim of a miscarriage of justice.

Well it must be demoralising if

you're on the receiving end of this

and you feel the matter has not been

investigated properly. You keep

faith with your solicitor and the

barrister who will fight your corner

and thank goodness we have

independent barristers who don't

take at face value everything their

told and want to see the material

themselves.

We have some messages

from people listening. Research for

the Home Office suggests only 4% of

cases of sexual violence reported to

the police are suspected to be

false. Bruce says, the police seem

to be damned if they do and damned

if they don't. Martin says, Liam

Allan was held under police bail

while they trawled for evidence.

This practice is common to

constitute a threat to liberty.

Another e-mail from Peter, the media

put pressure on the police to get

convictions in rape cases and this

is a way of satisfying the media

craving. Thank you all very much.

More on this later. Your views is

welcome. Particularly if you're

being investigated now for a crime

of a sexual offences nature.

A man who threw acid across a packed

London nightclub injuring 22 people

has been jailed for 20 years.

Arthur Collins, the ex-boyfriend

of reality TV star Ferne McCann,

admitted throwing the liquid but had

claimed he believed

it was a date rape drug.

Last month he was found guilty

of five counts of GBH with intent

and nine counts of ABH.

This CCTV footage shows

the moment of the attack -

Collins had claimed in court he had

taken the bottle from a group

of men with whom he had

got into an argument.

He said he snatched it thinking

it was a date rape drug.

"I wanted to show them

the drug was gone; show them

there was nothing

left in the bottle."

But the jury didn't believe his

defence and on sentencing

the judge told him:

defence and on sentencing

A total of 22 people were injured

as a result of the attack,

16 of whom suffered serious burns.

Victims who read impact

statements to the court spoke

of feeling "scared",

"traumatised" and "suicidal"

as a result of the attack.

One victim was Lauren Trent.

For me, it doesn't

change what happened.

It sets a standard for anyone out

there thinking about throwing acid,

especially a Ph1 acid over

another human being.

I think it's the fear

of the unknown.

That night there was nothing to

indicate what was about to happen.

I was in a nightclub,

a place I should have been safe.

It was my 22nd birthday.

My birthday is now an anniversary

of an acid attack.

I didn't walk in there with scars.

I'm now fearful of

people I don't know.

If a commotion breaks out,

the first thing that now

goes through my head is,

are they going to throw acid?

Something I would like to think

would not affect my life,

but it has affected my thoughts

and actions and it

will from this day on.

Perhaps about where I stand

in a club, perhaps what I do

when a fight breaks out.

I would like to think I'm stronger

than that and I would like to think

his actions will not get to me

and I would like to think I'm

moving on with my life.

But today, I would say

I'm not the Laura I was

when I walked into Mangle.

Joining me is Andreas Christopheros.

Three years ago, he survived

being doused in sulphuric acid.

Thank you for talking to us. How do

you react to this 20-year sentence?

I spent st last year campaigning for

tougher sentences. I believe anyone

who commits an acid attack should be

facing life with a minimum term of

20 years. Now we have got to the 20

year point that seems like a great

achievement, but I still would have

like to see life. Life is reserved

for people who are a danger to

society and Arthur Collins is

obviously a dangerous man. What

happened to your attacker? My

attacker was originally sentenced to

life with a minimum term of eight

years. Reappealed the sentence. The

eight years was not long enough. We

were told the judge acted fairly and

it was in line with case line and

our appeal was not granted. But

unbeknown to us, my attacker

appealed the life aspect of the

sentence of which his appeal got

granted to the court. So shortly

after the sentence we went to the

High Court in London where three of

highest ranking judges in the land

deemed David Phillips not to be a

dangerous man and lifted life are

the sentence, shortening his

sentence to 16 years of which he

will only serve eight, that is five

years from now. I have passed the

three year anniversary of the

attack. In five years I will still

be having surgery and I will wear

the scars for the rest of my life.

Tell our audience what happened to

you?

It was December, 9th 2014, I

opened my door to an unknown man,

assuming it was a courier in the

run-up to Christmas. We have people

coming and going from the house on a

regular basis and I opened the door

confidently as I would normally and

I received a beaker of sulphuric

acid to my face. It was a large

amount. About over a pint. I think

that's why my injuries are full

facial and more severe. It was a

case of mistaken identity. He was

trying to target someone who lived

close to me.

I got rushed to hospital and I

started my recovery from there.

And

what do you think of campaigners who

want restrictions on the easy

availability of acid effectively?

Restrictions, it was it has been too

easy to buy sulphuric acid. Amber

Rudd stood up at the Tory Party

conference and made it clear they

will put an age restriction on

sulphuric acid which seems

ludicrous. You would have thought it

would have been restricted by age.

So that was a step in the right

direction. Shortly she came forward

with the two strike policy for

anyone carrying acids, if you are

caught carrying acid, it is six

months inside, twice. One bit of

legislation that legislation that I

have been pushing for is to take

acid from its original bottle. Acid

is sold in marked bottles. It would

be an easy law to implement make to

sure it can't be put into anything

else. If someone is caught carrying

a squirty bottle of acid then they

should be automatically face six

months inside.

Thank you for talking to us. We

appreciate your time.

Should fathers taking parental leave

be entitled to the same level of pay

as mothers on maternity leave? We

will be talking to some dads about

their experiences and we're keen to

hear from you as well. The festive

season sees us bombarded with

festive family cheer, but a third of

us will be spending Christmas

without a family member. Tell us

what you're doing on Christmas Day.

Time for the latest

news, here's Annita.

The BBC News headlines this morning.

The Government is being accused

of "abject failure" in its attempt

to tackle homelessness in England.

A damning report by the all-party

Public Accounts Committee says

the issue has become

a national crisis.

The government says it's investing

more than £1 billion to help make

more affordable housing available.

The Metropolitan Police is launching

a review of all its current sex

offence investigations

after the collapse of a second

rape case in a week.

The prosecutions were halted

because of the late disclosure

of digital evidence.

Scotland Yard has confirmed the same

detective was involved

in both investigations.

in both investigations.

BBC News has learnt that EU banks

will be allowed to continue

operating in the UK as normal

after Brexit even if

the European Union and Britain

fail to reach a deal.

The plans from the Bank of England

mean that European banks operating

through branches in the UK will not

have to go through the expensive

process of creating

British subsidiaries.

A man has admitted knocking

a cyclist off his bike

after the shocking incident

was captured on dash-cam.

This footage shows the driver swerve

towards the cyclist and knock him

off his bike before driving off

and leaving him lying in the road.

30-year-old Ashley Wallace Merrett

pleaded guilty to dangerous driving,

actual bodily harm and common

assault following the shocking

incident in Colchester in Essex.

The cyclist needed hospital

treatment, but his injuries

were not serious.

An employment tribunal will hear

a landmark case on whether firms

which offer enhanced maternity pay

to women can give only a statutory

minimum to their male

employees when they take

shared parental leave.

The outsourcing company Capita

appealed against an earlier ruling

that it discriminated

against a new father.

Shared parental leave was introduced

more than two years ago but take up

rates are lower than 10%.

The BBC is to broaden its coverage

of religions, devoting more time

to non-Christian faiths.

The decision follows a review

of the Corporation's output

in response to claims it was out

of step with its audience.

There will also be more religion

reflected in mainstream programming.

That's a summary of

the latest BBC News.

Here's some sport now with Holly.

Birmingham is set to be named as the

host of the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

They were the only city to bid

before the original deadline, but

the proposal was deemed to be not

fully compliant and the deadline was

extended, but they have won the

right to stage the event. Manchester

City talk of four trophies. They are

through to the semi-finals, but the

manager has dismissed talk of a

quadruple insisting it's

unrealistic. Marion Bartoli Has

announced her return to tennis. She

retired four years ago, but she will

be back for the Miami Open in March.

Ben Duckett has been told he won't

take part in the England Lions Tour

to the West Indies next year. He

with-suspended for pouring a drink

over James Anderson's head in a

Perth bar. More in the next half an

hour.

It's that time of year when we're

bombarded with pictures and videos

of the perfect Christmas,

but if we're honest we know it's not

like that for a lot of people -

and seeing everyone pretending it's

perfect can actually be pretty hard.

A new survey by a charity

which works with people who are

estranged from their families

suggests that only two

out of three of us

in Britain will spend most

of Christmas Day with our immediate

family.

Our reporter Catrin Nye spoke

to three people who don't have

contact with their family

about Christmas when it's

It is portrayed as the perfect

situation, isn't it?

With the family sitting

around the Christmas tree,

and reality is starker.

I remember last Christmas,

there wasn't even

that noise of the door being opened,

and I just felt so unwanted, and

I felt as though everyone has

someone or somewhere, and I didn't

have that.

I was very upset, and I just

stayed in my room, pretty

much, cried all day.

Farah has no contact

with any of her family.

She grew up with just

her mum, but has

not spoken to her at

all for two years now.

And lives in another

city at university.

She didn't want to

use her real name.

When her friends go

home for Christmas, she

is left alone.

This year, although I will still be

in the same building,

I just aim not to be upset, really,

and just treat like a normal day.

Just spent the day with music

playing or something, so that I can

overcome the fear of silence.

Yeah, the gulf is massive.

The idea that is represented in TV

programmes and ads and

the actual reality of

people's real lives.

Christmas then becomes even

more of a contradiction.

It's portrayed as the

perfect situation,

isn't it, with the family sitting

around the Christmas tree, and

reality is starker.

David Wilson does have contact

with some of his family.

He is also married, and so,

not completely alone, but he says

at Christmas he is reminded more

than ever of the family that he

doesn't get to see.

With my youngest son,

who is now living in

Spain, there is a problem there,

in that I don't see him

or my grandson, actually,

so, I've got a grandson

aged three who I don't see.

I am quite unable to

explain it, because

nobody has ever told me.

The lines went dead.

So, you just really

don't fully know?

No.

I'm not in contact with my mum.

I sent her an e-mail

basically saying that I

didn't want to have

contact with her any more.

My younger brother didn't really

want to talk to me after that.

I haven't spoken to my dad in years.

Because my parents got divorced

when I was seven and he

lives in Manchester,

and doesn't have an address.

Like, because it's the end

of term now, people will be

asking me, when are you going home?

And I kind of just say, I'm not.

I just avoid telling people

about my situation just

because I fear of having any

insensitive comments

being said to me.

How can your mother not

love you or why can't

you two just patch up?

Everyone does have the

assumption that a mother

loves her child, but, there

are unfortunately some exceptions

to that.

Tell me about your

grandson at Christmas.

Yeah.

I give him a present every

Christmas and birthday.

So that's two a year.

And I put them in a box.

That's enough.

One day, he'll know that

I did care enough to get

him those things, yeah.

So, I think it has meaning

for me, and it has

meaning for him.

You'll see all the pictures

on Facebook of people with

their families and big

piles of presents.

I think, it's just weird

being different to everyone else

around you because there's nothing

on the TV, really, about not

spending Christmas with your family.

Like, it's just kind

of expected that you go...

It's just all very, like, positive.

Nobody's really saying Christmas

can be hard for people.

I have two sisters

who I am close to.

A selfish thing to say,

because it that she quite difficult

for me to sit with my sister

and say, "How's your grandson?"

Because I know he's

fine, and I'm not.

So, there's an element of that.

When I was growing up

it was weird, anyway.

Because, like, we would have

quite a small Christmas,

and so I would cook the Christmas

dinner and wrapped my

own presents, and my brother's

presents and do a lot of the

Christmas shopping, as well.

Amy now spends Christmas

with her boyfriend's

family, a new family.

It does feel like I'm tagging

onto somebody else's family

Christmas a lot of the time.

I get some presents

there that I don't

know about from my boyfriend's

family, because they're lovely.

I have the Christmas dinners that

I don't have to cook it's wonderful,

really.

So, I kind of consider

them my family, now.

Sometimes I just like to observe

festive happy people.

It makes me think that one day,

when I start my own family, I

want to be like that.

Insofar as I can sit

in the chair and give anyone

advise, is, it's go out and do

something with yourself, and expand

your family.

In every way.

Whether its books,

music, good friends...

Family doesn't just

have to be biological.

Christmas is definitely a time

where I feel that I need to be loved

and the longer you are a strange,

the more desperate

you become for love.

I would much rather spend Christmas

with my boyfriend's family and feel

a bit out of place,

than try and fit into

a normal family Christmas and just

find the whole thing horrible.

Because it's meant

to be a nice time.

Sarah says, "I love being on my own.

Alone does not equal lonely." Rosie

on Facebook says, "I will be working

this Christmas. I don't mind. I like

working Christmas and I like making

sure the patients get fed on the

wards. Those who people who don't

get home for Christmas and new work

and I will see my family after

work." Pam says, "Christmas has the

same effect on me as Mother's Day

and father's day. My family live in

Australia. It is another day of

housework, charity work, etcetera. I

wish it wasn't commercial." Ian

says, "I must be the only one happy

on my own for the first time this

Christmas because I can watch

whatever I want on TV."

Really keen to hear

from you this morning -

if you're spending Christmas

without your family -

do get in touch and tell

us what you're doing.

Coming up:

We will be talking to a fisherman.

Should new dads who want to take

time off to look after their baby be

entitled to the same pay as women

taking maternity leave?

That's the question that is due

to be answered by an employment

tribunal in an appeal hearing

that opens today.

The case is the first

of its kind by a man under

Shared Parental Leave laws -

which came into force

three years ago.

Shared Parental Leave gives parents

the right to split their leave

between mum and dad,

but some companies pay mothers

an enhanced maternity payment whilst

dad get the statutory minimum.

Perhaps that explains why take

up rates are pitifully

low, at lower than 10%.

In a moment we'll be

talking to some dads,

but first let's speak to our legal

eagle, Clive Coleman.

Let's talk now to some dads

who have taken advantage

of shared parental leave and one

who wanted to, but says

the system is unfair.

Tom Higham is in Salford,

Josh Lawson joins us

from Chester and with me

here is Simon Knee.

Hi Josh.

Hi.

Here is Simon. Lucas

was two last month. He is around. He

will join us when he feels like it.

Tom, the issue is maternity pay is

generally higher than shared

parental leave. How much higher.

That is part of it, but mothers get

90% of full pay for several weeks at

the start of pregnancy, at the

beginning of having a child, while

we are not advocating for lower pay

for mothers, we're advocating for

equal rights to men who take

paternalty leave. If you want to

create a balanced family and economy

and all of the positives that ensues

for the child and the family and the

work place, you have to make an

effort to make pay more equal in a

society and in a country where there

is a still a huge gender pay gap,

17% or 19%, and also a situation

where mothers are given incentives

not to work and fathers making a

decision as a family, a father going

out to work is more likely to bring

in more money. It is important for

children and fathers and families

and the economy if we make some

proper efforts to equalise how

parenting works.

Does it seem

extraordinary that mums and dads

don't have equal rights on this?

Yes

what frustrate us the narrative,

particularly from the Conservative

Government is we offered shared

parental leave, but dads are not

taking it up. I read just 1%. It is

not the full story. Dads don't take

it down because statutory is £139 a

week. And if a dad is on a higher

salary, you won't be able to afford.

It is not true they don't want to

take parental leave. There a swathe

of fathers who want to engage more

in their children's upbringing.

Josh

you are one of those dads, what has

it meant to you to be off work with

your son.

It is critical to get that

time to bond. I have always wanted

to be a dad, I wouldn't have had a

clue without those early months to

bond and I'm in a privileged

position where I knew about shared

parental leave and could take

advantage of it in work, I think the

company was...

They gave you full

pay for 22 weeks?

Yes for the

entirety of my time off. 22 weeks

and further few weeks for standard

parental paternity. If one of us had

to go back to work, it must be my

partner.

Simon, Lucas will hopefully

just us at some point. Your issue is

different, your wife is free lance,

what were the issues that came up

for you?

My company were helpful and

supported me in taking shared

parental leave and itself was good

too take it in blocks. But I had to

do it at the end of period when he

was nine months old.

Why did you

have to do it at the end?

With my

wife being self-employed she gets a

maternity allowance, but that stops

and you can't mix and match with

your partner so one person has a

month off and then the other. For

family finance reasons, the only way

to work it work was for Olga to look

after him for the first nine months

and then I could in the last three

months of year take my shared

parental pay.

Do you think you

missed out?

Yes because those early

months are important and I valued

the time that I had. The other thing

was I could see my wife being

self-employed at that time getting

stressed out with those nine months,

because she didn't know if she was

going to have clients to come back

to. But it wasn't a choice we had to

work out what way we could make it

work for our family.

Tom, the

employment appeals tribunal will

hear this appeal to determine

whether bosses have to pay fathers

the same as they would pay a work

taking maternity leave. What do you

think is going to be outcome? On the

face of it it seems to be straight

forward discrimination?

Yes it is, I

feel conflicted, because the odds

are stacked against women in the

work place in many ways across the

economy and across the demographics,

if you want to address the way

families work and societies work and

the economy works, why not equalise

it? And take, we always quote the

statistics and anecdotes from

northern Europe and in Sweden where

they have a situation that there is

a use it or lose it access to full

paid parental leave, so a family

unit gets access to incredible

rights, if you use it you get access

f you don't, you don't. It

incentivizes men to get involved

with their family and for woman not

to disenage from work. So surely and

hopefully everything crossed that

today comes back with the right

verdict.

Josh, let me put this to

you a tweet from somebody watching,

why should employers pay for your

family?

Put yourself in that

situation, everybody needs that

time, it is unfair for a man, a male

not to have that time to bond, the

female does the hard work in the

pregnancy.

I don't they they are

saying, but why should your boss's

company pay for that.

My boss is a

father himself he would would put

himself in that scenario. It is down

to a human. It is something that

gets overlooked, we know about the

importance of the bond with the

baby, but Tom alluded to the fact

that you need to be there to support

your partner as well. Me and my

partner are first time parents and

there was some small complications

and she needed that support and it

was amazing for me to be there to

offer that support at that time. But

I mean looking at from it a human

perspective as opposed to a business

perspective. People need that time.

Let me read this message from Katie,

another consideration is maternity

and paternity leave when your baby

is born prematurely. I spent the

first few months travelling to

hospital and missed three months of

normal maternity leave. All the

while my partner had to go back to

work, knowing his baby was in

hospital. This should be reviewed on

a more individual basis. Thank you

for coming in with your boys and

have a lovely Christmas. Thank you.

Next: The footballer Sol Campbell

believes he experienced a

life-changing moment when he became

a teenager. That gave him the

determination to become one koft

country's most successful players

and he has gone back to London to

inspire children there to look for

their own moment.

You all right?

Good. How's things. Good. Here we

go. Robert, long, time. Must be

what? 30 years?

Yeah.

It must be at

least 30 mans. This man what a

player. Obviously you didn't fulfil

your dreams at the time. Because you

was a exceptional player.

Years ago

I grew up in the same area

obviously. You know the temptations

that were there. Went out, done the

wrong things, wrong attitude.

I think you know sometimes you have

got to say, when does it kick in?

When does that you know... That

light turns on. When does that

lightning bolt hit you. My moment

was when I said to myself, there is

too many people in my house. No

space. Who wants to be a footballer?

Me.

Me.

Do you think it is easy?

No.

You have to work hard.

You have to

work hard?

Obviously.

Really?

Obviously.

Yeah. If I left work...

If you work hard do you think it

always comes.

No sometimes you get

let down.

My family were looking to

where is the next pound coming from,

the food on the table, people

haven't got time to worry about how

you are feeling or whatever. It is

about get some money, because we

have got to pay the bills. Why do

you think I kind of you know made

it, it is just discipline or just

determination or I don't know.

Many

people didn't have the talent I had

went on, had the right attitude,

worked hard and became a

professional. I believe you wanted

it. You wanted it more. And you had

ability. You don't make it unless

you have ability to start with. But

you have to have the right attitude.

I done the first trial at QPR and

the first atroe turf pitch, I had to

borrow the AstroTurf boots, played

on the pitch, score ed two wells and

Bobby Robson was in the office at

the last trial and he asked me, why

have you been thrown out of three

schools in three years? I didn't

have an answer and I begged the man

to say if you take me away from

where I am and give me a chance and

three weeks later I get the answer.

I believe Andy Cole got picked over

me.

I think I grew up in that moment

and it became the norm. It is only

when you step out of the norm that

you were under severe pressure at an

Airlie age in your -- an early age

in your life.

That was Sol Campbell

returning to his roots. No I the

weather.

returning to his roots. No I the

weather. We have a cloudy day for

many parts with some misty and foggy

conditions this morning and our

weather watchers have been taking

picture of the fog. The first one

here if we can run this, bear with

me. That one there in

Buckinghamshire, a lot of fog. And

fog in the South West. But it is not

foggy for all of us. We have got

some brighter skies. Mainly in the

northern half of the UK. In Stirling

some blue skies is. Maybe some cloud

here later. But it will stay largely

dry in Scotland and Northern

Ireland. Some showers in the far

north-west of Scotland. Elsewhere in

England and Wales cloudy and still

some misty conditions. But it is

mild. Temperatures about nine, 10,

11, 12 Celsius. Still some mist and

fog patches lingering. In the higher

ground of Wales and north-west

England still some fog. For Scotland

and Northern Ireland, here some

brighter skies. Temperatures lower

at nine to 12 degrees. Wednesday

evening will continue to see a lot

of cloud and still some mist and fog

in parts of England and Wales.

Perhaps becoming more extensive into

the early hours of Thursday morning.

And rain spreading north across

Northern Ireland into north-west

England, Wales and the south-east of

England. Further north temperatures

down to four degrees. For many still

a mild night. And milder conditions

continuing on Thursday. The cloudier

skies associated with the weather

front. Some rain in Northern Ireland

into the south of Scotland. The far

north-east of Scotland having

brighter skies, but for most not a

great deal of change. Lots of grey

skies, misty and foggy conditions

and temperatures into double

figures. This system is with on

Friday and shifts a bit. And the

rain just shifting a bit. So not a

great deal of change. Still under

the influence of high pressure. For

Friday, again lots of cloud, some

rain across Wales. A lot of that

will clear. A few bright spells. But

again temperatures up into double

figures for many and in the run up

to Christmas, it will stay mild, a

lot of cloud and still mist and fog

and some rain in the far north. But

it gets more interesting from

Christmas Day onwards.

Hello.

It's Wednesday.

It's 10am.

I'm Victoria Derbyshire.

Today, homeless has been described

as a national crisis.

It is two too many. The council,

there needs to be something done.

Why are we not looking after these

guys? That's two too many and there

are still people on the street right

now.

We'll hear how 120,000 children

are homeless and look at the impact

it has on them and their education.

A fishery with sign banning Polish

and "Eastern bloc" anglers is facing

possible legal action.

There are different ways to deal

with the matter, not banning the

whole community or the whole country

anglers from a fishery.

The farmer says he is standing up

for his rights. The full interview

in the next half an hour.

And 3.5 million people will spend

most of Christmas Day alone

this year in the UK.

We'll be talking about loneliness

during the festive period.

Let me know what you're doing.

Good morning.

Here's Annita in the BBC Newsroom

with a summary of today's news.

Good morning.

The Government is being accused

of "abject failure" in its attempt

to tackle homelessness in England.

A damning report by the all-party

Public Accounts Committee says

the issue has become

a national crisis.

The Government says it's investing

more than £1 billion to help make

more affordable housing available.

The Metropolitan Police is launching

a review of all its current sex

offence investigations

after the collapse of a second

rape case in a week.

The prosecutions were halted

because of the late disclosure

of digital evidence.

Scotland Yard has confirmed the same

detective was involved

in both investigations.

In 2010 we had about 12,000 rapes

a year being reported.

We now have about 48,000.

And since 2010 we've reduced

the number of police officers around

the country by 20,000 -

that's about 15%.

The European Court of Justice has

decided that the taxi hailing app,

Uber, should legally be considered

a transport company rather

than a digital services provider.

The ruling will mean that the firm

should be subjected to local

licensing laws in the countries

in which it operates.

The Government says it'll pass

legislation to ensure all British

homes and businesses can demand

access to high-speed broadband.

Ministers are to force BT,

which owns much of the UK's

telecoms infrastructure,

to provide connections

offering speeds of up to ten

megabits-per-second by 2020.

Police are continuing

to search two properties,

including a community centre,

this morning, following anti-terror

raids in Sheffield and Chesterfield.

Four men have been arrested and held

over an alleged Islamist terror plot

that officers say could have been

carried out this Christmas.

People forced to evacuate

their homes to allow the bomb

squad to investigate,

have now been allowed to return.

A man has admitted knocking

a cyclist off his bike

after the shocking incident

was captured on dash-cam.

This footage shows the driver swerve

towards the cyclist and knock him

off his bike before driving off

and leaving him lying in the road.

30-year-old Ashley Wallace Merrett

pleaded guilty to dangerous driving,

actual bodily harm and common

assault following the shocking

incident in Colchester in Essex.

The cyclist needed hospital

treatment but his injuries

were not serious.

An employment tribunal will hear

a landmark case on whether firms

which offer enhanced maternity pay

to women can give only a statutory

minimum to their male

employees, when they take

shared parental leave.

The outsourcing company, Capita,

appealed against an earlier ruling

that it discriminated

against a new father.

Shared parental leave was introduced

more than two years ago but take up

rates are lower than 10%.

That's a summary of the latest BBC

News - more at 10.30am.

The Met is reviewing all sexual

offences cases because of the

collapse of two cases in a week.

This viewer says, "When I was on

trial for rape five years ago, it

came out in court that the police

had withheld evidence about text

messages and also the accused's

medical claims. I was found not

guilty, but my life has still been

ruined. I think the Met inquiry

should look at cases like mine as

well."

Another anonymous message on

Facebook. "My 15-year-old boy was

arrested in October for the rape of

a 15-year-old girl. We are worried

sick. They took his phone and two

months on, we have been told it

could take until next May. I hope

someone looks at the phone in the

meantime." This tweet from Stephen,

"My case was from five years ago,

but very similar to the two

collapsed cases. The review should

take in past cases because my life

has been ruined even though I was

found not guilty." You can get in

touch. You can message us on

Facebook and you can text.

Here's some sport now with Holly.

Birmingham is set to be

named as the host of

the Commonwealth Games in 2022

after organisers finally

confirmed their backing.

When Durban was stripped

of the event in March,

Birmingham was the only city to bid

before the original deadline,

but the proposal was deemed to be

"not fully compliant".

It now appears it will be

Birmingham staging the Games

and at a cost of £750 million,

it'll be the most expensive sports

event in Britain since London 2012.

Manchester City manager,

Pep Guardiola, has dismissed talk

of winning a "quadruple" -

that's the three domestic titles

plus the Champions League,

but their magnificent season

continued, as they reached

the League Cup semi-finals.

Jamie Vardy scored a controversial

equaliser from the spot

for Leicester seven minutes

into injury time to make it 1-1.

But it went to penalties,

Vardy missed, and Claudio Bravo

was the hero, saving

Riyadh Mahrez's attempt.

Arsenal will also be

in tonight's semi-final draw

after beating West Ham.

Danny Wellbeck with

the only goal of the game,

when Olivier Giroud was injured

towards the end of the match.

The draw will be made

after tonight's matches -

Chelsea take on Bournemouth,

while holders Manchester United face

Championship side Bristol City -

and City manager Lee Johnson

is really hoping Jose Mourinho

pops by after the game.

I bought an expensive bottle of

wine. I will be disappointed if he

doesn't come in and taste it because

it has to be poured specially

because it is that good.

England's Ashes tour has been fairly

disasterous so far -

they've lost the series,

and there's been lots of talk about

ill-discipline within the squad.

Batsman Ben Duckett was one

of those in trouble.

He poured a drink over

James Anderson's head

in a bar in Perth and

was given a suspension.

Now he's been told he won't take

part in the England Lions tour

to the West Indies next year,

because of that incident.

Former Wimbledon champion,

Marion Bartoli, has come out

of retirement and says she'll return

to the WTA Tour next year.

Bartoli is 33 now.

She quit tennis in August 2013 less

than six weeks after winning

Wimbledon - her only

grand slam title -

citing ongoing injury problems.

She suffered severe ill-health

during her retirement but now says

she intends to make her comeback

at the Miami Open in March.

And it seems she's already been

doing some training in secret -

looking forward to seeing her back

on the court Victoria.

Thank you very much.

Homelessness in England

is a "national crisis"

and the Government's efforts

to tackling it are "unacceptably

complacent" and an "abject failure"

- according to a group of MPs.

There are more than 9,000

people sleeping rough,

while 78,000 families live

in temporary accommodation.

The Government said it was providing

more than £1 billion,

over the next two years,

to reduce homelessness.

The definition of homelessness under

law includes rough sleepers,

single people in hostels and those

in temporary accommodation.

Since 2011, the number of people

sleeping on the streets

has increased by 134%,

the report says.

Earlier this year our reporter

Lesley Ashmall spent time

on the streets of Chatham in Kent

where the deaths of two homeless men

prompted calls for more to be done

to help rough sleepers in winter.

The high Street was bobbed.

It's Christmas Eve, people

were doing their shopping.

It was about half past 11

in the morning when someone realised

he had actually passed away.

You look at all these flowers,

that have been left over in the last

week, pictures people have left

all the staff.

This is where Michael stayed.

Michael McCluskey was in his 40s.

A father and grandfather.

A run of bad luck left

him on the streets.

Michael was a lovely guy.

Always in top spirits.

He was a great guy.

A West Ham supporter, I may walk -

I'm a West Ham supporter,

so we always talked

a lot about football.

He was a really nice guy.

You could see from the amount

of flowers that people left him

and reading some of the cards.

And then, just a few days later,

a few streets away, another...

Sadly, Greg past as well.

That's two too many.

The council...

There needs to be something done.