07/02/2018 Victoria Derbyshire

Hello, it's Wednesday, it's 9am,

I'm Victoria Derbyshire,

welcome to the programme.

Tesco is facing Britain's largest

ever equal pay claim and the

possible bill running to £4 billion.

Women working on the shop floor

claim they are paid up to £3 an hour

less than warehouse workers. Those

warehouse workers are mainly men.

There's obviously discrepancies with

distribution and shop floor workers.

That's what we are saying, we just

want to be paid the same.

We hear

from one of the lawyers representing

around 100 of the women.

Plus, in her only broadcast

interview, we'll talk to Facebook's

most powerful executive

in Europe and mum of four,

Nicola Mendelsohn about being

diagnosed with an incurable

form of blood cancer.

She wants to use her her experience

as the most powerful British woman

in the tech sector to find new ways

to treat the blood disease.

And what happens to a working class

town when the main source

of work is taken away?

The steelworks at Redcar

shut down two years ago,

but what future do the people living

there now face?

You've got, like, a group of people

now, who are so marginalised,

which is the over-50,

predominantly white

working class man,

who will

never, ever work again.

3000 jobs went when the steel plant

closed, we have an exclusive report

from Redcar.

Hello, welcome to the programme,

we're live until 11am this morning.

As we are each weekday.

If you work for Tesco,

on the shop floor or in

the warehouse do let me know.

Is the job of someone who works

in store, on the tills of equal

worth to someone who works

in the warehouse?

And also, the High Court will this

morning hear the start of a legal

challenge against the release

of the black cab

rapist, John Worboys.

Were you one of those

who got into his cab

and were targetted by him?

Do get in touch and let me know

the questions you want answered

about why the Parole board has made

that decision to release him.

You can get in touch anonymously.

Our top story today.

Tesco is facing Britain's

largest equal pay law suit

which could affect

up to 200,000 mostly

female shop floor workers.

Our economics editor,

Kamal Ahmed has got the latest.

Tesco has joined a long list

of organisations facing

controversies over equal pay.

Among retailers, Asda and Sainsbury

are facing similar legal battles.

Birmingham City Council has already

agreed to over £1 billion worth

of payments for women cleaners

and carers and the BBC has been

accused of not paying

men and women equally.

Tesco, as one of the country's

largest employers, is now facing

a series of test cases, which could

lead to the largest equal pay

claim in employment history.

Lawyers for Tesco's supermarket

workers said that female staff

on hourly rates earn considerably

less than men even though

the value of the work is comparable.

Kim Element and Pam Jenkins have

worked for Tesco for over 20 years.

I think that although we think

we have equal rights,

there are times where there are such

discrepancies that you can't explain

them.

And I think Tesco's just one of many

companies that aren't

addressing the fact that women seem

to still be paid less.

Tesco said that all their staff

could progress equally

and were paid fairly,

whatever their gender or background.

In a statement, the supermarket

said:

This is the start

of a long legal battle.

Tesco just the latest business to be

caught up in a fight over equal pay.

Kamal is here.

Is this just about Tesco?

It isn't.

This is a modern-day dilemma for not

just businesses but public

authorities that have faced similar

claims. Sainsbury 's and Asda are

fighting similar claims. It comes

down to this fundamental issue. It's

not about to pay for the same job,

which was the Carrie Gracie issue,

which the BBC was facing. It is

about to business value and public

authorities valued jobs

predominantly done by women in the

same way they value jobs

predominantly done by men. In this

case shop working versus warehouse

work. But if you think of

professions that are mostly done by

women, caring, catering, cleaning,

they tend to be paid less than the

type of jobs that are done in the

main by men, lorry driving,

warehouse work, bin collection. Is

that a fundamental equal pay issue?

That's what's at the heart of this

debate.

A bit like the Birmingham

City Council dinner ladies versus

the bin men.

Absolutely.

What are

Tesco saying?

It is interesting, the

lawyer says Tesco are actually a

very good employer. They have done

gender pay audits for jobs for women

and men working in the same place in

the business. This is a bigger

structural issue. Tesco are saying

we do approach these things equally,

we are an equal opportunities

employer. We take gender very

seriously. I think that is right.

The issue for them is the same as

many other businesses, there is a

structural issue underlying this.

The women that I spoke to us who are

still working for Tesco and have

been working for Tesco for over 20

years, you need great bravery to

take these type of cases. They will

probably last for many, many years.

The Astor case has been going on for

many years already. Women who fight

these cases have to be ready for

this huge battle because Tesco knows

if it loses, this liability could

run to billions of pounds.

Because

we are talking about backpay?

Backpay for up to six years, the

people already retired could take a

claim against Tesco. There are over

200,000 shop workers that Tesco

employs in the UK, they are one...

They are the country's biggest

private employer. Tesco has to make

this judgment. It gets accused of

discrimination, which it denies, or

it faces a huge bill. That is the

big struggle for businesses, how do

they move into the 21st century,

valuing different types of jobs

equally without giving themselves

these huge liabilities? Birmingham

City Council, which you touched on,

has got a bill of over £1 billion.

That needs to come from taxpayers,

council tax payers. They've got to

provide services. Tesco's profits

will be sucked up by £4 billion.

That is the issue, many businesses

are facing this challenge.

Thank

you.

Annita is in the BBC

Newsroom with a summary

of the rest of the days news.

Good morning. Theresa May is to meet

senior ministers later to try to

agree the government's approach for

the next stage of the Brexit

negotiations coming after leaked

documents showing the European Union

wants to be able to restrict the

UK's access to the single market if

there is a dispute after Brexit. The

power to suspend certain benefits

will apply during the post-Brexit

transition phase. Let's talk to

Norman Smith, assistant political

editor in Westminster. Good morning.

We know there's a difference of

approach in government about what to

do next what can we expect from

today?

Not very much I think is the

honest answer. Despite the fact that

we know business is screaming at the

government to provide greater

clarity, despite the fact that we

know EU officials are saying to Mrs

May, come on, what do you want? The

signs are that over the next two

days of talks with senior ministers,

we will not reach a final position.

In part, that's because throughout

this negotiation, we have shown our

hand pretty late in the day. In

part, it's because the focus at the

moment is on getting that transition

deal, we have to get that first post

but in part it's because of the

scale of divisions still between

senior ministers, like Philip

Hammond, the Chancellor who say,

look, we've got to stay close to the

EU to minimise any potential damage

to business. And those like Boris

Johnson who say, we've got to cut

free so we can strike our own free

trade deals. That's the real golden

opportunity from Brexit. The

consequence of that is that we may

still not know for some weeks yet

exactly what Mrs May's final Brexit

position is.

Thank you.

position is.

Thank you. Hundreds and

thousands of part-time flexible

workers are to receive new rides

including holiday and sick bay for

the first time. It is part of the

government's responding to a review

to the so-called gig economy

recommending a number of changes to

reflect modern working practices.

The number of self-employed workers

has in recent league increased due

to apps like Uber and Deliveroo. The

High Court is to hear a challenge on

the release of John Worboys. -- John

. They announced he would be freed

after less than nine years in prison

and he is thought to have drugged

and attacked more than 100 women

after picking them up in his taxi in

London. Exclusive research for this

programme has revealed that in parts

of the country, the number of people

working full-time has fallen.

Despite a record number of people

being in full-time work, analysis by

the resolution foundation has found

the London alone accounts for half

of the increase over the last

decade. In other areas such as North

Yorkshire, Strathclyde, Merseyside

and Wales, the number of people

working full-time has actually

fallen. We have a special report

from Redcar, which lost its steel

plants two years ago. The UK could

adopt a deposit -based system for

recycling plastic bottles at a

ministerial delegation visited

Norway to see how we scheme that

operates. The consumer pays a

deposit of around 10p or 25p,

depending on the size of the bottle

and then returns it empty to a

special machine where they receive a

coupon for the deposit. In Norway,

the industry led scheme recycles 98%

of bottles. Only around half of

plastic bottles are recycled in the

UK.

The world's most powerful rocket,

the Falcon Heavy, has successfully

launched for the first time.

American billionaire Elon Musk,

whose company SpaceX

is behind the project,

has called it a game

changer for space travel.

The $19 million space craft

could one day transport people

and supplies as far as Mars,

but on it's maiden voyage the cargo

is Elon Musk's own Tesla car,

with a space-suited mannequin

in the driver's seat.

New DNA analysis of Britain's oldest

complete skeleton has found he had

much darker skin than previously

thought and blue eyes.

The man's 10,000 year-old remains

were unearthed at Cheddar Gorge more

than a hundred years ago.

Now breakthroughs in DNA sequencing

have allowed scientists

from the Natural History Museum

to create this model

of what he would have looked

like just before he died.

That's a summary of the latest BBC

News - more at 9.30.

Steve has tweeted on the Tesco

issue, saying women and men get paid

equally for doing the same job, not

for what individuals consider work

of comparable value. This seems to

be total nonsense. On the subject of

Iran, we have a film coming up on

that, Matt on Facebook says the

white working class has been

marginalised and forgotten for

decades -- on the subject of Redcar.

We will talk to a Labour MP and a

Conservative MP about that after

10am this morning. Is

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

with Hugh Ferris.

England are still playing cricket in

Australia, how is it going?

They are

still playing cricket in Australia,

good morning. Not just against

Australia, the third form of the

game to be played over the winter.

And the third different kit as well.

Australia are already better at Test

cricket, England are better at

one-day cricket, so what about T20

cricket? They are playing Australia

this morning.

Playing Australia this morning

in their first match

of a Tri Series tournament.

The other team is New Zealand...

Who the Aussies have already beaten.

Started about 20

minutes ago in Hobart.

And Australia won the toss.

Jason Roy, the England opener was

out in just the second over.

David Malan replaced him...

And got to work.

Pretty quickly. That's six and an

over containing three boundaries.

Alex Hales has fallen. His first

delivery of the entire game. It is

77-2. England are in the eighth

over.

FA Cup fifth round has

thrown up a revenge match

between a manager

and his former club.

I love a revenge match in football.

Carlos Carvalhal was

sacked on Christmas Eve

by Sheffield Wednesday.

But now as Swansea manager

he has a chance to show

what they've been missing.

The Portuguese coach wasn't

considered good enough to take

Wednesday out of the Championship.

But Swansea think he's good

enough to keep them out

of the Championship.

He's taken them out

of the Premier League bottom three

after wining five of his

10 games in charge.

Including last night's fourth

round replay against Notts County...

They didn't just win it... It

finished 8-1.

That result means they will play

Sheffield Wednesday

in the next round.

Two goals each for Nathan Dyer and

Tammy Abraham.

Huddersfield and Rochdale

also went through.

And a Premier League player has gone

missing, where is re-admirers?

The Daily Mirror this morning has

the words "Have You Seen This Man?"

alongside a picture of Riyad Mahrez.

He was one of the big stories

of transfer deadline day.

This time last week he handed

in a transfer request at Leicester

as Manchester City made a fourth bid

of around £60 million

for him.

Leicester turned it down...

The deal was off...

And Mahrez hasn't been seen since.

The Algerian hasn't

been in training.

He's missed two games...

And isn't expected

to play in a third...

Which is this weekend against...

Guess who...

Manchester City.

I don't know whether it's

necessarily a long con or not, they

missed out on the player but at

least the consolation is that

Manchester City don't have to face

him at the weekend. It is a story

that will develop over time given

that there is four months of the

season left.

Thank you.

Good morning. It is 9:15am.

A top British Facebook executive has

revealed she has a form of blood

And says she wants to make her

cancer high-profile.

Nicola Mendelsohn

is Facebook's vice-president

for Europe, the Middle East

and Africa, and one the most

powerful British women

in the technology industry.

She was 46 when she was diagnosed;

she's married with four children.

The cancer is called

follicular lympona.

We can talk to Nicola

Mendelsohn in her only

broadcast interview....

Good morning, thank you for coming

on the programme.

How are you? I'm

doing all right. I'm not ill in the

way you think someone with cancer

would be.

Explain that a little

more. Your cancer diagnosis, you are

told it is incurable, at the moment

anyway.

That is right. It all

started in November, 2016. I had a

tiny lump, tiny. I mentioned it to

the doctor and he said properly

nothing. Go away -- it will go away,

she said if not come back and we

will see what it is. I went back and

she wasn't sure who to send meeting.

I eventually went to see a

gynaecologist to thought it was

probably nothing also. Literally at

the last minute said, let's just do

a CT scan to check. That is when

everything changed. It was a Friday

afternoon. I had a CT scan and it

basically I had tumours up and upper

body, small ones everywhere. That

was Friday afternoon and that was

it. Then we had to wait. We didn't

know what to do. We had to see other

doctors, but couldn't see anyone

until Monday. It was a hard weekend.

I bet. When you are told there are

tumours that a medical professional

conceit up and down your body on a

scan, what do you initially think?

They thought it was some sort of

cancer but they didn't know what it

was and I did what anybody would, I

spent the weekend googling and it's

not fun doing that. All be things it

looks that had horrible prognoses.

The word cancer is a horrible word.

I'd gone from thinking about

business meetings and planning

things with the kids, to having this

suddenly smacked me in the face,

thinking about whether I was going

to live or die and how long did I

have? Was I going to see

grandchildren? It was really tough,

really, really hard. It was a

horrible weekend.

Was there a

profound shift in your whole mindset

and life?

I think when you have a

moment where death confronts you so

abruptly, yeah, I think it does make

you think about things in a

different way. What I decided was,

actually I'm a very optimistic

person and that is not too I am. I'm

not the person that weighs heavily

with things, even though this is the

hardest thing I have ever had to

deal with. I remember thinking, if I

am going to go on that Monday to see

different doctors again to start and

work out what this thing was, I'm

going to embrace it with the way

I've always tried to live my life.

At that point I hadn't told the

children, so we were still piecing

together what the diagnosis

actually. You are sort of on a

conveyor conveyor belt. Is it this?

No. Have a biopsy, a pet scan, this

doctor and that Doctor until we got

the diagnosis, follicular lympona,

which I had never heard of.

A nice

ASBOs most people watching have

never heard of. -- and I suppose

most people watching have never

heard of.

It is a blood cancer, the

fifth most common cancer and I don't

think it has enough awareness or

enough money going into the research

either.

We will talk about your

efforts to change that a little

later on. When you were diagnosed,

your children, four children aged

between 13 and 20, alongside your

husband, you sat down and told them

the truth?

Yes, we did. We delayed

telling them for a few days because

we had a big family celebration and

we wanted to know exactly what it

was. We waited until the family

separation was out of the way so it

didn't taint it. Then we gathered

the children to sit around the table

in the kitchen. It was really hard,

I couldn't get the words. John was

amazing, in helping me. They were

flawed. You expect your mum to be

this strong person.

What you say?

I

said, I have some hard news to share

with you and I want you to know I

will always be honest with you, but

I have a cancer. It's not as bad as

some cancers but it's my cancer.

They didn't know what to say. There

were some tears and then my youngest

turned around and said, are you

going to die, ma'am?

What did you

say?

I couldn't get the words out.

That's not what you want, he was 12

at the time, I didn't want my

12-year-old to be asking me a

question like that. John helped.

Then he just put his hand across the

table and he came and gave me this

big hug and it was finished. There

were tears galore.

How did the older

ones react?

They took their cues

from him. I spoke to them all the

time about it but I spoke to them

about a week or so before I did the

article to see how they work and how

they felt about me sharing the story

said publicly, because it involves

them, and how they work. We don't

talk about it all the time. They

said, we are doing all right, mum,

because we take our cues from you

and you seem to be doing all right.

If you are doing all right, we are

doing all right. That was a big

relief. They don't think about it as

much as I do.

They were following

your example, effectively.

Yes.

How

have you been able to rationalise

the fact that there isn't... There

isn't a cure for your cancer?

isn't a cure for your cancer?

That

is, I think that's the hardest thing

about it. I think when you hear the

word cancer, you think, I'm going to

have the treatment and then I will

be done and I will be cured. This is

not like that. In many ways it is a

life sentence, is something I've had

to adjust, that's always in my head,

but I'm hopeful. As I said, I'm an

optimist and I think if more people

can raise awareness, more money can

go into it. The moment are

incredible. The treatments are

getting better but there is no

absolute treatment yet.

Hopefully,

maybe one day there will be. You are

diagnosed in November 2016 and have

only just gone public, why now?

There are a number of different

reasons. It has taken me a while to

get used to it in my own head. But

also, one of the things that has

been an amazing comfort and support

to me is a group on Facebook called

Living with Follicular Lymphoma. It

took me a couple of months to even

realise or check out if there was a

group on Facebook, and there was. It

was new and it had just started. I

wrote to the admin, a lady called

Nicky who lives in Perth. I said hi

Nicola, I worked at Facebook, I

think I could help and I've got

follicular lympona. She thought it

was a joke. She didn't think it was

real. She said, OK. So we've become

the co-admin of this group.

Is that

the first time US Facebook executive

have looked for a Facebook group for

help and support?

To do medical

things. I'm in great groups, book

clubs and top tips for women over 40

and fun things but I haven't gone

somewhere for a group that is so

meaningful and helpful to me. From a

couple of hundred people we have

grown the group. The group is now

nearly 4000 people, all with

follicular lympona, all who

understand each other and can offer

practical support. I actually met

her this morning for the first time.

She has flown over because Facebook

is hosting an event this week for

people running groups on Facebook so

we can learn and share best tips

about how to admin group.

How was

that meeting?

Very emotional. We met

downstairs and I was like, there she

is. We have this huge bond. She has

become a friend. Someone I share

most intimate parts of my life with.

She really understands me, she has

kids as well. We're going to spend

some time together this week and I

am really looking forward to it.

What do you now know about

follicular lympona so many things.

How lucky I am to live in London

because we have amazing doctors, not

everyone is so lucky. I know there

is not one absolute way of treating

it. It's very much about the

relationship between you and your

doctor and whether you want to have

treatment. I have not had any

treatment. I've chosen gold watch

and wait, again, I've never heard of

it, that you can have a cancer and

elect not to treat it.

Everyone

thinks you go straight into a very

gruelling treatment regime.

And that

will come at some point. But the

evidence at the moment the

follicular lympona is there is no

evidence to say treating early will

increase your life expectancy but

there is evidence to say having

treatments can be harmful and toxic.

That is why I have elected not to

have. I don't have symptoms, on the

same as I was a year ago. I have a

few more lumps and bumps but I am

actually healthier than I have been,

as well.

Extraordinary. Do you have

people saying to you, you look so

well, you can't, it can't be a real

cancer?

I do, and that is something

the people in the group talk a lot

about. People have been told that it

is a fake cancer, it's not real.

That is so hard, if people

understand the mental anguish people

go through with this, it's

difficult, but it is there always.

One of the doctors described it to

me when I was first diagnosed as

saying, it is like having a

hitchhiker in your car. Never leaves

you. Try and keep it in the boot as

long as you can, but sometimes it

comes up and sits on the front seat

and that is when you have two bash

it back. In many ways this cancer is

more like a chronic disease, like

diabetes or Crohn's

more like a chronic disease, like

diabetes or Crohn's, where the

episode where it throws up, you have

some gruelling treatment and then

hopefully you can put it to bed

again.

Where does work now fit into

your life, after this diagnosis?

I

think I'm incredibly blessed to work

at Facebook, which has been very,

very supportive to me from the get

go, the diagnosis. All my

colleagues, my peers and bosses are

like, how can we help, what can we

do to help you? In many ways, like I

said about my children, things

haven't changed that much for me. I

do exercise now, which I never did.

I was one of those people, I'm never

doing exercise! I now know exercise

is incredibly important. I'm doing

it twice a week, I've made time. I

travel a lot with my job. I'm a bit

kinder to my body, I'm not doing

those early mornings, getting up at

5am, trying to go the night before

to make it a bit easier for me. But

I'm really lucky that work has been

as helpful, kind, considerate and

caring as they have.

You have

already made it clear you want more

money to go into research into this

particular cancer. How can you help

make that happen?

I think hopefully

by telling my story, also getting

more people to join the group as

well. As I say, we've seen hundreds

of people joining the group in the

last few days. They didn't know such

a group existed. I see from the

comments that people write how much

they love the group and how

supportive it is, how helpful it is.

There is groups like that for people

with all types of diseases and

illnesses. There are people out

there that understand.

One viewer on

Facebook says what an amazing woman

this Facebook boss is. My thoughts

are with her. Another says, thank

you for bringing attention to blood

cancers, so many of which are in

durable. And another, such an

inspiration. How amazing she is

helping people through a Facebook

group. And another wants to give you

a big hug. The support since you

have gone public, has it been

overwhelming?

Thank you for my hug,

I will take it. The support has been

completely overwhelming. I feel like

anybody I've ever met in my whole

life, from being a kid at school,

has reached out just to say, you, we

support you, let us know what we can

do. Text messages, Facebook

messages, e-mails, letters, I am so

overwhelmed. People are so good and

so kind and just want to help. Thank

you. Thank you is what I would say,

because I didn't expect it. I didn't

think I'd be talking to you now. But

if it helps just one more person,

then it is worth it. It is not easy

doing this. This is not what I do.

But if it helps one or two more

people, then it is worth it.

Nigel

says, Facebook groups played a vital

role in helping me find stem cell

treatment for my MS.

That is great.

By going to Russia, it has totally

changed my life. Gwen says Nicola

Mendelsohn is so brave and

inspiring. In doing this interview

she has educated me and probably

millions of viewers. I wish you and

your family strength and ongoing

determination. I applaud you. There

are many more. Those kind of

representative. How do you feel

about the future?

Do you know... I

have always felt grateful for the

life I have. I have an amazing

husband, John, who has always been

my rock and has always been so

supportive in everything I have

done. An amazing family, parents,

brothers. Incredible kids. I feel

lucky and less to do the things I

do. And to know this is not a dress

rehearsal, it never has been. It's

always been part of what we talk

about, how you live a life well.

Sometimes you get stuff thrown at

you that you didn't expect and for

me it has always been about how you

react in the moment of those things,

as hard as they are. How do I feel?

I am going to remain optimistic and

grateful, and hopeful that some

amazing Doctor or researchers out

there will find this cure, find a

way to treat people in new ways that

we have an even dreamt of yet. We

have put man on the moon 40 odd

years ago, we ought to be able to do

more for people out there that are

suffering, not just with this

disease but all diseases and I think

we will.

That is a really important

message. This is it. This is the

life we have, so let's get on with

it, let's make the most of it. Thank

you very much for talking to us. We

wish you lots of love and strength

and luck and everything, thank you.

And thank you to you for all you

have done for this whole area, it's

been amazing and totally inspiring

as well.

Thank you very much, thank

you.

Still to come:

We travel to Redcar in the northeast

of England, which lost its steel

plant and almost 3,000 jobs two

years ago, so what future

are the people living

there now facing?

In a major breakthrough

for the private space travel

industry, the world's most powerful

rocket, the Falcon Heavy, has

successfully launched for the first

time from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

American billionaire Elon Musk,

whose company SpaceX

is behind the project,

has called the near flawless

blast-off a game changer.

Time for the latest

news - here's Annita.

The BBC News headlines this morning.

Tesco is facing Britain's largest

ever equal pay law suit

which could affect up to 200,000

mostly female shop workers.

The women, who work on the shop

floor, say they earn considerably

less than men who work

in the company's

distribution centres.

Lawyers estimate the supermarket

could be liable for up to £4 billion

in back pay if it loses.

Tesco says it's not yet seen

the claims, but that it works hard

to make sure employees

are paid fairly.

Theresa May is to meet

senior ministers later,

to try to agree the government's

approach for the next stage

of the Brexit negotiations.

It comes after leaked documents show

the European Union wants to be able

to restrict the UK's access

to the single market

if there is a dispute after Brexit.

The power to suspend "certain

benefits" would apply during

the post-Brexit transition phase.

Hundreds of thousands of part-time

and flexible workers

are to receive new rights,

including holiday and sick pay,

for the first time.

The plans are part of

the government's response

to a review into the so-called gig

economy, which recommended a number

of changes to reflect

modern working practices.

The number of self-employed workers

has risen in recent years, partly

due to apps like Uber and Deliveroo.

The High Court will hear the start

of a legal challenge this morning

against the release of the serial

sex attacker, John Worboys.

Last month the Parole Board

was criticised when it announced

that Worboys would be freed

after less than nine

years in prison.

He is thought to have drugged

and attacked more than a hundred

women after picking them up

in his taxi in London.

That's a summary of the latest BBC

News - more at 9.30am.

Alison tweeted, I was diagnosed with

follicular lymphoma almost 11 years

ago and have been fortunate enough

to have never had a relapse having

had six months of treatment. It is,

they say, incurable, but it is

treatable. Adam says this... Bear

with me, my tablet has frozen, I

will do it on here... My father was

diagnosed with incurable blood

cancer, he takes pills every day to

balance his blood cells, gets

checkups every three months. As long

as these pills keep working, he can

still live a long life says Adam.

Head says very inspiring and brave

stuff from Nicola Mendelsohn. You

can feel her strength of spirit,

what a brave lady. Thank you for

sharing your cat is a story today.

There are 200 different kinds of

cancer. My husband has been

diagnosed twice with cancer and this

time he has an incurable small cell

bladder cancer. Could Facebook have

a special area for all cancer groups

to share and fund? Keep those coming

in.

Sport now with Hugh.

The Tests and one dayers are done.

Now England are playing T20

cricket in Australia.

England have begun their T20

tri-series with a match

against the Aussies

in Hobart this morning.

And Dawid Malan has led

the charge with the bat.

But England have lost three wickets.

In fact, a fourth now. 109-4 in

Hobart.

Swansea thrashed Notts County 8-1

to set up a FA Cup fifth round tie

against their new manager

Carlos Carvalhal's former club

Sheffield Wednesday.

He was sacked by the Championship

team just before Christmas.

And Riyad Mahrez is still not

training with Leicester.

He was refused a move to Manchester

City on transfer deadline day.

And may well come as a result,

missed the match in the Premier

League on Saturday against

Manchester city.

And Jason and Laura Kenny

will represent Great Britain

together for the first time

since the Olympics after being

selected for the track cycling world

championships in the Netherlands.

Since Rio they've got married,

Laura's had a baby,

And Jason has retired...

Briefly...

More coming up after 10am.

Thank

you.

Time for an update in the trial of

former football coach Barry Bennell.

Our reporter Jim Reed is here.

And Jim, the defence has

now closed its case.

Yes.

This is the trial of 64-year-old

Barry Bennell.

He was a youth football coach

linked to Manchester City

and Crewe Alexandra football clubs.

He denies 45 counts of historic

abuse in this case.

Yesterday, then, we had

the closing speech

from defence barrister Eleanor Laws

who represents Mr Bennell.

She asked the jurors to put aside

their "revulsion" for Mr Bennell

as they consider their verdicts.

She then reminded the jury

about the publicity around previous

guilty pleas Mr Bennell

made in 1997.

She said:

"There has been a great deal

of publicity and indeed a great deal

of contact between complainants."

She outlined the compensation claims

made by some of the alleged victims

in this case and the contact

they had with solicitors

about those claims.

She said one man launched a civil

action against Manchester City in

March 2000 and 16. -- 2016.

She said Barry Bennell's time

in prison for abuse offences

he admitted in the past had had

a "profound effect" on him.

She said:

"It's an inescapable fact

that the man we see on that screen

is a different man to the man

who was abusing those boys."

He is appearing by video link, which

is why she says screen.

What happens

next?

The judge started his summing

up yesterday will continue.

The judge told the jury of five men

and seven women:

"It is your task to consider

and evaluate those arguments

and the evidence coolly

and dispassionately and,

as both counsel have

emphasised, without emotion."

He will continue his

summing up today.

As I said, Mr Bennell denies the 45

charges in this case.

Thank you.

Coming up...

More on the successful launch

of Elon Musk's Falcon rocket.

The American billionaire,

whose company SpaceX

is behind the project,

has called the near flawless

blast-off a game changer.

We will talk more about that later.

New exclusive research for this

programme has found that,

despite record employment levels,

in parts of the country the number

of people with a fulltime job has

actually fallen over

the last decade.

What does the future hold for the

community in Redcar?

We used to make the finest

steel in the world.

Unfortunately, now we make

lattes and sandwiches.

If you didn't know anybody

who worked in the steel industry,

you know somebody's brother

who worked in the steel industry.

It was a close community.

And when it shut down,

there was people just wandering

around like zombies.

I don't think, on a national

or international scale,

there was anyone speaking for us.

I don't think any political party

was really speaking for us.

I don't care who says, oh,

yeah, they understand.

No, they don't.

They don't go home

on a night and think,

"Can I put the heating on?

Have I got enough electricity?

Have I got enough gas?

What are the kids going to eat?"

We might be white dominant,

but we're certainly not racist.

We welcome everyone here.

It's a nice community to be in.

Sitting on the stunning coastline

of the north-eastern edge

of England, Redcar and Cleveland

is a place built on heavy industry.

Two years ago, its steelworks

closed its doors for the last time

and with it went the jobs

of almost 3,000 people.

It's also officially the whitest

part of the country,

where 98% of the population

are white British.

But this is a place that tells

the story of what happens

to a working-class town when work

is taken away.

A place where, for 170 years,

men could expect a job for life

making its world-renowned steel.

This is part of the country where,

despite the record numbers

of people now in work,

the number of people in full-time

jobs has actually fallen.

Speak to anyone here, they'll tell

you about lack of investment,

frustration at Westminster and those

in power, a feeling

of being forgotten.

And all in the long

shadow of those well-paid

steel jobs going and no

chance of them coming back.

We've got this force,

Nat Task Force, and that task force

and everything else,

but you'll never ever

going to replace what we had.

Frankie Wales is in ex-steelworker

and amateur boxer who now

runs a local charity.

When people say white working class,

you know, you just think,

"It's not a ghetto, that's

because people haven't come

here," and I'm not sure.

Why do you think people

haven't come here?

Well, there's no work, is there?

Why would you?

As well as the boxing gym,

his charity runs dance,

bingo and activity days for older

people, made possible by volunteers,

including men from the steelworks -

men who would rather be working.

We bring a lot of the

old ex-steelworkers,

who are in their 50s,

probably aren't going to work again,

but it makes them feel better

because they can sit down

and have craic and a cup of tea,

have this, that and the other

with them and talk about some

of the old times, you know.

Terry Frank and Martin McArdle

are two of those ex-steelworkers.

The jobs they thought

would take them to retirement

disappeared in 2015.

We had, like, 15 years

and I thought, well, that's me -

15 years, I'll be retiring,

I'll be quite happy,

you know what I mean?

I could see my future there,

could see my house paid

for and everything.

Everything would be done.

Now that's gone, that's everything

up in the air for me now.

When the bell was tolling

for the end of it, well,

surely the Government can step

in and help us out here.

They've done it in other

European countries.

Why can't they do it?

"Hands are tied."

That's all you ever got - "Hands

are tied, it's EU legislation,

we're not allowed

to step in and help."

And you just think, come on!

I think the working-class man around

here is a thing of the past.

You've got a group of people now

who are so marginalised,

which are the over-50,

predominantly white working class

man, who will never ever work again.

It's like, what do you do?

Oh, well, you go out for a drink.

And now, we've got pubs that open

at nine o'clock in the morning,

and it's all right going out

for a drink maybe Friday, Saturday,

something like that,

and then go to the work

for the rest of the week but,

unfortunately, now,

that's all they've got,

so they're going out at nine o'clock

in the morning and

staying out all day.

And they used to be something.

This pub on the high street has

been open since 9am.

None of the men here wanted to be

shown on television when,

in different times, they would have

just arrived for work.

But they talked about what they said

was the indignity of navigating

the benefits system

in their late 50s.

One had recently had his benefits

stopped for eight weeks

for missing an appointment,

and they felt it was simply

unrealistic to expect them

to compete for new jobs totally

unsuited to their skills

and experience.

But five minutes from the pub,

a charity project called

The Men's Shed offers men the chance

to recreate the world of work.

This one is for my wife.

A few brownie points

for Valentine's Day, possibly.

It's a man's shed because it is

a men's environment,

because it's somewhere

where men want to be men.

It's difficult for men

to open up and talk to people,

unless you're in a situation

like this, where you get to know

people and you get to open up.

And apart from that,

we don't need ladies in here.

We'd have to restrict our language

and our behaviour a lot, so...

HE CHUCKLES

As good as it is,

you'd rather be working?

Oh, yeah, of course.

Up until six years ago,

I'd pretty much worked

all my life, different jobs.

It's very difficult.

I went from earning £30,000 a year

one week to benefit the next week.

I went from earning £30,000 a year

one week to benefits the next week.

I was diagnosed with bowel and liver

cancer in April 2012.

I, sort of, keep myself going.

I've got four kids.

One is only six.

I've come to the fact

that I am not curable.

It is going to kill me and it's

probably going to kill me sooner

than I really want it to,

but that's the facts

of life and you just

get on with it, smile,

keep happy and keep going.

Keep coming here.

I asked Mark how he felt as a man

on benefits, and how people

in his situation are seen.

Ignored.

Absolutely ignored.

Their feelings are not

taken into consideration,

the emotional aspect of things

is not taken into consideration.

Politicians don't live

in the real world.

They're in a bubble and I don't care

who says, oh, yeah, they understand.

No, they don't.

You know what I mean?

They don't go home

on a night and think,

"Can I put the heating on?

Can I put the heating on?

Have I got enough electricity?

Have I got out of gas?

What are the kids going to eat?"

Pictures on the internet of MPs

asleep in the Comments.

Yeah, you try and get a builder

to have a nap on the job site,

you know what I mean?

He'd be gone, he'd be sacked,

so why can't they be?

The same charity also

runs a discounted shop,

where people on the edge can pay £2

for a basket of food.

Because food bank clients can only

have maybe three or four vouchers

in a six-month period,

and that isn't long enough for them

to get out of the situation,

the crisis period that they're in.

They come in, take a basket

and they choose ten items of food.

People over the age of 60,

65 weren't using food

banks because it's almost

like going begging for food,

asking for a hand-out,

but they're quite happy to come

and use the Next Step shop,

because they're getting a bargain.

We now have eight centres across

the whole of Redcar and Cleveland.

What we were finding was that people

from East Cleveland were having

to walk nine miles to come

and get their food bank parcel

and then nine miles back,

carrying a couple of shopping bags.

Just down the road is

Paul Kitchener, a local entrepreneur

who runs a bar called Steel Bay.

It was given the name Steel Bay

as a tribute to the industrial

and steel heritage of the town.

We did that because my grandad

worked for the steelworks

for most of his life,

so it was kind of a bit of a tribute

to what the town's heritage was.

I don't think on a national

or international scale,

there is anyone speaking for us.

I don't think any political party's

really speaking for us.

The country's gone,

really, hasn't it?

Britain as we used

to know it's gone.

People around here voted by three

to one in favour of Brexit,

but was that driven

by worries about immigration?

In this, the whitest bit of England,

it's an easy assumption.

Yeah, we might be white dominant

but we're certainly not racist.

I know that certainly round here,

the working class aren't racist.

You can blame them for this,

that and the other but I think

you'll find that white people

are just as equally to blame,

whether it be crime,

disorder or any other thing that

they're blamed for.

I think the Brexit vote

was about people saying,

"Look, we're here.

We want people to take notice of us,

we want people to be aware that it's

not all right here."

Sue Jeffery is the Labour leader

of the local council.

We need investment, we need

people, we need jobs,

we need the opportunities

that we see happening elsewhere.

That's what it was about.

It was about a protest vote,

a vote that says, "It's time

you took notice of us and it's time

that there was changed."

In any discussion about why

Teesside's steel industry wasn't

saved, the European Union comes up.

But what about those wider questions

of race and identity?

How do people in the whitest part

of England feel they're perceived?

If I held a Scottish flag

up and went, "Hooray

for Scotland," you know,

"It's a proud Scotsman".

If I held an Irish flag,

it would be the same,

if I held a Welsh flag...

Looking like me with a face

like a robber's dog and no hair,

if I held a British flag,

they would go, "Oh,

my goodness, the degradation.

Look at that racist!"

Last ten seconds.

Let's have a big finish!

And what about the next generation?

White British state school pupils

are now the least likely group

to go to university.

In England, pupils from a Chinese

background are twice as likely

as their white counterparts to go

into higher education.

Meanwhile, native English speakers

have, for the first time,

fallen behind schoolchildren

who speak English a second language.

We've got so much talent out

there that, you know,

unless you've got five GCSEs,

you can't move on.

Yet I'm working with

kids there who are just

unbelievably switched on.

They're unbelievable

at entrepreneurial things,

like buying cans of Coke and selling

them on the bus for 50p,

you know, making 150%,

200% profit - that's

entrepreneurial, isn't it?

Unfortunately, the only thing around

here at the minute that's

entrepreneurial is selling fags

or selling drugs.

We get these kids, they get

on the straight and narrow,

we get them up on a morning,

make them get out and get

in the gym, get a bit

of training going, get a bit

of pride and self-respect.

We teach them things that

schools don't teach them,

like how to make a cup of tea

and how to get up in the morning,

how to brush your teeth, you know,

to fasten shoelaces.

Things that...

You know, I've seen kids at 16 years

old who do not know how

to make a cup of tea,

do not know how to iron a shirt,

do not know how to fasten shoelaces.

And that is sad.

There's nothing for the young

lads to go to now,

the apprenticeships.

There's nothing getting

offered to them.

I see very little about.

I've got a son of my own.

Hopefully, he might go in the forces

or something like that but he'll

definitely be away from here.

Government and council point

to the success of a task force set

up when the steel plant closed,

with new businesses helped to get

off the ground and jobs created.

But, with full-time employment among

men around here down

13% in the last decade,

is that enough to make up for what's

being lost in places like this -

proud places with proud histories?

Imagine you're a fantastic

steel-maker, the best steel

in the world, you know,

renowned from four

corners of the world,

from Teesside steel we made

the Sydney Harbour Bridge,

we made the Newcastle bridge,

you know, all these things

- wow, fantastic!

Oh, you've got no money

because we've taken that off you.

So what are you going to do?

Or you as a journalist...

Well, you're not allowed

to write anything.

You can't write a book.

Oh, no, you can't do that,

because it isn't there any more.

What would you do?

You know, what would you do

in the centre of London?

You'd go, "oh, my goodness,"

and suddenly, all the MPs

would come out and say,

"This is terrible, this is terrible,

it's probably Brexit's fault,"

and then they'd just go,

"Oh, actually, yeah, there is money

for that, there you go".

But they didn't do that for us.

They've kicked us in the teeth,

they took our steel industry away.

A lot of the problem

with that is, we were told

it was the European Union that

were going to save us,

and then it was Government

that was going to save us and,

basically, nobody saved us so,

once again, it is us,

the people on the cars of the world,

again, just sort of, "There you go,

off you go, to glue.

We're all right in the

bubble of the South".

The Government has given us

a statement, which says:

"Official figures show

there are more people in work

than ever before in the UK

with employment rising

in every region since 2010 -

more than half of this growth

is outside London

and the South East.

Our Industrial Strategy sets out

an ambitious long term plan

for the country that tackles

regional disparities

in growth and prosperity.

In the coming months we will be

working with regions to develop

Local Industrial Strategies that

boost the productivity and earning

power of every area."

If you are in that area, tell us

your own experience. We will speak

to a local Labour MP and a

Conservative MP to ask if they have

forgotten Redcar, basically.

Coming up:

Tesco is facing Britain's largest

ever equal pay law suit.

I'll be speaking to

Solicitor Kiran Daurka,

whose firm is representing up

to 1000 Tesco employees.

Women fighting to earn the same as

men who work in the warehouse. They

say the work is not the same but of

equal worth to the company. Mental

health is a huge issue for you,

which is why we cover it readily on

our programme. You know that

depression is an illness that

affects people in all walks of life.

Billy Kee is a striker

for the Accrington Stanley.

He's spoken to the BBC about living

with severe anxiety and depression.

I just wanted Tikrit...

A striker for Accrington Stanley. I

had to for you about Tesco. They are

facing potentially very large equal

pay suit. Ian says, having worked in

a distribution warehouse, I can say

hand on heart that those workers

should be paid more than those shop

floor staff. Another tweet, if a

woman does the same job as a man, it

is obvious she should be paid the

same. But how can you equate lorry

driving with working on a cash till?

Another says, gutted for Tesco, one

of our giant is about to be nibbled

to near death over discrepancy that

should have happened. If roles like

for like between the the same payee

should apply. And one more... I will

read it later. News and sport on the

way at ten o'clock but before that

the weather. How are the new

graphics going?

Very well, thank you, they are quite

different, have you had a chance to

look at them yourself?

No, I'm about to now.

There are some things you will

recognise, this picture here could

be a Weather Watcher's picture. If I

click this, if there is snow in the

forecast, we can add snow, we could

also add rain or wind blowing Leeds.

The app has been updated, showing

the percentage chance of rain, it

shows the usual things and animates

as well. It has 14 days ahead, as

opposed to ten. Other things also

happening with our new graphics. We

have this lovely jet stream across

North America. We can spin the globe

to show that. Coming across the

Atlantic are moving across our

shores. If something was happening

in Australia, for example, we could

tilt this and show you Australia.

Something brand-new is the forecast

for the Aurora Brora is. We get

asked this a lot. Where there is

green and yellow, this is the

forecast for tomorrow morning, you

have not really got much of a chance

of seeing the Northern lights as a

result. If that was red and a bit

further south, you certainly would.

The other thing that has changed,

look at that, recognise that?

. If

it is clear like this, that is

indicating it is sunny. We have had

wintry showers.

They are clearing

away. This is a band of ploughed

ahead of a weather front coming in,

the weather front producing snow on

the hills and some rain. When we

zoom into the high-resolution model,

some clear skies around, we can add

roads. If we had the M6 and it was

snowing, you could see it and we

would be able to tell you how it is

likely to affect your journey.

Do you not show the sub any more?

We never did. It is shown by clear

skies. -- the sunshine any more? In

the old system it was brown golden

but now it is green like our

pleasant ground. What do people

think?

So far the response is good, it is

exciting.

How does it look today?

exciting.

How does it look today?

Cold! Today looking at old

conditions, in fact temperatures as

low as -9.8 in parts of the

Highlands. Sleet and snow coming in

across the north-west. We had some

of that this morning in the

south-east. That has now pushed

away. A lot of sunshine, as denoted

by the green Victoria was talking

about. As a weather front comes into

the north-west on introducing a bit

more cloud, some transient smoke at

lower levels in northern Scotland.

That will be replaced by rain. --

transient snow. Into the afternoon,

some rain in Northern Ireland, any

snow in the hills. If you look at

the temperatures, 3-6, it will feel

cold. Not quite as cold as yesterday

but cold nonetheless. Through the

evening and overnight, the weather

front advances, taking the rain and

hill snow with it. For Wales and

other thing, big cloud building. The

clearest skies will be in Central

and eastern parts of England that is

where we have the lowest

temperatures. Once again, some frost

and once again there is the risk of

ice on untreated surfaces almost

anywhere. Tomorrow morning, under

clear skies, some sunshine to start

the day. As the weather front

continues pushing steadily

south-eastwards, it will take the

cloud and this rain, the cloud

eradicating that nice bright start

in the south-east. Brighter skies

behind and some showers coming in.

Tomorrow, a little milder feeling

than today. I don't get used to it,

all change. The weather front

continues to slip down Thursday

night into Friday into the

south-east. Cold air follows behind.

A north-westerly wind coming our way

and then a lot of wintry showers in

the north and west.

Thank you.

Hello it's Wednesday, it's 10am,

I'm Victoria Derbyshire.

Women who work at Tesco say they're

paid up to £3 an hour less than male

staff who work in the company's

distribution centres -

even though their work

has the same value.

The jobs are slightly different,

but, to put it bluntly,

they're of equal value.

You know, we deal with customers,

they don't have to deal

with customers, but we load...

We take the stock

and we load the stock.

They load it off the lorry,

and we load it onto the shelves.

If you work at Tesco and

particularly if you have to deal

with customers, what is that like

and why do you argue that is equal

worth to those in distribution

centres? Send me an e-mail.

We'll hear from one

of the lawyers representing

around 100 of the women.

And white working class men over 50,

are they the most marginalised group

of people in Britain?

We've been to Redcar,

which faces a bleak future

after the steel works closed down

two years ago.

Politicians don't live in the real

world. They're in a bubble. I don't

care who says, we understand, no,

they don't, you know what I mean?

They don't go home and night

thinking can I put the heating on,

what are the kids going to eat?

We'll ask politicians why

they seem to have forgotten

the working class town.

A Labour and Conservative

politician.

And new rights have been announced

for part-time and flexible workers

who are self-employed.

It means hundreds of thousands

of workers will get holiday and sick

pay for the first time.

We'll be talking to a driver

for the food delivery company.

Good morning.

Here's Annita in the BBC Newsroom

with a summary of todays news.

Tesco is facing Britain's largest

ever equal pay law suit

which could affect up to 200,000

mostly female shop workers.

The women who work on the shop floor

say they earn considerably

less than men who work

in the company's

distribution centres.

Lawyers estimate the supermarket

could be liable for up to £4 billion

in back pay if it loses.

Tesco says it's not yet seen

the claims, but that it works hard

to make sure employees

are paid fairly.

Theresa May is to meet

senior ministers later,

to try to agree the Government's

approach for the next stage

of the Brexit negotiations.

It comes after leaked documents show

the European Union wants to be able

to restrict the UK's access

to the single market

if there is a dispute after Brexit.

The power to suspend "certain

benefits" would apply

during the post-Brexit transition

phase.

Hundreds of thousands of part-time

and flexible workers

are to receive new rights,

including holiday and sick pay,

for the first time.

The plans are part of

the government's response

to a review into the so-called gig

economy, which recommended a number

of changes to reflect

modern working practices.

The number of self-employed workers

has risen in recent years,

partly due to apps like Uber

and Deliveroo.

The High Court will hear the start

of a legal challenge this morning

against the release of the serial

sex attacker, John Worboys.

Last month, the parole board

was criticised when it announced

that Worboys would be freed

after less than nine

years in prison.

He is thought to have drugged

and attacked more than 100

women after picking them up

in his taxi in London.

The world's most powerful rocket,

the Falcon Heavy, has successfully

launched for the first time.

American billionaire Elon Musk,

whose company SpaceX

is behind the project,

has called it a game

changer for space travel.

The $19 million space craft

could one day transport people

and supplies as far as Mars,

but on it's maiden voyage the cargo

is Elon Musk's own Tesla car,

with a space-suited mannequin

in the driver's seat.

New DNA analysis of Britain's oldest

complete skeleton has found he had

much darker skin than previously

thought and blue eyes.

The man's 10,000 year-old remains

were unearthed at Cheddar Gorge more

than a hundred years ago.

Now breakthroughs in DNA sequencing

have allowed scientists

from the Natural History Museum

to create this model

of what he would have looked

like just before he died.

That's a summary of the latest BBC

News - more at 9.30am.

We have had so many messages about

the interview with Nicola Mendelson.

She works for face and has been

diagnosed with an incurable blood

cancer and she is giving her only

broadcast interview to us today. So

many saying what an inspiration she

has been by talk about this

publicly, I will read some of those

in the next 30 minutes.

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.

We have the latest sport.