21/03/2018 Victoria Derbyshire

Hello.

Welcome to the programme.

After years of a 1% pay cap, the

government is expected to announce a

significant pay increase for NHS

staff in England, apart from

doctors.

Staff have got to be

addressed, vacancies have to be

addressed. The issue of using agency

staff has to be addressed. In that

context it is significant that that

pay award has been made.

We get reaction from NHS workers.

Plus, there has been a huge rise in

the number of women using donated

eggs to get pregnant.

You get

married and then your friends have

kids and it's just not happening to

you. It suddenly becomes the most

important thing in your life, the

only thing that you can focus on.

And what next for the future of ant

and tech? We look at what impact Ant

McPartlin's arrest for drink-driving

will have on the pair? And how lives

are ruined by addiction to

painkillers.

Hello and welcome to the programme.

We're live until 11.

Throughout the morning we'll bring

you the latest breaking news

and developing stories and -

as always - really

keen to hear from you.

A litle later we'll be talking

to some of you who've

deleted your Facebook account

in protest at the company's data

and privacy policies.

If you've done it, do get in touch.

If you don't want to message us

on Facebook, you can do

so a number of other ways.

Use the hashtag Victoria live.

And if you text, you will be charged

at the standard network rate.

Our top story today -

the government is poised to announce

a significant pay rise for almost

all NHS staff

in England, apart from doctors.

It's thought that around a million

health workers will receive

an average increase of 6% over three

years, in a move which could cost

the Treasury £4 billion.

We can speak now to Catherine Burn

's, health correspondent. I know we

don't have all of the details on

this so far, but what details do we

have?

It seems to be a six to 6.5%

increase over three years. That is

the headline. The reality will be

quite different. The average is

going to be spread out. The biggest

increase will ghost -- increases

will go to the poorest paid people,

porters, catering staff, cleaners.

They could have an increase of 29%

over three years. It is quite a big

deal and quite a decisive end to pay

caps. Since 2010, there have been

pay freezes and pay cap Macs 1%.

This is a big break.

Porters could

go from £15,000 to £19,000, a huge

jump?

It is. But the Royal College

of Nursing is say that if you take

in real terms and count in

inflation, they have essentially had

a pay cut 14%. Even though people

will welcome this, they will not

necessarily be jumping for joy.

We

don't know if it will be accepted?

The unions are meeting today at 11.

We are expecting them to sign off on

this. There will be a lot of

last-minute haggling. The

interesting thing to look out for

will be what sort of strings there

are attached to this.

are attached to this. NHS workers

lost a day's pay over this. Sickness

levels in the NHS may be one thing.

There has been talk of increments,

when NHS workers sort of get

on-the-job pay rises. There has been

talk of the more -- being more

tightly controlled. It will be

interesting to see what happens.

Thank you. More on that later in the

programme. If you do work for the

NHS, get in touch. Would you accept

this, would you support this?

Joanna Gosling is in the BBC

Newsroom with a summary

of the rest of the day's news.

Good morning.

Facebook will be questioned

by politicians in Washington today,

as the company comes under growing

pressure to explain how data

from 50 million accounts was used

by a British company

during the US presidential election.

It's alleged that Cambridge

Analytica used the data to target

voters and influence

the election outcome.

That company's chief executive,

Alexander Nix, has been suspended.

Both firms deny any wrongdoing.

Simon Jones reports.

Facebook held a crisis

meeting today...

An international row about Facebook

data making headlines

in the States and in London,

home to the consultancy,

Cambridge Analytica.

That company is accused

of using the personal data

of 50 million Facebook users to send

highly targeted messages during

the 2016 US election campaign.

Secret filming by Channel 4 News

shows Cambridge Analytica's boss,

Alexander Nix, boasting

about the role it played

in Donald Trump's victory.

The company has denied

the Facebook information

was used for this purpose.

It said Mr Nix's comments do to not

represent the values of the firm.

He has been suspended.

The Cambridge academic

who created the app

from which the data

was harvested, has

been banned from Facebook but says

the only thing he did wrong was not

to ask enough questions.

My view is that I have been used

as a scapegoat by Facebook

and Cambridge Analytica.

We thought we were acting perfectly

appropriately, we thought we were

doing something really normal.

Facebook says it did break rules

by donating data to third parties

and says it has been deceived

by Cambridge Analytica.

Facebook denies it has done anything

wrong but there is growing pressure

from politicians in the US and the

UK for its boss, Mark Zuckerberg, to

break his silence about how his

customers' information is protected.

The Royal Air Force has confirmed

that a member of its Red Arrows

aerobatic team has died in a crash

in North Wales.

The engineer was killed when a Hawk

jet came down near the RAF Valley

base on Anglesey yesterday.

The pilot, who is injured

and receiving medical

care, managed to eject.

The jet came down shortly after

taking off on a routine flight.

There are no details

about the cause of the crash.

The mother of a two-year-old girl

who died after she was pulled

from a car found in a river,

has said she will feel guilt

for the rest of her life.

Kiara Moore was found

in the River Teifi in Cardigan,

Ceredigion, after she had been left

in the car while it was parked

on a slipway on Monday.

Her father said when the driver

returned, the car was missing

and initially feared stolen.

But after a large police search

the car was found in the water.

A man has been injured

after a parcel bomb exploded

in the Texan city of Austin -

the latest in a series

of similar attacks.

Five devices have detonated

so far this month,

which have killed two people.

A sixth parcel bomb was intercepted

before it exploded.

The FBI now believes the attacks

are the work of a serial bomber.

President Trump is reported to have

ignored warnings from his national

security advisers not

to congratulate Vladimir Putin

on his re-election.

The Washington Post

is reporting that Mr Trump went

against his advisers,

and was even given a briefing note

with the words "Do Not Congratulate"

in capital letters.

The amount of plastic in the ocean

could trouble within a decade unless

action is taken. A report from the

UK government says plastics is just

one issue facing the world's sees

along with rising sea levels. It

says much more knowledge is needed

about the ocean. The government

could face an additional bill of

£300 million after on the claim

benefit claims. The main sickness

and that was predicted to cause the

government £5 million. The National

Audit Office says the true price

could be more. Ministers say they

are committed to paying everybody by

April 20 19. Vulnerable mental

health patients are being let down

because of serious failings in their

treatment, the Parliamentary and

health service ombudsman has said.

Issues with some mental health trust

could lead to some patients

suffering harm. It also found mental

health care staff can like the

skills and training they need to do

their job properly. The government

is expanding service provision.

A group of MPs is warning

of government complacency when it

comes to security co-operation

with the EU after Brexit.

The all-party Home Affairs Committee

says the transition period,

which has recently been agreed,

may need to be extended if public

safety is not to be compromised.

They say it's down to the complexity

of issues such as data sharing,

the European Arrest Warrant

and Europol membership.

Mark Easton reports.

Membership of the EU means

the UK enjoys access

to valuable police data bases,

the European Arrest Warrant scheme

and the services of Europol.

The government says it is optimistic

about negotiating just as good

a deal for when we leave,

but after taking evidence

from people from the National Crime

Agency and other organisations

which rely on EU security

corporation, an all-party committee

of MPs says it does not

share that optimism.

We are worried that a security

treaty will not be signed

and implemented in time

for when the transition period ends

and that could leave us

without proper extradition

arrangements if people flee justice

and flee from crimes,

but also without access to criminal

data that the police properly need.

Access to EU-wide data systems

and the resources of Europol depend

on legal obligations underpinned

by the European Court of Justice.

The UK has said being outside

the European courts jurisdiction

is a red line, but the MPs say

the government should not be too

rigid on such matters if it

wants to get a good deal.

And they reckon the complex

technical and legal issues mean both

sides need to be ready to extend

the two-year transition

before Brexit kicks in.

Accusing the government

of complacency, the committee warns

the UK could be sleepwalking

into a security crisis.

Mark Easton, BBC News.

Talk about springing a leak -

these pictures are of a water main

break in University City

near San Diego yesterday.

Local reports said a contractor hit

a six-inch diameter blow-off valve

connected to a water main causing

the leak which saw water shoot up

above the Californian highway.

The break shut down the road

for roughly 30 minutes,

while crews worked to shut off

the water.

It's been a 25-year wait,

but later today the first polar bear

cub born in the UK for over two

decades will make his public debut.

Born in December, the bear

is still to be named as keepers

try to determine its sex.

The cub has spent the last four

months with it's mum Victoria

in the maternity den

at the Highland Wildlife

Park in Scotland.

That's a summary of the latest BBC

News - more at 9.30.

Thank you, joiner. Let me bring you

this news that we are getting in

from Texas. Reports saying that the

suspect in a series of bombings in

the state capital of Austin has

died. You can see pictures coming in

from Austin. Those are live

pictures. We understand a local

television station is saying the

suspect detonated a device while

being pursued by police, and was

killed. Earlier the FBI said it

believed six separate attacks in

Texas were the result of a serial

bomber. A man being pursued by

police as being killed. We will keep

you with any news.

This morning - is there enough

help for people addicted

to prescription painkillers?

In the next few minutes we will be

talking to a couple of people about

the wrong painkiller addiction is.

We will get a sense of what that is

like. Also people who work at

addiction clinics to talk about the

sort of people they are treating and

the stories they are hearing. One

former councillor has told the BBC

the NHS is creating drug addicts. Do

you agree with that? We want your

experiences this morning if you are

addicted to these painkillers. To

get in touch. If you text, you will

be charged at the standard network

rate. Mohsin sport.

We can speak to John Motson. We need

to talk about the World Cup. Big

question, who is the England number

one?

That is central, really, with

those World Cup places, the battle

for them, Harding up. Particularly

in goal. Nick Pope worked as a

milkman nine years ago. Now he is

battling out for the number one spot

in the England squad. It is far from

nailed down heading into those

friendlies. We are taking him out

because his story is fantastic.

Having been released at 16, he had

spells outside the football league

before joining Burnley. He only got

his chance because of injury to Tom

Heaton. Now he could make his

international debut in the

forthcoming friendlies with the

Netherlands and Italy. If you are

questioning if he is the right pick

for the job, he says he is a safe

pair of hands having never dropped a

bottle on his milk round.

No, I was Kleenex Mac it was a

float, electric.

What is the best

thing about England goalkeeper?

Can

I call myself that if I haven't

played? I think it is just the

honour, really. Obviously the moment

from Thursday. Getting around people

and been there from the start,

people have travelled the journey

with them -- with me. To share that

with them is something I will never

forget.

It will be a great story of the does

get selected. Fantastic to hear how

much it means to represent his

country. From internationals to the

women's Champions League, which

continues tonight. Manchester City

in Chelsea in action. City are at

home to their Swedish opponents. In

the WSL this season they are second

behind Chelsea, who play

Montpellier. If both teams progress,

it will be the first time in the

competition's history that two

British clubs have reached the

semifinals.

We don't our homework on, we know

they are a good team and have

dominated Swedish football so it

will be a big game with tough

opponents. Nice to have a home game,

we're been awake for about ten games

and it has been hard but we have

great support at home and we love

having them at home. Excited.

One of

several big games coming up in a

busy end of the week.

And a huge

cricket match in Zimbabwe at the

moment which could mean Scotland

reached the World Cup?

They are

playing the West Indies with a place

at the World Cup up for grabs next

year. The huge match for Scotland.

They make the best start, taking the

key wicket of Chris Gayle with the

very first ball of the day and he

then removed Shai Hope to leave the

West Indies at 2-2 but they are now

99-2 after 24 overs. And we were

talking about England goalkeepers at

the World Cup, if you're hoping to

be selected you will want to avoid

something like this happening. This

was a video on social media, some

street football in Argentina. Superb

skill. A little unfair on the

goalkeeper! There is no coming back

from that. We know that penalties

might feature in the World Cup but I

would be very impressed if anybody

tries that! Amazing!

Thank you,

John.

This morning - is there enough

help for people addicted

to prescription painkillers?

Those who have been addicted to them

have told this programme they have

been failed at every step.

Nearly 24 million painkillers,

like Tramadol and morphine,

were prescribed last year -

that's about 2,700 packs an hour.

We know that Ant McPartlin is taking

a break from TV to enter

rehab for a second time.

Last year he revealed his addiction

to prescription drugs

following a routine knee operation.

Later on in the programme,

we'll look at what this could mean

for the future of Ant and Dec -

two of the biggest names in TV.

But first, we want to look

at the devastating impact addiction

to prescription drugs can have

and we want to hear from you too.

Do get in touch

with your experiences.

We can talk now to Nicki Hari,

who says her GP made an addict

of her in prescribing them,

but then had no idea how

to help her dependency,

which ended up lasting 25 years,

Antony Corrigan was addicted

to Tramadol, and says he had

to fight his GP to get off the drug.

Eytan Alexander, who runs Ukat,

a private addiction centre that has

referrals from NHS patients in need,

to rehab for painkiller dependency.

And Cathy Stannard

joins us from Bristol,

and is a pain consultant.

She's developing a model

of painkiller support services

for NHS Gloucestershire.

Thank you for joining us. I want to

start with you, Nicki. You were very

young when you put on in strong

painkillers, just 14.

I was 14 I had

my first operation and I was given

paracetamol and Nurofen also it was

not until I was 18 that I was put on

very strong painkillers after having

my appendix out.

What were you put

on?

Codeine, De Goede Mull, tramadol

and at the time I realised that I

actually really liked the feeling.

It was like being on a pink fluffy

cloud, all my worries and stresses

went away. I felt relaxed about

everything. The pain I thought I had

disappeared. That was when it

started. It did not continue

solidly...

I was going to ask,

presumably you came off those drugs

after the operation?

I came off them

out was not until I got into rehab

and I looked at my journey from

start to finish, well, not finish,

because I have not finished it yet,

but I realised I could see a pattern

forming on how I loved having the

feeling of prescription painkillers.

It was very easy to manipulate the

system. At the time the GPs were

giving them out quite freely. I

would say that I was in a lot of

pain and be given a tramadol repeat

prescription for six months so I did

not even had to go to the GP. It

doesn't take very long to become

addicted, seven to ten days and

you're hooked.

I can see as you are

speaking that Anthony is nodding.

Was that your experience as well?

Very much so, my story is very

similar. I went to the doctor with

severe pain in my back, I found

myself not able to sit, standing up

a lot and walking around so I went

to the doctors and pretty much

immediately they offered me tramadol

and they thought I might have

sciatica so they offered me another

painkiller that I took. They told me

to take up to 24 tablets per day,

nothing at all. I came home and took

the first dose and I was completely

out of it. I was zombified. My

partner was concerned and did not

want me to continue but I put my

trust in the doctor that this was

what I needed and it was addressing

a health need. I did not see it as a

problem.

How long were you on those

drugs?

In total about two and a half

years. It started gradually, they

said to take two tramadol every four

hours, eight tablets a day and I was

also taking gabapentin, that was

four tablets a day. I was not able

to function well. I was out of it,

it caused me problems at work, I was

in temporary work at the time so I

was phoning in sick because I could

not tolerate the pills and I ended

up losing jobs because of it for so

I felt the doctor was too ready to

give it to me without talking about

what might happen. He didn't even

offer to send me for tests to see

what the problem with my back would

be, it was just, take these, these

can help. I put my trust in my

doctor to help me and I now have

this feeling of absolute ignorance

that I did not go home and research

this result but why would I? I'm not

the trained person here.

I want to

bring in Eytan, you looked surprised

at the second drug he had been

given?

We see a whole host of drugs.

The mainstream drugs but something

like gabapentin, sleeping drug, any

form of prescription drug not taken

as prescribed can have an addictive

process to it was up you form a

chemical dependence on it. It is the

same thing them if you are a heroine

user, if you stop taking it, you go

into withdrawal and the same with

description drugs, you start feeling

unwell and you think you need to

take more. It is a self fulfilling

prophecy.

prophecy. Patients are unaware of

what is actually happening, they

just go and take it themselves.

I

was taking the medication purely as

prescribed by Mike GP, I was not

abusing the medication or increasing

the dose is, I was taking what I was

advised to take.

OK.

Again, I

started off like that and like Eytan

said, the pain went away but I felt

the GPs were not actually dealing

with the pain.

I agree.

I think

there should be more pain management

clinics, you should be given options

of alternative medicines as opposed

to prescribing such addictive

painkillers to patients.

I want to

bring in Cathy. A lot of accusations

being made about GPs giving out

these kinds of drugs too readily. Do

you think it is their criticism?

I

think it is difficult that if you

are a health care professional with

somebody in front of you who has

pain, and the accounts of Anthony

and Nicki are really tough, and it

is tough to not give somebody when

-- give something when somebody is

in pain is that it is a complex

interaction and the other thing it

is there to say, what has changed is

our knowledge and understanding of

how these tablets work. No doubt

that a few years ago we thought they

were probably the best thing to give

people with severe pain and it is

only now we are better able to

understand evidence and so on that

we realise in the long term they are

not the best thing. We all have to

put up our hands and said we'd

started patients on things that

maybe now we would not do. I think

two things that came clearly out of

those stories, one from Nicki was

that very soon she found that the

medicines helped her with getting

through life, made her feel floaty

like being on a cloud, that is one

of the things that keeps people

using them. And both said the

crucial thing to watch out for, when

you stop taking them you feel worse

so you continue to take them to stop

feeling worse and that is the marker

of when you have to have a

conversation with your health care

professional about how to support

you in coming off.

Let me read you

some of the messages we are getting

about this. A text from cat saying,

I've been taking large quantities of

morphine for over 17 years and I'm

dependent on them, taking them for

chronic pain in the spine after a

hit and run. Ruth says she was

predicted for years because of

constant headaches and got to the

point where she could not function

without them. No investigations were

carried out for 15 years until an

MRI scan for a different issue found

an aneurysm on the brain. I had to

wean myself off the painkillers

slowly and they controlled my life.

Did it change the person you were?

Completely, I did not see it but my

friends and family did. I became

vacant, absent from situations,

family get-togethers I was not there

for events at my children's school

force up you literally did not go

ought you were there and had no

recollection? I didn't go, I had no

motivation in life. Everything was

just numb. It is hard to describe

but you're in a cloud, a bubble and

you can't find a way out. When you

stop taking them, you realise you're

going into severe withdrawal the

same way a heroin addict would for

submitting cramps, night sweats,

shakes, your bones are aching and

you don't understand what is

happening. You think it is because

of the pain you are in, whether it

is your back or your knee or

whatever but what it is is

withdrawal from the medication. When

I saw my GP there was no help with

coming off it. You cannot just stop

taking painkillers, you have to do a

reduction programme and there is not

that help available.

Did you get

that support, Anthony?

I don't feel

I did. I went to my GP several times

and I said I felt I had a dependency

on the tablets. I had managed to

wean myself to a low dose but when I

tried to not take that last small

dose I was getting severe withdrawal

and as Nicki said, I was getting hot

sweats and cold flushes at the same

time, shaking a lot, the insomnia

was the worst I experienced, I would

fall asleep and immediately jolt

awake and could not get back to

sleep. I was moody, my partner was

completely concerned about me. It

was helpful to exercise but because

I was taking the tablets, up to the

Defour per day, I could not motivate

myself, I could not move around --

up to 24 per day. I was irritable

and I relate to what Nicki is

saying. I had to beg the doctor and

plead and eventually they gave me

zopiclone for one week, sleeping

medication which I took to get over

the initial period of withdrawal.

Thankfully, with that, I was able to

come through it. It took about three

months from that point to not feel

anything, the restless arms and

legs, and had to have a pair of

pliers in my hand to squeeze all the

time to take that horrible peeling

away and that was for about three

months afterwards -- horrible

feeling. I had not taken tramadol

and gabapentin for a year but I

still have the pain and the

herniated disc but I would rather

suffer the pain than the addiction

and the withdrawal, I'm not prepared

to go through that again.

People are

getting in touch echoing what you're

saying. Paul says he has been on

painkillers for 17 years because of

bladder cancer, my doctor tried to

cut back but my body will not have

it. My doctor doesn't know the way

of getting professional help and I'm

still trying. Another text said they

had an accident that resulted in

taking tramadol, take them for six

months before the GB stop them,

advanced advice they went cold

turkey and it was one of the worst

experiences that you could go

through. A final thought before we

wrap it up, from all of you, we have

heard Ant McPartlin has got into

rehab again and now we know he had a

stint in the summer for addiction to

painkillers. Your thoughts on what

he could be going through now and

from your own experience?

I was fortunate enough I had private

medical insurance at the time. The

only way I could get help was going

into a private residential detox.

And I think that's where,

unfortunately, because there is no

help on the NHS a lot of people are

contacting helplines were they try

and help people get into rehab. What

he is probably feeling now is shame,

guilt, that he has let everybody

down. But having been in rehab, he

came out and he went straight back

into his old lifestyle, not

realising, not really dealing with

his Demons. So he needs to kind of

understand the programme, have a

complete detox. In rehab you are

broken down. They are there to teach

you, to break you down.

It's easy to

stop taking drugs through a detox.

It's staying stopped which is the

issue. Continuing the process of,

what do I do after leaving

treatment? How do I stay in recovery

instead of going back to my old

lifestyle and old behaviours? Maybe

I'll just have one. The thought of

that first one spirals again into

the next process. It's very easy to

fall back into the trap.

With people

like me who still have the issue,

the issue has never been resolved. I

have had scans that show the issue.

I still have that problem. I know

choose not to take the drug. Nicky

said she had access to that private

facility. Many people like myself, I

don't have that. I have to put my

trust in my GP. I have two trust

where they refer me. I don't have

any means to pay for private health

care or things like that. Touching a

little bit more on Ant McPartlin, I

should imagine he feels embarrassed

and ashamed that maybe he has failed

the first time around. This is such

a powerful addiction that it doesn't

surprise me that is the case. I just

hope he gets the help he needs.

I think the main message is to talk

about it. One of the things that we

all hear is that people don't want

to talk about it to the GP. They

don't want to admit to addiction.

GPs are maybe not looking for it.

Get the diagnosis. Then I think

there are a number of things.

Sometimes people will do well with a

gradual reduction. Sometimes you

have to get help from NHS addiction

services, which are thinly

stretched. It is about admitting to

a problem first of all. There are

sources of help out there.

One size does not fit all.

Thank you

all for coming in. I want to read

this statement from the Department

of Health. They say it has already

become a big issue another overseas

countries and we are determined to

make sure it doesn't happen here.

When we understand the scale of the

problem, we will look at a range of

policy options to tackle the issue.

Thank you for coming in. After ten

o'clock, we will ask about the

future of ant and deck. We are keen

to hear your experience of

painkiller addiction.

-- Anton deck. Tens of thousands of

people with chronic illnesses are

disabilities may have been paid too

little in benefits due to an error.

We hear from people who think they

may have been affected.

Time for the latest news.

Here's Joanna.

More than a million NHS staff

are poised for a pay rise

with a deal that could be worth

as much as £4 billion

being announced by lunchtime today.

The BBC understands that health

bosses and unions have reached

an agreement that will mark an end

to a seven-year cap and boost

the salaries of workers including

nurses, porters and paramedics,

but not doctors.

Facebook will be questioned

by politicians in Washington today

as the company comes under growing

pressure to explain how data

from 50 million users was used

by a British Company

during the US presidential election.

It's alleged that Cambridge

Analytica used the data to target

voters and influence

the election outcome.

That company's chief executive,

Alexander Nix, has been suspended.

Both firms deny any wrongdoing.

Reports from the United States say

the suspect in a series

of bombings in Texas is dead

after blowing himself up.

Five devices have detonated so far

this month and killed two people.

A sixth parcel bomb was intercepted

before it exploded.

The amount of plastic in the ocean

could treble within a decade,

unless action is taken to tackle

the problem, a major

report has warned.

The Foresight Future

of the Sea Report for the UK

Government says plastics is just one

issue facing the world's seas,

along with rising sea

levels and warming oceans.

It also says much more knowledge

is needed about the ocean.

That's a summary of

the latest BBC News.

Thank you. You are still getting in

touch with your experiences of

painkiller addiction. Robin says he

is so terribly sorry for the

participants and their valour

experiences. -- valid. He ended up

at NA any last weekend. He was given

the opportunity without judgment to

outline his problem. Pain relief was

given without question. "I Was so

grateful for the common-sense

approach. I didn't have to beg and I

wasn't treated like an addict.

Thanks to those doctors who make a

good judgment call. " Share your

experiences with us throughout the

morning.

Here's some sport now with John.

Hello. Scotland are hoping to

qualify for next year's Cricket

World Cup. Beat the West Indies and

the place is theirs. They dismissed

Gale for naught. A short while ago

the West Indies were 116-2. England

captain Joel Ruud says the return of

Ben Stokes to the England team is a

huge boost. -- Joe Root. From

milkman to the World Cup, Nick Pope

will hope he can impress Gareth

Southgate in England's friendlies

with the Netherlands and Italy, nine

years after he was released by

Ipswich. And two British teams could

reach the semifinals of the

Champions League for the first time

if Manchester City and Chelsea can

come through their quarterfinal

ties, the first of which are being

played tonight. Some big matches to

come later.

That is all the sport for now.

Tens of thousands of people

with chronic illnesses

or disabilities may have been paid

too little in benefits due

to an error in calculating

the main sickness benefit,

Employment and Support Allowance.

Around 70,000 claimants are due

a repayment of up to £20,000

which could cost the government more

than £800 million.

Around 2.4 million people claim

Employment and Support Allowance

because they are unable or have

limited capacity to work.

We can talk to two people who think

they may have been affected.

Heidi Niel is on ESA,

and had been on incapacity benefit

after she had a massive heart

attack at 38.

Tracey Flynn, who lost her job

after the birth of her second

child because of her

chronic rheumatoid arthritis.

Also with us, Labour MP and member

of Parliament's Work

and Pensions Select Committee Neil

Coyle.

Thank you all for taking the time

out to speak to us. Heidi, I want to

start with you. I know that you have

struggled since your benefits have

changed. Explain in practical terms

and in day-to-day life what that has

meant to you?

Well, initially I had

no idea about this incapacity DSA. I

just got a letter to say the name

changed. Until I was notified

literally yesterday morning there

may be an issue, I literally had no

idea. They tend to fudge you with

paperwork, which grind you down

continuously. My benefit was then

stopped in August of this year, when

it switched over to Universal

Credit. And I'm now going through

the appeals process to get me back

onto DSA. Now I'm wondering if it

should be an appeals process to get

me back onto incapacity. It is so

hard to keep up with where you were

supposed to be. Thank heavens for

the Citizens Advice Bureau. I'm sure

they have been flooded with these

problems. Day-to-day living has been

an absolute nightmare. Wondering

whether I can afford to have heating

on. Basic stuff. Literally basic

stuff. And being told you can use

the food bank. I mean, where is that

normal? To me it is not.

You have

also had bailiffs around, I

understand?

Yes. When your benefit

is stopped, with the

is stopped, with the incapacity

DSA... They were trying to do it on

the employment and support allowance

as well. I have had to go back to

certificates. I had been fully

assessed and was told that I was

effectively permanently unfit to

work until deemed fit to work. So I

had to go through that again. That

has been an absolute nightmare.

I

want to also bring in Tracy to hear

her experiences. I know that you

have chronic rheumatoid arthritis. I

also know that you have got pretty

young children who are registered

carers. So juggling all of this must

be incredibly stressful for you.

It

is. And when you factor in DWP

involvement, it is never

straightforward. I was moved from

incapacity benefit to employment and

support allowance in 2011. I was

actually found that I had a limited

fitness to work. Despite the fact I

have been retired on ill-health

grounds from a government

department. That was from a

sedentary position. The amount of

treatment that I have, and the

amount of intervention by the NHS,

my GP, my occupational therapist, my

consultant, and the fact that my

rheumatoid is not particularly well

controlled, I have a suppressed

immune system, and the amount of

monitoring that goes on, means it's

very difficult for me to hold down a

job and provide effective and

efficient services as an employee,

which is the reason that I've lost

my job in the first place. I just

couldn't manage to get into work and

do my job.

Neil Coyle, I want to

bring you in. 70,000 claimants here

could be looking at a huge payment

of Ulster £20,000. The average

amount we understand will be £5,000.

How on earth are we got in this

position?

position?

Sadly, disability UK

described it as a shambolic

catalogue of errors. The Department

for Work and Pensions, back in 2014,

when this problem was first

identified, four years ago, it could

have been dealt with at the time.

But it has been completely

overstretched and under resourced.

The coalition government axed

thousands of civil servants and left

those remaining are unable to make

the decisions properly. We've got an

assessment process the government

pays millions of pounds to

administer. It is failing disabled

people routinely. We have had

Universal Credit with its problems,

Personal Independent Payment is,

whether urban lot of problems. Now

that we know that employment and

support allowance, which only helps

disabled people, we now know there

were these 70,000 disabled people

who are owed at least £2500. The

government really needs to apologise

and do it very quickly and make

these payments, make these back

payments as quickly as possible.

The

Department for Work and Pensions say

they will not comment on individuals

but say they are well under way with

the plan to identify and repay

people affected. Payments have

already started. "We Are committed

to making sure people get what they

are entitled to as quickly as

possible. Everybody who could be

affected will be contacted directly

by the Department." Heidi, what

difference would it make if you had

some money that came in, that was an

average of £5,000? What difference

would that make your life?

Obviously

in the media didn't help me pay off

the debts that are now spiralling

out of control. The more the money

is not back in the... Without some

sort of regular structure, which is

what they had before, yes OK, it

wasn't a brilliant amount, but I had

worked out budgetary wise. Even if I

could just get back to that state,

initially, yes it would help me pay

off some debts. But literally the

whole system needs to be looked at.

What is the saying, if it ain't

broke, don't fix it. Everything as

far as I was concerned was OK. I was

living not comfortably, not a

luxurious life, but I had it all

under control. They keep changing

the goal post and it has thrown

everybody into a tailspin,

depression, suicide. It's just

awful. I wouldn't wish this on my

worst enemy, literally.

Heidi, thank you for sharing your

story. Thank you to Tracy and Neil

Coyle first begin to us as well.

America is good at electing

celebrities into office. Six and the

city star Cynthia Nixon, who played

Miranda Hobbes in the series, is

hoping to get in the act. Is

launching a bid to get elected for

the Democrats.

She held an election rally

overnight.

New York is where I was was raised

and where I'm raising my kids.

And to the thousands

of you standing in this square

participating in history...

The Cambridge psychologist who

created an apt to harvest the

personal data of millions of

Facebook users has insisted he is

done nothing wrong, it was claimed

the information was used without

permission to persuade people to

vote for Donald Trump in the US

elections. Doctor Alexander Kogan

has been speaking to Radio 4.

I am

stunned by most of this, it has

never been my understanding. The

events of the past week have been a

total shell shock. My view is that

I'm being used as a scapegoat by

Facebook and Cambridge Analytica

when honestly we thought we were

acting perfectly appropriately, we

thought we were doing something

normal and we were assured by

Cambridge Analytica that everything

was legal in terms of the terms of

service.

Cambridge Analytica, the

London based firm that has been

accused of harvesting Facebook

information for political clients,

has suspended its chief executive.

It said comments made by Alexander

Nix to an undercover reporter do not

reflect its values. The undercover

investigation showed Alexander Nix

boasting he had met Donald Trump

many times.

Facebook has been used by political

parties and campaign groups

for over a decade now to try

and spread their message

and win over supporters.

When does legitimate

campaigning become unethical

and potentially illegal?

James McGrory is the executive

director of Open Britain, a

pro-EU campaign group.

He was the head of press

for the Stronger In campaign group

during the Brexit referendum

who argued that the UK

should stay In the EU.

What are the kinds of conversations

that take place in political parties

about the use of this kind of data?

First and foremost it had to be

legal for the big companies like

Facebook and political parties as

well as businesses and media

organisations hold a lot of data

about people and that's not a bad

thing necessary as long as it has

been got hold of correctly and used

correctly. There are legitimate and

good uses of social media

campaigning amongst political

parties. People say politics is too

distant, so go where people are, to

Facebook and Twitter and Instagram.

What you had to be sure about it

that you are gathering the data

correctly and using it correctly.

And that people know you have their

data.

When you sign up you are clear

about what your data will and will

not be used for and while I do not

know every in and out of what has

gone on, that appears to be the most

serious allegation, that data has

been so-called scraped without not

only the consent of the users but

the consent of many friends and

family. That seems to be an

appalling use of data. However, the

idea that you go on Facebook and you

say you are interested in the EU as

an issue or the environment, why

shouldn't political partisan

campaigns say, we have an advert and

a policy we think you're interested

in and target that advert.

Is it

ethical?

I don't see why not also if

you give your details to Facebook

and their clear in that example

about what your data is and is not

used for, you can get an advert from

a political party or campaign and

you can click on that, and it will

take you are seeing this advert

because this group of people want

you to see it because you are

interested in the environment. If

you don't want to see any more,

click here. Not every political

party or campaign or business is

going to be able to get the right at

that at the right person all the

time but they want to advertise. At

the same time you should be able to

say, I don't want to see this any

more. It is about the rules and

transparency with which you operate.

In my opinion there is nothing wrong

with political campaigns like any

business or any group of people

wanting to talk to people on social

media.

I wonder if people on social

media as they did over those

details, even if it is obvious, who

read the terms and conditions? Is it

fair when people are giving over

that information that it gets used

by political parties because they

might not realise it.

There is a big

distinction to make it is not

necessarily used by political

parties...

It is used to target.

It

is used to target by Facebook.

You

have never used it within political

campaigning information you had to

target particular voters?

You can do

that as well, it is nothing new.

Political parties even before

Facebook were delivering Leaf books

to people that were different in one

area to another, people are

interested in their local

communities. If you have a young

family you might have interest in

child care or shared parental leave

and someone who did not a family

might not be interested in that.

People say that politics is too

distant. There is merit in that also

we can't say at the same time that

we cannot allow political partisan

campaigns to talk to people about

the issues that we know matter to

them. That is part and parcel of

politics whether on the doorstep or

on an app on your phone. While there

are serious questions to answer in

this, we have to be careful about

throwing the baby out with the bath

water and saying that all political

campaigning online, as long as it is

done appropriately and transparency

and people can unsubscribe from all

of the things that people should do

and by and large do do, it can be a

force for good.

Thank you for coming

in.

The hashtag DeleteFacebook

has been trending

for the last 24 hours in protest

at the company's data

and privacy policies.

Let's speak to two people who have

deleted their accounts.

James Giblin, who's been on Facebook

for ten years and is

training to be a teacher.

And Eva Dull, who's

been on it nine years

and works in marketing.

Is it a knee jerk reaction or had

you thinking about getting off it

for a while?

I have been thinking

about it for a while. This kind of

thing has been common knowledge

among people for a while, data

breaches and stuff like that. And on

the back of the Twitter campaign, I

thought it was something to get

behind to finally push Facebook into

the past.

What about you, Eva, why

did you decide to the league now?

I

have been thought about deleting for

two or three years. I think when

Facebook became a bit frustrating,

not sure if they ran ads before it

is well, but it was two and a half

years ago when it started

frustrating the. I started using it

less and less. I have not really

posted anything in about a year. So

I think this was kind of like what

pushed me over the edge and I said,

I don't actually get anything out of

it.

In that sense is it about trust

or saying that I'm done?

I think I

kind of doubted the trust issue a

while ago because I have been

expecting some kind of a story like

this to break for some time. I have

been following Cambridge Analytica

for just over a year. And I think

this was kind of the final straw but

at the same time I feel...

It looks

like we have lost the line with Eva.

We can bring in James again. Do you

think we are a bit naive in what we

share on Facebook? It is free to

use, they will want something out

the deal, something back, and

ultimately that is our information.

I understand that but a lot of users

might be over 50 and not really

familiar with how the internet works

and how Facebook works as a

platform. Nobody is given a crash

course in how to use the platform.

They might be naive in the sense

that they might share personal

information like bank details to the

partners and they are not aware of

where the data has been stored or

what it is being used for and things

like that.

Thank you for joining us

this morning and explaining why you

are deleting Facebook. More on the

breaking news we brought you

earlier, reports from Texas that a

suspected serial bomber has died

after being pursued by police. Some

reports say he blew himself up. It

follows a series of parcel bomb

attacks in the city of Austin where

to Maccabi blabbing killed and

several injured. Our correspondent

can tell us more -- where two people

have been killed.

The breakthrough

happened yesterday where there were

two devices found at two separate

FedEx facilities, one look up and

one did not. They were able to get

DNA from that and also CCTV footage

of a suspect. They released an image

of the suspect in a cap and it

appears this morning that they were

able to locate the suspect at a

hotel outside Austin. They blocked

off Interstate 35, a highway, and

they were pursuing him and it

appears he blew himself up. An

eyewitness was at home when he heard

police sirens.

They were close to

the woods and obviously the cops saw

us and they approached us. I don't

know who it was, they were in

military gear. They asked us to

leave.

You know that the Austin

bombing suspect is dead?

Is he

really?

We were able to confirm

that.

We can go live to Texas where

police are giving a briefing.

About

the level of partnership that has

taken place with our federal

officials, our local officials and

police department to bring this to

an end. And through all of this hard

work, we identified several leads

throughout the course of the week 's

but beginning within the past 24-36

hours a week started getting

information on one person of

interest that we continue to work on

and continued to develop and as we

continued to do our investigations,

this person of interest ultimately

moved to being a suspect and that is

what we started focusing on, his

involvement in these crimes. Late

last night and early this morning we

felt very confident that this was

the suspect in the bombing incidents

that took place in Austin. We had

surveillance teams looking for the

suspect and we ultimately located

the vehicle that this suspect was

known to be driving and witnesses

told us he was driving and in fact

we found that at a hotel right up

the road here. We had multiple

officers from both the police

department and our federal partners

that took up the dishes around the

hotel awaiting the arrival of our

tactical teams because we wanted to

have ballistic vehicles here so we

could attempt to take this suspect

into custody as safely as possible.

While we were waiting for those

vehicles to get here, much time had

passed and the vehicle started to

drive away. We began following the

vehicle, again, waiting to get the

tactical vehicles here so we could

make a stop. However, the vehicle

ended up stopping in the ditch at

the side of the road behind us. As

members of the Austin police

Department SWAT team approached the

vehicle, the suspect detonated a

bomb inside the vehicle, knocking

one of our SWAT officers back and

one of them fired at the suspect as

well. The suspect is deceased and

has significant injuries from a

blast that occurred from detonating

a bomb inside his vehicle. We cannot

name the suspect at this time

because he has not been positively

identified yet by the medical

examiner and next of kin have not

yet been notified.

That is a live

press conference from Austin Texas

with police giving us an update on

the suspect linked to the parcel

bomb attacks, giving the status of

his death in the early hours of this

morning. We will bring you updates

on that in the programme. That get

the latest weather now.

It has been a chilly start for many,

some lovely pictures coming in, some

frost on the ground and sunshine to

start the day as well. The sunshine

some of us have will turn hazier

through the day and that is because

we have a weather front which

continues its journey moving

south-eastward and taking the cloud

with it as it does and some will

have some patchy rain and drizzle.

It will be mild, the cloud in

Scotland, Northern Ireland and

England, colder in the South so we

have the blues and even today later

on and tomorrow, most of us will

have milder conditions. The bright

sunny skies across England and Wales

will be replaced by hazier skies,

again some patchy light rain and

drizzle, mostly across northern

England and Wales. Still some

showery outbreaks in Scotland behind

the main weather front. We could see

12 Celsius this afternoon in

Scotland and we have not had that

for some time. Further south, 7-11d.

This evening and overnight the

weather front continues to move

south eastwards, taking the rain

with it, and the showery outbreaks

continue in western Scotland. In

between with clearer skies, some

patchy mist and fog. Not many

problems with frost because

temperatures compared to this

morning are much higher also this

morning it was freezing or below but

tomorrow it is 5-7d for that if

there is any the likelihood it will

be part of Wales and south-west

England. Heading through the morning

tomorrow, we will lose any patchy

mist and fog and it will brighten up

nicely with sunshine but like today

the cloud will build on the west,

turning the sunshine in Haiti ahead

of this weather front which will

bring some more substantial rain and

windier conditions. Temperatures

still in good shape, 10-12, a bit

cool in Lerwick. This fund will move

from West to east through the

evening and overnight -- with this

front. On Friday morning it will

continue, claiming eastern Scotland

and England but if you follow it

around you can see the other end in

the north and west of Scotland with

some hill snow possible. This next

band of rain is coming in from the

south-west. The extent of it is

questionable but still a bad -- a

good day.

Hello it's Wednesday,

it's 10 o'clock, I'm Chloe Tilley

in for Victoria Derbyshire.

Our top story today -

after years of a 1% pay cap,

the government is expected

to announce a significant pay

increase for NHS staff

in England, apart from doctors

Staffing issues have to be

addressed, vacancies have to be

addressed. The whole issue of using

agencies sat -- staff on double

shifts has to be addressed. In that

context it is significant that the

pay award has been made.

If you work for the NHS, do get

in touch and tell us your reaction.

Plus - there's been a huge rise

in the number of women

using donated eggs to get pregnant.

You get married and then your

friends have kids and it's just not

happening to you. It suddenly

becomes the most important thing in

your life.

The only thing you can focus on.

We'll be talking live to a woman

who's donated her eggs four times,

and another women who's had a child

thanks to a donation

of an egg from her friend.

And what next for the

future of Ant and Dec?

We'll look at what impact Ant's

arrest on suspicion of drink-driving

will have on the pair's many

successful TV programmes.

Good morning.

Here's Joanna in the BBC Newsroom

with a summary of today's news.

Good morning.

More than a million NHS staff

are poised for a pay rise,

with a deal that could be worth

as much as £4 billion

being announced by lunchtime today.

The BBC understands that health

bosses and unions have

reached an agreement that will mark

an end to a seven-year cap

and boost the salaries

of workers including nurses,

porters and paramedics -

but not doctors.

Facebook will be questioned by

politicians in Washington today, as

the company comes under growing

pressure to explain how data was

used by a British company during the

British general election. It is

alleged the data was used to

influence the income. Both firms

deny any wrongdoing.

Reports from the United States say

the suspect in a series of bombings

in Texas has died,

after blowing himself up.

Five devices have detonated

so far this month,

and killed two people.

A sixth parcel bomb was intercepted

before it exploded.

As members of the Austin police

Department SWAT team approached the

vehicle, the suspect detonated a

bomb inside the vehicle, knocking

one of our SWAT officers back. One

of our SWAT officers fired at the

suspect as well. The suspect is

deceased and has significant

injuries from a blast that occurred

from detonating a bomb inside his

vehicle.

Unemployment rose by

24,000 to 1.45 million

in the three months to January.

It was the second month in a row

to show an increase.

However, the rate of

unemployment was down

slightly, from 4.4% to 4.3%.

Average earnings including bonuses

rose by 2.8% in the same period.

That's a summary of the latest BBC

News - more at 10.30.

Thank you very much. Let me read you

some of the comments people are

getting in touch with us about

painkillers. We were talking about

how easily -- two guests were

talking about how easy it was for

them to become addicted. David has

been taking painkillers for 20

years. Last month he was rushed into

hospital with his stomach bleeding.

He had blood transfusions, lost two

stone in weight and is now having

injections every three months. Simon

has got in touch, saying in a bully

went to three different doctors in

five days with horrendous back pain

and was giving increasing amounts of

painkillers. He was paralysed from

the waist down with the loss of

bladder function due to our bladder

-- an abscess. Do share your

experiences.

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 me bring you this breaking news

which we are getting from Nigeria.

Boko Haram militants have released

76 of the 110 schoolgirls were

abducted from the north-eastern town

of Duchy back in February. Very

similar to the Chibok girls many

years ago. The government said this

in a statement this morning. The

information minister said 76 had so

far been documented and they are

adding details of that throughout

the morning. As we get more details,

we will bring it to you. Good news

coming from Nigeria. 76 schoolgirls

abducted in north-eastern Nigeria

have been released. Now the sport

with John. Good morning. A place at

the Cricket World Cup hangs in the

balance for Scotland. A victory over

the West Indies and a place at the

tournament next year in England and

Wales is theirs. They made the best

possible start. Chris Gale went with

the first ball of the day. The

Windies 2-2 at that stage. Did

recover. Lewis made 50 from 63

balls. He went. Then the key wicket

of Samuels followed. He was caught

in the deep. Scotland have made

another breakthrough. A short while

ago 135-5, the West Indies. Going

well in Zimbabwe with the world Cup

spot in Scotland's reach. For

England, immediate thoughts turn to

their two test series with New

Zealand. Ben Stokes is set to

return. Captain Joel Ruud says he is

a 31 player. And that Stokes is

itching to get back. -- Joe Root.

Coming back into high-intensity

cricket, having spent a lot of time

out of the game, and managing it

quite shrewdly, has been really

mature of him, actually. He is

someone who likes to do things at

150 million mph all the time. You

can see the maturity starting to

show through a bit more. That is

only a good thing for us moving

forward.

The football World Cup is

85 days away and the battle for

places is hotting up for England, in

particular in goal. Nick Pope was

working as a milkman nine years ago

having been released by Ipswich

Town. Now he is battling it out for

the number one spot in the England

squad. His story is pretty

impressive. Having been released at

16, he had spelt outside before

bully before joining Burnley. He

only got his chance this is season

because of an injury to Tom Heaton.

He has been rewarded with an England

call-up and could make his

international debut in the

forthcoming friendlies with the

Netherlands and Italy. If you are

questioning a fee is the right pick

for the World Cup, he says he is a

safe pair of hands having never

dropped a bottle on Isobel Grant. --

on his milk round.

No, I was clean!

I were on a float. Electric.

What is

the best thing about being an

England player?

Can I call myself

that if I have not played? OK! I

think it's just the honour, really.

Obviously the moment from Thursday,

being around people who've been

there from the start, people who

have travelled the journey with me,

to share with them was something I

will never forget.

We wonder if that story will

continue, of course. It would be

pretty impressive if he does get

selected for those friendlies. Lots

of competition. The women's

Champions League continues tonight.

Manchester City and Chelsea in

action. City host Linkopings. In the

WS -- WSL they are second behind

Chelsea, who play Montpellier

tonight. If both teams progress, it

would be the first time to British

clubs have reached the semifinals of

the competition.

We have done our homework on them

and we know they are a really good

team. They have dominated Swedish

football for a while. It will be a

big game. Tough opponents. It will

be nice to have a home game. We

played a wafer about ten games in a

row. It has been hard put to the

home support, we have great

supporters, great fans, and we love

having them at home.

Yeah, excited. Just one of two big

games later.

Now back to you. Let me bring you

this news. Pope Francis is going to

visit Ireland for six days in

August. That news just reaching us.

He will head to Ireland for six days

this summer.

The number

of women using donated eggs to try

and get pregnant has risen sharply

in the past 10 years,

latest figures show.

In 2006, 1,912 women had

IVF using a donor egg

instead of their own -

by 2016 that had risen 59% to 3,924.

The Human Fertilisation

and Embryology Authority say

the rise is down to a greater

awareness of donation

as an option, more donors,

and more same sex couples,

single and older women using them -

as well as a rise in the number

of women donating their eggs.

BBC Look North reporter

Ali Fortescue has spent time

with two women who have gone

through both sides

of the process.

It is the greatest gift that any

woman can give to another.

It can be a lifelong commitment,

but really, it's a drop in the ocean

compared to what the couples have

to go through to make

their baby possible.

The road to parenthood

isn't always easy.

In her late 30s, Amanda was told

she could not have children.

But six years and four

rounds of IVF later,

thanks to an egg donor,

Amanda has given birth

to her son, Max.

I had him when I was 44

so I was a really late starter.

Not for want of trying,

because we tried for about five

years to have a baby naturally,

and it was not until we went down

the IVF route that we found out

that it was never going to happen

for us.

Which, as you can imagine,

was devastating.

I just think it's something

that people expect.

It's something you expect

will happen at some point.

I was never broody but when you get

married and then your friends have

kids and it's just not happening

to you, it suddenly becomes the most

important thing in your life.

The only thing that

you can focus on.

For somebody to be able to give that

gift to another woman,

it's such a selfless act.

It's like the ultimate selfless act

that a woman can do is,

she's made my family.

She's made me a family.

It's amazing.

It's something that

people take for granted.

It's something that I've

tried so hard to achieve

and it is my greatest

achievement, having him.

But Amanda's story isn't unique.

The number of women having children

over 40 is at its highest

level for 70 years.

And more than half of those over

the age of 45 having

IVF use donated eggs,

which may explain the rise

of nearly 60% in the number of women

using donor eggs for IVF since 2011.

Meet Cathy, another mother,

expecting her third child.

But before starting a family

of her own, she donated eggs five

times to families that

she'd never met.

Somebody in my family had been

struggling with infertility for many

years, and I'd had a close friend

who had had multiple

miscarriages, so there was nothing

I could do to help either of those

friends and family members,

but it was quite frustrating

watching them go through this

heartbreaking journey,

and then there was a really kind

of straightforward way for me

to help other couples

who were going through fertility

battles of their own.

What was the actual process

like of donating your eggs?

It was quite straightforward really.

I just had some tests

and they all came back fine.

It was a case of matching my

menstrual cycle with the couple

I was helping, and then

it was about two weeks of taking

drugs and having eggs

collected at the end of that.

A lot of people think that

because you are doing the first half

of an IVF cycle it's very

gruelling on the body,

pumping yourself full of hormones,

but I think for a couple

going through IVF themselves, yes,

it's a gruelling process,

because hormones can

send you a bit doolally.

But when you are an egg donor,

you have got a vested interest

in helping somebody,