22/01/2018 BBC News at One

"You quit."

Six of Ukip's senior members have

now resigned in protest

against the party

leader Henry Bolton.

They've left because

he won't step down

after a vote against him

and a string of stories

about his private life.

We'll bring you all

the latest from Westminster.

If he hangs around politics, given

what has happened and the nature of

his inner sanctum, I don't think it

will be good for him or anyone he is

with.

Also this lunchtime:

a government watchdog

questions the accuracy

of some of England's A&E

waiting time figures.

The head of the army is to warn that

Britain's armed forces risk falling

behind Russia if they

aren't given more money.

The Red Arrows pilot who died

after being accidentally ejected

from his plane,

the seat manufacturer

admits responsibility.

And Monday morning,

but no return to work for hundreds

of thousands of Americans

as the federal shutdown continues.

Coming up in sport on BBC News,

shock defeat for Novak Djokovic.

Pressure continues to mount on UKIP

leader Henry Bolton this lunchtime

after four senior members

resigned,

including the party's deputy leader,

its assistant deputy leader,

its immigration spokesman,

its trade spokesman.

Deputy leader Margot Parker,

resigned last night. They've all

stood down in protest at Henry

Bolton's refusal to quit as leader,

following a string of revelations

about his private life - even though

the party executive backed a vote of

no confidence in him. Our Political

Correspondent Alex Forysth, is at

Westminster.

Over the course of the

weekend and over the course of the

morning, one after another, senior

figures in Ukip have walked away

from their positions on the front

bench in protest at the decision by

Henry Bolton to stay on, they say

his personal life has become too

much of a distraction and he has to

go. The question now is how long he

can hang on in his post and only

this morning Henry Bolton told me he

has no plans to

resign

I'm not making any comment.

Despite growing pressure, he says

he's not going anywhere, Henry

Bolton insisting he wants to keep

leading Ukip, even though the ruling

body says he should quit and now, a

string of senior members have

resigned because he will not go.

Including Margot Parker, he stepped

down as deputy leader, Mike Hookem

has quit as assistant deputy, Tim

Aker, as local government spokesman,

David Curtin, as front man for

education, William Dartmouth has

given up his job as trade spokesman,

and John Bickley has walked away

from his role with immigration.

If

he hangs around politics, given what

has happened and the nature of

everything that has happened, it

will not be good for him or everyone

he is with. My advice would be,

look, Henry, we don't want to keep

arguing with you and causing you any

more trouble, why don't you just go

and sort out your personal life.

It

is over his relationship with

25-year-old Jo Marney, he says it is

over after she had to apologise for

sending racist text messages, that

has not appease critics. After being

elected only four months ago,

promising to restore unity, his

position risks tearing the party

apart. This is where Ukip has marked

some of its big moments, outside

Europe house, the key EU base in

London, but after it's success in

the Brexit referendum, Ukip lost

direction and has been plagued by

bitter infighting, with four leaders

in just over a year, prompting some

to ask whether now anyone can lead

this party back from the brink. The

party chairman today insisted Ukip

still has a role in representing

those who backed Brexit.

That is why

Ukip are so important and why we

must stay on the field of play, get

our house in order and do it

quickly, once we have, we have a

purpose. 17.4 million voters are

important.

Even those embroiled in

the leadership crisis recognise how

damaging it is audible Likud party.

-- damaging it is for the league at

-- for the beleaguered party.

He says he does not want his future

to be decided by senior members

within Ukip. They will vote on his

future, that could be a vote not

just on the fate of Henry Bolton but

on the face of Ukip as a whole.

NHS England has been asked to

explain changes to the way hospitals

calculate their figures for Accident

and Emergency treatment times. The

UK Statistics Authority says the

alterations could have left people

reaching "misleading conclusions".

Our Health Editor, Hugh Pym is here

with more details. What has been

going on?

The four our accident and

Emergency target for patients to be

discharged after admitting, that is

a gauge of how well it is doing,

what the statistics watchdog is

saying,

is, we are not sure if you are

calculating these figures

accurately, people may have reached

misleading conclusions about how

well or not the local hospital is

doing, following information

supplied by the BBC about how

walking centres and minor injury

centres are treated by the trust,

they are allowed to include them in

figures if they run the centres but

not if they are elsewhere in the

local community run by a different

provider. It seems at least six

trusts started doing this and it

improved their performance, it may

well have been more. An e-mail seed

by the BBC suggests they may have

been in courage to do so by the

regulator, NHS Improvement, they say

it is up to individual trusts to

accurately report these figures,

there is no intention to

artificially inflate the figures,

but certainly, the fact that the

stats watchdog is looking into this

suggests there is some worry about

it because these stats have to be

done transparently and any changes

are not acceptable unless they are

declared in advance.

What difference

is likely to happen, what are they

being asked to do?

The BBC

understands it could be every trust

must recalculate the figures going

back over a year, month on month

data may have to be changed. May not

change very much but the principle

of the thing. For a patient trying

to judge the performance of their

local hospital, these figures are

important, if it changes thanks to

the way the data has been compiled,

that is a pretty serious matter.

The head of the army says

the government must invest more

in the armed forces or risk falling

behind "potential enemies."

In a speech later this afternoon,

General Sir Nick Carter will say

Britain can't afford to sit back

while countries like Russia

improve their capabilities.

His comments have been

approved by the Defence

Secretary Gavin Williamson

and come amid speculation that

the military is to face more cuts.

Richard Galpin reports.

For three years now, the Russian

military has been asserting itself

on the world stage. Playing a

Kieran, for example, in the Syrian

Civil War. -- playing a key role. It

has been spending heavily to develop

sophisticated weapons, like missiles

fired into Syria from the Caspian

Sea, a distance of almost 1000

miles. Now, the head of the British

Army, General Sir Nick Carter, is

claiming Russia's growing capability

including in cyber warfare is

eclipsing Britain's Armed Forces,

which are potentially facing further

deep cuts. In a speech later today,

is it better to say:

-- he is expected to say.

If we go

back to the planning round in 2012,

when the army was reduced to 80,000,

there was a promise made of an

uplift to make sure that the army of

2020 was properly equipped and

capable. And it seems to me that the

government at the moment is

threatening to reduce that. And I

think that would be a big mistake.

That fear of further budget cuts to

the army and other services is

probably what is driving today's

announcement by the army chief. It

is extremely unlikely British forces

will confront Russia alone. It would

only be as part of Nato, which has a

military budget more than ten times

that of the Russians. There is no

doubt Russia has become more

aggressive, these exercises, for

example, held last year in the

European part of the country. The

government here insist that with

commitments to Nato, Britain's

security is not in doubt.

A manufacturing firm that makes

ejector seats has admitted breaching

a health and safety law over

the death of a Red Arrows pilot.

Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham

died in 2011 after being

accidentally ejected from his plane.

Danny Savage is at

Lincoln Crown Court.

Sean Cunningham was 35 years old,

fast jet pilot with the RAF, he had

flown Tornados and seen action in

Iraq. His dream as a boy was to

become a red arrows pilot. Ascribed

as an absolute gentleman he achieved

his goal but was tragically killed

as he prepared for a training flight

back in 2011. -- described. The

manufacturer of the ejector seat

have pleaded guilty to breaching

health and safety laws.

This is the Red Arrows Hawk jet that

Sean Cunningham was rejected from,

the Egyptian seat was

unintentionally triggered as he

carried out his preflight checks, it

went off while the plane was

stationary on the ground. -- the

ejector seat. Not only did his seat

reject him from his brain, but the

parachute attached failed to deploy,

should have saved his life but

instead he crashed back down to the

ground, still strapped in the seat.

He died from his injuries. The Red

Arrows are based here at RAF scans

and in Lincolnshire, which is where

Flight Lieutenant Sean Cunningham

was injured, fatally, in November,

2011. His inquest heard that an over

tightened nut and bolt stopped it

from working properly, and the

manufacturers of that seat, Martin

Baker, knew about the issue and told

some air forces but not the Ministry

of Defence, and so the engineers

here were unaware of the issue. Sean

Cunningham's sister, mother and

father were at Lincoln Crown Court

today, to hear the guilty plea from

Martin Baker. This has been a long

ordeal for them.

We welcome the

conclusion of the coroner, which

confirmed what we knew all along.

Sean was blameless and his tragic

death... Excuse me...

death... Excuse me... His tragic

death was preventable.

--

Martin-Baker. The director of

Martin-Baker, John Martin, second

left, admitted the health and safety

charge on behalf the company, but

Martin-Baker continues to work with

the Red Arrows and the rest of the

RAF, as they make all of the ejector

seats for fast jets.

Martin-Baker have expressed their

deepest condolences to the family

and friends of Sean Cunningham, in a

statement today, they will face a

sentencing hearing next month.

The trial of a man accused

of the Finsbury Park

mosque attack has begun.

Darren Osborne is accused

of deliberately driving

a van into worshippers,

killing one person.

He denies murder

and attempted murder.

Daniel Sandford is following

the case at Woolwich Crown Court.

What happened in court today?

The

jury were told that Darren Osborne

is facing charges of the murder of

Ali and the attempted murder of

other people, the prosecution

counsel said that the defendant

deliberately drove a heavy Luton box

van into a group of Muslims in the

early hours of the 19th and, and the

prosecution says the defendant was

trying to kill as many of the group

as possible. In the event he killed

one person, a 51 your old man,

Makram Ali, his family were in court

today. -- 51-year-old man. The

prosecution asked the jury why

someone would do such a wicked

thing, the prosecution says, easy

answer, Darren Osborne had left a

note, found in the van, and the note

read, why are their terrorist on our

streets today, three recent terror

attacks, children splattered against

walls at concerts. The prosecution

say Darren Osborne had become

obsessed also with events in

Rochdale, where Muslim men were

accused of abusing young women.

Darren Osborne wrote in the note,

when people get it, this is

happening up and down our green and

pleasant land, feral inbred Muslim

men preying on children hunting in

packs. It is the prosecution's case

that this was a terrorist attack

designed to intimidate the Muslim

community. The case is set to last

about two weeks.

A 54-year-old man, arrested

after an eight-year-old girl

was stabbed to death near Walsall

in the West Midlands,

is understood to be her father.

Mylee Billingham died in hospital

after being found seriously injured

on Saturday evening.

Her father, believed

to be Bill Billingham,

is critically ill with a stab wound

to the stomach.

Sima Kotecha reports.

Eight-year-old Mylee Billingham,

described as a little angel, she was

stabbed to death at the weekend.

Tributes lay outside the bungalow in

the area of Brownhills, near

Walsall, it is where police were

called to just after 9pm, Saturday.

Mylee was found inside with serious

injuries, rushed to hospital but

police say medics were unable to

save her. She died a short time

later. A couple of doors down,

neighbours are in shock.

It's terrible. It's just... It's

usually quiet down here, nothing

like this happens down here.

A

54-year-old man was arrested

yesterday on suspicion of attempted

murder. The BBC understands he is

Bill Billingham, the father of Mylee

Billingham. He was taken to hospital

with a stab wounds to his stomach

and is said to be in a critical

condition. At Miley's school

headteacher had this to say.

We are

all number and in shock. Everyone at

the school is completely devastated.

Mylee Billingham was dearly loved by

us or Geoff Hurst smile lit up the

room and in fact it never left her

face. She was a fun loving, happy

eight-year-old who had her whole

life ahead of her. She took a full

part in school life, particularly

and enjoying singing and performing.

She was just a lovely girl. Our

hearts go out to her family at this

difficult time.

Police are treating

what happened as a domestic incident

and say they're not looking for

anybody else. A postmortem

examination is taking place today to

try and work out the exact cause of

Mylee Billingham's. , the little

angel whose short life ended in a

tragic way.

Our top story this lunchtime.

Six of Ukip's senior members have

now resigned in protest

against the party leader Henry

Bolton.

And tributes are paid to Jimmy

Armfield, who has died aged 82.

As the working week begins

in the United States,

hundreds of thousands of employees

will not be behind their desks,

as federal government services

are still shut down.

Senators held a rare

Sunday sitting yesterday,

but delayed a vote on a budget

measure which would have allowed

civil servants to go back to work.

Democrats and Republicans remain

in deadlock, with President Trump's

immigration policy one

of the main sticking points.

From Washington,

David Willis reports.

Members of Congress met

throughout the weekend,

desperate to find a solution

to a crisis that has shutdown

desperate to find a solution

to a crisis that has shut down

the government of the largest

economy in the world.

At the other end of Pennsylvania

Avenue, the president,

too, was in residence,

after shelving plans to attend

a fund-raising dinner

at his Florida retreat Mar-a-Lago.

At issue, the fate of these people,

the so-called dreamers,

young people brought

to the United States illegally

whom President Trump is threatening

to deport in a few weeks' time.

Democrats want to link their fate

to a funding bill that

would end the shutdown.

The Republicans want

it debated separately.

Yet despite having the majority

in both houses of Congress,

Republicans need the opposition's

support in order to get a funding

bill through the Senate.

After several days of rancour,

the Republican leader pledged

to bring the dreamers issue up

for debate within the next

few weeks, in return

for ending the shutdown.

The shutdown should stop today.

And we'll soon have a vote that

will allow us to do exactly that.

So, let's step back from the brink,

let's stop victimising the American

people and get back to work

on their behalf.

But Democrats are adamant they want

an earlier agreement to protect

the dreamers from deportation.

We've had several conversations,

talks will continue.

But we have yet to reach

an agreement on a path forward that

would be acceptable for both sides.

The White House released pictures

of President Trump receiving

updates from Capitol Hill,

but the president has been

criticised by Democrats

for what they call his shifting

positions on immigration.

Chuck Schumer said on Saturday

it was like negotiating with Jell-o.

The last government shop down

here in 2013 lasted 16 days

The last government shutdown

here in 2013 lasted 16 days

and caused the closure of many

national parks and monuments.

It also led to around 800,000

workers being placed

on temporary leave.

The effects of this shutdown

will start to be felt today,

as the working week gets

under way here.

The Senate will reconvene later

in the hope of resolving this game

of political brinkmanship.

The vote is set for noon.

David Willis, BBC News, Washington.

Our correspondent Jane

O'Brien is in Washington.

How likely is it that senators will

reach a deal today?

Well, they do

seem to be inching out close to some

kind of compromises, but the issue

will be, will it be enough? The

Republicans are suggesting,

indicating, that they will be open

to look at the legislation to deal

with this issue of dreamers in the

next few weeks or so. But Democrats

are very worried that if they don't

get a firm guarantee, they will lose

all leverage that they would have

obtained by shutting down the

government. So, the irony is that

most Americans think that their

SHOULD be some protection for

dreamers, but most Americans also

want the government to stay open. So

at what point does this issue become

a worth the fight that we're now

seeing in Congress over government

funding? That will be the point I

think at which one party or the

other will blink is in the political

fallout from this is likely to be

considerable on both sides of. There

is enough blame here to go around

all parties and the President. And

of course we're coming into the

mid-term elections, when the fate of

Congress could change hands. There

could be a shift in power. So there

is a lot riding on this. It's not

just about immigration. And also,

today is when most people will start

to feel the effects of the shutdown.

At the weekend people were not at

work and were not asking for

services. Today, that could change

and we could see an increase in

anger from ordinary Americans are

able Jane O'Brien, many thanks.

The Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson

is meeting his US counterpart Rex

Tillerson in London this lunchtime.

The two men are expected

to discuss the situation

in Syria, Iran and Yemen.

The meeting comes at a difficult

time in transatlantic relations -

after President Trump refused

to visit the UK and open

the new US embassy.

Let's speak to our Diplomatic

Correspondent James Landale

who's in central London.

What have they been discussing?

Well, Rex Tillerson met the Prime

Minister in Downing Street this

morning and he is having lunch with

the the Foreign Secretary at his

official residence right now. The

context for this meeting was clearly

the rocky patch in the UK-US

relationship. Both countries have

differences over fundamental issues

of international affairs and also

the president is refusing to come to

Britain to open his new embassy.

What was interesting in that public

remarks that were made in the last

hour is that yes, Rex Tillerson, the

Secretary of State gave the usual

reassurances about the importance of

the relationship, particularly on

security and the economy, but he

also said, we need to pay attention

to that relationship. That was a

tacit acknowledgement that things

are not great at moment and need to

be improved before the Prime

Minister meets the President in

Davos later this week. In terms of

the substance of the talks, they

discussed the situation in northern

Syria, the new Turkish offensive

against the Kurds and they were at

one in saying there needs to be

restraint on all sides. Yes, Turkey

has a right to defend its border and

the Kurds have been a strong ally in

the fight against IS but there needs

to be restraint and a limit on

civilian casualties. On the other

crucial part of the talks, Iran, I

think there will be less common

ground. That's what they're talking

about right now. The president is

fiercely opposed to the Iran nuclear

deal. The British and the Europeans

are trying to do whatever they can

to protect that deal, which they

think genuinely makes the world

safer. So, that I think will be the

area where the talks will be quite

tough.

Thank you.

A former Treasury minister

and Remain supporter says economic

growth in the UK is likely to be

better than predicted this year.

Lord O'Neill thinks gloomy forecasts

about the possible effects of Brexit

are likely to be "dwarfed"

by improved global economy activity.

Our economics correspondent

Andy Verity is here -

unexpected views from a Remainer?

That's right. If you remove a 18

months ago, the Remain side were

saying it would be a disaster if we

had a Brexit vote. The Treasury

itself was saying the effects would

be immediate and profound, talking

about half a million more

unemployed, maybe 800,000. That

didn't happen, in fact come and

implement has gone down. The growth

has not been quite what we were used

to before, it has generally been

less than 2% for the last couple of

years. We know that they have had a

uncertainty on the one hand, because

we don't know the outcome of the

Brexit negotiations. That makes it

difficult for corporations who want

to invest to be able to predict how

the future is going to work out and

work out whether they want to invest

or not. That has slowed it down. On

the other hand we have the weaker

pound, which has slowed down

consumer spending because imports

have got more expensive, but it has

helped exporters, because their

goods are more competitive. That has

helped growth, as the former

Treasury Minister Lord O'Neill has

been forced to admit.

I certainly

would not have thought the UK

economy would be as robust as it

currently seems. But that is because

it looks to me like some parts of

the country, led by the north-west,

are actually doing way better than

people seemed to realise or

appreciate, as well as this crucial

fact, the rest of the world is doing

way better than many people would

have thought a year ago. So, it

makes it easier for the UK.

So,

ironically, Rita, one of the biggest

reasons is that the Eurozone is

doing a lot better, because the

pound is weaker, they want our cars,

which has helped to lift car

exports, while at home we are not

buying as many cars. It has all

helped to rebalance the economy and

although growth is not as good as it

used to be, it is certainly better

than most of the dire predictions.

One in three young women in the UK

are avoiding smear tests

for cervical cancer,

because they're embarrassed

to show their bodies to doctors,

according to a health charity.

Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust,

which surveyed more than 2000 women,

said cervical cancer is the most

common cancer in women under 35,

yet the majority of those questioned

didn't know they were most at risk.

Here's our Health Correspondent

Michelle Roberts.

A smear test can help find abnormal

cells before they turn into cancer.

But of the 5 million women in the UK

invited for screening each year, one

in four do not attend.

We need a bit

more education around the problems,

around what a smear test is. For me

like being under 205I just don't do

it told anything about it.

When you

got your U were in different about

going?

Indeed I was a little bit

worried, what is it about? But I

really have to do it and actually I

haven't done it but probably I have

to do it.

I think it will be awhile

before I just kind of like have to

go for it, and that's basically all

there is to it.

It is helpful to

have a friend who can come with you

maybe and sit in the waiting area

and stuff that.

The survey by Jo's

Cervical Cancer Trust found one in

three of young women aged between 25

and 35 were embarrassed to attend

the smear test. A third said they

would not go if they had not waxed

their bikini area. One in six said

they would rather miss their smear

test then go to a gym class. When

Jade Goody died of cervical cancer

in 2009, extra women turned up for

tests. A decade on the number

turning up is low again and experts

are worried.

Virtually all of my

patients feel the need to apologise

to me before we start. I'm really

sorry I haven't waxed my legs, I am

sorry I didn't shave, I am sorry I

had a show yesterday rather than

this morning. My answer is, I don't

think about that, I am here to do a

job, we're doing the examination or

the proceeding and that is that.

This man is chief executive of Jo's

Cervical Cancer Trust. He says body

image issues could be putting lives

in danger. Cycle cancer is largely

preventable. Smear tests prevent a

large percentage of all cervical

cancers of. If women are being put

off attending screening, there is a

real risk that more women being

diagnosed and potentially losing

their lives. Women aged 25 dew 49

are offered tests every three years

on the NHS. Those between 50 and 64,

every five years. Getting checked

save lives.

Princess Eugenie has become

engaged to her long-term

boyfriend Jack Brooksbank.

A statement from Buckingham Palace

said the couple got engaged

in Nicaragua earlier this month.

The wedding will take place

in the autumn of this year

at George's Chapel in Windsor.

The former England football captain,

Jimmy Armfield, has died aged 82.

He played for Blackpool

for seventeen years and represented

his country 43 times.

After retiring he worked

as a summariser for BBC Radio.

Our sports correspondent David

Ornsetin looks back at his life.

Jimmy Armfield rose to prominence in

black and white. But he would though

on to carve the most colourful of

careers. Born in Greater Manchester

in 1935, Armfield was perhaps

destined for the field.

COMMENTATOR: Armfield moving up...

And it has hit the post can nearly

always had a little tennis ball in

my pocket, would push it along the

street and play with it if that's

what led to me becoming a

footballer.

One club players have

always been where but Armfield was

one of them, playing 627 games for

Blackpool, many of them as captain,

over 17 years as a dashing

right-back. It is why they have

since named a stand after him and

elected a statue in his honour.

Jimmy was loyal and loved.

He won 43

caps for England.

Armfield, a

perfect interception... 15 of them

as skipper and he was part of the

1966 World Cup winning squad, only

injury preventing him from playing

in the tournament.

They said, you're

not playing in the warm-ups, you've

got to be fit for the start of the

World Cup. And I never played again.

It is better we won, because today,

people look back and they say, you

remember the World Cup squad, you

were a member, it is not the same as

being in the XI who played in the

final. But the point was, it is

better that they won.

Later,

Armfield turned his hand to

management, taking Leeds United to

the 1975 European Cup Final. He

spent the best part of 40 years as a

summariser for the BBC, becoming

known to many as the voice of

football. In a statement the

Armfield family said to me passed

away peacefully after a decade-long

battle with cancer. The flow of

tributes, a fitting reflection of

one of the greats of English

football. The former England

football captain Jimmy Armfield, who

has died aged 82. Let's have a look

at the weather.

at the weather. We have still got

has died aged 82. Let's have a look

at the weather. We have still got

some lying snow in some areas but it

is starting to fall in the coming

days. Yesterday some places

struggled to get above freezing,

whilst the milder air was already

arriving in south-west England. By

tomorrow most of us will be in

double figures, maybe even higher

for parts of Wales and western

England. We have lost the cold air,

the winds have changed direction,

bringing the milder air across the

country. And we've also got some

sunshine this afternoon, not for

everyone but where we have it, 11

Celsius, feeling quite plus and.

More cloud the further west you are.

Showers fading and losing intensity

during the afternoon. A mild day for

all. A fairly quiet evening. Some

icy stretches across eastern parts

of Scotland and north-east England.

Our next spell of wet and windy

weather then arrives from the west

through tomorrow. But it will be a

much milder night. Certainly, a more

unsettled day tomorrow, with

outbreaks of rain spreading

eastwards, coupled with strong

winds. Quite a wet rush-hour for

many. This is how it looks at eight

click the morning. The rain will be

slowly clearing from Northern

Ireland, a little bit more to come

in the afternoon. Some patchy fog.

But also some strong winds. It looks

like the intensity of the rain will

be across the Midlands, East Anglia

and the south-east of England and

the M4 corridor and behind it, some

grey and murky conditions, but mild.

One way or another we're all going

to see some rain tomorrow. It will

not be raining all the time. There

could be some sunshine at times. But

more showers pushing eastwards

through the afternoon. Temperatures

compared to recently, so much

milder.

milder. But there is another system

coming in from the Atlantic and this

time you can see the squeeze in the

isobars, some very windy weather.

Severe gales on Tuesday night

coupled with heavy rain, which will

continue to sink south-eastwards

through Wednesday. Behind it, some

sunshine and showers, but and, which

is are starting to dip again.

Staying winds, particularly on

Thursday.