04/01/2018 BBC News at Six

Tonight at Six:

An apology from Theresa May,

after new figures reveal

the pressure on the NHS this winter.

From ambulance transfer delays,

unprecedented calls, to the hotline

and delayed operations.

We will hope to ensure that those

operations can be reinstated

as soon as possible.

I know it's difficult,

I know it's frustrating,

I know it's disappointing

for people, and I apologise.

So, what happened to all those plans

for dealing with a winter crisis?

Also tonight:

Farming after Brexit -

why just owning land may not

be enough to qualify

for government subsidies.

Homeless in Windsor -

a backlash against the councillor

who says they should be cleared

before the Royal wedding.

It's a big step from primary

to secondary school -

and it's a lot tougher when you add

social media pressure.

Australia take the shine off a good

day for England in the first

day of the final Test.

And coming up on Sportsday,

on BBC News:

Andy Murray pulls out of the first

grand slam of the season,

the Australian Open,

as he continues to struggle

with a long-term hip problem.

Good evening and welcome

to the BBC News at Six.

There's even more evidence today

of the mounting pressure on the NHS

in England this winter.

New figures compiled by the BBC show

that for the last six weeks of 2017,

more than 75,000 patients were left

in ambulances for 30

minutes or more.

That's one in every eight

patients enduring a delay.

And last week was the busiest ever

for the NHS 111 helpline.

It received more than 480,000 calls.

Today, Theresa May apologised

for the thousands of operations that

have already been cancelled.

Our health editor, Hugh Pym,

reports on the NHS winter crisis.

Erm, but we're in a queue

with lots of other people,

who are clearly very sick.

Everybody's waiting to get in...

A patient's-eye view

of the stress across the NHS.

A queue of ambulances waiting

to hand over patients at a hospital.

Leah was stuck for more than an hour

in the ambulance with her mother,

who was at that moment

having a stroke.

Just...

It's just gobsmacking.

It's gobsmacking

and it's devastating.

It's really...

It feels like a sick feeling,

like a sickening feeling

that this is how bad it is.

One Chief Executive even tweeted

a picture of ambulances

at his hospital, Wigan Infirmary.

"A lovely fleet of 14 parked

outside the door," he said.

Handover delays at hospitals are not

good news for patients and they stop

ambulances getting back

on the road again.

The process at A&E units is supposed

to take no more than 15 minutes,

but the latest figures for England

show a sharp increase in the numbers

waiting more than 30 minutes.

BBC analysis shows that

across the system since the end

of November, one in eight have been

held up more than half an hour.

The North West and Eastern regions

saw some of the biggest

numbers of long ambulance

waits at hospitals.

Some of the best performers were in

London and the West of England.

Hello.

Hello.

The Prime Minister was asked again

about the Government's response

with NHS England to the extreme

pressure within hospitals,

postponing a month's worth

of non-urgent operations.

I recognise that it's difficult

if somebody is delayed

on their admission to hospital,

or if somebody has an operation

postponed, and we will hope

to ensure that those operations can

be reinstated as soon as possible.

I know it's difficult,

I know it's frustrating,

I know it's disappointing

for people, and I apologise.

No, I just wondered if you'd had

any update on Daddy?

There are problems for

the NHS across the UK.

Karen's 86-year-old father

in Northern Ireland,

who had a chest infection,

had to wait more than 26

hours for a hospital bed.

There were people on the floor,

there were people sitting on chairs.

Most of them were elderly.

There was an elderly lady that

I remember very vividly

who was slumped in a chair

in her nightdress the whole night.

No-one came near her,

no-one even put a blanket round her.

It was really very distressing.

There were police everywhere,

there were people with blood

pouring out of them.

It was just like a battlefield.

And now there are official figures

showing that flu is putting more

pressure on hospitals.

What we are seeing is a significant

increase in this particular week,

from the last week, in terms

of the number of people

being admitted to hospital

and the numbers of people

who are being admitted

to Intensive Care.

It's too soon to say how severe

the flu season will be,

but it won't take much to add

to the long waits and delays,

as illustrated in these pictures,

already evident across the NHS.

Hugh Pym, BBC News.

Let's go live to the

Royal Preston Hospital

and our correspondent,

Dominic Hughes.

What is the situation there, how is

the hospital coping?

Well, NHS data

tells us the Lancashire teaching

hospitals, of which the Royal

Preston is part, has the worst

ambulance handovers in England. More

than half of the ambulances that

attended the A&E had to wait more

than 30 minutes before discharging

patients over 212 macro and one in

five had to wait for more 60

Minutes. -- handing patients over to

the A&E. In the south-west of

England and London and the North

East, waiting times lower, but the

problems reflect pressured

throughout the system. In community

care, social care, GP services. A&E

is the front door to be and it has

for so many patients and of the

hospitals cannot discharge patients

from their wards into the community,

A&E staff cannot move their patients

off bed apartment on the those wards

and that affects the ambulance

hand-over times. So what happens at

A&E refracts pressures across the

system that is beginning to struggle

with the patient -- with the

pressures of winter.

Thank you very

much.

The negotiations over the Brexit

deal are far from over,

but the Environment Secretary,

Michael Gove, is setting out

proposals for what farming

in England might look like once

we leave the EU.

He wants to replace

the current EU subsidy -

which is based on how much land

you own - with one based

on what you do with the land.

But his proposals wouldn't come

into effect till 2024,

well after another general election.

Here's our business

editor, Simon Jack.

Farming is perhaps the industry most

closely entwined with the EU. For 45

years, those who work on this green

and pleasant land had been

regulated, protected and paid by the

EU. 3 billion a year in subsidies is

paid out to farmers, determined by

how much land they own, that will

change according to the Environment

Secretary.

What I want to do is to

move away from the current method of

subsidy which doesn't really reward

efficiency to a method of

agricultural support which make sure

that good bombers have new markets

for their products and at the same

time that the natural environment is

enhanced.

Under proposals announced

today, the Government would limit

payments to the largest landowners.

It would reward environmental

protection measures such as flood

prevention and support high

standards in animal welfare.

We are

very pleased with the Gove

announcement today because it

provides a level of certainty for

the bombing.

David Barnes 2,000

acres in West Sussex and is glad

these proposals will not comment

until 2024.

It is really important,

it gives is a chance to adjust our

businesses and study the impact of

Brexit and plan accordingly. Farming

is a long-term business. The cattle

we have on the farm, many will not

be sold until we leave the EU so any

chance to plan ahead is really

valuable.

Cut-price competition from

overseas like chickens treated with

chlorine from the US, is banned in

the EU. Some worry that in a rush to

make new trade partners, UK farmers

will be undercut.

Some farmers say,

if that happens, we will just have

to lower our standards to compete.

Well, that is a race to the bottom.

What will happen is, we will lose.

Ultimately, Britain doesn't have the

economies of scale to produce low

quality, low welfare food more

cheaply than other countries.

There

is perhaps no other sector where

opinion is so divided between those

who think Brexit will be the making

of and those who think Brexit will

be the breaking of an industry. Can

you make an agricultural policy

tailor-made for Britain's economy

and environment, or are you taking a

massive gamble by stepping outside

the fence of subsidies and

protection? The farming landscape

may change with Brexit, but

subsidies for farmers are not going

anywhere for six years, proved

perhaps of how hard some habits are

the break.

Let's hear from our Deputy Political

Editor in Westminster. I wonder how

significant these proposals are in

the wider context of Brexit?

The

Governor and has been accused of

making up the Brexit plan as it goes

along so ministers are keen to sell

this idea is thought through, there

are, greener, better value for

public money and they hope popular.

Certainly, it is true the European

Common agricultural policy has been

criticised four-year is as being

wasteful and in need of reform.

Larger landowners may feel this is

too radical and they may not be

happy, but that group does not

normally attract a great amount of

public sympathy and bombers have

been given six years before we see

radical change. We may be seeing

some caps on larger payments --

bombers. There are bigger problems

facing British producers what

tariffs do they have to deal with?

What standards that they face when

the market is opened up the wider

foreign competition? Ministers like

Michael Gove would say nothing to

fear, it will work for everyone, but

a lot of farmers are not convinced

and they will have to wait for the

negotiation process and years beyond

that before they have anything like

a company has a set of answers.

They

give very much. -- a comprehensive

set of answers. Thank you very much.

A London taxi driver,

who's believed to have carried out

more than 100 rapes and sexual

assaults on women who were

passengers in his cab,

is to be freed from jail

after serving ten years in custody.

John Worboys, who is now 60, was

convicted of 19 offences in 2009.

Now a parole board has approved his

release with what it calls

'stringent' licence conditions.

Danny Shaw is with me. What would a

parole board have to consider before

releasing a man like this?

They

would look very carefully at his

case. They would take reports from

prison officers, predation

officials, to look at his offending

history, remarks from the judge who

sentenced him. They would look at

the progress he has made in prison,

whether he has adapted to perhaps

more relaxed prison conditions and

perhaps they have been on day

release, how he has responded to

that, and there will be

psychological assessments as well. I

think one thing that will concern

people is that you have an

individual who has a history of

manipulating women and being

deceitful. The judge said he had

spun a web of deceit against women.

Has he somehow manipulated these

professionals, these

re-professionals, experienced people

on the parole board panel, into

believing that he is now not a

danger to women? When he sentenced

him in 2009, the judge said he

should not be released until he was

no longer a threat to women and I

think that is what will concern

people.

Thank you very much.

The leader of the council in Windsor

is facing a backlash after calling

for rough sleepers and beggars to be

cleared before the

Royal Wedding in May.

Simon Dudley said some people

begging were not in fact homeless,

and had made what he called

a "voluntary choice"

to live on the streets.

Campaigners say his comments

are 'misinformed'.

Adina Campbell reports from Windsor.

It may be one of the country's most

affluent areas with a prime tourist

It's been home to British

kings and queens for

more than 1,000 years.

Windsor Castle is a popular tourist

destination overlooking high-end

shops in one of the country's

most affluent areas.

But, a stone's throwaway

is Stewart's home, a bus

shelter where he's been

living for the last four months.

It's the Royal Borough, isn't it,

the Queen lives right

behind me and the castle,

I think they say with the Royal

wedding coming up, they don't

want us on the street.

Now people like Stewart

are being targeted by the council.

In a three-page letter

to Thames Valley Police,

leader Simon Dudley says,

"there's evidence that a large

number of adults begging in Windsor

are not in fact homeless

and if they are, they're chosing

to reject all supporting services."

He goes on to say, "This is creating

a concerning and hostile atmosphere

for residents and the seven million

tourists who come to

Windsor each year."

But for those out in the cold,

it's a different story.

James has been homeless

for the last 12 months.

He says he never aggressively

begs for money, but is

grateful when people do.

The council has said

that they have offered support

accommodation to people like you.

Why haven't you taken that up?

It's only over the Christmas

period, for four days.

After the four days, you're kicked

back out on the streets.

Windsor Castle is one

of the country's most popular

tourist destinations

and on the 19th of May,

when Prince Harry marries

Meghan Markle here, tens

of thousands of people are expected.

Police and the local authorities

will want to make sure everyone

from all different communities

are safe and secure.

For years, Windsor has been home

to the rich and poor,

but some local businesses say

begging is increasingly

becoming a problem.

There's been a large influence

of these beggars coming

in and, at the moment, it's becoming

a little bit a nightmare.

The Thames Valley Police

and Crime Commissioner says

the homeless community should be

treated with kindness,

but today's letter has created more

unease and uncertainty for those

living here on the streets.

Adina Campbell, BBC News.

The row between Donald Trump

and his former top aide,

Steve Bannon, has intensified,

with lawyers for the President

threatening legal action.

It follows comments attributed

to Mr Bannon in a new book

about the Trump presidency.

He's quoted as saying that a meeting

between Mr Trump's son and a group

of Russians during the presidential

campaign was "treasonous".

Our North American editor,

Jon Sopel, reports.

Hell hath no furious like a Bannon

scorned, it it would seem. Steve

Bannon, who was described as the

brains behind Donald Trump, is now

out in the Washington cold after his

extraordinary attack. The warm words

of last summer but a distant memory.

I like him, he is a good man. He is

not a racist, I can tell you that.

He is a good person. He actually

gets a very good -- of unfair press

in that regard. But we will see what

happens with Mr Bannon, but he is a

good person and I think the press

treats him frankly very unfairly.

Rounding on the president and

President's son-in-law during the

campaign, saying:

And that's provoked rage and fury in

the White House. The president

issuing this unprecedented statement

about a close colleague. When he was

fired, he not only lost his job, he

lost his mind.

Today at the White House, they are

lawyering up, orders to Stephen

Bannon to cease and desist. And the

response from Mr Bannon last night,

white, to declare his unfailing

support for the president.

And that brought this response from

Mr Trump today.

He called me a great

man last night, so he obviously

changed his tune pretty quick.

The

White House is pushing back hard on

the contents of this book,

describing the author, Michael

Wolff, as a fantasist. That despite

him gay -- being given unprecedented

access to the workings of the west

wing and recording hours of

conversations. And even if only 50%

of the book is accurate, it still

paints a damning portrait of a White

House that is dysfunctional and a

president whose paranoid. No wonder

Donald Trump is so angry. Jon Sopel,

BBC News, Washington.

The time is 18:17.

Our top story this evening:

An apology from Theresa May

after new figures reveal

the pressure on the NHS this winter.

And still to come...

The Colmans's mustard factory

in Norwich is to close

after 160 years in the city.

Coming up on Sportsday on BBC News:

It's a familiar tale as two late

wickets scupper an England revival

to give Australia the advantage

going into day two the fifth

and final Ashes Test in Sydney.

It's what every parent knows -

preparing children for the move

from primary to secondary school

is a big and sometimes

challenging time.

But now the Children's Commissioner

for England says young children face

the added anxiety of coping

with what she calls an avalanche

of pressure from social media.

Anne Longfield says parents

and schools need to do more

to prepare them for the emotional

demands it makes.

Elaine Dunkley reports.

For many young people, social media

is at the centre of their lives.

Following, sharing and posting,

part of growing up in a digital age.

But for some children it's a steep

and difficult learning curve.

I made music, I posted it,

I expressed how I felt

so I got a lot of hate

and backlash from that.

James was 12 when he first started

posting images of himself online.

Negative comments have had a huge

impact on his self-esteem.

I wasn't like the average boy

who played football every lunchtime.

I learnt to dance, I love to sing

and act so I got a lot of backlash

from that and loads of harsh

comments in the section.

How did that make you feel?

Trapped, alone.

Because I'm kind of like a confident

person and I don't really

like to tell people stuff

so I was kind of like suffering

in silence for a long time.

James is keen to share his

experience and is now

an anti-bullying campaigner.

Today's report, Life In Likes,

highlights the way children use

social media changes as they go

from primary schools are secondary.

From playing games on devices

to often having their own phones.

As their world expands,

there is pressure to fit in.

Going into secondary school, you are

surrounded by lots of new people you

don't know and you want to impress

them by showing on social media how

great you are and how good a person

you are.

My mum checks my phone

quite regularly, she checks my

Instagram and messages to see that

I'm behaving myself.

Going from

primary school to secondary school

can be a huge transition for a

number of reasons but today's report

highlights the need for young people

to cope with social media.

I would

like the Government to introduce

compulsory online literacy to help

people anticipate what it means, to

help their resilience and help

empower them to be more in control

in their own social media accounts.

Most social media platforms have a

minimum age of 13, but keeping up

with changing apps and trends is a

challenge for parents.

Simple things

like trying to get people round the

table for dinner, the amount of

times I have to call people down

because they are on their phones.

These mothers have started a project

to make children understand it's OK

not to be online.

The possibility of

feeling rejected is kind of there

all the time which is a pretty sad

thing, it is such a vulnerable age.

Today's report warns the challenges

are many. Increasing pressures to be

popular needs early intervention to

make sure children are emotionally

prepared for life online.

The Colmans's mustard factory

in Norwich is going to close.

The condiment has been made

in the city for 160 years.

Unilever, which owns the company,

shares the site with with Britvic,

which had already said

it was closing its part of the site.

The factory will close

at the end of 2019.

Our Correspondent

Richard Bond is there.

Dozens of jobs lost but also a bit

of Norwich history.

Absolutely, yes.

Colman's has been making mustard on

this site since 1858, it was a

successful Victorian company and

pioneered paternalism, the idea you

look after your staff is not just by

paying them good wages but also

giving them schooling, housing and

health care. In more recent times

the site has been shared between

Coleman 's and Britvic. Britvic

decided to leave, announcing its

decision before Christmas, and

Colman's says as a result its

operation here is no longer viable.

It will however build a new mustard

mill in Norwich elsewhere, however

production of wet mustard will move

to Burton on Trent. However because

that Burton factory will continue to

use mustard powder from Norwich the

link between the city and mustard

will not be lost altogether.

Thank

you.

Fans of Iron Bru have reportedly

started stockpiling the soft drink

ahead of a planned change

in its recipe.

Its manufacturers are changing

the formula to cut the sugar

content by almost half.

It is part of a sugar-reduction

programme before the government levy

on sugary drinks comes into effect.

Andy Murray has pulled out

of the Australian Open

after failing to recover

from an ongoing hip injury.

The three-time Grand Slam tennis

champion hasn't played a competitive

match since Wimbledon last summer.

And there's been more bad news

in the women's game -

British Number One Johanna Konta

was forced to retire

from her Brisbane Open quarterfinal,

also because of a hip injury.

Here's our sports

correspondent Joe Wilson.

Andy Murray in Brisbane, departing.

No Australian Open for him.

He practised competitively -

seemed all right, he told reporters,

but the hip would not stand up

to the pressure of a tournament.

When Murray limped to defeat

at Wimbledon last summer,

we thought he'd be back.

After all, he stands for resilience,

whatever the state of his body.

Six months on, he's still not played

another competitive match.

Today, Murray in his official

statement admitted he was not yet

ready to compete and he's flying

home to assess all the options.

That suggests surgery.

So, does this look like the end?

It is very sad when someone has

to retire, and I'm assuming this

is the end of his career and it

may not be.

So you know, forgive me but I've got

a new hip and it's just

an awful long way back.

It's a real uphill

struggle from here.

The Australian Open

is busy promoting itself -

tennis must go on,

although it's a sport heavily

reliant on over 30s

for its marketing and that's not

a long-term solution.

Johanna Konta will still

carry British hopes

at the Australian Open, well...

perhaps.

She withdrew from her match

in Brisbane overnight

with suspicions of, guess what,

a hip problem.

More assessment on Friday.

Low-grade strain, she suggests.

Just be fit for June,

Wimbledon might well hope.

This week, Andy Murray posted this

picture of himself on social media.

"The little kid inside me,"

he explained, "just wants to play

tennis and compete."

It's difficult to be denied

something so simple.

Joe Wilson, BBC News.

Two late wickets took the shine off

a good opening day for England

in the final Ashes Test in Sydney.

Captain Joe Root went for 83,

and Jonny Bairstow for five,

as England closed on 233 for five.

Australia have already won

the series, after England lost

the first three tests.

Patrick Gearey reports from Sydney.

This is a city almost

surrounded by water,

just not typically from above.

Strangely murky in Sydney,

a morning to wait undercover.

When it dried, Joe Root

chose to stay indoors

and send his opening batsman out.

Mark Stoneman looked in particularly

good nick until he got

a particularly bad nick.

24, just the start.

And so to the curious

case of James Vince,

a batsman who's looked better

in pictures than numbers,

whose beauty is often

followed by a beast.

That is an awful shot.

This has been England's Ashes

trouble from tranquillity.

Now Josh Hazlewood thought

he had Alastair Cook.

The umpire didn't, but

the technology backed the bowler -

marginal and maybe crucial.

So Root, who had earlier chosen

to bat, had plenty of it to do.

This was 50 - handy,

but the celebration told

of an unfinished job.

By now, the conditions

had been transformed

from drizzling to sizzling.

Dawid Malan was dropped but shuffled

on to his half-century.

Whisper it, but England

were comfortable.

Only an illusion.

Third ball with the new ball, almost

inevitable, another 100 missed,

Root didn't need telling.

Now things started to unravel.

Instead of a nightwatchman to see

out the final balls,

Jonny Bairstow went out,

got out and handed the day to

Australia, a day which

encapsulated a series.

I think it sums up where

we've been this tour.

We've been on top for so long

in games and we make one or two

mistakes and suddenly we let

the Aussies back in.

So England finish the day

once again in shadow,

the same shadow which has stalked

them all over Australia,

that of missed chances.

They must try and clear their heads

to make a competitive total on day

two, but the damage may already

have been done.

Patrick Gearey, BBC News in Sydney.

Not quite Cricket weather here.

Here's Darren Bett.

Here's Darren Bett.

It will turn cold over the next few

days but also drier and we have 15

flood warnings on rivers in England

and not surprisingly the river Ouse

in York is one of them. This rain

gets stuck across central areas of

Scotland, there will be snow in the

hills. Heavy showers and bands of

rain pushing eastwards across

England and Wales, and the

south-west where it will be windy

for a while. A an off night tonight

but not too cold just yet because

there is a fair bit of cloud. Plenty

of showers coming in across England

and Wales, more frequent and heavy

in Wales and the south-west. Limited

sunshine coming in in between the

showers. The damp weather sinking

southwards, allowing wintry showers

in northern Scotland, a cold day

across the board but noticeably so

across the south and it just gets

colder this weekend. We replace low

pressure with high pressure, but

this high pressure is building down

from the north and as it heads

across the UK, it draws down colder

air and it draws down some cold

winds as well, coming off the North

Sea. Feeling cold down the eastern

side of the UK. This damp weather

will move into southern areas,

allowing northern parts to brighten

up and get some sunshine but it will

feel colder as well, especially in

the wind. As the wind eases in most

areas, a widespread frost on

Saturday night. Could be as cold as

minus ten in the north. The wind

eases off on Sunday, then dry and

bright day with some sunshine.

eases off on Sunday, then dry and

bright day with some sunshine.

Still cold, George. Darren, thank

you. That's all from