14/02/2018 Breakfast

Hello, this is Breakfast,

with Dan Walker and Naga Munchetty.

A lack of trust among disabled

people over how their welfare

claims are assessed.

MPs find assessors submitted reports

that were riddled with errors

and regularly missed

quality targets.

Good morning.

It's Wednesday, the 14th February.

Also this morning:

Boris Johnson moves to reassure

voters who he says are angry

and alienated because of Brexit

in the first of a series of speeches

on Brexit from senior

cabinet members.

A new times table test is introduced

for thousands of eight and nine year

olds in England's primary schools

in a bid to raise numeracy levels.

Good morning. I am in Liverpool,

where the council is selling off

over 100 empty homes for just £1.

Houses like these. I will look at

whether this is one way we can solve

the housing shortage and I will take

you inside some of the houses.

And in sport: From the farm

to the curling sheet.

Great Britain's men beat Switzerland

in their opening match.

Team GB won silver four years ago,

but this is a new team, all of them

farmers.

There's black and then there's one

of the blackest substances

known to man.

What can vantablack be used for?

We'll tell you later.

And we have the dark Lord himself on

the weather forecast.

We can bring a

bit of colour to your forecast. Lots

of frost and sunshine to begin with,

but rain and hill snow on the way.

All the details in 15 minutes.

Good morning.

First, our main story:

A committee of MPs has said

there is a "pervasive lack of trust"

among disabled people

in how their welfare

claims are assessed.

The Commons' Work and Pensions

committee said reports by private

contractors were "riddled

with errors" and quality targets had

been "regularly missed".

Here's our disability news

correspondent Nikki Fox.

Anastasia Ashley is having a good

day. But it's not always like this.

Most days she is unable to get out

of the house. The 24-year-old has

multiple sclerosis. She used to work

full-time, but now she struggles to

get around. She applied for a

disability benefit and was assessed

at home by a healthcare professional

from a private company. She says she

told says she could only walk 20

metres, but when the report came

back it said she could walk further.

She didn't give me a physical

assessment. I was sat down the

entire time. I was very, very cross

about that.

Today's report

identifies a culture of mistrust

around the whole process. It says

assessors risk being viewed as at

best lacking competence and at worst

actively deceitful. The committee

says the government's Loe bar for

what is considered acceptable leaves

rooms for reports to be riddled with

obvious omissions.

Clearly the

system needs a major overhaul, but

there are some things government

could do better to improve it.

Automatic audio recording of

assessments for people, why not

share the assessment results with

the claimant at the point of claim a

decision?

The government says

assessments work for the majority of

people and it is committed to

improving transparency. What with

current contracts up for review and

targets being consistently missed,

the future of the system is unclear.

The Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson

will address what he calls

the "grief and alienation"

of those who voted to stay

in the European Union

in a speech later today.

He says that people who voted

to leave the EU should

try to persuade worried remainers

to focus on the possible benefits

of, rather than their

fears over, Brexit.

Our political correspondent,

Leila Nathoo, is in Westminster this

morning.

What exactly is he expected to say

later?

We are expecting a very

conciliatory tone from him later. He

wants to reach out to people on both

sides of the debate, a recognition

that there are still divisions. He

says he understands the anxieties

amongst Remainers but he wants to

convince them that Brexit is about

hope and not fear. He also has

strong words for people he thinks

are trying to stop Brexit and wants

to warn them that they would be a

disastrous mistake, but this is a

first in a series of speeches we

will get from senior Cabinet

ministers over the coming weeks.

Number 10 is calling the series of

speeches the road to Brexit. Theresa

May will speak about security this

weekend and we will hear from the

Brexit secretary David Davis about

business, from the Cabinet office

secretary about devolution. This is

all a plan from Number 10 to reveal

more details about what exactly our

relationship with the EU will look

like in the future. Theresa May has

been under great pressure to reveal

that. There is no agreement yet

among Cabinet ministers on what

exactly the future relationship with

the EU will look like. Cabinet

ministers will gather for an away

day to try and flesh this out, what

in the speeches that we are

expecting to hear, including from

Liam Fox, we are going to get more

detail and they will be very closely

watched both here in Westminster and

Brussels for the exact arrangement

that the government wants to see.

Boris Johnson will also speak about

controlling immigration, but quite a

few MPs say the Home Office doesn't

have the resources to deal with any

changes to the system.

This is a

warning from the Home Affairs Select

Committee that there are no

preparations in place. Not enough

preparations in place for a new

immigration system post- except and

no clarity yet on what exactly the

government wants it the transition

period and beyond. Interestingly in

these speeches we will hear, the

Home Secretary Amber Rudd isn't

among them. The government has been

promising a draft policy of future

immigration that has been delayed

and MPs are also criticising that.

The Home Office says we are well

prepared, it is ridiculous to

suggest otherwise, but it is clear

that there is impatience now from

all sides for more flesh on the bone

of Brexit plans.

Thank you very much

and speak to you later.

The jury at the trial of the former

football coach Barry Bennell,

who's been found guilty of dozens

of sexual offences against boys,

will continue deliberations

on other charges today.

Yesterday, the jury

at Liverpool Crown Court returned

guilty verdicts on 36 counts

and asked for more time

to consider seven more.

Bennell, who appeared in court

via videolink due to illness,

declined to give

evidence in his defence.

Film star Minnie Driver has quit

as an Oxfam ambassador

following claims that staff working

for the charity in disaster zones

paid vulnerable local

people for sex.

The actress resigned after 20 years

with the aid agency,

saying in a statement

that she was "horrified"

by the allegations.

Oxfam said it was "grateful"

for Ms Driver's commitment,

and that it was more

determined than ever to learn

from its mistakes.

Hundreds of premature babies

could avoid brain damage

if their mothers were all given

a cheap drug during labour,

according to a new report.

The Royal College of Paediatrics

and Child Health says there are huge

regional disparities

in the proportion of mothers given

magnesium sulphate to reduce

the risk of cerebral palsy.

It claims providing the drug

could save the NHS £280 million

a year.

The actress Emma Watson has spoken

about her shock at realising

that there was no system

in place to help people

in the film industry who had

been sexually harassed.

She's one of a number of women

in the industry who've been

consulted by the British Film

Institute and BAFTA,

as it announces changes aimed

at tackling the problem.

Our entertainment correspondent

Colin Paterson has been looking

at the plans.

This Sunday it is the BAFTA awards

and ahead of British film is'

biggest night of the year, the

industry has announced a brand-new

plan aimed at tackling both sexual

harassment and bullying. It is a

direct response to the Harvey

Weinstein allegations.

You can talk?

Of course we can talk!

Emma Watson

was one of the many actresses asked

for input.

These principles are

important because up until recently

there were no guidelines, there was

no protocol for someone who had been

sexually harassed in the

entertainment industry. I know this

to be a fact because I've asked for

principles and asked to see

guidelines and no one could give

them to me.

To change this more than

40 organisations, including after

and the British Film Institute,

worked on a set of eight principles

which they want to be used across

the film, to the video games

industries. So what will actually

change? Every production must employ

two people trained to handle any

accusations of harassment. A

dedicated phone line will open in

April, offering free confidential

help. And PFI funding will only be

given to projects committed to the

changes. -- BFI.

This isn't about a

set of commands, it is about a set

of principles which everyone has

willingly and with huge enthusiasm

signed up to.

At last month's Golden

Globe awards almost all actresses

wore black to show solidarity for

the times up campaign calling for

change. The same is expected at the

Baftas. Those behind the

announcement hope such a stand would

be needed next year.

A heart-warming image of a gorilla

in the arms of one of her rescuers

has won the top prize

at the Wildlife Photographer

of the Year awards.

Chosen by almost 20,000 nature

fans, the winning snap

was taken by Canadian

photographer Jo-Anne McArthur.

Pikin, a lowland gorilla,

was being moved to a new home

by her caretaker in Cameroon.

It is a beautiful picture.

Other finalists included this image

of a polar bear and her cubs

emerging from their den.

This bird is a

lilac-breasted roller.

It doesn't look real!

Snapped hitching a ride

on a zebra in Kenya.

Have you ever seen a bird like that?

I have now!

This three-toed sloth was hanging

around in the Brazilian rainforest.

Was it Planet Earth II that this

loss was in?

And, finally, here's an underwater

image of a humpback whale

and her calf floating

in the waters off Tonga.

The winning images will be showcased

at the Natural History Museum

in London, until the end of May.

How are you feeling this morning?

Are you all right? I feel OK.

Those pictures might have warmed the

heart but perhaps you are in need of

a little pick me up.

Those words translated

into Italian mean tiramisu,

where they've just broken the record

for the longest ever coffee

flavoured desert, 266m in length.

30 pastry chefs in the town

of Villesse baked all day.

We don't know if all these people

who were watching got to sample it

when they'd finished.

I really want tiramisu for

breakfast.

I can't bear rich. Anything coffee

-based...

Honestly, it's not up there.

You big coffee bully.

You make this stuff up!

I like it picked me up, but I don't

like the Italian pick me up.

I could do tiramisu right under the

desk right now. A big slab.

There isn't any, in case you were

wondering. Good morning.

Are you a coffee found? I love

coffee, but coffee flavoured things,

I'm not a fan.

I didn't when I was younger, but now

I would be the first to grab the

coffee chocolate.

I will bring mine in at Christmas.

I will happily eat leftovers.

I will take all the strawberry ones

and bring in the coffee ones. Are we

curling this morning?

We are gripped by the curling this

morning! The men have done very well

and they already beat Switzerland

later and women are doing very well

as well. There is something about

curling.

The way they shout at each other,

trying to decipher what they are

actually saying.

It is all about tactics. And the

furious brushing.

Earlier we said it is one of those

sports where you watch AT think, I

could do that.

It's not like the snow jumping. You

think that. You think you could give

it ago and you completely mess it

up.

I would kick the stone.

Totally the wrong sport. Good effort

all the same. As I say, the women

have been doing very well and are

leading the Olympic Athletes from

Russia this morning.

There are lot of Muirheads out there

this morning.

Redemption for American

snowboarder Shaun White.

After a shock defeat in Sochi,

the Flying Tomato landed a third

Olympic halfpipe title,

with a mesmerising final run.

In the Champions League,

Manchester City beat Basel

and Tottenham recovered

from a dreadful start to earn

a draw against Juventus.

And England all-rounder Ben Stokes

is heading to New Zealand to join up

with the T20 squad.

He pleaded not guilty to charges

of affray at Bristol

magistrates court yesterday.

So we will be keeping across the

curling this morning. It's going to

be happening throughout the

programme and we are very excited.

Can I ask you, do you celebrate

Valentine's Day?

I do.

Have you left something for your

other half?

I can't tell you that. He'll be

watching.

That's true love, watching it at

this time.

OK. Lots of people are getting in

contact about how they are marking

Valentine's Day. Helen says she is

meeting her best friends for lunch.

I will have to make time for the

husband later.

She has her priorities correct!

Verity says it was her birthday

yesterday. Doesn't celebrate it. He

spoils me every day, but she bought

a packet of love hearts in his

lunchbox with his sandwiches.

Do you celebrate it? May be a

Chinese takeaway.

I don't do anything.

Nothing at all? Nope.

How is your partner about that?

Absolutely fine.

What about birthdays?

Yes. Christmas?

Yes. Chinese New Year, Easter, all

of that.

Not Valentine's Day. David said he

and his wife don't celebrate it. At

his youngest daughter was born on

the 14th of Edgar in 1997 and it is

her 21st birthday today. Happy

birthday, Joy!

Here's Matt with a look

at this morning's weather.

A twinkly romantic Sky.

A romantic

view across the water. This was the

scene last night in Cumbria, lovely

starry skies and those starry skies

led to a chilly start this morning.

Temperatures below freezing in many

areas, -4 on the outskirts of

Banbury and even into parts of

southern Scotland, -2. Some avoid

the frost, the blue is at or below

freezing. Avoiding it is bang and

the south-east because of the cloud

is today, avoiding it in the west.

Through the day, in the

Through the day, in the southern

half, outbreaks of rain coming and

going through the morning, turning

as snow for a while in the tops of

the Welsh hills and into the early

afternoon on the tops of the

Pennines. East Anglia and the

south-east largely dry. The northern

half, outbreaks reading to Northern

Ireland, 70 mph gusts developing in

the Hebrides, some in the Hebrides

-- spreading. Some in the east stay

dry throughout. Across the border a

windy day, outbreaks of rain and

hill snow spreading erratically

eased. -- across-the-board. Ten or

11 by the end of the day -- east.

Eastern areas will be chilly. Into

the night, outbreaks of rain and

hill snow and quickly depart into

the near continent, lingering

longest in East Anglia and the far

south-east allowing clear skies and

showers to push in, turning into

sleet and snow in Scotland and

Northern Ireland. In between

temperatures avoiding a frost but

one or two could get close enough

for icy patches into tomorrow. This

is tomorrow morning, low pressure

towards Iceland, winds coming in

from a westerly direction, not as

strong as they will be today but a

blustery bright day for many.

Sunshine and showers the name of the

game, southern and eastern areas, a

few showers, many staying dry, to

the north and west, sleet and snow

showers, covering the hills in

Scotland, Northern Ireland, the far

north of England. Rain in the south

as temperatures get to double

figures. Friday, another a frosty

start as winds fall light, a frosty

day for England and Wales but cloud

in over into western Scotland and

Northern Ireland later. I'll keep

you updated through the morning.

Back to Naga and Dan.

Thanks, Matt,

we will see you later.

Let's take a look at today's papers.

Let's take a look at today's papers.

This is one of the stories we were

talking about in our headlines, the

Daily Telegraph has Minnie Driver

quitting Oxfam after years of

working with the charity over the

recent allegations of the way the

money has been used to get

prostitutes in Haiti and some of the

other accusations made against

Oxfam. The main story, Boris says EU

laws intolerable after Grexit,

that's what we will talk about with

our reporter outside Westminster

this morning.

-- Brexit. Front page

of the Times, looking at Brexit,

Remainers risk a betrayal of Britain

over Brexit. Boris Johnson today

warning those attempting to reverse

it that their efforts will trigger

permanent feelings of betrayal.

Meghan Markle at Edinburgh castle

yesterday said the hen party is

sorted. And the lead story, Oxfam

aid worker had already been

investigated. Another line with

regards to the eight worker at the

centre of a scandal in Haiti.

She

wore a £2000 code yesterday. The

story with Minnie Driver on the

Mail. -- aid worker. Former coach

found guilty of sexually abusing

footballers, he will be in court

later.

The back pages have been

dominated by two images, we are back

in Champions League action, last

night Harry Kane dominating with the

glorious fight back.

2-0 down?

Absolutely.

It was a miserable

start.

I walked in after 17 minutes,

walked out, came back half an hour

later to get ready for bed...

Against Juventus, who have conceded

since November last year.

A great

result for Tottenham. The other

image dominating the back pages,

Elise Christie after crashing out in

the 5000 metres speedskating.

Heartbreaking for her. She has a few

days to come back and show her

metal.

It isn't all over for her by

a longshot shop so we will be an eye

on her so this also caught my eye

this morning. There's lots of way to

get your funding together for the

Olympics -- longshot. This guy in

the bobsleigh team did it through

gameshows, why not? Including the

Cuban Deal or no Deal, he won

£12,000, which has helped to fund

some of his equipment, some of which

is very expensive, so why not?

Love

that story. One online story I need

to share, there's a guy who claims

to be a time traveller, he's called

Loe, he is from the year 2030 and

there's various predictions he has

made. Donald Trump will get

re-elected -- he's called Neuer. He

also says that many forms of cancer

will be cured by 2030. We are still

using pennies but technology has

developed to the point where you can

independently run your home. The US

president in 2030 will be a figure

called Ilana Remikee, there will be

electric cars, and he is 50 but he

has used a drug to make him look

like a 25-year-old. He was asked to

take a lie detector test and he

passed.

Is he minted?

I don't know.

He would be if you could predict the

future. Happy Valentine's Day,

everyone!

everyone!

what is six times seven?

42.

I was always good at my six

times table.

Reciting times-tables was a feature

of school life for many of us

in years gone by.

Now the Government is set

to reintroduce timestables checks

for thousands of primary

school children in England

from this spring.

Opponents, including

some teaching unions,

are questioning the

educational benefits.

Our business correspondent

Nina Warhurst has been to test

the maths skills of some

people in Manchester.

My times tables, yeah, or some.

Your

dad is very confident, Harvey, do

you think he's going to be up for

it?

Know.

Start with an easy one,

two times seven.

14.

Dad, four times

six.

24.

Two times six.

12.

You're

confident you know you're times

tables, will start with a hard one,

seven sixes?

42.

89 is our?

72.

48

agricultural R?

Of...

Three times five?

15.

Two times

four?

Eight.

Good girl. Five times

five is?

25.

Eight times five?

40.

Two times eight?

16.

Four times

nine?

nine?

36.

You're getting too good,

well done. Nine times six?

54.

Ten

times for?

40.

My goodness, smashed

it, well done.

We can speak now to the Schools

Minister Nick Gibb.

How were you at school when it came

to maths?

Fine, but I won't be

answering any of your times tables

questions this morning. This is an

important initiative to make sure

every time leaves primary school

fluid in their multiplication

tables, just as we introduced the

phonic shift in 2012, that has led

to a huge improvement in reading

standards and this we suspect will

lead to a huge increase influence E

and arithmetic so when they do

secondary school they will be better

equipped to handle secondary school

mathematics -- huge increase in

fluency.

What's wrong now, is there

evidence they aren't making the

grade in secondary school?

I've been

visiting schools since 2005 and I

have noticed an improvement in the

number of children able to do their

multiple patient tables in primary

school. It is being taught, it is

being taught well, but we want to

make sure every single child knows

their multiplication tables by heart

and this check, introduced at the

end of Year 4, will enable schools

to identify those children still

struggling. The great prize here is

every single child leaving primary

school will know their tables by

heart, just as more and more

children leaving primary school are

fluent in reading.

To be able to

identify them at the end of Year 4,

are you saying the problem is

teachers aren't identifying them

now, the ones who do have problems

with times tables?

No, they are, but

we want a systematic approach right

through the school system so we can

be sure in the years ahead every

single child is leaving primary

school mastering their times tables.

I've been looking at, for example, a

few years ago the E and F grades of

GCSE papers and it was clear them

out those children struggling at the

age of 16 with GCSE maths, some of

their problems stemmed from not

being able to multiply, for example,

and if we can get those basics

sorted in primary school for every

single child, not just most

children, we will see a huge

improvement, particularly those

children from disadvantaged

backgrounds, those children who are

now struggling in mathematics at

secondary school, we can make sure

every child stars secondary school

able to cope with the secondary

school maths curriculum.

-- starts.

Can you guarantee this would create

more stress in the classroom, for

children, another layer of testing

and assessment, but also for

teachers?

We've been piloting this

check for the last two years, it's

very simple, it takes about five

minutes, it is onscreen. The

feedback from children is that they

enjoy taking it and it isn't an

accountability measure. The results

won't be published on a school by

school basis, it is simply a tool to

enable schools to identify children

still struggling and schools will be

able to look at their results and

compare them to the national figures

and the local authority figures but

we won't publish the figures by

school. It would be high stakes for

the school so it shouldn't add to

stress or workload for teachers.

Hash it won't be high-stakes. Isn't

Bakar and -- it won't be

high-stakes. With Boris Johnson,

should the cabinet be unified ahead

of this speech today? There appears

to be a lot of backstabbing and

mealy words so to speak in terms of

the last few weeks?

What Boris

Johnson will be saying in his

speech, I haven't read the full

speech, but what he will be saying

is we should be optimistic about the

future of our country outside

Europe. The country has differing

views on this issue and we now need

to come together as a country as a

whole to look ahead to see the great

opportunities that being outside the

European Union will present in terms

of global trade and projecting

Britain right across the world. That

is the essence of Boris Johnson's

speech today and it's the first of a

series of speeches by other members

of the cabinet that we'll see,

including the Prime Minister, who

will be speaking on this issue on

Saturday.

When you ask for the

country to come together as a whole,

what about the cabinet?

The cabinet

is united behind determining to get

for Britain a is excess or outcome

of our negotiations with Europe. We

want to take back control of our

laws, borders and money.

laws, borders and money. -- is a

successful outcome. We are united

behind that and I'm optimistic we

will secure a good trading deal with

the European Union after we leave,

which we will do in March 2019. We

have secured the passage of the EU

withdrawal bill in the Commons and

it's starting its passage in the

House of Lords and we have completed

the first stage of the negotiations

with the European Union in terms of

the negotiations about our terms of

exit.

Nick Gibb, thanks for joining

us on Breakfast this morning.

My

pleasure.

Steph is house hunting in Liverpool

for us this morning.

Good morning and good morning,

everybody. I'm in way the tree in

Liverpool where there are around 120

empty homes around here that have

been derelict, a lot of them for

more than a decade so what the

councils have been doing, because

they can't refurbish them

themselves, they have been selling

them off to families for £1 each.

You can buy one of these homes...

There are some rules, you have to be

a first-time buyer and live or work

in Liverpool, you have to be able to

do it up with your own cash and do

that within the first year or they

will take it off you and you can't

sell it for at least five years.

This is Mel's wonderful house she

has done up over the last several

months or so, we will look inside

and we will be chatting to Mel

later. She's done a wonderful job,

it looks gorgeous. This is Mel and

her daughter, Rosie. Give us a wave!

Rosie is a bit shy. I will be

talking to them later but first

let's get the news, travel

I will be back in half an hour.

Hello, this is Breakfast

with Dan Walker and Naga Munchetty.

We'll bring you all the news

and sport in a moment.

But also on Breakfast this morning:

Can you still recite

your times tables?

It was a feature of school

life for most of us,

now primary schools in England

are set to re-introduce testing.

Countdown's Rachel Riley will be

here to tell us why she thinks it's

so important If you think black

is black, think again.

We're going to show you the blackest

substance on earth!

It's been described as looking

like "a window peering

into the depths of outer space".

From women who drill through frozen

seas to gather food,

to villagers who scale sheer cliff

faces to get to church.

We take a look at the extreme

communities risking their lives

on a daily basis, just to get by.

Here's a summary of today's main

stories from BBC News.

A committee of MPs has said

there is a "pervasive lack of trust"

among disabled people

in how their welfare

claims are assessed.

The Commons' Work and Pensions

committee said reports by private

contractors were

"riddled with errors".

It recommends ministers take

the service back "in house"

when contracts end

with private firms.

The government says the majority

of claimants are happy

with their overall experience.

The Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson

says he wants to reassure those

who feel angry and alienated

because of the Brexit vote.

In a speech later today

he will suggest that supporters

of Brexit try to persuade worried

remain voters that leaving

the European Union is a cause

for "hope, not fear".

His is the first of a number

of cabinet speeches

expected this week.

MPs have criticised the Home Office

for seriously underestimating,

what they described as the "immense

bureaucratic challenge"

posed by Brexit.

In a report published today,

the House of Commons home affairs

committee hits out at the Government

for long delays in publishing

a post-Brexit

immigration white paper.

The government has said it's

considering various options

and will set out its initial plans

"as and when they are ready".

The jury at the trial of the former

football coach Barry Bennell,

who's been found guilty of dozens

of sexual offences against boys,

will continue deliberations

on other charges today.

Yesterday, the jury

at Liverpool Crown Court returned

guilty verdicts on 36 counts

and asked for more time

to consider seven more.

Bennell, who appeared in court

via videolink due to illness,

declined to give

evidence in his defence.

The actress Emma Watson has

spoken of her shock,

at realising that there was no

system in place to help people

in the film industry who had

been sexually harassed.

She's one of a number of women

who've been consulted

by the British Film Institute

and BAFTA, as it announces changes

aimed at tackling the problem.

Now BFI funding will only be given

to projects committed

to the proposals.

Valentine's Day is traditionally

marked with gestures

of love and affection.

And with that in mind,

on the most romantic day of the year

pairs of Gentoo penguins at

the National Sea Life Centre

in Birmingham have been

treated to a serenade.

This is a violinist

from the Royal Birmingham

Conservatoire.

I think they are enjoying it, aren't

they?

They aren't attacking him, or

walking.

They want more!

There are roses on the shelf. Yeah.

A beautiful thing.

That's how you charm one of those

penguins.

It's like the Pied Piper!

We are talking curling.

I was more concerned that the

penguins would have a more romantic

day than me.

It's not all about you! How it's the

curling?

The men's curling is going very

well. Eating Switzerland in their

first heat. These are examples of

the stones they will be using in

Pyeongchang. -- beating.

They are impressive looking. How

heavy are they?

Only 470 pounds each, the one used

in Pyongyang.

Bargain! I did a piece on curling

sometime ago and I was told they

were £1000 each.

But they do last you 50 years, so

that's all right.

They are an investment.

They've been doing OK for them in so

far.

The men's team is a completely

new line-up to the one that took

silver four years ago

and they've already

provided nerve-shredding

entertainment.

Their match against Switzerland

swung to and fro, and they were tied

at 5-5, so it went to an extra end.

And GB skip Kyle Smith landed

the stone bang on target.

They'll play defending champions

Canada at 11 o'clock.

These are live pictures

from the women's opening match

against the Olympic

Athletes from Russia.

Great Britain leading

5-1, so heading for victory.

There's live coverage on BBC Two

and catch-up programmes

throughout the day.

Now, are you familiar

with the Flying Tomato.

He's otherwise known as Shaun White.

The American has become a three

time Olympic champion

after a dramatic halfpipe final.

He was in second place

going into the final run

and he produced some outstanding

twists and turns and huge air

to take gold.

It is very impressive. I had to look

up exactly why he is called the Red

Tomato and it is of course because

of his red hair! The women's slalem

will now take place on Friday.

Moving away from Pyeongchang.

The Champions League

returned last night

and Tottenham produced a brilliant

fightback against Juventus,

who were last season's

beaten finalists.

Spurs were 2-0 down inside ten

minutes but Harry Kane

and Christian Erikkson earned them

a draw, to take into the second leg

at Wembley next month.

Pep Guardiola said their midfielder

was extraordinary after his side

took a giant step towards the

quarter-finals. He scored twice in a

4-0 win at these all. -- Basel.

4-0 win at these all. -- Basel. Ben

Stokes will be of New Zealand today

to join up with England team, who

are currently struggling in the

Twenty20 Tri-Series.

That's after he entered a plea

of not guilty to charges of affray

at Bristol magistrates

court yesterday.

His case was adjourned to the local

Crown Court on March 12th but he's

not required to appear in person,

meaning he's available for the rest

of England's winter tour.

And finally, the British

teams may have only

started their Olympic

campaign, but this

morning, but curling fever has

already taken hold it seems!

Take a look at this.

Maybe it's a new way to start the

house work.

That's some technique. We need the

volume up on this.

Clean harder! It's absolutely

brilliant. In four years, I want to

see them in four years. Brilliant.

It is impressive!

We can give it ago and later. We've

It is impressive!

We can give it ago and later. We've

got the stones. Thanks very much. We

will have to weather shortly.

Film star Minnie Driver has quit

as an Oxfam ambassador

following claims that staff working

for the charity in disaster zones

paid vulnerable local

people for sex.

The actress resigned after 20 years

with the aid agency,

saying in a statement

that she was "horrified"

by the scandal.

Let's speak to our

correspondent Tom Burridge.

This will be a big blow. The front

page of many papers, Minnie drier

saying she doesn't want to be

involved with Oxfam any more.

She is

best known for her role in the film

Good Will Hunting and she has been

an ambassador of Oxfam for 20 years.

She says she was devastated by the

response of Oxfam. Some people

claimed Oxfam tried to cover up the

scandal and she said she was

horrified that senior members of

Oxfam staff reportedly held parties

with prostitutes in the wake of the

earthquake in Haiti in 2010. She

said it was a series of abhorrent

mistakes. She says she still wants

to do some charity work abroad,

helping people in place of a calf

cut in the developing world, but not

with Oxfam.

Also some reports in the

Sun about allegations against

International Rescue Committee is.

What more can you tell us about

that? It is a huge charity,

headquarter based in New York. The

head is David Miliband. What has

emerged overnight and into this

morning is that the Department for

International Development, the part

of our government which basically

distributes money to charities to

help people abroad, withheld

millions of pounds of funding from

the IRC relating to a programme

which the IRC was running in the

Democratic Republic of Congo. It did

so reportedly because of allegations

of fraud and sexual misconduct. The

charity has told us that there were

three allegations of sexual

exploitation within and other

organisation. I've asked the charity

to clarify what it means by that,

what was this other organisation and

what was its relationship to the

programme that the IRC was running.

It has yet to do so. The

International Rescue Committee says

that when the allegations came to

light in 2016, it fully investigated

them and kept the international...

The Department for International

Development fully informed. There is

no suggestion that this is a scandal

anything like the scale of the

scandal in boiling Oxfam at the

moment, but it shows that an extra

ray of light is being shone onto the

charity sector and especially work

abroad at any possible misdemeanours

in the past.

Thank you very much.

Let's find out what's happening with

the weather. That doesn't look

pretty!

the weather. That doesn't look

pretty!

Yes, let's get back. That's even

prettier. Clear skies last night

across parts of the UK. That made

for a lovely scene in Cumbria. But

with those clear skies overhead it

has meant temperatures have tumbled.

A widespread frost. Temperatures

drop as low as -4 in the outskirts

of Banbury. The coldest air in

Scotland shown by the blue colours,

avoiding the Anglia and the

south-east with the clout from

yesterday still lingering anger

cloud keeping temperatures up. Rain

through the day will bring a change

from the south. Sunshine through

much of the morning in the east, the

cloud from the west brings outbreaks

of rain with hill snow turning

heavier in the Pennines and the Peak

District and a covering of snow

before it turns back to rain.

Wettest conditions around the coast

and a windy day, widespread gales,

winds could touch 70 mph in the

Western Isles but in the north,

early occasional rain in Northern

Ireland will clear to sunny spells

but turning cloudy with snow and

rain in Scotland. Ten centimetres in

the snow here and there but at lower

levels, turning back to rain as

temperatures lift. Windy across the

board, severe gales for some but

temperatures lifting, still a chilly

day in eastern parts. Through the

night the rain and hill snow will

clear east, lingering longest in

East Anglia and the south-east so

into Thursday clear skies

developing, sleet and snow showers

in Scotland, Northern Ireland and

northern parts of England. Just

about avoiding the frost but some

could have icy patches in the

morning. This is the chart for

tomorrow morning, low pressure in

Iceland, our weather fronts push

east from today so we are back in

familiar territory with sunshine and

scattered wintry showers. Rain,

sleet and hill snow in Scotland and

Northern Ireland and rain and hail

in England and Wales but central and

eastern areas will be dry through

Thursday with good sunny spells.

Temperatures holding up reasonably

well in the sunshine. Cold night to

take us into Friday morning,

widespread frost in England and

Wales after lighter winds, clearer

skies through the night. Not a bad

day on Friday in England and Wales

for the half term, but for Scotland

and Northern Ireland, cloud in over,

rain in Northern Ireland and the

rain turning to snow in the hills in

Scotland once again -- cloud in

over.

You're watching Breakfast.

House prices are rising

by just over 5% a year,

with the average UK home now

costing more than £220,000,

according to the latest figures.

Despite the Government's promise

to build a million new homes

by 2020, there are still more

than 200,000 properties

across England and

Wales lying empty.

So in Liverpool they're trying

an unusual approach to tackling

the housing crisis.

Steph has gone to take a look.

Good morning.

Good morning, good

morning, everyone, I'm in Wavertree

in Liverpool and you can see around

me there are eight fair few derelict

homes here and a lot of these houses

have been so for around a decade --

a fair few. The council want to do

something and they haven't got the

money to refurbish so what they've

been doing is getting families in

the area to buy them for £1 each

with the view that they will then do

them up themselves. The rules for it

are you have to live and work in

Liverpool, you have to be a

first-time buyer, you have to do it

up yourself with your own cash and

if you don't do that in the first

year they will take the house. You

have to not sell it for five years

or so. This has been happening for

some time, now they have been slowly

selling them, they've allocated

around 100 homes in the area already

to families. Let's go inside and

meet Ilana Remikee, she's done a

cracking job with this house. This

is Mel and Rob's house --

is Mel and Rob's house -- Melmeet

Mel. We have Kieron from the

national Housing Federation. This

looks gorgeous, tell us about the

effort that's calling?

It's been

about seven months of non-stop

decorating and ripping walls down --

efforts -- effort that's gone in.

What was it like when you bought it?

It was a shell, you could see the

sky from where we are, the rain was

pouring down. It was awful.

What

made you do it?

Obviously you bought

it for £1 but you've had to spend

money on it, it isn't like you

walked into it and it was like this?

There's not many other way is that

you could be mortgage free. It's a

really good opportunity. It's hard

to get on the property ladder now

unless you save a deposit and we

thought we would rather use our

deposit to do something like this

than to be tied to a mortgage we'd

struggle with for the rest of our

lives.

Could you have afforded to

buy a house?

We could have got a

mortgage in all honesty but we would

have struggled every month and I

think we would have been stressed

out trying to make the payments, it

wouldn't have been easy at all with

three kids.

Given where you are,

obviously there's still a lot of

work to be done. I know you got a

neighbour doing theirs up, what does

it feel like being in the community

because there's still a lot to do?

It's exciting, every time you see a

shutter getting open and you see

work starting you get excited

because you feel the community is

coming together and we're building

our own community really.

Rosie, you

like your new house?

Yes.

She is

making me jealous with her

breakfast, it looks lovely. We have

Kieron from the national Housing

Federation. Tell us about the

scheme, what are your thoughts, is

this a way of solving the housing

shortage?

This is a great example

and Liverpool City Council need to

be commended but it's only a small

piece of the puzzle. Looking at the

north-west of England there's 40,000

empty homes and we are saying

Housing associations can work with

local authorities to solve the

problem. We know regeneration isn't

just about renovating property, it's

about providing the community,

transport and economic

infrastructure around it to ensure

people can live and thrive in their

communities.

It's not cheap to do up

areas where there is a lot of

derelict houses, and as Mel was

describing, in a right state?

Exactly. The work Mel and the other

residents have done is vital. It

shows money needs to be put into

these areas to ensure they can come

up and help the real communities and

we're saying housing associations

are a willing partner for local

authorities to ensure that happens.

Interesting. Thanks, Mel, for

letting us in. You're part of a

Channel 4 show tonight? You've been

doing a whole documentary, that will

be on at 9pm. That's called

Britain's Cheapest Street. You will

see some of the shots of Mel and her

partner, Rob, doing it up.

We've got

a question about the Palop shock

with jam on top, that has made me

hungry.

Legendary. We were saying,

has Rosie found a new way to eat one

of these? I think she has.

Can't

argue with it.

Look at this.

We haven't gone off air, we have

gone to black. That's how black this

new material is.

new material is. There's a bit of

depth to it, you can see that. It's

a crinkly piece of foil. If you saw

it crinkly... If you turned it round

you would see the crinkles on the

other side. That is so black...

There's a percentage somewhere,

99.96%. That's how much light it

absorbs.

The only thing darker is a

black hole.

It's been used on an amazing

new building which has just opened

at the winter Olympics

in South Korea.

Designed by a British architect

using materials created by British

scientists, the structure absorbs

99% of the light that hits it.

I tell you what, we can compare

this... I'm going to move this

towards Dan's suit jacket. Almost

makes you look great, doesn't it?

Look how dark it is. -- grey.

Breakfast's Graham Satchell reports.

It's the blackest building on earth.

This pavilion outside the Olympic

stadium in South Korea is coated

with aim mid reel called VBX2. It

absorbs 98% of the light.

-- with a

material. Wanted people to be

awestruck and starstruck by this

building, and to see it and stop in

their tracks.

The pavilion is the

brainchild of British architect Asif

Khan.

You feel drawn into it, you

want to plummet into its blackness.

Asif has peppered the building with

small lights to look like stars.

As

you walk around the building, you

get the effect of power laps so it

appears the stars are moving against

each other, as though you were

diving through the universe.

This

laboratory in southern England is

where

where VBX2 and Vantablack were

created.

It might look like paint but

Vantablack is made billions of

microscopic carbon nano tubes. It

absorbs 99.96% of the light. The

only thing darker would be a black

hole?

The only thing darker in the

universe is a black hole.

A back

hole that we know of that this time.

It's so black it changes the

dimension Haliti of an object. It

makes things look flat. --

dimensions.

You're seeing the lack

of photons being reflected back to

your eyes and so your eyes are no

longer able to make sense of what

you're seeing so therefore you see

it as a void or a very black area

that you can't make shape or sense

from.

Looking at black nothingness like

this is a rather odd sort of

experience. It is slightly

vertiginous, like you're standing on

the edge of an abyss looking into a

void. It's exciting and unsettling

at the same time.

Vantablack is used in space

exploration, in cameras and

telescopes to reduce the amount of

flair from the sun. It gives

astronomers a clear view of distant

stars and planets but using this

nanotechnology has only just

started.

The possibilities of

designing materials are kind of

quite limitless. I imagine coating

materials with nano materials,

imagine vehicles that slip in and

out of visibility, that's the sort

of world that we're talking about

here.

So a stunning building using

technology that has the potential to

revolutionise photography, space

exploration, architecture, design.

Graham Satchell, BBC News.

I feel like I need to go to that

building.

And have your mind warped.

It would feel like it would be a

complete mind warp.

You know when

you go to the toilet in the middle

of the night and then you turn the

light on and for the moment after

you switch it off, it is super black

and then your eyes get used to it.

I

was worried, Dan, but I will give

you that one.

I'll be honest, I was

slightly worried myself!

I tell you

what, you get to that age when you

got to go in the night!

Time now to get the news,

travel and weather where you are.

Vanessa is talking about cycle theft

on

Vanessa is talking about cycle theft

on BBC Radio London because a bike

is stolen in London every 90

seconds.

Hello, this is Breakfast,

with Dan Walker and Naga Munchetty.

A lack of trust among disabled

people over how their welfare

claims are decided.

MPs find assessors submitted

reports that were riddled

with errors and regularly

missed quality targets.

Good morning, it's

Wednesday 14th February.

Also this morning:

Boris Johnson moves to reassure

voters who he says are angry

and alienated because of Brexit

in the first of a series of speeches

from senior cabinet members.

A new times table test is introduced

for thousands of eight and nine year

olds in England's primary schools

in a bid to raise numeracy levels.

Good morning.

In Liverpool the council has been

selling off derelict homes for £1

each. These are some of the ones

which have been renovated already as

planned to try and make sure we get

rid of the derelict homes in the

area. It could help the housing

shortage. We will have a look in

some of the houses later.

Good morning from a much warmer but

rather windy Pyeongchang. Get ready

to go mad for curling again because

both the men and women from Great

Britain begin their push for the

medals. The women are in action at

the moment and I will keep you

updated through the morning.

Mad for curling, will be be mad for

the weather?

I don't know how much love you will

have for a Valentine's Day later.

After a frosty and sunny start

there's rain and hill snow on the

way. The full forecast in 15

minutes.

Good morning.

First, our main story:

A committee of MPs has said

there is a "pervasive lack of trust"

among disabled people

in how their welfare

claims are assessed.

The Commons' Work and Pensions

committee said reports by private

contractors were "riddled

with errors" and quality targets had

been "regularly missed".

Here's our disability news

correspondent Nikki Fox.

Anastasia is having a good day.

But it's not always like this.

Most days she is unable

to get out of the house.

The 24-year-old has

multiple sclerosis.

She used to work full-time,

but now she struggles to get around.

She applied for a disability

benefit and was assessed

at home by a healthcare professional

from a private company.

Anastasia says she told the assessor

she could only walk 20 metres,

but when the report came back it

said she could walk further.

She didn't give me

a physical assessment.

I was sat down the entire time.

I was very, very cross about that.

Today's report identifies

a culture of mistrust around

the whole process.

It says assessors risk

being viewed as, at best,

lacking in competence and,

at worst, actively deceitful.

The committee says the government's

low bar for what is considered

acceptable leaves room

for assessment reports to be riddled

with obvious errors and omissions.

Clearly the system needs a major

overhaul, but there are some things

the government could do relatively

quickly to improve it.

Automatic audio recording

of assessments for people.

Why not share the assessment

results with the claimant

at the point of claimant decision?

The government says assessments work

for the majority of people and it's

committed to improving transparency.

But with current contracts up

for review and targets

being consistently missed,

the future of the system is unclear.

The Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson

will address what he calls

the "grief and alienation"

of those who voted to stay

in the European Union

in a speech later today.

He says that people who voted

to leave the EU should

try to persuade worried remainers

to focus on the possible benefits

of, rather than their

fears over, Brexit.

Our political correspondent,

Leila Nathoo, is in Westminster this

morning.

Good morning. What are we expect in

from Boris Johnson today?

We are

expecting him to really give the

Barry Conser you treat time,

reaching out to both sides of the

debate -- conciliatory. Recognising

there are still divisions between

people in terms of the merits and

perils of Raqqa. He want to reassure

people who voted to remain who are

still anxious that it is about hope

and not fear, but he will have a

straw -- stark warning for those who

want to stop it and he will say that

will be a dangerous mistake. This is

the first in a series of speeches

the government is calling the road

to Brexit. Boris Johnson will be the

first Cabinet minister to give his

speech today. We will hear from

Theresa May on her speech on

security at the weekend and then

there will be speeches by Liam Fox,

David Davis the Brexit secretary and

the Cabinet office minister who will

speak about devolution. So there

will be a series of speeches at

Number 10 and it is promising they

will set out more detail on the

government's approach to Brexit. The

reason there has been under pressure

to set out what she wants from

Britain's future relationship with

the EU. There is no secret that

there are divisions at the highest

level of government. There will be

an away day to try to thrash out

differences, to come to settle on a

final position. But Downing Street

is promising that at the end we will

have an idea of the precise nature

of what the government actually

wants from Britain's departure from

the EU.

Should also talk about the

impact all of this will have

government resources, in terms of

offices. The Home Office will come

under more pressure I suppose when

it comes to how Immigration will pan

out?

Yes. There is a warning today

from MPs in the Commons home Select

Committee, which says it is already

too stretched, let alone making

plans for wrecks at macro later.

They haven't properly laid out for

plans for the immigration policy and

they say that is causing anxiety for

EU citizens. The Home Office as

preparations are under way and it is

ridiculous to use suggest otherwise,

what I think of the -- it's a sign

of the inpatients to set out the

Brexit plans.

Thank you.

The jury at the trial of the former

football coach Barry Bennell,

who's been found guilty of dozens

of sexual offences against boys,

will continue deliberations

on other charges today.

Yesterday, the jury

at Liverpool Crown Court returned

guilty verdicts on 36 counts

and asked for more time

to consider seven more.

Bennell, who appeared in court

via videolink due to illness,

declined to give

evidence in his defence.

Our reporter Andy Gill is outside

Liverpool Crown Court this morning,

remind us of the

background to the case?

Well, Barry Bennell is a football

coach who worked for a number of

clubs, Manchester City, who has been

accused as the prosecution has put

it of child molestation on an

industrial scale. The jury today

have seven more verdicts to reach,

including four charges against and

11th complainant. Yesterday 36

guilty verdicts against ten men,

some of those complainants were in

tears in court as the verdicts were

announced. Barry Bennell was

watching on CCTV from prison. He has

been too unwell to attend court. The

jury gave those 36 verdicts and at

the start of the proceedings he

pleaded guilty to seven offences of

child molestation. The crowns they

at home he had arcade games, a pool

table, exotic pets, where he invited

young men to stay overnight and

where he molested them. He said in

one police interview the jury heard

that he wanted the young men to like

him. He agreed he was manipulative,

but said that he wasn't evil. He

said that some of his accusers were

jumping on a bandwagon. Barry

Bennell is now looking at a fourth

jail term for child tax offences.

The jury will resume their

deliberations here at Liverpool

Crown Court at 10:15am.

Thank you

very much for the latest on that

story.

Minnie Driver has quit as an Oxfam

ambassador following claims that

staff working for the charity in

disaster zones paid vulnerable local

people for sex. She resigned after

20 years with the aid agency, saying

that she was horrified by the

allegations. Oxfam said he was

grateful for her commitment and that

he was more determined than ever to

learn from its mistakes.

Thousands of eight and

nine-year-olds are to be formally

assessed on their times tables

at primary schools in England.

The tests will be trialled at nearly

300 schools this spring,

before becoming mandatory in 2020.

Unions say they won't tell teachers

and parents anything about children

that they don't already know

but ministers say the tests

will identify those pupils

who need extra support.

This is an important initiative, to

ensure that every child leaves

primary school fluent in their

multiplication tables, just as the

phonic table we introduced in 2012.

That has led to a huge improvement

in reading standards and we expect

this will lead to a huge improvement

in children's fluency in

arithmetics, so when they start

secondary school they will be far

better equipped to handle the

challenges of secondary school

mathematics.

Hundreds of premature babies

could avoid brain damage

if their mothers were all given

a cheap drug during labour,

according to a new report.

The Royal College of Paediatrics

and Child Health says there are huge

regional disparities

in the proportion of mothers given

magnesium sulphate to reduce

the risk of cerebral palsy.

It claims providing the drug

could save the NHS £280 million

a year.

The actress Emma Watson has spoken

about her shock at realising

that there was no system

in place to help people

in the film industry who had

been sexually harassed.

She's one of a number of women

in the industry who've been

consulted by the British Film

Institute and BAFTA,

as it announces changes aimed

at tackling the problem.

Our entertainment correspondent

Colin Paterson has been looking

at the plans.

This Sunday it's the BAFTA awards

and ahead of British film's

biggest night of the year,

the industry has announced

a brand-new plan aimed

at tackling both sexual

harassment and bullying.

It's a direct response

to the Harvey Weinstein allegations.

Hello!

You can talk?

Of course we can talk!

Emma Watson was one of the many

actresses asked for her input.

These principles are important

because up until recently

there were no guidelines,

there was no protocol for someone

that had been sexually harassed

in the entertainment industry.

I know this to be a fact

because I've asked for principles

and I've asked to see guidelines

and no one could give them to me.

To change this, more

than 40 organisations,

including BAFTA and the

British Film Institute,

worked on a set of eight principles

which they want to be used

across the film, television

and video games industries.

So what will actually change?

Every production must employ two

people trained to handle any

accusations of harassment.

A dedicated phone line will open

in April, offering free confidential

help.

And BFI funding will only be given

to projects committed

to the changes.

This isn't about a set of commands,

it's about a set of principles

which everyone has willingly

and with huge enthusiasm

signed up to.

At last month's Golden Globe awards,

almost all actresses wore black

to show solidarity for the Times Up

campaign, calling for change.

The same is expected at the Baftas.

Those behind today's announcement

hope such a stand won't be

needed next year.

It's that time of the morning where

I think we need a little bit of

love. Apparently it's the day it for

it.

Here's a heart-warming image

of a gorilla in the arms of one

of her rescuers.

This won the top prize

at the Wildlife Photographer

of the Year awards.

Chosen by almost 20,000 nature

fans, the winning snap

was taken by Canadian

photographer Jo-Anne McArthur.

Pikin, a lowland gorilla,

was being moved to a new home

by her caretaker in Cameroon.

Other finalists included this image

of a polar bear and her cubs

emerging from their den.

Very nice.

This is a lilac-breasted roller.

It's hitching a ride

on a zebra, taken in Kenya.

That bird doesn't look real!

It does have a magical tone to it.

This three-toed sloth was hanging

around in the Brazilian rainforest.

And, finally, here's an underwater

image of a humpback whale

and her calf floating

in the waters off Tonga.

The winning images will be showcased

at the Natural History Museum

in London, until the end of May.

The way welfare claims for disabled

people are assessed is coming

in for criticism this morning.

Claimants were asked for their views

by the Work and Pensions Committee,

and it found what it calls

a "pervasive lack of trust".

It recommends ministers take

the service back in house

when contracts end

with private firms.

The government says the majority

of claimants are happy

with their overall experience.

Joining us now is Rob Holland

from the charity Mencap which works

with people with

learning disabilities.

Thanks very much for talking with

us. What has been happening in terms

of the way they've been assessed

that is coming under scrutiny?

We know working together with the

disability benefits Consortium that

many disabled people have a really

difficult to awful experience when

it comes to being assessed for

benefits so we carried out a survey

of 3000 disabled people and half

told us the assessment report didn't

accurately reflect the answers they

gave during their assessment.

These

assessments are being done by who?

They're being done by private

contractors, a source Maximus and

Capital and there being conducted by

health officials -- Assos Maximus

and Capital. But they might not know

anything about your condition. We

have the case of an assessor asking

someone, when did you catch Down's

syndrome? When might you recover

from an incurable disease? The

assessor might not know anything

about your disability.

That was

recorded by the person being