08/03/2018 Breakfast

Hello.

This is Breakfast,

with Naga Munchetty and Charlie

Stayt.

Counter-terrorism officers search

for the source of the nerve agent

used to in an attack in Salisbury.

A former Russian spy,

his daughter and a police officer

who came to their aid

are all in a serious

condition in hospital.

Good morning.

It's Thursday, the 8th of March.

Also this morning:

Domestic abusers could be

electronically tagged or banned

from drinking alcohol under tougher

new measures being proposed

to tackle the problem.

A warning that many councils

in England will run out of money

as they struggle to meet

demand on social services.

Good morning.

Are you on the hunt for a new home?

The number of properties on estate

agents' books has fallen

to a new low according

to new figures out this morning.

I'll be taking a closer look

at what that means for buyers

and sellers out there

just before 7am.

In sport, heartbreak for Tottenham

in the Champions League.

Italian champions, Juventus,

come from behind, to beat Spurs

at Wembley, and end their European

dreams, for another season.

Why the recent cold snap could cause

car trouble. Apparently, there are

even more potholes in our roads.

Will that cold snap continued? --

continue. The weather. It will get

more mild. Disruptive snow in Wales,

the Midlands, and northern England.

That will go through quite quickly.

For most of us, sunshine and

showers, but they will still be

wintry. I will have more in 15

minutes. See you then, Carol!

Good morning.

First, our main story.

Anti-terror police are trying

to establish the origin of a nerve

agent used in the attempted murder

of a former Russian spy

and his daughter.

While police have now identified

the type of chemical,

it's not yet known where it was made

or who could have carried

out the attack.

Sergei and Yulia Skripal remain

in a critical condition in hospital.

A policeman who went to help them

was also seriously injured.

Tom Burridge reports.

This was Sergei Skripal last month

at a corner shop. Now, police

believe someone tried to kill the

former spy and his daughter with a

nerve agent. It happened here in the

small cathedral city of Salisbury.

The police officer who attended to

the pair is now also in a serious

condition in hospital. What's nerve

agent was used is the question

experts at this military research

centre are trying to answer -- what.

Nerve agent is essentially crippled

the nervous system of the body and

are not easy to manufacture.

Nerve

agents require a non- insignificant

technical backup to be manufactured.

That would lead to a likelihood of a

state manufacturing it.

Life in

Salisbury right now is anything but

normal. This, the restaurant where

Sergei and Yulia Skripal had lunch

hours before they fell ill. A man

can be seen in this CCTV footage

from near the crime scene. His

daughter apparently had dark hair

like in this photo. They are both in

a critical condition in hospital.

Tom Burridge, BBC News.

Later, we'll be asking a chemical

weapons expert how nerve agents

could have got onto Britain's

streets. That's at 7:10.

Suspected domestic abusers could be

electronically tagged,

or banned from drinking

alcohol and taking drugs,

as part of proposals to tackle

the problem in England and Wales.

The government wants views

on a set of measures,

which include the first legal

definition of economic abuse,

and a commissioner

to oversee the issue.

Jon Donnison reports.

This woman suffered a decade of

abuse at the hands of her

ex-partner. Emotional, but also

physical. She ended up in hospital

more than a dozen times. She says

she used to grow her fringe long to

cover the black guys.

Some people

say why did you not get out sooner?

-- eyes. Do you really want to look

over your shoulder if you leave a

relationship, they are still after

you. He threatened me and told me he

would organise for someone to throw

acid in my face.

Into dozen of 15,

the man was eventually jailed for

grievous bodily harm and assault

after her sister contacted the

police. -- In 2015. The government

wants to make it easier to prosecute

perpetrators. It is launching a

consultation document before it

tries to get tougher laws passed.

Among the proposals, broadening the

legal definition of domestic abuse

to include physical, psychological,

sexual, emotional, but also economic

abuse. Tougher sentences for cases

involving children. And new

protection orders to allow police in

courts to intervene more quickly

when abuse is suspected. The

consultation period for the proposed

new laws will last 12 weeks to be

Jon Donnison, BBC News. -- Weeks.

Britain and Saudi Arabia have agreed

plans for a future trade

and investment programme

worth £65 billion.

The announcement comes on the second

day of a visit to the UK

by the Saudi Crown Prince,

Mohammed Bin Salman.

The package includes direct

investment in both countries

across energy, education,

healthcare, and defence.

There's a warning that many councils

in England will become financially

unsustainable if they continue

to rely on their reserve funds

to pay for the increasing

demands of social care.

The public spending watchdog says

two thirds of councils with social

care responsibilities

raided their reserves

in the financial year

ending last April.

Our correspondent,

Alison Holt, has more.

It is lunchtime at this date to make

day centre in Surrey. Here, people

can socialise and take part in other

activitiesday centre. It is paid for

by the county council. The National

Audit Office says local authorities

now spend more than half of their

budgets on providing care for adults

and children. This woman has

multiple sclerosis. It is vital.

I

come here twice a week. I would come

or if there was funding for it. But,

umm, apart from that, it is amazing.

The NAO says since 2010, the money

central authorities got from London

has been cut by 50%. Despite council

tax rises, services like bin

collections, roads, and libraries,

have had their money reduced by a

third. With councils using savings

to balance the books, it warns one

in ten will have exhausted their

reserves within three years.

We are

calling for a plan for a long-term

sustainable plant. -- plan. We need

to make funding available. Alongside

that, social care needs a funding

solution as well.

The government

says a new funding settlement has an

approved for councils to help pay

for the services that keep

communities running, and that will

mean a real terms increase in

resources, allowing for greater

fairness and value for money. BBC

News.

Danish inventor, Peter Madsen,

is due to go on trial over the death

of Swedish journalist, Kim Wall,

aboard his homemade submarine.

Ms Wall was interviewing Madsen

when she went missing last August.

Her body was later found by police.

Masden denies intentionally

killing the reporter.

He's appearing in court

in Copenhagen today.

Our reporter, Maddy

Savage, is there.

Peter Madsen, who is something of a

minor celebrity here in Scandinavia,

is due at the courthouse in just a

couple of hours. It dates back to a

warm night in August last year, a

dockyard a 15 Minute Drive away from

here were Peter Madsen kept his

submarine. -- minute drive. Kim Wall

went on board to interview him but

did not come back alive. Peter

Madsen initially said he dropped her

off safely. Then he said she died in

a tragic accident when a hatch fell

on her head, and then said she died

with carbon monoxide poisoning. He

said he cut up her body but denies

killing her. It will take 12 days

over seven weeks. If convicted of

murder, it is likely he will serve a

life sentence, needing 15- 20 years

in prison in Denmark without parole.

Thank you so much. Reporting from

Copenhagen.

Train passengers will more easily be

able to claim compensation

for the knock-on costs of delays,

as part of changes to ticket

terms and conditions.

Rail operating companies

are removing a clause which says

they won't accept any liability

for indirect effects such

as commuters having to pay

for taxis and hotels.

The consumer group Which had

previously accused companies

of misleading the public.

Lawmakers in Florida have approved

a bill to strengthen gun control,

weeks after 17 people were killed

in a shooting at a local school.

The bill raises the legal

age for buying rifles,

imposes a three-day waiting period

on all firearms sales and will also

allow the arming

of some school staff.

It now requires the approval

of the state's Governor.

We have all seen horror films with

machines having a mind of their own.

Now, some people

Now, some people are saying their

Amazon Alexa is creepily cackling.

That sounds like my laugh. It is

apparently witchlike and can happen

without the device being woken up.

Apparently it laughs when asked to

do a different task. Amazon says it

is aware of the problem and is

trying to fix it.

That would freak

me out.

My phone, if I pressed the

wrong button, it says what can I

help you with? Where did you come

from!

If you start talking and it

starts answering you.

starts answering you.

Even Alexa

would be stunned into silence from

what happened to Spurs last night.

It has been called a moment of

madness. In 169 seconds they went

from celebration to absolute

desperation.

desperation.

The defeat means they

go out 4-3 on aggregate.

Manchester City are the second

English side through to the quarter

finals despite losing 2-1 at home

to Swiss side Basel on the night.

Pep Guardiola's side had a big

advantage from the first leg,

and won the tie 5-2 on aggregate.

England's women miss out on winning

the SheBelieves Cup in America.

Karen Bardsley's own-goal

gifts the USA a 1-0 win

and the tournament.

And Team Sky deny what they call

"unsubstantiated allegations"

of the overuse of medication

to enhance performance.

It comes after the head

of World Cycling called

for an investigation into the team.

More on that later. Papers in a

moment. Or should we do it now?

There are some gems. Carol soon.

First, your paper. You built it up.

. Do you know the new VAR system? It

cannot help with this. By the way,

Shaun is here.

The viewers can see

the back of his head. They were

wondering where he was.

He has done

this before.

this before.

Charlie, you are

Sanchez Watt. I say what is your

name. You say Watt.

name. You say Watt. I say don't be

cheeky. There's a player called

Sanchez Watt who was booked for

saying "Watt" and the referee

thought he was being cheeky.

According to the

According to the chairman, Dave

Boggins... Nothing funny about

that... They had a good laugh later.

Stop it!

I might go back. I have

nothing as bonkers as that to follow

up with. The business pages. Another

retailer, New Look, laying off staff

at 60 stores. These mannequins may

not be there in the coming weeks and

months. They are trying to survive.

Many financial problems shared by

many retailers. And we will talk a

lot about housing this morning. The

Telegraph. The number on the of UK

homes on sale falls to a record low.

-- number of. Times. Fancy a

mansion? Try before you buy. Rent

out your home. If you like it, you

might buy it. If not, you can say

"No." It makes sense if you are

spending a lot of money. The real

estate market might need that. A

fascinating story. Russia could

cripple the UK, according to the

Daily Mail. This is after two people

have been poisoned in Salisbury. The

Daily Mail is saying the lethal

nerve agent was used in the attack,

and a top British general says

Russia could cripple the UK. It has

the capacity to attack with

cyber-attacks. This is the chief

military chief. We are speaking with

Amber Rudd later. She has more

measured language.

We will try to bring you any updates

available in connection with the

three people we know are in a

critical condition.

critical condition. Sergei Skripal,

his daughter and one police officer

who came to their aid. The police

officer was treated as a precaution,

discharged and then he deteriorated

and he was readmitted into intensive

care. That story dominating all the

front pages this morning.

More on that story of course

throughout the morning.

We will be talking to Amber Rudd as

well. Let us talk to Carol.

This morning, we have some snow,

falling at the moment not to much in

Scotland but throughout the country.

In the Midlands and northern

England. It could prove to be

disrupted. It will be short-lived.

You can see this arc here. Rain the

south, snow further north. Leaving

behind some cloud but quite quickly,

it will brighten up and many of us

will see some sunshine. Showers

around today, especially in the

West. That the temperatures.

West. That the temperatures. -- look

at. And a clear skies, is going to

be a cold night with the risk of

ice. There will be a widespread

frost. Likely to be wintry. In rural

areas, it will be much lower than

this. A cold start to the day

tomorrow. The risk of ice around. A

lot of dry weather. A bit of

sunshine tomorrow. A fairly nice

day. It's in the shape of low

pressure. That's going to introduce

a bit of cloud and we will see some

rain coming in and the wind will

also strengthen. But it will bring

some Mahler conditions. 9- 11 in the

south, seven, eight further north.

That will change through the course

of the weekend as the system moves

north, taking cloud and rain. It's

also going to drag this milder air

and northwards. Eventually getting

up into the far north of Scotland.

If we take a look at Saturday, you

can see the process, a lot of cloud.

You could see some snow on its

leading edge. It will be fairly

transient. Quite a grey murky day

whatever way you look at it. Sixes

and sevens in the north. Mild around

are coming ensconced. 13, 14. Six

and seven will change as we had on

into Sunday. Eventually, the low

pressure pushes up to the north of

the country, taking the rain with

it. Behind it, a lot of dry weather.

We will see some showery outbreaks

of rain. The cloud will break and it

will brighten up as well. Up to 13

degrees in England, Wales and

Northern Ireland. We are looking at

eight, nine, ten. As we head into

the new week beyond this, it will

remain unsettled. Having said that,

Tuesday is looking not too bad at

this stage.

Tuesday is looking not too bad at

this stage. We will look forward to

Tuesday. One of the things with this

cold weather, you look at wrapping

up but it's what happens afterwards.

When I was driving in this morning,

check your tyre pressure. I had a

slow puncture.

That is awful. But it's something

that really does like the daily

commute, doesn't it?

As you are saying, the freezing

weather looks set to make things

even worse. The RAC says it will see

as many daffodils as potholes and

has identified the different

specimens on the road.

This is the great British pothole.

And this is the Alcatraz cluster.

They are difficult to avoid due to

their size. This is the sniper,

lurking just out of sight and will

get you when you least expect it.

Then, this is extreme. The unwired

's clerk, first appearing as a

little crack in an otherwise smooth

road surface and it could be of

something worse. I giggle at these

names but it's annoying.

names but it's annoying.

Chief

engineer at the RAC David Brisley

and Mark Purnell, pothole expert.

They are enormous and the damage is

going to be immense.

It's a bit of fun that there is a

serious problem sitting behind this.

It is going to get worse because

we've had some really cold weather,

some snow and what happens is that

water gets into cracks in the road,

it freezes. Maybe not for a month or

two. Potholes will fall. We track

the breakdowns that are attributable

to potholes. Like springs, cracked

wheels, suspension problems. We

track those over time and they are a

pretty good measure of how good the

roads are. They were at their worst

in around 2013, 2000 14. A slow

improvement but over the last six

months, we've seen a further

deterioration and I suspect that

when we look at the index at the end

of this quarter and the end of the

following quarter, we will see

significant upturns.

We will get

onto just how to avoid potholes as

well. Mark, let's talk to you. You

call yourself Mr pothole. Why is

that?

That's what the media dubbed

me. It sticks about my campaign.

Tell us about that. I started five

years ago campaigning about

dangerous potholes. Thing for

storing the police as a waste of

time. The last five years, studying

what is wrong with the roads. That

guide is getting attention from

people. 400 cyclists dead or maimed

over the last ten years.

This is a

really serious issue. I was

mentioning about the problems

drivers had. Just avoiding these

potholes. You can see drivers behind

you travelling at some speed and

swerving to avoid. There was one

just behind you, quite significant.

It can cause a lot of problems.

That

is the classic pothole but it's a

rather large classic. I mean, the

serious side is the death of

cyclists, injury, but it's costing

road users hundreds of pounds and

there is a massive backlog and David

mentioned about potholes coming out.

I estimate you will see a tenfold

increase in potholes after this

winter because whether what has got

into the surface, it could to break

up. It really needs massive

investment. Authorities haven't got

the money to do the work.

Authorities are coming out to say

they have not got the funds to

maintain the network and some of

those get the stage where they are

not actually meeting their legal

obligations and I found Freedom of

Information requests and it's a

serious issue, it's not going to go

away. They've actually cut £11

billion from outsourcing. Some

councils are spending 50% less than

they were in 2010.

There is quite a

big pothole where you are. If you

can point out that one and see

whether traffic is going past.

David, just pick on that financial

issue for us. Pothole like that, for

example, how much is that going to

cost to fix at a time when councils

are without money?

It will cost

several hundred thousand pounds to

fix, depending on whether that is a

one-off fault on the road or whether

there are a series of them. In many

instances, these potholes arise

because routine resurfacing hasn't

been done. We see a lot of patching

of potholes.

If we go back to that

shot, what you can see is, from that

point were the one we saw is, there

are a series of potholes. That's

right. Councils can't afford to do

the job properly, resurface the

road. What they tend to do is patch

up what's there and then of course

you get further potholes developing

or indeed the same pothole

developing again. What is the advice

to drivers in terms of avoiding

them?

First of all, it's really

important that they don't swerve

around into the path of other

vehicles. If you see a pothole, slow

down and try and avoid going into

it. The very aware of the presence

of other vehicles around you. It is

easy to report a pothole. You don't

have to know who is responsible for

the road. You can report it on our

website, the RAC, Mr pothole has a

website.

Mark, when you've reported

potholes, how quickly are they

repaired.

It's got worse over the

last three years. It's getting

worse. That pothole behind me is

down for a four-month repair.

Four

months to repair it?

For months, the

tickets raised. It first raised in

January and didn't meet their

intervention criteria. Now it's got

larger. They would do an infill.

They come out again shortly after.

They've actually given themselves

for months which anyone using this

road, they are deathtraps. Its taken

in some cases, 5-7 days to check the

potholes and there has been an

appeal court case where the judge

said potholes should be repaired

because someone was injured on a

deep pothole reported on Friday. It

needs to get serious. And people are

taking their lives in their hands.

Some of the roads are legal, some of

the drain covers, but every road

user is paying tens of billions of

pounds through taxation and the

government has put in £1 billion but

they taken so much from council. I

am critical of councils but I do

feel sorry for them.

Thank you for

showing us around where you are.

David, thank you.

We'll be speaking live to Zoe Ball

on the latest leg of her epic

Blackpool to Brighton bike ride

in aid of Sport Relief.

Time now to get the news,

travel and weather where you are.

weekend but it will be rather wet at

times.

I'm back with the latest

from the BBC London newsroom

in half an hour.

Plenty more on our website

at the usual address.

Hello.

This is Breakfast,

with Naga Munchetty and Charlie

Stayt.

We'll bring you all the latest news

and sport in a moment,

but also on Breakfast this morning.

As police confirm a former Russian

spy was targeted with a nerve agent,

we'll be asking a chemical weapons

expert how the deadly poison

could have ended up

on the streets of Britain.

We'll be talking to the women

behind the podcast "You,

Me, and the Big C," who say they're

too busy living to worry

about dying of cancer.

And Mary Beard will be here tell us

about her encounters with some

of the most incredible treasures

of the ancient world.

She's a historian. Good morning.

Here's a summary of today's main

stories from BBC News.

Anti-terror police are trying

to establish the origin of a nerve

agent used in the attempted murder

of a former Russian spy

and his daughter.

While police have now identified

the type of chemical,

it's not yet known where it was made

or who could have carried

out the attack.

Sergei and Yulia Skripal remain

in a critical condition in hospital.

A policeman who went to help them

was also seriously injured.

Suspected domestic abusers could be

electronically tagged. Economic

abuse will also be included in the

definition. They are suggesting

tougher sentences for cases

involving children. And possible

court orders including alcohol bans.

Britain and Saudi Arabia have agreed

plans for a future trade

and investment programme

worth £65 billion.

The announcement comes on the second

day of a visit to the UK

by the Saudi Crown Prince,

Mohammed Bin Salman.

The package includes direct

investment in both countries

across energy, education,

healthcare, and defence.

There's a warning that many councils

in England will become financially

unsustainable if they continue

to rely on their reserve funds

to pay for the increasing

demands of social care.

The public spending watchdog says

two thirds of councils with social

care responsibilities

raided their reserves

in the financial year

ending last April.

The government says a new funding

settlement has been approved

for councils to help pay

for the services that

keep communities running.

Four people have been seriously

injured in two knife

attacks in Austria.

Three members of the same family

were taken to hospital

after being wounded

in a park in Vienna.

The suspected knifeman escaped

the scene before a second incident

on a man from Chechnya.

Police have arrested an Afghan

citizen, but it isn't clear if he's

suspected of both attacks.

Danish inventor, Peter Madsen,

goes on trial this morning over

the death of Swedish

journalist Kim Wall aboard

his homemade submarine.

Ms Wall was working on a story

about Madsen when she went

missing last August.

He denies intentionally

killing the reporter.

Train passengers will be able

to claim compensation more easily

for the knock-on costs of delays,

as part of changes to ticket

terms and conditions.

Rail companies are removing a clause

which says they won't accept any

liability for indirect effects,

such as commuters having to pay

for taxis and hotels.

The consumer group Which had

previously accused firms

of misleading the public.

Lawmakers in Florida have approved

a bill to strengthen gun control,

three weeks after 17 people

were killed in a shooting

at a local school.

The bill raises the legal

age for buying rifles,

imposes a three-day waiting period

on all firearms sales and will also

allow the arming

of some school staff.

It now requires the approval

of the state's Governor.

We've all seen the horror films

where machines get a mind

of their own.

Well, now some people

say their Amazon "Alexa" has been

been letting out an

unprompted, creepy cackle.

Take a listen.

The laugh, described by some

as "witch like," is reported

to happen even without

the device being "woken" up.

I don't think it is that creepy.

Perhaps in the middle of the night

when you are sleeping.

You do not

want it to be too robotic either.

The middle of the night would be

strange.

I am thinking about Richard

Pochettino.

Pochettino. -- Mauricio. I wonder if

he is laughing.

In 169 seconds, after Juventus had

no shot on goal, it turned around,

and Spurs went out. From hopes to

despair.

Tottenham have become the first

English team to be knocked out

of this season's Champions League.

They lost 4-3 on aggregate

to Italian champions Juventus

after going down 2-1

at Wembley last night.

The match had begun brightly

for Spurs who took the lead

in the first half thanks

to Son Heung-min.

But despite failing to manage a shot

on target in the opening hour

Juventus came back, scoring twice

in less than three minutes to turn

the tie around.

No lack of experience, no lack of

concentration. How many chances we

conceded in the first leg in the

second leg today? Three chances and

they scored twice. And we created a

lot of chances but we only scored

once.

Despite Basel inflicting a first

home defeat of the season

on Manchester City, Pep Guardiola's

side are through to the last eight.

City were 4-0 up from the first leg

in Swizterland and went ahead

after seven minutes

through Gabriel Jesus.

But Basel soon equalised

through Mohamed Elyou,

and in the second half Michael Lang

secured a 2-1 victory for the Swiss

Champions.

City won the tie 5-2 on aggregate.

Phil neville has suffered his first

defeat in charge of England's women.

After a win and a draw

in their opening two fixtures,

England needed only a draw

against the USA, to win

the SheBelieves Cup,

but Karen Bardsley's own goal

in the second half gifted the match,

and the tournament to the hosts.

No shame though, they are

the highest ranked team

in the world.

Defeat hurts. That is why I kept the

players on the pitch at the end of

the game. Sometimes you have to feel

that

that pain and hurt and see the

opposition take the trophy. It

sticks with you. You remember it

next time and it pushes you even

more.

He said he would take them to

Disneyland if they won. Should he

still take them? Is that the wrong

message? We will find out.

To cycling, and Team Sky have said

they strongly deny allegations

about the use of medication

to enhance performance,

as does their former rider

Sir Bradley Wiggins.

It comes as the head of world

cycling's governing body,

the UCI, called for an investigation

into the team following a damning

report by MPs this week.

David Lappartient told our

Sports Editor Dan Roan,

that the use of any substance,

even if it's not on the banned list,

that enhances performance,

is cheating.

It seems that there is no breach of

the anti- doping rules, no

violation.

If it is not breaking the

rules, can it be cheating?

If you

are using, you do, substances to

increase your performance, I think

this is exactly what is cheating.

Edinburgh wing, Blair Kinghorn,

will make his first start

for Scotland in place of injured

winger Tommy Seymour when they face

Ireland in Dublin in

the Six Nations on Saturday.

Kinghorn came on as a replacement

during the win over England and he's

the only change as coach

Gregor Townsend sticks with 14

of the 15 who've recorded

back-to-back wins in the

Championship.

Back row Taulupe Faletau returns

at number eight to captain Wales

against Italy in Cardiff on Sunday.

Coach Warren Gatland has made ten

changes to the side that lost

the last match against Ireland.

Scarlets flanker James Davies

will win his first cap.

Gareth Anscombe is named at fly half

with Northampton's George North back

on the wing.

And finally, footballers can often

get labelled selfish.

But that tag can't be thrown

at Liverpool defender Andrew

Robertson.

The Scotland international has

thanked a young Anfield fan

who donated his pocket money

to a local foodbank by sending him

a signed shirt, but not his own

because "no-one wants

the left-back's shirt."

Robertson sent him a shirt signed

by forward Roberto Firmino instead.

Robertson read of seven-year-old

Alfie Radford's gesture on Twitter

and posted him a letter of thanks.

Robertson also wrote that foodbanks

are a "cause close to my heart."

Before his 21st birthday in 2015,

the former Queen's Park

and Dundee United left-back asked

friends and family to donate

to a foodbank rather

than buy him a present.

Not selfish and no ego. My goodness.

Beautiful, isn't it?

Our next guest's story

is sadly not unusual.

Nearly two million adults

are thought to have suffered some

form of domestic abuse

in the past year.

The majority of survivors

still don't feel able to report

what thay have experienced

to police, and today the government

has proposed ways to

tackle the problem.

Samantha Billingham left her partner

after three years of abuse.

She reported it and now

she campaigns to help others.

She joins us now.

I wonder if you could give us a

brief version of what happened to

you.

I suffered domestic abuse for

three years. I could not know why

was a victim at the time and the

relationship. It was very

controlling and physical. It was

only when I left the relationship in

2006 I realised it was domestic

abuse. I went through an awareness

group. Only afterwards did I learn

about domestic abuse.

One of the

problems the government... We

introduced this item. People do not

feel able to report this to police,

or anyone, really. You said you did

not even feel you where a victim,

yet you survived abuse. Some feel

there is no point because it will

not be followed through, followed

up, there is no light at the end of

the tunnel.

Absolutely. That is our

project. Our project is

project. Our project is actually

Light At The End Of The Tunnel.

People have no faith in the system.

It is not taken seriously. One in

four women and one in six men

experience domestic abuse.

Who is

not taking it seriously? The

sentencing procedure? Police all of

it, society, absolutely.

It is not

taken seriously with men as victims

as well. Not at all. They have no

faith in reporting it to the police.

Some do not even get phone calls

back. The sentencing afterwards,

there is no sentencing, really.

Tell

us more about your experience. You

talk about controlling behaviour but

there was physical violence as well.

Yeah.

During that time, when it was

ongoing, did you think about going

to the police? Was it not something

you thought about?

Not at all. It

started off with isolation at the

beginning of the relationship which

you confuse with care because you

think that person wants to spend all

of that time with the but they are

taking you away from your support

network. You have no one to speak

to. They just tell you that if you

leave they will kill you, no one

will believe you. You do not report

it because no one will believe you.

You keep it to yourself and you go

through the process on autopilot,

just accepting it as normal. You

kind of lived in silence through

fear.

So, when you look at some of

these ideas, statutory definition of

domestic abuse, a domestic abuse

commissioner to be set up, new

domestic abuse protection orders

which will allow police to act

earlier, I mean, what do you think

when you read that?

It all sounds

wonderful on paper. If anything does

come of this it will be amazing for

those who have experienced domestic

abuse. Awareness is key, it is

vital. We have many people,

especially young people, who do not

know they are in abusive

relationships. With more awareness,

they could leave a lot sooner.

Without too much detail about your

abuser's habits, one other idea is

banning them from drinking alcohol

and taking them electronically.

Abusers often used excuses, not all

of them drink. Many are

professionals, some are doctors. You

cannot label every abuser as a drink

us. They will find a way around it.

They are clever and manipulative.

They will find a way around that. As

for tagging, that is a difficult

one, I think. I just do not think it

is strong enough to tag them and

think it would change their

behaviour.

We are talking to Amber

Rudd later. You say it will look

good on paper. What would you say to

her if you were trying to make

things better for people living in

it? They might be watching right

now. What would you say to her?

They

need to be believed and heard more

than anything and they need things

to be put in place. They have heard

words over the years. These actions

have got to be put in place. I think

the commissioner would be a

fantastic idea. They need someone to

speak up for them because they have

lost all faith in the system. So,

this would be great.

The cuts to the state houses is

The cuts to the state houses is

ludicrous. It's not that easy.

They've not got a safe place to go

to. We already see two women killed

each week in England. They need

something safe to go to. If they

haven't got any options, they have

no alternative but to say -- but to

stay.

Domestic abuse -- abuse

survivor Samantha and we are talking

to Amber Rudd about this later.

Carol has

to Amber Rudd about this later.

Carol has the weather for us. If you

are out and about this morning

across parts of Wales in the North

Midlands and northern England, you

will already know it's been snowing

and is currently snowing. Some heavy

snow falling at the moment in Leeds.

If you are travelling, to bear that

in mind. It is transient. It will

pull away quite quickly. You got

this line of rain producing snow. We

can see how it progresses away from

England and Wales and heads off into

the North Sea, leaving behind it.

But most of the UK, a fair bit of

sunshine. A few showers around,

especially in the West. Some of it

falling snow on the hills. 5- 70.

Around 7- 11 in the south. As we

head on through the evening in

overnight, clear skies. Temperatures

will drop quickly.

will drop quickly. Wintry showers

coming across Scotland. One of two

in the West. Temperatures wise, in

towns and cities, a roundabout

freezing. A cold start of the day

tomorrow. The risk of ice untreated

surfaces but a lot of dry weather. A

lot of around tomorrow. The many of

us, quite a pleasant day. However,

low pressure is coming from the

south-west. Filling a fair bit of

cloud and some rain and

strengthening wind. With this will

come milder conditions so we've got

seven in the north, Heiser ten and

11 is as you push out towards the

south and through the weekend, that

low pressure moves steadily north,

taking cloud and rain with it and

its milder air. Eventually, by the

end of the weekend, its northern

Scotland. Forecast this weekend is

that rain pushing northwards,

turning milder but at times it will

be fairly cloudy.

It's 6:48.

People looking to buy a new home

might be finding it a bit tougher

at the moment.

Sean has more.

There are loads of figures coming

out. What is happening? This one

today is about how many properties

on the market and how many new

buyers are going to estate agents.

The snow melting, people might start

to think planning to this year

because if you be looking to houses

in the last few weeks, skater be

hard.

We get lots of different figures

about the housing market -

these come from the estate

agent and chartered

surveryor industry themselves.

The reason is might be getting

tougher for wanna-be buyers

is that the number of properties

on estate agents books

is at a new low.

It's the with an average of just

over 40 properties per agent.

That's its lowest

level since May 2017.

(ANI 2) Despite that shortage,

house price growth has been slowing.

-- Despite that shortage,

house price growth has been slowing.

According the UKs largest

lender the Halifax.

House prices

are growing at their slowest

rate since March 2013.

So what's going on?

Kate Faulkner is a property

expert she joins me now.

What is driving this? New buyer

enquiries, as they call it. Low

stock at estate agents. What is

wrong?

We tend to often report

year-on-year where is this goes back

to the recession that started in

2007. We lost 57% of buyers during

that time. A number of buyers felt

through. Around 2013, what we saw

was the market starting to recover.

We imagine five years of a 50% fall

in demand. That is washed through

the system now and we're coming back

to a normal demand moving forward.

It's more over the last sort a few

years, we've had exceptional demand

from the recession before.

40

properties per estate agent might

not have been

properties per estate agent might

not have been that bad historically.

As far as the supply side is

concerned, one of the issues we have

got is purely economic. Worse people

would have moved a lot sooner, but

got more people staying in

properties a lot longer. I'm in my

50s now.

50s now. My parents were trading up

to another property worth to me, the

priority is to pay down the mortgage

and stay where we are and enjoy life

so priorities really as far as

housing goes are changing and that

is restricting the number coming

onto the market. Really, what forgot

to do, we are desperate to change.

If they are not trying to get as

many properties to sell, is further

potential for job losses?

It is

quite likely. There are a lot of

things happening in the estate

agency market. Agents will just not

look anything like they are today

because there is a lot happening so

again, ten years ago, you would have

had an estate agent doing one job

and a letting agent doing other.

There is less stock on the market.

You have a tenancy band coming in.

That does take a lot of turnover out

of the market and it can stop

quickly and stagnate in which case

there may be some job losses but

what we are tending to find is that

rather than closing agents, there is

a lot more consolidation.

Kate,

thank you very much. I'm sure we'll

talking about housing many more

times in the coming months.

It was the most successful

Winter Olympics ever

for Great Britain,

now the pressure is on for

the British athletes heading out

to PyeongChang for the Paralympics.

The aim is to win six

medals - one of those

in wheelchair curling.

Our Disability News Corresondent,

Nikki Fox has been to meet

the team in training.

It's been a long four years of

training to get to this moment.

We've been the best prepared that we

can be to go out to PyeongChang.

When it gets really, really close,

like it is now, how do you feel? Is

that excitement, do you feel sick?

The needs excitement and looking

forward to get out there. We've been

watching the men and the wound and

that really ex- fashion spies is and

we want to get out on the ice

ourselves.

I will watch on the TV, I

am so excited.

So are we. My name is

Aileen Neilson.

Greater UN.

Greater

UN. Greater UN. Angie Malone.

I'm really looking forward to it.

Can I have a go? Will you watch the

brush?

We will catch some floss

maybe.

At what age did you get into

this? I was diagnosed and I was 24.

Has this sport helped you in a way?

It's helped me greatly. And I get

diagnosed with MS and you stop

losing your functions and abilities,

your confidence goes. I became more

or less housebound. And in my

confidence just grew and it's a case

of being fearless. Oh, my goodness.

Had he actually directed? How do you

get it in the right position?

The

delivery stick but also the head

that's on the skewed. That's what

affected.

affected.

We don't have the use of

sweetness and once we let the stone

go, there is nothing we can do to

influence it. It's going off again

to the right. It's so difficult.

This is so difficult. I should have

gone to the gym. Can I have one more

go? I've got it.

A going to snatch

it? We are definitely going to get

out there to get to that stage

first.

Oh, my goodness. Wow. Just

sign me up now. It's more about

inclusion. Definitely feel proud to

be part of the British squad.

You

put a stop on it, it's something

special.

Well, we wish them all the best,

they are going to start tomorrow.

Nicky can turn her hand to pretty

much anything. She did tried

really rather wet at times.

Hello.

This is Breakfast,

with Naga Munchetty and Charlie

Stayt.

Counter-terrorism officers search

for the source of the nerve agent

used in a chemical

attack in Salisbury.

A former Russian spy,

his daughter and a police officer

who came to their aid

are all in a serious

condition in hospital.

We will hear from the Home Secretary

in just over an hour.

Good morning.

It's Thursday, the 8th of March.

Also this morning:

Domestic abusers could be

electronically tagged or banned

from drinking alcohol under tougher

new measures being proposed

to tackle the problem.

A warning that many councils

in England will run out of money

as they struggle to meet

demand on social services.

Good morning.

Shoplifting cost retailers half

a billion pounds last year,

and there's been a worrying spike

in violence against staff too.

I'll have more on that

just before 8am.

In sport, heartbreak for Tottenham

in the Champions League.

Italian champions, Juventus,

come from behind, to beat Spurs

at Wembley, and end their European

dreams, for another season.

Why the recent cold snap

could cause car trouble.

Apparently, there are even more

potholes in our roads.

Will that cold snap continue?

This morning we had snow in Wales,

the north Midlands, and northern

England, and at low levels at that.

It will push away through this

morning. For many, sunshine in just

a few showers in the hills in the

north. More details in 15 minutes.

Good morning.

First, our main story.

Anti-terror police are trying

to establish the origin of a nerve

agent used in the attempted murder

of a former Russian spy

and his daughter.

While police have now identified

the type of chemical,

it's not yet known where it was made

or who could have carried

out the attack.

Sergei and Yulia Skripal remain

in a critical condition in hospital.

A policeman who went to help them

was also seriously injured.

Tom Burridge reports.

This was Sergei Skripal last

month at a corner shop.

Now, police believe someone tried

to kill the former spy

and his daughter with a nerve agent.

It happened here in the small

cathedral city of Salisbury.

A police officer who attended

to the pair, now also in a serious

condition in hospital.

What nerve agent was used

is the question experts

at this

military research centre

are trying to answer.

Nerve agents essentially cripple

the nervous system of the body

and are not easy to manufacture.

Nerve agents require

a non-insignificant financial,

logistical, and technical backup

to actually be manufactured.

And so that would lead

to a more likelihood

of a state manufacturing it.

Life in Salisbury right now

is anything but normal.

This, the restaurant

where Mr Skripal and his daughter

had lunch hours

before they fell ill.

A blonde man could be of interest,

seen in this CCTV footage

from near the crime scene.

His daughter apparently had dark

hair, like in this photo.

They are both in a critical

condition in hospital.

Tom Burridge, BBC News.

Are there any developments?

As

police try to figure out exactly how

this nerve agent was brought into

the country, who administered it,

how it was administered,

how it was administered, how did

Sergei and his daughter get exposed,

we understand it was a rare wine.

The police know the exact nature of

the substance and are not revealing

it for now. It does narrow down the

source of that substance, because

nerve agents are very difficult to

manufacture. We know police are

treating this as attempted murder.

They say the two were specifically

targeted. We also know now a police

officer, one of the first on the

scene, is also in a critical

condition in hospital. This is now a

whole new level of investigation. We

heard strong language earlier from

the government promising, Boris

Johnson, promising a robust response

should it be proved the Russian

state was involved. Russia, of

course, denies responsibility. There

are clearly many more questions to

answer in Salisbury as police try to

piece together the last movements of

the couple as they came to the

Salisbury city centre in the

afternoon. A police cordon is still

in place. There is

in place. There is also another

cordon at a nearby pub and

restaurant, ZiZi, we understand

that's where they had their lunch on

Sunday afternoon. Eyewitnesses say

he was behaving strangely, shouting

in the restaurant, leaving abruptly.

Police are still trying to piece

together that timeline. They are

appealing for witnesses, anyone in

the city centre from one o'clock on

Sunday afternoon, to contact them if

they saw anything out of the

ordinary is quite thank you very

much for that.

-- ordinary. We will

be speaking to Amber Rudd, the Home

Secretary, asking for further

information in half an hour.

Suspected domestic abusers could be

electronically tagged,

or banned from drinking

alcohol and taking drugs,

as part of proposals to tackle

the problem in England and Wales.

The government wants views

on a set of measures,

which include the first legal

definition of economic abuse,

and a commissioner

to oversee the issue.

Jon Donnison reports.

Yuleen Hope suffered a decade

of abuse at the hands

of her ex-partner.

Emotional, but also physical,

she ended up in hospital more

than a dozen times.

She says she used to grow her fringe

long to cover the black guys.

Some people say to me why did

you not get out sooner?

Do you really want to look

over your shoulder if you leave

a relationship, they could

still be after you.

He said "I'll tell

you when it's over."

He threatened me and told me

he would organise for someone

to throw acid in my face.

In 2015, the man was eventually

jailed for grievous bodily harm

and assault after her Euleen's

sister contacted the police.

Almost two million people in Wales,

most of them women, suffered

domestic abuse last year.

The government wants to make it

easier to prosecute perpetrators.

It is launching a consultation

document before it tries to get

tougher laws passed.

Among the proposals,

broadening the legal definition

of domestic abuse to include

physical, psychological,

sexual, emotional,

but also economic abuse.

Tougher sentences for cases

involving children.

And new protection orders to allow

police in courts to intervene more

quickly when abuse is suspected.

The consultation period

for the proposed new laws will last

will last 12 weeks.

Jon Donnison, BBC News.

Britain and Saudi Arabia have agreed

plans for a future trade

and investment programme

worth £65 billion.

The announcement comes on the second

day of a visit to the UK

by the Saudi Crown Prince,

Mohammed Bin Salman.

The package includes direct

investment in both countries

across energy, education,

healthcare, and defence.

There's a warning that many councils

in England will become financially

unsustainable if they continue

to rely on their reserve funds

to pay for the increasing

demands of social care.

The public spending watchdog says

two thirds of councils with social

care responsibilities

raided their reserves

in the financial year

ending last April.

Our correspondent,

Alison Holt, has more.

It's lunchtime at the Nexus

Day Centre in Surrey.

Here, people can socialise and take

part in other activities.

It is paid for by

the county council.

The National Audit Office says local

authorities now spend more than half

of their budgets on providing care

for adults and children.

For Sue, who has multiple

sclerosis, the help is vital.

I come here one twice a week.

I would come more if there

was the funding for it.

But, umm, apart from

that, it is amazing.

The NAO says since 2010,

the money local authorities

in England have got from government

has been cut by 50%.

Despite council tax rises,

services like bin collections,

roads, and libraries,

have had their money reduced

by nearly a third

over the same time.

And with councils using savings

to balance the books,

it warns one in ten will have

exhausted their reserves

within three years.

We are calling for a plan

for long-term sustainability.

We need to make funding available.

Alongside that, social care needs

a funding solution as well.

The government says a new funding

settlement has an approved

The government says a new funding

settlement has been approved

for councils to help pay

for the services that keep

communities running,

and that will mean a real-terms

increase in resources,

allowing for greater freedom,

fairness and value for money.

Alison Holt, BBC News.

Danish inventor, Peter Madsen,

is due to go on trial over the death

of Swedish journalist, Kim Wall,

aboard his homemade submarine.

Ms Wall was interviewing Madsen

when she went missing last August.

Her body was later found by police.

Masden denies intentionally

killing the reporter.

He's appearing in court

in Copenhagen today.

Our reporter, Maddy

Savage, is there.

Peter Madsen with a well-known

figure week you are.

Something of a

celebrity in Scandinavia. You can

see behind me crowds of journalists

are already gathering to witness his

court case getting under way today.

He described himself as an inventor

and entrepreneur. He had a

and entrepreneur. He had a 33 ton

submarine he invented he invited Kim

Wall onto. Kim went on to his

submarine to interview him but did

not come back alive. Parts of her

body were found on a beach and at

the bottom of the sea by police

divers. Peter Madsen changed his

story many times. Wine, that she

left early and safely, then that a

hatch Phelan killed her, and then

carbon monoxide poisoning. -- fell

and. Then he admitted he cut her up,

but not killed her. If convicted, he

could face life in prison.

Lawmakers in Florida have approved

a bill to strengthen gun control,

weeks after 17 people were killed

in a shooting at a local school.

The bill raises the legal

age for buying rifles,

imposes a three-day waiting period

on all firearms sales and will also

allow the arming

of some school staff.

It now requires the approval

of the state's Governor.

Train passengers will more easily be

able to claim compensation for the

knock-on costs of delays as part of

changes to ticket terms and

conditions. Rail operating companies

are removing a clause which says

they won't accept any liability for

indirect effects such as commuters

having to pay for taxis and hotels.

The consumer group Which had

previously accused companies of

misleading the public.

More now on our top story.

The investigation

into the attempted murder

of a former Russian spy

and his daughter in Salisbury.

Police have confirmed they were

targeted with a nerve agent.

So, what are nerve agents?

They're highly toxic chemicals

that are manufactured,

rather than naturally occurring.

They were first created

specifically for use in war.

They normally enter the body

through the mouth or nose,

but can also be absorbed

through the eyes or skin.

The chemical attacks

the body's nervous system,

shutting down normal functions.

Even in small doses,

this all happens incredibly fast.

Unless treated urgently,

they're potentially deadly

to anybody exposed.

Let's speak now to Richard Guthrie,

who has worked as a consultant

advising governments

on chemical weapons.

Thank you for your time this

morning. I just wonder, first of

all, with your expertise, can you

just tell us what you understand

that this toxin was.

Well, it sounds

like it was one of the phosphate

groups of nerve agents. There are

some other chemicals that are

included in nerve agents. But

phosphates are the most well-known,

including sarin and VX. But the

range of chemistry you can include

in that is quite broad. You get many

subspecies of these types of nerve

agents. And so they would be a

specific wind in this case. The

details have not been revealed. --

one.

Police and counterterrorism

police are not at this stage

defining exactly what it is. BBC

understands they understand it is

rare. What does that mean to you?

People are familiar with some of the

nerve agents used in other incidents

like this.

Well, when you select a

nerve agent for production, if we

take the example of sarin, used

during the war in Syria, one of the

reasons it was chosen is because it

is easy to manufacture. It has

long-term storage problems. The ease

of manufacturing means it was

selected by many countries. If you

are selecting an assassination

weapon, you might want another

characteristic, ease of storing,

ease of pushing it out of an

injector, to spray on skin. So the

selection of this particular nerve

agent may be dependent on the design

of how they got it into the people

and fortunately affected.

We will

look at that particular issue, the

practicalities of what may or may

not have happened. We know for

example that the father and daughter

met in a local restaurant, which is

closed now pending the

investigation. How could this have

been administered to them?

We have some practical examples. If

you look back last year to the

assassination of Kim Jong-nam at

Kuala Lumpur for our port, that was

assassination of Kim Jong-nam at

Kuala Lumpur for our port, that was

carried out by two separate young

females swabbing the begin with

different chemicals that they

combined on the skin to form the

nerve agent VX is a direct

application is one way. Having

something that produces a liquid

that falls on the skin from the

device. Is a possibility. At the

moment, it's probably unwise to

speculate too far. When people put

the resources into an assassination

programme, they can often get very

creative. One only has to think of

the assassination of Kielty mark of

40 years ago, 90 -- 1978, where he

had a device made to look like an

umbrella which injected ricin into

his leg. It was possible to put this

into Markov's leg. There could be

some innovative method to get the

nerve agent onto the target in this

case.

We will speak to the Home

Secretary later on but it is a huge

concern that whoever carried out

this attack, they had this agent and

there haven't been -- they haven't

been caught, they haven't been

apprehended. It must be concern

about whether there is more of it.

And how it is contained. Where it

is.

is.

These materials are very

difficult to manufacture. I suspect

it would have been brought into the

country rather than discreetly

manufactured into a laboratory here.

In theory, under international law,

and the particular facilities can

make small quantities of these

agents. The International convention

that deals with chemical weapons, it

allows each country to have a single

small scale facility to produce a

very small quantity of nerve agent

for doing things such as testing,

detection equipment. Very few

laboratories with any experience of

handling this sort of material. I

suspect this has been brought in

from overseas. This raises questions

over whether stuff can be moved

around the planet which is worrying

for law-enforcement.

Doctor Richard

Guthrie, thank you very much for

your time.

Here's Carol with a look

at this morning's weather.

Snow on the way but you are going to

Snow on the way but you are going to

bring sunshine, as always. Bless

you. Some of us already have snow.

Snow falling across parts of Wales

and the Midlands and northern

England. We have a lot of snow in

Leeds, stowing around Liverpool Bay.

If you are travelling, do bear that

in mind. It will be fairly

transient. It will push away over

the next couple of hours. Its rain

falling across East Anglia and the

south-east and as this system pulls

away, taking snow with it, we see

the tail end of the rain coming

through and it will be bite and

upset many of us, it will be drier.

A bit of around. Bits and pieces of

cloud. In the north-west, we are

prone to showers and some of those

could be wintry with height. Nine,

ten, 11 as we push further south.

Through this evening in overnight, a

lot of clear sky. The wind will

drop, lost around in the risk of

ice. Still some wintry showers

across Scotland and whether wind

drops across northern England, North

Wales as well, we could see some

freezing fog patches. Some thing to

bear in mind first thing tomorrow

morning. By the end of the night the

clouds starting to build. This is an

area of low pressure coming our way

tomorrow. The rain will come in and

the wind will start to pick up as

well. The much of the day to the

rest of the UK, dry. A fair bit of

sunshine. Just a few showers here

and there. 7mate in the north, ten

and 11 further south. We are also

pulling in some miles aware. The

pressure will take cloud, rain and

windy conditions with it and Dragon

that mild air and by the time it to

the far north of Scotland on Sunday,

some high temperatures than we have

been used to. The rain will continue

to push northwards but behind it,

fairly cloudy. There it goes. All

the cloud and rain, maybe some hill

snow ahead of it. And still, you

will notice there is going to be a

bit of breeze but temperature-wise,

12, 13, 14 for southern areas. Ten

as we move northwards. However by

the time to Sunday, the low pressure

goes the way to the north of

Scotland, taking the rain with it

and some snow across parts of

Shetland, for example. A lot of dry

weather behind. The cloud will break

here and there. Some sunshine coming

through and showers across southern

England. 11- 13 in the south. Look

at this. Ten, nine in Aberdeen. It's

been a wee while since we have seen

temperatures like that. It's really

hard to say mild air with

temperatures like that. It's really

hard to say mild air with a Scottish

accent.

Mild air. Easy view an English

accent.

You know what, it serve at we are

talking about the weather. I don't

think many will forget the beast

from the east are quite awhile. It

brought freezing temperatures. We

sought heavy snow and ice across the

whole of the UK and lots of

disruption.

Most people pretty much

back to normal after the severe

weather but it's causing disruption

in some places.

Our reporter Fiona Trott

is in the market town of Alston

in Cumbria to see how

people are coping.

There are still some pretty big

piles of snow.

And it's what are the highest towns

in England and that is why people

here last week, they were cut the

days. There were 12 feet drifts over

the top of the cars here. No other

days. The helicopter had to come

here to drop supplies for people

because they started to burn their

own furniture. Let's chat to a few

people to find out how things are

one week on. Richard, you have a

farm locally. How bad was it?

farm locally. How bad was it?

Regard

to 700 feet. The conditions were

pretty atrocious. Two losses which

is minimal, especially on the side

of a near Penrith. The sheep were

fine at the moment.

A bit of digging

to do.

Not that bad. We had fuel.

Really prepared.

Really prepared. The roads were cut

off in some places. The walls all

around are full of smoke. Richard

was out helping people? You did a

sterling job. Dig drives, did roads.

The council who are excellent doing