this is bbc news. i'm gavin esler. the headlines at 103m: gps are warned by downing street to keep their surgeries open longer to meet patient demand or risk losing funding. the one thing that general practice needsis the one thing that general practice needs is more resources, forfunding and more doctors and more nurses. what we cannot cope with is having any further pressure and the idea of cutting funding would just be a disaster. the east coast of england escapes significant flooding after a tidal storm surge passed overnight. more than 5,000 homes were evacuated. labour leaderjeremy corbyn gets set to defend his leadership, after claims by think—tank with links to the party it was too weak to win an election. also in the next hour, the next steps for brexit. a group of mps says theresa may must spell out whether she wants the uk to remain in the single market by mid february, before talks can begin. a girl stolen as a newborn from a florida hospital is found alive more than 18 years later. a woman has been charged

with kidnapping. good morning and welcome to bbc news. downing street has warned gps in england that they must keep their surgeries open for longer to meet the demand from patients or risk losing funding. number ten is concerned that many patients may be going to hard—pressed accident and emergency departments because they can't get appointments with their gp. the government wants to see surgeries open 12 hours a day, seven days a week unless they can prove the demand isn't there. here's our political correspondent, chris mason. for days, the government has faced a blizzard of criticism about its management of the nhs in england. targets missed, major alerts declared. seniorfigures in the health service are sounding doom—laden about the future.

now the prime minister is turning her attention to family doctors and what they can do to help. a downing street source said, "most gps do a fantasticjob. however, it's increasingly clear that a large number of surgeries are not providing the access that patients needs and that patients are suffering as a result because they are then forced to go to a&e to seek care". the doctors‘ union, the british medical association, said the remarks amounted to scapegoating during what it called "a very serious crisis." the association added that a third of gp surgeries in england had unfilled vacancies because the existing workload put doctors off wanting to go into general practice. the east coast of england has escaped largely unscathed from a tidal storm surge during the night. thousands of people had been advised to leave their homes, but the high tide failed

to breach flood defences. simon clemison reports. after all the words of warning, just the sight and sound of a huge display of strength by nature. within five or ten minutes it was coming over the walls and it was just flooding straight in. it just started running all the way down the street. it was awful. about 30 homes were inundated here in hornsey. businesses too. into the evening, people in the path of the storm surge were still trying to protect their properties. many had been advised to leave, but some in great yarmouth were keen to stay put. we saw this all happen in 2013. but you have to take precautions at the end of the day. all we are doing is putting sandbags near the doorways. others found comfort however they could as special rest centres opened up. but when high tide arrived in each town, conditions appeared to ease. the environment agency had sent in pumps and more than five miles of temporary barriers.

0fficials insist the emergency response was not over the top. the worst appears to be over. the defences have held. the rest centres will be laid off now. to be honest with you, if that had of breached, we would have been in a lot worse situation in and these centres would have been needed. it's wise to say that we followed everything by the book as far as the environment agency and emergency services were concerned that. for those of you who want to go home, get out of here! some are now beginning to return home. but with storm warnings still in place, people are being urged not to take chances. 0ur correspondent alex dunlop is in great yarmouth. alex, how bad was it there?m alex, how bad was it there? it was a bit tricky last night, but not nearly as bad as we had feared. you just have to stand here for five

minutes and the weather changes. this snow dropped on us in the last half an hour. this is the river that i’u ns half an hour. this is the river that runs through great yarmouth and this is where the pinch point was. ok, at the moment, the tide is coming in. we expect high water at 10.30am, but we should be all right. at 9.30pm, it came to two—feet below the concrete flood defences, but receded. there were no major breaches of the flood defences here in great yarmouth. it was a different picture in hornsy in east yorkshire. we understand that emergency services say that at least 30 properties were flooded in the east yorkshire seaside town last night. three people had to be saved from a car that became trapped in five—feet of water, would you believe it, on the sea—front? as that storm surge overtopped the sea defences. back here in yarmouth, what i did find interesting at 9.30pm last night, a lot of these

properties, not farfrom 9.30pm last night, a lot of these properties, not far from the river, many lights were on. so people were clearly deciding to stay at home. 5,000 properties were at risk from a severe flood warning, but only about 60%, 70% of people heeded the police and the military‘s advice to go to the evacuation centres. 60% decided they would move in with relatives or hunker down in their own homes because three years ago, they saw this all before. so, two an extent they knew what was coming. let's chat with toby from the environment agency. toby, the worst didn't happen. just explain why we didn't get that combination of the wind, tide and wind, why did it not happen? as you say, for a significant storm surge to have major impact, you need the combination of a high tide, a surge, and winds on top of that to come together. we predicted all of those, we fore ca st together. we predicted all of those, we forecast all of those, but actually, they came out of sync, the

impacts were much less significant than we might have feared and mercifully so. it is so hard to call, isn't it? it is very difficult. it is not a precise science, but actually, you know, what we saw was levels that were as you say, not far below the top of the defences. if the winds had remained in the same direction and the same strength, we could have seen the same strength, we could have seen significant overtopping of defences and flooding. there were huge resources drawn in, huge planning, people might say, did you not perhaps over react? well, i think what we've seen over the last few years is significant strengthening of the defences down the east coast. so about 500,000 properties have been protected from flooding over the last 24 hours. we brought in additional resources to support that and made decisions with our emergency partners, with the

police, local authority, our emergency partners, with the police, localauthority, fire and rescue service, in some places and in some circumstances, evacuation was the right course of action. now, i remember being here three years ago in 2013 when the flood defences, it was three or four inches it came from over topping. is there a danger people say, well, we look back at 2007 when there was flooding and it wasn't bad, 2013 we got away with, last night, we got away with it. people might become complacent. well, we have got hard flood defences and we can bring in temporary flood defences to support these. emergency partners work together to make the best decisions together to make the best decisions to support communities. this is not a precise science. and the margins are very fine. in a word, the danger is now passed ? are very fine. in a word, the danger is now passed? the danger is now passed. tides are receding and the weather is looking a bit more benign. toby, thank you very much. with that, it is back to you in the studio. alex, thank you very much.

thank you. the government should publish its brexit plan by mid—february at the latest, according to a cross party group of mps. the exiting the eu committee also says parliament should be given a vote on the final deal. here's our business correspondent joe lynam. next week, theresa may will give a major speech on britain's future outside the eu which could give us more detail on what kind of brexit she'll be seeking. but she is under pressure from key parties in the commons, including leavers such as michael gove. the brexit committee says: it should set out its planned by mid—february. press for a tr. arrangement with the eu if it cannot get a full deal in the two—year time frame. and banks in the city should have continued unfettered access to eu markets. crucially they said the government should offer mps a vote on whatever is agreed at the end of the negotiation. we are made up of people who campaigned for leave and remain.

the commitee have come together because we know whatever side we took in that debate, we need the best deal for britain. the government said: but this report by cross—party mps is likely to be seized upon by those hoping for a softer and certainly more transparent exit from the eu. with me is dr chaand nagpaulfrom the british medical association. what do you make of this idea? it is 12 hours a day, seven hours a week is the aim the government says? yes, what the government should be doing and the prime minister should be doing is taking responsibility to

address the real crisis in the nhs which is a situation where we are grossly under funded. we actually spend less on health than most other european countries. we have fewer doctors here than most of europe. we have fewer hospital beds than the rest of europe. we have cuts in social care and coming on to gp services, we have a major alert where we are several thousand gps short. 0ne where we are several thousand gps short. one in three gp practises is running with almost permanent vacancies. more than eight in ten gps say that the care they provide is not safe because of the pressures . is not safe because of the pressures. and what we should be doing is addressing this root cause of the problems rather than scapegoating or deflecting blame on one part of the system. scapegoating or deflecting blame on one part of the systemlj scapegoating or deflecting blame on one part of the system. i think many of your patients, i don't mean you personally, but many patients of gps will see some of the problems. will appreciate what their doctors do, but there is also, as you have seen this week in particular, a sense of

outrage is probably the right word, outrage is probably the right word, outrage that some gps services are just not available in the afternoon. why should that be? just not available in the afternoon. why should that be ?|j just not available in the afternoon. why should that be? i think going beyond us, the headlines, some of the practises are branch sites where the practises are branch sites where the patients can access the main surgery. in other instances, none of the surgeries are closed, they are providing services a patient can get urgent gp services including home visits throughout the contractual hours, but again, as i said earlier, we have got severe shortages of gps. the national audit office that produced this report, their chief recommendation, their key recommendation, their key recommendation was that the government should reconsider trying to stretch the service beyond the current hours because that would damage care. so that's what they have said and what they've also said, the second recommendation, we need to be resourcing the core service better because we have these shortages. what do you make of the prospect of a big stick being used? in other words you will lose

funding? general practice sees more than one million patients each day. 16 times more patients visit their gp practise compared to going hospital a&e. if you cut funding, on a service that is already overstretched, what you will do is exacerbate the crisis. you will result in more patients relying on other parts of the system including hospitals. the last thing you should be doing is cutting fund when in fa ct be doing is cutting fund when in fact as i have said earlier you cans the national audit office has been very clear that we need more support and resources in general practice and resources in general practice and the community. one of the things that strikes me about having, you know, we could have had this discussion in different levels, going back years and years. in other words, it is notjust about the scapegoating gps, it is not about scapegoating gps, it is not about scapegoating a particular government, we have got a chronic problem and it involves, notjust you, but social care and so on which is no government, no political party has really tackled? you're right. this isn't just an has really tackled? you're right. this isn'tjust an issue of the current day, this has been going on

for a long time. i think the fundamental issue is that politicians put politics ahead of the real debate around the nhs and the real debate around the nhs and the real debate is that if you have a service that is trailing europe in terms of its resources, a service which has got fewer doctors per head than the rest of europe, fewer hospital beds, has a gp service in fa ct we hospital beds, has a gp service in fact we spend the shortest amount of time per patient, that's ten minutes, compared to virtually all other european countries, it is an impossiblejob to other european countries, it is an impossible job to look after an older patient with four different problems in ten minutes. that is what needs to be addressed and u nfortu nately, what needs to be addressed and unfortunately, whilst the politics sort of dictate the way the health service is run, we're not going to get a proper discussion and that's what we need to be doing. we need to be having a mature, sensible discussion and debate around how we get the right infrastructure for a health service in a developed nation. thank you very much. the us president—elect,

donald trump, has said that recently—imposed sanctions on russia could be lifted if moscow helped washington in the war against islamist extremism. sarah corker reports. with days to go until donald trump becomes the 45th president, washington is still reeling from an extraordinary week of swirling allegations. mrtrump said he mr trump said he is willing to work with russia and china providing they co—operate. he told the wall street journal: when asked about the one china policy under which the us no longer acknowledges taiwan, he said:

allegations that russia attempted to influence the presidential election will be investigated by a us senate committee. they will examine alleged close ties between moscow and members of mr trump's campaign teams and russia's cyber activity and intelligence practises. and lawmakers have been briefed about the unverified dossier with its explosive claims. the american people are owed the truth and there is a great deal of evidence to say that that this is high, an issue of high interest to the american people. the strength, the american people. the strength, the integrity of our own democracy. i saw the information... the president—elect has denounced the allegation against him and his team as fake news. back in washington, the focus turns to friday, 20th january, and the inauguration. rehearsals have already started as

the nation gets ready to usher in a new political order with the rest of the world watching what happens next. the headlines on bbc news: gps are warned to keep their surgeries open longer or face a cut infunding. more surgeries open longer or face a cut in funding. more than 5,000 homes we re in funding. more than 5,000 homes were evacuated due to flooding concerns. jeremy corbyn gets ready to defend his leadership strategy amid claims that the party is too wea k to amid claims that the party is too weak to win an election. a busy saturday of sport ahead. here's mike bushell. dan

da n eva ns dan evans was up in the last hour in the men's final. it was evans' first atp tour final. the men's final. it was evans' first atp tourfinal. he the men's final. it was evans' first atp tour final. he lost the tie—break and couldn't recover in the second. he lost that 6—2 and with it the match. the tournament is a warm up for the australian open and andy murray is hoping to add this grand slam to his collection. was losing a shock to murray?m that happened last year, it would have been, but because of the break it felt like you're starting from scratch again and the new year, i hadn't played a match for six weeks. at the end of last year, it felt like i was playing every day pretty much. but yeah, good start to the year. and hopefully i can get

another run going soon. he maybe top scorer, but diego costa hasn't trained for three days and hasn't travelled with the chelsea squad for today's match at leicester, after a dispute with the club's coaching staff. it follows a disagreement with a coach, over his fitness. but the news comes amid reports that he's been the subject of an offer, from a chinese club, who could be willing to pay him, £30 million a year. that's £577,000 a week. there will be tributes around grounds this weekend to remember graham taylor. the first match in the premier league, sees third place tottenham, play west bromwich albion. spurs are hoping to build on their victory against chelsea last week and not repeat the dip in form which followed their earlier win, against manchester city. now, after chelsea, it is a great

opportunity to show and keep the momentum will be key. tottenham's north london rivals arsenal are currently outside the top four. they're playing second from bottom club swansea city later. it's swansea manager, paul clement's, first match in charge. i'm really looking forward to it. it's been a big ambition of mine to manage in this league and at this level and yeah, my first home game at swansea, going up against arsene wenger and arsenal will be a very special moment for me. leeds united have moved up to third in the championship after a 1—0 win, over derby at elland road. they're now, four points off the automatic promotion places. chris woods' headerjust before the break, was enough to seal a fifth home win in a row, for garry monks‘ side. it was an unhappy to return to his former club for

derby's bradleyjohnson, who was sent off late on. it's a potentially decisive weekend in european club rugby union. irish side leinster are through to the quarter—finals of the champions cup, after a big win over montpellier last night. the french side had a man sent off in the first half, and leinster took full advantage. jack conan, scored 3 of their eight tries in a 57—3 victory. bath also scored eight tries in their victory, over local rivals, bristol, in the second—tier challenge cup competition. england's, semesa rokoduguni one of the scorers in a 57—22 win. that's all sport for now. you can keep up—to—date on the bbc sports website. i will have more for you in an hour's time. mike, thank you very much. jeremy corbyn is expected to use a speech in the next few minutes to defend his leadership of the labour party after claims by a centre—left think—tank

it was too weak to win an election. the fabian society has warned labour would lose out on returning to power unless it could secure a coalition. at the speech in central london, mr corbyn is expected to say his party offers "a complete break from a rigged system". he'll also outline labour plans to bring care homes into public ownership. 0ur political correspondent tom barton is here. a rigged system, oh, that's donald trump rhetoric, that is. it is all rigged? absolutely. this speech today, has the potential to feel a little awkward at least because, you know, the fabian society, they are a group with historic links to the labour party. very significant. but a group who, like you say, just a week or so ago said that the current labour party, with the current leadership, is too weak to win an election. yet, today you've got the current leader, of that party, speaking to their conference. he will put up a defence of his leadership of the party and in particular, will address what he

sees as a significant shift in the way people look at society, you know, talking about how the people who run britain have a, in his vaourks have been taking the country for a ride. he vaourks have been taking the country fora ride. he will vaourks have been taking the country for a ride. he will talk about a rigged economy, rigged for business and a system that doesn't work for the vast majority of people. he will though talk about the nhs and the ca re system. though talk about the nhs and the care system. so on the nhs, you know, there is an accusation which is sometimes levelled at labour that by talking about the nhs, they are staying in their comfort zone. jeremy corbyn will say that actually the nhs is in a dinger zone and will commit to provaiding long—term funding to support it. part of the problems that we have seen within the nhs, particularly in the last week or so, one of the root causes of that is the problems in the care system. it is very hard for older and disabled people who find themselves admitted to hospital to get out once they're better because they can't necessarily get support

from the care system. he's going to outline ideas for how labour could address that including potentially taking failed care homes into public ownership. he will say that 380 care home businesses have gone bust in the last six years or so. and that labour would address that when that happens, keeping those homes running. of course, this is also the week which was billed as a bit of re—launch and the core question which some labour activists, given their huge divisions in the party, but some are asking is, in order to do any of these things, we have to have at least a sniff of being in power. there are two difficult by—elections and some are despairing, including some fabians, that that can't happen? that's at the root of the report that the fabian society published the other week. they weren't saying anything hugely surprising. if you look at the opinion polls at the moment, labour is not in a good place and

you know, some would sayjeremy corbyn's own mps are voting with their feet. of courts, corbyn's own mps are voting with theirfeet. of courts, we had tristram hunt yesterday looking at his potential future prospects for become ago labour minister or even remaining as a labour mp and deciding actually he'd rather go off and run the victoria and albert museum. just last month, another mp, jamie reid, the mp for cope land, announced that he was standing down as an mp in order to go and work for the nuclear power station at sizewell. there is a sense from some within the party and actually within the wing of the party which if you like is represented by the fabian society that labour isn't in a good way of the it is worth remembering though, there is of course, a massive activist on the other side of that argument. momentum who are backing jeremy corbyn, who would say well, actually he's offering something very fresh. the world is a very different place to what it was

even six months ago, let alone a year or two and thatjeremy corbyn offers something fresh for people who really think that the system is broken. 0k, tom, we will listen in when mr corbyn speaks. a baby taken 18 years ago has been tracked down and found. police said until a few months ago, she had no inclination that the woman who raised her was not her biological mother. jane—frances kelly reports. she was only eight hours old when she was taken by a woman in florida. now 18 years later, police charged this woman, gloria will yaments with her kidnap. 0riginal images circulated at the time of her it is

appearance in 1998 have been released. the police say she was living under another name in good health and in the care of gloria williams. the authorities say a tip—off last year provided the breakthrough and dna results confirmed her real identity. in south carolina, we fwound an 18—year—old young woman with the same date of birth, but a different name. further investigation revealed that fraudulent documents had been used to establish that young woman's identity. in the interviews with people, it supported the possibility that this young woman maybe the missing woman. her biological mother tried to locate her daughter after her disappearance. her biological grandmother said they never gave up hope. i felt like she was alive. it felt like she was alive. she is taking it as well as you could imagine. we have victim advocates up

there. she has a lot to process and a lot to think about. i can't begin to comprehend it. officers say they acted on thousands of tip—offs before the breakthrough came. giving some hope to other parents of ababducted children. —— abducted children. in 1979, a teenage rock photographer took his camera along to a gig by the band, the jam. he captured the group at the height of their fame but lacked the confidence to do anything with the pictures. now, nearly four decades later they are on the cover of a live album by the group. john danks reports. # what a nice day. # the jam on top of the pops in november, 1979. when mike searle went to see them play live in aylesbury later that month, he took along his russian—made zenit camera. it was an amazing gig.

they were an amazing band to see live. paul weller used to leap around his guitar so what irony wanted to do was catch him jumping with his guitar, because that was his signature move. so i managed to get that. lacking confidence, mike didn't do anything with them. the pictures didn't see the light of day again until a few years ago. wanting to set up as a freelance photographer, mike dug them out, put them online and then he got a call. someone from universal music called me up and said, "we'd like your photos and we'd like to use them on a live album we're releasing from the same year, are you interested?" and i was, like, "yes i am". a deal was done and six months later the finished album was posted to him. i got the package and open it up and it was shiny, heavy, a beautiful piece of art. i would have done it for love to be honest. so teenage dreams that finally came true 38 years later. i really wanted to thank 17—year—old mike for earning me a little bit of money.

the message to other people that age, if you got the time, follow your passion and really follow it through and good things can happen. time for a look at the weather. things are quieter, but there are some nuisance areas. there are showers coming into the isle of man, north—west england and into the midlands. there is some sunshine to be had. the wind is easing down across the north sea. the possibility of wintry showers in east anglia. milder farther west.