LBC

Image source, LBC

Boris Johnson was asked on LBC about the forthcoming UK referendum on whether to stay in the EU. The London mayor said the penalties for leaving the EU were now "lower than they have been for a very long time".

Mr Johnson added:

Pushed on whether he would lead the No campaign to exit the European Union Boris Johnson said "it would be absolutely fatal for any campaign to be led by me". Before making his decision on leaving or staying, he said he would wait for the outcome of the negotiations, adding:

Boris Johnson has said that Turkey should be part of the European Union, but only if the UK had more control of its borders. 

When presenter Nick Ferrari mentioned that Turkish citizens would be able come freely to Britain, Mr Johnson replied "is that such a terrible thing?"

He said migration cannot be controlled if the UK does not have control of its borders. He added it was "perfectly possible" to be part of the EU and not allow the the free movement of people, which is a fundamental principle of the European Union.

LBC

Boris Johnson defended thecycle superhighwaysaying "it is going to be a wonderful thing for the city". However he avoided answering repeated questions from host Nick Ferrari, on whether there were plans to deal with the breakdown of a truck which could cause traffic jams. Ferrari called the scheme a "shambles" as Mr Johnson joked Embankment in London could have been turned into a beach instead under plans he scrapped.

LBC

Image source, LBC

London mayor and Conservative MP Boris Johnson is on LBC this morning answering questions from the public, including on the forthcoming plans to toughen laws covering authorities' access to people's online activities. 

Mr Johnson said he had recently "moved my position", agreeing the security services should have more powers to look through internet details. But he added that police shouldn't be able to go "randomly trawling" through data as that would be a form of "oppression" and "bullying".

Image source, AP

The Draft Investigatory Powers Bill has one simple aim: to completely rethink and overhaul the laws governing how the state, police and spies can gather private communications or other forms of data.

So, how would the proposed new law work?

BBC Radio 5 Live

Admiral Lord West, former head of the Royal Navy and a Labour security minister between 2007 and 2010, says new surveillance laws are necessary to catch criminals and prevent terrorism. He told BBC Radio 5 Live:

Road tolls should be considered to help fund a backlog of local road repairs, a report on infrastructure has said.

The report, by the Institution of Civil Engineers (Ice), cites evidence from council transport chiefs that about a third of Scotland's local roads are in an unacceptable condition.

The cost of bringing them up to an acceptable standard has been put at about £2bn.

The Scottish government said the report provided a "helpful contribution".

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Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, AFP/Getty Images

Sara Thornton, chair of the National Police Chiefs' Council, disagrees with Preston Byrne. She says law enforcement needs access to communications data to protect the public and investigate crime. "The bottom line is we're just not keeping up with technology," she tells Today.

Ms Thornton says it is "categorically not the case" of seeing people's internet browsing histories - but about "modernising" the law.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Image source, PA

A new law to govern how police and intelligence agencies and the state can access communications and data will be published today. 

Preston Byrne from Eris Industries, a cryptographic communications company which is withdrawing from the UK because of the proposed law, says the government is going to be tracking metadata which is essentially "a map of what you're thinking".

He warns the data could be compromised - citing the recent TalkTalk hack - and says this could lead to blackmail. And he argues that criminals and terrorists" don't use normal communication channels" so only the law-abiding people will be affected by the bill.

Dr Johann Malawana says the government has used the negotiation process to "beat the heads of doctors and force us into a course of action that we're now seeing".

Asked what his main objection is, he says he hasn't had a chance to "completely untangle" the proposals. So what are you holding a ballot on, then?

Asked if he'd sit down for talks with the health secretary, he tells Today he would if there was "meaningful" engagement and says the government must remove threat of imposing the new contracts.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Dr Johann Malawana, chair of the BMA Junior Doctors committee, says the proposals put forward by the government have been "drip fed out through the media" and the BMA hasn't had a chance to look at them in depth. This is not the right way of engaging in negotiation, he adds.He says the proposals are changing all the time.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Jeremy Hunt tells the BMA "my door is open", saying he hopes it doesn't come to "a damaging strike".

He says he's willing to sit round the table and negotiate but insists that he has an obligation to deliver on the manifesto promise.

His priority, he adds, is delivering the safest possible care. He again urges the BMA to get round the negotiating table.  

Jeremy Hunt appealed to any doctor listening that they have a shared vision; to offer the best care for patients. He says the BMA have wrongly claimed pay will be cut - and says that they have "refused to talk and balloted for industrial action".

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Senior doctors and consultants in emergency medicine have objected to the seven day a week work changes, in a letter seen by the Daily Mail. Jeremy Hunt says the letter was before the offer was published this morning. He maintains the changes will ensure the best care for patients every day of the week.

Asked about his threat to impose the new contracts on junior doctors, Mr Hunt explains that the government has been talking to the BMA "politely, for three years now" about how to tackle higher mortality rates at weekends.

He says the Conservatives campaigned on a platform of introducing a 7-day NHS  and since then the government has told the BMA it will not wait "another three years" to get round to it.

Stormont Health Minister Simon Hamilton is expected to announce the biggest shake-up in Northern Ireland's health system in five years.

The BBC understands that he will outline a new management structure for the local health care system.

It comes in response to a review that recommended redesigning the system to make it simpler and more efficient.

The review said Northern Ireland had too many hospitals for its 1.8m population.

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Victims and witnesses are often left marginalised in a court system that is "archaic" and "chaotic", a report by the Criminal Justice Alliance has said., external

The Crown Court system in England and Wales is "structured mayhem" with many delays, the study by the coalition of 90 justice campaign groups said.

The report draws on the personal experiences of nearly 150 lawyers, witnesses, victims and defendants.

The Ministry of Justice said reforms were needed to improve procedures.

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