over islamophobia — after the now—suspended mp, lee anderson, said "islamists" had "got control" of the mayor of london. the deputy prime minister refuses to say whether the comments are islamophobic. israeli forces are continuing their strikes across the gaza strip, with heavy fighting in the city of khan younis. israel insists there will be no let—up, despite fresh hopes of a pause in hostilities following talks in paris. donald trump is one step closer to the republican presidential nomination, easily beating rival nikki haley in the south carolina primary. the former president won his opponent's home state with a 20—point margin oppenheimer is the big winner at the screen actors guild awards. it takes the top prize of best cast, as well as best actor for cillian murphy. barbara streisand was also presented with a lifetime achievement award.

more now on our top story — and the argument engulfing the conservatives after its former deputy chairman, lee anderson, was suspended from the parliamentary party. he'd refused to apologise for saying the mayor of london, sadiq khan, was controlled by islamists. the deputy prime minister, oliver dowden, declined to call those comments islamophobic, but said he shared concerns they could be taken that way. he's been speaking to laura kuenssberg on her sunday morning programme... well, that's why the prime minister took action. he gave lee anderson the opportunity to apologise, he didn't take that opportunity. words matter. he didn't choose his words correctly and, having failed to apologise, the prime minister took action and removed the whip. i think that was the appropriate course of action to take. do you agree, though, that the remarks were islamophobic, anti—muslim? i don't believe that lee anderson said those remarks she was concerned they would be interpreted, and for that exactly that reason, the prime minister asked —

and, indeed, the chief whip asked — for that apology. one wasn't forthcoming. action has been taken. i think that's the appropriate step to take. i think what what lee anderson was more broadly expressing in his interviews, and others have done, is a deep concern — which, by the way, i also share about the way in which politics has been conducted and what has happened over the past week. i never thought that in my lifetime as a politician, i would see a situation where what was happening in the house of commons was influenced by the threat of violence, and that has caused huge anger and frustration. and we will... it's deeply un—british, and it's right that we should call it out. we'll come to that in a few minutes. but as you said, oliver dowden, words matter. and i think our viewers this morning will want to know if you believe, as one of the most senior politicians in this country, that those words were islamophobic and anti—muslim. do you believe that? i'm not asking you about lee anderson's intent. i'm asking you what you believe.

well, i... i think the two of them kind of go together, laura, because i... i don't believe that lee anderson was intending to be islamophobic, but nonetheless, i understand the concern about, particularly when it's in relation to the mayor of london, and how those words have caused offence... you're talking about... and because of that, that is precisely why he was given the chance to apologise, and when he failed to do so, action was was taken. the question i'm asking you and i think our viewers will be able to hear very clearly that you don't want to give your view. is it your view that saying, i believe they've saying, i believe "they've" got control of khan and "they've" got control of london, is that islamophobia? well, i think the the chance that it could be taken, the fact that it could be taken in that way is the reason why those comments led

to the chief whip asking for an apology from the prime minister. i share those concerns about how they could be taken in that way. and that's why it was right that he should be asked for an apology and when he failed to give that apology, the whip was removed. i think our viewers will hear very clearly, though, you are declining to give your own view on what those words mean. having said that words matter. having said that words matter. i, i think i've been... i've been clear that they they could be taken that way. right. and because they could be taken that way, he was given the chance to apologise. and he he failed to do so and lost the whip. and if he'd apologised, would he have kept hisjob? yes, that's he was he was asked to apologise, he failed to do so and that's what... but of course it's right that we debate these these these individual words. but it is the more fundamental thing for me is what is going on right now in our country. i have constituents of mine who arejewish, who are afraid

to walk the streets to show the symbols of their religion. we see those marches where they witness week after week anti—semitic tropes, people taking part in those marches and not calling them out. and now we've seen in our own parliament debates being influenced because of that threat of violence. i think all of us need to take a step back and say this isn't just about policing, it's about our attitudes to what we accept. and i think this kind of coarsening where we've been... we accept threats of violence as being routine against elected politicians, whatever their colour is deeply dangerous for our politics and we need to call it out. and many politicians would agree with you, many of our viewers, i'm sure, would agree with you. but as you said at the beginning, words matter. people respond to things that politicians say. and what lee anderson said was strikingly similar to what suella braverman — the former home secretary until recently — wrote in the telegraph. she said, "the truth is,

the islamists, the extremists "and the anti—semites are in charge now." now, you said clearly what lee anderson said could be taken as being offensive. that's very similar. so do you think what she said could be taken as being offensive, too? well, what i would say, with respect of what suella said, is that i disagree with with with what she said here, but i think that's in a different category, which is about i disagree with the comments, by the way. i believe for the reason. as they set out the underlying sentiment of my deep concern about this these these threats and these intimidations, which are often coming from islamic extremists, we shouldn't be shy of calling that out. and i have done so as a as a member of parliament. but i don't believe that what suella has said crosses the line in the way that. why not? because she said "the islamists are in charge." now, you said you don't believe that's true.

lee anderson said the islamists are in control of sadiq khan. why is it different? well, i think there's a slight danger of getting into semantics of this... but words matter, he said that yourself — but words matter, he said that yourself. you might please allow me to finish_ yourself. you might please allow me to finish my— yourself. you might please allow me to finish my point. please allow me to finish my point. t hat this is about attaching specifically to to one person, the mayor of london. i think what sabella was saying was making a broader statement, one which i don't agree with the specifics of what she said, but i do very much agree with the concerns that she is raising about threats coming often from islamic extremists, which are being used to intimidate jews in this country and are being used to intimidate a debate in our own parliament. and i think that and i think worries about language should not stop democratically elected politicians doing their duty of of calling this out and seeing what a seminal moment is for our country this week, where we we've had lots of lines crossed in the past.

this, for me is a totally different level and you have made that point. but how politicians respond to it does matter. and some of your colleagues do believe that suella braverman crossed the line. sayeeda warsi, one of your own peers, says that, "she is prepared "to divide, to ratchet up hate and set our country alight "for political posturing. "this is shocking and dangerous." well, i don't... i don't agree with sayeeda on that. i've made clear my views in relation to to suella, which is i don't agree with the specific words she chose to use, but that's a matter of legitimate political debate. we're not talking, though, about insubstantial people here, though. suella braverman, of course, until very recently, was very, very senior in your party. liz truss, who of course was the prime minister, was filmed with one of donald trump's old lieutenants, steve bannon, this week. now, steve bannon was talking about tommy robinson, the founder of the english defence league, someone with a string of convictions. he called him a hero and she was standing alongside it. didn't challenge it. let's show it to viewers. i don't understand this. the grooming situation, _ tommy robinson, all these heroes

fought at the rape situation. and in that community, - you can have a special election and you may have a radical jihadist partx _ send somebody to comments after all that problem... - that... that is correct. | do you think, as sajid javid said, | former colleague of yours, senior conservative, that liz truss should have known better? do you think, as sajid javid said, former colleague of yours, senior conservative, that liz truss should have known better? she also talked about the deep state undermining which many of our viewers would know is a conspiracy theory. should she have known better? well, we saw one one small clip from this clip from... she should have called it out then. what i would say is that when the cameras are on you and you've got a big debate going on, you sometimes don't catch every single word that someone says. but that's for liz to explain why she didn't call it out that time.

i certainly would have called it out had i been in that situation and heard it properly. i mean, i know this sounds like a sort of slightly trite point, but when you've got the cameras on, you've got a debate going on, sometimes you don't catch everything that everyone says. ok, your extremism chief, the counter—extremism tsar, robin simcox, sat in the chair last week and we had a very serious discussion about all of this. he told us about the rise in anti—semitism and also the rise in islamophobia as being a very serious issue. yet when the prime minister put a statement out last night, condemning extremism, calling out anti—semitism, that statement didn't mention islamophobia. why not? well, the prime minister has been robust in showing that there's zero tolerance for for islamophobia. imean, what... the point the prime minister was making in his statement is the point that i've been trying to make during this interview as well, which is when we see the real pressure happening right now, if you look at those marches week after week, people are going on those marches and they are carrying placards which have anti—semitic tropes on them. our own parliament has had projected onto it an anti—semitic trope. the debate that was going

on in parliament this week, and by the speaker's own account, the reason why he chose to to alter established precedent, to have that further vote was because of fears about safety. those are all coming from a perspective that i see going through threats tojews on the streets of our streets of our country. threats in those marches are now threats in a house of commons. and that's what the prime minister was addressing in that statement. now, of course, the prime minister is addressing, has addressed islamophobia and indeed he talked about extremism, calling out extremism across the board. but the comments he was making was about this kind of train of events that we have seen in our country over over the past weeks. and i think all decent people in this country, the vast majority, whether they're conservative or other parties, need to stand up and call this out, because we cannot be in a situation where we allow freedom of expression, the hard—fought freedoms of our parliament and our democracy to be put at risk by people

that masquerade as as having legitimate protest, but actually using violence and intimidation. and it is a fact that members of parliament were worried about voting on a motion — not discharging their duty to there, the people that elected them and their duty to their conscience — because of external violence. and that is something that's right for the prime minister of our nation to address, and that is what he did in those words. and that's where the focus was. the scottish national party says it will push for another commons debate on gaza following last week's chaotic vote. there was uproar in the commons when speaker sir lindsay hoyle allowed mps to vote on a labour amendment to the snp�*s ceasefire motion. it meant the snp motion was not voted on, causing the party to call for sir lindsay to quit. liberal democrat leader sir ed davey has admitted he "probably should have said sorry earlier", in relation to his role in the post office scandal.

sir ed served as post office minister under the coalition government from 2010 to 2012. here's what he told laura kuenssberg when asked about the scandal yeah, i probably should have said sorry earlier on but it is a huge scandal. our hearts go out to those hundreds of sub—postmasters and their families who were treated appallingly. the key thing now is to make sure that those exonerations happen quickly, that they get the compensation quickly, and they get to the truth with the inquiry. i have two sub—postmasters in my constituency, one who was in prison for 16 months, one who, frankly, it has really affected his health. i am going to fight for those and join others in making sure the government gives the sub—postmasters the fair deal they deserve. the rmt union has announced it will supportjeremy corbyn at the next general election. the former labour leader

was suspended from the party four years ago after a dispute over anti—semitism. but rmt leader mick lynch says he'll back mr corbyn, should he run as an independent. the prime minister is expected to announce on monday how funding from the abandoned hs2 plans — worth billions of pounds — will be shared across regional councils. our business correspondent, marc ashdown, has been looking at the figures. whether it's repairing roads or refurbishing bus and train stations, the prime minister says he wants residents to have the biggest say over how their area is improved. four months after rishi sunak announced the scrapping of the controversial hs2 plan, he'll set out how billions of pounds of money earmarked for that project will be allocated in the midlands and the north to improve transport links. there's nearly £20 billion—worth of funding from the cancelled northern leg of hs2 to share around in what's being billed as network north. meanwhile, £9.6 billion in savings from the midlands leg will help boost transport in that region. £6.5 billion, which would have been

spent on the new approach into london euston, will be spread across every other region in england. £1 billion has already been allocated to upgrade parts of the rail network in north wales, but campaigners are sceptical and say they want to see more detail. what we need is clarity about how much money there's actually going to be and how quickly it can be spent, because the money that's being cancelled from hs2 was largely going to be spent in ten, 15 years�* time, not next year or the year after. and so, as the chancellor has, in his last autumn statement, cut the capital project budget for the whole of government, how on earth can we be spending more on transport when there's going be less money to spend overall? labour said communities are sick and tired of empty conservative promises, and pledged to work with local leaders, mayors and businesses to deliver what it called a "credible and transformative programme of transport investment". ministers will also get an update from the transport secretary, mark harper, on how a new local transport fund will be allocated. as the bruising fallout from hs2 rumbles on, the prime minister is hailing this

as an historic moment, a first step, he says, in reinvesting all £36 billion marc ashdown, bbc news. we will, of course, have coverage of this announcement here on bbc news. a woman is taking legal action against drugs firm astrazeneca, saying her husband died from a covid—i9 vaccine. kam miller's husband neil died in may 2021, neil miller was 50 years old when he had his first covid vaccine in march 2021. he was the first in the family to have it.

he rang me. he said, "i'm going for my vaccine, book yours in." despite being an extremely active man, neilfell ill. two weeks after the vaccination, he said, "my head is hurting like it's never hurt before." isaid, "well, go and rest." and he went straight to bed when he came home. neil would go in and out of hospital over the next two months until, on the 1st of may, he died, suddenly, at home. he went for a shower. i hear this big thud. i knew it was neil. i tried to open the bathroom door. he fell in front of the bathroom door. it was just too shocking for words. neil's death certificate certifies that he died from a rare reaction to the covid vaccine. you know, we've never had issue with it. that's why we went and had these ones. so, no, we're not anti—vaccine, but we do feel, now, if there is anything like this — and it is so hurriedly brought about — ask questions. kam has joined with more than 80 families who are seeking compensation from astrazeneca.

we are bringing a case on behalf of a group of people who were significantly injured, or their loved ones in cases where they died, as a result of a very specific complication of the astrazeneca vaccine, which is called vitt or blood clots. astrazeneca manufactured the oxford vaccine on a not—for—profit basis and the vaccine is credited with saving millions of lives worldwide. the company told us it doesn't comment on ongoing litigation and gave us this statement. by 2022, the uk government had stopped ordering astrazeneca vaccine. the department of health and social care told us...

serious side effects are rare, but they are real for the miller family, who say they'll continue to battle until they have justice for neil. helen mccarthy, bbc news. with its tense — and sometimes brutal — telling of police rookies in belfast, blue lights was one of the most popular new tv dramas last year. well, it's returning to our screens for a second season — and there are two more in the pipeline. our reporter ita dungan has the details. do you want to know how i think it's going for the three of you? not very well, to put it mildly. in season one, we met the three rookie officers. set in belfast, blue lights was a police drama for a new generation,

set in belfast, blue lights was a police drama for a new generation — one where the troubles were not front and centre — and it went down very well indeed. so well that season two is nearly ready for our screens, still in belfast, but a different location. so season two is in this part of the city? yeah, we've come east. we filmed over here for most of season two. a bit in the city centre, as well. season one was set in the west. yeah, we thought we wanted to see a different side of belfast, you know, equal opportunities! but making something that appeals to people here is one thing — bringing along audiences from elsewhere is something different. for writer declan lawn, it's all about the people. for us, the key to it is, if you have good characters in a situation that's kind of universal — like, everyone�*s started a newjob, everybody has felt out of their depth — and if you concentrate on them, then people will put up with a lot, even if they don't understand the context. it's all about the characters. not limited to season two, the bbc has just commissioned seasons three and four — all very good news. we know now that we're going to be working on this

for three, maybe four years. like, we know what we're doing and that's really rare in television drama. you almost never know what you're doing next year. so, yeah, to have that certainty helps us creatively, but it also helps the industry, it helps a lot of individuals. it's just a really positive thing. so prepare for more filming on the streets of belfast as the rookies continue to learn their trade. looks good. that report from ita dungan. and you can watch series one of blue lights now on bbc iplayer ahead of the new series this spring. muncaster castle in cumbria is known for its treasury of art and antiques, but its role in storing the works of turner, constable and van gogh has onlyjust come to light. at the outbreak of world war two, the tate gallery in london used the castle as a storeroom for more than 700 of its greatest pictures. ian haslam visited the castle. muncaster castle has survived in its tranquil

setting for centuries. and because of muncaster castle, many priceless works of art might have survived this... newsreel: german bombers rain, fire and high explosive bombs - in their most savage attack on london. the blitz of 1940—41 caused devastation across the capital, including to the tate gallery. so it's a good job many of its valuable contents had been moved to cumbria. it was a big—scale thing. if you think that 700 to 800 of the nation's greatest pictures were stored here in addition to the castle itself, it kind of does add a very big amount to what must have been a high insurance bill from the point of view of guarding it and looking after it. it was kept secret and no one, not even people in this part of the world — maybe a few local people cottoned on to what was happening. this week, the story of that was retold in one of the rooms in which the paintings were stored. well, the most famous painting,

i'm pretty certain, looking at the list now, would be van gogh�*s sunflowers. but there were other van goghs here, as well. there were an enormous number of turners. the tate collection has an enormous number of turners. and there were constables and there were the great works by the pre—raphaelites like rossetti and millais and so on. and they survived the war because they were brought here. you're walking through the three rooms now that housed the collection of 600 to 800 pictures from the tate elsewhere that were here in the war. peter frost—pennington�*s wife's family have lived at the castle for more than 800 years. at the start of the war, sirjohn ramsden was the man in charge and happy to take art over evacuees. he was overjoyed because it would protect us from the threatened hordes of small children. fascinating that now we we love having small children here and enjoying this place. but sirjohn obviously didn't want loads of kids running around the place. many places like muncaster were requisitioned for war effort, and to get the tate gallery here, he must have been cock—a—hoop. but concern of coming under attack grew when barrow was bombed in 191“.

the barrow blitz is probably the most sort of frightening moment that the tate men had in relation to the possibility that if barrow was being bombed, then this area was not quite as safe as they had perhaps hoped. when the war ended, all was finally able to be revealed. newspapers picked up on it very quickly, particularly because muncaster was the sort of furthest place from london where anything was stored. they interviewed some of the people that had been here for five or six years — londoners who suddenly found themselves in the middle of the countryside. was it all worth it, do you think? it has to be worth it. had any of the pictures remained in london, you know, the chances are they would have been very badly damaged. muncaster castle played a very significant part in the second world war in a way that we all enjoy now, because we can go to the tate collection and then see the paintings, which were, for six years, sitting on the in the crates in this very room. ian haslam, bbc news.

fascinating story. the eiffel tower in paris is due to reopen to visitors today after management announced a deal had been reached to end a five—day strike. unions had said there was insufficient investment in the globally recognised landmark. it is the second such strike at the landmark in the past three months, as paris looks ahead to hosting the olympic games this summer. and before we go...let me show you these pictures from china. cities across the country have been lit with lantern displays to celebrate the traditional lantern festival. each year it falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month, marking the end of chinese new year celebrations and symbolizes the coming of spring. lantern festival celebrations have grown increasingly elaborate in recent years with epic fireworks displays, light installations and various cultural activities.

lovely pictures. analysis a look at the weather here in the uk. hello, there. much of the country enjoying a fine and dry part two of the weekend, with quite a bit of sunshine around after that cold, frosty and in places foggy start. so, much of the country will remain dry with sunny spells. however, low pressure to the south of the uk will continue to bring wet and windy weather to south wales, south—west england, increasingly so across the south and south—east of england through this evening and overnight. we'll see some showers driving into central northern scotland, a few across north sea coasts of england, as well, wintry in nature. but further north, where we have the clearer skies, a ridge of high pressure toppling in. it's going to be cold and frosty, less cold in the south and east because of the cloud, the wind and rain from this feature which will eventually pull out into the near continent for monday, taking the rain with it, but it will remain quite windy across england and wales. we remain in the colder air mass with this ridge of high pressure which will bring much of the country

a lot of dry and sunny weather throughout the day on monday before it turns wet and windy in the far north—west later on. so, quite a windy day to come across southern and eastern areas, the rain eventually clears from sussex and from kent. a few showers across north sea coasts, otherwise mostly dry with some sunshine thanks to that ridge of high pressure. winds lighter in the north compared to the south and east, that will really take the edge off the temperatures, very windy for the northern isles later on ahead of this weather front. so temperatures on the face of it 6—9, it will feel colder than that in the south—east when you factor in that strong north—easterly breeze. as we head through monday night, clearer skies for england and wales with the breeze tending to die down. it turns wetter, windier and cloudier for scotland and northern ireland, so here less cold than it will be across england and wales, where we will have again a frost, perhaps even a few mist and fog patches around to start the day. tuesday, we see this weather front pushing southwards and eastwards across the country, it will be weakening as it pushes into that ridge of high pressure. some heavy rain likely across scotland and northern ireland

for a time, maybe some snow on the hills, that weather front weakens as it pushes into england and wales, so a rather cloudy afternoon here. brighter for scotland and northern ireland into the afternoon, but there will be some blustery showers and these will have a wintry element to them, temperatures range from 7—10. looks like it remains unsettled for the rest of february, could turn a bit milder midweek but then it turns colder as we head into the first few days of march.

live from london,

this is bbc news. the conservative party under pressure after its former deputy chairman is suspended for comments branded "anti—muslim". president zelensky reveals the number of ukrainian troops and civilians to have died so far in the two years of war with russia. donald trump's only rival in the race for the republican presidential candidacy vows to fight on even after he beats her in her and oppenheimer is the big winner at the screen actors guild awards— it nets the top prize, as well as best actor for cillian murphy. hello, i'm nicky schiller. here in the uk, the conservative party is finding itself under anti—muslim and racist". lee anderson was suspended from the party after saying london's mayor was controlled by "islamists". the suspension was not for the comments but for refusing to apologise.

the party's leadership was drawn further into