this is bbc news. the headlines at 4:00; next month, mps will debate a petition signed by nearly 1.7 million people, calling for the cancellation of donald trump's proposed state visit to britain. the president has sacked his attorney general, accusing her of betrayal — after she refused to implement his controversial immigration ban. the road to brexit — this is the scene live in westminster as mps debate the government's bill to formally trigger the process of leaving the european union. i believe this house does not have a choice, but has a duty to withhold from the government the right to proceed with brexit in the way that they have planned. as a nation state, we can be in europe but not i’ui'i state, we can be in europe but not run by the european union, and that is why i am voting to trigger article 50. thousands of gay and bisexual men convicted of now—abolished sexual offences have been posthumously pardoned. thejustice minister calls it a momentous day. and in the next hour, it's called the silent epidemic.

millions say they feel lonely but won't admit it — a campaign's launched to tackle it, in memory of murdered mpjo cox. and a legal battle over whether parents should be allowed to take their children on holiday during term—time is under way at the supreme court. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. parliament has just announced a date for mps to debate donald trump's invitation for a state visit to the uk. it's scheduled for monday 20th february. nearly 1.7 million people have signed a petition

calling for the state visit to be downgraded. another petition calling for the visit to go ahead has been signed by more than 100,000 people. james robbins told us controversy on this scale in relation to a state visit has not been seen before. i don't think there has been a row on this scale about a state visit ever. it's clearly unprecedented. but then this is shaping up to be an unprecedented state visit. why do i say that? well, partly because the scale of public opposition, so long before the visit, merely on the fact of the invitation. the petition has gathered well over 1.6 million signatures. it has triggered, we now know, this debate in the commons in three weeks' time. i think it is as much the timing of the visit as anything else. those who object to it express a sense of outrage that it should be happening so soon after president trump takes office. the invitation was given to him by theresa may, i think, to seven days

after his inauguration. other presidents, arguably much more popular in britain, including, for instance, president obama, have had to wait until their third year in office to be invited to come to britain and not to be invited within a matter of days. i think that's got a lot to do with the sense of public anger, quite apart, obviously, from the deep sense of protest that is felt by many of those who have been out on the streets complaining about the president's early acts through executive orders, the things they object to about his policies. lord ricketts, former head of the foreign office, says this drags the queen into the controversy. is this true? how damaging does that make this? lord ricketts is clear there is a risk that it drags her into controversy, particularly because this has been brought forward so very quickly. but i think we should be clear that the queen is always deployed, if you like, as an instrument of political and diplomatic policy when invitations are issued

on her behalf to visit this country as a state visit. there is no more coveted prize for a foreign leader than that particular invitation. it is much coveted, and you can see why. the imagery in front of the palace, for instance, of the arrival, all of the pomp and pageantry that goes with it, no other country can deploy the weapon of a state visit because they don't have anything on this scale to offer. in the frankly unequal special relationship with the united states, this is a political and diplomatic weapon that we have and they don't. given what you've just said, only the queen can rescind this, can't she? obviously any decision to vary the invitation would be a decision taken by the government, and in particular by the prime minister herself. the queen always acts on the advice of her prime minister, although the invitation is technically in her name it is issued by the government on her behalf. is there any question of this

invitation being varied in some way, being postponed significantly, being scaled back to an official visit, which involves perhaps a brief meeting with the queen over tea, rather than all of the pomp and pageantry of a full state visit? it seems pretty unlikely. the prime minister and her ministers have made clear they are going to stand firm behind this invitation. it would obviously be humiliating for them to win anyway vary or is in that. there is still a question about when the visit will actually take place. it seems inevitable that it will be during this year, 2017. it may not be until the autumn. there are normally two so—called incoming state visits to britain during any one year. it is quite likely that president trump will get the autumn slot and the government must hope that some of the heat has been taken out of the argument before then. president trump has sacked his acting attorney—general,

accusing her of betrayal after she told government lawyers not to defend his controversial travel restrictions in court. sally yates, who was appointed by president obama, had said she was not convinced that mr trump's temporary ban on travellers from seven muslim countries was legal. richard lister reports. no hate, no fear! refugees are welcome here! it's a battle over american values and it's going on all across the county. in columbus, ohio last night it was met with pepper spray. in dallas, texas there was a silent vigil and concern about what the future holds. we came from mexico. things, unfortunately aren't great there now. to deny somebody the opportunity to build a future seems completely wrong. the most significant protest came from sally yates, an obama appointee asked by president trump to stay on as acting attorney general until his own pick in confirmed. in a letter to the government's lawyers she said it was her duty to stand for what is right and...

she was sacked within hours. a furious white house said she betrayed her department and accused her of being "very weak" on illegal immigration. protection of the nation from foreign terrorist entry... the executive order might be controversial, but polling suggests at least half the country supports the temporary immigration ban against these seven predominantly muslim nations. these seven nations, one, they are definitely not our friends and two, are not willing to provide the necessary background information on their nationals for us to even consider allowing them to visit our country. but washington's preparing for another day of congressional confrontation. democrats say the president's approach is causing chaos. if this continues, this country has big trouble. we cannot have a twitter presidency.

we cannot have a presidency that thinks, "oh, this sounds good, let's just go do it and not think the consequences through." in a sign of the unusual times, the former president broke with protocol to say he fundamentally disagrees with the notion of discriminating against individuals because of their faith or religion. there is much at stake. president trump will announce his pick for the supreme court later today, a hardline conservative who will influence the course of american government for years to come. congratulations, mr president. in just ten days, donald trump has changed america to the point that the european council said today he was among the biggest challenges faced by the eu in its 60 year history. the republican speaker of the house,

paul ryan, a hugely influential politician, has been saying that he regrets the confusion caused by the fermentation of donald trump's immigration ban. also saying he is confident homeland security will make sure things get done correctly on immigration going forward. just try and read between the lines for us, what is he saying? well, i think he is saying what a lot of republicans are saying right now. the way they are criticising this as a process problem, not a principle oi’ a process problem, not a principle or objective problem. they are saying the roll—out was bad, it was confusing, there was not clarity. he said he didn't find out about the order coming down until it was actually being announced. in theory, he supports what the trump administration is trying to do as far as decreasing that extreme vetting. —— increasing. it is a fine

line he has to walk between the criticism on one side of the policies and the base of the republican party which, on the whole, supported and voted for trump, having campaigned on that. the senate judiciary trump, having campaigned on that. the senatejudiciary committee is examining the nomination ofjeff sessions to be the attorney general of the united states. that is donald trump's pick, the alabama senator. the democrats have also been thwarting a couple of appointments, oi’ thwarting a couple of appointments, or at least delaying a couple of appointments, that donald trump wa nts to appointments, that donald trump wants to see? this was a surprise move. they have walked out of scheduled votes for tom price, the health and human services secretary, the treasury secretary. if all of the treasury secretary. if all of the democrats walk out and they are not in the committee hearings when they were going to vote on confirmation to advise is... advance that, the votes can't take place. they need at least one democrat there to have a vote. the democrats have realise they have the power to

slow things down. the objection, as far as price goes, is that there has not been enough investigation into some stock—trading he did companies getting preferred access to trading. for the treasury secretary, they are interested in this company that he was involved in that was foreclosing on homes and whether that company used robotic signing of foreclosure notices, running counter to some of the financial reforms that took place. aside from genuine concerns they might have, do you think the democrats are simply determined to make this whole process as difficult as possible for donald trump and be as possible for donald trump and be as combative as possible?” as possible for donald trump and be as combative as possible? i think thatis as combative as possible? i think that is what we are starting to see. i think we are starting to see democrats digging in their heels and grinding wheels of government to a halt. earlier, they were criticised from the left for voting to frequently in favour of trump's nominees. i think they are realising their bases angry and they want to see their representatives draw lines

in the sand. that may be the way the party is heading. thank you very much. we have been told in the last short while that the new home security secretaryjohn kelly will hold a news conference at five o'clock our time. we will bring you the details on news at five. he will be talking specifically about the intimidation of immigration orders. a woman has been found not guilty of causing grievous bodily harm to eight toddler after he was shot with an air rifle. he denied telling her partner to shoot him. let's go to jon kay. the verdict coming in the last few minutes? it only took the jury last few minutes? it only took the jury about 30 minutes to find emma horseman not guilty of grievous bodily harm. it goes back tojuly of

last year, a flat in hartcliffe, south bristol. this little boy, harry, was taken there by his mother, who lived in the flat above. while they were in the flat belonging to their friends, emma horseman and jordan walters, he became tearful, he started whingeing and was tired. he ended up having an airgun pellet shot into his head. he was critically injured. he suffers long—term health problems as a result of that. jordan walters has previously admitted grievous bodily harm. he said he did not know that the gun was loaded, but he admitted he pulled the trigger, which ended up he pulled the trigger, which ended up with that pellet being embedded in harry's skull. this trial related to his girlfriend, emma horseman, also in the flat this —— that afternoon. she was accused of aiding and abetting, encouraging him to pull the trigger. harry's mother

told the trial that she heard emma horseman tell her boyfriend to shoot the gun to scare the boy, to make him the quiet, to frighten him. the jury him the quiet, to frighten him. the jury has decided she is not guilty of grievous bodily harm. there had been a contradiction, basically, in what happened in the flat. harry's mother said she heard emma horseman expressing these words. she said she could not remember saying those things. it was claimed at one point she said she could see the gun in her boyfriend's and, at another point she said she had not seen anything, had not heard anything. thejury anything, had not heard anything. the jury has anything, had not heard anything. thejury has sided anything, had not heard anything. the jury has sided with her and found her not guilty of grievous bodily harm. her boyfriend is already in prison and has been convicted previously, after admitting a count of grievous bodily harm. we are waiting for emma horseman herself to leave a free woman, we assume in the next few moments. she showed no emotion as

she was cleared in a short time by the jury. we also expecting the family of harry studley to leave here, they were very tearful after the verdict. he was critically injured and it was touch and go for a while. we understood that he is still suffering from the incident that happened that friday afternoon lastjuly. mps are debating the bill which would give theresa may the authority to start the process of leaving the eu. the legislation allows for the triggering of article fifty. it looks set to be approved in a vote tomorrow, with labour mps being told byjeremy corbyn that they should back it. but some labour mps say they will join the scottish nationalists and the liberal democrats, in voting against it. our political correspondent ian watson reports. the phoney war is over. the courts have given parliament a say over whether and when britain leaves the european union. so now mps have to nail their colours to the mast —

are they going to argue over what type of brexit they want, or are they going to oppose it entirely? the government's warning that mps who vote against triggering article 50, the formal process of leaving european union, would be defying the will of the people. at the core of this bill lies a very simple question — do we trust the people or not? the democratic mandate is clear. the electorate voted for a government to give them a referendum, parliament then voted to hold the referendum, the people voted in that referendum and we are now honouring the result of that referendum. this former conservative chancellor said he would vote against leaving the eu, and said the idea that britain would get better trade deals after brexit was... well, fantasy. apparently, you follow the rabbit down the hole and you emerge in wonderland, where suddenly countries around we are going to leave that report

because michael gove is speaking. we should respect the result and on the mandate. i know there are a number of people that ask now for white papers and scrutiny, greater clarity. we have already had a promise of a white paper, a 6000 word speech from the prime minister. we have had clarity on all of these issues. they are people that not only will not take yes for an answer, they are people that are not seeking clarity, they are seeking obfuscation, delay and dilution of the democratic mandate of the british people. as was pointed out... rubbish! thank you very much indeed. a 6000 speech would be a very short speech if he were to give it. he and many others who voted to campaign to leave wanted to take

back control for the sovereign, rig parliament. does he not agree that it is right that the government's terms that they want to start negotiations with are presented in a white paper to this parliament, not just ina white paper to this parliament, not just in a speech at lancashire house? the prime minister has already agreed a white paper will be published, quite rightly so. it is also the case that the secretary of state said from the dispatch box that it would come as soon as possible. i have enormous respect for my right honourable friend. i will return to an argument she has made outside this place in a second. i would say that so many of those that call for a white paper, or clarification, so very rarely actually outline what they think the right course is. it is so very rare that we have a positive case put. instead, what we have repeatedly is an attempt to rewrite what happened in the referendum. the honourable memberfor in the referendum. the honourable member for derby south tried to present the referendum debate as though it was somehow inconclusive oi'i though it was somehow inconclusive on questions like membership of the single market or the customs union.

as my right honourable friend the memberfor as my right honourable friend the member for dorset west pointed out, we could not have been clearer on the half of the leave campaign that we we re the half of the leave campaign that we were leaving the single market. it was also perfectly clear that we could not have the trade deals of the future without leaving the customs union. i am delighted to give way. could he therefore please assure us give way. could he therefore please assure us that the still would be true to his claim as the leader of the lead can... leave campaign that £350 million will be going to the nhs? ordoes he £350 million will be going to the nhs? or does he agree with others that actually that figure was always false and it was a lie? i have no idea whether or not the word lie is unparliamentary, as someone who is not in the government i can't deliver these sums. what i can do is ican deliver these sums. what i can do is i can consistently argue, as i have, that when we take back control of

the money that we currently give to the money that we currently give to the european union, we can invest that money in the nhs. in fact, it was a consistent claim of the leave campaign that we should wish to give £100 million to the nhs, some of the money will go to take control back, and we would also used to sport science and get rid of vat on fuel, something we cannot do as members of the european union. he may not be in the european union. he may not be in the government and able to make the decision, but surely he will be lobbying his prime minister hard for the £350 million for the nhs? can he confirm that? i certainly have, repeatedly, so that we should ensure that when we leave the european union that it is spelt on the national health service and public services. this comes to the heart of the challenge that was issued by the memberfor the challenge that was issued by the member for leeds central and the opposition spokesman. how do we

ensure the views of the 52%, which we re ensure the views of the 52%, which were clear and a unambiguous, and the 48% that did not vote to leave the 48% that did not vote to leave the european union, that they are respected. the 48% are respected at the highest... represented, rather, the highest... represented, rather, the highest... represented, rather, the highest levels of government. prime minister, a chancellor of the exchequer that voted to remain in the european union. it is not as though those views are ignored or marginal. my challenge and my offer is, can we ensure that the brexit we embrace is liberal, open and democratic? my point, that means yes, more money to the national health service and embracing the principles outlined by my right honourable friend, the member for loughborough, in a recent article on conservative home, it means giving absolute guarantee to european citizens they should stay here. it also means having a free—trade policy that is liberated from the external tariff and allows us to

lower trade barriers to developing nations, help the third world to advance. it means exercising a leadership role on the world stage ata time leadership role on the world stage at a time when, in europe, european union politicians are increasingly naive or appeasing in their attitude towards vladimir putin. it means we can stand tall, as the prime ministerdid, in making can stand tall, as the prime minister did, in making the case for collective western security and nato. these are all opportunities available to us as we leave the european union. the challenge to the other side, and the opportunity for us, is to ensure we make a positive case. within the borough of wandsworth, which houses my constituency of tooting, small businesses have been booming. the previous prime minister and member of the government's treasury team... sorry? ok, ok. last yearthe prime minister said that businesses are booming juju access to the single market, do you deny this point? ——

due to access to the single market. cani can i appeal to members to have some regard for the conventions of the place? if one intervenes on a member, i realise the honourable lady, though incredibly bright, is very new to the house, if one intervenes, one must do so with some regard to their moral entitlement to have time to reply. which he did not. duly noted. i certainly remember the campaign bus that promised £350 million a week to the nhs... bus that promised £350 million a week to the nhs. .. michael gove, bus that promised £350 million a week to the nhs... michael gove, one of the chief architects of the leave campaign, saying so many of those that call for clarification or a white paper on what brexit would look like have not put forward their own vision. anna soubry stood up and asked him about the promise of £350 million a week that would be going

to the nhs. he said, what i do now is, as someone not in government, i cannot deliver on this. rather feisty exchanges during the article 50 debate. we have heard all of this before. the passion is still there? it is. i think this is a significant moment in house of commons. we had the referendum, we had all of that discussion, we had the supreme court ruling. this really has been passionate, and people are not exactly going over the referendum completely, but you can still hear the angerfrom completely, but you can still hear the anger from some people, completely, but you can still hear the angerfrom some people, saying, look, on the side of that leave bus you said £350 million would come every week for the nhs, what has happened to that? interesting listening to michael gove, as one of the leading people on the leave aside, saying, we were a campaign group, we were not the government. it is this government from the remainers, saying that people were not entirely clear what they were voting for, not because they were

ignorant, but because it was not laid out exactly what it would mean. many of them are still arguing to remain in the single market. the other element of today is really seeing and hearing mps wrestling with their personal feelings on this, particularly on the labour side. almost all labour mps campaigned to remain. some of them are in seats which were very much a voting to leave the eu, so they are deciding what to do. jeremy corbyn has told them that they must vote for article 50, that it would be respecting the result of the referendum. there are conservatives who campaigned to remain who think the same thing. they think, actually, we have had the referendum, we are going to have to go along with it and respect the result. this is what some of them had to say today. i believe history will not be kind to this parliament, nor indeed the government i was so proud to serve them. how on earth did we ever come to put an

alternative to the people which we then said would make the worst of less safe and would weaken our nation? i greatly fear and echoing the wise words of the speech from the wise words of the speech from the honourable member for sheffield hallam, i greatly feared generations that did not vote or are yet to come will not thank us for our great folly. when this process is completed, the european parliament, the european parliament, will have the european parliament, will have the right to vote on the outcome. if taking back control means anything, it must mean that this house enjoys the same rights. there is a lot going on. amber ruud, the home secretary, she has been appearing before the home affairs select committee. she has been describing president trump's travel ban as

divisive and wrong, that will ruffle feathers? all along we have the british government is trying to work out how critical in public it will be of some of the things donald trump has been saying. his ban on refugees, the restriction for those coming from the seven mainly muslim countries that he has announced. theresa may was very reluctant to criticise that when she was in turkey on saturday. it took quite a few hours before there was a response from downing street. then we had amber ruud and borisjohnson had been hitting the phones, speaking to counterparts in america to try to make sure it would not affect british people, people with dual nationality and exemption they said they managed to get. amber ruud seems to have gone further, saying it as divisive and also it would be a propaganda opportunity for islamic state. the backdrop to this is the demonstrations we have seen across the united kingdom about the state visit that is being planned for

donald trump, the petition that has been signed, almost 1.5 million people saying that it should not go ahead. this is proving a very difficult relationship already for theresa may. how much is she going to be the confidant of donald trump? how much will she say in private when she does not agree? her ministers, what is she going to say when she is questioned in public? we know today that parliament will debate, mps will debate whether donald trump should come on the state visit. there will be a debate in westminster hall and parliament on the 20th of february. the president of the european council donald tusk has named the trump administration as one the "threats" to the european union. in a strongly worded letter to member states, mr tusk said america has nowjoined russia, china and radical islam when it comes to threats to europe. lets talk to damian grammaticas in brussels. this is really quite extraordinary?

it is pretty strong stuff. what you have to remember is that his role is to chair the meetings of european leaders. the way that he does that is by speaking bluntly and trying to force them into confronting big issues. what he says here, he does not directly name it as a threat, but he says there is a threat generally from external factors, but he says there is a threat generally from externalfactors, and the eu has felt that from russia, turkey, the threat of terror, and now this huge question that eu leaders are very uneasy about, what does the trump administration mean for them? that does the trump administration mean for them ? that is does the trump administration mean for them? that is what donald tusk wa nts for them? that is what donald tusk wants them to focus on. interestingly, you were hearing the debate in parliament, he is concerned about many of those forces, the forces expressed in the brexit referendum, in donald trump's

election, that he feels they have to tackle. he says he worries about the declarations coming from the administration. his support for brexit, this suggestions of other countries might follow the uk out of the eu, his admiration for vladimir putin, his doubts about whether he could work with angela merkel. all sorts of things that sound unfriendly to eu leader years. —— ears. donald tusk says that while the leaders have sat back to wait and see, they must consider hard how they will respond to this changing world. us administration, must feel to many european leaders that the world view is shifting on its axis. interestingly, or donald tusk says in this letter is that while the world around us shifting, his view is that eu leaders, their response should be to reassert the view that

europe is much better off sticking together. as he says, united the eu has an economic power and size equal to the biggest in the world. and he goes onto say that if europe disintegrates, european countries will not recover some. 20, they will be dependent on the great powers like russia and china, and the eu needs to integrate much more, it needs to integrate much more, it needs a bit more effort into improving social economic conditions, to having a stronger foreign policy, more money on defence, but also strengthening ties with america and encouraging americans to see that their ties with the eu and europe have been a foundation for peace and security, and he also says that an america turning inwards on trade provides opportunities for a europe that is outward looking on trade. try to end with a positive message but raising a lot of these big concerns. damian

grammaticas, thank you for that. we will be talking to peter tatchell about that pardon for thousands of 93v about that pardon for thousands of gay and bisexual men in the next half hour but first, let's catch up with the weather. good afternoon. wet and windy weather on the way this week, particularly later on in the week. but it should be turning milder everywhere as well. subtle differences in the wind direction meaning that it is not mild at the moment everywhere. miles towards the south—west, chilly are thanks to more of a southerly or south—easterly in southern areas. temperatures will rise in eastern areas with rain moving eastwards. drier later across north—west scotla nd drier later across north—west scotland with clearer spells. otherwise, pretty mild but very grey and gloomy. there will be hell for around and further rain to begin the day on wednesday. creeping out into

the north sea. it takes a while to move away to eastern parts. you may see the sunshine tomorrow before we get rain coming into northern ireland and wales later on in the day. temperatures getting into double figures towards the south—west, milder than today. eastern england, and the east of scotland. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines: mps will debate next month a petition signed by nearly 1.7 million people, calling for the downgrading of donald trump's proposed state visit to britain. president trump has sacked his acting attorney general, after she questioned the legality of his controversial travel ban on visitors from seven muslim countries. this is the scene live in the house of commons as mps debate the government's bill to formally trigger the process of leaving the european union.

i believe this house does not have a choice but has a duty to withhold from the government the right to proceed with brexit in the way that they have planned. as a nation state, we can be in europe but not run by the european union, and that is why i am voting to triple article 50. thousands of gay and bisexual men convicted of now—abolished sexual offences have been posthumously pardoned. a woman has been found not guilty of causing grievous bodily harm to a toddler, after he was shot in the head with an air—rifle. at bristol crown court, emma horseman denied telling her partner to shoot the child, to frighten him. it has gone very quiet. where are the drums? a long, dramatic shot, to ta ke the drums? a long, dramatic shot, to take us to the sport. put your drums away. i have seen them before. there are calls for lord coe to meet with mp's again after new emails seem to confirm that he did know the details of doping allegations in athletics four months

before they became public in a tv documentary. the president of world athletics had told a parliamentary select committee that he was unaware of the specifics of the russian doping scandal. there are questions the committee would like to put to him. it is clear to us that he was far more aware of the serious allegations around doping and corruption in athletics then he let on when he came to the committee in 2015, and asked the question, to us, on weather he should have done more. jonny sexton has been ruled out of ireland's six nations opener with scotland. they play at murrayfield on saturday. he's failed to recover in time from a calf injury picked up earlier this month while playing for leinster. peter o'mahony also misses out with a hamstring injury. the double blow for wales in the pack.

lock luke charteris will miss the match against italy in rome on sunday. he has a fractured bone in his hand. and charteris' bath teamate, number 8 taulupe faletau is also out, as he continues to recover from a knee problem. both should be fit for their second match which is against england in cardiff it's transfer deadline day in england and scotland. managers up and down the country will be multitasking. mike phelan, the former hull city manager, probably relieved he will not be participating. what do you make of tra nsfer participating. what do you make of transfer deadline day? as of midday today, premier league clubs were in the black, doing more selling than buying. it seems quiet on that front. that is possibly because they overspent in the first place early on in the season. it is interesting because there was a lot of money in football, and a lot of deals that need to be done, but some are good

and some not so good. manchester united, jose mourinho says no—one m, united, jose mourinho says no—one in, no one out. he's happy with the squad he has got. he seems to have done a little bit of a u—turn on ashley young. a couple of days ago he said he could leave.|j ashley young. a couple of days ago he said he could leave. i think they have took into account that manchester united are still in all the competitions, so if they're not bringing in players, they want to keep as many there as they can to make sure they have enough bodies to ta ke make sure they have enough bodies to take care of four competitions. make sure they have enough bodies to take care of four competitionslj take care of four competitions.” think that is quite right. interesting to see how the clubs in the relegation battle are fearing and what business they are doing. we know that sunderland seem to be desperate for a striker. they have been knocked back on leonardo ulloa, and jay rodriguez from southampton. hull, have a thorn in the towel? we heard they had let robert snodgrass go. heard they had let robert snodgrass 90- -- heard they had let robert snodgrass go. —— have they thrown in the towel. i would be amazed if that is the case. what they have probably

had to do is rush on a few deals, simply because they have taken the money and moved on snodgrass. and they need replacements. the squad was always thin and i think the new manager has said that along the way. and they need to get players in that can help them in the situation they are in. it is all about points tomorrow. hull against manchester united again. jose mourinho says they have to win in that match tonight, i apologise, jose mourinho says that united have to win tomorrow butjurgen klopp tonight. liverpool against chelsea at anfield isa liverpool against chelsea at anfield is a massive one. a big, interesting game. in the situation of liverpool, having had a turbulent week, really. but it is a huge game, two huge clu bs but it is a huge game, two huge clubs head—to—head. the result matters, and they will be battling

away, but liverpool will not want to let go of what they have worked so ha rd let go of what they have worked so hard forfor so long. let go of what they have worked so hard for for so long. it will be an interesting encounter. it certainly will be. many thanks indeed. five live is the place to listen to commentary of that massive match at anfield. liverpool against chelsea tonight. that is all the sport for now. amber rudd is appearing before the home affairs select committee this afternoon. in the past half hour, she has been asked about donald trump's controversial travel ban on seven mainly muslim countries. let's hear what she had to say in exchanges with the committee chair, yvette cooper.” support the position that the government has taken. the foreign secretary spelt out that it is divisive and wrong. when will you told about it? -- when were you told about it. i heard about it over the weekend along the lines of everybody else. and have you told the us

administration that you disagree?” had a fairly substantial conversation with secretary kelly yesterday, and i made clear to him the difficulties and a response that was taking place in london and across the country that day. i sought to secure the uk's position in terms of passport holders from here and offered to work with him over the 90 day period that they have put in place to see that if i —— to see if i can addresses concerns. have you urged them to lift the ban? at this stage, i have made my opinion clear and i have said that since it is a 90 day ban, i will work with them to reach a resolution. are you concerned about the applications for security and extremism as a result of the ban? we will keep all those elements under review and obviously they are sensitive areas. at the moment i

have not particularly raised any additional concerns around that, no. it has been reported over the last few days that isil support is being monitored on social media, things like the telegram messaging service, saying things like, this is a blessing ban, because it helps with recruitment, that there are a lot of people talking about and for all our wacky, and the al-qaeda leader, who claimed that the west would eventually turn against its muslim citizens, and using this as a way to say that he was right, and also reports of former security officers and agents warning that this is going to make it harder to combat extremism. are you worried about this? isis and daesh will use any opportunity they can to make it difficult to create the environment that they want to radicalise people. it isa

that they want to radicalise people. it is a propaganda opportunity for them potentially. at the moment we will continue to monitor what is said and continue to take down the sort of literature and postings that we see on the internet that try to encourage that sort of extremism. they may use this as an example and we will continue to monitor and take—down sites where we can. we will continue to monitor and take—down sites where we canm we will continue to monitor and take-down sites where we can. it is your concern that this plan provides a propaganda opportunity?” your concern that this plan provides a propaganda opportunity? i would observe that the difficulties to the uk over terrorism are not caused by people largely coming from the sort of countries that the us has named but from people becoming radicalised here. i would urge our efforts to continue to address radicalisation here in the uk. amber rudd, talking to the home affairs select committee. a battle over the right of parents to take their children on term—time holidays has reached the supreme court.

the judges are hearing an appeal by isle of wight council, which fined a father for taking his daughter to florida without her school's permission. jon platt challenged his fine in the high court, and won. gillian hargreaves has the story. john platt, a dad from the isle of wight fighting his case in the highest court in the united kingdom, over a £120 fine for taking his daughter on holiday to florida. it's a shocking situation that if i lose today, that any unauthorised absence of any child in any school in england, that a criminal offence will have been committed. warm seas, soft sand, trying to book a family break without incurring the big increase in price that tour companies charge during the school holidays is a big challenge for most families. they shouldn't take weeks and weeks out of school but i don't think one family holiday per year is going to affect a child's education. it's a little bit too inflexible a system, i guess, because there can be lots of mitigating family circumstances. if it is during the school term and the rest of your class is coming into school

and gaining their education, i don't think it is really fair that you get to take this time off. and the government agrees, saying even a few days away from school can have a big impact on exam results. but teaching unions think fining parents isn't the answer. it is important that children attend school, it is important heads are given the professional responsibility to make discretion and it's important schools don't get into conflict with parents over the issue of fining. better to engage and educate parents than have conflict with them. this morning, judges were told the case rests on whether it is right to fine a parent for taking their child out of school, if that pupil usually attends school regularly. who doesn't dream of a warm summer holiday on a dank, miserable january day? the great challenge for the judges at the supreme court is to decide whether parents have the right to take that holiday

at a time of their choosing. 35 schools have told the bbc they've revised their guidance since mr platt's case went to court. gillian hargreaves, bbc news. in the past hour the supreme court hearing has ended and the president of the supreme court said that there would be a judgment in due course. a bit of breaking news. you can wait a moment. british airways havejust said that flights to and from gatwick and london city, long haul flights will operate as normal during a three—day cabin crew strike. starting on sunday. the vast majority of short—haul flights will operate. thousands of gay and bisexual men convicted of now—abolished sexual offences have been posthumously pardoned. earlier, we spoke to danny shaw, who

gave us the background. from today, 50,000 men who have died have now in effect have the slate wiped clean completely. it is as though they we re completely. it is as though they were never convicted of those offences, or fences such as gross indecency with a man, or fences that are no longer against the law. it affects people who have died but also some 15,000 men who are still alive who can now apply to be pardoned for those sorts of offences. it will have a very real effect to people who are still alive. alan turing, a hugely scepovic in case because that was the conviction and subsequent treatment of that led to his suicide. he played an influential role in the second world war, a man credited with breaking the enigma code, the german code that helped the allies to win the

second world war, but he was homosexual and in those days that was something that was against the law and completely frowned upon. he was convicted of gross indecency with the man and he then was chemically castrated and after that committed suicide two years later. it was a terrible case but the government recognised that in 2013 and gave him a posthumous pardon. after a long legal campaign by many people, there are our measures for thousands of others that have come into effect. the reason it is today is because the policing and crime bill has come into force today. as the government minister says, it is a truly momentous day today because the slate is wiped clean for many thousands. peter tatchell, a campaigner for lgbt rights, thousands. peter tatchell, a campaignerfor lgbt rights, is thousands. peter tatchell, a campaigner for lgbt rights, is with us now. is it right that this is clearing the decks, and are you happy that a pardon goes far enough? we have to remember that somewhere

between 50000 and 100,000 men were convicted between 1885 and 2003 of consenting adult same—sex behaviour which is no longer a crime today and would not have been a crime in those days if it had been between a man and a woman. this pardon is very important for those men. it is basically wiping the slate clean. the only caveat is that a pardon implies the government is saying you did something wrong and we will forgive you. whereas those men and the wider lgbtq minute you do not believe any wrong was done. -- lgbt community. the pardon for alan turing, at the time it was felt that that was as far as the government would go. what has happened in four yea rs ? would go. what has happened in four years? well, the pressure has been sustained. the battle has been going on for 30 years to get a pardon and an apology. we were not going to be

fobbed off in 2013 and at that stage, when alan turing was given a pardon, at the same time police forces in england and wales were conducting you which heightens against gay men. they were knocking on people's doors, the doors of men who had been convicted decades before, and demanding they give dna samples to go on a database of serious sex offenders alongside rapists and child sex abusers. that was a shocking, shocking wake—up call about how little progress had been made in some sections of the police. it took a major campaign to get the association of chief police officers to scrap that campaign and to rescind those doorknocking sweeps. many men, following convictions, as with alan turing, it was the stigma, many of them felt they could not go out and many of their own families disown them. this has had a tragic history. yes. it

was not just a has had a tragic history. yes. it was notjust a consequence of being dragged to court and convicted, given a fine or a prison sentence, many of those men lost theirjobs and if they were married, the marriages broke up. some were hounded out of their homes by anti—gay neighbours. many were assaulted in the street or threatened. many ended up having severe depression, ending up mentally ill, some ended up in psychiatric hospitals and others we re psychiatric hospitals and others were driven to alcoholism, drug abuse and even suicide. the knock on effect of these laws was truly, truly devastating for these men. how will historyjudge today and this announcement? of course, at the end of the day, a positive, generous and overdue pardon is welcome. this is a whole sorry day and it shows that we, asa whole sorry day and it shows that we, as a society, are prepared to

move forward and recognise it wrong was done, and moved forward to a society that is inclusive of all people, all sexualities. are we nearly there? how is that going? there are some issues that needs to be still addressed in britain. today, one third of lgbt people have been victims of hate crime because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. more than half of all young lg bt kids gender identity. more than half of all young lgbt kids in schools suffer bullying, which again has devastating consequences. they underperform at school, play truant, get lower grades, and future achievement is blighted. these are issues that we need to resolve but we have made progress. i want to thank everybody, including politicians and members of the public who have supported the campaignfor lgbt public who have supported the campaign for lgbt acceptance and equality. your support has brought us to this place of greater equality. it is good for you to come

and talk to us. thank you very much. ina and talk to us. thank you very much. in a moment, look at how the financial markets in europe close the day but first, the headlines. mps will debate next month a petition signed by one point six million people calling for the downgrading of donald trump's proposed state visit to britain. president trump sacks his attorney general after she refuses to implement his controversial immigration ban. mps are currently debating a bill in parliament to trigger britain's exit from the eu. now look at how the markets in europe have ended the trading session. european and us markets are in full flight this afternoon, with losses being seen across the board on wall street. figures out this morning showed eurozone inflation hit a nearfour—year high injanuary following an increase in energy prices. inflation jumped to 1.8% last month from 1.1% the month before. that's important because it takes

the rate of inflation closer to the european central bank's target of 2%. deutsche bank has been fined £504 million by us and uk regulators. it relates to a russian money laundering plan. under the scheme, clients illegally moved $10 billion out of russia via shares bought and sold through the bank's moscow, london and new york offices. authorities said the bank had missed several opportunites to detect the scheme. royal dutch shell will sell almost £2.5 billion worth of north sea assets to oil exploration firm chris—oar. shell wants to sell £24 billion of assets by 2018 to help pay off debt following its takeover of bg group. us president donald trump has vowed to get drug prices lower and to streamline the process for drug approvals. he met with the bosses

of pharmaceutical companies — and told drugmakers that he wants them to manufacture in the us, adding that the country could save tens of billions of dollars with lower prices and better innovation. his comments have caused healthcare shares to slide. europe's healthcare index is now down by 1%. let's get detailed analysis with justin urquhart stewart, co—founder and director of seven investment management. let's start with those comments from president trump. pharmaceutical companies do not seem to like these comments, why? this is something he is talked about before, squeezing the cost of the production of these drugs. we have the same thing here with the nhs is wealth, because it is in the hands of those drugs companies, and if they have a monopoly they can charge what they like. what he wants to do is to put pressure on them, something that mrs clinton was talking about in her campaign. but as ever it is america first, so can you make these in america? of course you can't, is the answer, and the question is will the drugs companies go along with it?

they are all suffering from that wa nts they are all suffering from that wants white. —— from the trump swipe. deutsche bank have been fined million pounds —— 500 for £9. swipe. deutsche bank have been fined million pounds -- 500 for £9. not a big fine? this has happened a lot, where one bank will effectively buy and sell positions in a currency around the world and occasionally will change that currency. in this case, somehow they from rubles into dollars and they were able to wander that money. the question is, how much more of that is carrying on? and shell, selling off some of their assets. a trend we will see with other companies? absolutely, because the oil companies are trying to hunker down and get down to the core areas. it is good for smaller businesses because the technology is better for them to be able to get into these leftover fields, where there them to be able to get into these leftoverfields, where there is them to be able to get into these leftover fields, where there is a lot of value. they do not have the

baggage of the big companies so they can moving swiftly and squeeze more out of the north sea. good news for us. that is it from me. there is a round—up of the top business stories on our website. it is time for a look at the weather. darren bett can bring us the forecast. thank you very much indeed. we will find some big changes in the weather, moving into february of course. the weather pattern will be changing. looking out into the atlantic, this is where our weather is coming from, queueing up, waiting in the wings. today's cloud was wednesday's cloud. this took moving into thursday. this cloud that is around new york at the moment could develop into a storm potentially on friday. that is a long way off but before then it has been a day to forget for many of us with cloudy skies and grey skies. this is what blue skies look like.

this is what blue skies look like. this is what blue skies look like. this is northern ireland. most of us ending the day cloudy and grey. it will turn wet across england and wales and the rain will push into eastern areas. some breaks in the cloud for north west scotland and northern ireland. chilly in the countryside but otherwise pretty mild. to start the day, grey witnessed and hill fog. slowly moving eastwards into the north sea. taking a while to clear away. elsewhere, brightening up and you may actually see some sunshine before we get a bit of rain into the south—west and northern ireland later. tipuric is miles, milder than recent. heading into thursday, this is the big area of low pressure heading our way. tracking to the west of ireland, across ireland, but west of ireland, across ireland, but

we will find gales likely around irish coasts, and into southern parts of england as well. a windy day for all of us, very mild with rain around. that is not the biggest issue, i suspect. rain around. that is not the biggest issue, isuspect. that rain around. that is not the biggest issue, i suspect. that area of low pressure will move away and then we have to look at this next one, over towards new york. here routers, towards new york. here routers, towards early friday. and it could develop into a storm. a lot of uncertainty about this. some computer models take the centre of low pressure through the english channel, all less likely, low impact scenario. the more likely scenario is for low pressure to develop into a deeper area of low pressure, tracking further north than taking wind and rain with it. at the moment, warnings out with gusts of 70mph. there will be some windy conditions sweeping across many parts of the country together with outbreaks of rain. if that area of low pressure develops, we could find big waves as well and strong winds. today at five, president from ford

is ahead with his controversial travel ban as his team prepares to get more details in the next few minutes. the trump team, including the head of homeland security, will speak shortly about the ban against seven mainly muslim countries. overnight, the acting attorney general was sacked after she had questioned the locality of the ban. her replacement, the president's choice, jeff sessions, is still waiting for approval today from congress. all this on the day that the president of the european council identified the trump administration as one of the external threats facing the eu. we will have details and reaction. the other main stories and 5pm, the parliamentary pathway to brexit. mps are debating a bill to trigger the process of leaving the