this is bbc news, i'mjane hill. the headlines at 3pm. warnings that cutbacks are causing a policing crisis — and the public are being put at risk in england and wales. senior democrats are calling for the us attorney general to resign or be sacked because of his undeclared meetings with the russian ambassador. at least two are reported to be trapped in a collapsed hospital injohannesburg. france's marine le pen loses immunity from prosecution for tweeting so—called islamic state images as her rival sets out his stall in the election. british cycling bosses promise to make changes after accusations of bullying and sexism at the top level of the sport. i'm simon mccoy, and in the next hour... how gordon and sarah brown's daughter's death helped save the grandchild of another labour leader.

ella survived thanks to a research centre set up by the former prime minister and his wife after their own personal tragedy. and the bus lane cameras snapping up £31m a year across england. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. there are claims that policing in england and wales is in a "potentially perilous" state with victims being let down, criminal cases shelved and suspects left untracked. the police watchdog says most of the 43 forces in england and wales are providing a good service but a third require improvement. it says some forces are putting the public at an unacceptable risk, by rationing their response to crime as they struggle with cutbacks. our home affairs correspondent dominic casciani reports.

the cornerstone of british policing, the bobby on the beat. part of the frontline neighbourhood services that solve so many crimes. but are posts like this being eroded? one of the warnings contained in a stark report. laura beale was the pride of devon and cornwall police. after 1a years, she's had enough and resigned and says she cannot deal any more with the workload. the team covering her patch went from 17 officers to six. we need to focus on the front line. you want to see a police officer and if somebody came up to me and said, "officer i need help", i'd be able to go and have the time to with it. hmic says after five years of cuts to the budget and workforce, some chiefs are not making the right tough calls and in some areas, the inspectors found 999 calls being downgraded to help manage the pressure on officers left behind. hmic also said some domestic violence calls are not

being treated seriously enough. otherforces have ignored leads on organised crime and only durham is delivering outstanding results. neighbourhood policing, that proactive preventative presence of police officers in communities, is eroding even further so that means they are not stopping crime from happening in the first place and that is what the public want to see. domestic violence is now a national priority, one of the modern demands on forces long focused on burglaries, car crime and muggings. officers need new skills including finding and solving crimes with computers. some experts warn forces will lose the trust of the public if they do not modernise. if people don't have a response from the police force when they call, what's going to happen when they actually see something happening? what about when they get a piece of information that should rightly be handed on to the police? they will think, i don't care.

i'm not going to, they didn't care about me. this report is a very clear message that police officers have work to do. there is a very clear message from us and the hmic that the police and crime commissioners need to get a grip that look at what their demands are locally and deliver on that. this report is a warning that some forces have been tipped over the edge in an era of austerity. the nature of crime has been changing and that means ministers, chief constables and the public need to think carefully about what modern policing is for. hmic says there is even a national crisis in recruiting detectives. decades ago the dream job. just another of the reasons why some forces are facing a difficult future. dominic casciani, bbc news. with me is steve white, chair of the federation of england and wales. good afternoon. is that accurate, to

say that some members of the public are put at risk in england and wales ? are put at risk in england and wales? the disturbing thing is that the cuts the police have had to face is doing exactly that. whether or not we complain or not it is the public that are going to suffer. this is something we have been saying for the last four years. the then home secretary to mehri is: accused me of crying wolf when i pointed out the danger on what might happen. we are glad that the government last year said there would be no further cuts to the police service but what is happening is that demand is increasing and the government is asking us kohler—cadmore stuff, child sexual exploitation, those things are hugely important but there comes a point when you have lost 21,500 officers, if everything is a priority then nothing is a priority. we need to make sure resources are there for us to be able to properly respond. we need to have a proper

public debate over what the police service needs to do, what the public wa nts service needs to do, what the public wants and how much they are prepared to spend. the point about some of thatis to spend. the point about some of that is some forces are doing well. durham outstanding, lots of other forces deemed to be good. why is it some forces seem forces deemed to be good. why is it some forces seem to forces deemed to be good. why is it some forces seem to be doing a very good job and others are having difficulties. that cannotjust be about money. caen every police force in england and wales were doing their level best. certainly members i represent, 123,000 hard—working cops i represent, 123,000 hard—working cops are i represent, 123,000 hard—working cops are getting really frustrated. they want to deliver a top class service. why does this work in some parts of the country? 43 forces are all funded in a different way. different geography, different demographics. you cannot compare like—for—like, comparing apples and pears. there are historic and

cultural issues particularly around funding. some forces have a lot of centralfunding, some funding. some forces have a lot of central funding, some have funding. some forces have a lot of centralfunding, some have hardly any at all. that creates a huge impact on challenge. so when you talk about needing a public debate about how much any police force can do, are you saying essentially that we look at rationing, as a society i mean, we decided that low—level crime is no longer investigated because resources should be elsewhere? to be brutally frank, yes. members of the public i speak to, when i ask what they want, it is pretty straightforward. they want a visible presence. hmrc said preventative policing, and being a co nsta ble preventative policing, and being a constable is all about preventing crime in the first place. that is going by the wayside because we are co nsta ntly going by the wayside because we are constantly reacting. members of the public want a visible presence on the street. but that costs money.“

you are not tackling low—level crime, what sort of things are going to go by the wayside? we should be dealing with everything the public wa nt dealing with everything the public want us to deal with. 0nly dealing with everything the public want us to deal with. only a third of ourtime is want us to deal with. only a third of our time is spent dealing with crime, the other two thirds of all time is spent picking up the pieces from other public sector is, missing persons, vulnerable people, educational issues, lost property, dogs that are missing, all of this kind of stuff which i would say actually in terms of making the british police service as good as it is, making sure we have that ability to connect with our communities, if that goes by the wayside then everything else falls apart. this all we want is a single crime—fighting service we can like that do not expect us to refuse. i

think the public recognises that we are doing a cracking job and a trust are doing a cracking job and a trust a small that perhaps other topic services in particular mps. i have to say it is time to wake up and smell the coffee. we have been saying this for five years. the hmrc, fiercely independent, now saying what we have been saying. while you are with us, in the last hour we have heard the home office has authorised the all introduction ofa has authorised the all introduction of a new more advanced form of taser. what is this? absolutely delighted, we have been calling for it for sometime now. shame it has taken quite so long but we are glad the government has the decision. the x2 is not brand—new, but the x26 is obsolete. the x2 is even safer, it is even safer and it gives us capabilities. the one thing that does concern me, these bits of kit are quite expensive. the government

has said they will provide the tools, now they have to provide the money for those x26 to be replaced by the x2. steve white, thanks very much. nancy pelosi is calling for the resignation ofjeff sessions. he has been accused of lying under oath after it emerged he had two undisclosed meetings with a russian ambassador during the presidential campaign. in the past hour mrs pelosi has tweeted this: we are far past recusal, jeff sessions lied under oath. anything less than resignation or removal from office is unacceptable. we are expecting a news c0 nfe re nce very is unacceptable. we are expecting a news conference very shortly in washington from the senate democrat leader chuck schumer who will be taking to the podium any minute now. but first the background to this with rich gallopin. 0ur correspondent

richard galpin reports. sessions was already a controversial choice as attorney general because of allegations which he denies of racism. and now it's been revealed that during the presidential election campaign last year, he had two undisclosed meetings with this man. the russian ambassador to washington. i endorse donald trump. that's potentially damaging for mr sessions because russia has been accused of running a cyber campaign to skew the election in favour of donald trump. the whole truth and nothing but the truth... during his confirmation hearing in the senate last month, to become attorney general, mr sessions had been directly asked about contacts with russia. 0ur and if there is any evidence that any one affiliated with the trump campaign communicated with the russian government in the course of this campaign, what will you do? i'm not aware of any of those activities.

i have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and i did not have communications with the russians. i'm unable to comment. already, there's been a furious response from senior democrats including nancy pelosi. she's tweeted that mr sessions is not fit to serve as the top law enforcement officer of the country. and that he must resign. this morning, mr sessions denied lying under oath. i have not met with any russians at any time to discuss any political campaign and those remarks are unbelievable to me. i don't have anything else to say. according to his spokesperson, mr sessions had many meetings with foreign ambassadors last year but these were in his capacity as a senator, not in connection with the presidential campaign. therefore, he argues, he did nothing wrong. butjust two weeks ago,

questions about connections with russian officials led to the resignation of michael flynn, trump's national security adviser. mr sessions may face another problem now. as attorney general, he oversees the department ofjustice and the fbi. both are currently investigating russia's alleged meddling in the us election and any alleged links with trump's associates. 0ur correspondent jane 0'brien is in washington. how much trouble is jeff sessions in? in a bit of a pickle, putting it mildly. i think the issue is semantics. jeff sessions says when he was answering those questions he was denying any contact with russians. as a member of the

campaign team, but not as a senator. asa campaign team, but not as a senator. as a sense of these contacts are quite usual, routine. and they are not illegal. as a senator he would consider himself to be just doing hisjob. 0bviously consider himself to be just doing his job. 0bviously that is not how the democrats seated and this is becoming a monumental distraction for the republicans which is why we are seeing a growing number of calls for him to recuse himself from these investigations into russian meddling in the election. a number of top republicans are saying this is the only course open to him. it is becoming a distraction and they need to get this whole issue out of the way. unusually nothing from the president on twitter. that is a very astute observation, simon. he is staying out of this. we are not sure what he thinks about this but nancy

pelosi calling for resignation, that is herjob. it is probably premature and the stage to say he is in trouble, in terms of losing hisjob but certainly the movement to have him recuse himself is growing. we are waiting democrat leader in the senate chuck schumer. as i said democrats are calling for his resignation, they would, they did not support his appointment in the first place. he is controversial figure. chuck schumer we are not sure what action will say exactly of course, but he is under growing pressure and you have to remember the reason people care is because we just went through a very divisive election and there are still millions of americans who believe that russian meddling influence the outcome of the election. that mr trump did benefit from russian interference and they

feel hillary clinton was robbed. they are finding it very difficult to come to terms with the fact that she won the popular vote but not the election. we have got to see this latest row in the context of the overall very toxic and divisive atmosphere that lingers in washington. chain, the equally astute jane 0'brien, thank you very much. let's return to johannesburg, a number of patients believed to be trapped after part of a hospital roof collapsed in johannesburg. we can go to the scene because joining johannesburg. we can go to the scene becausejoining me on johannesburg. we can go to the scene because joining me on the johannesburg. we can go to the scene becausejoining me on the phone is russell who i believe speaks in behalf of some of the paramedics. thank you for talking to us. just explain if you can way while and what you have been witnessing in the last hour or so. thank you very much. as you said the various

provincial and private services are on the scene at the moment. i am standing here amongst the rubble where a roof has collapsed around the general reception area. search and rescue dogs are busy searching through the rubble to see if there are any trapped patients underneath. so it is the fifth floor reception area. from what you understand does that mean there is rubble on top of wards or purely on an area where people would be gathered waiting for appointments perhaps. unfortunately it is mostly in the waiting area. there is some damage to the surrounding paediatric unit that bordered the waiting area here. most of the floor has been evacuated for the safety and is said paramedics

are on the scene the moment trying to re m ove are on the scene the moment trying to remove as much of the rubble as possible. however it is still quite u nsafe possible. however it is still quite unsafe and we'll having to use specialised rescued equipment to stabilise any further collapse. the priority of course is working out and people might be trapped and getting them out. absolutely. at the moment we have treated 10—12 patients who have sustained minor injuries. and transported to other hospitals. the initial reports show there are approximately three people still under the rubble but we cannot confirm that.: search limits are still searching through the rubble. russell, we appreciate your time of such a busy time for you, thank you very much indeed. speaking from the hospital in

johannesburg, to reiterate, russell expend that up to a dozen people have minor or moderate injuries as a result of that collapse. some suggestions that three people are trapped that he has said very much thatis trapped that he has said very much that is unconfirmed. that is similar what is being said. they think possibly three people being trapped but clearly a long way to go and sniffer dogs are in the area trying to work out where perhaps people might be trapped. we will keep you up—to—date with that. we need to ta ke up—to—date with that. we need to take you to washington because we are still waiting for that news conference with senate democrat leader chuck schumer as pressure grows leader chuck schumer as pressure gi’ows on leader chuck schumer as pressure grows on the us attorney general jeff sessions. after the washington post reported he met twice last year with the russian ambassador to washington. they are going to hang on because we understand he is not far away. this revelation casting fresh cloud over donald trump's

administration. all right. last night when night read the revelations regarding attorney general sessions and his decision to mislead congress about those contacts mislead congress about those co nta cts i mislead congress about those contacts i felt not in the pit of stomach. i worried about the future of our country with foreign influence in our elections. it goes to the very wellspring of our democracy. for weeks i have said that attorney general sessions needs to recuse himself from any investigation into contact between the presidents and his associates on the presidents and his associates on the campaign and transition in russia. for weeks i made clear that i believe his close relationship with the tramp campaign requires

that the recuse himself from the executive branch investigation to ties between the tramp campaign and russia. it is a matter of department ofjustice guidelines that i have read to you several times that are very clear, clear as day. yet attorney general sessions has demoed. the information reported last night makes it clear beyond the shadow of doubt that attorney general sessions cannot possibly lead an investigation into russian interference in our elections, or common una it. with these revelations he may very well become the subject of it. it would be of alice in wonderland quality if this administration were to sanction him to investigate himself. recusal should have been given but this goes

beyond that. he had weeks. attorney general sessions had weeks to correct the record that he made before the judiciary but he let the record stand. you cannot even be a scintilla of doubt about the impartiality and fairness of the top law enforcement official milan. after this it is clear that attorney general sessions does not meet that test. because the department of justice should be above reproach for the good of the country, attorney general sessions should resign. but what ever your views on resignation, the most important thing we must do is ensure the integrity of the investigation. has it already been,

mice? what can we do to ensure it moves forward in a way that ultimately leads the unvarnished truth? to that end i am calling on three things: sorry, to that and i'm calling for three things today. first, the justice calling for three things today. first, thejustice department must immediately appoint a special prosecutor. given that attorney general sessions‘s impartiality is compromised, that responsibility will fall to the acting deputy attorney general. who is a career civil servant originally appointed by president 0bama. it is incumbent upon the acting deputy attorney general to select as special prosecutor and individual who is beyond reproach, completely impartial, without any significant

ties to either political party. the choice for special prosecutor will be scrutinised. even ahead of partiality in night choice, even a hint that this person will not be able to get the bottom of these troubling questions will be disqualified. the prosecutor must be of great experience and unimpeachable impartiality. now this is not just unimpeachable impartiality. now this is notjust common sense. this is what the justice department regulations require. they say that they special counsel should be appointed when a standard investigation, these are thejustice department's words, "when the standard investigation presents a conflict of interests for the department, or other extraordinary circumstances, and it would be in

the public interest to appoint an outside special counsel, the regulations also require that a special counsel be a lawyer with a reputation for integrity and impartial decision—making". they cannot even be the shred of a connection between the attorney general, mr sessions, and this department ofjustice investigation into the events of 2016. second, if the justice department into the events of 2016. second, if thejustice department drags its feet and refuses to appoint a special prosecutor, or selects someone special prosecutor, or selects someone with insufficient independence, there is another route. we will then urge senator mcconnell and speaker ryan to work with democrats to create a new and

improved version of the independent counsel law which would give a 3—judge panel the authority to appointan 3—judge panel the authority to appoint an independent counsel. this was a law that was on the books, put in place after watergate, to avoid a repeat of events like the saturday night massacre. it was designed for this purpose will stop unfortunately it was not drafted with enough constraints. congress allowed the authority to expire. after kenneth starr's investigation into whitewater went out of control. he went too far he tested the boundary of the authorities he was given. the original independent counsel law went too far. sorry, it was not drafted tightly enough. but in this case, cognisa nt and

drafted tightly enough. but in this case, cognisant and weary of this history, we would work to craft a narrow authority with specific guidelines for this investigation to prevent this from becoming a political witchhunt. we hope that if the administration fails in its responsibility that senator mcconnell and speaker ryan will rise to theirs. finally, third, the inspector general of the department ofjustice must immediately begin an investigation into the attorney general‘s involvement into this matter is thus far to discover if the investigation has already been compromised. the inspector general doesn't need any permission from either anyone in the ministration for the congress and he should go forward immediately. we know the

attorney general met with the president several weeks ago. what they discuss? have there been other co nta cts ? they discuss? have there been other contacts? between the president or senior administration officials and the attorney general regarding this matter? have there been any attempts to interfere with the investigation anyway? as the attorney general or his close associates personally managed the work of career officials at the department ofjustice or fbi in the course of the investigation? the inspector general has the ability, the right and the obligation to find out answers to these questions. and more. the revelations that we learned about last night an extremely troubling. and raise even more questions about the president and his associates contacts with russia. did the

president know about the meetings between then senator sessions and the russian ambassador? were these the russian ambassador? were these the only two mehri meetings between the only two mehri meetings between the attorney general, now attorney general, and the russian ambassador or other russian officials? did the attorney general disclose these meetings during the fbi background check for his nomination? there has been a revelation after revelation. this truth after mystery. stories shaking like quicksand. if there is truly nothing there, why won't they tell the truth? the bottom line is we have an obligation to get to the truth. we must evaluate the scope of russia's interference in our election and assess if agents of the government have penetrated to the highest level of our government, nothing less than the sanctity of ourdear nothing less than the sanctity of our dear democratic process, the

primacy of wall of law, and the integrity of our executive branch is at stake. —— rule of law. we now know the only way this will happen is ifan know the only way this will happen is if an independent, impartial special prosecutor who has no attachment to this ministration conducts this investigation. if the administration is unwilling or unable to manage that, congress should reinstitute the more allowing us should reinstitute the more allowing us to bring in a special counsel to do it for them. ready for your questions. why does he have to resign? look, the attorney general is the chief law enforcement officer of the land and already his integrity and independence has been questioned. it would be better for the independence has been questioned. it would be betterfor the country independence has been questioned. it would be better for the country that he resign. the main point that i am making here is we need an

investigation to get to the bottom of this. better for the country if he resigns but let's get a real investigation going. 0k, investigation going. ok, so the pressure building on the us attorney generaljeff sessions. the issue of accusing himself, this is from the investigations that have been set up by the us intelligence agencies examining this developing scandal, democrats demanding that jeff sessions recuse himself. and as we heard there, from chuck schumer, if the justice department fails to appoint a prosecutor, they want to invoke a law that was brought in after watergate for an independent tea m after watergate for an independent team to look into what has gone on. we will have more reaction to that of course throughout the afternoon on bbc news. just a line in other news coming

through yearfrom just a line in other news coming through year from the appeal court just why we were listening to that news conference, the appeal court has reserved judgment in the mark duggan appeal. mark duggan, who was you will remember shot by police. his family trying to overturn the decision in that case. solicitors have been at the court of appeal today. we were thinking we might hear something but we are just hearing that the appeal court has reserved judgment in the mark duggan appeal. that is all we know what the moment and maybe a few more details to come through win the next half an hour on that. plenty more to come. we have the sport and the business but now we have the weather. good afternoon. some sunshine today for many parts of the country and indeed today may be the sunniest day of the next few because there is

some rain beginning to move in and signs of change i think probably by the time we get to this evening. a few showers around today, most of them in scotland but this cloud is spilling its way across into northern ireland and over the irish sea, bringing wetter weather, northern ireland and over the irish sea, bringing wetterweather, not just rain but some snow. top temperatures in the sunshine across southern england. wet in northern ireland this evening. that will track into southern scotland and further south we have rain developing overnight across southern england, moving across the channel and into south wales and south in men. it will be quite heavy. it will keep the temperature is up. sunshine isa keep the temperature is up. sunshine is a little harder to find. this wet weather is moving its way steadily northwards through the day, driven on by that southerly breeze which will draw in some milder rarer across the south—east later on. you're watching bbc news.

the headlines: the police watchdog says the public is being put at risk, because of recent cutbacks in forces across england and wales. a report out today warns services are in a "potentially perilous" state. the two most senior democrats on capitol hill have called for attorney generaljeff sessions to resign. he is accused of failing to disclose readings he had with russia's ambassador during the presidential campaign. at least two people are reported to be trapped after it part of a hospital roof collapsed in johannesburg in after it part of a hospital roof collapsed injohannesburg in south africa. in the french presidential elections, marine le pen has lost unity and could face prosecution for tweeting pictures of is violence. emmanuel macron has unveiled his ma nifesto. emmanuel macron has unveiled his manifesto. a bbc investigation has

revealed that almost 4000 motorists a day are fined for driving in a bus lane. the most lucrative camera makes £6,000 every day. it is time for the sport. the head of british cycling has apologised for failing is following accusations of bullying and sexism against top—level cyclists. he has also said the organisation would deal with concerns raised by mps yesterday in a select committee meeting into doping. it isa meeting into doping. it is a difficult time for cycling. what has been said today? this all relate back to april of last year when jess varnish the sprinter raised criticisms and complained about description she had faced and an investigation was

launched into the culture at british cycling. today, british cycling published 39 point action plan to address these concerns and tried to bring about improvement, really focusing on athlete welfare and reforms to governance. here is the new chairman, jonathan browning. the report has highlighted some issues that we as an organisation need to reverse. add in the same way as we need to address processes, structures, we also need to address behaviours. we have already met with groups of both riders and staff and we made it very clear that where there has been failings, we apologise for those. that was today. what has been the fallout from the select committee hearing? damian collins described credibility as in tatters. yes, that really has been the feeling in reaction to that

committee meeting. you heard from jonathan browning there. well, he today was under no illusions as to how serious this is and said he is determined to get to the very bottom of it and to prove that british cycling is not only clean but that they are able to demonstrate it to everybody‘s satisfaction. uk sport funds the likes of cycling and liz nicholl is their chief executive. there is a lot going on around british cycling and there are in aberavon fires that seemed to be going off in different areas and it is difficult for them at this point in time. but most important thing as an investor in british cycling is that we see that the information that we see that the information thatis that we see that the information that is being revealed is accepted by british cycling and acted upon. so that reporting to the culture at british cycling, independent report, being led by the british rowing chair annamarie phelps, is due in the next couple of months in

springtime and it could be quite explosive, we are told, even if it is in explosive, we are told, even if it isina explosive, we are told, even if it is in a redacted form. meanwhile the anti—doping allegations rumble on. british cycling is fighting fires on two fronts there. it has been a difficult time for britain's most successful and well funded 0lympic sport. thank you, david. there is a big boost for england's six nations hopes today with the news that levi nepal is set to make a surprise return to his club this weekend. he has been obnoxious is november —— billy vinupola. his recovery has gone better than expected —— he has been out since november. celtic have paid tribute to lisbon lion tommy gemmill who has died aged 73 following a long illness. the former defender scored in the

victory against inter milan in the 1967 finau when celtic became the first british club to win the european cup. —— finau. now, the appeal court has reserved judgment in the last few minutes in the case of mark duggan. he was shot deadin the case of mark duggan. he was shot dead in 2011 by a police marksman. there was an attempt to overturn that inquest verdict. let's get more from our correspondent, june kelly, who is following this at the court of appeal. just a bit of background, mark duggan is shooting in august 2011 sparked riots in top man where he was shot and then around the country. he was stopped following a

police operation and the police said they had intelligence that he had collected a weapon from another man. now, in january 2014, collected a weapon from another man. now, injanuary 2014, an inquest verdict recorded that mark duggan had been lawfully killed. he was shot by one police officer and that police officer said he opened fire because in his words he believed that mark duggan had a weapon in his hands and he said that he had an honestly held belief that mark duggan was going to shoot him. and that officer said that is why he opened fire on mark duggan. now, mark duggan ‘s family have never accepted that he was lawfully killed and today at the court of appeal, their lawyers argued that this verdict should be quashed and they argued this on the grounds that the way the coroner had directed the jury way the coroner had directed the jury was wrong. they said the coroner and this is a very fine legal point, they said the coroner when he was directing the jury should have highlighted to them that they should have asked themselves

they should have asked themselves the question, whether the officers belief was reasonable. this is the very fine point of law and this is all being argued on. three senior judges listened to this appeal today. we have had many hours of legal argument but at the end, they said they would be reserving their judgment and that judgment said they would be reserving their judgment and thatjudgment will come in due course. i should say that the family say that if this were to go their way and the verdict were to be quashed, they say they don't want a new to fig??? from the% sports coming in from the city. sports director mike ashley has brought the struggling retailer ageing provocative out of administration. it fell into administration earlier today before being sold immediately

back to sports direct through a prepacked deal. there are fears for 600 jobs because of this particular deal. we will get more detail in the business use on that but agent provocateur, the immediate sale, it does raise questions. much more, as i say, coming up. the prime minister has made it clear that she is disappointed by the defeat in the house of lords last night over brexit. peers voted by a sizeable majority to give european union nationals already living here the right to stay in the uk. the government will now seek to overturn it when the bill returns to the commons the week after next. the prime minister's official spokesman says theresa may expects the bill to go through unamended. 0ur political correspondent carole walker reports. a resounding defeat for the government in the house of lords. contents, 358. not contents, 256. so the contents have it. after hours of passionate debate,

they voted overwhelmingly for ministers to guarantee the rights of more than 3 million eu nationals living in the uk. seven tory peers voted against the government. we are being illogical and immoral in refusing to unilaterally guarantee the rights of those people who are already here, who came here in good faith, who are part of our communities. theresa may says she does want to give that guarantee, but she'll only do so if she can do a deal with other eu leaders to safeguard the rights of british citizens in other eu countries too. i am optimistic that a reciprocal agreement on the status of each other‘s citizens can indeed be achieved. i think that is in the rational interests of the united kingdom and of all our 27 eu partners. the ayes to the right, 494.

mps have already voted to approve the government's approach and ministers will seek to reverse last night's defeat. i do think this amendment will be overturned when the bill comes back to the commons. i think the vast majority of mps on the government side certainly accept the prime minister's argument about the need to clarify arrangements for eu nationals in the uk at the same time as we clarify arrangements for british expats on the continent. the government could face further defeats as the bill continues its passage through the lords, and this is just the start. there's lots more complex and controversial legislation to come, to disentangle british law from eu law, and set new rules for immigration and trade. last night's defeat could be a foretaste of the parliamentary battles ahead. for the prime minister, the immediate priority is to get the bill triggering article 50 into more in time for her to start formal negotiations as planned by the end of march. then the hard bargaining will really begin. carole walker, bbc news, westminster. nearly 4000 motorists every day are

fine for driving in a bus lane in england. the most lucrative camera makes it £6,000 every 24 hours. research has revealed that cameras earned local authorities more than £30 million last year. our correspondent has spent the day hoping to avoid a bus lane in birmingham. i would not dare drive down here. it isa i would not dare drive down here. it is a really confusing junction. we have the bullring shopping centre and new street station. it is a bus lane, only buses, taxis and bicycles can go through there and there are cameras and as as you go through there, you will get caught and sent a £60 penalty notice.

while we have been standing here, we have seen a dozen cars do just that. they have had an opportunity to turn round down that way that they are just a little bit lost. they are not necessarily paying close attention to the size that are. this is one of the worst five spot in the country for bus lane camera finds. it is in birmingham. it raises around £2500 per day. roughly 40 motorists go through their everyday. that is a taxi. but his 0k. through their everyday. that is a taxi. but his ok. if it is not a taxi, it will get into trouble. local authorities coming to criticism follows. the rac say this isa criticism follows. the rac say this is a cash bonanza for them. some bright £1.6 million was raised in this city in 2015 since the introduced bustling cameras —— something like. birmingham city council say it is

not like that. at least, that is what they say to us. it is nothing about raising money, it is about enforcing a bus lane so that public transport can move around the city more freely and more efficiently. they say they would rather no one was fined at all and that is generally the response from authorities across the country and the one that you mentioned which is the one that you mentioned which is the worst in the country, in newcastle upon tyne, as you say, £6,000 a day. around 100 drivers going through that one and getting those penalty notices. voters have been going to the polls in northern ireland. 90 members of stormont will be elected, 18 fewer than previously. polling closes at ten o'clock tonight. we will have a special coverage as those results come in. the family of a teenager in a coma

after his drink was spiked with ecstasy has shared his photograph to raise awareness of drugs. abby lee everett posted this image of her nephew ben on facebook, saying he was lucky to be alive. north wales police is investigating the incident and say no arrests have been made but they have appealed for information. army explosives experts are trying to make a world war ii bomb safe in north—west london. homes have been evacuated, roads are closed and a large cord and is in place after a device was found late this morning. the met police say the situation remains ongoing. i wonder what that means. they are just listening and hearing tick, tick... anyway, we will move on. business use is coming up. first, let's have a reminder of today's headlines. the police standards watchdog has warned of the potentially perilous state of

the service in england and where. the leading democrat nancy pelosi accuses the us attorney generaljeff sessions of lying under oath after he failed to disclose meetings with russia's ambassador during the presidential campaign. the french presidential candidate and leader of the nationalfront marine le pen has lost immunity from prosecution for tweeting images from so—called islamic state. in the business use this afternoon, todayis in the business use this afternoon, today is the day of one of the most anticipated flotations since twitter. stapp chat is making its debut on the stock market in the us. the company is valued at £19 billion. sports direct owner mike ashley has bought agent provocateur out of administration. the firm employs around 600 people. it is

thought the company is worth between 25 and £30 million. people seeking compensation or miss paid —— mis—sold payment protection insurance will have to make their claims. household opium will not grow at all for the next two years according to the institute for fiscal studies —— household income. it'll bejust the institute for fiscal studies —— household income. it'll be just 4% higher in four years' time and it is now. low—income households with children are likely to fare worse. they will be £5,000 a year worse off than they might have expected. so, the government has chosen as pa rt so, the government has chosen as part of its plan to reduce the deficit and it was in the conservative manifesto to reduce the generosity of most working age benefits and it is on track to do that and because those benefits tend

to predominantly gold to low—income households with children, those are the kind of households that lose from that change. and at the same time, you have a wallet every week real earnings growth over next two yea rs. real earnings growth over next two years. inflation will be quite high and that is because pound has fallen since the vote to leave the european union. net fix has been growing fast and is on track to hit... subscribers. it is facing competition. net neutrality has really taken hold around the world as a assumption and belief about the way the internet should work. and there are many countries that don't have a law about net neutrality but we still operate very much along those principles. if you can send a

message to donald trump about bad principle and why it is still important, what would it be?” principle and why it is still important, what would it be? i think net neutrality is very important so that none of the voices are censored so that none of the voices are censored so that there is equality around. facebook seems very interested in doing a lot more video. that would be quite a danger to you, wouldn't it? and there is u2 bread, a subscription service. there is amma is on, as you mentioned. potentially apple is doing a few original shows. —— youtube red. there is also a lot of room to grow. tories some other business stories we have been following, merlin boosted visitor numbers despite struggling at alton towers after an accident. it saw revenues at 11.7%. if you like your smart pricey shoes than you might have helped prompt ——

profits at designerjimmy choo. and corn food, a meat substitute, is recalling 12,000 packets of its frozen meat free mince over fears it may contain small pieces of metal. the food standards agency warned customers not to eat the product out of safety concerns. stamp duty should be a tax on property sellers rather than buyers to help those trying to by their first home, according to the yorkshire building society. let's look at the markets before we go. the biggest fall today has been outsourcing firm capita. but is it from me. i will be back in an hour's time. thanks alerts. we will see later. we

are see little bit later. the redheaded little bit —— had now to washington, dc. that has dominated a lot of coverage today. nancy pelosi as you see has just to the podium. let's see what you're saying. it is grounds for him to resign. it is grounds for him to resign. he has proved that he is unqualified and unfit to serve in that position. almost every week, we discover new evidence of secret communications between senior tramp officials and russian agents. —— donald trump officials. we have been calling for weeks for him to recuse himself from the investigation into the connections between the trump operation and the russians. recusing himself because of his connection to the donald trump campaign. and now we see that he himself needs an investigation. for lying. it is against the law and the top law

enforcement officer should know that. the administration clearly cannot be trusted to investigate itself. there must be an independent bipartisan outside commission to investigate the trump political, personal and financial connection to the russians. 0ur colleagues have had this legislation for a while. 100% of the house democrats have signed onto it. and now they have republican co—sponsorship as well. at the same time, we have a situation where i am told, you may know better, that the republicans are hiding their draft of the aca repeal bill in a basement room and planning to hold a committee mark—up before the congressional budget office score is available to the public. this is unheard of. even the

republicans senator paul is criticising this, that he cannot even see what they are plan that is what they are planning. the republican bill will raise health costs on the middle class, eviscerate families coverage and put millions of people out of health coverage. remember, we had three standards. does it lower cost, does it expand benefits and as it increase access? this bill takes it all in the reverse direction. i remind you that this bill is one of a big transfer of wealth to the wealthiest people in our country, the top 400 families in america. 400 wealthiest families in america. they get a tax break of $7 million each every year. while costs are increased for low and middle—income families our country. anyway, in

stark contrast to what the republicans are doing, when we did the affordable care act and they criticised this that and the other thing, there were scores of hearings, hundreds of amendments, some democratic, some republican, some democratic, some republican, some accepted of each, some modified the chance rejected of both democratic and republican amendments. the finance committee spent eight days publicly marking up the bill, the longest mark—up in 22 yea rs. the bill, the longest mark—up in 22 years. and here they are, read the bill, read the bill, we read the bill, read the bill, we read the bill, we wrote the bill and we read the bill, here they are hiding their bill in the basement, don't take my word for it. just ask senator ron paul. if the republicans are still terrified of their constituents... making it public, they should not try to make it law. if they do not wa nt to try to make it law. if they do not want to make it public now, they

should not try to make it law. 0n tuesday. as you know, this past tuesday, the president'sjoint address, he made hisjoint address to congress. it was a hollow sales pitch. he is a good salesman, you have to give him points for that. radical rhetoric, empty promises. there was no there, there. there we re there was no there, there. there were nojobs there was no there, there. there were no jobs planned. there was no there, there. there were nojobs planned. no infrastructure plan, no plan for... to replace the affordable care act. the house democratic leader accusing jeff sessions of lying under oath and demanding his resignation, increasing the pressure on the us attorney general over the claims reported in the washington post that he had two meetings with the russian ambassador run—up to the election and then later denied it. gusty winds will continue to ease

through the rest of the day. most of us through the rest of the day. most of us enjoying some sunshine. there is more cloud coming into northern ireland later on in the day. some rain. still a few wintry showers into scotland. lighter winds elsewhere by the end of the afternoon and most of england and wales will be dry with some sunshine. top temperature 12 degrees in the south—east of england. wet weather developing this evening and overnight. initially across northern ireland, pushing into scotland. then we will see rain moving up through the channel into england and wales. it will keep the temperature is up. a chilly night for scotland. sunshine elsewhere. there is this rain moving northwards across england and wales, turning drier in the south—east later but rain setting in across much of northern ireland. this is bbc news. the headlines at

4pm. senior democrats on capitol hill call for the us attorney general, jeff sessions, to resign, because of his undeclared meetings with russian officials. there has been revelation after revelation, mistress of the mysteries, stories shifting like quicksand. if there is truly no there there, why won't they tell the truth? warnings that cutbacks are causing a policing crisis — and the public are being put at risk in england and wales. at least two people are reported to be trapped after part of a hospital roof collapsed in johannesburg. france's marine le pen loses immunity from prosecution for tweeting so—called islamic state images, as her rival sets out his stall in the election.