this is bbc news. the headlines at three. psa has sought to play down fears of closures after its ta ke—over of vawx ham. he says he has trust in the uk's 4,000 workers. as long as we improve performance and become the best, there is no risk. 13 potential uk terror attacks have been preevened in four years, say counter—terrorism police, as the public‘s urged to be vigilant and report suspicious behaviour. a new travel ban from president trump is expected shortly, but this time iraq will not be on the list. and in the next hour, a zoo in cumbria loses its licence after almost 500 animals died there in the last four years. inspectors have chris sized south lakes zoo for a lack of proper welfare and overcrowding. 30 years of the zeal

brig disaster, relatives, survivors and rescuers return to pay their respects —— zeebrugge. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. there are concerns about the future of more than 4,000 people who work at vauxhall plants in the uk after the business was bought by the french car giant psa. the company which already owns peugeot and citroen has agreed a deal to buy vauxhall in britain and opel in germany forjust under £2 billion. vauxhall has two factories in luton and ellesmere port and many more jobs rely on the plants. the business secretary, greg clark, says he's cautiously optimistic about their future. our transport correspondent richard westcott reports. it's a deal to create a european car making giant. second only to vw in the scale. but big deals can come at a price.

fears the new setup could leave thousands of uk jobs vulnerable. the new boss sought to calm nerves. i trust my vauxhall employees in the uk, i trust them. i know that they are skilled. i know they are dedicated. i know they are committed. and i trust that they will be in a very good position by working in a constructive and open manner with psa group colleagues to improve performance. as long as we improve the performance and we become the best, there is no risk they should fear. 4500 people work at two uk plants. they make astras here at ellesmere port on merseyside. although the current deal runs out in four years' time. a deal to make vivaro vans just outside london in luton runs out a few years after that. 30,000 people also rely on those factories. people working in car

showrooms for example. the new combined group actually has 24 factories across europe, all of them now fighting for survival. i'm asking the government to make certain they are at the table because the french and the german governments will be. batting for our british plants and making certain that peugeot are committed to us. the conversations i and the prime minister have had both with gm and psa tell me that they intend to safeguard the plants, honour their commitments, and look to increase the performance and the sales of cars. so we want to hold them to those commitments but the message that we have had lead me to be cautiously optimistic. but the new group boss wants to cut costs. £1.5 billion worth. and soon. almost certainly he's going to have to close plants. he has too many, running at underca pacity. plants use huge amounts of money unless they are really operating at least 85% capacity

and the average of his plants now is closer to 70% so he has got to make hard decisions and he has made it clear he will make the bulk of them by around 2020, 2021. vauxhall‘s uk future relies on a strong post brexit trade deal. most of these vehicles go to europe. and most of the components come from europe. a good deal will leave the uk better off. any new tariffs or red tape could make it harder to compete. richard wescott, bbc news. our correspondent ben ando is in the plant in luton four us and he's been speaking to us. they're confident in some ways. they know psa have said they intend to honour existing agreen parties, which means they'll continue to make vivaro vans, as they do here, for at least the next eight years. so there is some job security around that. they're also confident because they believe this

plant here is one of the most efficient in the new group. they've had to make efficiencies over the yea rs. had to make efficiencies over the years. they've been here before with talks of take—over as recently as 2009. this is something in some ways that they're used to. of course no—one likes change, no—one likes to hear that new owners are coming in, that efficiencies will be needed, all that sort of thing. yes, the mood music so far from the new owners in paris has been encouraging. but there are factors that are outside their control as well like, for example, brexit and what happens going forward. will there be tariffs imposed on parts being moved around europe that could impact negatively on plants like this one that make vehicles here in the uk? all these things are up in the uk? all these things are up in the air. the unions say they're quietly positive about the information they've had so far coming from the new owners, nonetheless, they're calling on the government to proactively seek to

get involved in discussions to protect jobs here get involved in discussions to protectjobs here and elsewhere in the uk. vicki young is in westminster. there is an urgent question being raised over this? yes, that is right, labour have put down an urgent question, they want the secretary of state to come to the commons and to a nswer state to come to the commons and to answer questions about all of this. that will happen at about 3. 30. of course, there is some concern, not least of course for the workers in all of those plants. we have heard from labour saying that these people have been having sleepless nights. it's been going on for several weeks. although there have been some assurances up to weeks. although there have been some assurances up to 2020, beyond that of course there is some uncertainty. ministers are sounding pretty confident. they say there is no reason to think that the new combined company would want to leave the uk, there's a huge market here, of course, vauxhall incredibly successful. there's even some

speculation from ministers that peugeot might want to make some of their cars here. but of course, looming over all of this is the prospect of brexit and what kind of deal the government gets. we have heard a lot about the customs union, something we may not know about on a day—to—day basis but it's about ta riffs day—to—day basis but it's about tariffs and brock soy. —— bureaucracy. some of the concern is if you are bringing in products, they could end up with tariffs on them. we have heard people say this isa them. we have heard people say this is a huge opportunity, the fact that sterling isn't worth as much, the car exporting manufacturing is doing incredibly well. labour mps have said these plants are very competitive, they're very productive, they'll come out on top, as the company looks at which ones are doing better than others, so they are optimistic about the future. we'll have to see how far greg clark is prepared to go when he comes to the commons in the next half hour or so.

thank you very much. police say 13 potential terror attacks have been thwarted in the last four years. the uk's most senior counter—terrorism police officer has also revealed that more than 500 investigations are being carried out at any one time. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports. checking on a huge bag of fertiliser he planned to use for an al-qaeda bombing campaign against nightclubs and shopping centres. this was omar khyam in 2004, unaware he was being watched by police. a woman working at the storage warehouse had tipped off detectives, potentially saving hundreds of lives. if you have a concern about something you have seen or heard that could identify a terrorist threat, report it. a new police campaign reminds the public of the important role they have in fighting terror. it could be anything that strikes you is unusual. detectives say in one third of the most high—risk recent investigations, information from the

public has helped. in the background are the devastating attacks in mainland europe. the trucks driven into crowds in berlin and nice. the mass shooting combined with suicide bombs in paris and brussels. also so—called islamic state or daesh attacks, inspired or even controlled from a distance. you have to go outside. we see increasing use of encrypted communications which can instantaneously and dynamically link terrorists across the world. that brings about a greater danger for us in our communities that someone in our community could be influenced by someone working in a terrorist stronghold on the other side of the world. counterterrorist police are working with the threat level of severe, which means that an attempted terrorist attack is considered to be highly likely. it has been like that since the end of 2014 and there is no sign of the level coming down

in the coming months or even years. an analysis of where most convicted terrorists lived has identified london and the west midlands. one tenth of all those convicted in the whole of the uk came from just five wards in birmingham. it is not surprising that big cities like london and birmingham which have very large and diverse populations, pockets of deprivation, will have a significant number of terrorists but that should not take away from the fact that a terrorist attack can take place anywhere in the country. police said today they have thwarted 13 terrorist attacks on the uk in the past four years and they are currently running around 500 counterterrorist investigations at any one time. daniel sandford, bbc news at new scotland yard. bt sport has paid £1.1 billion to retain the rights to show champions league and europa league games. the deal which will run

until the end of the 2020—21 season gives the broadcaster exclusive rights to show all games and highlights. president trump is expected to sign a new travel ban today to prevent citizens from six predominantly muslim countries from entering the united states. iraq has been taken off the list, after mr trump's controversial first attempt was blocked by the courts. our correspondent gary o'donoghue is in washington. i'm guessing people are waking up to this and the wheels are being put in motion now, gary. if we are right, i guess there'll be a large scrum to sort this out? part of the justification originally for rushing the thing out was that they didn't wa nt to the thing out was that they didn't want to give people time to try and

work out ways to get around it. now, if it is march 16th we are looking at for the introduction of this, i think that is a criticism they will have to deal with. but clearly this time around, what they're desperate to do is make sure all the ducks are ina row to do is make sure all the ducks are in a row because last time there we re in a row because last time there were pretty unseemly scenes at airports in new york and other places too, of people, for example, in iraq who'd worked for the american armed forces being detained and being given visas to come here. that doesn't play very well at all, pictures of protests around the country too. so i think the emphasis will be on what you might call prospective, so it's will be on what you might call prospective, so its people going forward , prospective, so its people going forward, not those with current visas, certainly not those with current green cards which give them the right to work and live here. but also trying to retain some of that kind of strictness, if you like, was absolutely key to donald trump's

idea for the original ban. we do think iraq will be removed from the list. there is been a lot of contact between the us and iraq over the pen tomorrow ban. we know that donald trump spoke about it, as did kb mike pence in munich a couple of weeks ago too. iraq is a key partner in the bat against isis at the moment around mosul. 5,000 american troops inside iraq —— battle against isis. there is a risk that if america withdraws from a warm relationship withdraws from a warm relationship with baghdad, that they might turn to tehran a little more and they certainly wouldn't want that here. are you getting a sense this time around that donald trump's including, if you like, more advice from those around him on the travel ban? i certainly think there seems to be more coordination with other bits of the executive branch so that

the department ofjustice and homeland security, the attorney general‘s office et cetera, it does seem, and the state department too, that all these people seem to have been involved significantly more this time around because while they know that there's bound to be further legal challenges to this, i think that's probably inevitable in a sense of whatever is in it, they wa nt to a sense of whatever is in it, they want to make it as watertight as possible. they want to try to ensure that they don't have to go through that they don't have to go through that humiliation all over again. interesting we are getting indications that on the refugee side of that order, the first part was about the visas, the second part or the main part of the order was about what you do with refugees. that i20—day ban and then that sort of indefinite ban on syrian refugees, sol suggestion that that syrian ban may be lifted. thank you very much. you are watching bbc news. the

headlines: trade unions are calling on the government to fight for british jobs at vauxhall after the car manufacturing was bought by the french owners of peugeot and citroen. i3 ential uk terror attacks have been prevented in 14 years as the public is urged to be vigilant. president donald trump is expected to signa president donald trump is expected to sign a new travel ban on mainly muslim countries but this time iraq won't be on the list. ina won't be on the list. in a moment, we are live on the belgian coast of zebrugge where survivors, victims and relatives, also rescue workers, have been gathering to mark the 30th anniversary of the ferry disaster there. in sport, manchester united's ibrahimovic and tyrone kmings have been charged with violent conduct. arsene wenger has denied reports alexis sanchez was involved in a training ground row in the lead up

to saturday's game. speculation grows. tony bellew says he may never fight again despite talk of a rematch with david haye. he says he's not sure he can put his body through it again after a bruising contest through it again after a bruising co ntest o n through it again after a bruising contest on saturday. more on vauxhall now and what is likely to happen with the uk operations after the peugeot take—over. joining me now, the former director general of the british chamber of commerce, john longworth. nice to so you, i'm just wondering what you feel the significance of this deal is —— nice to see you. there is no actual particular significance in a free market economy, these sorts of things happen all the time. there's going to be movements to create efficiency and there's over—capacity in the european car industry. ironically, leaving the european union might help vauxhall in the uk by putting britain in a much better

position to produce cars cheaper than continental europe can. some people may remember, of course, you left the british chamber of commerce because you expressed pro—brexit views then, so we should perhaps put that caveat in there, but in what ways do you think a post—brexit britain would benefit when we are talking about the car industry which is rather unique when it comes to toes and froing of products in and out of europe? it means leave now, the report this weekend set out how brexit will produce an enterprising economy which will boost the economy for everybody, including auto manufacturers. the fact of the matter is, if we leave with a trade deal with the european union, it will be neutral except for the fact we have a lower currency which will make british cars more competitive. if we leave with a clean break and no trade deal and impose tariffs on european cars, british cars will be 2796 european cars, british cars will be 27% cheaper than european cars by

comparison with what they were on the 23rd june, so consumers in the uk will start to buy british manufacturered cars, rather than continental. we can deal with the issue of components simply by not putting a tariff on them. the british car industry will get a massive boost to its producty as a conqns. germany relies on the british market for much of its car sales ? british market for much of its car sales? indeed. so whether the europeans will place tariffs on us even with a clean break remains to be seen. we shouldn't fear it because britain will be in an extremely strong position to sell ca rs into extremely strong position to sell cars into continental europe and around the world post—brexit as a consequence of i7% lower currency and 10% tariff on continental cars which we may have to impose for a while, but certainly not cononly possibilities because we want to main tin the manufacturing age. psa, the new owners, say they'll return opel and vax hall to profit —— maintain the manufacturing age. ——

vauxhall. they want to make savings, so if you are viewing this from france or germany, you might say, look, britain at the moment uncertainty, we should concentrate on things nearer to home? most manufacturers will want to have the highest return to their shareholders and if britain can produce cars more efficiently and cheaper than in continental europe, they are going to back britain. in fact, the fact that peugeot's purchased vauxhall is a vote of confidence in the uk, a french company buying a british manufacturer, the fact of the matter is of course that britain will be in a much stronger position post—brexit because we will be able to produce ca rs because we will be able to produce cars cheaper and more efficiently. in terms of boosting the overall economy from if crystallisation of the benefits of brexit, that will help everybody. consumers will have more to spend and britain will boom. even on a hard brexit with no deal... especially on a hard brexit. especially. we have to leave the customs market in the union in order

to crystallise the benefits of brexit. ideally we should get a free trade arrangement with the european union but it's not essential. we actually knead to crystallise those benefits which means leaving properly. john longworth thank you very much forjoining us this afternoon. the zeebrugge ferry disaster was britain's worst peacetime incident at sea since the titanic. 193 people died when the herald of free enterprise capsized within minutes of setting sail for dover in 1987 — all because the ship's staff had failed to close the bow doors. today events are being held in the uk and in belgium to mark the thirtieth anniversary and this morning, some of the survivors, rescuers, and families of the victims went out to sea to drop flowers in the water where the ferry overturned. duncan kennedy reports. diane bunker. nadine bunker. lynda burt. daniel burt. it is one of the iconic, tragic images of britain's maritime history.

the upturned hull of the herald of free enterprise, ship, people, too. ship, people, tomb. first, the plates slipped gently off the restaurant tables. with the poignancy of poetry, the bbc‘s kate adie captured the unfolding horror. then suddenly the tables, the chairs and people crashed sideways and downwards. the windows were underwater, the water burst in, and the ship was in darkness. it was that darkness that those on board remember most. all the lights went out. it was completely pitch—black dark. we could hear the inrush of water. brian gibbons was that lorry driver on his first ferry trip. he was the last to be rescued. with the screams, the shouts and everything else, and unfortunately some people did not make it. the reason i am talking

to you today is, i think, people need to know what happened because of the 193 who did not make it. sorry. gets me a bit. today, in dover, three decades of memories and regrets were on the collective minds of 200 relatives and friends. peter martin. catherine mason. john millgate. ivor moat. christopher moy. the sheer number... it took six weeks for many relatives to learn their loved ones had died. agonising enough for adults, an eternity for children, like kim spooner who was eight, and who lost her aunt and uncle. oh, my goodness!

i remember it so vividly, sitting in our front room, hearing something terrible had happened in belgium, and my mother saying, "i think billy and mary were on that ship." i did not really process what it meant at the time, to be honest. sitting up all night waiting to hear them call and hoping they would get in touch and it did not happen. the herald of free enterprise had sailed with her bow doors open. an attempt to prosecute crew members and the company later collapsed. the victims may have been british but the horror was universal and profound. in zeebrugge today, wreaths for belgium's shared and prolonged anguish. the salvaged ship's bell was brought to its final resting place in dover. an artefact to go with recollections of a maritime disaster whose wake endures.

our correspondent gavin lee is in zebrugge for us. it's extraordinary to think that was 30 years ago. how much do you believe has actually changed since then? well, in terms of the maritime industry, a huge amount. if you look at shipping in general, the roll—on roll—off ferries were never the same again after that. the inquiry which was a month—long afterwards looked at all the defaults which duncan mentioned a while ago, there was no alarm system when the doors were left open and the assistant who was sleeping u psta i rs and the assistant who was sleeping upstairs in his cabin, he'd made a mistake and wasn't being checked, now all of the roll—on, roll—off ferries have this alert system. there's also actually very few

ferries have few bow doors at all now. lots of amendments and safety features. actually, because of this case, the seven defendants, including p&o ferries, the owner of thompson torrason, the group running the ferry route, they were all charged with corporate negligence and manslaughter but it fell apart. thejury were urged and manslaughter but it fell apart. the jury were urged to acquit them because the laws were that you had to be higher up in the company to show culpability in 19787. that changed corporate law as well as a result of that being triggered. it's just beyond the harbour here, the ferry in the distance, you may be able to make it out, that's around the area where 30 years ago the herald of free enterprise sank. i was in that exact spot with some rescu e rs was in that exact spot with some rescuers and survivors who laid the flowers. from covering many tragedies and commemorations over the years, it was very unusual. the

people who had originally agreed to go on board who said it had been too much, they decided they couldn't do it, others said they must do it, rescuers, survivors, putting a flower in the water to remember all those 193 people who died. thank you very much. a zoo in cumbria has lost its license after almost 500 animals died in the last four years. south lakes zoo in cumbria was fined almost £300,000 following the death of a keeper who was mauled by a tiger in 2013. government inspectors have criticised the zoo for overcrowding, and a lack of proper welfare for animals. danny savage sent this update. councillors have been meeting here to decide whether or not to grant a licence to the zoo, the south lakes safari zoo, four orfive miles from here. people who visited it posted positive reviews of it in the past. it had a very damning inspection by government—appointed vets injanuary this year and reading their reports,

well over 130 pages long, it's no surprise really that the councillors here have now decided to refuse permission for this zoo to continue. 486 animals died over a three—year period up to september last year. they included tigers, giraffes, lemurs. david gill, the owner of the zoo was singled out for criticism. he saw no problem with what was going on there with the number of deaths, the inspectors say they were dismayed, that a local employee at the zoo told them that he was told to just dispose of any dead bodies and not tell anyone about them. so it was a pretty appalling catalogue of criticisms singled out by the inspectors in january and the zoo will no longer have a licence to operate. equally, the owner

of the zoo could now appeal this decision and so things could continue. things have, they say, improved now at the zoo, the people who own it say things are better. so it's the animal welfare that really is at the heart of this from now on. what happens to them, do they get taken into local authority care and dispersed to other zoos or do we wait for an appeal to see where they go next, or could a new company go in and run the site from now on. danny savage there. let us catch up with the weather with ben. it's not been a bad day. some sunshine out there and a scattering of showers as well. we can see how the day's developed. we'll get to that in a moment, we have this picture for you first, i forgot about that! this is the scene we have had in many places. one or two showers scattered here and there, rain has fizzled away from the

south—west where it was a soggy start. it's turned wetter this afternoon across northern ireland, a 5°99y afternoon across northern ireland, a soggy rush hour then here and soft hefty showers into england and scotland. —— north—west england and scotland. for many other places, the showers will fade. we'll be left with dry weather and clear spells, that will allow a touch of frost for many, particularly across northern england, northern ireland and scotland. a lot of sunshine through the day tomorrow, things clouding over from the west with rain later on. temperatures about where they should be for the time of year. to sum things up, we'll see some rain at times, drier spells as well. from mid week, things will turn milder for a time. that's it from me, nick miller is here in half an hour. summing up the francois fillon david gill. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines...

there are fresh worries about the jobs of thousands of car workers after the french owners of peugeot and citroen, psa, signed a £1.9 billion deal to buy vauxhall. the uk's most senior counter—terrorism police officer has launched an appeal for the public to get involved in reporting suspicious activity, saying security services have prevented 13 potential terror attacks sincejune 2013. us president donald trump is expected to sign a revised executive order today, reinstating his controversial travel ban on muslim—majority countries. iraq is reported to be left off the list of affected countries this time. councillors in cumbria have refused a new licence for the south lakes safari zoo, where nearly 500 animals have died within four years. memorial services have been held in dover and belgium to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the zeebrugge disaster. 193 people died when the passenger ferry capsized within minutes of setting sail for dover. we are keeping an eye on the house

of commons, in case the urgent watching of vauxhall is raised. if so, we will go there. in the meantime, the sport, withjohn. manchester united's zlatan ibrahimovic and bournemouth defender tyrone mings have both been charged with violent conduct following their premier league match on saturday. mings appeared to stamp on the head of the united forward, before ibrahimovic caught the defender in the face with an elbow in what looked like retaliation to the earlier incident. both were missed by the match officials — the two players have until tomorrow evening to respond to the charge. arsenal manager arsene wenger has denied striker alexis sanchez was involved in a training ground row in the lead—up to saturday's premier league defeat to liverpool, as speculation surrounding the player's future grows. sanchez took part in full training this morning, having only featured in the second half of arsenal's 3—1 defeat. it is believed the incident

was behind his omission from the first team. wengerthough, dismissed, those reports. com pletely completely false, but i understand that you have to fill the newspapers and we respect that. and when you don't win the game, it's not always down to real stories, and we have to accept that. alexis sanchez has 15 months on his contract, so the decision, will he be here or not, will depend completely on arsenal football club, not on anybody else. julie harrington has been appointed as the new chief executive of british cycling, taking overfrom ian drake, who stepped down last month. she leaves her role with the fa, who today tabled a series of proposals to reform the organisation. they include reserving three places on the board for female members only, and adding 11 new members to the fa council to better reflect the diversity in english football.

here's the fa chairman greg clarke. i think it's really important that the fa reflects the society we are in. we need ethnic diversity and gender diversity. there is a lot of work showing that diverse boards are more effective, and make better decisions, and i think that is true in football, too. there will be no champions league football on terrestrial tv from the start of the 2018 season, after bt sport secured the exclusive rights for both live matches and highlights. it has cost bt £1.2 billion for a three—year deal, and includes all champions league and europa league live games, highlights and in—match clips of both competitions. the bbc has secured the rights for the 2019 women's world cup, which will see them broadcast coverage of every game. england came third at the tournament in canada two years ago after they beat germany in the play—off. that tournament reached more than 12 million people on bbc tv last time round. england will attempt to succeed the usa as champions in two years' time.

after beating david haye on saturday, world cruiserweight champion tony bellew says he's not sure whether he will fight again. he came through their all—british heavyweight fight, a bout that was built on some real animosity between the pair. speaking this morning, bellew was asked if he would take up the chance of a rematch against haye if it came about. i don't know, ijust hope he gets healthy as soon as possible. i'm going to take some time out to heal and to spend time with my family, and to spend time with my family, and then we'll see. i'm not sure if ican go and then we'll see. i'm not sure if i can go through this any more, i'll be totally honest, i'm not sure my body can deal with it. i have far exceeded what i set out to do in this business and this game, i really have. so, it's going to take something special to draw me back out, i'm being totally honest now. that's all sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. just keeping an eye on the commons

for you. we will be bringing you that urgent action as soon as it starts. —— urgent question. the former french prime minister alainjuppe has ruled out stepping in to replace the embattled centre—right presidential hopeful francois fillon in next month's election. the pressure is growing on monsieur fillon to step aside amid allegations that he paid his family out of public funds for little or no work. our correspondent hugh schofield is in paris. he spoke to me earlier. the clock is ticking on this one, everybody will be relieved to know. the country is now frankly getting a bit bored with it. the clock is ticking and by the end of next week, the list closes definitively. if the republicans have not saddled on the candidate by later this week, they will not have the time to do the paperwork to get that candidate properly registered. so, yes, all sorts of meetings going on today. crucially, this morning,

we had alain juppe on today. crucially, this morning, we had alainjuppe pulling out, and that was a key moment, because he was seen as a possible alternative candidate. but does that necessarily mean that francois fillon will be going ahead without any challenge? not necessarily. there is talk of another alternative candidate emerging. there are going to be meetings tonight and another one tomorrow, of supporters of the camp surrounding douglas are cosy, who's emerging not for the first time as a key player. —— surrounding nicolas sa rkozy. key player. —— surrounding nicolas sarkozy. in terms of the francois fillon, what is left of that? well, nothing, is the point. if he was in pieces, this would be easy. they would say, i'm sorry, m fillon, you can't go on. his position has perhaps been boiled down to a romp or hard—core of support, but that

hard—core is still or hard—core of support, but that ha rd—core is still sizeable. or hard—core of support, but that hard—core is still sizeable. his poll ratings never collapsed completely. at the bottom, they reached about 17%, enough for him to say, i can start moving up again. and yesterday we had that demonstration in paris which was maybe not as big as he would have liked, but it was certainly enough when it comes to the image and the television perception, for him to say that he pulled it off. there is a large part of the right which once m fillon and no—one else, because m fillon in his primary manifesto said that he was going for a clean break with a lot of how france had been run in the past. and those voters don't want to move to a more wishy—washy, central position, such as for example alain juppe wishy—washy, central position, such as for example alainjuppe would have appeared to —— would have adhered to. could there be a compromise candidate, someone who is

a cce pta ble compromise candidate, someone who is acceptable to both sides? francois fillon has not definitively ruled out a deal in which he steps aside for another candidate. he just did not want it to be alainjuppe. for another candidate. he just did not want it to be alain juppe. you underestimate nicolas sarkozy at your peril, don't you? , who, and he's certainly manoeuvring now. let's be quite clear, he's not in the running himself for all of this. he's not going to make a comeback as a leader, but he's very much someone who loves power, we know that. and he's still very much involved in the running of his party, which he feels very, very strongly attached to. he has still got a loyal group of seniorfigures in the party has still got a loyal group of senior figures in the party who are close to him. they regard him as the king who unfairly lost his power and so on. and so there is a power base

there, and he is manoeuvring right now. the one possibility which might come out of this which would mean francois fillon not being candidate is if francois fillon and nicola socceroos he can say, why don't we try this other person? there are people, for example someone who has been very, very careful about not losing contact with either side. he isa losing contact with either side. he is a young man of about 50, a cce pta ble is a young man of about 50, acceptable to large parts of the party, maybe he could emerge as a compromise candidate, with francois fillon saying, i recognise i can't win this election and therefore i pass the baton to this man. we shall find out in the next day or two. and we are also keeping an eye on the house of commons where we can go now. the secretary of state for

business, energy and industrial strategy. i am grateful. this morning, the boards of general motors and the psa group announced plans for psa to acquire gm's vauxhall—opel operations. the proposed deal is expected to be completed by the end of this year. the prime minister and i have been in discussions with both parties, and the french and german governments, to ensure that the terms of the agreements can give confidence to the uk workforce now and in the future. vauxhall is an iconic and successful british, new fracture. vauxhall cars have been made in britain for 113 years, and we are determined that they should continue to be for many years to come. the car plants at ellesmere port and luton have a proud record as amongst the most efficient in europe with skilled and committed and flexible workforces. both psa and flexible workforces. both psa and gm have confirmed to us a number of important commitments, that the

company will honour the agreements they have with the vauxhall workforce, that vauxhall pensioners will be in at least as good a position as they are today, that the treatment of the uk division will be equal to those of other countries within the vauxhall—opel group, that the identity of vauxhall will continue to be distinct and prominent, that the strategy of the new company will be one of building on existing strengths and commitments, not on plant closures, taking opportunities to increase sales around the world, and that the company would work with me and the rest of the automotive to ensure that it can participate in the substantial programme of research and investment in innovation in areas like electric vehicles and battery technology, which we have as pa rt battery technology, which we have as part of our industrial strategy. this morning i had a further conversation with my french counterpart and my ministers date or so is booked to his german counterpart. i speak frequently with

gemma caskey, the leader of the largest train union in vauxhall, and i will keep colleagues up to date at all times. —— with len mccluskey. it is in everyone's interest that vauxhall should look forward to a successful future. a generation ago, the british car industry was one which epitomised our economic woes. today, that industry is a beacon of success. companies invest in britain because our automotive sector has a high quality workforce, has world —class high quality workforce, has world—class efficiency and is part of one of the most exciting places on earth for innovation and research in new technology. the future of the motor industry is bright in britain, and we will be active at all times in doing everything we can to make ita in doing everything we can to make it a brighter still. i thank the secretary of state of a positive response, however, there are a number of issues about which i would like further verification. firstly, although i welcome psa's promise to

honour existing contracts, i am deeply concerned about the 40,000 workers employed in luton and ellesmere port and in the wider supply chain, who will be worried about the future of their jobs today. can the secretary of state confirm what assurances he has received of the future of vauxhall‘s pla nts received of the future of vauxhall‘s plants and wider uk workforce beyond existing contracts? in addition, during his discussions with psa, did they confirm that the production of they confirm that the production of the new astra model would take place in the uk? secondary, there has been some commentary about the £1 billion deficit in general motors' uk pension scheme, with some commentators saying it could have jeopardised the deal. the scheme has 15,000 members and is one of the largest in the uk. can the secretary of state assure the house that the pensions of the uk workforce are guaranteed in full? 30, it's increasingly clear that the government has little power to ensure that certain corporate ta keovers ensure that certain corporate takeovers are in the public interest and accord with britain's industrial

strategy. the present legislation allows intervention only in matters relating to national security or media concentration. so can the secretary of state confirm whether he has any plans to broaden the definition of public interest, for example, to serve stakeholders not just shareholders, and when will he publish draft legislation to this effect, if this is the case? finally, can the minister confirm what support has been offered to psa following britain's exit from the european union? we welcomed nissan's decision to stay in the uk as a result of assurances provided by this government — has psa been offered the same deal? if so, would it not make sense for the government to set out its strategy for this as a whole, rather than enlightening businesses one crisis at a time?|j am businesses one crisis at a time?” am grateful to the honourable lady for her questions. these have been worrying times for the workforce over the last two weeks. and i think

the statements that have been made by both parties today have been welcomed not just by by both parties today have been welcomed notjust by me but by the trade unions as being very much steps in the right direction. it is very important that we should hold the company to account for this. in terms of the points that she mentioned, the company has said that it will honour the agreements they have with the company and with the unions. they extend to at least 2021. in the motor industry, new models come in at various points in the cycle. we are fortunate that both of the principal models in the uk are quite early in the cycle, and i want, as i am sure she will want, for both plants to be competitive in expanding their production in the yea rs expanding their production in the years to come. in terms of the pensions, this was something that i discussed in detail and regularly with gm and with psa. they have

given an absolute commitment that no pensioner, current or prospect of, will be worse off in anyway, and of course the pensions regulator, independent of government, is quiet to confirm any changes in pension arrangements. —— is required. in terms of the takeover regime generally, she will know that this is one overseas owned company being taken over is one overseas owned company being ta ken over by is one overseas owned company being taken over by another, so it is not a listed uk company which would fall within the uk merger legislation. with my counterparts in france and germany, we have agreed that we should take a consistent approach in the assurances that are needed, and the assurances that are needed, and the trade unions are equally in contact with their opposite numbers in other countries. in terms of the support that is available for the automotive sector, as i mentioned to collea g u es automotive sector, as i mentioned to colleagues a few moments ago, the

automotive sector has been a great success in this country. one of the foundations of that success is the co—operation that we have had, between government and sector and within the, through the automotive council, to invest in research and development, particularly in electric vehicles and battery storage, to make sure that we have institutions to train the future workforce. that has been a great success , workforce. that has been a great success, and the future owners of vauxhall i hope will participate in the same way as other successful uk motor industry players. can i thank my right honourable friend for his statement and for his engagement with those of us who have employees in our constituency, in my case, in luton. i would in our constituency, in my case, in luton. iwould be in our constituency, in my case, in luton. i would be very grateful if he could indicate what reassurance is being given to psa to recognise that part of the strength of the luton plant arises from the quality of the supply chain and the

investment that has been made in it over recent yea rs, investment that has been made in it over recent years, and can he give some reassurance that understanding that will help to secure those jobs not just at luton that will help to secure those jobs notjust at luton but that will help to secure those jobs not just at luton but also that will help to secure those jobs notjust at luton but also in the supply chain, which is so important to the home counties areas around bedfordshire? it is both the workforce directly employed by vauxhall, but also the substantial employment in the supply chain, both are very employment in the supply chain, both are very important. so, this has been part of our discussions. i think there is every opportunity, andi think there is every opportunity, and i will be vigorous in pursuing it, to expand the supply chain that supply is not only the vauxhall pla nts supply is not only the vauxhall plants but other plants in this country. in the context of our industrial strategy, this is one of the avenues in which we intend to expand during the months ahead.” congratulate the honourable member for securing this urgent question. i welcome the comments regarding

guarantees on short—term jobs and pensions. even though, there is still some certainty... newscaster label our chief political correspondent was monitoring that, some tough questions for great car? yes, he is still sounding optimistic, making the point that, any factual in britain really has been on the up in recent years. and the fact that sterling pair has become worth less, has helped, in terms of exports. but it does feel like brexit is the elephant in the room. they are talking about the assurances given by the company up to 2020, and what a lot of people wa nt to to 2020, and what a lot of people want to know is, what happens after that? and a lot will depend, of course, on the kind of deal that the uk gets. the idea of tariffs, of red tape, of bringing in these components from abroad which are needed to make the cars, that could

bea needed to make the cars, that could be a problem. but in the short term, craig clarke sounding optimistic. he was asked, as you might expect, about nissan, who were given some kind of private assurance, although no—one is entirely sure what it was, and labour probing on that, saying, will you do the same thing for vauxhall? and labour also saying that actually, state ownership of some kind, if it came to it, would be something they would be in favour of. for now, greg clarke saying, there is no reason why things can't go well for this industry, for vauxhall. the plants here are product of, the workforce is good and highly valued, and he says that will hold them in very good stead. ina will hold them in very good stead. in a moment, we will be having the business news. but first, the headlines. trade unions are calling on the government to fight for britishjobs at on the government to fight for british jobs at vauxhall, after the manufacturer was bought by the french owners of peugeot and

citroen. 13 uk terror attacks have been promoted in almost four years, according to the police. resident, is expected to sign a new travel ban on all muslim countries, this time, without iraq being on the list. i'm here with your business update this hour, taking you through the business stories. the business secretary, greg clark, has said he's"cautiously optimistic" for the future of vauxhall‘s factories in the uk. he's given the sale of vauxhall to the psa group the thumbs—up. psa own peugeot and citroen. fund managers aberdeen asset management and standard life have agreed the terms for a merger. the move will create one of the uk's largest fund managers, overseeing assets worth £660 billion. and returning to cars — car sales registered their first february fall in six years, according to new monthly data from society of

motor manufacturers and traders. analysts predict that the market could be feeling the pinch from early signs of a consumer spending slowdown in the british economy. february is typically one of the quietest months of the year for the car market. fund managers aberdeen asset management and standard life have agreed terms for an all—share merger. now, fund managers are individuals or companies that mange money on behalf of others. the merger of these two will create one of the uk's largest fund managers, overseeing assets worth £660 billion. the two companies employ about 9,000 people. the companies said the deal was subject to a number of conditions, including shareholder approval. our scotland business editor douglas fraser is at douglas fraser was at the standard life headquarters earlier today. this morning, confirmation of the proposed deal which is being put to shareholders of stabbing a and

standard life. standard life has been based here in edinburgh for nearly 200 years. it sells pensions and other investment products, but the important thing is what it does with its investment funds. the investment arm of it, based over there, controls about £360 billion of its clients‘ funds. aberdeen asset management is a younger company, age 34, steered byjust one man in all of that time. it has about £300 billion under management. they want to get together, to create scale and to be able to compete against global players elsewhere, including those from the united states. but they also want to cut costs in order to compete with the growing element of so—called passive investment, those who don‘t have the research costs you find in these companies. and that means cutting jobs. they‘re not giving any detail about how money jobs jobs. they‘re not giving any detail about how moneyjobs will go. eventually they want to increase the size of these companies, but they will be talking to staff this afternoon. when the two chief

executive scum here to talk, they are going to be in a job share, the two of them, which is highly unusual for people at the top of such a big firm, but they say they have been friends for a long time, all through being fisher men of the river tay together. business consultancy price waterhouse coopers has released new research that shows that businesses in the uk are facing a serious shortfall in future female technology talent. the primary reason is that many young females are being put off careers in the sectors. joining me now is sheridan ash, women in technology leader at consultants pwc. so, why are females being put off? well, there‘s a number of factors why females are being put off. we actually survey a level and university students, and we found that only 3% wanted to take technology careers. the main reasons they gave were that they were not getting enough career advice at school, that they weren‘t being

inspired, that there were no role models. part of the research showed that only 22% of the students we survey could name a famous female technologist. whereas three quarters could name a mailfamous technologist. so, what is the eventual consequence for business if we‘re not getting enough females through the pipeline?” we‘re not getting enough females through the pipeline? i think it is pretty terrible for business and for society as a whole, because if we have only got the perspective of half the population, and they‘re the ones designing the new technology business and products and services of the future, we‘re going to miss out on having the female creativity and innovation that helps us develop new patient journeys, consumer, retail, all the things that you need the female perspective for as well. we will have to leave it there, thank you very much. shares in aberdeen asset management

and standard life were higher, after they confirmed that deal. mining companies are among the biggest fall is on the index, as the price of copper has fallen. also, banking shares across europe came under pressure after deutsche bank announced plans to raise 8 billion euros through a share sale. its shares were down more than 6%. that‘s it from me. we are going to take you straight to the weather now 80 nick miller. sunshine and showers covers it for

the rest of the afternoon. this is where most of the showers are right now, down the eastern side of the uk. they will continue well into the night. but even these will be easing later in the night. will be a touch of frost around going into tomorrow morning. plenty of dry weather to begin the day. still outbreaks of rain in shetland in the afternoon. then we get a weather system coming in from the south—west, which is going to freshen the breeze and bring some rain into wales and the south—west of england and northern ireland by the end of the afternoon. all of that is advancing further east during tuesday night. staying u nsettled east during tuesday night. staying unsettled for the rest of the week. on thursday and friday, we will find things turning milder. this is bbc news.

the headlines at four. the head of french car giant psa plays down fears of british plant closures after its takeover of vauxhall. he says he has faith in the uk‘s 4,000 workers. as long as we improve performance and become the best, there is no risk. president trump is to sign a new executive order banning people from several mainly—muslim countries who are seeking new visas to visit america. 13 potential uk terror attacks have been prevented in 4 years, say counter—terrorism police as the public is urged to report suspicious behaviour. in the next hour. a zoo in cumbria loses its license after almost 500 animals died there in the last 4 years. inspectors had criticised south lakes zoo for overcrowding, and a lack of proper welfare for animals. and 30 years after the zeebruge disaster which killed 193 people — relatives, survivors and rescuers return to pay their respects.