this is bbc news. the headlines at 8pm: —— 9pm: theresa may hails a key moment on the path to brexit. the prime minister says she's determined to secure a deal that works for all parts of the uk. this will be a defining moment for our whole country, as we begin to forge a new relationship with europe and a new role for ourselves in the world. scotland's first minister insists the timing of a second independence referendum must be decided by holyrood, not westminster. threatened with famine — millions of people in africa and the middle east face one of the worst food shortages in decades. many of these people have lost their homes, lost their livelihoods. their husbands are farmers who have been forced off their lands by all the fighting involving boko haram. three police staff are found not guilty of manslaughter, after a man with paranoid schizophrenia died in custody. and in the next hour we revisit the kelly family.

it's been pretty unreal, we didn't expect any kind of attention like this at all. certainly never had anything like this in our life before. got to the point where we had to turn off the phones and facebook and twitter. we find out how the family is doing after their interview went viral. good evening and welcome to bbc news. theresa may has called the passing of the so—called brexit bill — the legislation that allows her to start the process of exiting the european union — a defining moment for the united kingdom. yesterday nicola sturgeon announced

her intention to hold a second independence referendum because of the uk government's approach to the brexit talks. mrs may told mps that any deal she reaches with the eu will work for the whole of the uk. this will be a defining moment for our whole country, as we begin to forge a new relationship with europe and a new role for ourselves in the world. we will be a strong, self—governing, global britain. with control once again over our borders and our laws. and we will use this moment of opportunity to build a stronger economy and a fairer society, so that we secure both the right deal for britain abroad and a better deal for ordinary working people at home. mr speaker, the new relationship with the eu that we negotiate will work for the whole of the united kingdom. in edinburgh, meanwhile, nicola sturgeon said it should be the scottish government —

not westminster — that decides when any new independence referendum should go ahead. she wants the vote to take place sometime between next autumn and the spring of 2019. here's our scotland editor sarah smith. there is not always so muchjoyful excitement in the scottish cabinet room. today, they look pretty pleased with themselves. as nicola sturgeon insists theresa may must not try to block a scottish referendum or dictate the date. earning a rebuke from the prime minister, who is quite busy enough with brexit. this is not a moment to play politics or create uncertainty. but it isn't certain how she will respond to the snp demands for a referendum. it is a moment to bring our country together, to honour the will of the british people and to shape for them a better, brighter future and a better britain. this relationship is turning nasty. nicola sturgeon tweeted today

i was elected as first minister on a clear manifesto commitment to a scottish referendum. the prime minister is not yet elected by anybody. a vote in the scottish parliament next week will trigger the beginning of negotiations about when another referendum might happen. if the scottish parliament votes for a referendum, and they'll be asked to do so next week, i think that is it. the reality is that the scottish parliament has asked for something and both the timing of it and the nature of that referendum is nobody else‘s business and i think theresa may should recognise that. it is theresa may's business and within her control to say, you can't have a referendum before the uk leaves the eu. there's not much you can do about that. i think the question of democracy enters into this and it's very important. the snp don't have an overall majority in the scottish parliament but, with the support of the scottish greens, they will be able to pass a vote calling for another referendum on scottish independence.

the snp will say that gives them a cast iron mandate that the uk government cannot ignore, but opponents say that voters of scotland don't want another referendum. already, leafleteers are on the streets, but these ones come with earplugs attached, saying, scotland spoke, why won't the politicians listen? we don't need this. this has to stop, enough is enough. we want to get on and be a successful country as part of a united kingdom. another vote can't come soon enough for some of the independence supporters who have been campaigning for a second referendum practically since losing the first one two and a half years ago. we have had people from across scotland getting in touch to volunteer to be part of local groups and the national campaign and, over the coming weeks, we will be bringing people together at a national meeting to discuss the issues we want to make part of the referendum and how we are going to make sure that we get a yes vote at the end.

once the scottish parliament votes to demand another referendum next week, it becomes harderfor the uk government to try to refuse. they must be care not to antagonise scottish voters by appearing to ignore their parliament's wishes. sarah smith, bbc news, edinburgh. in a moment, we'll speak to the economistjournalist and broadcaster anne mcelvoy. joining me now from our westminster studio is the plaid cymru mp, liz saville roberts. thank you very much forjoining me this evening. to what extent is there a conversation now in wales that it should examine its future in terms of independence? well, without a shadow of a doubt, this is the time we should be discussing this, just as the prime minister, theresa may talks about forging a new relationship with europe and the rest of the world, surely now is the time also for a discussion to be happening between these four nations

and forging a new relationship amongst ourselves. is that about a sense of nationalism 7 amongst ourselves. is that about a sense of nationalism? or are there ha rd facts sense of nationalism? or are there hard facts backing that up? of course, there are hard facts backing that up. we have devolution, our own assembly in wales. we need to work out a working relationship between westminster and the assemblies and parliaments of wales, scotland and northern ireland. that is a partnership of equals. now you've said that wales currently sells more goods to the european single market thanit goods to the european single market than it imports, with the potential to build on this in the future. talk to build on this in the future. talk to us about the economic argument then. since wales is a manufacturing wales. we have argued and alongside with welsh government we have argued that wales needs for its economic benefit to be in the single market. that is a message that has not been heard here in westminster. now we need to argue for that which is best for wales into the future. you also say that the westminster government

blocked and voted against an amendment on an explicit promise made by the vote leave campaign that wales would continue to receive existing levels of eu funding after the uk leaves the eu. does that in your opinion make the result the brexit referendum result effectively invalid in wales? it raises the question about why the vote in wales went the way it did. if people voted in wales as they did for brexit, did they vote to leave the single market? no, ido they vote to leave the single market? no, i do not believe they did vote to leave the sing the market. brexiteers promised we would remain in the single market. that was the benefit to wales in. all honesty, why should wales be punished by leaving the single market? we must remain to argue those points and look at the relationship between wales and westminster into the future. and is that a sense that you get from people that you talk to in wales, including those who voted in favour of brexit? there was a poll on st david's day regarding powers to the

welsh assembly. 50% of people who responded to that wanted more powers for wales. yes, there is a sense, i have people coming to me saying, why did we vote — we didn't vote for this. this wasn't told to us. though we've done everything we can in the assembly to put forward the argument of that which is best for wales, though we have put that forward, it has been disregarded at every stage. thank you very much. joining me now is the economistjournalist and broadcaster, anne mcelvoy. good to have you with us. the domino effect of the brexit referendum continues. it does indeed. i think your package was very telling there. in the sense that constituent parts of the united kingdom or at least those who are claiming to speak for the them want very different things. scotla nd the them want very different things. scotland is really putting up the big no through nicola sturgeon leaving the eu. the welsh position,

they're sounding more nunsed. they don't nrb nuanced. they don't want to leave the single market. many welsh voters didn't want to stay in the eu that. is the problem for theresa may. how is she to deal with this fracturing that is occurring within the united kingdom. there hasn't been a referendum in scotland. we don't really have another way to test public opinion reliably in wales in a way that you could build a prospeck tuesday on. —— prospectus on. people are making that up as they go along and that is the prime minister's problem. to what extent will that have an impact on her plans for brexit, the negotiations, the time table and so forth? well, i think the big problem that nurge laid out —— nicola sturgeon laid out today is whether scotla nd sturgeon laid out today is whether scotland can say they want a referendum at a certain time and get it on their own terms. the view was that it took two to tango and there was to and fro about when the timing

would be, but ult patly both sides accepted you had to have the agreement on both to hold it. constitutionally would be a line that would stand up. what do you do thenif that would stand up. what do you do then if nicola sturgeonjust that would stand up. what do you do then if nicola sturgeon just says very trongly she appears to be —— strongly, she appears to be doing that, we want a referendum at a certain time. that would give theresa may two fights at once. she would have the aftermath of article 50 triggering, which is going to be difficult by any standards. and as nicola sturgeon pointed out, theresa may isn't elected. it might actually bring forward the whole question of an early election, which theresa may was also quite keen to avoid. i do think it is probably more in the air this week than it has been before. the economic arguments in scotland are very different now, from the position in 2014. what sort of impact will that have with voters as we go into potentially a more complicated second independence referendum taking into account the

issue of independence and eu membership or not. here's where the ta bles membership or not. here's where the tables turn in an interesting way. nicola sturgeon i think has very good at the optics of that. she looked very confident when she came out there with her statement. but when you look at the underlying economic facts, particularly the deficit in scotland and the spending problems that have been mounting up for some time there, unaddressed one has to say largely by the snp because it's had other things that it was really riding on and going to the voters on. well, that then becomes a much more difficult economic picture for those who may be waivering about whether they think they can afford, to put it blu ntly, think they can afford, to put it bluntly, to embrace scottish independence. but one has to say, voters seem to vote for lots of different reasons. the economy, as george osborne and david cameron found out to their cost is not the only reason for which they cast their vote. i think nicola sturgeon has a risk here. she has one big throw at this. she's going to go for

it. she feels the pressure from her own party to do so. she couldn't really go on as she saw it, promising a second never—endum. if she loses then she's gone. she won't remain as snp leader. she has to ta ke remain as snp leader. she has to take that risk and make the case from quite a weak economic prospect. thank you very much for your thoughts on that this evening. we'll find out how this story and others are covered in tomorrow's front pages: a conservative mp has been interviewed under caution over his election expenses, the bbc understands. craig mackinlay, the mp for south thanet, is being investigated over alleged overspending in the 2015 general election campaign. craig makinley was voted in and he beat

the former ukip leader, nigel farage, to become the mp there. the bbc understand that's he has been interviewed under caution over allegations of overspending during the general election. the conservative party is facing claims that accommodation costs for activists who were bussed around the country to key constituencies should have been recorded as part of local spending limits, not as part of the national campaign limit. so as a result, there are a number of police investigations going on across the country, looking into whether some mps agents should have filed costs associated with the battle bus under their local constituency expenses. spokesman has said that the party was cooperating with the ongoing

investigations. separately, i know, there was a meeting that was held this afternoon with a number of concerned mps as well as the conservative party chairman. i'm told there were some unhappy mps at that meeting, but others say there was a sensible discussion. so that is the latest as we have it on this story. the headlines on bbc news: theresa may has told mps that her timetable for triggering formal brexit negotiations, by the end of the month, remains on track. aid agencies are warning that time is running out to save more than 20 million people who are facing famine across africa and the middle east. a crew member from a crashed irish coastguard helicopter, who died after being pulled from the sea, is named as captain dara fitzpatrick. sport now and for a full round up,

let's go to the bbc sport centre. leicester city's manager said it would be a very special night at the king power stadium. they are playing sevilla in the second leg of their last 16 knockout tie in the champions league. they trailed 2—1. but leicester are winning 2—0 on the night. there's been a goal in each half. the captain morgan bundling in the opener. ten minutes after the break, albrighton hit their second. so it's 3—2 as it stands and that would see the foxes through to the quarter finals with 15 minutes to go. sevilla are down to ten men. nasri, on loan from manchester city, has been sent off for a head—butt on jamie vardy. both their heads came

together. there wasn't much in it. both were booked. but it was nasri's second booking. leicester, as it stands, going through to the quarter finals. one other second—leg tie being played in the last 16. juventus, already two up against porto from the first leg, a penalty‘s made it 3—0 on aggregate. porto down to ten men as well. couple of other football lines. encouraging news for tottenham hotspur. harry kane has damaged ankle ligaments but not as seriously as first feared. he was injured early on during that fa cup quarter final victory against millwall. he was out for six weeks with an ankle problem earlier in the season. the clu b problem earlier in the season. the club say this isn't as severe. he could be fit for the wembley semifinal against chelsea next month. manchester united have been charged forfailing to month. manchester united have been charged for failing to control their at sta mford

at stamfordefeaé - when michael oliver sent off herera after a second yellow card. united's players crowded the official. chelsea won the game. united have until friday to respond to the charge. lukaku's charge. lu ka ku's turned down charge. lukaku's turned down the most lucrative contract offer in the club's history. two years left on his current deal. but he won't sign a new five—year koun tract, believed to be worth around £140,000 a week. nicki henderson has become the most successful trainer in cheltenham's champion hurdle. it's the first day of the festival. noel fehily was on board to give henderson his sixth win in the race. his first coming 32 yea rs win in the race. his first coming 32 years ago in the champion hurdle. my years ago in the champion hurdle. my tent or yours, another henderson trained horse was second. it's a bit surreal. i was brought up m, it's a bit surreal. i was brought up in, passionate about national hunt racing, you read about legends and people and horses and champion

hurdles and things like that. you never really understood or even thought that this is where we'd all finish i emii'i the thought that this is where we'd all finish - i mimif'i the first i can't remember what years, i can't remember what happened yesterday! i can remember 1984! it's q extraordinary 1984! it's an extraordinaryjourney. relove doing it otherwise we reloyedoingjtbthemisefle. wouldn't be mm nations fraser mm nations - fraser brown is six nations news. fraser brown is free . face italy in their final free ts face ltaly in. theirfinalr ,. ~ ~ , ,,, on free te face ltaly in. theirfinalr ,. ~ ~ , ,,, on saturday, after ruled that match on saturday, after ruled that the yellow card for his tackle on england's elliott daley was sufficient punishment. he was cited for that tip tackle 90 g