djakadam, twice runner—up, it might be third time lucky. djakadam currently marginal favourite with the bookies, followed by cue card in a festival dominated by cue card in a festival dominated by irish horses. could we have another irish winner? we will find out at 3:30pm. thank you, andy smith at cheltenham. dramatic pictures have emerged of the moment a woman managed to escape a mudslide in peru. you canjust see her — covered in mud, in the middle of the picture — dragging herself to safety. heavy rains triggered the slides, which have killed at least a dozen people. let's cut —— let's catch up with the weather prospects here. torrential rain over there, darren? it only happens once every ten or 15 yea rs. we have it only happens once every ten or 15 years. we have nothing like as bad as that but it is certainly changing. earlier in the week we had much quieter, warmer weather but we

much guieter,,warmer weatherbut we looking to the atlantic and the are looking to the atlantic and the cloud is billowing our way, signalling a change, looking more signalling-a she—agefleekingeeerei and bringing rain to threatening and bringing rain to western parts of the uk. as we have seenin western parts of the uk. as we have seen in glasgow already. further seen'htglasggwfiglr—eady. further seenhfilasggwalready; further in hampshire, basingstoke, the south in hampshire, basingstoke, the cloud has been thinner so we have had brighter skies and sunshine but it will become more milky through ! afternoon. further north in the afternoon. further north in glasgow, i colourful picture from glasgow, a colourful picture from oui’ glasgow, a colourful picture from our weather watcher but a wet scene. we will continue to get rain. that is the bigger picture across the uk. into scotland, not just is the bigger picture across the uk. into scotland, notjust rain but snow over the mountains in the north where we are putting into much colder air. it will feel quite chilly under the rain in colder air. it will feel quite chilly under the rain |nti west - colder air. it will feel quite chilly under the rain |nti west ofi chilly under the rain in the west of scotland. great for northern ireland, especially in the north. wet in the north—west of england, largely dry on the other side of the pennines, but gusty winds developing. west wales is turning wetter and - especially in the wetter and wetter, especially in the hills. much of southern and eastern england and the midlands is likely to be dry but increasing clouds, temperatures 12 or 13 at best.

we may get rain towards the south—east this evening but it is mainly over the western hills. the turn d in scotland later in little turn dry in scotland later in the night. here in the north of little turn dry in scotland later in the night. her for the north of little turn dry in scotland later in the night. her for each orth of little turn dry in scotland later in the night. her for each —— h of little turn dry in scotland later in the night. her for each —— cold scotland, cold for each —— cold enough for a touch of frost but otherwise mild. for the weekend, westerly winds continue, strengthening in particular on sunday. some rain at times across the west of the uk, dry and brighter in the east. on saturday we might have early sunshine in the east of england and eastern scotland, the westerly winds are not as blowing eastern scotland, the westerly winds are not as - blowing rain into are not as strong, blowing rain into the south—west for time. turning wetter in northern ireland, rain moving across the irish sea to western england and scotland. still quite mild towards the south—east, 14 quite mild towards the south—east, 111 or 15 degrees. for the rugby, a big day on saturday and pretty much in the same boat, cloudy skies, breezy, dry, strongest winds later in the day down the way in dublin.

winds continue to strengthen the winds continue to strengthen overnight and it will be windy on sunday, rain in and sunday, rain in scotland and northern ireland sinking into northern part of england and wales. the south—east and east anglia are still dry and quite mild as well. the milder air does l"! last into week, it is pushed away and we next week, it is pushed away and we get cooler, showery weather moving a... a; get cooler, showery weather moving li the north—west. a reminder of our main story this lunchtime... claims that british intelligence by don donald trump have been described by gchq is hello there, you're the draw has been made for the champions league and europa league quarterfinals.

leicester city, the only british representative left in the top tier of european football, will face atletico madrid. john, it could have been a lot worse but is there a slight disappointment that they didn't get one of the real european superpowers. and i think there will be mixed feelings and some fans will want to barcelona or real madrid or bayern munich but others will be thinking, we beat saville who are third in the spanish top flight, why not beat atletico madrid —— sevilla. our political madrid are the big favourites. they were - in favourites. they were finalists in 20111 and 16 and at home they are a force. the manager has only lost one

champions league home game of 21. a big bonus for leicester the second leg is at home. when you see some of the other ties, by munich against real madrid, juventus against barcelona. they've faced atletico madrid twice before. the plate in 1961 and lost and they played in 1997 ina 1961 and lost and they played in 1997 in a very bad—tempered game with some bad refereeing decisions. martin o'neil was the leicester manager at the time and he was furious with the referee so perhaps leicester fa ns furious with the referee so perhaps leicester fans will want some revenge. manchester united are the only british side left in the europa league, we've had the quarter—final draw for that and again, they have avoided some fie? theretregqe—reideg; . the manager was not happy with the last round having a tough tie a long trip against rostov. they have

the favourites, the avoided avoided the favourites, the avoided leon. anderlecht is a very good tight. their record when was against 10-0. the 10—0. the finish top of anderlecht, 10—0. the finish top of the belgian league but manchester united will feel they can get through against them. we will look forward to those ties in just around two weeks' time. it's the final weekend of rugby union's six nations championship. england are in dublin looking to win back to back grandslams — that's never been done in the six nations. for most test wins on the bounce. fe} file? 13??? "fg‘ieflrfifi will eclipse his 1992 team if they match their achievement of back—to—back grand slams i have at will carling texting meet reminding me how great his team was, he called it his team, but i am very

aware and we are not seeing it as a daunting thing to go to ireland, we're daunting thing to go to ireland, we' re pretty daunting thing to go to ireland, we're pretty much excited by the opportunity that presents itself and why not‘s we should be excited, it is not a scary thing to do. i have had a few messages from various new zealand friends and family and they never like to be in a competition do not actuall have a hand they do not actually have a hand in but the overall motivation for us is very much can we get is a performance that can allow us to performance that can allow us'toget in the top half of the championship? should be a terrific match even though the title is done and dusted. inside the six nations tonight at around 6pm. the final day's racing is underway at the cheltenham festival. st patrick's day, gold cup day. you can follow that on the bbc sport website. i will be back with the of the first race of the

result of the first race of the day just after 2pm. lets return now to the row over whether — and when — there might be another vote on scottish independence. this morning the snp said that an independence vote "will take place," despite theresa may's view that "now is not the time." speaking to my colleague earlier the snp deputy leader angus robertson gave his response to theresa may's speech at the conservative spring conference which he accused the snp of device of nationalism and tunnel vision. the only thing going on at the moment involving tunnel vision is the approach of the uk government as they hurtle us all towards the ha rd est pa rt they hurtle us all towards the hardest part tory brexit and that is the thing that will be damaging throughout the uk. given the circumstances and that scotland's government was elected on a we should have a manifesto we should have a eéiiiififlinfi manifesto we should have a ..x....;;. if we manifesto we should have a £31" j if: ' _ manifesto we should have a gigs? if we face the = manifesto we should have a gigs? if we face the prospect referendum if we face the prospect of being taken out of the eu against

oui’ of being taken out of the eu against our will, as democrats and with a government elected on that mandate, thatis government elected on that mandate, that is what we plan to do. the prime minister has said she thinks 110w prime minister has said she thinks now is not the time for a referendum and here you have an exclusive because i agree. we do not plan to have a referendum on now but what we wa nt to have a referendum on now but what we want to do is have won after negotiations are completed and in the time period between then and parliament must decide on when parliament must decide on whether to accept the deal. if the european and british parliaments can decide and european member states can decide, it seems totally unacceptable the people of scotland themselves cannot have the choice and that is why we with a government elected on that mandate and likely % elected on that mandate and likely f‘j parliament elected on that mandate and likely 3‘5 parliament approving elected on that mandate and likely if parliament approving this = the parliament approving this next week, it would be difficult for the prime to stand on its prime minister to stand on its way u nless prime minister to stand on its way unless she is one thing to expose her vision of a united kingdom does not actually respect the different nations and regions as would clearly

be shown if that is what she did. theresa may says uk can only get the best deal in negotiations for brexit if it is do you agree best deal in negotiations for brexit if it is - do you agree with if it is united. do you agree with that and how does your proposal for a timetable fact that? in my first a nswer a timetable fact that? in my first answer i give i thought i'd made it pretty clear that what we are in favour of doing is having a referendum after the deal is agreed. given that, the prime minister can get on with it. she did promise before she triggered article 15 she would have an agreement in place, uk wide approach to these negotiations and she does not have that. she does not have an agreement with the scottish, welsh and northern irish government so if you goes ahead with that that will be hurt breaking a promise to people in scotland and elsewhere. but we understand she has elsewhere. bulwe understandsbe has! mandate to go ahead with a mandate to go ahead with negotiations and people in england and wales voted to leave the eu and

she must negotiate that. what we say is when negotiations have ended and are fulfilled, in the period immediately after that given there will be a choice about this in the british and european parliament and the various member states, the people of scotland should also have a choice. that was angus robertson, snp's a choice. that was angus robertson, snp‘s deputy leader. the fashion industry is worth £28 billion to the british economy and provides around 880,000 jobs. but a survey of fashion ceos before the vote showed 84% were concerned about the impact of brexit on their industry. as the pm prepares to invoke article 50 — what does the fashion industry want to get out of the brexit negotiations. vishala sri—pathma is live in north london at clothes factory and training college to see what brexit means for this important sector. when you're walking around north

london you would not expect to stumble across a factory like this j they stumble across a factory like this i they are stumble across a factory like this if they are out 110 machines, 100 all makin arments for people, all making garments for retailers like marks and spencers is not for online retailers like asos. the fashion manufacturing industry employs over 100,000 people in the nowjoins bt chief executive of uk. nowjoins bt chief executive of the manufacturing of textile association. —— no the chief executive joins me. if you think about the journey when you get out of bed and the huge - of of bed and the huge variety of textile fashion week involved with, the duvet you sleep under could be the duvet you sleeg undercould be h the duvet you sleey undercould be h in the uk, the carpet you made in the uk, the carpet you walk on could be made here, the airbags and europe are, the tyres in your car, the clues you are wearing, in hospital, the sheets could be made

in the uk. sort the fashion and textile industry impacts on all areas of life and we even have uk fabric in the international space station and so brexit will impact on areas of the fashion sector. various areas of the fashion sector. in terms of everyday fashion we buy clothes from the high street and clothes from the highs—teeetfereéz... .. .. . .. people clothes from the higheteeetfeeéz... .. .. . .. people are clothes from the highsteeetfeeéz... .. .. . .. people are worried about prices increasing and inflation creeping up but other factors might push prices up. if you look at the retail spent it is £66 billion worth we will buy on the high street every year and saw inflation is an area of concern but more importantly the immediate impact of the vote last year was the change in the exchange rate. the fashion industry is very international and the fashion industry trade in dollars and sort the fall in the value of sterling has seen the import of those clothing is already 20% more

expensive. and a worst—case scenario not end up with a deal with we do not end up with a deal with the eu and go to wto rules, the average tariff price on fashion and textiles is 15%. worst case scenario we could see the cost of clothing and textiles increased by as much as 35% and retailers and suppliers will not be able to absorb all of that so we could see the price of all the goods we buy as consumers going up. i want to talk about skills. we hear a lot about the skills gap on fashion and how a lot of workers come from abroad. is there a way of building that was a british workers there is a new long—term but not in there is a new long—term but not in the short term. fashion and textiles is not featured on the national curriculum and in places like yorkshire gritter manchester, there isa yorkshire gritter manchester, there is a lot of perception of dark satanic mills, and young kids do not necessarily want to go in to

textiles and iti very decent salaries and pay very decent salaries and there is lots . growth and employment has is lots of growth and employment has increased, and there is opportunities for manufacturing as a result of brexit. so getting into manufacturing is a very stable on long—term employment opportunity for young people. i will be heal our afternoon looking at how fashion —— i will be here all afternoon looking at how fashion will be impacted by brexit. from austria, our correspondent says there has been an at the there has been an avalanche at the well—known ski resort and two people have been killed. we do not have the nationalities of those victims but two people killed in an avalanche in austria. we will bring you more details on that as it comes to us. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour but first — the headlines on bbc news: theresa may accuses the snp of

muddle on muddle in its bid for another referendum. she told the tory spring conference the party was trying to use brexit as a pretext for another independence vote. 555.5 for another independence vote. g the snp insists scotland will but the snp insists scotland will have another vote on independence, despite theresa may's view now is not the time. the white house says allegations gchq spy on donald trump will not be gchq syy on donald trumywillnotbe according to a theresa repeated, according to a theresa may's official spokesman. it comes after the uk serb village agency said the claims were utterly ridiculous. —— uk surveillance agency. well, let's get more on the news that former chancellor george osborne has been appointed editor of the london evening standard. he will start in mid—may and continue as mp for tatton. leaderjeremy corbyn, who's said it "makes a mockery "of the independence of the media" and "is an insult to the electors "he is supposed to serve".

george osborne has been speaking about his appointment on the channel london live, which is owned by estv, who also own the evening standard. iama i am a member of parliament and proud to represent my constituency and of course this paper is primarily edited in the morning, parliament votes in the afternoon. crucially, people need to know i will speakfor crucially, people need to know i will speak for london and london crucially, people need to know i wi this eak for london and london crucially, people need to know i wi this paper london and london crucially, people need to know i wi this paper as ndon and london crucially, people need to know i wi this paper as itsyn and london crucially, people need to know i wi this paper as its editor. .ondon crucially, people need to know i wi this paper as its editor. we on so this paper as its editor. we will judge whatever the government does whatever the mayor does against the test, is it good for london or is it not? and if it is not good for london we will say so and will not be afraid to do so and if it is good for leneeorwe— be afraid to do so and if it is good for leneeowe will be afraid to do so and if it is good for leneeore'e will back be afraid to do so and if it is good for leneeorwe will back it. we be afraid to do so and if it is good for leneeore'e will back it. we will for london we will back it. we will be fearless and independent and our approach because that is what people wa nt approach because that is what people want from a newspaper and at times

like this that is whatjournalism is for, to provide people with the fa cts for, to provide people with the facts and analysis to make evidence, facts and analysis to make their ownjudgments. let's discuss this appointment further. i'm joined from westminster by george eaton, political editor of the new statesman, and at the conservative spring conference in cardiff is tom newton dunn, political editor of the sun. tom, did this take you by surprise as much as it has taken everybody else by surprise? just about. this has been a pretty surprising week for british politics, a surprising year, surprising decade but this one nobody saw coming at all. quite extraordinary. it came 115 minutes before theresa may got up to speak here at the tory spring forum and here at the tory spring forum and her speech was not what most of the dead —— and what the delegates were

talking about. he managed to overs ha d ow talking about. he managed to overshadow the prime minister herself. is it right for a sitting mp of whatever party to edit a very prominent —;fi;§§géég; it mp of whatever party to edit a very prominent 325555255 it seems prominent newspaper? it seems extraordinary and it was a surprise he got the job and even more of a surprise he is not standing down as mp. he is already writing a book, an mp. he is already writing a book, doing a lot of private speaking, he has an advisory post at blackrock, one of the world's biggest asset are 565155 wurlazblafleztszzet . ”5. managers and ef1.e nf ehe wurlaeblafleeteeeet . ”5. managers and people ef1e nf ehe wurlaeblafleeteeeet . ”5. managers and people ask how that will influence the paper's city cove rage , will influence the paper's city coverage, for example. it will be ha rd coverage, for example. it will be hard for them to avoid clashes along the way. on the other hand, george osborne has unfulfilled ambition, he was rejected by the economist and the times as a budding hack and given the obvious risk of partisan

ship and the evening standard is of course a conservative newspaper, he may well want to go out of his way to avoid appearing to be pro—conservative. he has had many unkind words ., , . pro—conservative. he has had many unkind wocdsto! pro—conservative. he has had many unkind wocds to say unkind words to say about the government today and i'm sure there will be plenty more to come. is it a conflict of interest, ? canny stay as an mp? -- can he stay as an mp. the other might of course it is a conflict of interest and it is a double conflict of interest. you heard him say he would represent the interests of londoners above all. what about the constituency she has in the north? sometimes you cannot represent both and what have they choose. he then said the government do something wrong we will attack the government. he is a tory mp, the loyal backbencher, allegedly, for the government. for example, imagine the government. for example, imagine the chancellor does a budget as he

did last week and it - not go did last week and it does not go particularly e". evening particularly well and evening standard puts on its front page what a disaster the budget was, it is very difficult indeed for george osborne not to get into terrible trouble with his party and possibly coppers were suspended. personally i wonder how long i will be able to wonder how long he will be able to stay as an mp. there is an excellent conspiracy theory doing the rounds amongst ministers that actually this is all about very clever positioning for george osborne. george osborne isa for george osborne. george osborne is a very impressive tactician and think three orfour is a very impressive tactician and think three or four m,;.5 ahead. his think three or four moves ahead. his constituency is being abolished with the boundary changes before the 2020 election. there is anotherjob up for grabs election. there is anotherjob up forgrabs in election. there is anotherjob up for grabs in 2020 and that is the mayor of london at. at the moment mayor of london at and at the moment the tories do not have a candidate. george, you'd spoke about and there are enough hours in the day for him to do all thesejobs, are enough hours in the day for him to do all these jobs, investment

fund management fund he works for and making speeches and now editing and making speeches and now editing a newspaper and being an mp, and making speeches and now editing a newspaperand being an mp, the standard say his new role will allow him to edit the paper because people work in parliament in the afternoon after the paper has gone to print some it is perfect. you wonder how much energy he will activity given the political activity given the standard's notoriously punishing hours. the conflict of interest is right at the heart of this and that is the biggest challenge. often when politicians do take an outside job they say initially they will remain an mp and you find a few months later they step down. i would not be entirely surprised if he does lack. as for the london mayor, george osborne will know better than anyone else london is increasingly a labour city and the one a huge victory the last year. he always sites the

‘us 1 us lbj former us president lbj that the first rule in politics is you always need to know how to count. george osborne will look at the conservative's current standing in london and do not think you would fa ncy london and do not think you would fancy i chances london and do not think you would fancy. chances in 2020. as for possibly to downing street returning possibly to downing street if brexit goes horribly wrong for theresa may, there is an unfulfilled ambition there but i cannot see the conservative grassroots before electing george osborne as their leader, given the stance he took on brexit. tom, i note you are competitive political journalist, i tom, i note you are competitive politicaljournalist, i guess george osborne has many contacts and will get lots of scoops? here's hoping. i have to say, george osborne's profile with politicaljournalists and those inside the westminster bubble is actually quite high. he was a very good gossip, good lunch, good dinner, not the difficult

character. would see on character you would see on the television. there is some respect and interest in him still what i'd agree with george heaton, quite e 5.52; 2.165 m e eeee 2.16.5 m to ef eje'e 2.1 ef.;.e m to his ef e.fee 2.1ef.;e m to his standing different to his standing amongst the conservative party. he is very disliked amongst a lot of tory activists here who really loathe him how activists here who really loathe him [low because of activists here who really loathe him gow because of leading the project now because of leading the project fearcampaign, as it now because of leading the project fear campaign, as it was called, after the eu referendum. fear campaign, as it was called, afterthe eu referendum. ithink he always wanted to be prime minister and has been quite obvious about that but even he may now have realised that will not ever happen. brexit have to go spectacularly badly as he would have to be proved spectacularly right to have a shot at the big job. maybe he has now decided it is indeed time to go do else. george, you would something else. george, you would imagine theresa may will not something else. george, you would imagint about sa may will not something else. george, you would imagint about this iay will not something else. george, you would imagint about this because ot sacked them within a few seconds of arriving in number ten. the other mac i expect she is as glad as ever

as she ruthlessly dispatched them and it is perhaps no surprise he did not feel the need to give downing street he heads up on this as the number ten spokesman was surprised when he learned of the news. it spoils the prime minister's speech which he obviously hoped would cap quite a difficult week for her with nicola sturgeon demanding another scottish referendum and philip hammond's humiliating u—turn on national george osborne national insurance. george osborne has a log of mischief and i think thatis has a log of mischief and i think that is another reason he is drawn to journalism. that is another reason he is drawn tojournalism. —— that is another reason he is drawn to journalism. —— love that is another reason he is drawn tojournalism. —— love of that is another reason he is drawn to journalism. —— love of mischief. is that part of it, he wanted to surprise everybody? it could be. this is the man who's been in the limelight, the top tier of british politics for 11 years. he was shadow chancellor from 2005, chants were from 2010 right up until last summer gee—er. 1.41.4 jel—e . .. . ee'! aeee .—.. 777. 5 £7.75 4.41.4 2.77; . 7. . 7.5! 557 .—.. 777. 5 theresa 17.7.7. 4.41.4 7'.7'7—.1 . 7. . 7.1'1 175.1 .—.. 7777 5 theresa may painfully sacked

when theresa may painfully sacked him. -- when theresa may painfully sacked him. —— chancellor from 2010. when theresa may painfully sacked him. —— chancellorfrom 2010. he e njoys him. —— chancellorfrom 2010. he enjoys the limelight and has quite a bit to say and his binding passion is social liberalism and economic globalism, i suppose. very pro—eu, pro—globalised world which theresa may does not have a huge amount of time for in terms of you remember her famous conference speech last october, if you are a citizen of the body where you are a citizen of nowhere. remarks like that were meant for george osborne, i think. he wants to be a player so he wants he wantsto be a.playelsojjerants. to have a voice and be heard and what better way to be heard and editing your own national newspaper? good to talk to you. thank you. much more coming up at the top of the hour but now let's get a look at the weather. earlier in the big light winds and

sunshine gave us the warmest day of the year so far but the weather is changing and we have the westerly wind today picking up all the while. our weather is coming in from the west, this bellowing area of cloud looking rather threatening and will bring rain across the western side especially. some already in glasgow and further south basingstoke the cloud has thinned slightly so we have seen some sunshine now and again. tending to become more cloudy. this was the colourful pictures sent in from glasgow. we have more rain to, through the rest of the afternoon in scotland and also some snow. rain for northern ireland, especially north of the country. brain in the north—west of england, the other side of the pennines are largely dry. gusty

7 and pennines are largely dry. gusty % and east wales, west winds and east wales, west midlands. if" wetter winds and east wales, west midlands. if??? wetter in winds and east wales, west midlands. 1-71“; wetter in the western side turning wetter in the western side of wales. cloud increasing in southern england, much of eastern england should state drive. the chance of some rain in the south—east this evening but that is it. mainly westerly rain into western hills feeding rain into western hills and coasts. it may become drier in scotla nd coasts. it may become drier in scotland later tonight. the north of scotla nd scotland later tonight. the north of scotland sees the coldest weather overnight, a mild night overnight, otherwise a mild night on a this week in the overnight, otherwise a mild night on a - this week in the wind will a whole. this week in the wind will pick up, fee e5 5 sunday. ff a whole. this week in the wind will pick up, sunday. some pick up, particularly sunday. some wet weather around in the western side of the uk and drier and brighter in the east. some sunshine east of england and scotland on saturday but rain across wales, southwest for a while and turning wetter in northern ireland and then moving into northern england and east of scotland. a good chance of staying dry in eastern england. this

mild air. pretty mild for the rugby six nations. . pretty cloudy skies, probably dry. when that will pick up later in the day in dublin. the wind strengthened overnight into sunday. sunday is the more windy day of the weekend with rain for scotland and northern ireland pushing into northern england and wales. chances are into the southeast it is dry and mild, too. mile ayers squeezed away next week with cooler and more showery conditions coming in from the north—west. this is bbc news.

the headlines: the united states has agreed not to repeat claims the uk's communications intelligence agency wiretapped donald trump. the snp ineistsrt-hefe on scotland's independence — and that no uk prime minister should dare stand in the way. george osborne to become editor of london evening standard — and plans to remain an mp while he does it. their opponent of examples of mps who have edited newspapers and magazines and i will continue to do both —— there are plenty of examples. every school in england will see reductions before 2020,