the government sets out its plans to convert eu law into uk legislation. the brexit secretary david davis says the great repeal bill will ensure a smooth and orderly exit from the european union. we have been clear that we want a smooth and orderly exit — and the great repeal bill is integral to that approach. it will provide clarity and certainly for businesses, workers and consumers across the united kingdom on the day that we leave the eu. angela merkel says after brexit, the eu to put —— the uk has to put effort into europe. we'll be live at both westminster and in malta for the very latest. also this lunchtime. the bodies of five people have been found inside the wreckage of a helicopter which has crashed in snowdonia. cutting out the sweet stuff. lands to cut sugar intake in our children by 20% by the end of the decade.

and grin and bear it — the sculpture of ronaldo that's got everyone talking but for all the wrong reasons. and in sport: wenger keeps us waiting — the arsenal manager, who's been under increasing pressure, wouldn't confirm whether he'll stay at the club past the summer. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. the government has been outlining how it plans to transfer thousands of pieces of european union legislation, into british law. the great repeal bill will give parliament, or the devolved assemblies, the power to scrap, amend or improve eu laws. the brexit secretary, david davis, told mps it would ensure the uk's "smooth, orderly" exit from the european union.

but the plans also involve giving ministers the power to make changes without full parliamentary scrutiny, and that's proving controversial. our first report today is from our political correspondent, iain watson. the law that took us into the european union was passed in 1972. now, our eu membership is about to end. not with a bang, but with a rather complicated process. the government now has 2a months to unravel a relationship which has lasted for 44 years. the secretary of state for exiting the european union, david davis. brexit secretary set out the first steps today with the promise of a great repeal bill. we have been clear that we want a smooth and orderly exit and the great repeal bill is integral tool —— integral to that approach. it will provide clarity for businesses and workers across the united kingdom on the day we leave the eu.

it will mean that as we exit the eu and seek a new and special partnership with the european union, we will be doing so with the same standards and rules. if you were to look at the dictionary definition of repeal you would find that it needs to reverse or cancel something but the government's great repeal bill actually keeps —— actually seeks to keepin actually keeps —— actually seeks to keep in place existing eu legislation. some say it would be more appropriate to call it a cut and paste bail. but the government argues that by keeping the same rules as the eu, it will be easier to negotiate a trade deal and of course the two governments would be free to change those roles in due course. labour was concerned they would try to speed through their repeal bill at the expense of other issues. all rights and protections

must be transferred into domestic law. no less occasions and sunset clauses. this mp wanted more detail about what laws might pass from brussels to edinburgh rather than westminster. he accused the government of a lack of preparation. it strikes me that the government has passed the big wet button marked brexit with their fingers crossed and very little idea of what comes next. historically, parliament haven't had to change so many laws ina haven't had to change so many laws in a relatively short time. the process could be painful and longer drawn—out than intended. apart from the repeal bill, major policy changes on immigration, agriculture and fisheries will entire —— will require entirely new legislation. that's a lot to squeezing in two yea rs that's a lot to squeezing in two years so we that's a lot to squeezing in two years so we asked an experienced official how long he thought it would take. well, until everything

is absolutely separate and every t crossed and every eye dotted, it could be years. it could be a decade. but a lot of stuff will happen either upon brexit day or reasonably shortly after that. the government has promised us a smooth and orderly brexit but to achieve that, it may find it has little time for anything house. let's pick up on some of those points with our assisted political editor norman smith who is in westminster. today, the business begins in earnest. as we have been hearing, there is a lot to do. this is the first big plank of brexit which is being nailed down by the government. it is a legislative colossus, transferring all those many, many thousands of eu rules that we have acquired over the past a0 years, governing pretty much every note and cranny of our daily lives, from employment rights to

environmental protection to the size ofa environmental protection to the size of a chicken hutch you can have if you want to read hands, transferring that into british law, a process which we have heard could take ten yea rs. which we have heard could take ten years. it is the matters —— a massive legislative process but more than that, it is hugely symbolic, the moment that marked separation from the european lord's, with british justice supreme. the supreme task will be pushing out anything out that the government wants to pursue though. that is the best risk. the second risk is that this provides an opportunity for critical mps to cause mrs may grief, because whilst the prime minister is away in brussels arm wrestling with eu ministers to try to get that deal,

critical mps can use this huge legislation to try to cause her difficulties, because legislation can be delayed, it can be amended, it can be voted on. so for those mps who want to cause trouble, this is the perfect vehicle for causing trouble. on that note, norman, thank you very much indeed. theresa may has already spoken to the leaders of ireland, poland, italy, france and spain, following the triggering of article 50. a spokesman for the prime minister said their response had been "warm and constructive". european leaders are meeting in malta to formulate their first response, as danjohnson now reports. the impact of six pages, and delivered in brussels, still rippling across europe. political leaders meeting in malta had absorbed britain's political message and were ready to respond. absorbed britain's political message and were ready to respondlj absorbed britain's political message and were ready to respond. i lot of people are telling us now they will try to reduce the damage but i have to tell you now this decision will

create a lot of damage, but both sides. germany is the powerhouse of the european project and angela merkel‘s position is important. she already signalled that she did not agree with theresa may's position. today there, no direct mention of brexit, instead speak on the refugee policy and calls to walk more closely together. the french president also said the uk's ties with the eu need to be untangled first, then a new relationship can be built. there was musk sadness in the eu yesterday but the council president, donald tusk, has seen some positives. there is also something positive in brexit. brexit has made us a community of 27 more determined and united than before. i am fully confident of this, especially after their declaration

andi especially after their declaration and i can say that we will remain determined and united also in the future. theresa may has reached out through the european press, writing articles denying any rejection of oui’ articles denying any rejection of our shared values and giving assurances there was no intention to harm the eu. there are many more disagreements to come down the line as britain's brexit clock keeps on ticking. dan johnson, bbc as britain's brexit clock keeps on ticking. danjohnson, bbc news, brussels. let's speak to our europe correspondent, chris morris, who's at that meeting in malta. in the shadow of brexit, what's your sense of the mood today? it was interesting, kate, the fact that angela merkel virtually didn't mention brexit. there was a subliminal message that it's not all about you and we are moving on with the other issues which concern us. but clearly in the margins that has been an awful lot of talk about brexit. there is that mood of regret and sadness but we also hear from eve ryo ne and sadness but we also hear from

everyone that we will be united on this. i know it's an easy thing to say, but over the last five years of covering the eu, i'm not sure i've ever seen the other countries are united as they seem to be at the moment on brexit. sure, the uk will try to chip away and pick off specific countries on specific issues but at the moment i think they do realise that in unity lies strength. the next step, and donald tusk, the president of the european council is here, and we would expect why tomorrow, possibly late this evening, for him to release diet —— d raft evening, for him to release diet —— draft guidelines about the negotiations and should show us what the eu thinks negotiations will look like, in terms of a schedule and the pinks to be discussed first. we know london would like to start talking about trade straightaway but it's pretty clear the rest of the eu is not interested in that. they want to have agreement in principle on the

broad outlines of the divorce. that means settling the accounts, the status of eu citizens in the uk and british citizens elsewhere in the eu. 0nce british citizens elsewhere in the eu. once the broad understanding of thoseissuesis eu. once the broad understanding of those issues is down, only then will there be feature discussions about a trade agreement. so how will converting all these eu rules into british law impact on our lives, if at all? currently, european law governs many areas, from employment law to food regulations, from the environment to health and safety. wyre davies is here to explain how things might change. 0ne one of the big claims during the referendum campaign was that the uk will be able to make its own laws, free from brussels law. sovereignty would return to parliament — the uk would be taking back control. so now the great repeal bill white paper has been published, in which areas of our lives could we see changes? let's ta ke

a look at workers' rights. at the moment, the eu says that most people don't have to work more than a8 hours a week, unless they want to. there are voices that say that restricts british industry, workforces are less flexible. so would the uk keep that law or change it? could we see an effect on workers' rights? here's the tuc. some businesses, some politicians, are calling for employment rights to be ripped up help watered down once we leave the european union. but what they call red tape, we call important rights for working people including protection from excessive working hours, writes to holiday pay, protection from discrimination. the tuc is calling for the government to make a proper commitment and to take effective action to ensure these rights are protected, not simply from day one but for the long—term. we also want guarantees from the government that uk employment rights will keep pace with our european partners. let's look at another area. at the moment under eu law, vat on household gas and electricity

bills is set at at least 5%. outside of the eu, the government could now opt to remove it — which could mean lower energy bills, although whether the chancellor would want to take the hit remains to be seen. and could we see a change in the shops on our high street? for instance, european regulations control everything from what preservatives can be added to how potential allergens have to be displayed on the packaging. getting rid of them, say some, is good because it gets rid of red tape, so decreasing costs for businesses. but actually the uk may decide to keep many of the regulations because if we want to trade with europe, we'll need to have the same standards. theresa may yesterday acknowledged in her letter that in many areas, both sides have ‘regulatory frameworks and standards that already match'. so what could be the impact on small businesses? there are all sorts of regulations which affect all kinds of businesses in different ways, everything from disposing of waste to the kind of chemicals that can be in paint to employment rules for their

employees. now, small businesses might want things to be simplified in future might want things to be simplified infuture in might want things to be simplified in future in terms of how to comply with these things and anything unnecessary got rid of, but at the same time, there is a recognition that there are many regulations which do have a purpose. it'sjust that there may be a simpler way of getting there for small businesses to comply with. there are so many areas in which eu laws effect our lives — and today it's only the first stage of many. given the scale of the legislative task ahead, none of the changes to anything come into force until we leave the eu, probably in march 2019. we went to see the impact for a long time. the world's biggest insurance firm, lloyds of london, says it's moving some of its operations to brussels. it says it wants a presence in the heart of continental europe after britain leaves the eu. the question is, will other companies follow? here's simon gompertz. it's the world's oldest insurance market, famous for the lutine bell from hms lutine, which went down two centuries ago and was covered at lloyd's. it already has some foreign offices

but because of brexit, lloyd's of london will now become lloyds of brussels as well. nothing to worry about. in fact, what it does is it helps to secure the future of lloyd's. about 5% of our business is impacted by the uk coming out of eu. we want to be able to provide continuous coverage and continue to issue insurance policies for customers based in eu. the lloyd's building houses a marketplace. it's some of the staff who oversee the operations who are going and it's not clear how many of the underwriters themselves will need to move. it's good. it's good for lloyd's to be seen to be embracing it. it'll be interesting to see how it goes and how they can maintain it in london being the centre of insurance. fingers crossed they will. does it signal an exodus from the city? no. not in the least bit. london has been incredibly successful for all sorts of reasons and we will remain so. what we've got to be is nimble and alert

to the possibilities and the dangers. what this shows is the variety of places across the channel that city organisations might move some of their operations to. so notjust one big rival to the city, like say frankfurt, but also amsterdam, brussels, dublin, or paris. and it may not even be european centres that benefit most from business leaving london. there are other hubs elsewhere in the world, singapore springs to mind, a couple in the middle east and of course bermuda, which will be hungry to use brexit as an opportunity to grab as much of the worldwide business as they can. but is this trickle from the city of london the start of a flood? the prime minister tried to allay fears yesterday by saying she wants to include financial services in an overall trade deal with the eu. simon gompertz, bbc news. our top story this lunchtime.

the government has been outlining how it plans to transfer thousands of pieces of european legislation into uk law. and still to come — but was it art? a mixed response to a bust of the portuguese footballer, ronaldo. and in sport: johanna konta continues to show her title winning potential and becomes the first british woman to reach the semi—finals of the miami 0pen, where she'll face venus williams. more now on our main story. the process of leaving the european union is well and truly under way, with the publication today of what's known as the great repeal bill. but what about our future relations with countries who've been eu partners for the past four decades? the uk and germany have long been allies, politically and economically. 0ur berlin correspondentjenny hill has been to the town of bergen — which was once home to a british army base — to see what german people make of the start of the brexit process. germany has developed quite a taste

for all things british. ooh! 0oh! bergen's uk army base is long gone, but they're still serving the full english and preparing again to bid the brits farewell. translation: to be honest, really, why do they want to go it alone? britain's influence is fading. army housing, due for demolition, and a future relationship that is, as yet, undefined. of all the eu member states, germany was probably the most saddened and shocked at britain's decision to leave. it's also the most likely to want to retain a strong relationship with the uk, but not at any cost. what germany fears most, instability.

britain is one of its most important trading partners. it can also be positive, if it becomes a wake—up call for the european union. i mean, what is the value of the european union for? it must be valuable for every member. and we can also have only free trade agreements like we have with south korea. that works, there are no other conditions. so we could have the same with britain, basically. but in a country which is european first, german second, it is the eu's future which matters most. translation: to be honest, really, why do they want to go it alone? britain's influence is fading. army housing, due for demolition, and a future relationship that is, as yet, undefined. of all the eu member states, germany was probably the most saddened and shocked at britain's decision to leave. it's also the most likely to want to retain a strong relationship with the uk, but not at any cost. what germany fears most, instability. britain is one of its most important trading partners. it can also be positive,

if it becomes a wake—up call for the european union. search teams have found the bodies of five people inside the wreckage of a helicopter that's crashed in snowdonia. the aircraft disappeared on a flight from milton keynes to dublin. let's speak to our correspondent, holly hamilton, who's in trawsfynydd. what do you know at this stage?- the minute, sadly, we havejust discovered in the past hour that police have confirmed that the bodies of those five people have been found with the wreckage of the helicopter. this follows extensive searches that have been going on since yesterday afternoon. it began when that helicopter left, a privately owned airfield that aden airport, destined for dublin. it failed to make a scheduled stop in north wales —— it left from luton airport. operations began after apm.

the operation had to stop late last night due to hazardous to conditions, poor visibility. the search operation continued on land by north wales police and mountain rescue teams here in south snowdonia. sadly, that has resulted in the discovery of the wreckage alongside five bobbitt is. we have no details as yet about the identities of the people who have died. police have not given as any details. however, they have told as they've contacted the families and they've contacted the families and they have been informed of their deaths. the search operation here has now become a recovery operation. an investigation will take place into what exactly has happened. we have no details currently off that just yet. that will be the next step in this investigation. that will ta ke in this investigation. that will take some time, especially in what police have described here in south snowdonia is very difficult and hazardous conditions. holly, thank you. cakes, biscuits, sweets and chocolates. our children may love them,

but they contain large amounts of sugar, which is linked to obesity and diabetes. which is why public health england has published new guidelines to limit the amount of sugar that's in some of our favourite foods. the aim is to cut the amount of sugar eaten in foods most often eaten by children in the uk by 20 % in the next few years., as our health correspondent, jane dreaper, now reports. it's tempting stuff. but eating too much sugar is rotting children's teeth and fuelling obesity. a third of children are overweight or obese when they leave primary school. now as part of government plans to tackle the problem, the food industry is being given new limits for how much sugar should be in nine popularfoods. companies are being urged to reformulate their products so that they contain less sugar, or to make them smaller. the aim is for the uk's annual diet to contain 200,000 fewer tons of sugar by 2020. we expect people to see over time smaller chocolate bars,

smaller cakes, smaller biscuits, particularly when they eat away from home, infamily restaurants and so on. we also expect people not to notice the changes, because we know if changes are gradually made to our food, generally we don't notice them. your bread is now a0% less salty than it was ten years ago. i bet you haven't noticed. everyday foods like these will be affected. the companies that make them are being told to cut their sugar and calorie content. cafes a nd restau ra nts are being told to take action too, because up to a third of the calories we eat are now consumed outside the home. and there will also be the new tax on sugary drinks, starting in a year's time. dieticians say there's no time to lose in trying to improve children's health. around one in five ten to 11—year—olds are obese. we know from research that excess sugar is linked to weight gain and when you are obese you are more at risk of conditions

like type two diabetes, which can lead to heart disease or even blindness. the food industry isn't being forced to make these changes, but trade bodies say they'll take on the challenge and experts in nutrition think this is the quickest way to improve our diets. it's actually an advantage that they are voluntary, because the legal process of writing mandatory guidelines is so awkward, so long, people resist it and try and protect their own interests, that doing it on a voluntary basis is actually quicker to write the regulations and quicker to amend them if they don't work. the nine food groups announced today account for less than half of children's total sugar intake, so there's still work to be done on sugar that's less obvious, in foods like pasta sauces. health campaigners have praised the plans, but they want the government to keep up the pressure on food companies. jane dreaper, bbc news. tens of thousands of people are still without power, and thousands of others

are still stranded on remote islands, after cyclone debbie hit the east coast of australia. the threat from more torrential rain has led to people being told to leave their homes in the state of queensland. hywel griffths reports. it's been called the never—ending storm. first, a cyclone swept through. now there's a flood. from north to south, queensland is dealing with several emergencies at once. rising river levels, towns cut off and sudden gusts that are leaving homes and their residents rattled. well, i wasn't too worried at the start, but i started hearing the wind picking up and getting more intense. there was a few thoughts going through the head then that something could come flying through the window, you know? in bowen, the prime ministerflew in to see the scale of the damage and stressed the size of the response. 1300 members of the army, navy and air force are here to try and rebuild. as i said, this is an example of nature flinging her worst at australians. the people of the whitsunday route

and the people of north queensland, far north queensland, are very familiar with cyclones. they are very resilient. they'll need to be pretty tough in the south too. in brisbane, a months worth of rain is expected in one day. more than 1000 schools have been closed across the area. it's another city going into lockdown. i need you to stay indoors. i need you to stay off the roads. we have not seen the worst of this severe weather system in the south—east of our state. we are going to see heavy rain falls. we are going to see thunder. this is a severe weather event. and it's one which has touched every walk of life. with warnings that snakes, crocodiles, even sharks, can wash up in the flood, much of queensland remains on high alert. hywel griffith, bbc news. organisers of the oscars say they will continue to work

with the accountancy firm, pwc, despite the mistake which led to la la land being wrongly announced as the winner of best picture. this is the moment hollywood realised someone hadn't followed the script at the ceremony last month. to make sure a similar mistake doesn't happen next year, there will be an extra accountant on hand, and electronic devices will be banned backstage. capturing the likeness and character in a portrait can always be a bit tricky for an artist. so there was an understandable air of expectation when the footballer, ronaldo, turned up in his hometown of madeira to unveil a bust of himself. and when the statue was revealed? well, our sports correspondent joe wilson has the story of a work of art that's taken everyone's breath away — but not necessarily for the right reasons! for the local hero, everything was arranged. politicians, well—wishers, all there for the very famous footballer.

well, they were naming madeira's airport after him. just one thing, why had they unveiled a new bust of the former irish international niall quinn? ah, that's cristiano ronaldo! 0k. the man himself was full of gratitude. "to see my name given to this airport is very special," he said. "everyone knows i'm very proud of my roots." roots meaning homeland, not his hair. that at least looks suitably solid. social media mockery based around the bust has quickly followed. football does have a long association with statues. at wembley, bobby moore, at ipswich town, bobby robson. and at fulham's craven cottage, michaeljackson. this statue was the idea of the then chairman mohammed al fayed and wasn't universally appreciated at the time. it's really bad, really, really bad.

after a couple of years, fulham took this statue down. and then, deep breath, there was ted bates. southampton supporters were so angered by this depiction of their former player and manager, it was replaced immediately and expensively. much better. statues are supposed to be tributes, and the madeira airport is an honour well intended for a genuine star. that's him. as you said, well intended! a 57—year—old flight engineer, peggy whitson, is, as we speak, breaking the record for the most spacewalks to be conducted by a woman. these are the live pictures from the international space station. the american astronaut — in the spacesuit with red stripes — will be outside the station for over six hours, finishing cable connections and checking over the station in preparation

for a new docking adapter. this is flight engineer whiston's eighth space walk, and beats the record set by sunita williams. bravo one, counter two. extraordinary stuff, congratulations to her. time for a look at the weather. here's john hammond. a rather damp morning in durham. there has been some rain around. it's a day of contrasts. damp weather across parts of northern england and southern scotland, very wet in southern snowdonia. down towards the south—west a few showers ahead of that. but the main story across the more southern and eastern