as we expect it to. the cameras and the lasers are picking up all movement and the vehicle can stop safely that needs to. well —— we need to do this research to understand what the public feel about the future of this technology and then if it is positive we will see a roll—out of this technology. so you think by 2020 these kind of vehicles will be everywhere? maybe not everywhere but we will see them emerging where it makes no sense and gradually see them flourish. well the statistics say that 95% of all car accidents are down to human error. so the question is, is this a lot safer? the showjumper nick skelton — who became britain's second—oldest olympic gold medallist in rio last year — is to retire. skelton was competing at his seventh games — 16 years after a broken neck forced his initial retirement. he will compete for the last time at windsor next month on big star — the horse with which he won his rio gold. he said it was a difficult decision to make but that he wasnt getting any younger.

returning now to the service of hub at westminster abbey two weeks after the attacks at the palace of westminster. back to simon mccoy. just 200 yards away from where i'm standing, at 2:40pm on march the 22nd two weeks ago, the lives of so many people were changed one way or another. the injured and those who died. many of whom their families we re died. many of whom their families were here today at the service of hope and reconciliation. peter hunt is with me now. the fact it was only two weeks ago, it has very much affected the mood of the service. this was not a memorial service, it is too early for that, nor a service of remembrance as some funerals have not yet ta ken of remembrance as some funerals have not yet taken place. it was billed asa not yet taken place. it was billed as a service of hope, quite

difficult for some of those most directly affected. i think what it was was a gathering of all those people most directly affected, either of the injured or bereaved or indeed those who first responded to what unfolded close by. the royal family, a new generation of the royals, very much at the height of the service. yet inevitably we will see more of this, the younger generation taking on more of the load. the queen or prince charles could not be here but this is what we're going to see more and more with the monarchy. we will see william, harry and kate representing them and indeed charles and william have seen some of the injured and responders in hospital for this. what we are now seeing are these three young royals meeting some of those most directly affected. thank you very much was that those who lost their lives in the attack very much at the heart of peoples thoughts at the ceremony. 0n much at the heart of peoples thoughts at the ceremony. on monday the funeral of the police officer who was killed, keith palmer, will ta ke who was killed, keith palmer, will

take place at southwark cathedral and that will be a full police service. so once again the attacker and what he did will be remembered and what he did will be remembered and in the words of the dean of westminster today, everyone has one question and the question that may never be answered is, why. time for a look at the weather. here's ben rich. changes in the weather will be slow in the next few days and that means a lot more dry weather to come and at times some sunshine. this was the view in devon this morning, had for blue skies. it was not like that every word, further north we had more in the way of cloud and as we go through the next few days there will be a fair amount of cloud but largely dry and some sunshine, slow changes until the weekend when things warm up quite dramatically for some. this is the satellite

picture so far today, cloud coming in from the north—west, the best of the sunshine across southern parts of england. and that is where we keep the sunshine through the rest of today, towards the south—east and channel islands. temperatures up to 15 degrees. more cloud developing through the afternoon for east anglia and into the midlands and parts of wales. for northern ireland the cloud perhaps just big parts of wales. for northern ireland the cloud perhapsjust big enough for some rain along the north coast. similar for the for some rain along the north coast. similarfor the west of for some rain along the north coast. similar for the west of scotland. and where we have sunshine by day across eastern scotland, we will have clear spells overnight and also across parts of wales and the south—west. it could get cold enough in these areas for some frost. but temperatures elsewhere are holding up temperatures elsewhere are holding up well. tomorrow we start off cloudy, some bricks in the cloud, and then as we go through the day some breaks elsewhere. so you could see some sunshine but equally the

odd showerfor the see some sunshine but equally the odd shower for the west of scotland and northern isles. friday, another largely dry day with spells of sunshine in some places. generally quite a lot of cloud but then we get to the weekend. high pressure has been bringing us dry weather and might make it a little bit chilly on friday night. but into the weekend we begin to draw in these southerly winds. that will waft warm air across many parts of the country so temperatures are going to begin to climb. a decent looking day on saturday, some patchy cloud and smell the sunshine with thick cloud and the odd spot of rain. easily 15, i6 and the odd spot of rain. easily 15, 16 degrees. and then on sunday a glorious sunny day across england and wales. some cloud and rain in the north—west. and a little bit cooler here but further south, high teens and no 20s, up to 23 in the

south—east. slow changes initially and then warming up quite dramatically for the weekend. that's all from the bbc news at one — so it's goodbye from me — and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are. good afternoon. now a look at the day's news, live from the bbc sports centre, with me, jessica creighton. former england captain alastair cook will miss the first county championship match of the new season for essex because of a hip injury. cook was cleared to play for his county in the opening round of fixtures along with other centrally contracted england players, and was due to face international team mate james anderson on friday when essex take on lancashire. essex say cook's been receiving treatment for the injury for several weeks, but it isn't thought to be serious. england's chris woa kes and ben duckett have been named as two of wisden‘s five cricketers of the year. in its prestigious annual list, wisden described woa kes as "an international class all—rounder". duckett also features

alongside misbah—ul—haq, younus khan and fellow englishman toby roland jones. the republic of ireland women's team will meet with their governing body tonight, after threatening to go on strike. a group of players have spoken out about the poor treatment and lack of support they've received from the fai, and are fighting for compensation for loss of earnings whilst on international duty. 0ur football reporter david 0rnstein is with me. there's been some quite serious allegations from the players, saying that they've had to change into kit in public toilets en route to matches. now they've got this make or break meeting tonight at 6pm with the fai. how has it got to this point? well, these issues have been building for some years now. the players have complained about a lack of pay on international duty to compensate the loss of earnings from their dayjobs. also, the lack of proper kit and having to hand it back at the end of internationals.

and also being forced to change in public toilets. last year, the players approached their union to help resolve this issue. and yesterday morning they gathered in dublin for a press conference to talk publicly about their grievances. the governing body, the players directly. but the players wa nt players directly. but the players want their union to mediate, that is why we have reached the point of a possible strike that could threaten the match against the macio on monday. the players will wait to see how the meeting at 60 today goes before deciding whether they want to resume training —— at 6pm today. thank you, david. staying with football... manchester united manager jose mourinho hasn't exactly shown restraint in his criticism of his defender luke shaw in recent days, and that continued last night. shaw made his first appearance for the club since january in their 1—1 draw with everton, and has played just 15 times this season. after the match, mourinho again questioned shaw's ability, and says he must improve.

for me, his performance was good, but the performance was good because he was on my side. and i was seeking for him, and i was... leading his performance. if he is in the other side, it wouldn't be the same. and that's not possible at this level. he has to grow up, he has to mature, you to understand the game better, he has to be more focused. just 2a hours to go until the masters gets underway, and rory mcilroy says he's putting in the practice hours at augusta to make sure he feels at home once the competition begins. mcilroy has played 99 practice holes so far, and will be play a further nine holes today as he aims for his first masters win to complete an historic grand slam of major titles. i'm ready. i've played enough golf around here this year. you know,

even driving down by now the morning for the first time this week, it didn't feel like i've never been away, it didn't feel that special because i've done it so much —— driving down magnolia lane. it's been nice. i've said in a couple of pieces, the more you can make augusta national feel like your home golf course, the better. you'rejust co mforta ble golf course, the better. you'rejust comfortable in your surroundings. that's all sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. i'll have more in the next hour. thank you, jessica. the service of hope ended 20 minutes ago. with me are two people who were there. baroness neuberger, you read some of the prize, —— the prayers. if i could start with you, because of the timing of this, only two weeks after the attack, it was a very different

mood to many other services. the attack, it was a very different mood to many other servicesm wasn't a memorial service, it didn't feel like a memorial service at all, it was much too recent and emotions we re very it was much too recent and emotions were very raw. walking past the police and talking to the police, you could feel how raw the wounds were. it was a very different feel. i thought the dean handled it brilliantly, his address didn't even end ina brilliantly, his address didn't even end in a formal way, it ended with us end in a formal way, it ended with us doing this act of commitment, lighting candles, and that was absolutely right. it was something to say, ok, we're going to do whatever we can to stop this happening again. the dean asked one question that many people want an a nswer to question that many people want an answer to and they will probably never get, why did this attack happened's he stressed the importance that this should bring everybody closer together. human kindnessjoins us everybody closer together. human kindness joins us all together. the dean spoke on behalf of humanity, the entire humanity. we have to end all of this hatred. it's terrible.

in terms of the congregation, there we re in terms of the congregation, there were relatives of those who had died, and indeed some of those who had injured. did you get a sense of how they were coping with this, given it is so recent? it was an extraordinary thing. there was quite raw emotion, you could feel the emotion in the abbey. but you didn't feel many tears or people sort of breaking down. they were holding because it was such an amazing service, but they were quite cool. it was very moving, extraordinarily moving. -- they were quite roar. it brought out the entire sentiment of the people, the service. the presence of the royal family and so many ambassadors underlined notjust the british but particularly what london is about, just the diversity of this city and how many countries we re of this city and how many countries were involved. yes, it was mentioned that 270 countries are represented

in the uk in london, and about 300 languages are spoken, which is an amazing thing. all of us who stand together now. it is interesting, rabbi, because walking here there are flowers in parliament square, the railings outside the houses of westminster, you can feel people wanting to talk to the police officers and thank them for what they do. there is a strange mood. officers and thank them for what they do. there is a strange moodm has changed, it is quite dramatic. people have always been friendly to the police that the palace of westminster. i am the police that the palace of westminster. iam in the police that the palace of westminster. i am in the house of lords, so i actually see it. but it isa lords, so i actually see it. but it is a different feeling, everybody goes up and thank them and says, how are you? how are you doing? that is absolutely new. it is very nice. and also the fact that we had sadiq khan, iwas also the fact that we had sadiq khan, i was sitting behind also the fact that we had sadiq khan, iwas sitting behind him, he isa khan, iwas sitting behind him, he is a practising muslim, reading something that comes from francis of assisi and holding us together as mayor of london, that is an extraordinary feeling. there is a feeling that we are not going to be

ove rco m e by feeling that we are not going to be overcome by this, that almost came out of the service —— that also came out. we hope this is the end of hatred, we need to identify the violence of this nature. thank you very much. rabbi, while you are here, those words everybody hates to hear. 0bviously, here, those words everybody hates to hear. obviously, the labour party, a huge controversy over ken livingstone. what do you think should have happened to him?|j livingstone. what do you think should have happened to him? i think ken livingstone should have been expelled. i think the labour party has been really slow to deal with anti—semitism in its ranks. i grew up anti—semitism in its ranks. i grew up in the labour party, i come from a labour family, up in the labour party, i come from a labourfamily, i'm up in the labour party, i come from a labour family, i'm just up in the labour party, i come from a labourfamily, i'mjustappalled. i hope that mostjews will now leave the labour party. you know, they have now gone so far that this is not viewable, they have got to sort themselves out. you would encourage themselves out. you would encourage them to leave? i would encourage my fellow jews to them to leave? i would encourage my fellowjews to say, enough, i'm going. unless what? unless they kick—out ken livingstone and deal with and is it is properly. labour has been an antis —— anti—racist

party as long as i can remember. and jeremy corbyn‘s handling of it? poor. thank you, a difficult one to approach while we are talking about other things. thank you very much for joining other things. thank you very much forjoining us. we will have more from a very noisy westminster throughout the afternoon. back to you, rachel. thanks, simon. diesel car owners could get some help from the government if cities adopt new charges to tackle pollution, theresa may has suggested. an ultra—low emission zone will come into force in london in april 2019, with a £24—a—day fee for some drivers. motoring organisations have said diesel car drivers are being "punished" for following a previous government's policy. joining me now is howard cox from the campaign group fair fuel uk. thank you forjoining us. let's deal

with the principle before we get to the minutiae of any policy. do you accept that diesel cars are considered problematic these days in terms of pollution? absolutely, i mean, i represent 1.6 terms of pollution? absolutely, i mean, i representi.6 million drivers and they would be the first to agree that they want cleaner emissions. unfortunately what is happening with the various policies around the country, particularly in london, is that they are being demonised and picked on. for example, in london, only 11% of the permissions are generated by diesel cars, and yet they are going to be charged with 100% of the money coming you know, the increase, the £20 or £24, for the problems of the other 90%, that is being a nod. also, the particular information is being ignored. there are lots of things going on and nojoined up thinking. what would you like to see instead ? thinking. what would you like to see instead? there are a lot of things under consideration. is garbage scheme we should be looking at, but

the most important thing is incentives to move to cleaner fuels —— a scrappage scheme. it is 81% down on the last five years, things are getting better. the newer diesel vehicles are wonderful. there are 2 million vehicles in the country all the band ten years, they need to be removed from the roads gradually —— older than ten years. they can't be done overnight because people cannot afford it. you said you would welcome a scrappage scheme. theresa may hinted that this, there may be helpful people to get rid of diesel ca rs helpful people to get rid of diesel cars and make is which. how would you see that working? is difficult. the scrappage scheme we had a few yea rs the scrappage scheme we had a few years back didn't work too well. in france, older diesel engines over ten yea rs france, older diesel engines over ten years the government gives out somewhere in the region of 10,000 euros, £8,000, to move to electric ca rs. euros, £8,000, to move to electric cars. i can't see that happening here, but the beneficiaries of any scrappage scheme are manufacturers. they actually will be selling new cast of these people. so they are

pa rt cast of these people. so they are part of the problem, going back and talking about volkswagen issue regarding the cheating in terms of real—life conditions in terms of emissions, they should also be accountable and perhaps contribute toa accountable and perhaps contribute to a scrappage scheme. you mentioned the fact that there may be a kind of diesel tax, we might call it, we are seeing this communion in london, extra payments on the congestion charge and so on. what would be the impact of the so—called diesel tax? the irony of this is that we have done a survey last year when there was room of the diesel fuel duty hike, a green fuel duty hike, and we asked our supporters and we got responses from 16,000 diesel drivers in the space of about 72 hours, and it was amazing, everyone said, except for 1%, 99% said that this whole thing, they would not stop driving, they would continue to drive. the only thing that would happen is that the authorities or

the treasury would get more money and emissions would not come down. this is the issue we have got to try and commence the treasury, the apartment of transport, and of course the prime minister. i am asking for a meeting with the prime minister because she seems to be receptive to helping the hard—working, the receptive to helping the ha rd—working, the ones receptive to helping the hard—working, the ones that can't manage to well, diesel drivers. hard—working, the ones that can't manage to well, diesel driverslj sense we may see you again, howard cox, when more is decided on this issue. thank you, howard cox from fair fuel uk. in a moment, a summary of the business news this hour. but first, the headlines on bbc news... britain hasjoined the us and france in condemning the syria government for a suspected chemical attack yesterday where more than 70 people died, many of them children. the eu's chief negotiator has told the european parliament that britain was mistaken to demand that talks on a new trade deal should be held at the same time as the talks on its withdrawal. the duke and duchess of cambridge have attended a special service at westminster abbey for the victims of the westminster terror attack. i'm egon cossou with

your money update. are you one of the people who bought a new car last month to beat tax changes? well, if you were, you helped boost new car sales to a record high. more than 562,000 new cars were registered last month, according to industry body the smmt. that's up more than 8% on march last year. we'll have more on that injust a moment. there are signs that inflation might sneak up higher than the 3% most people are expecting. last month, companies in the services sector raised prices at their fastest pace since 2008. the closely watched pmi index also showed the sector was expanding faster than expected. lloyds bank has named 100 branches which are due to close as part of their restructuring plan. they include 22 branches of halifax and 24 branches bank of scotland.

200 jobs will go according to the union unite. well, let's go back to our top story — those record new car sales. more new cars were registered in march than injanuary and february combined. and sales of diesel vehicles continued to rise, despite controversy over the pollution they produce. joining me from our central london studio is tamzin isaacson from the smmt, who compiled those figures. so, tamsin, thank you forjoining us. so, tamsin, thank you forjoining us. talk us through those tax changes that inspired to many people to go and buy a new car? you are right, there is a new tax rate that came in from april this year. it has changed the rates that many people pay for road tax. really what we have seen is many new car buyers

bringing forward their purchases in 2017 and taking advantage of lower rates in march, that is why we have got a bumper month in march, the best on record ever, helping to achieve the best quarter ever. that is not the only factor in place, surely? no, it's not. the fundamentals of the economy remained very strong. consumer and business confidence is high, employment remains high, and it is a great time to buy a new car. there is a choice, over 400 models available, they have great technology, low emissions, and safer than ever before. there is also an attractive range of finance options to help finance a car over a long period of time. aren't we supposed to be getting a bit more green these days, cycling more and taking public transport was like how come that hasn't affected the figures? the new-car market is at record levels at the moment, and consumers love buying cars. there is a great range of models, and cars

are changing very quickly. we are investing huge amounts into technology which means that the cars you buy today or updated constantly. they have many safety features, and they are wanting to trade in their older versions for newer models. what about diesel? again, a lot of controversy about the pollution, there impact on the environment. again, sales are going up, how come? as you have just said, 250,000 again, sales are going up, how come? as you havejust said, 250,000 new diesel cars were brought last month, and that is because consumers and businesses understand there is a big difference between new diesel cars on sale and the diesel cars from previous years. new diesel emit far lower nitrogen oxide levels, and they are cleaner. they face no charges in the ultralow emission zones in london, for example. diesel is still a very popular fuel type, it is fuel efficient, as low—carbon dioxide levels and it holds meet our

climate change targets as well stop right thank you forjoining us, tamsin. in other business stories we're following today... workers at bmw are going to stage a series of eight 24—hour strikes later this month in a dispute over pensions. this follows a huge vote for industrial action by members of the unite union. unite says the strikes will "significantly disrupt" production. house—builder galliford try has given up trying to buy its rival bovis homes. this comes just a week after redrow also walked away from trying to buy bovis. this leaves bovis without any potential deals on the table, but it says it still has faith in the future after appointing new leadership. the parliament in iceland has presented a bill designed to guarantee equal pay for men and women across the public and private sectors. if it becomes law, all companies employing more that 25 staff would actually have to prove they offer equal pay. this would be a world first. let's check in with the financial markets now, and shares in britain's blue chip index, the ftse100, have risen — extending yesterday's gains.

it's mainly mining shares and oil stocks which have led the rally, helping the index outperform the broader european market. globally there is still quite a lot of uncertainty around — and a level of nervousness ahead of tomorrow's visit between the leaders of america and china. donald trump has vowed to take a hard line on countries such as china which have large trade surpluses with the united states. sterling has jumped almost half a cent against the dollar after that services sector survey, beating forecasts. that's all the business news. thank you very much. thanks. headlines coming up at 2pm, but before that, let's joint ben for the weather forecast. he is before that, let's joint ben for the weatherforecast. he is waiting patiently on the balcony. ever patient, thank you, rachel. things looking not so bad for the next few

days if you like dry weather. changes will be slow, a fair amount of cloud around, some so today, this was earlier on in chesterfield —— some sunshine. but —— in the next few days not a lot will change. fairly large amounts of cloud and some sunshine. at the weekend, things will turn warmer. more on that to come. this is the recent satellite picture. you can see a fairamount of satellite picture. you can see a fair amount of cloud in northern ireland, scotland, northern england, clouding over in wales and east anglia. to the south we will see the best of the sunshine in the afternoon. southern counties of england, the channel islands, keeping hold of sunny skies. cloud increasing in east anglia and the midlands, much of wales, clouding in the afternoon in northern england. the cloud in northern ireland may be thick enough to produce the odd spot of patchy rain, the same story for western scotland, most places dry. for eastern scotland, we continue to

the brightness. bright skies by day translate into clear skies overnight across eastern scotland and north is england, parts of wales and the south—west, where you do keep some clear spells, it could get old enough for a touch of frost. the majority are too cloudy flood, temperatures of 5—8 . tomorrow is a cloudy stodter the day, but don't give up hope, some holes will appear in the cloud, sunshine —— cloudy start to the day. the chance of the odd spot of rain across the west of scotland. temperature is no great shakes, in11—15. scotland. temperature is no great shakes, in 11—15. similar temperatures on friday, a fair around of cloud, reakes and sunny spells coming through. 0n around of cloud, reakes and sunny spells coming through. on friday night things could get chilly underneath this area of high pressure. into the weekend, this high drifts slowly away to the east, and will begin to drag in more of a southerly wind. not a particularly strong wind, but it will waft some warm air in our direction. at this stage, temperatures for many will

begin to rise. saturday a lovely looking day, patchy cloud here and there, maybe a spot of rain in the far north—west. some might get to 18 or19 far north—west. some might get to 18 or 19 degrees. sunday looks gloriously sunny across many parts of england and wales. a weather front trying to nudge into the north—west, more cloud for northern ireland, scotland, some rain here, and a bit cooler, 13 degrees. 21 in north—west england and maybe a high of 23 on sunday in the south—east. you're watching bbc news. i'm simon mccoy live at westminster abbey where the duke and duchess of cambridge led a "service of hope" to remember those killed and injured in the westminster attack. the dean of westminster said we are all left bewildered and disturbed by the attack. we weep for the violence, the

hatred, for the loss of life, for all that divides and spoils our world. i'm rachel schofield. the other main headlines on bbc news: at least 70 people are now known to have been killed in the suspected chemical attack in syria — germany says russia bears some responsibility. labour's deputy leader tom watson says the failure to expel ken livingstone from the party over his hitler remarks