this is bbc news. i'm simon mccoy. the headlines at 3.00pm: syria's president says reports that his regime carried outlast week's suspected chemical attack are "100% fabrication." our impression that the west, mainly the united states, is hand in glove with the terrorists. they fabricated the whole story in order to have a pretext for the attack. the education secretary wants new grammar schools in england to do more to help "ordinary working families." the european court of human rights rules that russia should have done more to prevent the beslan school siege in 200a. a bbc investigation finds that landlords are offering rent—free accommodation to young, vulnerable people in exchange for sex. i'm reeta chakrabarti, and in the next hour... showcasing tall ships from around europe — the thames will resemble its 19th century heyday as it becomes

home to some of the most spectacular sailing ships. we will show you the riverside view. and the continuing appeal of the roller—coaster — 200 years after it took to the tracks for the first time. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. syria's president assad has given his first interview since last week's suspected chemical weapons attack. he's said reports of the attack by his forces are "100% fabricated." he's also claimed that syria's military has given up all chemical weapons. so there was no order to make any attack. we don't have any chemical weapons. we gave up our arsenal two years ago. even if we had them, we wouldn't use them, and we have never used our chemical arsenal in our history. so what happened?

as i said, the only source is al-qaeda. we cannot take it seriously, but our impression is that the west, mainly the united states, is hand in glove with the terrorists. the fabricated the whole story in order to have a pretext for the attack. it wasn't an attack because of the attack in khan sheikhoun. it is one event. it is stage one — the play, that we saw on social media and on tv, the propaganda. and the second stage, the military attack. that is what we believe is happening, because it is only a few days — two days, 48 hours — between the play and the attacks, and there have been no investigations, no concrete evidence about anything. the only thing were allegations and propaganda, and then the strike. so who, according to you, is responsible for this alleged chemical attack? the allegation itself... by al-qaeda, and the al—nusra front, so we don't have to

investigate. they announced it — it is under their control, no one else‘s. about the attack on it is not clear whether it happened or not. how can you verify the videos? you have lots of fa ke you verify the videos? you have lots of fake videos now. they are al-qaeda, they are the al—nusra front, who shaved their beards, qwore white hats, and appeared as humanitarian heroes, which is not the case. the same people were killing syrian soldiers, and you have the proof on the internet. so the same thing with the attack, in khan sheikhoun, whether they did that at all. those children, where

the dead at all? who committed the attack, if there was one? we have no information at all, no investigation. seizing it is a fabrication? definitely. 10096 for us, it is a fabrication. —— so you think that it is a fabrication? we don't have the chemical weapons arsenal and if we did we would not use it. less than two weeks, or around ten days before that attack, the terrorists were advancing in many fronts, including the suburbs of damascus, and not far from many fronts, including the suburbs of damascus, and not farfrom khan sheikhoun. let's suppose we have this arsenal and let's suppose we have the will to use it. why didn't he use it when we were retreating and they were advancing? actually the timing of that attacked or alleged attack was when the syrian army was advancing very fast and actually the terrorists were

collapsing, so why use it, if you haveit collapsing, so why use it, if you have it and have the will, why use it in that timing and not when you are ina it in that timing and not when you are in a difficult situation? logically. if you want to use it, if you have it and want to use it, again, if we suppose that, why use it against civilians and not use it against the terrorists we are fighting? thirdly, in that area we don't have an army, we don't have any object in khan sheikhoun, and it is not a strategic area. what would be the reason for attacking it, militarily? ameen from a military point of view. —— i mean from a military point of view. of course, the foundation for us, morally we would not do it, because it is not acceptable. we would not have the support of the public. well, theresa may who has been at the sandhurst

military academy this morning where she was representing the queen for services was asked her reaction, not just the president assad's interview but also to the chemical attack last week, and borisjohnson‘s attempts to try to get the g7 to unite against assad's resume and russia's support of him. firstly, this is what she said about the interview. on the issue of the chemical attack, british scientists have analysed material from the side of the attack and they are very clear about the substance used and as our ambassador to the united nations made clear yesterday, like the united states we believe it is highly likely that attack was carried out by the assad resume. apart from anything else we believe it is only the regime that has the capability to undertake such an attack and make such an attack, and as regards the work foreign secretary has done, boris johnson did an excellent job secretary has done, boris johnson did an excellentjob in bringing together the g7, bringing together international opinion and enabling

rex tillerson, the secretary of state from the united states, to go to moscow with a very clear message, a consensus fi’on'i to moscow with a very clear message, a consensus from the international community. russia is on the wrong side of this argument but we are willing to work with russia to bring an end to the conflict in syria, to bring about a political situation and political solution in syria, but that political solution has to be without assad. that was the clear message the foreign secretary took to the g7 and the g7 gave the secretary rex tillerson. and we have had more this afternoon from president donald trump has been tweeting about the russia and us relationship. we can see it here. he says... gary o'donoghue is in washington. despite that latest tweet... us—russia relations have nosedived rapidly — and that latest interview with

president assad will anger people in the white house? yes, i don't think there will be much surprise over it. he has been echoing what the russians have been saying for a few days now. he does kind of veer along the lines of saying there is no evidence and we don't know, the saying it is in fact a complete fabrication, so there is not a lot of consistency with what he says in that but i don't think they will be surprised at it. one thing that is an interesting point i think in his argument is this business of what interest did i have in dropping chemical weapons on that particular place, even if it was controlled by the opposition? he claims it was not important militarily, and it is a strange thing for them to have done ata time strange thing for them to have done at a time when they were turning things around with russian support, whether they were trying to test the us and its coalition allies or felt they could get away with it, who

knows, but it is an interesting point, one that was echoed by the former ambassador to syria, the uk former ambassador to syria, the uk former ambassador to syria, the uk former ambassador to syria this morning on the today programme, wondering what the logic would have been for the resume to do that, but there is certainly no doubt here in washington, and you heard there from theresa may, no doubt in the uk either, that the syrians were behind this. so there is pretty much accepted everywhere that the relationship between the united states and russia could not be much worse. then you have the president tweeting as he has just done. worse. then you have the president tweeting as he hasjust done. what does he know that we don't? well, the rhetoric is often different, as we know, with this president, from the reality. we know he is capable of some quite fast and surprising changes of direction, let's put it like that. we have seen this on nato for example yesterday. not so long

ago it was obsolete, today, not obsolete. we have seen it on china, yesterday it was a currency manipulator, today it is not. russia, with the potential to be a great friend, and now it is the worst relations, so i think he will feel that perhaps it may be the thing that could bring things around, a trump and putin summit, no sign of that at the moment but i think it will have to happen at some point. perhaps if they can find some way to work around this syrian problem, but that is the real sticking point at the moment for them. they cannot agree on the future of assad. they cannot agree on future of assad. they cannot agree on his position. even though putatively they are on the same side in terms of wanting to eliminate the ha rd est in terms of wanting to eliminate the hardest groups like is from syria itself. —— in terms of wanting to eliminatejihadist itself. —— in terms of wanting to eliminate jihadist groups from syria

itself. gary o'donoghue, from washington, thank you. the education secretary justine greening has defended plans to push ahead with new grammar schools in england saying she wants to create schools that are "truly open to all." in a speech this morning, she said she wanted grammar schools to serve more children from disadvantaged backgrounds. labour argues that poorer pupils won't be helped by new grammars. our education correspondent gillian hargreaves reports. it's big business coaching children to pass the test for grammar school. there are only 163 such schools in england at the moment, but the government plans to open more. some parents, like these at a tuition centre in kent, find such an education immensely appealing. my daughter has been in a grammar school for the past five years, and i have found that she is really progressing. the girls of the grammar school, they are really behaving themselves, and it's notjust the academics. they do extracurricular activities, which can kind of polish their personality, and they are much more focused. it's about having more options for what schools my son can go to at the age of 11. there's a variety of schools open to him, but there's no guarantee, so it wasjust about us giving him more choices, more options.

critics say grammars only benefit wealthier families, which is why the government says they must do more to appeal to what they describe as ordinary working families. this morning, they defined such families as those with a household income of around £33,000 per year. 36% of grammar school places are taken up by these families. but grammars are dominated by the most well—off families. more than half, 53% of places, are taken up by them. i want these new schools to work for everyone. this will be a new model of grammars, truly open to all. we will insist on that. and it will reflect the choices of local parents and communities. labour changed the law in 1998 to prevent any new grammar schools being built, saying they only helped the privileged few. unfortunately, grammar schools are not open to everyone and they are selective in their nature, and all the evidence suggests that people

from working—class backgrounds don't get into grammar schools. you have to pay for private tuition to get into them. and they are a closed shop for most children, and actually a comprehensive system is the best way forward. a new generation of grammar schools would be controversial, but the education secretary says she wants them open to all children, whatever their backgrounds. she is, in effect, rebranding grammar schools in the hope that she can see off the critics. plans for new grammar schools are still being drawn up, but are expected to be published before the summer. gillian hargreaves, bbc news. an editor of the magazine schools week. what do you think of the

proposal? justine greening could not see anybody, when asked about who this would help,, so it will not help the poorest pupils, and we have had justine greening coming out and saying maybe it will help another group, a group cold ordinary working families, and we think it might work for them or at the very least we think that these parents want the schools even if there is no evidence it will work —— a group called ordinary working families. lots of grammar schools are outstanding and do very well, but they do select the geekin do very well, but they do select the geek ina do very well, but they do select the geek in a very particular population and idea thatjustine greening today is saying these schools for everybody is incorrect. you need to be earning around £50,000 just for your child to have something like even a 50—50 shot of getting into this kind of school. i think it may

even be higher. but it is not directly related to the parents‘ income? it is just the directly related to the parents‘ income? it isjust the breakdown directly related to the parents‘ income? it is just the breakdown at the moment. you don't need that money to apply? you don't need it to apply but these are not schools were everybody has a good shot of going and, infact everybody has a good shot of going and, in fact almost nobody has a shot of going in because the only ta ke shot of going in because the only take a small number of pupils. what is wrong with selecting by academic ability? again the evidence suggests that in the areas where this happens those schools tend to do very well, so those schools tend to do very well, so the schools that select picked all the pupils already doing well at the age of ii, but for all the other pupils the schools in the area tends to be less good, so although there may be a slight benefit for the people who go to the selective grammar school, for the other people there is a bigger disk benefits so overall it does not do good things to have more grammar schools. we have someone from another think tank on have someone from another think tank ona have someone from another think tank on a little earlier, and he was supportive of the idea of having more grammar schools, but in deprived areas where there are no good or outstanding schools at the moment. what you think of that? one

of the areas mentioned a lot is a small area near liverpool, near where i am from as well, and that has had lots of problems with its schools but i don't think again picking your favourite 20% of children there and giving them a great education and not turning around the schools for the other 80% is way to go about it. if you look at nearby borrowers including where iam from, at nearby borrowers including where i am from, widnes, there are schools there that have been turned around by academy trusts, and the conservatives should actually proud of some of the things they have done with those, so we know you can turn around schools that are genuinely for everybody, that conference. we have no evidence that grammars will help any better with that. laura, we will leave it there. you very much. —— thank you very much. 13 years ago, more than 1000 people were taken hostage by chechen rebels at a school in beslan in russia. more thah 330 people were killed after russian forces eventually stormed the building — half of those who died were children. today the european court

of human rights ruled that the russian government should have done more to prevent the bloodshed, and it awarded compensation of around £2.5 million to relatives. one survivor has spoken to our moscow correspondent sarah rainsford about how she had no choice but to leave her fatally injured daughter inside the school. she was held with her to my daughters and her youngest was a year away from her eighth birthday when she died in the seat. her mother said she had no choice but to leave her fatally injured daughter inside the school —— when she died in the siege. translation: inside the school —— when she died in the siege. translationzlj inside the school —— when she died in the siege. translation: i kept saying to my daughter and the other kids next to me, don't worry, the authorities will sort it out, and the children started asking, haven't they decided yet? i said, no, not yet. it is very difficult. they need to rescue us so that no one dies. i believed at least the kids would be freed in the morning, then the morning came. by around noon we lost

hope. when i came around after the blast my daughter was sitting by my site. i started to shout for her, andi site. i started to shout for her, and i couldn't find her. she was lying behind me. she wasn't moving, and when i touched her i found there was a hole in the head. i called, but she didn't get it. i saw her wound but i did not realise then that no one could have survived that. it was even more frightening when we got to the canteen than in the gym. they made women stand in the gym. they made women stand in the windows. tanks were firing. the militants gave women curtains and they were waving them and shouting, don't shout, —— wildschut, there are people here. some women fell from the windows and died. i thought the walls and ceiling would collapse.

they didn't prevent terror attack. they didn't prevent terror attack. they didn't prevent terror attack. they didn't rescue us, they couldn't even agree to water to us. for the sake of the children, they could have done more. they could have negotiated so that more children we re negotiated so that more children were freed. the doctor to demands out to officials, but they didn't agree to them, then they started firing. i saw it, and agree to them, then they started firing. isaw it, and he agree to them, then they started firing. i saw it, and he did agree to them, then they started firing. isaw it, and he did nothing to save the children. we mothers had to save the children. we mothers had to do what we could for our children. we brought this case we could look into the eyes of those who survived and say we did everything possible. now, i really wa nt everything possible. now, i really want them to carry out an objective investigation here and to tell the truth about what happened in beslan. a woman who lost her daughter in the beslan tragedy speaking to sarah raynsford. a soldier who ran over and killed two teenage athletes after he'd been drinking with colleagues has been

jailed for six years. stacey burrows and lucy pygott were killed after being hit by michael casey's car, while warming up for a training run in aldershot, hampshire, last november. casey, 2a, from tottenham, pleaded guilty at winchester crown court earlier. the court heard he was over the drink—drive limit when he went through red lights at a pedestrian crossing near his barracks. a british airways co—pilot who believed he had been poisoned by contaminated cockpit air died from an unintentional overdose of sedatives, a coroner has ruled. richard westgate died in 2012 after moving to the netherlands to seek help from a specialist clinic for his symptoms which he thought were caused by "aerotoxic syndrome," which has been called "pilot's disease." duncan kennedy reports. he was at salisbury coroner's court. the coroner said in the weeks and months leading up to the death of richard westcott, the british airways pilot coming he was suffering from anxiety and depression. when he lost his life in

a hotel room in amsterdam in 2012, he had taken some sleeping pills, and the coroner said he did so accidentally and had not intended to ta ke accidentally and had not intended to take his own life. afterwards richard westgate's family expressed frustration with this inquest because they see the whole issue of cabinfume because they see the whole issue of cabin fume was not addressed and they feel it was a contributory factor leading up to richard westgate's death. richard westgate's family have waited four years to hear how he died. they've always claimed that his poor health before his death was a result of breathing in low—level contaminated cabin fumes in the passengerjets he flew. richard westgate, who was 43, died in 2012. he'd been a series of health issues that affected his nervous system, including severe pain in his head. the coroner said that the issue of cabin fumes was beyond the scope of his inquiry, and in a narrative conclusion he said that mr westgate, who worked for ba, was suffering from depression and anxiety. he concluded that mr westgate had

taken some sleeping pills accidentally and had not intended to kill himself. but afterwards, richard westgate's family say they still believe cabin air is an issue in this case. we know there are more sick passengers and crew, and we hope today will encourage the millions who fly to ask questions to ensure something is done to ensure others don't suffer like our son. the vast majority of airlines use a system that bleeds in cabin air through the engines. the airline industry maintains it is a safe system, but campaigners say the air also sucks in organophosphates from the engine oil and can be dangerous. where campaigners and the airline industry do agree in this is that what's most important is the safety of passengers and crew. the civil aviation authority and british airways both insist that cabin air is safe, but those campaigners,

and some of the families involved in all of this, say what's needed is more research and more action. but others who've flown literally millions of miles say they are not convinced cabin fumes are a threat to cabin crew or passengers. if it was as bad as some people make out then there would be a lot more instances of it. i personally have never experienced anything like it, and therefore one becomes sceptical about the whole thing. british airways has already said they wouldn't fly jets if they thought cabin air was dangerous, and other airlines have said the same, but campaigners and families like those of richard westgate don't agree, and these are differences that will continue. that family was certainly frustrated today that the inquest hadn't looked at the wider issue of cabin fumes in passenger jets. the coroner made it clear cabin

fumes was beyond the scope of this inquest and so confined his inquiry solely to the events in that amsterdam hotel room in 2012 when richard westgate died. the airline industry has insisted all along cabin air is absolutely safe, but as you heard in that report there are some families and campaigners who disagree and say more research is needed. duncan kennedy there, thank you. young, vulnerable people are being targeted by adverts online which offer accommodation in exchange for sex, according to a bbc investigation. the deals, which are legal, are on classified ad sites. charities have called them exploitative. lauren moss reports. i had no idea what i was getting into. he took me into his living room and got me drinks, and then after that it was straight upstairs, and go for it. vulnerable and desperate for a roof over her head. gemma answered a sex—for—rent online advert.

he would do what he wanted to do, forcefully. and ijust sort of, yeah, went along with it. and, after the third time, i started feeling physically unwell. these are some of the offers we found openly placed on a classified ad site. free accommodation, but with strings attached. i was thinking once a week, something like that. i'm happy as long as there's sex involved. i spoke with several men posting adverts. all wanted photos of me beforehand. all were clear how the arrangement would work. these are real conversations, voiced by actors. well, you know, you agree sort of a couple of times a week, pop into my room sort of thing? there's a girl staying here now who's done the same. two or three times a week, basically. it's a very easy—going house. some say those agreeing to these

deals could be getting into a very dangerous situation. but, disturbingly, this is all perfectly legal. i think these adverts go as close to the edge of the law as they possibly can without breaking the law. they would argue that they have chosen voluntarily to enter that situation. the trouble is when you have a vulnerable person that then becomes exploited, the concept of choice soon disappears. i contacted craigslist for comment, but they didn't get back to me. well, i'm really grateful to the bbc for uncovering some of this, because i've been unaware of it. there is an onus on the owners of these platforms to root this out and to deal with it, and i'm being very explicit because if they don't stand up to this and accept their responsibility, i will be pushing for legislation to do it for them. more adverts are appearing every day. i was under quite a bit of pressure to keep him happy. because they could basicallyjust come over to you and say, i want sex now, and you really don't have much of a choice

because you know it's their home and you want to just keep that place. with an increasing number of young homeless people, it's feared these adverts will only continue to exploit those most in need. lauren moss, bbc news. there's more on this story at 6.30pm on bbc south east today in kent and sussex, and on the bbc iplayer. now, let's catch up with the weather, and it's a holiday weekend. what does it mean? the weather is looking a little mixed over the next couple of days but for many of us. predominately dry with some sunshine out there. there was quite a lot of sunshine this morning but as you can see from the satellite picture the cloud has been bubbling up through the day, particularly in the north and west. still some sunshine in the south and east through the remainder of the afternoon. a bit of a north—westerly breeze blowing a few showers in the south and east through the remainder of the

afternoon. a bit of a north—westerly breeze blowing a few showers into scotland, perhaps one or two back into northern england and northern ireland as well. 1044. certainly cooler than the weakened. through this evening and overnight, cloud increases from the west. a couple of wea k fro nts increases from the west. a couple of weak fronts bringing increases from the west. a couple of weakfronts bringing patchy increases from the west. a couple of weak fronts bringing patchy rain to northern ireland, southern scotland, northern ireland, southern scotland, northern ireland, southern scotland, northern ireland and wales. to the south, mostly drive—through good friday, and also further north for northern ireland and scotland, returned to sunny spells. pretty damp and cloudy right to the middle swathe of the country. to the easter weekend it is looking rather cool but there will be some dry and sunny weather and a little rain around on good friday and on easter sunday. hello. this is bbc news. the headlines: syria's president assad says reports of last week's chemical attack in the country is a 100% fabrication

and that the syrian army had given up all chemical weapons. so, there was no order to make any attack. we don't have any chemical weapons. we gave up our arsenal a few years ago. even if we had them, we would not use them. the education secretary defends her plans for new selective grammar schools in england, saying they'll be truly open to all. labour says they do not support social mobility. the european court of human rights has ruled that russia should have done more to prevent the beslan school massacre, in which more than 300 people, mostly children, died. a bbc investigation has discovered that landlords are offering rent—free accommodation online to young, vulnerable people in exchange for sex. charities have described the adverts as exploitative. now, time for the sport. great britain have picked up

a second medal at the track cycling world championships in hong kong. after elinor barker picked up a silver in the womens scratch race yesterday chris latham has won a bronze in the men's race today. but that's been the only success today, with gb‘s cyclists missing out on a bronze in the mean pursuit earlier. quite happy with that. i think the lads were a little bit unlucky. i'm happy to come away with a medal, finally. and yeah... the liverpool manager jurgen klopp has been giving his reaction to the bomb—attack on the borussia dortmund team bus on tuesday night that saw the defender marc bartra in need of an operation for a broken wrist. their champions league tie was postponed for 2h hours. klopp was head coach at dortmund for seven years before leaving in 2015. it was a really difficult moment for

me, because i was i don't know how lofton in the team hotel with my tea m lofton in the team hotel with my team in dortmund. i know exactly the road, exactly the place where it is. a lot of my friends were in the bus. when they played the game, they tried to be at their best. i heard the interviews after the game and i saw the faces of my former players, andi saw the faces of my former players, and i saw the shock in their eyes, and i saw the shock in their eyes, and it was really, really hard. the six—man shortlist for the pfa player of the year awards has been revealed. riyad mahrez won it last yearfor his part in leicester's premier league triumph. and another of their title winning heroes has made the list again, this time for helping push chelsea to the top of the table. he's only scored twice this season, but the last was the winner

against manchester united in the fa cup quarterfinals to keep them on for a possible double. they face tottenham in the semi—finals in less than a fortnight. also on the list is fellow blue eden hazard, in the top left. manchester united's zlatan ibrahimovic, tottenhams harry kane and everton‘s romelu lukaku are both up for the main award and also the young player of the year. and arsenal's alexis sanchez makes up the six. you can find the full young players‘ list and also the contenders for the women's awards on the bbc sport website. west ham's michail antonio is out for the rest of the season with a hamstring injury that he picked up in their win over swansea last weekend.

antonio's scored nine goals this season and he's also been called up by england. he might miss out on the next squad for the world cup qualifier against scotland in june. the draw has been made for the first round of the world snooker championship that starts this saturday in sheffield. the defending champion mark selby will face fergal o'brien. and the five—time champion ronnie o'sullivan will play gary wilson. coverage from the crucible is across the bbc. jenson button looks set to replace fernando alonso for next month's monaco grand prix. alonso is skipping the race to take part in the indy 500. button retired from formula one at the end of last season, but is contracted to mclaren as a reserve driver. that's all sport for now.

will have more in the next hour. it will be good to see a winner! syria's president assad has given his first interview since last week's suspected chemical weapons attack. he's said reports of the attack by his forces are "100% fabricated". he's also claimed that syria's military has given up all chemical weapons. so there was no order to make any attack. we don't have any chemical weapons. we gave up our arsenal two years ago. even if we had them, we wouldn't use them, and we have never used our chemical arsenal in our history. so what happened? as i said, the only source is al-qaeda. we cannot take it seriously, but our impression is that the west,

mainly the united states, is hand in glove with the terrorists. they fabricated the whole story in order to have a pretext for the attack. it wasn't an attack because of the attack in khan sheikhoun. it is one event. it is stage one — the play, that we saw on social media and on tv, the propaganda. and the second stage, the military attack. that is what we believe is happening, because it is only a few days — two days, 48 hours — between the play and the attacks, and there have been no investigations, no concrete evidence about anything. the only thing were allegations and propaganda, and then the strike. so who, according to you, is responsible for this alleged chemical attack? the allegation itself...

by al-qaeda, and the al—nusra front, so we don't have to investigate. they announced it — it is under their control, no one else's. the education secretary, justine greening, says she wants a new model of grammar schools in england which are open for everyone. she says she particularly wants to make sure there are stronger educational outcomes for what she refers to as ordinary working families, and not just the privileged few. but new analysis from the government shows a majority of selective school places go to more affluent families. justine greening says she wants to create schools that are truly open to all. i believe that selection in new 21st—ce ntu ry i believe that selection in new 21st—century state grammar schools will help people make the most of their talents. i don't accept the arguments from those who critique grammars and selection whilst simultaneously ignoring the views of

pa rents. simultaneously ignoring the views of parents. on the one hand, they call for no new parents. on the one hand, they call for no new grammar parents. on the one hand, they call for no new grammar schools, but on the other hand, they have nothing to say about the grammars that we do have. they aren't listening to the choices of parents when we know how oversubscribed grammars are. we are listening. many parents from ordinary backgrounds believe in the chance to send their children to a grammar school, and it's the kind of school they think suits their child, so school they think suits their child, so they get a great start. and you don't make this country better by taking away opportunities from children that deserve them. you do the opposite. you level up, you extend opportunities to those who haven't got them, and that's why this government believes it must be pa rents this government believes it must be parents and communities who have the final say on whether to have a grammar school in their area. joining me now from our westminster studio is jo hutchinson, director for social mobility and vulnerable learners at the education policy institute. thanks forjoining us, jo. this

group, ordinary working families that the government has identified and wants to focus on in its promotion of grammar schools, do they need help, in your opinion? well, when you look at the statistics the government published yesterday in which they have been using to back up the suggestions of increasing the selection available within the school system in england, actually, the striking thing about the outcomes for children in terms of attainment and progress at school is that the group that stands out as being distinctly vulnerable is the group that are already recognised and supported via the pupil premium. they have a clear and distinct disadvantage in terms of attainment and progress in school. when we look at the group that the government is now at the group that the government is now calling ordinary working families, actually, they stand out as being slightly above—average. families, actually, they stand out

as being slightly above-average. so you are saying they don't need further help? well, we are obviously interested in improving outcomes for all children in schools in england, but if you want to set aside a group and think about a group we are concerned about from social mobility perspective, based on the government's analysis, this group is not an effectively targeted group, not an effectively targeted group, not defined by a clear educational needin not defined by a clear educational need in the way that the pupil premium group is. what do you think of grammar schools as an engine for social mobility? well, i think, u nfortu nately, social mobility? well, i think, unfortunately, the evidence shows that grammar schools do not level up opportunities for children. in fact, there was a second problem alongside there was a second problem alongside the one—off error access for all children, which is that studies have shown that where you have a concentration of grammar schools in the locality, children who don't get a place in those face a gcse penalty

compared with similar children in compressions of areas. they appear to do worse than they would have been a comprehensive area. when we think about proposals for increasing selective schooling, we also need to consider that, actually, grammar schools benefit a minority at the expense of the majority, and that's true even for ordinary working families. using the government's statistics public yesterday, i worked out this morning that three quarters of ordinary working families ina quarters of ordinary working families in a grammar school area should expect to miss out on a place ina grammar school. we don't yet know exactly what the government has in mind, but what the government has in mind, but what if it wants to change the model of grammar schools, introducing quotas, perhaps, for disadvantaged children, or as one contributor said earlier, having them in

disadvantaged areas? if you apply quotas, it won't reduce the disadvantage. overall, the net impact on disadvantaged children living in the error is still negative, no matter how high you set the quota, or how low you set the pass mark per entry. that is why disadvantaged children are at a huge disadvantaged children are at a huge disadvantage in passing the 11 plus. jo hutchinson, thanks for talking to us. the thames will resemble its 19th century heyday this weekend as it'll be home to some of the most spectacular sailing ships from around europe. they'll be parading along the river as part of the 2017 tall ships festival. the event is back in london, where 3 years ago it attracted more than 1.1 million visitors. our correspondent nesta mcgregor is on woolwich pier in south east london. if you are fanatical

about all things nautical, this is really the hottest ticket in town at the weekend. as you mentioned, over the next three days, more than 30 ships from all over europe will gather here before sailing to places like portugal, bermuda, boston and as far as canada. the ship we are on now is pretty menacing to look at — jet black. this is one of the most popular here by far, because it has a little bit of navigation history. this was the first ship to successfully sale across the world. joining me is the logistics officer on board. as i mentioned, this is an exact replica of the first ship to sail around the world. the spanish are a proud people, so some significance in spanish history? yeah, we are very proud of it.

it was the first ship to circumnavigate the world, promoted by the crown of spain, and the replica is also a spanish ship, built in1991 in spain. as we mentioned, an exact replica with a few changes. i have seen a television downstairs, and some beds below deck. this was part of a fleet that left seville in 1519, 2115 men left and just 18 returned. what would life on a ship like this have been like all those years ago? a hard life. they slept on the main deck, where no matter what the conditions where. they have punishment if they didn't do the right thing, like, they killed them. they ran out of water and food for part of the journey, so it was very tough. thank you. as i mentioned, this is definitely one of the main attractions today. this is the quarterdeck.

this is the whip staff, and i can tell you now i am about to set course for lunch. we have been here all morning. i reckon there should be some good italian food if we go south west. back to you guys. in a moment, a summary of the business news, but first, the headlines on bbc news. president assad says reports of last week's chemical attacks are 100% fabrication and that the syrian army has given up chemical weapons. the education secretary says she will create a new wave of grammar schools in england, open to ordinary working families and not be privileged few. the european court of human rights says that russia should have done more to prevent the beslan school siege in 200a. the russian government says it will appeal against the ruling. postal unions are threatening to ballot for industrial action

after royal mail said it would close its defined benefit pension scheme in 2018. the postal service said that the pension plan was currently in surplus, but it was not sustainable. royal mail contributes about aoom pounds a year, but it said this would have to increase to more than £1 billion by 2018. starbucks has blamed a collapse in uk profits on the impact of the brexit vote and a fall in the number of customers. pre—tax profits at the us coffee chain slumped to £13.4m in the year to 2nd october 2016, down 60% on the £34.2m it made in 2015. it said, starbucks in the uk has experienced significant economic and geopolitical headwinds this year which affected sales. property surveyors are getting gloomier about the state of the housing market, according to the royal institution of chartered surveyors. its latest monthly survey shows that stock levels are at a new record low. the number of people interested

in buying a property — and the number of sales — were also "stag na nt" in march, it said. however, because of the shortage of housing, it said prices in many parts of the uk are continuing to accelerate. uk record label trade income is at a five—year high following growth in 2016. streaming revenue and final cells have helped. there is something known as a value gap, a gap between the value created on, say, you tube, and a value of that gets back to the people who created the tunes. we're joined gets back to the people who created the tunes. we'rejoined by gets back to the people who created the tunes. we're joined by a representative from the british phonographic industry. there was a recovery, because the industry went through a bad patch five or ten yea rs through a bad patch five or ten years ago. piracy meant that

companies were unable to get revenue from sales. how has that been turned around? the industry was the first to go into the digital revolution and the first,. it embraced digital technology, showed a great deal of innovation, and we work closely with retailers and streaming platforms. streaming is certainly having an effect because it is so convenient, gives people access to around 50 million songs at the touch of a button, so it is something people can appreciate and enjoy. i think more people are notjust streaming but subscribing to premium services on offer, and these increased reve nu es on offer, and these increased revenues are vital, because it means that record companies can reinvest those in new music, new artists, and keep the success story of british music growing all the time. there are challenges, because the video platforms are not paying anything like the same amount. the value gap,

the difference between the value created on the platforms and the amount of money that gets back to the artists and creators, how do you narrow that? only through legislation. the reason it came about was that in the early days of the internet, legislators, understandably, wanted to protect fledgling company ‘s online and didn't want to make them liable for the illegal downloading that was going on. now, a decade or two on, they are huge and responsible for billions of streams, and they pay something like a fifth less than something like a fifth less than some of the audio streaming platforms. it is unfair, given the amount of music they use. we are calling on governments at uk and eu level to close these loopholes and create a level playing field. the services tend to be global in outlook, which doesn't always help local artists and new music in this country, so we need to make sure

thatis country, so we need to make sure that is addressed. post brexit, if we are now forming new trading arrangements with countries around the world, we have to make sure that music sales are protected and we can carry on protecting our british music exports. talk about the relationship with the eu after brexit and the challenges there. as an artist, can i notjust go to the eu, geta an artist, can i notjust go to the eu, get a visa, and an artist, can i notjust go to the eu, geta visa, and go an artist, can i notjust go to the eu, get a visa, and go and play there? it will become more difficult, which is a concern. lots of british artists perform in europe and vice versa. there are genuine concerns about the mobility of movement. also, having legislation to ensure that intellectual property is protected, and there's a concern, obviously, if we are changing the nature of our relationships, that things like those become less important, though they are critical

to the creative industries. they are worth £87 billion in the uk. music is just part of that success, and it is just part of that success, and it is vital the government supports that, going forward. fascinating subject. thank you. family businesses seldom last more than three generations, then they are the —— then they either fold get taken over. simpsons is an example. one member of the family bought the business back in the 80s. he has turned it into a business with almost 1900 stores in the uk and ireland, and a shop in beijing. he told the bbc about his rather unusual approach to annual general meetings. there is a little trick i do every three years as a way of stimulating things. we don't have forward planning meetings, buti write a chairman's report for 15 yea rs' write a chairman's report for 15 years' time. it takes you away from

today. instead of writing a plan, where most peoples ‘s an extrapolation of where they are today, they produce it and say it will be fine because the sales go up faster than the costs and they make more money, so we can put that the bed. my forward plan, my annual report for 2032, which i've just written, is far—away. it is trying to guess what is going to happen. the most interesting thing is the thing is that absolutely don't change. the thing that matters most to me is the fact that, in 2032, one of the bits of our culture we've got to keep will be making sure we pick great people and let them get on with it, what i call upside down management. that will still be the way we run our business. john simpson of timpson ‘s. —— john timpson. no trading on friday. the

market is a little quiet, despite good results being up from some of the us banks. a slowdown in the market as we head towards the easter holiday. that's the business news. 200 years ago in paris a wooden cart with wheels was fixed to a track and sent down a steep slope. the rollercoaster was born. since then, they have made countless stomachs churn and millions of heads spin. tim muffet reports. the roller—coaster story began in paris in 1817. the french put like a wooden cart onto a track that they built specifically to ride on. roller—coasters generally, and this is a great feature of roller—coasters, haven't changed all that much, really. in the 1920s and ‘30s, roller—coasters boomed in popularity. but in america, it became clear their appeal could go down as well as up. many theme parks closed during the great depression. after the war, roller—coasters recaptured people's imaginations, becoming quicker and bigger. if we're thinking about subjecting

the body to different physical sensations, the extremes, if you like, the 3gs or ags that you get on roller—coasters, there is nowhere else in life that you can do that other than riding giant machines like this. an accident at alton towers in 2015 which left four seriously injured was a reminder that riding a roller—coaster is not risk—free, although generally the safety record is very good. doors closing. in many theme parks, virtual reality is the latest big thing. this is derren brown's ghost train at thorpe park. thanks to a special headset, what you see is not what you get. screaming laughter brendan walker advises attractions on what gets punters‘ blood pumping. it's one of the drawbacks that they are so experimental you don't know what people are going to respond to.

when this attraction opened last year, there were complaints it wasn't thrilling or scary enough. it had to be redesigned and relaunched. generation upon generation are constantly seeking novelty. and what was novel for, you know, my parents or their grandparents, now is like a walk in the park from me, so we need new things. and this is new. at blackpool pleasure beach, the european coaster club are doing what they love best, convinced thrill—seeking is most effective when it's a physicalfeeling. 200 years of twisting, turning, spinning and spiralling. the appeal of the roller—coaster shows no sign of falling away. tim muffett, bbc news, blackpool. the queen has given money to pensioners in leicester to mark maundy thursday, a tradition dating back to the 13th century. she was with the duke of edinburgh as she distributed money to 91 men and 91 women — representing each of her 91 years. hundreds of well—wishers lined the streets outside leicester cathedral to welcome them for the service. theresa may stepped

in to represent the queen today at the sovereign's parade at the royal military academy. as she inspected the troops at sandhurst, the military band played the sounds of star wars. needless to say, it's gone viral across social media. if anyone else sends a tweet saying may the force be with her, we have already done it! the weather isn't going to change an awful lot over the next week. it's

been a pretty cloudy day for many of us. been a pretty cloudy day for many of us. the summary for the easter weekend — rather cool, some sunshine, not a lot of rain. we won't see big swings in temperature from desperately cold to particularly warm or anything. it will be somewhere in the middle. that is what we have this evening. a fair bit of cloud around, some showers in north—western areas, and it will turn fairly chilly tonight, but not desperately cold, around eight celsius first thing tomorrow. good friday itself will be more overcast. we don't expect heavy rain. there might be some heavy bursts across parts of wales, particularly the hilly areas. southern part of the uk will be predominantly dry, temperatures around 12—14 c. for some of us, it

may end up being very similar to today. central parts of the country will be more overcast and dull at times, a little bit of rain. most of the rain is light. across scotland, continuing showers. it is chilly — single figure temperatures at lunchtime. these weather fronts are crossing the country, bringing more substantial rain across wales on friday night. on saturday, cold air coming in from the north. by the time it reaches us, it is cool rather than cold, but chilly enough. single figure temperatures across scotla nd single figure temperatures across scotland on saturday, barely double figures across the bulk of england, maybe 16 celsius in london. there will be dry, chilly air coming in from the north. on sunday, high pressure a cross from the north. on sunday, high pressure across southern from the north. on sunday, high pressure across southern and south—western areas, so we can say

that you are more likely to hang onto drier, brighter weather here than, say, across central areas, for there could be more clout than spots of rain. to be honest, we're picking out details. in monday, whether you are in belfast, cardiff, manchester or leeds, it will be more or less the same, around 12 celsius and the risk of a few spots of rain, but mostly dry. that's it. this is bbc news. i'm simon mccoy. the headlines at 4.00pm: syria's president says claims that his regime carried out a suspected chemical attack are "one hundred per cent fabrication," but theresa may says the evidence against assad's regime was clear. the west, mainly the united states, is hand in glove with the terrorists. they fabricated the whole story. like the united states, we believe it is highly likely that attack was carried out by the assad regime. the education secretary wants new grammar schools in england to do more to help ordinary working families. the european court of human rights rules that russia should have done more to prevent the beslan school

siege in 20011. a bbc investigation finds that landlords are offering rent—free accommodation to young, vulnerable people in exchange for sex. i'm reeta chakrabarti, and in the next hour: