this could election. meetings like this could have a much longer and more important bearing on how brexit unfolds in the next few months. these are critical days for the eu, ministers meeting in luxembourg tomorrow to finalise their negotiating mandate ahead of a european council meeting at the weekend that won't of course include the uk, we are not in the room until we sit down and negotiate. i am sure this evening in downing street they will be discussing the choreography of brexit and the order in which things will be discussed, the divorce deal, the terms of separation, the rights of eu citizens and some talk about the future trading relationship between the uk and eu. what about the pending election, does that get in the way of anything that might be discussed? to the eu it doesn't make any difference whatsoever. their timetable, we know, is that they will clarify their negotiating

mandate, perhaps as soon is this weekend. the commission then will have the power to start negotiating. but we didn't expect that to begin or talks to happen until at least mid, latejune, early or talks to happen until at least mid, late june, earlyjuly, or talks to happen until at least mid, latejune, earlyjuly, until the french elections were out of the way, so i don't think the uk election makes any difference to the beginning of talks. some in europe, like hops that, were saying at the weekend that the election in his mind went make any difference to the way these talks will unfold and i think that is right. is there any suggestion at eu level, we see two highly significant figures arriving at downing street this evening, is there any idea of tactics, are we looking at a good cup, bad cop roush tea m looking at a good cup, bad cop roush team —— routine? looking at a good cup, bad cop roush team -- routine? possibly. the various institutions of the eu, it feels like to me, have slightly different takes on the brexit process. the commission, who will be

doing the day—to—day hard nitty—gritty negotiation with david davis, the brexit secretary, my impression is far more committed the idea that all elements of the divorce have to be sorted out before there can be constructive meaningful conversations about future, you know, a transitional trading deal, let alone a long—term free trade agreement if that is in fact what the uk and eu are aiming at. the european council, which represents the member states, is perhaps more inclined to allow the beginning of talks around the long—term future to begin, not in parallel with the divorce, but they are slightly more aligned to the uk's hopes, and then the european parliament, which has a vote at the end of the process, sound pretty hard ball about the whole thing. be you has slightly different approaches according to which institution do listen to but the message being delivered to

theresa may today i think is that the european union is of one and firmly of the opinion that the king —— the choreography to talks that they are about to make explicit is that of the eu, and the uk will have to abide by them. theresa may knew that as soon as possible 50 was triggered the ball went firmly into the eu's court about how these talks should progress. —— as soon as article 50. ian haslam has this report. fire crews were on the scene shortly after half austin this morning. immediately efforts began to bring the blaze under control. —— half past ten. we have accomplished in

widespread incident at the location to lay. we are working closely with oui’ to lay. we are working closely with our partners to complete this as soon as possible. we think there are no casualties. the building is run by the christie in partnership with the university of manchester and cancer research uk. it is a big shock and we have had messages of concern from across the country and the world. it could have a major impact and set us back on the important work we have been doing in a search with partners. by lunchtime emergency services were continuing to arrive, while staff were among dozens to arrive, while staff were among d oze ns of to arrive, while staff were among dozens of onlookers. where the green walls are, that is my lab. we have cells growing there, i don't know if they will be ok. everything has gone, pretty much. a lot of work has gone, pretty much. a lot of work has gone up in smoke because somebody has burnt the toast. it is not part

of the christie hospital, it is a separate building altogether, so all of the patients are safe. as you can see there are around 12 fire vehicles still at the scene. —— i2 firefighters. a small number of treatments still had to be postponed while some patients were moved from areas affected by smoke. we arrived as it was beginning, there wasjust as it was beginning, there wasjust a column of smoke, then the first fire engine arrived as we parked up. by fire engine arrived as we parked up. by late afternoon came confirmation the fire had been brought under control. focus will now shift to the cause of it and the extent of the damage. mps have criticised the system for providing school places in england describing it as "incoherent" and "poor value for money". the public accounts committee is concerned that free schools are sometimes opened in areas without a shortage of places, and where other schools are struggling to make ends meet. here's our education correspondent, gillian hargreaves. ministers believe free schools

are key to meeting demand for more school places and they plan to open 500 by 2020. they are state funded, but independently run by charities or groups of parents. the public accounts committee says that while free schools are needed in some areas in england, in others they're creating as much as 20% spare capacity and wasting public money. there is an ageing stock of buildings and at the same time the government is rushing to fund new free schools, but it's not putting them in good buildings. often they are in old office buildings, long—standing temporary accommodation, buildings without playgrounds, buildings without sports facilities. we don't think this is a long—term, sustainable approach to the future education of our children. the mps' investigation builds on a national audit office report in february which highlighted how billions were being spent on free schools while existing school buildings were old and deteriorating. this new report notes that last year the dfe provided £45 billion to maintain and improve schools,

but it still faces significant challenges over the next few years as buildings continue to deteriorate. the department for education says free schools are popular with parents and provide excellent value for money. bristol's main music venue is to get a new name. the year ‘s critics have said that the link with colston parade and the slave trader who gave it its name was toxic. the name colston parade be seen all over the city of bristol, because of this man, edward colston, a i7th—century merchant who made a huge amount of money from slavery. he spent some on charitable causes and his statue describes him as virtuous and wise but the truth behind his wealth, that had links to

the slave trade, led to oversee —— over 2000 to sign a petition to change the name of colston hall. campaigners were thrilled but changing the name of a place that has been there for over 150 years will be tricky. it is a massive change because colston hall has a lwa ys change because colston hall has always been called coulston hall, everybody knows it as the big building that is gold. he did something that is seen as a crime now so something that is seen as a crime now so depending what they change the name too i guess it is a good change but i can see why people would complain because people don't like change. over the years big names have played here like the beatles, david bowing and rob dhillon but the bristol band massive attack have always refused because of the name. now the title colston, which today has been described as toxic, will be replaced by something new and possibly commercial. a rhino called sudan is looking

for love on the dating app tinder. his keepers in kenya have posted his details on the site, hoping the 15—year old animal will find a female rhino to help protect the species. tim allman reports. #je t‘aime # oui, je t‘aime # meet sudan. he is literally one of a kind, the last male northern white rhino on earth. and what do you do if you are feeling lonely these days? go online. tinder is going to broadcast a profile for our rhino sudan. it will be broadcast in 190 countries and in a0 languages. it is really the first time that tinder has done something like that, to that scale. on his profile sudan claims

to perform well under pressure and says he likes to eat grass and chill in the mud, and admits to being six foot tall and weighing 5,000lbs. that's more than 2,000 kilos. obviously, sudan is not really looking to hook up online. this is all about raising around $9 million needed for fertility treatment. sudan having failed to breed successfully the old—fashioned way with these two female northern white rhinos, but there are thousands of southern white rhinos who might be able to help. this is something that will have to be replicated and done at scale. we're going to have to have a breeding programme in kenya to continue to build the number of northern whites so that eventually we have sufficient numbers ultimately to be able to reintroduce them back into the national park. the whole project could take ten or even 15 years and sudan is a3. that's almost 100 in rhino years.

so, swipe right while you can! now a check on the weather forecast. frost is on the way tonight after a day of sunny spells but also april showers in and around london. there we re showers in and around london. there were a few showers early on but most of it was across central and eastern areas, some rain and hailand of it was across central and eastern areas, some rain and hail and sleet and snow mixed in and even spells of sunshine. the cold airfrom and snow mixed in and even spells of sunshine. the cold air from the north looks like it will be shunted out of the way in the next few days. overnight tonight the showers will fade away from the southern half of the uk, the showers will clear and the uk, the showers will clear and the blue tinge of frost is disappearing. in more rural spots we

are looking at temperatures down to three or 4 degrees below zero. very cold for this time of year. gardeners take note. it should be a bright start the many southern counties, a lot of dry and bright weather. a bit more cloud for the northern half of the uk generally, a few breaks here and there but generally cloudy and a bit of rain to be had but fairly light and patchy. a bit of a breeze coming down from the north across scotland, northern ireland, north wales and northern ireland, north wales and northern ireland. after a bright start the cloud comes in. —— bright start the cloud comes in. —— bright start in the south. 11 or 12 degrees the cardiff and belfast. in the evening the rain picks up through a

time but it is mostly light and patchy and spreading south. it turns quite chilly by the end of the night, chilly start to friday but a pretty reasonable end to the week, with variable cloud, some spells of sunshine, not much rain but a shower or two and top temperatures around 14 or so degrees. low pressure to the south—west of us over the weekend, unnoticeable breeze but it will also be quite mild because it is coming up from the south. breezy and milder this weekend for all of us and milder this weekend for all of us but some of us might see some rain. this is bbc news. i'm julian worricker. the headlines at eight. theresa may and jeremy corbyn trade blows about the nhs and leadership in the last prime minister's questions before the general election. strong leadership is about standing up for the many and not the few but when it comes to the prime minister

and the conservatives they only look after the richest and not the rest. the choice is clear, every vote for him is a vote for a chaotic brexit. every vote for me is a vote to strengthen our hand in negotiating the best deal for britain. tonight theresa may is meeting leading eu negotiators at downing street to discuss the uk's brexit plans. tax officials have raided west ham and newcastle united football club,