hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at 2pm. what was used to poison the russian spy and his daugher? we'll find out more while afternoon live is on air — as ministers move to reassure local people. i want to make sure that this investigation responds to evidence, not to rumour, and i want to reassure your viewers and the public that all action is going to be taken to keep everybody safe. as police continue to search various properties — reports that a woman has been escorted by officers into an ambulance and driven away. the eu says a free trade agreement will have to be put into place after brexit — frictionless trade, they say, is impossible. a pick and mix approach for a non member state is out of the question. we are not going to sacrifice these principles, it's simply not in our interest. saudi's crown prince arrives in the uk on a three—day visit — he can expect talks with ministers, lunch with the queen, and maybe the odd protest.

coming up on afternoon live, all the sport. we'll bring you news of england's one day defeat against new zealand and look ahead to a huge night for tottenham in the champions league. juventus are coming to wembley this evening and could we have five british teams in the quarter—finals? talk to you later. and at the end of the rainbow? the weather looks quite for the next few days, uncertain forecast tonight into tomorrow which i will tell you about and also severe weather which i will tell you about later. also coming up — first she was mesmerised by a portrait of the former first lady — a photo of her staring at the picture went viral. then two—year old parker curry got to meet — and dance with — michelle obama. hello everyone — this is afternoon live.

i'm simon mccoy. the home secretary, amber rudd, has said more is now known about the substance involved in the suspected poisoning of a former russian spy, and his daughter. sergei skripal and his daughter yulia remain critically ill in hospital in salisbury in wiltshire, after collapsing on sunday. we'll get more detail of the substance used from police this afternoon — and we'll bring that to you here on afternoon live. our correspondent leila nathoo is at the scene in salisbury. reports in the last few minutes of people being further detained. simon, yes, there has been a flurry of activity here this afternoon after a pretty quiet morning. this restaurant behind me has been cordoned off as part of the investigation since monday evening, and this afternoon we had an emergency response from the fire service, from the ambulance and from police who attended the scene today

in quitea police who attended the scene today in quite a flurry of activity. this isa in quite a flurry of activity. this is a right bang in the city centre here. we think a woman was taken away in an ambulance. we are not yet sure if that is connected but clearly lots of sites of interest in the city centre here for the police investigating. mike lee richard galpin has been following the story so galpin has been following the story so far. with the former russian intelligence officer sergei skripal and his daughter still fighting for their lives in hospital, counterterrorism police are now running the investigation. and they want any witnesses to come forward with information. for example, at the restaurant where the skripals ate not long before they collapsed on a bench in the city centre. today, another sign of how seriously this incident is being treated. what more do we know about the russian connection? senior ministers and intelligence officials holding a meeting at the government's emergency response committee called cobra. and afterwards, the home secretary announced there had been

progress in the investigation into what had made to the skripals so ill last sunday. we do know more about the substance and the police will be making a further substance this afternoon in order to share some of that. we must let the police carry on their work. they will share what they can this afternoon and i'm sure there will be more updates as the investigation continues. scientists at the government's research laboratories at porton down near salisbury have been examining samples to try to work out exactly what substance was involved but despite suspicions russia might be behind what has happened, there are warnings against jumping to conclusions. we need to bear in mind that the police need to look at all avenues, it is notjust a case of deciding that this isa russian state incident. this could be someone else and it is quite possible that someone else has done this so it is really important that we keep an open mind as police officers. in moscow there is growing anger at the way the british media

has been reporting the incident. translation: these people have been used by the foreign media foran anti—russian campaign. it is a traditional campaign. the tradition is to make things up. we can only see it as a provocation. meanwhile, several key locations in salisbury remain cordoned off by the police. it has now been revealed that an ambulance station outside the city has also been sealed off. there are reports of a fire engine being used to hose down the ambulance which took the skripals to hospital. richard galpin, bbc news. we still have very little information coming out from the police so far. as richard said that we are expected to hear from the police later this afternoon about more information that sergei skripal

yulia skripal were exposed to. for now, counterterror police leading the investigation say they are appealing for people who were in salisbury city centre on sunday afternoon any time from 1:30pm onwards. we know that sergei skripal and yulia skripal were found by police at about 4:15pm so there is about three hours where police want to hear from anybody who was in salisbury city centre. they are looking for any leads and trying to piece together a timeline. we know this restaurant, zizzi's command a pub nearby that has also been cordoned off, clearly police are trying to piece together a time when before the events leading up to when sergei skripal and yulia skripal we re sergei skripal and yulia skripal were found on that bench unconscious but for now police just appealing for anyone to come forward if they have any information. leila nathoo, thank you very much. earlier our moscow correspondent sarah rainsford spoke to us about anger in the russian capital, with some accusing britain of stoking anti—russian sentiment. thatin that in fact is the strongest

reaction we have had so far from here in moscow and it is coming from the foreign ministry from the spokeswoman maria zakharova, who has described the accusations and half accusations coming from the uk as utterly groundless. she has talked about baseless accusations and she says this incident is being exploited as part of what she sees asa exploited as part of what she sees as a deliberate campaign to damage relations between the west more broadly and russia. she was also critical in this of the western media saying it has been whipped up, it is an anti—russia campaign and just speculation. she was talking about the need for an open investigation into what happened and for russia to be involved with that. she said that russia was willing and open to corporation command very keen to cooperate with any inquiry. another interesting point from here in russia is how the media here has covered what has been going on. i think the extraordinary thing is that there has been almost no mention in a very powerful state—run media here today. the three key

channels have not mentioned a word and violi discussion in some newspapers has again to be suggest that this is some kind of anti—russian campaign being conducted in the uk and there is no basis of the accusations whatsoever. -- violi basis of the accusations whatsoever. —— violi discussion. we're waiting to hear from the police, we don't know when the information will come but we expect more information on what was used in the attack on sunday if indeed it was used. we will have that on afternoon live. the european union has published guidelines on an agreement on the future relationship between the eu and the united kingdom after britain leaves. donald tusk said since theresa may made clear that the uk intended to leave the european single market and customs union the only option left was to negotiate a trade agreement. donald tusk spoke ata trade agreement. donald tusk spoke at a news conference in luxembourg. i propose that we aim for a trade agreement covering all sectors and

with zero tariffs on goods. lyakhova free—trade agreements it should address services —— like other free—trade agreements. and in fisheries access to fishing waters and resources should be maintained. this positive approach doesn't change the simple fact that because of brexit we will be drifting apart. in fact, this will be the first fta in history that loosens economic ties instead of strengthening them. our agreement will not make trade between the uk and the eu frictionless or smoother. it will make it more complicated and costly than today for all of us. this is the essence of brexit. to sum up, we will enter the

negotiations of the future relations with the uk with an open, positive and constructive mind. but also with realism. from my point of view the outcome of the negotiations must pass two key tests. the test of balance of rights and obligations. for example, the eu cannot agree to grant the uk the rights of norway with the obligations of canada. the test of integrity of the single market. no member state is free to pick only those sectors of the single market it likes, not to accept the role of the ec] only when it fits their interests. by the same token, a pick and mix approach for a non—member state is out of the question. we are not going to

sacrifice these principles. it's simply not in our interests. lots of different views. our europe reporter and fact checker reporter joining us now. there was a certain change of tone, change of mood this morning, donald tusk made it clear we are heading for a free—trade agreement. the cameraman wasjust repositioning because donald tusk has just repositioning because donald tusk hasjust come repositioning because donald tusk has just come out of his lunch with the prime minister of luxembourg. that's why we are here on the outskirts of luxembourg for this press co nfe re nce outskirts of luxembourg for this press conference and meeting today. i'm not sure it was that much of a change in tone, not to contradict somebody as wise as you. for those of us watching the brexit process u nfold of us watching the brexit process unfold over the last few weeks, a lot of stuff in this document today and the stuff donald tusk was saying

is not surprising. for weeks and weeks of the eu has been saying, 0k, weeks of the eu has been saying, 0k, we wa nt weeks of the eu has been saying, 0k, we want to have a special relationship with the uk when it comes to security, when it comes to defence, when it comes to research, education and science and even aviation and things like that but the other thing they said is as if the other thing they said is as if the uk sticks to his red lines and no members of the single market and customs union and no jurisdiction for the european court ofjustice, the best the uk can get us a free—trade agreement. what has changed today is seen it written down in black and white and seeing the constraints that will come with that and also the slightly spine chilling warning in this eu document today that it will come with economic consequences for the uk as well. one important thing to add is that buried in the document in one of the final paragraphs is an offer from the eu, which says to the uk, if you are prepared to compromise and soften your red lines then we, the eu, are prepared to make you a new offer. i've not heard you use the phrase spine chilling before. that's what i'm getting at, we do

seem that's what i'm getting at, we do seem to be entering a different phase. we know we are entering a different phase because finally we are now seen different phase because finally we are now seen the negotiations about the shape of the future relationship coming into view. it is important to stress this is about the shape of the future relationship. that's what the future relationship. that's what the eu treaties say can be negotiated in the next phase of the negotiation. what donald tusk is talking about the product being a free—trade agreement with no tariffs on goods and access for uk services to the eu market but on eu rules, note no specific mention of financial services, what's actually going to be negotiated in the next phase, the eu says, is a political declaration, maybe something about 20-40 declaration, maybe something about 20—ao pages long sketching out where they are going to get to with all of this stuff, not hundreds and hundreds of pages of a trade deal that you would get as a result of the negotiations must say, with canada. very much in the direction of travel and the principles donald tuskis of travel and the principles donald tusk is setting up today. of course, this document is being circulated

amongst the member states today and diplomats will look at it. they have the right to make changes and tweak it here and there if they want to and then it will be signed off by eu leaders at the end of march when they have a summit. there is another interesting thing in the document was asking chris morris about. the eu says that progress on the future relationship is contingent on some kind of agreement on the withdrawal agreement that has been published. that's the terms of the divorce. what i'm not clear about is just how much progress has to be made on the negotiations over the brexit treaty before the eu will even allow these discussions about the future relationship to get started. 0k, discussions about the future relationship to get started. ok, i would have asked more questions but there is only so much telling off i can take. we will leave it there at. thank you. let me put that straight to you. what's the answer? the a nswer to you. what's the answer? the answer is if it appears the withdrawal agreement isn't making proper progress then i think the

prospect of a decent material coming out of the negotiations on the future relationship start to narrow. as adam said, the eu's idea is to come up with a political declaration by about october. it could be slightly more ambitious or slightly less ambitious. if there is a feeling there is no progress being made on those difficult issues, particularly northern ireland, then i think there could be a bit of a go slow on this as well, so they are linked. uk argument will be and has been from the beginning on ahmmed, hang ona been from the beginning on ahmmed, hang on a minute, how do you resolve theissue hang on a minute, how do you resolve the issue on northern ireland until you know what the future relationship looks like? —— on ireland. until we know what the future economic partnership is. innocents in the eu is in the driving seat on this because it has the ability to slow down the whole process if it thinks the withdrawal agreement isn't making sufficient speed, or making sufficient progress. it wasn't my question so let's check with adam if he is happy

with that answer. very good answer, i will file it away over the next weeks as talks progress. you know what i'm getting at here. donald tusk, there seemed to be a hardening very much of where they are and they are not going to move. very much of where they are and they are not going to movelj very much of where they are and they are not going to move. i will tell you why it probably felt like that, because last week the big set piece thing was last friday theresa may's big speech, let's be creative, let's be ambitious, and this was a bit of a bucket of cold water poured over that. in a sense donald tusk is saying what the eu has been saying since the day after the brexit referendum, it is one phrase which comes up referendum, it is one phrase which comes up time and time again, we have to protect the integrity of the single market. the speech last week made it clear, we knew that already but it reconfirmed the uk government intends to leave the single market and customs union. it was interesting on friday afternoon, lots of coverage that michel barnier has tweeted he welcomes the speech, the tweet said we welcome the clarity brings to the negotiation,

and the clarity is if you are leaving, the only alternative from the eu's perspective is a free—trade agreement. then you have to get into the argument about how ambitious that free trade agreement could be. a free—trade agreement, those three words suggest good things also free—trade. words suggest good things also free-trade. they are, it is good things, but if you are the united kingdom on the shores of europe, massive interconnectedness with the european economy, do you just want a relationship that the eu has with canada? no, you want more than that. this document said there isn't much more than that on offer at the moment. camber change? over time more than that on offer at the moment. camber change? overtime i suspect it can but not the next few months, we could be talking years until we get to a situation where there is more flexibility —— could that change? don't forget, this document is not just that change? don't forget, this document is notjust donald tusk and not just the european document is notjust donald tusk and notjust the european commission, it isa notjust the european commission, it is a process whereby the other 27 countries have got together, given their recommendations to him and he has said, this is where i think the

other 27 countries are. to unpick it wa nts other 27 countries are. to unpick it wants this... this is only a draft at the moment, it is due to be approved by eu leaders at a summit later this month, once that happens it is the position of 27 different countries and that is why it is difficult to negotiate against. chris morris, thank you, and adam fleming there, thank you very much. we expect the speech from philip hammond, the chancellor of the exchequer bolster betis where he will give that. it is not far off so we will take you back to the statement. —— that is where he will give that. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines. police are expected to give more details later today about the substance at the centre of the suspected poisoning of a former russian agent and his daughter. the president of the european council has warned the uk there could be no cherry picking of participation in the single market for particular sectors. saudi arabia's crown prince is having lunch with the queen this afternoon as part of a three—day

visit to britain. he will also be discussing trade, security and defence cooperation with the prime minister. in sport, it's all to play for in the final one—day international at the final one—day international at the new zealand beat england by five wickets to level the series in dunedin, hitting the winning runs in the final over. edinburgh wing blake kinghorn will make his first offer scotla nd kinghorn will make his first offer scotland in place of the injured winger tommy seymour when they face ireland in dublin in the six nations on saturday. and sir bradley wiggins and former team sky doctor richard freeman need to come forward and tell the truth, according to team sky's ex—coach jane sutton. and mps report says team sky crossed an ethical line by using anti—doping rules to enhance performance. saudi arabia's crown prince, mohammed bin salman, is having lunch with the queen, at the start of a three day visit to the uk,

during which he's also scheduled to have dinner with the prince of wales, and talks with the prime minister about trade and security. but campaigners are planning protests — highlighting saudi arabia's human rights record, and its role in the war in yemen. here's our security correspondent frank gardner. touching down in britain last night, saudi tv showed crown prince mohammed bin salman. being greeted by boris johnson and others. a lavish public relations campaign has alerted londoners to his visit. but so too has this, anti—war protesters say the prince has blood on his hands for saudi—led air strikes in yemen. they want the government to stop defence sales to saudi arabia. defence and security contracts dominate trade with the uk. they are worth billions of pounds and employ thousands of britons. but in neighbouring yemen, saudi—led air strikes

on iranian—backed houthi rebels have been blamed for mounting civilian casualties, which prompted a question in parliament this morning over whether with a poor human rights record, saudi arabia is a suitable ally. as she makes her arms sales pitch, will see also call the crown prince to stop the shocking abuse of human rights in saudi arabia? the link that we have with saudi arabia is historic, it is an important one. i will be raising concerns about human rights with the crown prince when i meet him. back home, the crown prince is rapidly modernising his country. he has lifted the ban on women driving from june. cinemas and public entertainment are being reintroduced and a new mega city built. he is also aiming to diversify the economy away from oil, which means attracting british investment. and with brexit looming, the government here is looking to boost its links with its biggest trading partner. he locked up 200 prominent

saudis in this hotel last year, accusing them of corruption. his critics say beheadings have increased since he rose to power and his ethics are worrying some foreign investors. the crown prince is a man in a hurry, as he sits down for lunch with the queen today, his message is that a new modern saudi arabia is open for business. but this relationship will always be a controversial one. frank gardner, bbc news. joining me now is alia moubayed, director of geo—economics and strategy at the international institute for strategic studies. just to pick up on frank's last point about the message coming from saudi arabia, it is a controversial relationship but it is in both countries' interest that things improve. absolutely come on the one hand saudi arabia needs all the support from western countries and in particularfrom the uk as a

strategic ally, for its economic transformation, also for discussing regional security issues and of course defence cooperation. but at the same time this country needs also... is on a roll to build stronger trade and economic partnerships, both to attract investment but also to open export markets and liberalise trade further post brexit. it is always a balance particularly given the controversy that has been without relationship with saudi arabia in the past. but essentially, are we saying that money talks? i think absolutely, and i think saudi arabia needs to instil confidence particularly in the economic reforms that the krampus‘s ambitious agenda... you say ambitious agenda... you say ambitious agenda... you say ambitious agenda and he said, is allowing women to drive but many people say that is not a big deal.

—— the crown vince. people say that is not a big deal. -- the crown vince. i don't mean that, this is long overdue but economic dividend from allowing women's participation are important for the kingdom at a time it needs to increase productivity and raise levels of non—oil growth. —— the crown prince. on the uk side, saudi is planning to be a more active and strategic actor in terms of its investment abroad with the public investment abroad with the public investment fund. notably, we expect hundreds of billions of dollars to be deployed in the future in acquisition and investment from saudi arabia in western countries. it's very weird driving around in the capital at the moment because you see these posters paid for by the saudis saying we are here, we are great, sort of thing and yet he is going to drive through london and will see the odd protest at least. it is the issue with yemen at the moment people are particularly concerned about. will he care?

obviously he cares and i don't think they are here only to sell their story, as the minister said yesterday. but also to look for a nexit strategy for the yemen conflict, which not only is causing horrendous cost to the yemeni population but also the huge financial cost and drag on saudi economy at a time when the main objective and focus on the crown prince is to rein in spending and reallocate to serve the needs of his domestic population. i'm sure we will talk about this again, alia moubayed, thank you. we will go to philip hammond who has taken to the podium talking about the brexit negotiations. to be here at hsbc in canary wharf, iam very to be here at hsbc in canary wharf, i am very grateful to hsbc for hosting me this afternoon. the only downside is i am conscious that holding this event in london risks

feeding the prejudice that financial services is just a feeding the prejudice that financial services isjust a london business, when in fact of course it is a vibrant part of the economy across the length and breadth of britain with over two thirds of financial services jobs with over two thirds of financial servicesjobs outside with over two thirds of financial services jobs outside london and significant financial services hubs in edinburgh, leeds, bristol, belfast, birmingham, bournemouth to name but a few. on friday the prime minister set out the uk's vision for its future economic partnership with the european union. in a speech which answered the call to set out what we want. while being clear that we understand that this is negotiation where both sides will need to give and take. as the prime minister said, our task need to give and take. as the prime ministersaid, ourtask together with our european partners is to deliver a brexit that works for the uk and forthe deliver a brexit that works for the uk and for the eu. a partnership that protects supply chains and established trade relationships,

that backs businesses, safeguards jobs and promotes the shared european values that we all hold. the first step will be delivering on the implementation period, which was agreed as a fundamental part of the deal on withdrawal issues that we did in december. which we expect to be formalised at the march european council meeting. this fermentation period is essential if and by we i mean all of us, businesses and citizens across all 28 countries, are to benefit from a smooth pathway toa are to benefit from a smooth pathway to a future partnership between the uk and the eu. will this be more important than in financial services where we must work together to avoid the potential risks to financial stability that could arise if we faced a cliff edge in march 2019. but for the implementation period to deliver the smooth transition we all wa nt to deliver the smooth transition we all want to see, it needs to be

effective. that means our regulators working together so that businesses, especially regulating businesses, are able to plan on the basis of it, giving full and meaningful effect to what we agreed in december. delivering clarity and certainty to businesses and citizens across europe. the prime minister was clear in her speech that after we have left the eu we will be outside the single market and the customs union. but equally we will be free to co—operate closely with partners including the eu where it is in our mutual interest to do so. financial services is such an area where we can and we should collaborate closely. recognising that a future economic partnership will always need to ensure a fair balance of the rights and obligations associated with market access. today, i want to build on the vision of prime minister delivered on friday. i want

to explain why it makes sense for both the uk and the eu that we continue to collaborate closely on cross—border financial services. i wa nt to cross—border financial services. i want to challenge the assertion that financial services cannot be part of a free—trade agreement, to set out why it is in the interest of both the uk and the eu 27 to ensure that eu businesses and citizens can continue to access the uk financial services hub, and how this is not a zero—sum game where any loss of market share in london is automatically a game to another eu capital. i want to describe what the future financial services component ofa future financial services component of a comprehensive trade partnership agreement could look like —— automatically a gain. the uk financial services hub is an engine that powers the real economy, not just in the uk, but right across

europe. because, the fact is that the uk financial services hub is not just a british asset but a european asset too, supporting businesses, save rs asset too, supporting businesses, savers and citizens across the european union. serving the whole of our continent and the world beyond. and not just serving our continent and the world beyond. and notjust serving europe but powered by the talent of hundreds of thousands of europeans who work in it. it is an asset unparalleled in its history, scale, complexity, agility, and connectivity to the economies of europe and the world. a global public good as the imf described it. eu passporting did not create the city of london. nor did some smart regulatory fix or government incentive. it is a combination of intangibles, language, legal system, time zone, culture, networks, risk appetite,

regulatory approach all blending together to create an ecosystem, and immensely potent combination of factors. impossible to replicate all perhaps even to map. of course, having such a significant financial services industry brings to the uk huge benefits. but it is not cost free. the uk economy bears the related risks and uk taxpayers stand behind those risks. as we learned to our very behind those risks. as we learned to our very real cost during the financial crisis when those taxpayers provided support to financial sector firms to the tune of £136 billion. and that's not a lesson that we will forget. even as a member of the eu, we have chosen to go higher and faster on regulatory standards at times to protect are taxpayers. because we

understand the risks, a commitment to rigorous and robust regulation will remain under it. david davis was right in vienna when he said that britain's plan is for a race to the top in gopal standards. because those risks are so significant. —— significant, it is vital that any country bidding to take on a bigger share of europe's financial services market have a full and transparent understanding of them. the deep pools of capital, special skill and regulars are confident in london provide efficient, safe and high quality services to the eu. we manage1.5 quality services to the eu. we manage 1.5 trillion euros of assets on the heart of eu clients. around two thirds of equity capital raised by eu corporate is facilitated by banks based in the uk. 78% of european fx trading and 74% of european fx trading and 74% of european interest rate of european

interest rate to innovative trading ta kes pla ce interest rate to innovative trading takes place in the uk. these are services that businesses rely on to run their operations efficiently and with the benefit passed on to consumers in all 28 eu countries. we should be under no illusion about the significant additional costs if this highly efficient market were to fragment, costs that would be borne by europe's businesses and consumers, costs that industry bodies are across europe are beginning to recognise. the consultancy oliver wyman calculates that the wholesale banking industry would need to find between 30,000,000,000-50,000,000,000 us dollars of additional capital if you regulatory barriers force the fragmentation of firms' balance sheets. it is estimated that the eu's proposal on location of clearing houses, is implement it, would increase costs to eu 27 firm

by around 25 billion us dollars per year. by fragmenting the market and losing the efficiency of offsetting between trades. already, evidence is emerging of market actors reassessing their commitment to europe in the face of potential regulatory fragmentation. for example, intercontinental exchange announced plans last month to launch daily gold futures contracts in the us last year —— next year based on mental health in the uk. those who think that the major winners from any fragmentation of london's markets would be wales or frankfurt or dublin or luxembourg should take note. the real beneficiaries are more likely to be new york, singapore and hong kong. cutting europe's market share and leading europe's market share and leading europe as a whole is less competitive and more resilient on distant financial centres operating

under very different rules. so, it is time to address the sceptics who say that a trade deal including financial services cannot be done because it has never been done before. to them, i say every trade deal the eu has ever done has been unique. the eu has never negotiated the same arrangements twice. it has this book relationship with turkey, canada, singapore, korea, every fda has —— fda has varying degrees of access, depending on the countries involved, which is not surprising given the different economies and interests reflected in those agreements. injust the interests reflected in those agreements. in just the last hour or so, you will have seen that the eu has published its draft negotiating guidelines. it is clear that a deal based wholly on president cannot deliver the depth and breadth of market access that these guidelines envisage. any trade deal between the

uk and the eu must start from the reality of today. our economies, including in financial services, are deeply interconnected. our regulatory frameworks are effectively identical. our supervisors and regulators work hand in glove to maintain the stability of our financial systems and have developed high levels of mutual trust. that businesses and citizens depend on cross—border financial services trade in their day—to—day lives far more than most of them will ever know. when they buy a car or take out a fixed rate loan or hedge theirfuel or take out a fixed rate loan or hedge their fuel costs or take out a fixed rate loan or hedge theirfuel costs or or take out a fixed rate loan or hedge their fuel costs or insurer and aircraft hole. the eu itself pursued ambitious regulation in its ambitions for ttip, which are described as a partnership that was more than a traditional trade

agreement. back then, british and french officials worked hand—in—hand on the proposals with the commission. both seta and ttip were intended to promote converting between entirely separate markets with different rules and levels of interconnectedness. we can do much better given a starting point. at the time of the ttip negotiations, people rightly argued that this was a challenging objective, but it need not be so in a partnership between the uk and the eu, because our markets are already so deeply interconnected doorstop if it could be done with canada or the usa, it could certainly be done with the uk. there is another reason why it must be done. a trade deal will only happen if it is fair and balanced as the interest of both sides. given the interest of both sides. given the shape of the british economy,

and our trade balance with the eu 27, it is harder to see how any deal that did not include services could look like a that did not include services could look likeafairand that did not include services could look like a fair and balanced settlement. i am clear not only that it is possible to include financial services within a trade deal, but that it services within a trade deal, but thatitis services within a trade deal, but that it is very much in our mutual interest to do so. in making that statement, i do not minimise the challenges. i recognised that there will be many legitimate concerns. concerns about the policing of rules once the separate legal jurisdictions, concerns about the legal framework for regulatory and supervisory cooperation. concerns about the implications for financial stability and for the operation of eurozone monetary policy. we stand ready to engage on all of these issues. we have been giving a great deal of thought to how to address these concerns to ensure that all of our economies continue to benefit,

rather than simply throwing in the towel and allowing the market to fragment to everybody‘s cost. i will set out our initial thinking. first, let me say a word or two about financial stability. we have come a very long way since the autumn of 2008. working collaboratively across the eu, and indeed beyond with international partners, we have increased the capital requirements for banks, we have tightened supervision of their operations and we have put in place resolution plans to avoid contagion, should the worst happen to an institution. in the uk, of course, we have gone further and ring fenced the retail banking operations of integrated groups from their wholesale market activities. the risk now to financial stability is not from continued" operation and integration, it is from the opposite, breaking up the intense cooperation that has developed

between regulators across the eu and the uk. modern europe is quite literally testament to the benefits of tearing down walls. let us not now propose new barriers were there need be none between are successfully collaborating financial services regulators. building on the prime minister's speech last week, let's consider how we make a structure a future partnership in financial services in a world beyond the single market and passport in. a partnership that enables the ongoing delivery of cross—border financial services in both directions while protecting financial stability and consumers, businesses and taxpayers across the uk and eu. in my mansion house speech last june, across the uk and eu. in my mansion house speech lastjune, as set out three principles for a future partnership in financial services, a

process for establishing regulatory requirements for cross—border trade between the uk and eu, cooperation arrangements that are reciprocal, reliable and prioritise financial stability, and a legalframework that makes this structure durable and reliable for participants in the market and for businesses who use their services. today, iwant market and for businesses who use their services. today, i want to describe how division of the prime minister's speech could shoot those principles into a framework that could be the basis of a future partnership in financial services as pa rt partnership in financial services as part of a wide—ranging free—trade agreement. we will start from a unique position, with the alignment on day one. the challenge is what happens next. so, the way forward must surely be to back our day one, de facto equivalence and shape a regime and to manage future regulatory change, that ensures that whilst our role systems may evolve separately, we deliver fully

equivalent regulatory outcomes, maintaining commitments to support open markets and the competition. as these rules systems for financial services evolve, the united... kingdom cannot simply be an automatic role taker. we have invested heavily in the current rule book and our industry is structured around it. we hope very much that from day one, sound economic xanthi commitment to mutual benefit will be the guiding principle of future rule—making on both sides, often within the framework of internationally agreed regulatory standards. because of the size of the uk's financial services market, around ten times our gdp, and the complexity of the products traded on it, and the consequent risks are taxpayers there, we cannot sign up to automatically accept as yet unknown future role changes. we must

have the ability, if necessary, to deliver an equivalent outcome by different means, maintaining our commitment to ensure access to each other‘s markets is on a fair and non—discriminatory basis, while protecting uk taxpayers from potentially unacceptable risks. now, at first glance, this may appear to point to a solution based on the eu's established third country equivalence regime, but that regime would be wholly inadequate for the scale and complexity of the uk — eu financial services trade. it was never designed to carry such a note. the eu regime is unilateral and access can be withdrawn with little to no notice. clearly, that is not a platform on which to base a multi—billion pound trade relationship. but, the principle of mutual recognition and reciprocal

regulatory equivalence, provided it is objectively assessed with proper governance structures, dispute resolution mechanisms and sensible notice periods to market participants, clearly could provide an effective basis for such a partnership. and although we will be separate jurisdictions, partnership. and although we will be separatejurisdictions, we partnership. and although we will be separate jurisdictions, we would need to maintain a structured regulatory dialogue to discuss new rules proposed by either side, building on our current unparalleled regulatory relationships to ensure that we deliver equivalent regulatory outcomes, agreeing mutually acceptable rule changes we re mutually acceptable rule changes were possible and where rules to evolve differently we will need an objective process to determine whether they provide sufficiently equivalent regulatory outcomes, including not only looking at the rules themselves but also assessing the way in which they are enforced ina the way in which they are enforced in a specificjurisdiction. drawing

on international standards were they exist, or an additional problems for equivalence, where uk and eu have more developed roles. second, there would need to be continued close supervisory cooperation. the eu itself noted in the context of ttip discussions that in too many insta nces discussions that in too many instances international standards have been implement it in a way that does not allow the relevant regulators and supervisors to work together, weakening the resilience of financial markets. we must not risk exacerbating that tendency. so, whilst the uk would cease to be a pa rt whilst the uk would cease to be a part of the eu's supervisory agencies, there is no reason why we could not maintain a very close working relationship. indeed, it would be an essential part of supporting the regulatory equivalence that i have described. for instance, through proactive and

extensive information exchange, authorised by the data sharing agreements within the overarching fta , agreements within the overarching fta, going far beyond what is available in open a third country relationships. it could cover market abuse, transaction reporting and stability monitoring, as well as potential concerns about individual firms. it could involve a version of today's college structures, covering both day to day supervision and resolution in crisis. of course, how each party organises its internal governance would be a matter for it. neither party would have a role in the other‘s governance processes but we should be able to build on the extraordinary level of supervisory elaboration and trust that already exists between the eu and uk authorities to establish the most comprehensive supervisory cooperation arrangements anywhere in the world. protecting our respective

financial systems and are taxpayers from instability risks. we recognise also that the supervision of major clearing houses conducting euros dominated activity is a particularly important and sensitive subject for our eu partners, and we stand ready to discuss a mutually satisfactory way forward in this area. we supervisory cooperation that i have described does not involve either party transferring any responsibility for its rules or ceding any sovereignty, and that leads me to the third principle. the prime minister —— as the prime minister said on friday, in certain circumstances, we may choose not to maintain equivalent outcomes, but we will know that there may be consequences if we do so. we would have to address to this future partnership would work in such circumstances, with clear

institutional processes to do so. our concern, in a financial services partnership, would be to ensure that any such consequences partnership, would be to ensure that any such consequences were reasonable and proportionate, applied in a predictable way that allows industry to plan with confidence, and that they were delivered through an independent arbitration mechanism that has the confidence of both parties. such mechanisms already exist within the free—trade agreements, including ceta. the prime minister was clear on friday that we have decided to leave the eu, and we accept that there will be consequences. we do not expect the same relationship we have today across all areas of activity in financial services. trade—offs should be expected and the industry will change. but, we should ensure that the future partnership strengthens european stability and prosperity, rather

than weakening it. the ideas i have set out today suggest a way to move forward , set out today suggest a way to move forward, to shape a potential partnership in financial services based on the core concept of fair and non—discriminatory competition, recognising legitimate concerns where they exist, but drawing a distinction between those concerns and protectionism or political expediency, which would undermine that competition. what i had set out todayis that competition. what i had set out today is a possible route to a future partnership grounded in logic, pragmatism and compromise, a partnership that would protect europe's financial stability and underpin one of its great competitive advantages, and i look forward to constructive engagement with our friends and partners in the eu to take these ideas forward. thank you. applause so, philip hammond they're calling on the european union to do a brexit

deal with the uk that includes financial services, maintaining that such a trade arrangement is not on the table, according to the eu, but mr hammond says it will benefit both sides. we will return to that. just one question to the bbc, lets about. he talked about negative economic consequences, now pick and mix. also, could you specifically respond to his comments about theresa may. he characterised the prime minister's position as being political, suggesting that brexit would be a success at any price, and we nt would be a success at any price, and went on to say that that is not the eu's objective. well, first of all, idid not eu's objective. well, first of all, i did not receive the donald tusk appearance myself, i have been travelling to get here. the eu is a very skilled negotiator. they have done this many times, if not precisely this but have negotiated

agreements with many countries. they are very agreements with many countries. they are very skilled and disciplined in the way that they carry out their negotiation. it does not surprise me remotely that what they have set out this morning is a very tough position. that is what any competent, skilled and experienced negotiator would do. i expect that we will have a deep and constructive engagement with them, and i hope that what i have set out here this afternoon will contribute to the discussion that we will be having. adam parsons from sky... we will keep an ear into that, but we have got some breaking news. we have got a verdict on the second lorry driver involved in a collision on the m1 last august. we are talking about david wyke staff? yes, david, 5a, standing trial here at reading crown court was accused of eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving and four account

of dangerous driving. in the last few minutes, the jury has found him not guilty of those charges. we heard during this trial who yet been driving down the m1. he saw a minibus in front of him which was stationary but ploughed into the back of it, and it then went into another lorry, which was stationary on the slow lane of the m1. the other lorry which was stationary on the m1 southbound carriageway near milton keynes was being driven by a man who had stayed parked up in the lane for 12 minutes. this is what we have been hearing in the trial. yesterday, he was found guilty of eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving and four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. when he has stopped in a minibus approached, could not get round, had missed his opportunity to pull out into the middle lane and get past the lorry, so had stopped and put its warning lights on, but

the second lorry, being driven by david wagstaff, went into the back of that, like i say. we heard in this trial that david wagstaff was ona this trial that david wagstaff was on a hands—free call at the time and his lorry was on cruise control. he had admitted that his driving was careless but denied it was dangerous. thejury, careless but denied it was dangerous. the jury, like careless but denied it was dangerous. thejury, like i said, have just come back and find him not guilty. as for the passengers in that minibus, there were 12 people on board. the driver died along with seven other passengers, and four we re seven other passengers, and four were injured, including a four—year—old girl. they were being taken from nottingham down to london, where they were then catching a coach to france, where they were planning on a trip to disneyland wales, but of course that never happened. —— to disneyland paris. sentencing will take place in the next couple of weeks. just to

remind you, david wagstaff, one of the lorry drivers involved in that collision on the august bank holiday weekend last year, just been found not guilty here at reading crown court. 31—year—old polish national rysza rd court. 31—year—old polish national ryszard masierak, court. 31—year—old polish national rysza rd masierak, the court. 31—year—old polish national ryszard masierak, the other lorry driver in the stationary lawyer, —— lorry, was convicted yesterday on eight counts of causing death by dangerous driving and four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. thank you very much. let's take you back to philip hammond, still answering questions. because i do not think that is the case, robert. if you read the aspiration that the eu itself is setting out for our future relationship, it could not be contained within a straightforward fta . contained within a straightforward fta. the eu itself as noted that because of the proximity of the uk

and the european union, because of the complexity and scale of existing trade flows, in many respects, a simple free—trade agreement would leave many questions unresolved but would have to be, because the relationship between the uk and european union countries will never be the same as the relationship between canada and european union countries, because of the different nature of the trade. nearly all of...a nature of the trade. nearly all of... a very large proportion of our trade with the eu is trade across the channel, where is all of the —— almost all of the trade between canada and the eu will be sea freight. much of exports to the eu are intermediate goods going to complex supply chains, very different situation. that is why we will meet in this book agreement. i

think it is not unreasonable to observe that when we are doing something which is unique in the history of world trade arrangements, we are taking a market which is highly integrated and moving it apart, separating it apart, and trying to put in place structures that will make that practical and workable. that is different from anything anybody has ever done before in a trade agreement, and suggesting that we use a bespoke, and off the shelf agreement that was designed to bring two distant markets closer together for this purposeis markets closer together for this purpose is not really credible, i think. jie zheng ropes. —— jason. we will pull away from that news conference because i want to bring you some breaking news that we are getting from hoxton magistrates‘ court. we are just hearing that paul

golding, and the deputy leader of the far right group britain first, has been found guilty of religiously aggravated harassment in kent in may last year. this just coming in from the court. leader and deputy leader of britain first found guilty at folkestone magistrates‘ court of religiously aggravated harassment. much more of that little later on. it is now time for the weather. some places for showers, other places escaped and stayed dry. plenty of sunshine, it felt almost springlike. into this evening and overnight, lengthy clear spells and a few showers. longer spells of rain, hill is now pushing into southern and western areas. showers continuing across the north of the country. wintry over high ground, risk of ice as temperatures fall. this feature ru ns as temperatures fall. this feature runs into south—west england and wales to bring outbreaks of heavy rain. good seasonal, maybe even down

to lower levels, in towards the midlands. this could cause some issues for thursday morning. just watch out for this, stay tuned to the local radio. it looks like it will clear away, conditions are improving. quite widespread sunshine across the country. a few showers across the country. a few showers across western, northern areas where there will be showers over high ground but in the sunshine, not too bad. a degree or so cooler than what we have seen today. hello, you‘re watching afternoon live. today at 3: what was used to poison the russian spy and his daughter? we‘ll find out more while afternoon live is on air — as ministers move to reassure local people. i want to reassure the public that we have the ability, the wherewithall, and the knowledge to keep them completely safe. as police continue to search various properties — reports that a woman has been escorted by officers into an ambulance and driven away. a lorry driver — david wagstaff —

has been found not guilty of causing the deaths of eight people by dangerous driving at reading crown court. the eu says a free trade deal will have to be put in after brexit. a pick and mix approach for a non—member state is out of the question. we are not going to sacrifice these principles, it's simply not in our interest. saudi‘s crown prince arrives in the uk on a three day visit — he can expect talks with ministers, lunch with the queen, and maybe the odd protest. coming up on afternoon live all the sport. we‘ll bring you news of england‘s one day defeat against new zealand in the cricket and look ahead to a huge night for tottenham in the champions league. also coming up all the weather.m

is looking quiet this afternoon. tonight for some of us there could bea tonight for some of us there could be a bit of disruption from some sleet and snow. i will have all the details later. thanks. also coming up: first she was mesmerised by a portrait of the former first lady — a photo of her staring at the picture went viral. then two—year old parker curry got to meet — and dance with — michelle obama. hello everyone — this is afternoon live. i‘m simon mccoy. the home secretary, amber rudd, has said more is now known about the substance involved in the suspected poisoning of a former russian spy, and his daughter. sergei skripal and his daughter yulia remain critically ill in hospital in salisbury in wiltshire, after collapsing

we‘ll get more detail of the substance used from police this afternoon — and we‘ll bring that to you here on afternoon live. our correspondent leila nathoo gave us this update from the scene in salisbury. there has been a flurry of activity here this afternoon after a quiet morning. this restaurant has been cordoned off as part of investigation since monday evening and this afternoon we had an emergency response from the fire service from an ambulance and from police, who attended the scene in a flurry of activity. this was bang in the city centre. we think one woman was taken away in an ambulance. we are not sure if that is connected. but a lot of sites of interest for police investigating. richard galpin reports. with the former russian intelligence officer sergei skripal and his daughter still fighting for their lives in hospital, counterterrorism police are now running the investigation.

and they want any witnesses to come forward with information. for example, at the zizzi restaurant where the skripals ate, not long before they collapsed on a bench in the city centre. today, another sign of how seriously this incident is being treated. senior politicians and intelligence officials holding a meeting of the government‘s emergency response committee called cobra. and afterwards, the home secretary announced there had been progress in the investigation into what had made to the skripals so ill last sunday. we do know more about the substance and the police will be making a further statement this afternoon in order to share some of that. we must let the police carry on their work. they will share what they can this afternoon and i‘m sure there will be more updates as the investigation continues. scientists at the government‘s research laboratories at porton down near salisbury have been examining samples to try to work out exactly what substance was involved.

but despite suspicions that russia might be behind what has happened, there are warnings against jumping to conclusions. we need to bear in mind that the police need to look at all avenues, it is notjust a case of deciding that this is a russian state incident. this could be someone else and it is quite possible that someone else has done this, so it is really important that we keep an open mind as police officers. in moscow there is growing anger at the way the british media has been reporting the incident. translation: these people have been used by the foreign media for an anti—russian campaign. it is a traditional campaign. the tradition is to make things up. we can only see it as a provocation. meanwhile, several key locations in salisbury remain cordoned off by the police. it has now been revealed that an ambulance station outside the city has also been sealed off.

with reports of a fire engine being used to hose down the ambulance which took the skripals to hospital. richard galpin, bbc news. we still have very little information coming out from the police so far. but as richard said, we are expecting to hear from the police later this afternoon about more information about that substance that sergei and yulia were exposed to. police are appealing for people who were in salisbury centre on sunday, from 1.30. we now they we re on sunday, from 1.30. we now they were found by police at quarter past 1l were found by police at quarter past 4. there is about three hours where police want to hear from anybody in salisbury city centre. they‘re

trying to piece together a timeline. this restaurant zizzi and there is a pub that has been cordoned off. for now, police just appealing for anyone to come forward if they have anyone to come forward if they have any information. a second lorry driver has been found not guilty of killing people on the m1. yesterday, a driver of the first lorry who had parked on the motorway and was twice over the drink drive limit. he was found guilty of the deaths. our reporter has been following the case. this verdict has just come through? yes not many people will need reminding about

this crash which happened on the m1 over the august bank holiday weekend. it happened around junction 14 weekend. it happened around junction 1a on the southbound carriageway near milton keynes in the early hours of august 26th. of course the motorway was busy, because it was a bank holiday weekend. the first lorry was driven a polish man who had stopped in the slow lane of the m1 for around 12 minutes, despite there being a hard shoulder. when he had stopped in the slow lane, along came the minibus which was driven by amr came the minibus which was driven by a mrjoseph and eleven passengers, that missed an opportunity to overta ke that missed an opportunity to overtake the stationery lorry and it stopped and put its hazard light on. then travelling in the same lane was david wagstaff in the same lorry and

he ploughed into the back of the minibus, forcing it into and under the first lorry. as you were saying, he was, the polish driver was twice over the legal alcohol limit. he said that he had stopped because he had felt unwell and felt it was necessary to stop and that he had fainted and gone into something called a small coma. we had heard that david wagstaff was on a hands free call at the time of the crash and that his lorry was on cruise control. the passengers inside that minibus, mrjoseph was driving eleven passengers from nottingham to london. there was two families inside that bus and they were going to catch a coach to go to france to ta ke to catch a coach to go to france to take a trip to disneyland. eight people were kimmed in the crash ——

killed in the crash and four injured, including a four—year—old girl who lost both her parents in the crash. yesterday, another man was found guilty of causing eight cou nts was found guilty of causing eight counts of death by dangerous driving and four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. but mr wagstaff has been cleared of the same charges. thank you. the european union has published its guidelines for an agreement on the future relationship between the eu and the united kingdom after britain leaves. the president of the european council, donald tusk, said since theresa may made clear that the uk intended to leave the european single market and customs union, the only option left was to negotiate a trade agreement. mr tusk was speaking at a news conference in luxembourg. the outcome of the negotiations must

pass two tests. the test of balance of rights and obligations. for example, the eu cannot agree to grant the uk the rights of norway, with the obligations of canada. the test of integrity of the single market. no member state is free to pick only those sectors of the single market it likes. nor to accept the role of the ecj only when it suits their interest. by the same token, a pick and mix approach for a nonmember state is out of the question. we are not going to sacrifice these principles. it is simply not in our interest. in a speech in london‘s docklands, chancellor philip hammond said it was vital that financial services were included in any trade deal — to avoid financial instability the deep pools of capital,

specialist skill and regulatory competence in london provide information, safe and high quality services to the eu. we manage 1.5 trillion euros of assets on behalf of eu clients. around two thirds of debt and equity capital used by eu corporates is facilitated by banks in the uk. 78% of trading and 7a of interest rate derivatives takes place in the uk. these are services that businesses rely on to run their operations efficiently and with the benefit passed on to consumers in all 28 eu countries. we should be under no illusion about the significant additional costs if this highly efficient market were to fragment. costs that would be borne by europe‘s businesses and consumers. to get the political reaction to this, let‘s speak to our chief political correspondent vicki

young. one thing that is getting clearer is where the battle lines are? yes it is interesting listening to philip hammond, he talks of mutual interest and his message to the eu is that 0k, and his message to the eu is that ok, you look at the financial sector, london is the hub, but he calls it a european asset and he makes the case again as we have heard from time from the government about having a bespoke deal. he talks of pragmatism and we don‘t wa nt talks of pragmatism and we don‘t want what happens before and it shouldn‘t be good enough for you or brulss. i‘m —— brussels. i‘mjoined by the mp anna soubry. donald tusk‘s argument is the eu wants her money and fish and our security expertise. this is brexit reality, the eu has

always made it clear, we can stay in the customs union and the single market if we choose not to do that, which is what the prime minister decided over a year ago, the other alternative is we have a free trade agreement. and they're making it clear and they're right, that that free trade agreement will make our country less prosperous and that i have to say this is the choice of the british government. so this will be the first government i think in the history of our country what has gone about pursuing a policy and a set of proposals that will on their own admission actually make our country less prosperous than it is today in the current arrangements that we have the eu. that can't be right. it is up for leave voters to say, well, iwasn't right. it is up for leave voters to say, well, i wasn't told this, this isn't what i voted for and its up to them to say, i am able to change my

mind andl them to say, i am able to change my mind and i certainly am entitled to have a final say. doesn't sound like the government is going to do that. philip hammond, on the remain side of the armgt, he is going along with this and said the referendum result has to be respected and he is making the case for a pragmatic approach, saying that financial services should be include in a deal. saying that financial services should be include in a dealm isn't as simple. why not. the eu has 27 country and one of dreadful things that has been miss by the government is these countries believe in the eu and the single market and the customs union. they won't have the integrity of those things upset in any way. so for them this is a political decision. that is why tusk is being honest about the options from which we will choose. the ball is back in the

court of the government and it is simple — we take a norwegian style customs union. if we don't, then we will have a hard boarder in ireland and a free trade agreement which means that for first time ever two economies, the eu and the british economy, that have worked to beautifully together in the single market and this customs union, bring huge prosperity to people will go ahard. sorry, this is the stuff of madness. is philip hammond being naive when he says that taking the politics out of it and saying just do what is pragmatic. we are one country and the eu is 27 countries. they know this thing works and it is in the interests of all the people in those countries. they don't want

us to leave and we don't have to leave. the people are entitled to change their mind. we have a government for the first time ever in our history pursuing a policy on their own admission that will make people less well off than they are today as a member of the eu. i do believe the time has come and we have to stop this madness, despite the very high and totally reasonable ambitions of our excellent chancellor, everybody has to face up to brexit reality. thank you very much. philip hammond is still appealing to the eu to think about your own economies and notjust the uk's your own economies and notjust the uk‘s and do the right thing — the practical thing. thank you. our reality check correspondent chris morris is here. philip hammond feels the city is

vulnerable and made the point to donald tusk and others this is not a british asset, but it is a european asset and they would be daft to change it. it is a european asset in the sense that if business leaves london, it is more likely to go to new york or other capitals in europe. is that the fact? it is clear if you look around the world, where are the global financial centre, the only genuine centre in europe is london. so that business, american banks thought it would be difficult, let‘s go back to new york. he is saying that donald tusk believes frankfurt and paris will benefit. they may benefit a little. if they have companies that need brass plates within the eurozone. ,. but it won‘t be as big as thought. i

felt sorry for philip hammond giving out his speech an hour after the eu put out a document that doesn‘t mention financial services and the prime minister saying that there should be a mutual recognition of standards and so we have our standards and so we have our standard we have theirs and we recognise they‘re similar. you could argue they‘re taking a legalistic, rules—based approach. argue they‘re taking a legalistic, rules-based approach. he looked as if he meant it. that is how they negotiate. they have been clear after the referendum. like anna soubry, the integrity of the single market comes up again and again and businesses in europe say of course we wa nt businesses in europe say of course we want a good relationship with the uk. but the single market is 26

other countries and that is more important us to maintain that single market even if it means a hit with our business with the uk. free trade, what difference will that make once we have left the single currency and the european union. we neverjoined currency and the european union. we never joined that! currency and the european union. we neverjoined that! you know what i mean? yes, i mean a free trade agreement would be good. they suggest zero tariffs on goods. that would be a sigh of relief for many businesses, but then you have to deal with standards and checks at borders, zero tariffs doesn‘t mean friction less trade in northern ireland or anywhere else. a step forward , ireland or anywhere else. a step forward, but almost the minimum the uk would expect. should we expect a

better deal with the eu than canada. i you could say we could because of how connected we are. but it is not something that is instant. i think it would develop over a period of yea rs. we it would develop over a period of years. we would have to leave first and build back up to that close relationship. the sense from this d raft relationship. the sense from this draft eu document, unlike the uk saying we are starting from the same place. they‘re saying we have to start from scratch again and build back up. some breaking news in relation to the poisoning or suspected poisoning of the former russian spy and his daughter in salisbury. we are hearing from the russian embassy which is accusing the uk of an inconsistent policy over russia. we have not received any information about the circumstances in the case which cannot but cause concern.

yesterday‘s strongly anti—russian speech by borisjohnson sounds like an attempt to give the investigation an attempt to give the investigation a political aspect. everyone has witnessed the embassy representative stressed the shifting of this story to plain of russian, british relations with active support from the media. so a feisty statement from a russian—owned news agency. we are awaiting from police any time in the next hour or so more detail of what we, well the police believe was the is the son used. —— poison used. the home secretary said they have now an idea of what it was. you‘re watching afternoon live. what was use to poison the russian spy and his daughter? we will find out later as ministers move to reassure local

people. police continue to search properties, reports that a woman was escorted by police to an ambulance. a lorry driver has been found not guilty of causing the deaths of eight people by dangerous driving. in sport it is all to play for in the time one—day international after new zealand level the series. totte n ha m new zealand level the series. tottenham will hope to join liverpool in the champions league quarter—finals after rescuing a 2—2 draw in the first leg, can they get pastjuventus. and draw in the first leg, can they get past juventus. and bla re draw in the first leg, can they get pastjuventus. and blare kinghorn will make his first start for scotla nd will make his first start for scotland against ireland on saturday. i‘m back with more at 3.30.join us saturday. i‘m back with more at 3.30. join us then. a teenager has gone on trial accused of planting a bomb on a london

underground train last september. thirty people were hurt in the incident during rush hour at parson‘s green station. 18—year—old ahmed hassan, from sunbury in surrey, denies attempted murder and causing an explosion likely to endanger life. our home affairs correspondent june kelly is following the trial at the old bailey. an autumn morning in the rush—hour and there‘s an emergency on an underground train in west london. today the old bailey heard how last september an improvised explosive device partially detonated on a district line train. it had just pulled into parsons green station. this partial explosion created a large fireball in the carriage. there were around 93 passengers in the carriage, the court was told, some were caught by the flames and sustained significant burns. today the teenager on trial for the attack was brought to court to face charges of attempted murder and causing an explosion likely to endanger life. 18—year—old ahmed hassan,

an asylum seeker from iraq, is pleading not guilty. at the time of his arrest he had been living with foster parents. opening the case, the prosecutor alison morgan said of the passengers, many ran in fear and panic. the jury heard that ahmed hassan had left the device in a bucket. it was said to be loaded with shrapnel to cause maximum harm and carnage. and he had used the explosive tatp. the device was fitted with a timer. ahmed hassan had got off the train one station before. he was arrested 2a hours later. let‘s get the latest from richard

lister at the old bailey. what has the court been hearing? the case openedin the court been hearing? the case opened in dramatic style this morning. the prosecution showed the jury morning. the prosecution showed the jury video that was taken from a cctv ca m era jury video that was taken from a cctv camera in the carriage where this explosive device blew up in september last year. you saw the pictures very clearly just a september last year. you saw the pictures very clearlyjust a normal underground train, people hanging on to straps, about 93 people in the carriage, say the prosecution, when there is an enormous flash, bright orange flame, which goes up to the ceiling of train and people start running out. so the train was at that moment stationery. around 30 people, say the prosecution, were injured in that blast and the subsequent rush to safety. total panic in that train and in the surrounding station as people fled for their lives. now, the prosecution alleges that ahmed

hassan also made the device as well as planting it and they say they will present records from amazon which showed he purchased sulphuric acid as one of the components, which they say he mixed himself and converted into a bomb. they say there is cctv images of him the carrying this device on to a train and then on to the underground at wimbledon before leaving it on the train before he gets off before the blast went off. so the jury has seen those images. the court has not released them to the media. that is why we can‘t show you. but we expect those images to be released. one other thing, the home office conducted an immigration interview we are told by the prosecution with mr hassan back injanuary 2016 and

we heard a transcript of that interview, in which he was asked whether he belonged to a terror group. he said he has been trained by isis in iraq when he was taken by force with the threat if he didn‘t go with them willingly that his father and his uncle would be killed. he was asked if he had been trained by isis and the quote that thejury trained by isis and the quote that the jury heard was in trained by isis and the quote that thejury heard was in his reply, they trained us on how to call. it was all religious—based. but he denied he has been sent to europe by isis and he denies the two charges against him. thank you. some news from washington from the white house, following the remarks from president trump about a proposed trade war. we are hearing that washing tovn —— washington will reveal details of tariffs that have

already prompted the resignation of one advisor, we are hearing from sarah sanders we are on pace for an announcement there. so by the end of week what is the white house is saying. the leader and deputy leader of britain first have been found guilty of causing religiously aggravated harassment in kent. the retailer new look is to close stores as part of a cost cutting plan. it is expected to result in 980 job losses. the company said it has to ta ke losses. the company said it has to take action to reduce costs and restore long—term profitability. nme has announced the end of its print version

of the british music magazine more than 60 years after it was launched. the final copy of the new musical express will go to press this week — after then it‘ll only be available online. joining me now from our studios in salford is bbc 6 radio presenter, chris hawkins. for many of us who grew up with music magazines, the question is why? it was the music bible for us in our teens why? it was the music bible for us in ourteens and why? it was the music bible for us in our teens and for me through my 20s and 30s. it is definitely the end ofan 20s and 30s. it is definitely the end of an era, newspapers, magazines, declining sales, it is all online now. what's gone wrong? at one stage magazines had a huge market. absolutely. they did. but that market is clearly now online. i remember so fondly as you may remember, going out and buying a copy of the nme once a week, getting a copy of the nme and scouring it

from cover to cover, reading about the bands you loved. it was the only way then to find out what was going on in the music world. now with the digital world and social media it is easier to flick it on your phone and find out what is happening. easier to flick it on your phone and find out what is happeningm easier to flick it on your phone and find out what is happening. it had a huge influence and social media has a great reach, but people used to read nme to find out what they should be listening to. absolutely. it led the way. this is from 1952 to now. so it is elvis to ed sheeran and everything in between. including the sex pistols, the britpop wars of nineties. it was a great place to find out what was going on to find out more about your favourite bands and there were great writers like danny baker. the whiting was fantastic. a lot of people then forget the

albums, it was getting on the cover of nme that was the big aim. yes, a nme cover was incredible, was it not? icons made it over the years. i can picture david bowie, in more recent yea rs can picture david bowie, in more recent years the strokes, right through to the current pop acts of today, who perhaps to you and i might feel less relevant, but here arejust as might feel less relevant, but here are just as important to young music lovers as those acts were two of them. it is a sad day. it is a very sad day, you‘re absolutely right. thank you very much, chris hawkins. iamjust thank you very much, chris hawkins. i am just going to take you to downing street, because the picture will speakfor downing street, because the picture will speak for itself. there is theresa may with the sultan keane, there, on a three—day visit. he has already had lunch with the queen and now going into talks with the prime

minister. jeremy corbyn accused the government of colluding in war crimes by selling arms to riyadh. prime minister is acquitted of time during prime minister‘s questions but said ties between the two nations had saved hundreds of lives. we will hear from downing street later on and may get some words from the pro—minister on the crown prince of saudi arabia. let‘s have a look at the weather. some pieces so shower, —— from places showers, others escape them and told springlike. when the clear spells overnight, a few showers are bloggers bells of rain with some hill snow pushing into southern and western areas. —— longer spells offering. showers continuing, wintry over high ground. temperatures fall away, with outbreaks of heavy rain in well. could see some snow, not just on hills but maybe down to poor area of central, northern rail, into

the midlands. this could cost some issues for the thursday morning commute. stay tuned to your bbc local radio. this feature will clear away and conditions improving with sunshine, quite widespread in fact, across the country. a few showers in weston, northern areas but in the sunshine not too bad. a degree or so cooler than what we see today. the headlines: ministers of the police have find out more about the substance used in the suspected poisoning of a former russian spy, sergei skripal and his daughter yulia in salisbury. further details are expected to be revealed this afternoon. lorry driver david wagstaff, involved in a collision last august, has been found not guilty of causing the death by dangerous driving of eight people. yesterday, the driver of another lorry was convicted of

causing all eight death by dangerous driving. the head of the european council has presented guidelines for talks on britain‘s future relationship with the eu. he says members want a free—trade deal and suggests no ta riffs free—trade deal and suggests no tariffs on goods and services. and the saudi prince has had lunch with the queen, on his first day of a three—day visit to the united kingdom. also coming up: an increase in the number of young people acting as money mules, as new figures soar under 20 ones are also more at risk of identity fraud. lets get the sport. we are looking at liverpool considerably and co mforta bly at liverpool considerably and comfortably through to the last

eight. that is neat misreading co mforta bly, eight. that is neat misreading comfortably, i said considerably!m isa comfortably, i said considerably!m is a start. it is looking good for english clubs at the moment. is was a comfortable night for liverpool and the quarterfinals of the champions league. sorry, the into the quarterfinals, first time in nine years. if you go back to 2009, the only featured in that competition twice. some barren years for a huge club like liverpool. this was the best chance of the game last night. all the work was done. it finished 0—0 last night. very, very co mforta ble finished 0—0 last night. very, very comfortable and when you talk about five teams that we have got potentially in the quarterfinals this year, manchester city, liverpool, tottenham, chelsea, manchester united as well still in with a shout, what a game it is tonight for spurs. they are welcoming juventus to wembley. 2— to it finished in the first leg, two important away goals. a significant need for spurs and their manager. we

need for spurs and their manager. we need to think that we can win. we always think in this way and then what happened will be a consequence about her performance. if we are capable to perform in the way that we normally used to do, i am sure tomorrow will be close to win and go through to the next stage. so, there we go, what united should be at wembley tonight. cotton, as i say, could good in that quarterfinal at the champions league for the first time since 2011. —— tottenham. manchester city in their current form looking good ? manchester city in their current form looking good? rough similar to the situation would liverpool last night. this time, manchester city leading 4—0 from the first leg in switzerland. looking ahead to that draw for the champions league, to who they will play in the quarterfinal. the treble is still on. not the one they would have wa nted on. not the one they would have wanted but the champions league, premier league and league cup, the league cup being the first trophy

that pep guardiola has won there. here‘s is saying that they are still a long way behind his old club, barcelona. he had a 1k tripe that his time there. we are almost in the quarterfinal. we are almost champions in the premier league. we are not on quarterfinals, we are not winners of the premier league. that isa winners of the premier league. that is a reality. that is why you have to become... at the best advice i can give to my players and everybody. elsewhere, the one—day series between england and new zealand will between england and new zealand will be decided in the final match after the hosts won the fourth one day by five wickets with three balls to spare earlier this morning. england we re spare earlier this morning. england were on course for a big total but collapsed after posting 344 —— 334-9, with collapsed after posting 344 —— 334—9, with new zealand knocking at the runs of 181 form their star man. england have turned a few heads in one—day cricket recently. a team transformed, and that continued your advert asjonny transformed, and that continued your advert as jonny bairstow and joe

root both scored centuries, hitting 21 boundaries and the route along the way. but none of their collea g u es the way. but none of their colleagues did much more damage. the last eight wickets falling for 68. old english habits die hard, it seems. still, a sizeable 336 was new zealand‘s target, and with the first two men out for ducks, this looked odds on an england victory. nobody budgeted for ross taylor. playing with an injury, he struggled to run at times. he didn‘t need to, passing 100, then 150 and ending on 181 not out ina 100, then 150 and ending on 181 not out in a man of the match performance. it meant they were needed for the final over and they we re needed for the final over and they were scored with interest. the series now goes to a decider, and england will need to get their heads right for that one. edinburgh wing blair kinghorn will make his first start for scotland in place of injured winger tommy seymour when they face ireland in dublin in the six nations on saturday. kinghorn came on as a replacement

during the win over england and he‘s the only change as coach gregor townsend sticks with 14 of the 15 who‘ve recorded back—to—back wins back row taulupe faletau returns at number eight to captain wales against italy in cardiff on sunday. coach warren gatland has made ten changes to the side that lost the last match against ireland. scarlets flanker james davies will win his first cap. gareth anscombe is named at fly—half with northampton‘s george north selected on the wing. that is all this board for now. we will be back in the next hour. i will try to be better when i talk next time. thank you very much to stop young people aged 21 and under are more at risk of identity fraud, according to new figures. a fraud prevention company lead the research, which found a 30% rise of young victims in 2017 compared with the previous year. it also suggested there was an increase of under 21s acting as money mules, which faced a

maximum prison sentence of 14 years. let‘s clear this up. with me is the chief executive of one of their organisations that worked on this. one assumes that figure, people under 21 one assumes are a lot more savvy than we are when it comes to computerfraud savvy than we are when it comes to computer fraud but not? that is it. 85% of identity fraud, what we are talking about here, is committed online. the fact we have seen a 30% increase of people under the age of 21 game victims of identity fraud is really concerning. why? what is happening? we would regard them as more internet savvy but they lead their lives online. whether it is social media, shopping and they are used to sharing details of themselves, and i think that coupled with the fact that we are seeing increased data breaches, which leads to identity is being made available into the dark web and bought and sold by criminal gangs, means that those identities and the identities of young people are more vulnerable. how do they protect themselves

against this? from an identity gremlin perspective, they need to set their privacy settings on social media, they need to make sure that when prompted to do so on their devices they present their software update button, antivirus software, not using public wi—fi for banking or online shopping. some really simple things, and making their identity seem invaluable asset, which it is. they should protect it. iama which it is. they should protect it. i am a complete luddite, as you know, but if you have got all of those predictions on your device, even then you are seeing watch out for the wi—fi network you‘re using? indeed, it may not be the wi—fi network you think you‘re using. it is very easy to create a wi—fi hotspot. criminals are adept at doing this. in doing so, they can effectively read all the traffic thatis effectively read all the traffic that is going through that system. what our money mules and what do we do to protect them? 3696 what our money mules and what do we

do to protect them? 36% increase what our money mules and what do we do to protect them? 3696 increase of young people being victims of money mewling. this is where are their own account is being used, with their knowledge, to transfer criminal money, criminalfinance, knowledge, to transfer criminal money, criminal finance, from knowledge, to transfer criminal money, criminalfinance, from one place to another, or indeed cashing out that money and then sending it on through legitimate means, through the money service bureau. they are falling victim to scams, often because of naivete. they believe that they have got a job that involves this, or they have friends of friends who have persuaded them. this is money laundering. it is a criminal offence. what do we do? for younger people, we have to make sure that parents, teachers are looking out for their banking details of young people in their care, making sure that they are aware of the consequences of doing this, that it is illegal. they could get filed to my organisation, and find it very difficult to get credit and further bank accounts for up to six years.

that is why we have launched from a fraud and the curriculum lesson plans today, four lesson plans. they can be found on the ph of the website, aimed at 11—16 —year—olds, giving young people the tools to protect themselves from this sort of crime. lets talk more about that visit by the saudi arabian crown prince. he has just arrived in the saudi arabian crown prince. he hasjust arrived in downing street and is having talks with theresa may. let‘s talk to vince cable, who is going to ask an urgent question in the commons about this visit. what of the beef? the urgent question which opens in parliament was to borisjohnson but he was tied up was to borisjohnson but he was tied up in buckingham palace. this is about why we are rolling out the red carpet. obviously you have got to have business discussions with leading figures but this is effectively now a dictator. he is

the leading dictator in a theocratic state, which is doing several harm in several directions. its approach to the war in yemen, the bombing of civilian targets using british weapons in many cases, blocking the access to food, which is perpetuated the famine. secondly, obstructing the famine. secondly, obstructing the agreements on the iran nuclear deal that britain was a party to. fanning sectarian conflict in the middle east with lebanon, syria, qatar amongst others. and appalling human rights record. you know, there are other countries of course which do capital punishment, but this is one of the few countries in the world where they execute children for non—violent offences, like demonstrations. crucifixion. and it has intensified under that supposedly modernising prince. so we should be not talking to him at all? bi think we should be talking to him, but that is not the

issue, he has come on what is in effect a state visit, we follow the panoply of buckingham palace and royalty being involved. this is the traditional way we have dealt with the saudis. the tempting —— the king came here ten years ago. i stayed away from the banquet because i thought we needed to make a statement. what the government is now doing is arguing that this is a new broom, he is a moderniser, but what does modernisation mean? in many respects, the situation is deteriorating. at this particular time in history, do we not need to be little more pragmatic? money talks the future relationship between saudi arabia and this country are important. of course we have to be pragmatic. we long have been. saudi arabia was, at least for a while, the dominant influence on

world oil markets. it is not any longer. theirfinancial world oil markets. it is not any longer. their financial position world oil markets. it is not any longer. theirfinancial position has deteriorated very badly, which is why they have just done a shakedown of all of their rich people to get them to contribute to the budget. the kind of deal that we are talking about are actually quite controversial. if you put on one side of the armaments issue, the big thing that the british are pushing for, and the saudis, is the placement of the saudi privatisation in the city, but the only way that will happen is by gelatin are high standards of governance. trade, yes, it is important, but there is a real risk that in just falling over ourselves to get deals with the saudis, we compromise high standards and several key areas. thank you very much forjoining us, thank you. now, the gap and healthy life expectancy between the best and worst areas of the country is more than 30 years, according to new figures released by the office for national statistics. men born in knightsbridge in belgravia can expect to live expect to live 79 yea rs before expect to live expect to live 79 years before seeing their health deteriorate, we are counterparts in black blackpool will see their

health are filling atjust black blackpool will see their health are filling at just 47. black blackpool will see their health are filling atjust 47. to help us make sense, i am joined by head of statistics. what does the data show? facial huge differences between different neighbourhoods in the country. let‘s start first of all with less expectancy, how long you can expect to live in total. as we pull off the top and bottom regions for men and women in the country, if you are born down here in leafy bracknell, boys can expect to live about 90 years, whereas you if you are bored up north, the, in bloomfield in blackpool, it is much lower at 68. now, bloomfield in blackpool, it is much lowerat 68. now, it bloomfield in blackpool, it is much lower at 68. now, it is worth seeing, it is not a classic north—south divide, because the places where you can expect to live longest and shortest, if you‘re a woman, are both up in the north. i will have to break into this because we are taking us to reading crown court because police are getting a statement after that not guilty verdict on the second motorist in that crash. guilty of

causing death by careless driving but was acquitted of causing death by dangerous driving. on that of the august according weekend, one driver chose to drive you worry whilst over the alcohol limit. prior to the collision, his professional driving licence had also been revoked so he should not have been driving at all bad day. behind the holiday in europe stopped behind the lorry. meanwhile, david wagstaff was driving a lorry which approached the scene. he was talking on his mobile phone, using hands—free. this distracted him to such an extent he did not notice the vehicles ahead of him. he collided with them at a

speed of approximately 56 mph. the consequences were horrific. eight people on the minibus died. those who escaped with their lives were very seriously injured. all of the emergency services, together with staff from high with england and members of the public, worked extremely hard to bring comfort to those involved in exceptionally difficult circumstances. everyone who attended will not forget the scene they faced that day. trained family liaison officers are provided special support the families affected and what has been a challenging at times are difficult investigation. the driving of the lorry drivers involved in this collision is not reflective of the standard of hgv drivers to travel safely on our roads every day. i hope the convictions provide a small measure of closure to those who survived, and for the families of global ones died. i hope it will that light whose loved ones died. i hope it will serve as a deterrent to those who drive on. a good

afternoon, i am a senior crown prosecutor for the crown prosecution service. this incident, caused by one drink—driver and the prolonged inattention of another, resulted in a tragic waste of life. ryszard masierak was over the drink—driving limit and part in lane one of the motorway, forcing the minibus to come to a stop behind it, unable to ove rta ke come to a stop behind it, unable to overtake due to the volume of traffic in the second lane. the stationary vehicles were clearly visible to david wagstaff for a considerable time. in fact, nine seconds. but he was oblivious to the approaching hazard as he was on cruise control and hands—free at a time. what then followed was an entirely avoidable collision with the most catastrophic consequences. holding a driver's license brings with it a high degree of responsibility that should be at the forefront of every driver's mind. both men shot flagrant disregard for the safety of other road users that morning, leaving five families

mourning the loss of their loved ones. unimaginable to think of the emotional impact of this incident will have on the family and friends of the deceased and those injured. i hope that those injured continue with the recovery and hope that these convictions will in some way bring some closure to those concerned for this catastrophic event. my thoughts are very much with them all at this time. thank you very much. so, reactionjust here, now, ithink from the relatives of victims.|j so, reactionjust here, now, ithink from the relatives of victims. i am representing mr joseph's family. from the relatives of victims. i am representing mrjoseph's family. we are pleased that the jury has found rysza rd are pleased that the jury has found ryszard masierak guilty for dangerous driving. but we are very disappointed on the jury's decision about david wagstaff. we strongly think his driving was very dangerous

on that day. if a relative was not dead, you could have killed himself. david wagstaff came from behind. he killed five people and injured three. just won't appeal away from that. we will keep an eye on what they have to and will bring it to you later on, but rachel is here to bring the business news injust a moment. first, our headlines. what was used to poison the russian spy and his daughter? we are going to be finding out more in the next couple of hours as ministers moved to reassure local people. as police continue to search various properties, reports that a woman has been exported by officers into an ambulance and driven away. lorry driver mohammad bin salman has been found not guilty of causing the deaths of eight people by dangerous driving at reading crown court.

hello, almost 1000 jobs are to go at new look, after the high retailer announced it reorganisation. 60 stores will close, which is expected to result in 980 job losses. the company says it will try to redeploy staff. uk house prices grew at their slowest rate in five years last month. that is according to halifax, the country‘s largest lender. it is the country‘s largest lender. it is the slowest rate of increase since march 2013. between november and february, the average price of a home actually fell by around £2000. ayes and uk consumers could save £5 billion in energy bills over five yea rs billion in energy bills over five years is proposed new rules come to affect. ofgem wants to cut how much consumers have to pay end its energy network investment as part of their overall bill. this should lead to between £15 and £20 saved for each

customer every year. 500 jobs to go at devon dockyard, we are steering this is by babcock international and we will have more on that later on. let‘s talk about philip hammond, who has been speaking about a post—brexit world. what did he have to see in detail question mark one of the things we have been focusing on upstairs is his call for some sort of enhanced equivalence with the eu. the eu gave equivalence to lots of countries. it is a system which allows them to trade and have financial services, but it could be removed at any moment‘s notice and is not the sort of thing that could support the level of trading that you see between, that will happen between the eu and london, and it would not be enough to give confidence to the american or japanese banks that would be operating out of london. that is why the chancellor is calling for an enhanced equivalence, something that would be mutually recognised with an objective third party to monitor it. the eu is not offering bad. they say

financial services is difficult to agree on a free—trade agreement. it has not been done before and they do not want to do it now. the chancellor is arguing that because it does not been done before does not mean that you cannot do admire and that it was an ambition they tried to achieve with the us through the tt ip free—trade agreement. let‘s speak to doctor rebecca harding, founder and ceo of a company. doctor harding, what do you make of the chancellor‘s argument? company. doctor harding, what do you make of the chancellor's argument?” think what we are seeing with philip hammond is with their degree of frustration. he is trying to see exactly how he can make things work for the uk economy, whereas the european union obviously has ruled that it wants to stick by, and there isa that it wants to stick by, and there is a degree of frustration coming by. the most important thing here is that banking and finance are actually a climate for the british economy. they contributed 7.2% to gross value added. i driven 24

billion per year to the uk economy. he is trying to protect that and understandably so. doctor harding, he also spoke about other financial centres in europe, thing that of london was aside, it will not necessarily be frankfurt paris that will benefit but new york and singapore. what do you make of those arguments? years making a good point. london is a large financial centre and it has a great amount of capital flowing through it, centre and it has a great amount of capitalflowing through it, a great amount of liquidity. the extent to which a frankfurt or paris or even dublin could substitute for a london is debatable, but the challenge is actually in the global financial system who is going to benefit from all over this? identifying singapore and new york is obviously important, because they have equivalent amounts of money running through them at the moment. 0k, thank you very much for your time. quick look at the markets. yes,

please. this is interesting. last night, gary corncob one of president trump‘s chief economic advisers stepped down. he is a big supporter of free trade. we saw a resurgence in the us markets yesterday when the traders but it was less likely this trade wars could erupt with these ta riffs trade wars could erupt with these tariffs on aluminium and steel threatened by some. when he left, the markets got nervous again. each of us out overnight, the us on again today. they have just announced a statement on the end of the week by theirs. and restaurant group up. you always hear stories about restaurant in the high—street having troubles. restau ra nt high—street having troubles. restaurant group have announced a fall and like—for—like sales but not as bad as expected. excellent, thank you very much. . let‘s have a look at the weather. some places so showers, other is kept and stayed dry. into this

evening and overnight, lingzi clear spells. a few showers and longer spells. a few showers and longer spells of rain with some hill snow in southern and western areas. showers continuing across the north of the country. went over higher ground. of ice, temperatures fall away. this feature runs into south—west england and wales to bring outbreaks of heavy rain. could see some snow, maybe even down to lower levels, in towards the midlands. this could cause some issues for the thursday morning commute. watch out for this and stay tuned to your bbc local radio. conditions are improving with sunshine, widespread impact across the country. a few showers across western, northern areas, but when true over the higher ground. in the sunshine, not too bad. it will be a degree or so cooler than what we have seen today, temperatures between six and 10 celsius. hello, you‘re watching afternoon live — i‘m simon mccoy. today at 4: what was used to poison the russian spy and his daughter? we‘ll find out more while afternoon live is on air —

as ministers move to reassure local people. i want to reassure the public that we have the ability, the wherewithall, and the knowledge to keep them completely safe. as police continue to search various properties — reports that a woman has been escorted by officers into an ambulance and driven away. a lorry driver — david wagstaff — has been found not guilty of causing the deaths of eight people by dangerous driving at reading crown court. the chancellor says excluding the uk from the eu‘s financial markets would be self defeating, but donald tusk warns the uk cannot pick and choose where to integrate. we should be under no illusion about the significant additional costs if this highly efficient market were to fragment. a pick and mix approach for a non member state is out of the question. we are not going to sacrifice these principles, it's simply not in our interest. saudi‘s crown prince arrives in the uk on a three day visit —

he can expect talks with ministers, lunch with the queen, and maybe the odd protest. coming up on afternoon live all the sport. a big game coming up for spurs? yes, the tottenham boss, mauricio pochettino, says his players would go down as heroes if they went the distance in the champions league this season. but he thinks they will need to be brave to get past juventus. we will look ahead to that match. and we have the weather. it has been a fine afternoon for most of us. a lot of sunshine and spring—like in places. but tonight we could see some snow in dmrals. —— england and wales. all the details coming up. also coming up — a musical cab ride. # driving along in my automobile.

we‘ll hear the taxi firm in newcastle that records passengers singing karaoke classics. good afternoon. the home secretary, amber rudd, has said more is now known about the substance involved in the suspected poisoning of a former russian spy, and his daughter. sergei skripal and his daughter yulia remain critically ill in hospital in salisbury in wiltshire, after collapsing on sunday. a police cordon remains in place. we‘ll get more detail of the substance used from police this afternoon — and we‘ll bring that to you here on afternoon live. richard galpin reports. with the former russian intelligence officer sergei skripal and his daughter still fighting for their lives in hospital,

counterterrorism police are now running the investigation. and they want any witnesses to come forward with information. for example, at the zizzi restaurant where the skripals ate, not long before they collapsed on a bench in the city centre. today, another sign of how seriously this incident is being treated. what more do we know about the russian connection? senior politicians and intelligence officials holding a meeting of the government‘s emergency response committee called cobra. and afterwards, the home secretary announced there had been progress in the investigation into what had made to the skripals so ill last sunday. we do know more about the substance and the police will be making a further statement this afternoon in order to share some of that. we must let the police carry on their work. they will share what they can this afternoon and i‘m sure there will be more updates as the investigation continues. scientists at the government‘s research laboratories at porton down

near salisbury have been examining samples to try to work out exactly what substance was involved. but despite suspicions that russia might be behind what has happened, there are warnings against jumping to conclusions. we need to bear in mind that the police need to look at all avenues, it is notjust a case of deciding that this is a russian state incident. this could be someone else and it is quite possible that someone else has done this, so it is really important that we keep an open mind as police officers. in moscow there is growing anger at the way the british media has been reporting the incident. translation: these people have been used by the foreign media for an anti—russian campaign. it is a traditional campaign. the tradition is to make things up. we can only see it as a provocation. meanwhile, several key locations in salisbury remain cordoned off by the police.

it has now been revealed that an ambulance station outside the city has also been sealed off. with reports of a fire engine being used to hose down the ambulance which took the skripals to hospital. richard galpin, bbc news. let‘s join our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford, who is at scotland yard to give us the latest. we are expecting some sort of detail are we on what‘s happened in terms of what may have been used here? yes, we are the home secretary made it clear after the cobra meeting that the police would be giving some further details about the substance used and i understand that‘s likely to happen in about an hour‘s time. maybe just before or just to happen in about an hour‘s time. maybe just before orjust after 5 o‘clock. we think that a senior police officer will come and give us those details and whether it is specifically the exact substance they believe that is involved, or

perhaps more likely it is going to bea perhaps more likely it is going to be a general area of the kind of substance, that is what we will find out when one of the police officers comes out of here in the next hour or so. comes out of here in the next hour or so. that is a critical part of investigation, whether they can get to the exact details of what substance may have been used and the means of delivery, because then if they can work out exactly what it was and how it was delivered, that sta rts was and how it was delivered, that starts to help them to work out who might have done it and what moment they might have had the opportunity to do it. and those things start to become easier. they‘re wanting to reassure the public by giving as much information as they feel they can without affecting their investigation. and there are two people still critically ill in hospital who would like to know what‘s happened here, there is a chance they could be treated, is there? yes, i understand they are very seriously ill. they‘re being

described as critically ill. whether or not treatment is going to assist them at this stage is unclear. if you can get to the bottom of exactly what it was that made them so unwell, that gives you at least a chance if there is something you can do to improve their condition, that at least gives you a chance. the other interesting thing that we are seeing today is the dynamics of how the british government responds to all this. we had the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, all this. we had the foreign secretary, boris johnson, in all this. we had the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, in the house of commons yesterday, being robust in his remarks about russia. we haven‘t seen those kind of robust remarks today. i think there is a feeling within government over night that perhaps they need to be careful about how strongly they react to events. because it could be that if this was done by somebody and was done by somebody for some political reason that it may be that the british‘s government reaction is exactly what they‘re looking for.

there will be a lot of measured reaction i think from within government as the police go about their investigation and as the facts are slowly extracted from the police investigation, then i think we will see a more measured response from the government. we have to assume whatever the police announce, they will have known it for some time and the investigation will be ahead of what we know at the moment? yes. it is likely to be several places ahead of where we are, certainly in the move bgs of sergei skripal and his daughter around salisbury that day. the police are probably further ahead of that in terms of who saw them where, than we are. but aare still appealing for public to give them information they saw in salisbury on sunday afternoon and certainly to send them pictures and videos that anyone may have taken on

sunday that may have caught these two people on their pictures or anyone who was videoing as they became unwell, police clearly very keen for anything like that. whether or not they‘re far ahead on the substance. we may hear almost everything they know. there are people who have been victims of poison, high—profile russian opposition members, and whom ever has never become clear what it was that poisoned them. so i don‘t think it is necessarily a guarantee that they will know. but the key is that sergei skripal and his daughter were in hospital within hours and the seriousness of incident was recognised quickly. thank you very much. a second lorry driver involved

in a collision on the m1 last august has been found not guilty of causing the deaths of eight people by dangerous driving. david wagstaff admitted to careless driving because he was on a hands free phone and his lorry was on cruise control at the time of the crash. yesterday rysza rd masierak the driver of the first lorry — who had parked his vehicle on the motorway and was twice over the drink drive limit — was found guilty of causing the eight deaths. helena lee reports. the sheer force of impact of the crash is clear to see — a crash that was entirely avoidable, the trial heard, with the most catastrophic and tragic of consequences. ryszard masierak stopped his lorry in the slow lane of the m1 for 12 minutes. thejury slow lane of the m1 for 12 minutes. the jury was shown this dash cam footage from another lorry driver on the road before the collision. he passed rysza rd masiera k‘s the road before the collision. he passed ryszard masierak‘s lorry stationery in the slow lane. the court heard rysza rd stationery in the slow lane. the court heard ryszard masierak was

twice over the legal limit and had been driving erratically. soon after, the minibus driver tried to go around ryszard masierak‘s lorry. he missed his chance, stopped behind it and put his hazards on. moments later, david wagstaff‘s lorry ploughed into the bus. the court heard wagstaff had been on a hands—free call for nearly an hour at the time of the crash and his lorry on cruise control. the bus driver and seven passengers died. he was taken n them to london. four others were seriously swrired. six months on from the crash, and mr joseph‘s family feel his loss deeply. i miss him a lot. my life has completely changed so much. and yeah, it‘s hard. i‘m trying to get

through it. we all are. the crown prosecution service says this case serves as a stark warning to other drivers. it is a clear reminder to all drivers that holding a driver's licence brings a high degree of responsibilities that should be at the forefront of a driver's mind. for the families the end of trial may bring some closure after one of the worst motorway crashes in recent yea rs. the european union has published its guidelines for an agreement on the future relationship between the eu and the united kingdom after britain leaves. the president of the european council, donald tusk, said since theresa may made clear that the uk intended to leave the european single market and customs union, the only option left was to negotiate a trade agreement. mr tusk was speaking at a news conference in luxembourg. the outcome of the negotiations must pass two tests. the test of balance of rights and obligations. for example, the eu cannot

agree to grant the uk the rights of norway, with the obligations of canada. the test of integrity of the single market. no member state is free to pick only those sectors of the single market it likes. nor to accept the role of the ecj only when it suits their interest. by the same token, a pick and mix approach for a non—member state is out of the question. we are not going to sacrifice these principles. it is simply not in our interest. in a speech in london‘s docklands, chancellor philip hammond said it was vital that financial services were included in any trade deal — to avoid financial instability the deep pools of capital, specialist skill and regulatory competence in london provide information, safe and high quality

services to the eu. we manage 1.5 trillion euros of assets on behalf of eu clients. around two thirds of debt and equity capital used by eu corporates is facilitated by banks in the uk. 78% of trading and 74% of interest rate derivatives takes place in the uk. these are services that businesses rely on to run their operations efficiently and with the benefit passed on to consumers all 28 eu countries. we should be under no illusion about the significant additional costs if this highly efficient market were to fragment. costs that would be borne by europe‘s businesses and consumers. our reality check correspondent chris morris is here. that is how the uk looks at it,

those in europe say, if the british city, the institution of the city, does fragment, we benefit. ie paris, frankfurt and the rest of europe. they might benefit a little, some jobs may move to those cities. generally people in the city think the bigger danger is jobs would generally people in the city think the bigger danger isjobs would move to the far east or new york. because you‘re talking about the global financial capitals. everyone in the eu knows the only global financial capital in europe is london. i think london will survive come what may, big bang, deregulation was going to destroy the city. the great fire. you‘re memory is longer than mine. yes, london will survive brexit, the sobering point of philip hammond is he was saying the financial services should be part of a free trade

agreement, the document put out by the eu does not mention financial services. it is considered a non——starter. the french finance minister was in london and he met philip hammond and his message was similarto philip hammond and his message was similar to donald tusk — financial services no. it doesn't get stronger than no. we heard donald tusk say there is no pick and mix, that is what a negotiation is, but even that seems out of call? there are two things, when they say no pick and mix, they‘re talking about the single market, because the single market is a whole set of rules and releva nt — — market is a whole set of rules and relevant —— regulation, freedom of movement, it is one whole. if you talk of a free trade agreement, you can have more pick and mix. each

free trade agreement is different. if the eu is offering canada and the eu should say if you‘re determined to emphasise our connectedness, we should be able to get a better deal than canada. but it may take time. it is not something, i think we discussed this last year. we had ministers saying this would be the easiest negotiation in history. it isn‘t. easiest negotiation in history. it isn't. what is the next thing to look out for? the next sort of if you like event is a summit of eu leaders towards the end of the month. that will hopefully finalise negotiations on a transition after brexit for roughly two years. negotiations on a transition after brexit for roughly two yearsm there is one. if there is one. and secondly this document that has come out today which is a draft would be due to be agreed officially by the other 27 eu leaders and it would

form the basis by which the negotiating team start to talk to british negotiators about the future relationship. they want to wrap up that phase of negotiation by october. barely more than six months. they‘re saying on the eu side the best we can hope for is a broad political statement, a few dozen pages at most, which says here is the intention of where we want to go. but we need to keep negotiating. it is not as ambitious as the things we heard from theresa may in her speech on friday. this document todayis speech on friday. this document today is a bucket of cold water poured over much of that speech. thank you. you‘re watching afternoon live. the headlines: what was used to poison the russian spy and his daughter? we will find out. as police continue to search properties, reports that a woman has been escorted into an ambulance and

driven away. a lorry driver, david wagstaff, has been found not guilty of causing the deaths of eight people by dangerous driving. in sport, mauricio pochettino says his spurs players need to bring a positive attitude to wembley tonight if they‘re going to get past juventus in the champions league. the one—day series will go to a decider as new zealand level the series. ross taylor was the hero for the black cats with 181. blair kinghorn will make his first start for scotland against ireland this weekend. he is the only change to the side. i‘m back with morejust after half past. saudi arabia‘s crown prince, mohammed bin salman,

is having lunch with the queen, at the start of a 3 day visit to the uk, during which he‘s also scheduled to have dinner with the prince of wales, and talks with the prime minister about trade and security. but campaigners are planning protests — highlighting saudi arabia‘s human rights record, and its role in the war in yemen. here‘s our security correspondent frank gardner. touching down in britain last night, saudi tv showed crown prince mohammed bin salman being greeted by boris johnson and others. he has chosen london as his first western destination since becoming heir to the saudi throne. a lavish public relations campaign is alerting londoners to his visit. but so too is this, anti—war protesters say the prince has blood on his hands for saudi led air strikes on yemen. they want the government to stop defence sales to saudi arabia. defence and security contracts dominate trade with the uk. they are worth billions of pounds and employ thousands of britons. but in neighbouring yemen,

saudi led air strikes on iranian backed houthi rebels are being blamed for mounting civilian casualties. it prompted a question in parliament this morning over whether with its poor human rights record, saudi arabia is a suitable ally. as she makes her arms sales pitch, will she also call on the crown prince to stop the shocking abuse of human rights in saudi arabia? the link that we have with saudi arabia is historic, it is an important one. i will be raising concerns about human rights with the crown prince when i meet him. back home, the crown prince is rapidly modernising his country. he has lifted the ban on women driving from june. cinemas and public entertainment are being reintroduced and a new mega city built. he is also aiming to diversify the economy away from oil, which means attracting british investment. and with brexit looming, the government here is looking to boost its links with it biggest arab trading partner. but prince mohammed is no democrat.

he locked up overt 200 prominent saudis in this hotel last year, accusing them of corruption. his critics say beheadings have increased since he rose to power and his methods are worrying some foreign investors. crown prince mohammed is a man in a hurry, as he sits down for lunch with the queen today, his message is that a new modern saudi arabia is open for business. but this relationship will always be a controversial one. frank gardner, bbc news. joining me now from our studio is oxford is richard oliver miles former ambassador to libya and editor of the arab digest newsletter. as frank was saying, what should we read to the fact he had come to britain before anywhere else. that isa britain before anywhere else. that is a surprise, but saudi arabia has had a close relationship with

britain for many years. it is his first overseas trip as crown prince. he has been to egypt in the last few days and now britain and he will go on to the united states. it is encouraging if you like from the british point of view if we want to see our relationship with saudi arabia prosper that he has made this decision. plenty of people are sceptical about what is called the wind of change back home. what do you think of the changes he has introduced so far? i have been an observer of saudi arabia for many yea rs observer of saudi arabia for many years and i worked there 30 years ago and never lost touch with the country. it‘s changed radically, because it used to be extremely static. things didn‘t happen. you waited and waited and they didn‘t happen. that is changing since king salman succeeded his brother and mohammed bin salman has quickly come to prominence as the man who is

driving the vehicle. things are changing all the time. it is difficult to answer your question. for example, there are reforms, frank gardner mentioned the women driving, which has become a symbol of the change that is needed in saudi arabia. there are other reforms. some seem trivial, i don‘t know whether allowing women to go to football matches is that important, although it may be important to the people who want to go. but there are also changes which are not so good. for example, he has introduced, or the king has authorised this so—called anticorru ption drive. the king has authorised this so—called anticorruption drive. well there was already an anticorruption vehicle in saudi arabia, but it has been brushed aside. now we have a system of dealing with corruption which involves arresting people and taking their money away without legal process. one has to doubt whether that is a way of encouraging

foreign business to come to saudi arabia. that is a diplomatic way of saying it is nonsense? saying that it is nonsense? i‘m not quite with you. in term of cracking down on corruption, that is not what is happening. well it may be. you can't say absolutely that it is not. it is possible it is. a lot of the people who have been relieved of their money have acquired it in ways which we would regard as corrupt. but it remains to be seen whether that process will stop. one difficult thing if they go ahead with the idea of selling an ipo for the biggest oil company in the world, it will be very difficult do that without going into the, all the rather... hidden details of how much is paid out to which prince. one word you have not used, one country you have not mentioned is yemen. very important. if, i didn‘t want to complete this

without talking about yemen. the situation this horrible. it is by some standards the worst humanitarian catastrophe in the world, perhaps even worse than syria and the saudis bear a heavy responsibility for that are. it not entirely theirfault, responsibility for that are. it not entirely their fault, but they have mishandled it and they have no justification for what they‘re doing. we are caught in a different position, because we have been selling them weapons for many years. now they‘re using the weapon and we have to decide can public opinion stomach supplying them in these conditions? thank you very much for your time. now the weather. i know thatis your time. now the weather. i know that is not in this country, that is massachusetts? yes they have had a

series of storms in the north—east. this produced severe gales and we saw coastal flooding. this this produced severe gales and we saw coastalflooding. this is this produced severe gales and we saw coastal flooding. this is the waves crashing in, bringing flooding car—deep. we have another one moving in to the north—east. the mid—atlantic in to the north—east. the mid—atla ntic states and in to the north—east. the mid—atlantic states and the north—east of the state if my graphics will work. spinning up there. i love that picture. with the overnight lights on. it is difficult to see where it is, but this is the new storm. it is deepening and as we go into... 0h! new storm. it is deepening and as we go into... oh! it is getting back to there. we will get back to it. what is going on closer to home?” there. we will get back to it. what is going on closer to home? i was going to say there is going to be a foot of snow in the north—east in the next 24 hours. we have had our share of snow. north-east of the

united states. don‘t terrify parts of this country. that is what is happening here? yes a quieter picture. we have had a mixture of sunshine and showers. across the south we are looking at this feature moving in, low pressure will bring rain and some mountain snow to parts of wales and maybe down to lower level. so we have a travel board in, because there could be some disruption by the end of tonight and early thursday for the midlands and wales and northern england. we could see some snow down to lower levels. bear that in see some snow down to lower levels. bearthat in mind see some snow down to lower levels. bear that in mind during the early pa rt bear that in mind during the early part of thursday. central and northern wales looks to be the worst hit. and nothing as bad as we what last week. the whole thing winds itself out into the north sea and conditions improve in the afternoon. a lot of sunshine. the best of sunshine will be in the east by the

afternoon. further north and west there could be some showers. temperatures a notch down on today. about 6 to 10 degrees. for friday an area of low pressure bringing snow to the hills in scotland. but elsewhere a gorgeous day. but we have a low pressure system moving in bringing rain and wind to cornwall and devon and other parts of the south. it is associated with an area of low pressure with mild air in it. you can see the blue holds on in northern ireland and northern england and scotland. as the rain moves north we could see some snow on the leading edge. but it will revert back to rain to lower levels and further south given some sunshine, it is going to feel almost spring—like. sunshine, it is going to feel almost spring-like. that is your weather. this is bbc news —

our latest headlines. police investigating the suspected poisoning of a russian double agent and his daughter in salisbury are due to give an update this afternoon about the substance used. sergei and yulia skripal remain critically ill. lorry driver david wagstaff — who was involved in a collision on the m1 last august has been found not guilty of causing the death by dangerous driving at reading crown court. yesterday, the driver of another lorry, rysza rd masierak, was convicted of causing 8 deaths by dangerous driving. the chancellor says excluding the uk from the eu‘s financial markets would be self—defeating, while donald tusk says the best britain can hope for is a free trade agreement — but warns the uk cannot pick and choose. saudi‘s crown prince, mohammad bin salman, is meeting with ministers in downing street for trade talks on the first day of his three day visit to the uk — after an earlier lunch with the queen. meanwhile — demonstrations are taking place in westminster in protest to saudi

arabia‘s involvement with the conflict in yemen. sport now, hugh, a big night for liverpool last night and a possible big night for other british clubs. yes, two more british clubs in action, liverpool reached the last eight of the champions league by beating porto last night, relatively easily, things will be different for spurs, a very big night out at wembley stadium, it was 2—2 in the first leg away againstjuventus. totte n ha m first leg away againstjuventus. tottenham looking for the first quarterfinal since 2011. that coming and harry redknapp. the players, according to manager mauricio pochettino, need to be brave. this is what he said. we need to think we can win. we will think in this way, and then what happens will be the

consequence of our performance. if we can perform in the way we normally used to do, tomorrow we will be close to winning and going through to the next stage. having beaten real madrid earlier in the competition and drawing 2—2 against juventus in turin mauricio pochettino said his side had earned the respect of europe. they will have to respect you for this evening if they are to get through. manchester city deserve respect after their first leg, it‘s hard manchester city deserve respect after theirfirst leg, it‘s hard to see them not going to. am not a gambler that i wouldn‘t put money on them losing and getting knocked out. they are all but assured ofjoining liverpool in the last eight but with one trophy in the bag and a huge lead at the top of the premier league all the talk is about whether city can win the champions league for the first time in the history. they are the favourites. many of the

experts call them the best side in europe at the moment. if they to up to that billing their manager pep guardiola says they need to stay focused and concentrated. we are almost the champions of the premier league, but the reality is we are not the winners is why we have to be calm, that's the best advice i can give to my players. after the controversy of the pitch surrounding his appointment it could be the perfect start to fill level as england women‘s manager, theyjust need one point to win the tournament, they have beaten france and john with germany. but the americans are the highest ranked tea m americans are the highest ranked team in the world so there‘s plenty at stake tonight. how will they celebrate if they win? we're sending them to disneyland on thursday morning, that‘s the treat. i think thursday morning they‘ll leave the hotel, they‘ve got three or four hours in disneyland, it‘s a

once—in—a—lifetime chance of the players because of their schedules, it is very rarely they get a long time off, so they‘ve got three or four hours in disneyland, with mickey mouse and donald duck. away from football england‘s one—day series with new zealand will go to a decider on friday after the hosts won the fourth match by five wickets with just three balls to spare this morning. england looked set for a huge total withjonny bairstow and joe root making centuries but collapsed later in the innings and posted a disappointing 334—9. it went down to the final over, henry nicholls at six to seal victory from new zealand. the star was ross taylor who finished on 181 not out despite struggling with a thigh injury. edinburgh wing berahino and will make his first start for scotla nd will make his first start for scotland in place of the injured winger tommy seymour when they face ireland in dublin on saturday. the new winger came on as a replacement

in the win over england, he‘s the only change as grigor townson sticks and 14 of the 15 who have recorded back—to—back wins in the championship. taulupe faletau returns at number eight and two captain wales against italy in cardiff on sunday. warren gatland has made ten changes to the side that lost against ireland. scullers flankerjames that lost against ireland. scullers flanker james davies will that lost against ireland. scullers flankerjames davies will win his first cap, gareth anscombe is fly half with george north selected on the wing. and that‘s all that sport for now, back with more in the next hour. now on afternoon live, let‘s go nationwide and see what‘s happening around the country — in our daily visit to the bbc newsrooms around the uk. from plymouth we are joined by victoria graham, who will be telling us how one local vigilante is trying to solve their pothole problem, which seems to be a big issue affecting all the regions in the uk. we will talk to her in a moment.

and carol malia is in newcastle, where a cabbie has created an innovative way of boosting his business and now has people queuing up, to use his taxis. it isa it is a great story. be with you in a moment. victoria, these potholes seem to be causing misery. you make it sound as if we are the pothole region in the country, not every region in the country, not every region has a reg. reg windsor is a man on a mission, he has filled in 200 potholes suffer and he isn‘t going to stop, the self—styled vigilantes has going to stop, the self—styled vigila ntes has been going to stop, the self—styled vigilantes has been out and about fixing potholes all over it and abbott and demand on his services are sure to increase. he is a former builder, works out of his smart card, as all the gear, says even has sponsors who provide him with tarmac and other materials. he says he started because he had a pothole, 17 months later it was still not filled in so he do matters into his own

hands. what is the reaction been? mixed reaction, many people are thrilled that the potholes are being thrilled. the council is less than happy, they don‘t want people taking matters into their own hands, one managerfor matters into their own hands, one manager for highway management says, we are happy for parishes to come to us if they have volunteers to be pa rt us if they have volunteers to be part of a community road warden scheme, so far 60 parishes have done so and over 180 volunteers have taken training. but they can‘t condone anyone working on the highway who was not trained or qualified. public safety is the priority. the council is putting an extra £65 million into road maintenance in the coming year but they say the allocation from central government has left them underfunded figures. reg says he doesn‘t blame the councils, they all struggling financially. some tell him he is mad because the roads should be paid for in council tax so why is the spending his money? he is standing

firm, though, and says, he will continue filling the hole some he says, do we moan or are we british and will we do things for ourselves? it is tempting to say good old reg but we are not allowed to express opinions! thank you. now, carol, this is a cab ride with a difference and how. it is. have you have had that moment where you live busy nightclub, i‘m sure you have come you get in this serene cab and you can make conversation, have you been busy, what time did. this cabbie decided, we‘ll have none of that, let‘s make the journey much more enjoyable. he decided he would record his passengers said he provides the words for cabbie karaoke and records them, with quite hilarious results. we think it is a hoot. these are some of them. # i want to dance with somebody...

# i want to dance with somebody... # guide to feel the heat with somebody... # black velvet without slow southern style #. # riding along in my automobile # riding along in my automobile #my # riding along in my automobile # my baby beside me at the wheel # my baby beside me at the wheel # seed caroline # seed caroline # good times never seemed so good #. that has put a smile on everyone‘s face! you can guarantee that. what gave them the idea in the first place? i think that is the main thing, you didn‘t see a glum face. what gave the cabbie the idea was singing along one day with his daughter in the cab, i think they we re daughter in the cab, i think they were having a great time, they were

singing along to the well—known film, frozen, and he had a light bulb moment and decided to take this to his passengers. he explains how this simple system works. i've got a wide angle lens, with a little magnet on the back and a magnet on the window, ready with the words... that goes above, from the rear, easy as that. # riding along in my automobile #. the majority of the times it is at night time when people have had a couple of drinks! i think that gives them a bit more enthusiasm to do it. i think he‘s busy, he must have a queue of people waiting for him, obviously he‘s having fun and why not. next time you are here we will book him. last time i went to a nightclub only did a cabinet for the

horse, that was the last cab i used! carol isn‘t arguing! —— last time i went to a nightclub, i needed a carrot for the horse! that was the last cab i used! if you would like to see more about any of those stories, access them via the bbc i play. a reminder, we go nationwide every weekday afternoon at 4:30pm here on afternoon live. this is afternoon live. nearly a year ago, the life of police constable kris aves changed forever, when he was injured in the terrorist attack on westminster bridge. he was left paralysed and no longer able to live at home with his family. but a call for help from the bbc‘s diy sos team was met with the biggest response for volunteers in the show‘s history. daniela relph has the story. thursday, 23rd march. the morning after the westminster bridge attack. five people died and 40 people were injured, some of them suffering what has been described as catastrophic injuries... one of those with catastrophic

injuries was metropolitan police constable kris aves. critically injured as he walked across the bridge. for much of the past year he‘s been in stoke mandeville hospital. he dislocated his vertebrae, damaged his spinal cord and is now in a wheelchair. but what he wanted more than anything was to get home to his partner and two young children. it makes me sad when i think forward. to go swimming, i don‘t know how i‘m going to be in a pool having a fun session with them. i won‘t be able to stand up and kick a football with them. and i kind ofjust feel... you know, it‘sjust been taken away from you. and it‘s not fair. the kids just ask a lot of questions about stuff and about why did daddy get hit, was he not looking when he crossed the road? and things like that.

and it's quite hard to answer them. at the end of last year the diy sos team stepped in. this is diy sos! they took the family‘s north london home and transformed it. they asked for volunteers to help. the programme had never had such an enormous response. sometimes we look at the police and the people who go out, emergency services, and do what they do for us. but we forget, behind every person there is a family. they are notjust uniforms, there are people in uniforms and their families are affected too. and obviously what happened to kris had a massive effect on the family. we had exclusive access to the build and the team‘s work. doorways were widened allowing access for kris‘s wheelchair. in the kitchen surfaces were lowered and space made to cook. a lift was built. the first of its kind in a family home, so kris can move between floors. in the garden a complete redesign. all to ensure there is space to play with his son and daughter. this entire project has been

about creating a family home. a place where everyone could be involved. and live properly, together again. the whole build took nine days to complete. and depended totally on the generosity of others. every day there was just ten, 20 people. do you want a hand? do you need a tiler? do you need a decorator? and notjust builders. cake. we get lots of cake delivered. crucial! cake is crucial! yeah, that‘s how the site works. cake and tea. tonight the programme will reveal what kris aves made of his new home. and the impact on one family whose life was so changed by events of almost a year ago. daniella relph, bbc news, north london. and you can see the full programme tonight — that‘s diy sos, on bbc one at 8pm; and available shortly afterwards on the iplayer. the first polar bear cub to be born

in the uk for 25 years has emerged from its ten at the royal zoological society of scotland‘s wildlife park. it was born a week before christmas and has been caught for an upcoming documentary about the polar bear breeding programme. the last polar bear cubs born in the uk were born in yorkshire in 1992. douglas richardson from the scotland zoological society explained how events unfolded, i think we have a rough idea but he will tell us more. we are treating victoria, the female bear, as if she was pregnant and we we re bear, as if she was pregnant and we were not that helpful because nothing had happened a year before and we'd tried some different things, and we ran some tests and they didn't give us anything indicating a positive outcome. so we thought, we will treat her as if she's pregnant and keep our fingers

crossed but i wouldn't have bet more thana crossed but i wouldn't have bet more than a fiver on it. and then on the 18th when one of the keepers at the cub making noises from inside the den, we were all very pleasantly surprised with the accent on surprised! —— when one of the keepers heard the curb. the first thing rachel asked me was, why was a polar bear born at flamingo land? she will be here with the business news shortly. first, the headlines. what was used to poison the russian spy and his daughter? we‘ll find out as ministers move to address people‘s concerns. as police continued to search various properties reports that a woman has been escorted by officers into an ambulance and driven away. a lorry driver david wagstaff has been found not guilty of causing the deaths of eight people by dangerous driving at reading crown court. hello, airbus warns it may get rid

of up to 3700 jobs in the uk, france, germany and spain. it is because of falling production rates on some of its planes. yet it does not expect any redundancies at its broughton plant in wales. uk house prices grew at the slowest rate in five years last month, growth fell toi.8% five years last month, growth fell to1.8% in the five years last month, growth fell to 1.8% in the year to february according to halifax, the country‘s largest lender. that‘s the slowest rate of increase since march 20 november and february the average price of a home actually fell by £2000. about 1000 jobs at ago new look after the high street retailer announced its company voluntary arrangement. and this reorganisation and 60 stores will close, resulting in around 980 job losses but the company says it will try to redeploy staff. we haven‘t had much market jumped so go for it. we talk about

individual companies. the engineering firm, rolls—royce last year made a loss, of £4.6 billion, the 2017, they‘ve made a profit of £4.9 billion. investors are pleased. the restructuring seems to be working, they beat expectations in every division and their share price has risen 13% so far today. we also saw a rise in shares for the restau ra nt saw a rise in shares for the restaurant group which own about 500 outlets including frankie and bennies. their like—for—like sales fell 3% and we‘ve heard bad news about high—street restaurants but it seems that things were not as bad as investors expected. this is why their share price has done 0k today. philip hammond, we brought everyone his speech, live, earlier, serious concerns about what happens to the city after brexit. yes, philip

hammond is calling for the eu to agree some sort of enhanced equivalence. he looks huge, he looks as if he is about to eat your! he‘s looking for an enhanced equivalent. the eu offer this to other countries, but it is on their terms and they can withdraw it in a moment. it‘s not enough for the city because it won‘t be enough for the big japanese or american banks in the city wanting to trade with europe. so he‘s looking for this enhanced equivalence. the eu says it‘s too difficult to include financial services in a free—trade agreement, but mr hammond says just because it hasn‘t been done before doesn‘t mean it can‘t be done. he pointed out that was the new for ambition that was the eu‘s ambitions to include them in the tt at the

agreement. do you know who‘s in charge of those negotiations? michel barnier! joining us is james hughes, chief market analyst at axitrader. we haven‘t seen massive boots, we saw a bigger move on the back of prime minister‘s questions van and what philip hammond said today. there is an issue going forward with the way the city looks at what philip hammond said today. there‘s this overall feeling, notjust in the city but from the public that there is a point at which theresa may, philip hammond and david davies we re may, philip hammond and david davies were trying to get every aspect of brexit and every aspect of what we wa nt brexit and every aspect of what we want ina brexit and every aspect of what we want in a free—trade agreement. that is what philip hammond was saying today. he says, you‘ve tried to bat financial services into a free—trade agreement before and it hasn‘t happened but every single free—trade

agreement that the eu has worked on has been completely different. so what he says is, why can‘t this be the case now. you can understand from the point of view of the eu, saying, we‘ve never done this before, and butting financial services inside a free—trade agreement has been incredibly difficult in the past. there‘s so much regulation that goes around financial services that it becomes increasingly difficult to add those sorts of services inside a free—trade agreement. you can understand why the eu is almost telling philip hammond and the uk to step back, you can‘t have everything you want. but that is the line that the uk are playing. james, let's talk about the rolls—royce share price, what investors thinking? this is very much a case of cost—cutting. we seen a really good performance in terms of share price. it‘s because they posted a £4.9 billion profit.

but last year they had a £4.7 billion loss. every big swing like that, remember last year, a lot of court cases went on which caused a lot of the downside of a rolls—royce, what we are seeing now isa rolls—royce, what we are seeing now is a big swing to profitability, all aspects of rolls—royce performing particularly well. but much of that is down to cost—cutting. what rolls—royce have said today continuing from bad is that more jobs will go and more cost—cutting is still within the plan they made up is still within the plan they made up previously. so it‘s all about keeping to bad plan and continuing to almost restructure the company and give them this more profitable arm and —— keeping to the plan. where it becomes important is going forward and saying, once the cost—cutting is done can they still say profitable. there are issues going on with this trend 1000 engine, flights being grounded, we saw the scandal with british airways

and rolls—royce have said today that there is an ongoing fix about but and will take time. so yes, the shares are up and the numbers are particularly good but outlook why is this is still very much a cost—cutting time period for rolls—royce at the moment. cost—cutting time period for rolls-royce at the moment. and with all the troubles hitting high—street restau ra nts, all the troubles hitting high—street restaurants, the restaurant group not doing badly. i have to ask you to keep your hands assured because we do need to get to the weather at some point! —— to keep your answer short. yes, there has been a slightly more positive swing towards it. sam lowe and restaurants do particularly well so we‘ve seen good numbers they‘re but again very much like the rolls—royce picture going forward , like the rolls—royce picture going forward, and are hard times to come because we know on the high—street, things are being squeezed and restau ra nts things are being squeezed and restaurants are likely to be hit at some point. james hughes, chief market analyst at axitrader, always good value for money, thank you for

your time. now the markets. the ftse is up, the dow and the american market down. we spoke of his earlier, of trump‘s ‘s chief economic adviser ‘s gary cohn stood down last night. he‘s a big advocate, support of free—trade, there are now concerned that those tariffs, there are now concerned that those ta riffs, 25% there are now concerned that those tariffs, 25% on steel will come into place, there are reports that the president wants to sign off on them by the end of the week so investors are getting worried that this could lead to a trade war. tomorrow in the uk, we‘ve got results from john lewis, fever, g4s, the co—op bank, countrywide and dominoes, it will be busy. we will talk about a possible trade war because as soon as the other markets pick up we will see where this story is going. europe will be talking about how they would retaliate. we talked about it

yesterday, we talked about how the tariff will affect bourbon whiskey, its political, people are trying to hit the usa where it hurts so they are targeting states which produce these things, florida for example, florida was the swing states of europe are being tactical about where they will hit back. bad news and people going through a midlife crisis, no harley—davidson and no jack daniels! thank you. last week, an image of 2—year—old parker curry staring up at michelle obama‘s official portrait in awe went viral. the former first lady was so touched by the image, she ended up inviting parker over on tuesday for what ended up turning into a dance party. posting the video of the two dancing to "shake it off" she added "keep on dreaming big for yourself ? and maybe one day i‘ll proudly look up at a portrait of you". great moves from the two—year old.

that‘s it from your afternoon live team for today, next the bbc news at five with huw edwards. time for a look at the weather... here‘s stav daneos. chilly for northern areas, and further snow showers as you can see in angus from one of our weather watchers who‘s been at this point. further south springlike veal, milder with sunshine, still a few showers, this is the scene for the rest the afternoon, sunny spells and showers, to end the day i think many places will be dry with further sunshine. this next feature moving in overnight will bring prolonged rain with some snow, notjust of a higher ground that stand to lower levels by the rest of the knights of this could cause problems, further north there could be a risk of ice where we have lying snow and further

wintry showers. do keep checking bbc local area radio before you head out in parts of wales and northern ireland because we could see a bit of disruption although not as destructive as what we saw last week although there could be a couple of centimetres of snow across central and northern wales, spreading into northern england across into lincolnshire. the whole thing will move away quickly in the morning, around the rush hour, and skies will brighten nicely laid in the morning and into the afternoon. not a bad afternoon, a few showers across the north and the west, these will again be wintry of a higher ground in the north, chillier across—the—board with temperatures reaching nine or 10 degrees in the south. the picture for friday shows once more a largely fine day for many places with a lot of sunshine, still quite chilly across northern areas where we get showers, they will be wintry, certainly of a higher ground,

further south in the south—west rain will arrive, temperature wise ten to 11 degrees in the south, quite mild even though we have sunshine, towards the weekend we will see an area of low pressure moving up in the south, bringing outbreaks of rain but also pulling in this milder airfrom france. rain but also pulling in this milder air from france. it rain but also pulling in this milder airfrom france. it will be rain but also pulling in this milder air from france. it will be very slow to move north it looks as if northern areas will stay cold, we could see some snow for a time in the north. but you will notice the milder conditions in the south. today at five. police are set to reveal more about the substance used in the suspected poisoning of a former russian agent and his daughter. there are new images of sergei skripal, who remains critically ill in hospital with daughter yulia, as the police investigation gathers pace. as officers search various properties and escort one woman by ambulance — ministers say they‘re relying on evidence, not rumour. we need to make sure that the police and the other services, have the space to continue that investigation.

we need to keep a cool head and collect all the evidence we can, and we need to make sure that we respond not to rumour, but to all the evidence they collect. we‘ll have more details — and we‘ll be talking to professor alastair hay — an expert in exposure to chemical warfare agents. the other main stories on bbc news at five.