today at 5 — almost 200 military personnel are deployed in salisbury after the nerve agent attack on a former russian spy and his daughter. it comes as the home secretary visits the city and calls the attack outrageous. the priority is going to the incident — that's why i'm here in salisbury today, making sure everybody is protected around here, making sure the emergency services have had the support they need. we will be live in salisbury with the latest from the city. the other headlines... after months of trading insults, president trump and the north korean leader, kim jong—un, agree to meet. tributes for one of the greatest british scientists of recent times — professor sirjohn sulston, who helped sequence genome, has died at the age of 75.

and the biggest winter paralympics ever are under way, with a record number of athletes taking part. also this hour... david oyelowo and charlize theron star in the dark south of the border comedy, gringo. mark kermode will be here to discuss that and this week's top cinema hello. it's five o'clock, our top story. 180 military personnel are being deployed to salisbury, after the nerve agent attack on a former russian spy and his daughter in the city last sunday. they're from the royal marines, the raf, and some are specialists in chemical warfare. they'll help remove vehicles and objects from the scene, which may have been contaminated. sergei and yulia skripal are still critically ill in hospital, while the policeman who tried to help them remains in a serious condition.

richard galpin has the latest. six days after the attack here in salisbury and now the police and forensics experts are to be joined by around 200 soldiers specially trained in chemical warfare. theirjob, to help secure key locations, recover evidence and remove contaminated vehicles. experts say this is a highly unusual operation. these are highly specialised soldiers and airmen from the army's falcons quadrant, who are chemical reconnaissance, and from the raf regiment‘s specialist scenes. they will be very well trained and have the very best equipment. they will have all the detection needed to do sensitive site exploitation, no doubt the police and emergency services have identified vehicles and areas which

they feel may be contaminated. these soldiers and airmen will be able to work out exactly what it is, and either decontaminated themselves or ta ke either decontaminated themselves or take the vehicles and equipment to somewhere like winterbourne gunner weather can be safely disposed of. double agent sergei skripal‘s rises another major focus of the investigation, with evidence been collected. —— house. he and his daughter yulia, who had travelled from russia to spend time with her father, remain in a critical condition in the salisbury hospital but are said to be stable. you can survive a nerve agent attack. there is an excellent antidote that every soldier and some policemen were carry. i certainly carried it all my operations in afghanistan and iraq. if that is injected after a nerve agent attack, that reverses nerve agent attack, that reverses nerve agent damaged and you can survive.

the issue here is how long after they were treated and what sort of dose they got. also today, the home secretary visited the area and praised the emergency services for how they responded to such a dangerous incident. they reacted with the professionalism and compassion you would hope our emergency services do and i am in awe of their sympathetic approach and professionalism. at the research laboratories important down the scientists may already have identified the nerve agent used in the attack which almost certainly would have been made ina almost certainly would have been made in a state or establishment. that could reveal who targeted mr skripal and his daughter. why were they targeted now? a large community of russians live in this country, some who fled in fear of their lives. one exile in surrey met mr skripal by chance a few months ago. he said at the meeting that mr skripal said he had regularly met with russian diplomats and discussed

the burki was involved in. he said, "i am doing business, a different kind, i closed my business in spain. i am working mainly in cyber security. applause did he say what he was doing in cyber security? no, idid what he was doing in cyber security? no, i did not ask because it is a sensitive question. i understand he was working for some russian groups. working with people in the embassy on this or something completely separate? i had a feeling that meeting with friends was one, and cyber security and his business was another. could that work in cyber security possibly be a motive for the attack? let's speak now to philip ingram, a former senior intelligence officer in the british army, who has worked extensively with thejoint chemical, biological, radiation and nuclear regiment. he's in our birmingham studio. thank you for being with us. what do

you think these 180 military personnel have been called in to do? what will be their role? they are specialists. they will provide aid to the civil powers, they are trained infinding to the civil powers, they are trained in finding hotspots where the chemical could be contaminating and making those safe for the general public and gathering evidence in such a way it can be used to try to pinpoint who is responsible for this. what are your thoughts about this nerve agent? ? —— do you have any idea how it was used in this apparent attack on the former russian spy and his daughter? there are so many ways it could be used. the classic way was the way that kim jong—un pots used. the classic way was the way that kimjong—un pots half—brother was assassinated in kuala lumpur airport last year. a contaminated white was put across his face by two

women in the airport. it can be administered that easily. you only need a tiny amount on the skin, is that right? very tiny amounts. the government was quick to say this was a nerve agent. a very rare nerve agent. which would suggest there are not that many groups. there are some thicker agent is for assassins and a very potent, and a small amount on the skin would be enough to cause the skin would be enough to cause the symptoms we have seen. is it your view that a nerve agent like this could only be produced by countries —— a country's military apparatus, recorder —— could it be a mafia organisation? it is difficult for a mafia type organisation to produce this. we don't know what happened to the stocks saddam hussein had. we don't know about the stocks that were in ukraine. there

isa stocks that were in ukraine. there is a possibility that criminal groups 01’ is a possibility that criminal groups or terrorist organisations could get hold of this. but i think it is highly unlikely. it is more likely to be something that has been state initiated. bluntly, as an expert in this field, you think this has been produced by the russian military? i think if i was making a formal assessment, all the evidence points to that. it is achieving two things. it is allowing president putin, if he has ordered it, to make it very clear statement to his enemies, saying that he can go out and do something willy—nilly off where he wants to and in the very public way, and it is putting a very clear statement out to the west about his deployment of military forces, flying aircraft at the uk. he is basically telling the west he can operate with impunity where he wa nts to. can operate with impunity where he wants to. what is the most likely

way it could have been used to attack mr skripal and his daughter? would it have been put in their food? there would it have been put in their food ? there is would it have been put in their food? there is one theory that mr skripal‘s daughter may have unwittingly prodded across from russia. that is highly unlikely. the most likely route is somebody at some stage during his walk—through salisbury that evening has brushed past him and wipe this on his skin. —— wiped. that is the most likely route macro. he could have been given something that had already been contaminated. it acts fairly quickly. it only requires the tiniest of doses. i would want to suggest that someone has gone past him and wiped him with this material. just in terms of the casualties, we know that mr skripal and his daughter yulia are still critically ill and the officer, the

police officer is serious but stable. is it possible to survive one of these attacks if you have had quite a lot of the nerve agent put on yourskin? quite a lot of the nerve agent put on your skin? how long is a piece of string? it all depends on how much of a dose they have received, how quick the hospital cad and ministers some of the anti—dose. antidote dalton framing —— fairly common because they're useless many other things. he is closest to the best specialist in the country following this attack. thank you for your analysis. philip ingram, former senior intelligence officer in the british army. we can go live to our home affairs correspondent in salisbury outside the district hospital. what is the latest? there seems to be a flurry of activity now. we are getting the

first glimpse of the military presence here. you may not see behind me in the distance with the flashing lights, there is a military vehicle parked with its lights on. this is where sergei skripal and his daughter yulia are being treated. there is another military vehicle down there. they look like they are preparing to load something quite substantial from those trucks. it is not yet clear what they are. the military vehicles are here to help recover objects, to help recover vehicles to assist the investigation. we have not yet seen what they are recovering but this is the first sign that the military are present here at the district hospital. a couple of men in uniforms walking around the car park. those military vehicles in the distance preparing to load. separately, there is some separate activity going on, we understand, at

the graveyard nearby. this is where sergei skripal‘s wife and his son are buried. there is the presence of the fire department, met police officers in forensic suits. tents are being set up. clearly there are still many sites of interest and objects of interest the police are examining. the military will be sure to assist the investigation, 180 personnel, 18 vehicles. it is likely we will see them across other locations across salisbury city centre later this evening. the cordon stays in place at the malting shopping centre, where sergei skripal and yulia were found. clearly the investigation stepping up clearly the investigation stepping up this evening. thank you very much indeed. president trump says he will meet north korean leader kimjong—un for talks by the end of may.

the north koreans are reported to be committed to denuclearisation and ending missile tests. the apparent breakthrough comes after months of growing tension, in which the two leaders have traded insults. kim jong—un called mr trump "mentally deranged" — the american president called him a "maniac" and "little rocket man". laura bicker has this report from south korea. the missiles and displays of military might from north korea have almost seemed defiant in the face of strict sanctions and international condemnation. but now it seems kim jong—un wants to talk. he made his new position clear over dinner with south korean officials in pyongyang. it was the first time ministers from seoul have met the young leader. they say he is prepared to discuss getting rid of his nuclear weapons and they've now delivered a message from kim jong—un that caught many in the white house by surprise.

he expressed his eagerness to meet president trump as soon as possible. the idea of a face—to—face meeting between president trump and kim jong—un by may seems remarkable, given the months of threats and insults between them. they will be met with fire and fury. rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself. but the tone has changed. on twitter, donald trump said that great progress was being made but that sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached. however, that meeting is being planned. the us secretary of state seemed blindsided. just hours before the announcement he had this to say. in terms of direct talks with the united states and us negotiations, we are a long way from negotiations. given the unpredictable nature of donald trump and kimjong—un, could this meeting even go ahead? there's all kinds of obstacles on the road to the summit between now and then.

it may be simply that president trump changes his mind. this wouldn't be the first time, would it? it may be the senior officials get to him and say, "mr president, summit fine, but not in may, let's prepare properly. " you can't just wing policy on north korea. getting kim jong—un to give up his prized nuclear weapons is a tough ask. analysts in seoul are cautious and believe this is just the starting line. the road ahead is very long and complicated, very complex and it is not guaranteed that the north will ever give up its nuclear weapons easily, if at all. the us and south korea are due to hold joint military exercises at the end of this month. last september, the us flew bombers over the peninsula as a show of strength. this usually infuriates north korea and prompts a missile test. this time, they say, they will understand. it may be a move away from fire and fury, potentially towards friendship.

but that will depend on whether the message from pyongyang is one of genuine progress and not propaganda. laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. an agreement for the two leaders to meet wasn't expected so soon, and took many by surprise, as our seoul correspondent told me earlier. president moon in south korea has described it as miraculous. it did seem described it as miraculous. it did seem odd unthinkable just described it as miraculous. it did seem odd unthinkablejust a described it as miraculous. it did seem odd unthinkable just a few months ago. but this is something the south korean government have been working towards, deftly, diplomatically trying to work with kim jong—un diplomatically trying to work with kimjong—un and diplomatically trying to work with kim jong—un and with the united states. but it is a huge political gamble for both president trump and president moon. getting kim jong—un to give up his weapons is a very difficult thing to do, even if right now he says he is prepared to

discuss denuclearisation. there has to bea discuss denuclearisation. there has to be a payoff. what does kim jong—un want in return? that is the gamble. what will be the carrot in return for the stick which has been his international sanctions? the other thing here is cautious optimism. that is the phrase that many are using. they are optimistic in south korea because this is a real opportunity. for the first time they are now even mentioning in whispers something they have been trying to get for at least seven decades. and that is the possibility ofa decades. and that is the possibility of a peace treaty. that was laura bicker. barbara plett—usher is in washington. barbara, a gamble for both leaders. is it barbara, a gamble for both leaders. isita barbara, a gamble for both leaders. is it a gamble for donald trump? yes, it is. first of all, no sitting us president has ever met a north korean leader. i expect that is one of the reasons why it is appealing

to president trump, who likes to get out there and put himself forward. the calculation for that was because they didn't want to give pyongyang such a reward before it made any important concessions on weapons. that is something that kim jong—un hasn't done. he has, according to the south koreans, said he is willing to talk about giving up is nuclear weapons, but that is it. mr trump is putting himself out there at the front of the process, not the end of the process. there will be long gruelling negotiations. having said that, what his aides say is that he wants to meet the person who is the decision maker, so he is going for it. and also, another analysis is that maybe they will meet on certain levels. they are both unpredictable. they like to

make dramatic statements. they have enormous confidence in their abilities, it seems, to make decisions and carry out solutions. perhaps their meeting the move things ina perhaps their meeting the move things in a different direction. but it is quite unprecedented. there is a lot of head scratching in washington. thank you. barbara plett—usher. bae systems has moved a step closer designing a defence deal with saudi arabia. british—built eurofighter jets in a multi—billion pound deal, after signing a memorandum of intent with the uk government. the announcement was made at the end of a three—day visit to the country by the saudi arabian crown prince, mohammed bin salman. the government says a target of £65 billion worth of trade and investment has been agreed during the visit. the chairwoman of the institute of directors, ladyjudge, has resigned after being suspended yesterday, following allegations that she bullied staff and made derogatory and racist remarks. ladyjudge is contesting the accusations, and has criticised what she's called a flawed process. members of the iod‘s council —

among them some of britain's most senior business leaders — have been meeting to discuss the draft report. the government says it will seek a british exemption from new tariffs on steel and aluminium exports to the united states. president trump says the tariffs are to defend america from what he's called an "assault on our country". but employers and unions in the uk steel industry say the measures could have "devastating" consequences. here's rob young. the uk has managed to forge a global reputation for making high—quality steel products. a company in sheffield makes parts of submarines for the american navy. but the industry is worried president trump's steel import tax will hit producers here hard. what we will now see is uk companies really suffering from president trump's slapping in effect a 25% tax on all their exports from the uk to the us. and that will hit us hard.

each year, the uk sells £360 million worth of steel to the united states. that's 7% of all the steel britain exports. it's bought by america's defence, aerospace and energy industries. president trump's plan to impose a 25% import tax on steel will make the british products more expensive and less competitive in america. we import a lot of speciality steel from europe, to import that speciality steel from europe because it's not available in the us. so for that steel we purchase from europe, it's going to cost us 25% more. these new tariffs have led to political sparks flying in the us and globally. britain disagrees with the tariffs. the european union and others are warning they will retaliate. president trump has said he will be flexible towards america's real friends, the british government intends to put view

across next week. we will be looking to see how we can maximise the uk's case for exemption under these particular circumstances. we want to look that have them in great detail in the next few days. there is a wider fear that steel bound for america will now find its way into other countries. a flood of steel could push global prices down. that is potentially good for consumers, but a double whammy for the industry. many of the same countries in the top ten of us exporters are the same who go to europe. for example, brazil and turkey are large exporters to the us. they will turn their boats around and head to the eu. trade deflection could have a larger effect on the industry than the loss of export themselves. president trump's intention is to protect america's steel industry. but there is a real fear he will end up but there is a real fear he will end up hiddink steelmakers elsewhere.

the renowned british scientist who helped lead efforts to sequence the human genome, professor sirjohn sulston, has died. he received the nobel prize for medicine in 2002 for his achievements in understanding the building blocks of life, by decoding the genome of the nematode worm. our science correspondent, pallab ghosh, is here. you met him, you followed this story. what was his achievement in essence? is often said of scientists, but he really was one of the greatest scientist of our time. his efforts in sequencing the human genome has changed everything in medicine and will continue to do so. the reason for that is that you and iare the reason for that is that you and i are made of up of dna, a simpler chemical. —— a simple chemical. if we understand how that works then we

get an insight into how to cure diseases, how life forms. what he did was he looked that every single bit of that strand of dna and found out what each bid is made of. that is just the start of the process. we don't understand everything yet but it is the start of a pathway that will transform biology in a way that the internet has transformed communications. we don't know what life would be like before that. this is also a great story. this was a race between him and another leading scientist in the field? at the time there was this great race between there was this great race between the two men. it got quite personal. it was also a race between two philosophies. his opponent, if we can call him that, was craig venter, the head of a private corporation. there were others involved as well. they wanted to have an effort to

sequence genes and they wanted to have an effort to sequence genes and patterned them so they would all mouldy medicines that would emerge from patenting those genes. professor sirjohn sulston, a pro—socialist, wanted to keep it free so scientists all over the world could make use of the information. also, he felt it wrong that private organisations should only piece of human life. fascinating. thank you so much. professor sirjohn sulston, who has died at the age of 75. the arduous task of building stonehenge may have been part of a ceremonial celebration, according to historians studying the ancient site. the stone circle in wiltshire was built over 4,000 years ago, using stones from south wales — a fact that has long baffled experts. but english heritage now says selecting, moving and setting up the the stones on salisbury plain, may have been a way of bringing people from all over the country together. duncan kennedy reports.

one, two, three, pull. heaving for history. volunteers at stonehenge today trying to repeat what neolithic people did around four and a half thousand years ago. do you currently feel like neolithic woman doing this? that is an interesting concept, yes. yes, i do. the aim of the experiment was to see how this ancient monument was built. historians now say it was the construction process itself as much as the end result that mattered. we know it was a prehistoric temple aligned with the movements of the sun. it was used as such. the building process and alterations, changes coming together as a community might have been more important factor. english heritage say the photos of people in indonesia, taken 100 years ago, help to prove their point. the images show how moving great rocks has long been

accompanied by dancing and dressing up in costumes. they say it was probably the same spirit that helped to build stonehenge, with people drawn from across britain to come and feast and make building a festival. we need to come back literally four inches. in old money! in other words, a celebration of construction. recreated today. it is actually ok, not too bad. how about you ? it is fine. not too bad. brings the ropes closer together. the stone is so heavy, we have asked for more volunteers. it weighs four tonnes. this is hard work. this is the first time an official rock pull like this has taken place at stonehenge. do we have success?

it is partial success, not exactly vertical, but it has been raised. there are a fair few people pulling. it shows the effort required just for a four tonne stone. it does not always go to plan. yet even with the odds tumble the experiment shows what can be achieved when strangers come together for a common good. and in doing so help inform our preconceptions of history. let's check out the weather. we have got some cloud and rain on the way for all of us as we look at the way for all of us as we look at the forecast for the weekend. before that, look at this spectacular picture sent from cumbria showing the cumbrian fells snow—covered. it

has been a beautiful day here. further south, things turning soggy already. rain moving in from the continent with heavy burst across central and southern england, and the south—east. it continues to work north. as the winds pick up they will blow some mild air. temperatures, 1011 for a card of london. —— ten or 11 for cardiff and london. —— ten or 11 for cardiff and london. quite a cloudy day coming up tomorrow. snow for the high mountains in scotland for a time. as milderair mountains in scotland for a time. as milder air works mountains in scotland for a time. as milderairworks in, mountains in scotland for a time. as milder air works in, the snow will transition to rain. the wet weather could lingerfor a time in wales and south—west england, perhaps even into the afternoon. while it stays cloudy for many, brighter spells in the east. we could see temperatures go as high as 15 degrees. hello again. this is bbc news. the

headlines:. mac almost 200 military personnel are deployed at salisbury. north korea's leader kim jong—un offers to meet donald trump face—to—face. the us president accepts. south korea says it is nothing short of a miracle. professor sirjohn sulston, a british scientist who led efforts to sequence british scientist who led efforts to sequence the human gene, has died at the age of 75. let's ta ke let's take you back to salisbury. the latest police activity is in the cemetery there. the london road cemetery. that is where sergei skripal, the former russian spy‘s wife was buried in 2012. pyongyang and exonerate her from

having to deliver it. i think we need to talk to the two speakers to help us to do that. i particularly enjoyed the noble lady's speech about albania about which i really didn't know very much and have felt very much. i thought it was absolutely fascinating. i also enjoyed the lady's speech about who would have thought and baroness jenkins quite right, how games are fragile and we have to fight to protect all of them all the way through. my noble friend baroness donaghy, who's devastating appraisal was of course, as usual, devastating and quite correct. i enjoyed anomalously the oscar speech, quite right. to the noble lady, the baroness, she is quite right to ask the question about cedar but if i

just say, the coalition government abolished the national women's national commission which was actually the main organisation for collecting news of british women to ta ke to collecting news of british women to take to that meeting some question would be, she's right, so what will we do about that? the noble lady is quite right and has my support in bringing forward the gender recognition bill and it's going to be an important moment for a group who are small but have a very hard time, as she said and i've always thought in the house of lords that pa rt thought in the house of lords that part of ourjob is actually to champion the people and those groups who have quite small numbers but have the most difficult time and are discriminated against. the noble lady was right when she started off by saying, remaining as the world economic forum found the uk has a gender gap at 33% overall and is

ranked 15th of 144 countries. in all of the indices about the indexes of economic empowerment and opportunity, i think we could probably see, c+, good or better. most people would agree with that. one would have to ask why until all those economic indices, we don't do as well as we should. i like to make a suggestion. it is about how we measure in terms of methodology

balkans, modern economics is to centred around men with women's contribution to the economy routinely ignored. from political spectrum, feminist economics is economics focuses on what is needed to produce an gender equal society and it argues that because modern economics is built around the idea of the economic man, it is ideological ee weighted towards normalising men's lives and subsequently ignoring the experience of woman women. this is important andi of woman women. this is important and i think that we cannot expect models that are based on economic man to understand or notice gender inequality let alone policies to alleviate them. i wonder if the minister would cure to raise this with honourable frank, the chancellor of the exchequer and the

prime minister and perhaps suggests that the treasury might take account of this and they are thinking about the impact of their economic policies. it is important because whilst there has been progress on some aspects of gender equality, women still experienced structural inequalities throughout their lives. an independent research carried out before christmas revealed that women have born 86% president of the impact of austerity. when we measuring it differently, we would come to a different conclusion about that. this morning i was privileged to attend an international women's they event organised by unity bank and the employee ownership association. what we were addressing was the empowerment of women across the world through employee ownership, social enterprise quarters riffs, profits before businesses. an cooperative ‘s, women

have a times more likely had to be richer than a ftse100 company. a report from british council of that social enterprise on women's empowerment across the world and finds 75% were like to social enterprise said it had given them an increased sense of self—worth and 64% reported enhanced confidence, such empowerment women provide a crucial role models for the next generation, so i congratulate the support the sco had been giving to the british council in the social enterprise programme and now they will continue to do so. we have all been going to lots of celebrations of international women's the bridge italy i attended a lunch of what women want two and i remember and i'm sure other noble lords will probably remember in 1996, we had that what women one survey which was linked to the beijing united nations women's conference, i took part in

that at the time and it was... that had a great impact, 10,000 women took part in the survey and the same thing has happened again and with the social media, it has a huge digital discourse. what is fascinating is the result mirrors almost exactly what women were asking for in 1996, which must make us wonder why there has been so much unfinished business, equal rights, equal pay, respect, shelled the end to pornography and rape culture, more women in politics on running big organisations and companies in the safe and peaceful world for our children's and the ones we love, very much the same as 1996 but the difference now is that this new of feminism, in 1986 it was still quite unfashionable to call yourself a feminist and i'm not missing that

only what women want but they are saying this is what women believe they deserve oneto grating management from the huge and diverse women akin to parliament yesterday. i want to finish, as i am a health spokesperson i wanted to raise an issue about women's health, and issued is with women and mental health because into the nancy, we had an excellent women and mental health strategy, it was archived on 2011 by the coalition government which is a great shame. i think it's important. poor mental health in most women has increased with one in five now experiencing, mental health problems let anxiety and depression. as compared to one in eight poster young women are most at risk, experiencing alarmingly high rates of self harm, eating disorders and ptsd. women's mental health is closely linked to their experiences to violence and abuse which would

not be surprising many women struggle to get the report that i support these mental health services. agenda, iwomen's organisation supporting women and girls at risk found that women and girls at risk found that women and girls are regularly and repeatedly restrained and mental health settings despite the risk of ree traumatising women who have already experienced violence and abuse. i will last the noble lady, the minister, to tell us, if not now, perhaps you could ask her noble friend, maybe lord shaughnessy, but what steps are being taken to respond to women's mental health needs and tackle the rise in ill—health amongst women and isn't it time that we need a new women and mental health strategy? my my lords, this team of international women's day this year ‘s press for

progress and i have been struck by the amazing examples of progress in many of the contributions today. as many of the contributions today. as many noble lords have noted, there is more. much more that needs to be done the noble lady baroness northover highlighted some a shocking and astonishing examples. i have to have a word of my husband and about whether he would give me a kidney. my noble friend baroness brown browning of folders with her conclusion about culture and baroness thornton has just expanded our understanding of economics. it is all so much food for thought and from all the contributors, my heartfelt thanks and there are far too many to mention. it has been mentioned by many but it would be remiss of me if i missed it out and thatis remiss of me if i missed it out and that is the fault. it is just 100 yea rs, that is the fault. it is just 100 years, that is just about four generations when women, albeit not

all women, were granted the right to vote and since then other courageous and inspirational women from all sides of politics have blazed a trail that has got us to where we are today. we have our second female female prime minister. horace otieno home secretary and many many more. some of the campaigners of 100 years ago had their names written for ever in history. a great many more women have not achieved national recognition or indeed notoriety and we may never know their names, they were just ordinary women doing their bit to challenge injustice. my lords, it was 40 years after women gained the right to vote and became mp that they were able to sit as life peers in your lordship sugar denies. in

1950, just 60 years ago and within the living memory of some noble lords, baroness 1—run became the first female peer to take her seat and is instead 294 female life peers have been treated, there are 203 female life peers in your lord sugar has, that means seven out of ten peers ever created are still here we talked about getting our own house in orderandi talked about getting our own house in orderand i had talked about getting our own house in order and i had a quick look. i have been in your to get and house for 18 months and made my debut i debate debut at the dispatch box in this debate exactly year ago. 40 political appointment of which i was one of the 18 months ago, eight of us wear women, that was more than half the muscle of former prime minister from half the muscle of former prime ministerfrom america half the muscle of former prime minister from america for friend david cameron is a man of deeds and not words when it came to women representation. this is the most

diverse parliament in british history with the highest number of women mps ever and it up 32% of all mps, upfrom women mps ever and it up 32% of all mps, up from 22% in 2010. compare that to countries as diverse as cynical, 41.8% and norway, 41.4% women. we must and we can do better. we must use the examples of all courageous and inspirational woman to galvanise women and girls, including those from all communities we must use our voices and have a say over what our future looks like. since 2010, the government has been making a real difference to press for progress for women. there are 1.48 million more are expected and it remainsjoint record 1.48 million more are expected and it remains joint record of 70 and set a seven —— 70.8%. the pay gender

gap has fallen to a record low of 9.1% in the overall gender piggott has fallen from 27.5% in 1987 to 8.4%. our ground—breaking gender pay gap reporting legislation as mentioned by baroness donna kay and lord young will encourage employers to ta ke lord young will encourage employers to take the possibility to take positive steps to close the gap even further. the deadline is approaching and i'm sure that all noble lords are excited by this. i do know and i can chew with noble lords, many times more companies have registered and have already submitted we're chapping female representation at all levels, and a by lord brooke. we are supporting businesses to get more women into senior leadership. 9796

97% of all uk workforce is now offer some form of flexible working. as a mother, i will agree with the noble lady, childcare is one of the biggest challenges that any family faces when they are deciding to structure their family going forward. we have introduced tax childcare to help working families. we have our wide—ranging debate on the noble lord gave us a stunning tour de force of the world of women in sport. he paid tribute my