we were not really thinking the same. with mike pompeo we have a very similar thought process and i think it will go very well. rex is a very good man and i like him a lot. i really appreciate his commitment and his service and i will be speaking to him over a long period of time. i really didn't discuss it very much with him, honestly. i made that decision by myself. rex wasn't in this country, as you know. i made the north korea decision was consultation from many people, but i made at by myself. i actually got along well with rex, but really it was a different mindset, a different thinking. say it again. i respect

his intellect, i respect the process that we have all gone through together, and we have a very good relationship. for whatever reason, chemistry, why don't people get along? i have always right from the beginning, i have got along well with mike pompeo, and frankly i get along well with rex, too. and i wish rex a of good things, i think he is known to be very happy. i think rex will be much happier now, but i really appreciate his service. but with mike, we have had very good chemistry right from the beginning. iam speaking chemistry right from the beginning. i am speaking to theresa may today. it sounds to me like it would be russia based on all of the evidence they have. i do not know they have come to a conclusion, but she is calling me today. and we are going

out to the wall, we open to building at the prototypes, which is very important for our country. —— we are going to look at the prototypes. it sounds to me like they believe it was russia, and i would certainly ta ke was russia, and i would certainly take that finding as fact. as soon as we get the facts straight, we are going to speak to the british, speak to theresa may today, and as soon as we get the facts straight, we will condemn russia or whoever it may be, but i will speak to her something today. —— some time today. we are very happy with the decision by the house intelligence committee saying there was absolutely no collusion with respect to russia, and it was a very powerful decision, a very strong decision, backed up i understand by hundreds of pages they

are going to release of profound evidence. but we are very happy with that decision, it was a powerful decision that left no doubts. i want to thank the house intelligence committee. i am looking at larry kudlow very strongly, we do not agree on everything but that is good because i want to a divergent opinions. i am because i want to a divergent opinions. iam renegotiating because i want to a divergent opinions. i am renegotiating trade deals, and without tariffs, we would not do as well. but larry has been a friend of mine for a long time, he backed me very early in the campaign, ithink backed me very early in the campaign, i think he was one of my original backers. he is a very talented man, a good man, and i think larry kudlow is a good chance. iam also think larry kudlow is a good chance. i am also speaking to many others,

but i think larry has a good chance. thank you all, i will see you at the wall. i will see you at the wall. president macron speaking to reporters who had many questions about the reshuffle. —— president trump. plenty to chew over there. let's cut back to barbara and washington. president trump just confirming what you were saying that he had not spoken to rex tillerson in advance of the announcement. he was also very upfront and the disagreement the two men have had which has led to the decision. those disagreements quite public in the last year on various issues, but it is interesting that president trump was talking about iran. he has criticised the agreement very strongly, and rex tillerson along with some other cabinet secretaries we re with some other cabinet secretaries were trying to get mr trump to not

pull out of the deal. he said, i thought it was terrible and he thought it was terrible and he thought it was ok. there were other things they disagreed on as well. he has also said that the person he has chosen to replace rex tillerson, mike pompeo, he has a lot of confidence in him and they have a similar thought process. they have a very good relationship, there is a chemistry there. we do know that mike pompeo as cia director, he has made a point of developing that relationship. he delivered livingston president trump several times a week in person. —— delivers briefings to president trump. the agree on issues such as iran and north korea. that will cause some concern among the washington establishment. although rex tillerson was new to diplomacy, he did have establishment views on international agreements and treaties, and he was also very much

advocating talks with north korea, before president trump got to that point. it be interesting to see how this shakes out in terms of foreign policy approach, but as he said, it as if he was taken aback by this announcement, because mr trump admitted that he did not discuss it with him. he said, i made the decision myself just with him. he said, i made the decision myselfjust like a midi decision myselfjust like a midi decision to meet with kim jong—un, the north korean leader. barbara, good to speak to you. let's pick up something donald trump was saying there, his talk coming up this afternoon with theresa may. plenty to talk about on that issue of the knife attack in salisbury. we are awaiting a press conference at the moment outside new scotland yard, we are hoping to hear shortly from one of the key officers who has caught missing that incident in salisbury. if the attack is officially declared to have been ordered by the russian state, and indeed we heard from

president trump that he is coming round to that we are thinking following his information from the british government, if that is the case, what can the government to? paul adams has this report. theresa may and vladimir putin are now locked in a diplomatic stand—off, one chance of a breakthrough in the coming hours. i have been very encouraged so far by the strength of the support we are getting. i think in particularfrom president macron, france, and from my german counterpart, and from washington, where rex tillerson last night made it absolutely clear that he sees this as part of a pattern of destructive behaviour, and increasingly disruptive behaviour, maligned behaviour. the outgoing american secretary of state said the us had full confidence in britain's assessment that russia was probably

responsible for the nerve agent. are you worried about russia after the attack in the uk? yes. and in the eu, concerns about brexit have for now been set aside. the european community should at the moment express its full solidarity with the uk. but in moscow, little sign of a revolution. russia have demanded information about the investigation, saying it has been thwarted. translation: we're already said this is rubbish. we had nothing to do with it. so what will britain do if russia does not respond by tonight? there are plenty of options. russian diplomats could be expelled, sanctions could be applied against

russian individuals. russian broadcasters such as rt could be blocked in the uk, and british officials could boycott the world cup. at the cake this morning, a routine meeting of the organisation which monitors chemical weapons. —— the hague. its director—general has condemned the attack in salisbury, but it is not clear what action of the organisation is planning to take, if any. the organisation is planning to take, ifany. more the organisation is planning to take, if any. more now on the investigation into the poisoning of a former russian spy and his daughter. the foreign secretary borisjohnson daughter. the foreign secretary boris johnson says daughter. the foreign secretary borisjohnson says he is very encouraged by the support britain has received from the united states and other allies, as it waits to see whether russia responds to the midnight deadline of the salisbury nerve agent attack. in the last hour, the home secretary amber rudd has given this update. .

i have just chaired a meeting amber rudd has given this update. . i havejust chaired a meeting of cobra. there are over 200 police officers in the area conducting this work. we will have an update from them on the investigation later this afternoon. and you have decided to widen the investigation into other suspicious deaths on uk soil. do you expect cooperation from russia on this? my priority is getting all the information as quickly as possible, and also the safety and security of people in the community, which is why we have such close coordination with the department of health and what public health england. in terms of other investigations, there will come a time when i need to satisfy myself in terms of getting assurances from the police and other investigators about them. but at this moment, my priority is

investigation itself. will you hand over samples of the nerve agent to the russians as they have asked? the russians have started to respond. the prime minister has been very clear that they have until midnight tonight to satisfy her request. until then, we will wait to see what they put forward. what sanctions are you considering? will you consider a boycott by the world cup team?- the moment, we are awaiting the russian response for stepping up and responding as the prime minister has said we will. there is still concern in salisbury about secondary contamination. while the public health advice so slow in coming? that his information we were able to collect. the chief medical officer has said that any risk to the public is low, and i think the community of salisbury, and i visited myself last weekend, should take great comfort for that. more now on the spring statement

from the chancellor philip hammond. he told mps the british economy was performing better than expected. he told mps the british economy was performing better than expectedlj am performing better than expected.” am pleased to report today to the house on a uk economy that has grown in every year since 2010. an economy which under conservative leadership, 110w which under conservative leadership, now has a manufacturing sector enjoying its longest unbroken run of growth for 50 years. an economy which has added 3 millionjobs growth for 50 years. an economy which has added 3 million jobs and seem every which has added 3 million jobs and seem every single region of the uk with higher employment and lower unemployment than in 2010, seen that the wages of the lowest paid up by almost 7% above inflation since april 2015, and income inequality lower than at any time under the last labour government. solid progress towards building an economy

that works for everyone. so mr speaker, i reject the party opposite's doom and gloom about the state of the nation. every wednesday, we have to listen to the leader of the opposition relentlessly talking button—down, and every year since 2010, we have had to listen to the right honourable member for hayes and harlington predict a recession. none of which have actually happened. so mr speaker, if there are any eeyores in the chamber, they are over there. i. in the chamber, they are over there. i, meanwhile, i'm at my most positively tigger—like today, as i contemplate a country that faces the future with unique strengths. our language is the global language of business, our legal system is the jurisdiction of choice for commerce. we call is the world's most global

city, and its internationalfinance and professional services capital. our companies are and professional services capital. ourcompanies are in and professional services capital. our companies are in the vanguard of the technological revolution, while oui’ the technological revolution, while our world—class universities are delivering the breakthrough. british culture and talent reaches huge audience across the globe, and our tech sector attracts skills in capitals from the four corners of the earth. a new tech businesses being grounded somewhere in the uk every hour, producing world—class products including apps such as transferwise. mr products including apps such as tra nsferwise. mr speaker, products including apps such as transferwise. mr speaker, today the obr delivers its second report for the fiscal year 2017—18, and i thank the fiscal year 2017—18, and i thank the team for their work. it forecasts more jobs, the team for their work. it forecasts morejobs, rising real

wages, climbing inflation, a falling deficit, and a shrinking debt. chancellor philip hammond. in the last few minutes, president tom has been talking about his decision to sack his secretary of state rex tillerson. let's hear what he has to say. —— president trump.” tillerson. let's hear what he has to say. -- president trump. i am very close to having the cabinet and other things that i want, but i think mike pompeo will be a truly great secretary of state. i have total confidence in him. as far as rex tillerson is concerned, i very much appreciate his commitment and his service, and i wish him well. he isa his service, and i wish him well. he is a good man. i have been talking about this for a long time. we got along actually quite

well but we disagreed on things, when you look at the iran deal i think it is terrible and i guess he felt it was ok. i wanted to either break it or do something and he felt a little bit differently so we were not really thinking the same. with mike pompeo we have a very similar thought process and i think it will go very well. rex is a very good man and i like him a lot. i really appreciate his commitment and his service and i will be speaking to him over a long period of time. paul adams, diplomatic correspondence, is here now. tempting to see the sacking of rex tillerson has been connected to his comments on what has happened in salisbury and russia. what do you think? tempting, but i think misleading. as president trumpjust alluded, the two men had quite enough of disagreements on policy issues. and of course, there was the famous quote attributed to mr tillotson, who said last summer to have described president trump as an

expletive moron. the washington post is saying that mr tillerson was informed last friday and has to cut short a trip to africa as a result. we learned about it via a tweet. but to attributed to his comments about russia are perhaps jumping to attributed to his comments about russia are perhapsjumping to conclusions. as worth noting that mr trump himself said in the same press appearance you gave a glimpse of that that he was due to speak to theresa may sometime today. and once the fact been laid out to him, he would decide whether or not it was fairto would decide whether or not it was fair to accuse rasher of being behind it. there has been an assumption when boris johnson behind it. there has been an assumption when borisjohnson i were today was saying he welcomed the strong international support. there is an assumption that he was talking about rex tillerson rather than the white house, it is the white house is notably not named russia so far.

indeed, borisjohnson went out of his way to cite what rex tillerson had said about it, and mr tillerson's endorsement of britain seems to be wholehearted, in stark contrast to the deafening silence from the white house over a matter of some gravity to say the least. it is not the first time that donald trump has been slow to address something that the international committee regards as convergent significance, and we will have to see whether by the end of today he feels in a position to say more than he has so far. clearly, people do wonder as they have over the past year wyatt is that when it comes to president putin, donald trump seems to be very reluctant to express any criticism. but we will see what he says later on. interesting to note that mr trump says that he was now, after more than a year in office, close to half the cabinet that he wa nts. close to half the cabinet that he wants. that's ta ken close to half the cabinet that he wants. that's taken a while! ——

close to having. it has. thank you, paul adams. now the headlines. the foreign secretary says there is strong international support for the uk over the poisoning of a russian double agent and his daughter in salisbury. in his spring statement, the chancellor says the uk economy has been growing at a slightly faster rate than predicted and borrowing is down. in the past hour, donald trump has sacked his secretary of state rex tillerson, replacing him with the director of the cia. an agreement has been reached between lecturers' leaders and university officials over a pensions dispute — potentially paving the way for strike action to be called off. a deal would mean a new, independent re—evaluation of a pension deficit and temporary arrangements to tackle the funding gap.

the strike has disrupted classes at more than 60 universities. a website selling new rail card has crashed after only 10,000 went on sale. passengers between the ages of 26 and 30 were eligible for the first time today. but the website was unable to cope with the demand. the real cards offer one third of affairs in england, wales and scotland. we all enjoy a chinese takeaway, but a study by action on salt has found that some chinese males contain half of an adult‘s recommended daily intake. but side dishes were also found to be high in salt. doctors in the uk and ireland have seen 130 cases of rickets in children under 16 over a two year period. that's the finding of the first study of its kind into the prevalence of the illness, which affects bone development. tim muffett reports.

it's like somebody has stolen our lives, you know. we live a different life because you know that something is missing in this house. beverly knew that something was wrong with her baby son noah. but despite repeated hospital visits, the diagnosis came too late. rickets caused by lack of vitamin d. a few days later, he had a cardiac arrest and that was it. vitamin d deficiency, it works with everything, it works with your bones, your heart, everything off your body. were you even aware that vitamin d deficiency was a potential issue? no. while i was pregnant, probably i should have started with a vitamin d, and then by the time noah is six months old, he would have sufficient vitamin d. how can something so, something that can be fixed, can be missed? what we've got here is a young toddler... professor mitch blair has been

analysing cases of rickets in children over two years. i think we were surprised, both at the scale of the problem, still. more than three quarters of the 130 cases he studied involve children from black or south asian ethnic groups. 90% of your vitamin d is produced in the skin. so you need sun exposure to make, manufacture this vitamin d. individuals with lighter skin find it easier to produce vitamin d. if you have darker skin, you really need a longer length of time in the sunlight in order to produce the same amount, up to double, maybe triple the amount of time. and that's the mixed message, of course, for many, where safe sun exposure is the priority. the department of health says doctors can prescribe vitamin d supplements when needed and says its healthy start scheme makes it available to many low—income families. but professor blair wants

all pregnant women and babies in the uk to have access to vitamin d supplements for free. it's the best way, he thinks, to tackle this disease. tackling drug and alcohol problems can be a long and difficult process, but in australia they've come up with a radical form of treatment to help young people with long—term addictions. they're put in control of a plane as it stalls and starts to fall through the air. the idea is that it teaches them to deal with fear. here's our sydney correspondent, hywel griffith. please, please, please! this is how it feels to be in freefall. flying as a method of tackling drug and alcohol addiction is unconventional, but the aim is to make people take back control. flying honestly is just a different perspective over everything. makes anxiety look small, if you know what i mean, because you are up high.

this group is from australia's largest rehab centre. the two—day course is part of a ten—month step—by—step rehab programme. gino has been fighting an addiction to the drug methamphetamine, or ice. i lost myjob, lost my family, and coming here to get it all back. i used a lot of ice with girls and for criminal activities, and got lost in the wrong crowd. waiting for 60, here it comes, so ease back. they learn how to take off and fly with paul, a serving fighter pilot. in the area, the engines are deliberately stalled. it's up to them to recover. ——in the air. we can learn to work through our stress and get the brain under control. some of them, theyjust never have anything they can hold and treasure themselves without it being broken by somebody else who doesn't want someone

else to succeed. an experience like this is very personal, and something that can never be taken away from them. before this, most of the group hadn't even been in an aeroplane before, never mind got their hands on the controls. this is about giving them power of self—control, and when they are in the skies, some perspective on life. most admit, before rehab, there were regularly in trouble with the police. their caseworker argues that the flying lessons are not a reward for bad behaviour. he says they have seen real results. when they come back down, they seem more calmer and more mature. there is a flowing effect through the whole community, where theyjust stop doing drugs and crime because they have been awoken to new opportunities. most of the flights are funded through donations and goodwill. the bill does not go back to the state. the organisers don't claim to have a magic solution. they believe learning through fear can help transform lives. time for a look at the weather

forecast now. very changeable this week, no two taste the same, but today is the sunny day. many places seeing sunny skies overhead because we are between weather systems. this one clearing away to the east which broke yesterday's rain, and this one will bring rain for some of us tomorrow. some cloud hanging around over eastern scotland and england, that breaking of all the while. most of us will close out the demo some sunshine, and into tonight, we keep those clear skies. potentially some frost, one or two places dipping below freezing. things turning milder but also cloudy tomorrow. let her summer and windy, too, because

this pressure is coming in from the west. some strong winds, frontal systems which will bring summer mix of rain. a southerly wind will allow us of rain. a southerly wind will allow us to tap into some very mild air tomorrow, likely to be the mildest day of the week. here's how it shapes up across the country as we go on through the day on wednesday, we are going to see some outbreaks of rain pushing across the south—west of england and wales as well, and also northern ireland. these errors are at risk of some travel disruption, perhaps even some localised flooding. —— these areas. we could have some problems across the south—west the rest of wales and northern ireland, winds which could reach gale force in places, into south—west scotland. further east, scotla nd south—west scotland. further east, scotland will hold onto some brightness and spells of sunshine, and certainly across the eastern

side of england, temperatures getting up to between 12 and 1a celsius. not bad for this time of year. looking ahead to thursday, the vendor that would have been the worse m oves vendor that would have been the worse moves north and east, but only making slow progress. this band of rain will stall to the south of it, bright spells but also some hefty showers to the north of it, temperatures beginning to drop. that isa sign temperatures beginning to drop. that is a sign of what is to come, because strom. some moving northwards and eastwards, it will hit this area of high pressure which will get is an easterly wind, a cold easterly wind, which will in places provide some snow. hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at 2. president trump says the nerve agent attack in salisbury "sounds like the work of russia' — and that he'll speak to the prime minister today. well it sounds to me, i'm speaking

to theresa may today. it sounds to me like it would be russia, based on all the evidence that they have. meanwhile the president has sacked his secretary of state, rex tillerson. there are reasons to be cheerful: the chancellor, philip hammond delivers his spring statement saying growth has risen and employment is up. coming up on afternoon live all the sport with will perry. all eyes on the cheltenham festival. somerville boy has just won the supreme novices somerville boy has just won the supreme novices hurdle, we'll take you live to the cause and show you all the action as we look ahead to the feature