this is bbc news. i'm annita mcveigh. the headlines at three: hundreds of thousands of people across america are preparing to take part in rallies calling for tighter gun controls. this is the scene in washington, where survivors of the school shootings in florida are taking part in the rally, dubbed "march for our lives". tributes are paid to the policeman who died of his injuries after swapping places with hostages during yesterday's terror attack. three other people died and 16 more were injured in three separate attacks. owen smith says he'll continue to argue against brexit, despite being sacked from the labour front bench over the issue. and fighting back against the robots — the click team meet the the workers whose jobs are threatened by machines. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news.

hundreds of thousands of demonstrators are gathering across the united states as part of the ‘march for our lives‘ movement. it's being spearheaded by survivors of the parkland school shooting in which 17 people were killed. gary o'donoghue is at the rally: things starting to warm up here where we are of pennsylvania avenue. the stage behind me, and a lot of people gathering here now. the estimates from the organisers is that 500,000 people could attend today. they will be squashed into around nine blocks of pennsylvania avenue. there will be speakers on the stage behind me, all of them under 18, some of them from the

parklands school in florida. let's look at some of the issues with chris buckler. parkland students have travelled hundreds of miles from florida, from the school where their classmates and teachers were killed, a shooting that many of them survived. in washington, they've already been lobbying politicians. and today, they'll be joined by tens of thousands of others in a march calling for new tighter gun laws in the us. i'm doing this because i don't want anyone, any other student to have to go and attend a friend's funeral instead of their friends birthday party. those who fled the marjory stoneman douglas high school started the campaign that's led to the march for our lives. and they've inspired a huge number of others. alongside services and protests, hundreds of sister marches are due to take place today across america and around the world. i can honestly say that prayers do not feel like enough. we must act. we must act to change current laws that allow

profound devastation and heartbreak. despite the strength of america's gun lobby, there are some signs that the white house is having to listen. the usjustice department has confirmed it's pushing ahead with proposals to ban so—called bump stocks. they are devices capable of enabling a semiautomatic weapon to fire like a fully automatic machine gun. but the students leading this campaign believe that's only a start, and they hope the size of today's march in washington will add to the pressure on president trump. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. this is a huge event, but it follows on from other events like the school walk out there was last week. there is another one of those planned next month as well. it is something that the florida school students have managed to keep going, to keep the

momentum going since that terrible day, valentine's day, when 17 people we re day, valentine's day, when 17 people were killed at that school down in florida. i'm joined by 80 dzeko, lisa, you are from chicago. you have come here today, why have you come? my husband and i are both teachers. we are supporting the parklands students and all people affected by gun violence. i know you have a sign that says you teach books not guns. i do. that says you teach books not guns. ido.a that says you teach books not guns. i do. a controversial idea is handing people like you pistols in the classroom. i have a difficult time with that, as my sign says, i teach with books not weapons. it is not something that i think teachers should have to do, be trained to ta ke should have to do, be trained to take down shooters. i don't think... i would not be able to do anything like that. you have your sun ezra with you. what class are you in?”

am in eighth grade. i'm 13. with you. what class are you in?” am in eighth grade. i'm13. what do am in eighth grade. i'm 13. what do your schoolmates am in eighth grade. i'm13. what do your schoolmates say about this? our school participated in a walk out and over 500 students at the school participated. they let you do that? they did. what is the feeling about whether or not there will be any change? you have to practice lockdowns and terrible things, don't you? yeah, a bunch of our students think it is a great idea. they think that there could be a change, possibly. lisa, do you think it is different this time around?|j possibly. lisa, do you think it is different this time around? i do think it is different. after sandy hook, i no steps were taken, but i feel like the youth has come above here. i applaud them for that. there was a time when i wasn't sure if the youth was going to be able to stand up, and they are here and it is

heart—wrenching and moving. by the show of all the people here, to hear the young people talk, perhaps we can get something done. not gun—control but gunn reform. can get something done. not gun-control but gunn reform. in a way, you are never going to ban guns from america, are you? know, and i think that is part of the problem. people think that everybody wants to ban guns. i don't think that is the way to go. comments linssen or, coming together from all sides —— common—sense. thank you, both, very much. get back to your much. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. the speeches should start here in an hour's time or so. really giving up down there now, getting very noisy as you can tell, and we will be here to bring you the best of that. back to bring you the best of that. back to you in the studio. gary, thank you very much. lots more coverage of the march for our lives throughout the afternoon here on bbc news. staying with this

story... hundreds of people have attended demonstrations here in the uk, in solidarity with the protests in the united states. campaigners gathered at the new us embassy in south london this morning to back calls for tougher gun controls. a demonstration was also held outside the us consulate in edinburgh, where speakers included the family of a victim of the dunblane school massacre, in 1996. in other news, theresa may has joined those paying tribute to a policeman who died after switching places with a hostage during an attack on a supermarket in southern france yesterday. lieutena nt—colonel arnaud beltrame was shot by the gunman in the small town of trebes, from where gavin lee reports. tributes of remembrance and gratitude for lieutenant colonel arnaud beltrame, the heroic officer that secured the release of hostages by taking their place, and ultimately, losing his life. he was one of the first at the

scene. he was one of the first at the scene of the super u supermarket in the southern french town of trebes where dozens of french shoppers were held by an islamist extremist gunman. during the siege, two people were shot dead, 16 were injured. others told reporters how they escaped. translation: i went in the freezer with a dozen other people. then we opened a door at the back, there was a small room. an anti—panic room. we pushed it and we were out. translation: he ran after me. why he didn't shoot, i don't know. maybe he ran out of bullets, i don't know. after two hours, the gunman agreed to exchange the remaining hostages with arnaud, who switched from outside negotiator to hostage and left his phone open once inside, which allowed special forces act. when they heard shots, they moved in to kill the gunman. this morning, the french interior minister gerarad collomb confirmed arnaud beltrame had died overnight, adding that france would never

forget his bravery and sacrifice. forensic teams are working here inside the supermarket. and as the investigation begins into yet another terrorist attack on french soil, we're starting to learn more details about the attacker, 25—year—old redouane lakdim, a moroccan national who was living locally who had been in the sights of french intelligence services. but ultimately, they didn't consider him a terrorist threat. the immediate focus will be on determining if redouane la kdim acted alone or had been to syria and had links to so—called islamic state. three other victims of the attack are expected to be named later today. gavin lee, bbc news in the south of france. social media is flooded with tributes to the french police officer, arnauld beltrame, including from the french president, emmanuel macron. on twitter, mr macron says he's sending his sincere condolences to the police officer's family and calls on everyone in france to honour his memory.

here, the prime minister theresa may says she is saddened to learn that the officer has died. she adds, "his sacrifice and courage will never be forgotten." there have also been a number of tributes from those involved in british policing. stirling police have tweeted a picture of the gendarme, with the caption "in memory of arnauld beltrame, #homage." lincolnshire's police and crime commissioner markjones says, "so sorry to hear the exceptionally brave french police officer arnaud beltrame has died after swapping himself with a hostage taken by a terrorist yesterday. this time, france, next time, who knows? our police run towards danger we run from, and we should never forget that." a policeman has been killed in a car bombing in the egyptian city of alexandria. the interior ministry said the bomb targeted the city's security

director, whose vehicle was passing by at the time. he escaped unharmed but four other people were injured. the attack comes two days ahead of the presidential election. public health england have issued fresh precautionary advice to anyone in salisbury who may have come into contact with the nerve agent used to attack sergei skripal and his daughter yulia. the advice is relevant to as many as 500 people, who may have visited the pub and pizza restaurant between the time of the poisoning and before they were closed the following night. our correspondent kathryn stanczyszyn is there. take us through this advice from public health england, and what the reaction is to the advice being given at this time. it is a busy saturday here in salisbury today, busier than the last couple of weekends, partly down to the free parking that the council announced

to try to get people back into salisbury. they said businesses and shops have been suffering because people have been staying away following the poisoning. there is a police cordon in place where i am, at the park where sergei and yulia skripal were found unconscious. a week later, public health england issued advice to anyone that had beenin issued advice to anyone that had been in the restaurant they dined in that afternoon or the bishops mill pub from the sunday afternoon to the monday evening, saying, anyone in those locations needed to wash their clothes as a precaution, because prolonged exposure or repeated exposure to any nerve agent used could be dangerous to health. they said it was very much precautionary, but they were advising people to wash possessions and clothes. unless they were dry clean only or something that couldn't be washed in that way, they were saying, bagged them up and put them in plastic twice, double bag, and keep it somewhere. the latest advice

yesterday was talking about possessions, but said, if you have got those dry clean only or other things you haven't been able to wash bag up, contact wiltshire council, who will arrange to come and pick those positions up to be destroyed. they haven't confirmed that, but thatis they haven't confirmed that, but that is very likely to happen. they are talking about compensation and say you will be paid for the items. people in salisbury have been telling me today that they are concerned that the advice has come out two weeks after the initial advice. if that was the case, why not tell people then that the possessions will be picked up? generally, most people going about their business as normal today, saying they are trying to carry on life here. has there been any more reaction from russia to the investigation here? well, we're hearing reports out of moscow in the last hour via reuters that moscow has said that europe is

being unpredictable and degressive, following the backing the eu has given to theresa may in the week saying they agree that it is highly likely that russia was behind this poisoning, and that it represents a threat to shared european values. that's why the eu recall its ambassadorfrom that's why the eu recall its ambassador from russia, and that's why the eu recall its ambassadorfrom russia, and now says it is thinking about next steps. the reports from reuters say that moscow says," that it is uncomfortable over the poisoning and it is unpredictable, aggressive behaviour, but it is the reality we have to live with, according to a kremlin spokesman. thank you for that. the headlines on bbc news: hundreds of thousands of demonstrators are taking part in rallies across the united states as part of the march for our lives' movement.

tributes are paid to the policeman who died of his injuries after swapping places with hostages during yesterday's terror attack. president macron says he was a hero. and owen smith says he will continue pushing for labour to change its position on brexit, despite being sacked from the shadow cabinet. in sport, formula 1 is back with thrills and spills in melbourne. lewis hamilton takes pole position with a sensational lap to lead qualifying for the australian grand prix, but his mercedes team—mate va ltteri bottas prix, but his mercedes team—mate valtteri bottas crashes out. ina valtteri bottas crashes out. in a weekend of international friendlies, northern ireland are level with south korea. it is 1—1 after 60 minutes at windsor park. and more poor weather in auckland wednesday three of england's first test against new zealand. only 17 balls were bowled before play was abandoned. england are 175 runs behind. more sport for you in an hour's time. oxford is aiming for a fifth win in six years

against cambridge in the men's boat race this afternoon. the cambridge women's crew is hoping for a repeat of last year's victory. our sports correspondent john watson is by the river thames in putney for us. prime position there, john, edging closer to the action. how is the race shaping up? as you say, arguably, cambridge on the women's side and men's side will start as favourites. the cambridge women's boat last year were superb. they set a new course record here, and it will be tough for them to top, and they are the most experienced crew of the two boats in the women's race, which has been raced on this same stretch of water on the same day as the men's race for the last four years. cambridge. as favourites, they have me have your boat, and that often means more power, more muscle, and that often

has, in the past, helped pave the way for the winning boat. i think cambridge. as favourites in the men's race as well, despite oxford winning four at the last five races, and they were victorious last year, oxford. fascinating to see how it will go later on. the women's race is up first, they go out at 4:30 one. the men and hour later at 5:32, start times to coincide with the tide times, the race is up river from east to west. they go with the incoming tide. expect to see the two teams jostling for prime position incoming tide. expect to see the two teamsjostling for prime position in the water, of course, in the centre of the thames, in this 4.2 mile stretch, the fastest current, which is why we often see the two crews come close together. whoever seems to get out in front early on and does tend to go on and win. so it is going to be fascinating to be here, as you imagine, on the banks of the thames on this course, which starts in putney behind me all the way down

to mortlake. a fantastic atmosphere building, many people lining the banks of the thames to watch the men's and women's crews take part in this race. the water looks pretty calm behind you, are the condition good for them? they are, yes. the conditions are good. that will please the organisers, because they hope that the race this year goes off without major incident. you might remember last year, the race nearly didn't go ahead when a piece of world war ii ordnance washed up close to the start line here in putney. two years ago, terrible conditions, stormy weather, which almost saw the cambridge women's boat capsized. it took on a lot of water. they managed to finish, but we almost saw a sinking two years ago. we haven't had a sinking since 1978, which will please the organisers. who can forget the incident in 2012 when a protester swa m incident in 2012 when a protester swam out into the water with the race three quarters of the way through. it was stopped for around 30 minutes, then it did resume.

organisers will be pleased today, conditions are set fair, the water is calm. perfect conditions for rowing. a quarter of a million people expected to line this stretch of the thames to watch today as cambridge and oxford go—ahead to head in this classic duel on the thames here in london. 0k, john. for the moment, thank you very much. john watson in putney. the former shadow northern ireland secretary, owen smith, has said he will continue to oppose labour's stance on brexit after he was sacked for calling for a second referendum on the terms of the final leave deal. mr smith said he believed jeremy corbyn wanted to adopt a more euro sceptic approach, which he believed would damage the country's economy. he said he was speaking up for the majority of labour party members on the issue of brexit. labour members have been speaking out strongly. we passed a resolution at conference last year that was, frankly, exactly the same as what i said in my article. and members across the country have been contacting me before and after my sacking to say that this is what they believe.

the vast majority of labour members support us taking a much tougher stance against brexit, and that's what i think jeremy corbyn and the leadership of the labour party need to do. let's talk to alan wager from the independent academic think tank uk in a changing europe, which aims to explore the changing relationship between the eu and the uk. gerarad collomb think owen smith is correct when he says he is speaking up for the majority in the labour party in terms of his views on brexit. we did a polling project and found that 87% of labour party members support staying in the single market. and we also did a poll of mps and found that 90% of mps found it is compatible to stay in the single market and respect the result

of the referendum. that is speaking for a solid majority of both members and mps in what he said yesterday. do you think, though, thatjeremy corbyn had no choice but to sack him over this latest statement from owen smith, or is jeremy over this latest statement from owen smith, or isjeremy corbyn being rather subjective and choosing to sack owen smith? in a sense, he has done what any party member has done in that situation, he has a party policy to stay part of a customs union, but not touch the single market and not consider a second referendum. owen smith's massively contradictory to that. in a sense, he didn't have much choice. but the timing of this is obviously important in the sense that corbyn has grabbed hold of all believers in the labour party —— the leavers. he has the strength to follow through with sacking a senior member of the

shadow cabinet. you will be well aware that some of the creditors of jeremy corbyn has come from people saying he has taken a tougher stance with owen smith than he has with some people that have expressed anti—semitic views in their opinions. do you think the fact that he has done this to owen smith, sacked him, it is a sign of the strength thatjeremy corbyn feels he has as leader? gayle absolutely. jeremy corbyn made the calculation that all the members are against him on brexit but with him on the type of labour party that he wants the later part —— labour party to be. the way it is being played out is a proxy for the labour party as well. brexit is a key issue for owen smith and the labour party, wresting control of the labour party from jeremy corbyn is part of the calculation, too. the fact owen smith has been set, that opens up

this fissure that we know is that in the labour party, which perhaps, i use the term advisedly, smoothed over a little bit, or not examined as closely publicly, but now is back front and centre of public attention. where do you think the labour party will go from here? is there a chance of some sort of split in the party? in a very real sense, nothing has changed. jeremy corbyn paws odyssey was to be members of a customs union, but not a single market. this has crystallised the decision—making for mps on the remain wing of the party. and potentially, they would rather brexit stop then have a corbyn government. that is the core calculation. it has become clear in the last of the four hours, although ina real the last of the four hours, although in a real sense, we kind of knew that already. thank you very much. an increase of 8% on five years ago, according to new official figures. the housing charity shelter said government figures also reveal that

nearly three—quarters of homeless households in england are lone parent families. let's speak to the shadow homelessness minister melanie onn who joins us from grimsby. thank you very much for your time this afternoon. is this a problem you are seeing in your constituency? it's not something that has been specifically brought to my attention by constituents, but i know that, around the country, particularly in areas where private rents are particularly expensive and there is an awful lot of accommodation for private properties that this is something that people are experiencing. increasingly, they are experiencing. increasingly, they are experiencing that because landlords are unwilling to accept some of the delays around universal credit. and i guess delays around universal credit. and i guess everyone delays around universal credit. and i guess everyone listening to this detail, in terms of the new survey

that's been done and can understand the factors that might lie the hind a large proportion of homeless people being single—parent families. the official definition, of course, of homelessness refers to those in temporary accommodation, rather than without a roof over their heads, but what is the quality of temporary accommodation out there? what is the quality of temporary accommodation out there ?m what is the quality of temporary accommodation out there? if we look at the overall picture of homelessness, we know it has more than doubled in the last eight yea rs. than doubled in the last eight years. that includes people who are rough sleeping, we have 4500 people on any given night sleeping rough on our streets up and down the country. when it comes to people in temporary accommodation, and single—parent families, they will be placed in temporary accommodation if they find themselves without anywhere to stay. but very often, the quality of that simply isn't up to scratch. we have heard examples in the house of commons of warehouse style buildings that people have been put into. single rooms for multiple children

and parents, used for a maximum six weeks. the operative word is temporary, and often they stay in there for up to two years, and that is not good for children's ability to learn, mental health and not good for the family setting. part of the problem is that there is an insufficient number of social houses available. that was my next question, is more social housing the answer, because obviously, it is trickier to regulate the private rental market, so should we be looking at more social housing? well, absolutely. we have seen funding for social housing drop under this government by 98%. that's absolutely massive. the impetus from this government to actually build council houses or houses through housing associations just hasn't been there, it has been neglected in favour of people buying their own homes. this is the consequence of that. the whole... ifi can

interrupt the homelessness reduction act coming into force next month, the chief executive of right ascendance mac has called it a crucial step forward, giving councils a legal duty to give people meaningful support and prevent them from becoming homeless in the first place. the government is on the right track with that? well, absolutely. labour supported the introduction of the homelessness reduction act, but what it doesn't do is magic up any more social properties. . there needs to be subbing from government to give greater flexibility for councils to be able to borrow their current means to invest in social housing and make sure that there is housing stock. there has been a commitment that any social houses sold under the right to buy would be replaced one—for—one. we haven't seen that. the reality on the ground means we have less social housing than ever. that means there is a huge pressure

on people on low and fixed incomes, particularly if they are looking after young families, to stay within the private sector, but when people think that landlords can get higher rents from young families and professionals, that is what they will go for. there really is crisis in terms of social housing that the government needs to address urgently. finally, if i government needs to address urgently. finally, ifi can ask you a question about owen smith, who you back please did for the labour leadership, do you think his views on brexit are representative of the majority of members of the labour party? and do you thinkjeremy corbyn was wrong to sack him? well, owen has always had this long held view, and i didn't hear the interview, but there is an issue around cabinet collective responsibility that exists in the shadow cabinet as well. so, jeremy obviously felt that owen had gone beyond labour party lines on that

issue, and we had to make sure that we present a very clear message in what is a very complete hated and continuously moving situation around the eu. so we had to make sure that what we're saying is absolutely clear. owen would probably feel more co mforta ble clear. owen would probably feel more comfortable now being able to express his view wholly and fully without any kind of concern that he might be breaking rank from the shadow cabinet. do you think his view is the view held by the majority of the labour party?” haven't seen any figures on that, so i'm not entirely sure whether that is the case. the labour party took a very strong remain position, but we do accept the outcome of the result, particularly in my constituency, 70% leave. to try to suggest that we're going to ignore the outcome of the referendum certainly wouldn't be accurate, even from a labour party membership that may be broadly supportive of remaining in the eu.

0k, supportive of remaining in the eu. ok, shadow homelessness minister melanie onn, they give a joining us from grimsby. we asked the government for an interview with the homelessness minister, heather wheeler, but she was unavailable. in a statement she said: alina jenkins has the weather. a bit ofa a bit of a split across the country. we have sunshine and showers