hello. this is breakfast, with rachel burden and chris mason. good morning. it's sunday the 25th of march. and don't, forget the clocks have gone forward by an hour. also this morning: hundreds of thousands of people attend rallies across america, demanding tougher guns laws, among them, martin luther king's 9—year—old granddaughter. i have a dream that enough is enough! and that this should be a gun—free world! good morning.

in sport, it's been described as australia cricket‘s darkest hour, after its captain steve smith confesses to hatching a plan to cheat south africa in the third test by tampering with the ball. the sebastian vettel is on course to victory in the opening race of the formula 1 season after taking over lewis hamilton. in the weather. good morning. the clocks have gone. it might feel like spring for many. dry weather and sunny spells and temperatures in double digits. more news in 15 minutes on the weather. good morning. first, our main story. an extra 3,000 midwives are to be trained in england over the next four years. the move will see 650 midwives start training next year. it is one of a number of proposals to be formally announced by the health secretary, jeremy hunt on tuesday. the royal college of midwives has welcomed the news but says the plans need investment and time to work.

lebo diseko reports. like other parts of the nhs, maternity units have been under pressure. the birth rate has been rising, and some hospitals have been unable to accept any more expectant mothers. nursing unions have also blamed what they call chronic shortages. the government has insisted more midwives are being trained all the time. now, though, plans for 3,000 extra recruits and support staff in england are due to be announced. the move is notjust about boosting numbers. currently, depending on the trust, women can see several midwives over the course of their pregnancy. jeremy hunt is expected to pledge that by 2021, most women will have a named midwife. he says figures show dedicated staff reduces stillbirths, miscarriages, and neo—natal deaths. this announcement comes after the lifting of restraints on pay rises in the health service, which means a newly qualified midwife will begin on a salary which will be 20% higher by about 2020. but it is not yet clear where the funding for staff will come from. and while welcoming the move, given the time it takes to train, the royal college of midwives says

it doesn't help mothers now. lebo diseko, bbc news. hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in cities across the united states to demand tougher gun laws. the demonstrations were led by survivors of the mass shooting at a school in florida last month. washington saw the biggest anti—gun rally for a generation. here's our correspondent, chris buckler. in america's capital, this rally was presented as a rising, an attempt by students to take on this nation's powerful gun lobby, and to deliver a warning to politicians that change to gun laws must come. to the leaders, sceptics, and cynics who told us to sit down and stay silent, wait your turn. welcome to the revolution. #i gotta keep tryin'...

on stage, there were performances by many celebrities, but the speeches were left to students, many of them from the marjory stoneman douglas high school where 17 were shot dead just a month ago. and the huge crowd also heard from the nine—year old granddaughter of martin luther king jr, a girl with her own vision. my grandfather had a dream that his four little children would not bejudged by the colour of their skin, but by their character. i have a dream that enough is enough! if this was a new generation speaking, president trump wasn't here in washington to hear it. he had left the white house to go to his golf resort in florida, the state the students had come from and where their friends were killed. six minutes and 20 seconds

with an ar15 and my friend carmen would never complain to me about piano practice. on stage, one parkland survivors, who has become a spokesperson for this movement, read out the names of those who died, and then simply stood in silent for minute after minute. since the time that i came out here, it has been six minutes and 20 seconds. the shooter has ceased shooting and will soon abandon his rifle. sister rallies were held from los angeles to new york, but there have been campaigns after shootings before, and the students know they need to continue to put pressure on the politicians, including their president. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. the vote leave campaign group has been accused of breaking electoral

spending rules during the eu referendum. a former volunteer has told the observer newspaper and channel four news that the organisation ‘cheated' the £7 million limit. let's speak to our political correspondent, susana mendonca. good morning. tell us more. as the official campaign for vote leave we re official campaign for vote leave were allowed to spend £7 million, if you are one of the smaller groups, you are one of the smaller groups, you were allowed to spend up to £700,000. this campaign, this former volunteer, he is saying he thinks more worth spent by them because they gave £625,000 to a student who was running a separate campaign called be. leave. there was running a separate campaign called be.leave. there is nothing wrong with that, it is in the spending rules. he is saying this money was spent in digital advertising with a company working

with vote leave, and so it was effectively a front campaign, but a real campaign. and so if that is the case, that would suggest it was against the rules. vote leave denied all this and boris johnson against the rules. vote leave denied all this and borisjohnson and leave campaigners said they won fair and square and all of this is not true. thank you. talk to you later. the cricket world is in turmoil after member, cameron bancroft, has been charged by the international cricket council after footage was released which showed him rubbing the ball with yellow tape. let's speak to our correspondent, phil mercer, who is in sydney for us. in mourning. the point everyone is picking up on if they did it in such plain sight. —— good morning. describe it for us. what were they thinking? everytime you see cameron ba ncroft thinking? everytime you see cameron bancroft interfering with the ball, it is even more unbelievable. an

opening batsman with an object, we understand it was sticky tape in his pocket, and it has dirt on one side and he is putting it on one side of the ball to influence it in the air. this is probably the biggest scandal in australian sport we have seen for many, in australian sport we have seen for any in australian sport we have seen for many, many years. the australian skipper, steve smith, he said he knew about this in advance. he said he was embarrassed and sorry in a press c0 nfe re nce . i am not proud of what has happened. umm... you know... it is not within the spirit of the game. my integrity, the team's integrity,

the leadership group's integrity, has come on the question, and rightfully so. umm... it is not on. umm... it is certainly not on. and it will not happen again, i can promise you, under my leadership. the clamour in australia for him to be sacked is growing louder by the hour. the governing body, cricket australia, is despatching officials to south africa to investigate the ball tampering scandal. thank you very much, phil. extraordinary stuff. they are insisting it is a 1—off event, but there are obviously questions when you see that in hd. last night, landmarks across the uk were plunged into darkness to mark earth hour. famous monuments and buildings including buckingham palace and tower bridge turned out their lights to raise awareness about climate change. countries around the world also went dark to show international unity for the environment. you realise just how many lights there are on big buildings when they go out. quite dramatic. it would be

quite fine to be the person in charge of the off switch. that is thejob i charge of the off switch. that is the job i want. charge of the off switch. that is thejob i want. i am going to go for it. -- thejob i want. i am going to go for it. —— quite fun. the clocks have gone forward, if you are waking up. the issue of childcare is neverfar from a parents mind, with an increasing number of grandparents said to be taking on extra duties to help reduce the cost to working families. now a group of mps are warning that pa rents face further costs as the government is failing to properly fund a pledge to provide 30 hours of free childcare to eligible parents in england. joining us now to talk more about this is elaine sagar who is the chief executive of the sunflower childcare group. good morning. good morning. this story pops up again and again around what the government is promising and what the government is promising and what parents expect. is there a problem with communication, the government is not clear enough about what is available and what is not. the government has to state there is no free childcare. it is as simple

as that? simple. they are closing nurseries daily because they cannot find what we want, quality childcare, but only paying... it is for pounds 38 this morning on average. “— for pounds 38 this morning on average. —— for "4. we have experienced and qualified staff, we are providing quality childcare, and you cannot do that on the average price which has come out in this report, which says it is four pounds thiry eight. some nurseries are making it work. what are they doing? you are looking at small settings running preschool type hours, 9—3, which is feasible, shorter working hours. providing a service service without any food. children bring packed lunches. the government is

saying you cannot charge extra, but we do not provide food and consumables. they already said that. they are still advertising you can access free childcare any hours you like. if you think we sell a block of 50 hours a week, they want 30 in the middle. what is the solution? if there is not additional money, doesn't need to reduce its scope, just those who benefit can access, 01’ just those who benefit can access, or does it need to rebrand? perhaps it is not as free as the labelling suggest. rebranding. there is no free childcare, it is not possible. it has to be package led, meaning fees for the parents. champagne nurseries set up a group on facebook to give this information. they have worked alongside the government. we are being told ourfigures coming forward from 2012— 2013.

are being told ourfigures coming forward from 2012- 2013. is this causing a problem, this reality? in some areas low income families are being deprived of places because they cannot pay top up fees. those are the ones who could benefit most. should they be looking perhaps at that and saying we will not subsidise high income families in this area? i agree with that. they should subsidise everyone across the board. they put out a pledge to help families but have not put a service with work hours. but in other words, you are saying more families should be asked to pay more, they should scrap the scheme and focus on those from low incomes? no, parents should have the subsidy, especially low income families. however, i do think there should be transparency. we are doing that with our parents. we do not have a major problem. you

mentioned at the start the extent to which some nurseries could be in peril financially. how big a which some nurseries could be in perilfinancially. how big a problem could this be? they are closing down! they are government run and cannot function any longer. is the government listening? with that kind of headline, if you like a nurseries closing, you would think relatively quickly they would address that. —— like,. they need to or they will not have childcare. for the areas where it is working, parents who have access to this, it is a really significant step forward from where we we re even significant step forward from where we were even ten years ago in terms of childcare costs almost halved. for pa rents of childcare costs almost halved. for parents getting the subsidy, they are getting the hours they want and it is working well for the bursaries. however, parents are coming under the impression they can get it all forfree, coming under the impression they can get it all for free, and coming under the impression they can get it all forfree, and it is not feasible —— nurseries. get it all forfree, and it is not feasible -- nurseries. thank you. the treasury has told bbc news it is already spending more

than ever before on childcare, but it will consider the recommendations. just to update you on that. you're watching breakfast from bbc news. the main stories this morning. more than 3,000 places on midwifery training courses are to be created over the next four years in england as part of plans to meet nhs staffing demands. hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in the us to demand stricter gun laws — led by survivors of the mass shooting at a school in florida last month which killed 17 people. and coming up on the programme, we meet the people whose livelihoods could be under threat from the rise of the robots in this week's click. well, the daffodils are out and the spring lambs are gambling in the fields, and there is snow on the way. —— gambolling. fields, and there is snow on the

way. -- gambolling. yes, it is going to turn much colder. we are going to see something more like winter, rather than spring. inaudible. our you properly wired up? —— are you? yes, sorry about that. this is the scene at the moment in aberdeenshire. it is not clear skies for all of us. we have cloud at the moment across england and wales. this is the satellite imagery. further north and west, for both scotla nd further north and west, for both scotland and northern ireland, there are scotland and northern ireland, there a re clear scotland and northern ireland, there are clear skies. as we go through today for many of us it is going to be dry and fairly bright. cloud across england and wales at the moment will gradually clear to the south—east. it will brighten up and it might take a while before the cloud clears from the south—east of england. showers in scotland,

northern ireland and the finals of england, but with light winds. —— far north of england. with temperatures in double figures for many of us it should feel like spring, quite pleasant. this evening and tonight, with clear spells, it is going to turn quite chilly quite quickly. for scotland and northern ireland we are going to see some frost developing. look at the blue colour is taking hold across the map. an indication of frost. further south and east, here, those temperatures staying up at about 2— four celsius. going into next week we will see cold air moving in, but it will be a bit more complicated than that, because mild air, or less cold air, will still be influencing the weather towards the south. so that clash between the mild air and cold air is where we could start to see a bit of snow. focusing on monday, first of all. cold and frosty to start off with, but lots of sunshine. a fine start today. cloud increasing from the west. at brea ks cloud increasing from the west. at breaks of rain across northern

ireland and the west of scotland, into west wales and the far south—west of england later in the day. for many, temperatures in double figures, 10— 12 degrees. as we go through tuesday we will see this area of low pressure moving this area of low pressure moving this way, throwing lots of rain across the uk. that is the boundary of the colder air in the north and be less cold are rare in the south. increasingly we will see snow falling across the far north—east of scotland. temperatures, a big difference in aberdeenshire. five degrees. further south, sunny spells and a few showers, those temperatures still just and a few showers, those temperatures stilljust in double figures. wednesday, increasing amounts of snow across scotland, northern england. most of it across the high ground, but even down to lower levels we could see sleet falling. heavy showers across many parts of england and wales but a rather brisk north—westerly wind, so it will start to feel chillier in southern areas, despite temperatures in london staying at about 10 degrees. everywhere else will feel that cold air having an influence.

temperatures about four celsius. blimey. with a forecast like that maybe we should have left your microphone for the whole thing.|j was about to say that! the debate around the need for tighter gun controls is one that still divides america but yesterday hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets across the country calling for change. earlier, we spoke to jane strachey, a british citizen living in newjersey who attended one of the events. it was a great opportunity to be pa rt it was a great opportunity to be part of this protest. there were hundreds of people in the small town of sag harbour in long island where i was participating, mainly at the request of my 13—year—old cousin who felt as a young high school student that she needed to be part of this movement to protect students and enforce greater gun control. lots of generations were present. like i said, for the small town, there were

well over a thousand people present so it was a great event to be part of. the striking thing, the emotionally charged aspect of taking pa rt emotionally charged aspect of taking part of this, even at a small demonstration like you, you are part ofafar demonstration like you, you are part of a far bigger national event? that's right. what is interesting is that there were thousands of rallies all over the united states. 0bviously many in the bigger cities such as washington and new york. but these small voice is definitely felt that they had a voice that needed to be spoken. —— smaller voices. the main call to action was to get people registered for voting for the next election. i guess the crux of this, all the warm feeling about those demonstrations yesterday, the question is, in the long—term, can they actually achieve anything? there is clearly momentum now, but they are colliding with a long established acceptance that guns are simply part of american culture, written as it is into the constitution? yes, exactly. and hats

off to the students of the parkland shooting who have been able to make this a national protest in a very short time, so one month later this conversation is still very much on the table, and it is rallies like we had yesterday which are really creating this momentum and pushing it forward. the conversation has to stay open and it is thanks to these rallies, and people like the bbc and other news outlets, that this will keep the conversation at the forefront of the american mindset. how do you keep that momentum going? that is the big challenge, isn't it? absolutely. the last thing we want to see is what often happens, that there is a big dip between shootings, and then the next shootings, and then the next shooting brings it back to the table. we need to avoid that happening and i don't believe the a nswer to happening and i don't believe the answer to that is guns in the classroom. given that there is this a cce pta nce classroom. given that there is this acceptance written very clearly into the american constitution about the right to bear arms, what do you think is realistic about law changes

here, given that it is highly unlikely that this amendment to the constitution is ever likely to shift? um... i don't think constitution is ever likely to shift? um... idon't think in constitution is ever likely to shift? um... i don't think in the immediate future will see any change to the second although reform there would the a good thing. what would be good to see would be a ban on assault rifles, a greater background check system, and limitations on the sale of high—calibre magazines. perspectives there from all of those demonstrations in america yesterday. you're watching breakfast from bbc news. time now for a look at the newspapers. the poet, ian mcmillan, is here to tell us what's we will look at the express first. —— express. call the midwives, that is the front page. you will have heard this idea earlier, our top story, thousands of additional midwives being recruited to give

expectant mothers better care through their pregnancies. at least, thatis through their pregnancies. at least, that is the government's hope. the front page of the observer. quite a complicated story, but a brief overview, a whistleblower from the official leave campaign has raised concerns they might have broken spending laws during the current campaign. i should say that has been robust leader night by those closely associated with the campaign. the front page of the sunday times. my eye was initially drawn to this, that nice piece of living just below the market. more on that in a moment! —— piece of pudding. the market. more on that in a moment! -- piece of pudding. theresa may orders £4 billion brexit loosed to save the ailing nhs. that is the sunday times' take, amid these ongoing discussions about whether the government cancelled all that promise made the leave campaign about what they see as the financial benefits of leaving the european union, channelling those in the direction of the nhs. the front page of the telegraph, pictures of the women's teams at the boat race yesterday. their lead story is on concerns about the data security

that facebook users have been raising in 2011, when the european regulator of facebook was warning that the company was failing to ensure that data —— data was being protected when it was being passed on third—party software developers. delving into the inside pages. i like this story, page nine of the 0bserver. it is all about 0b and our, written‘s oldest men. —— bob and alf. bob looks fantastic 110. he certainly looks better of us —— better than either of us and we had to get up this morning. these gentlemen have their 110th birthday this coming thursday. they share that birthday. so they are joint record holders in terms of the old est record holders in terms of the oldest man in the country. they have seen oldest man in the country. they have seen 21 prime ministers, five monarchs, the rise and fall of communism, the moon landings, and huge, to put it mildly, advances in

technology. we should mention that the poet ian mcmillan will be joining us to take through the papers later on as well. speaking of food, the sunday telegraph as saying easter food is starting to look at what white christmas. so we have that big marketing campaign over christmas for christmas themed food, and now it is happening with these deferred as well. more and more supermarkets selling turkey, easter versions of the turkey craze. smoked salmon and macaroni cheese. lots of trendy versions of chocolate around these days. gluten—free hot cross buns, deegan and dairy free chocolate eggs as well. you've got to remember that, 20 minutes a pound and 20 minutes over... i can't be doing that again! one day of the year only. a symbol of the industrial revolution. it forged the way for engineering, construction, and architecture, as well as being the forerunner to the mega bridges and sky scrapers we see today. now, the world's first iron bridge, built almost 240 years ago in shropshire is undergoing

a multi—million pound conservation project. breakfast‘s john maguire went along to take a look. what we are seeing here is really a symbol of how the industrial revolution helped to create the modern world. it shows innovation, it shows engineering technology, it is something which has really stood the test of time. but at the moment, the test of time. but at the moment, the iron bridge thatjoins two riverbanks to create the town that took its name, is not on show itself. at the grand old age of 239 itself. at the grand old age of 239 it is undergoing a major £3.6 million conservation project. iron is famously strong but can crack if bent or twisted, and as the ground has moved, the bridge has been forced upwards by as much as four inchesin forced upwards by as much as four inches in places. now, we are on top of the bridge. this gives you a good idea of what has happened here. they dug down through the road surface to

expose these iron plates. each one would weigh several times. just look here. there is a huge crack there. this piece could fall off at any time, so that is the type of problem that needs to be fixed. despite the current major works, it remains open to pedestrians. english heritage will soon open these walkways to allow visitors to see close—up what is going on below the date. from repairing broken components, stripping things down, painting, everything that happens to the bridge as fire as possible, we will make sure it is accessible to the public. we have been given special access inside. picking your way through the bones of what feels like the bridge's rib cage, you get a real sense of the task at hand. 0ld paintand real sense of the task at hand. 0ld paint and rust is being blasted off in conditions that bring to mind the black air that would have filled the gorge at the height of the industrial revolution. no modern predict a clothing for them. —— protective clothing. this isn't

restoration, it is conservation. we don't want to think we have done a greatjob and then in 30 years time we make a huge problem for the people who come after us, who then spend their time trying to undo what we did. so we make sure that although interventions are reversible. the bridge's builder, abraham darby the third, was a visionary, a revolutionary. nobody had used this wondrous material, iron, in this way before. two and a half centuries later, these wages are being recreated in one of the country's are being recreated in one of the cou ntry‘s few are being recreated in one of the country's few remaining iron foundries. we are absolutely in or of the fact that they had none of the facilities we have now. —— in awe. they were pioneers of their day, having to create their whole infrastructure to support the melting of metal in a way that was totally, totally on the edge. how nurse did they manage it? standing here watching these masters at work using techniques similar to their forebears, the centuries fall away.

when the iron bridge unveiled once again in the autumn, it will have a new paintjob and is a renewed understanding of how wikis built —— was built. —— how it was built. its place in history is irrefutable, and this major project will ensure its place in the future. it is beautiful, that. we werejust speculating, there will be a good number of people watching this morning who would have been on a school trip air. maybe morning who would have been on a schooltrip air. maybe more morning who would have been on a school trip air. maybe more than one. a fun fact, abraham darby the third, the guy who built the bridge, there is no photos of him kicking around, because he was a quaker. he thought the whole idea of photographs would be a bit of a vanity project. so we would never have got him on the breakfast sofa. we never could have persuaded him to extol the virtues of his engineering prowess. he would have said, no, not for me. anyway. that will do for a bit of biography of abraham darby the third. let's talk to andrew

marr. he is here at nine o'clock on bbc one. what do you have this morning? andrew marr the first, absolutely no vanity in the studio here today, i can promise you. we have got david davis, the brexit secretary, after what has been a big week in the brexit story. tom watson, deputy leader of labour. lots of stories for him about the labour party. and we have caroline lucas, the green party leader, and again, much to talk about. in the paper review i will be speaking to carol court wider the guardian journalists who started the whole facebook— cambridge analytica who hire a couple of years ago about what happened and where we are now. —— cambridge analytica hoo—ha. what happened and where we are now. -- cambridge analytica hoo-ha. thank you, andrew. stay with us. headlines are coming up. acress the uniteéétates w ~ .

ff: a former volunteer claims in interviews with the observer newspaper and channel four news that the organisation breached official spending limits. vote leave has denied any wrongdoing and borisjohnson has described the accusations as "utterly ludicrous." a church service will be held in the southern french town of trebes this morning, in memory of the four people killed in a series of attacks by an islamist gunman. a national memorial service is being arranged in paris in the coming days, to honour colonel beltrame who died after trading places with a female hostage. president macron has paid tribute to him, he said he deserved "the respect and admiration of the whole nation."

a group of mps has described funding figures issued by the government for its flagship free childcare policy in england as "misleading and out of date." members of the treasury committee called for more money to be paid to childcare providers. the government has said that it will consider the recommendations, but that it is already spending more on childcare than any previous government. the current scheme is unsustainable. there is no free childcare. there is no possibility of providing the 33 hours everywhere —— 30 three. it has to be package led. notjust government childcare providers, champagne nurseries have given this information and have said they will

work with the government. we have been told figures have come forward from 2012— been told figures have come forward from 2012- 2014. earlier, you might have heard us discussing how tourist attractions and monuments in london switched their lights off for an hour last night, but other cities around the world also got in on the act. from paris to berlin, landmarks in cities across the globe fell into darkness, to show international awareness for climate change. the initiative began in 2007 in sydney, but now more than 180 countries take part. it must be quite strange if you are ona it must be quite strange if you are on a boat going under sydney harbour bridge and suddenly if you did not know about what was going on...m is amazing going around cities at night and you realise how unnecessary at times all of those lights are in the interview with the natural dark night. it might feel like the end of the world. where did the eiffel tower go? i cannot find

it anywhere! let's talk about the australia ball tampering scandal. steve smith admitted to knowing about it. they have been talking about it. some have been talking about it. some have said they are the laughing stock of the cricketing world. talking about a, that is exactly what they described it as. —— darkest hour. they want steve smith to be suspended. how has he not already been? clearly, cheating is cheating, but what i simply do not get is the thought process that went into this before it was attempted given that we all know that sporting grounds are packed with hd cameras and drones. that is not even the

point. but you are right, it is immoral and stupid. the fact this was happening right on the pitch with hundreds of millions watching it and broadcast across the world, he was caught on camera, and let's look at the footage. this is what the television cameras picked up. it showed cameron bancroft take what he said was yellow tape out of his trouser pocket before rubbing the ball. many people actually thought it was sandpaper but it emerged it was in fa ct sandpaper but it emerged it was in fact tape. he rubbed it on the ball to change the dynamic of the ball. then trying to hide the tape down his trousers when umpires suspected something was up. he later admitted to working the match ball with dirt on that sticky piece of tape. he said it was his sunglasses case at the time. a dog ate my home work. they often say the cover—up is worse than the crime and it looks like it.

this is huge. there is an investigation under way. steve smith spoke immediately after. he looks a little bit sheepish alongside cameron bancroft. let's hearfrom him. i am not proud of what has happened. umm... you know... it is not within the spirit of the game. my integrity, the team's integrity, the leadership group's integrity, has come on the question, and rightfully so. umm... it is not on. umm... it is certainly not on. and it will not happen again, i can promise you, under my leadership. we will keep you updated as that investigation continues. england's cricketers are into the fourth day of their test against new zealand in auckland. the home side declared on 427—8 after their first innings. alastair cook fell in the third over of england's second innings having scored just 2 runs. joe root and mark stoneman have moved england onto 56 for! but they still trail by 313. just a warning, if you do not want

to know what is happening in formula 1. to know what is happening in formula 1, turn off now. lewis hamilton's hopes of winning the opening race of the formula one season in melbourne are hanging by a thread. the briton started the australian grand prix from pole position for the fifth year in a row. he was comfortably leading until the 25th lap when a car came to a halt on the track. that forced hamilton and the rest of the field to slow down. but sebastian vettel was able to make up time on his rival by stopping for fresh tyres and when the ferrari driver rejoined he took the lead from hamilton. with overtaking difficult at albert park, he's now likely to go on to win. with no premier league football this weekend, it was a busy weekend of international friendlies, and a great result for northern ireland. they came from behind to beat world cup finalists south korea in belfast. the levelled the match thanks to an own goal after a clever 0liver norwood free—kick. then substitute paul smyth scored

the winner in the 86th minute becoming the first northern ireland player to score on his debut since george mccartney against iceland in 2001. iam i am getting used to it, scoring on a debut. it was a great feeling. in front of the crowd. such a great support. i thought, front of the crowd. such a great support. ithought, why front of the crowd. such a great support. i thought, why not embrace the moment and take it with my hands. i enjoyed it. it was great seeing the world cup qualifier match is getting under way. a few weeks. commonwealth games as well. bring on russia. thank you. the idea of travelling from the land down under, in less than 24 hours, used to be unimaginable, but earlier this morning, the very first non—stop flight from australia to the uk did just that.

passengers on the flight from perth were in the air forjust over 17 hours. 0ur reporter, simon clemison, has been speaking to them. you need to stretch after that. pilot and author, michael smith, was on the flight. hejoins us now from heathrow. good morning. how is thejetlag? actually, i do not have any. that is the amazing thing. are think the problem is in the old days, stopping in singapore and dubai, halfway through, you got completely broken, you were asleep, but this time, it all went so quickly. extraordinary technology. the idea of the wheels lifting off in australia and the next time they touch land they are in the uk. just because something is possible does not necessarily mean it isa possible does not necessarily mean it is a good idea. 17 hours is a mighty long time. look, i have heard

many people say that. but you know, it is so much nicer to get on a flight it is so much nicer to get on a flight and have something to eat, have a bit of a sleep, and you wake up have a bit of a sleep, and you wake up in the next thing you know if there is only six hours to go and it goes quickly. i think the drudgery of travel is changing airports and dragging bags through machines and going through security. this way you get on in one place and you land where you want to go. point—to—point travelling is exciting. was it worth the extra money? 0n travelling is exciting. was it worth the extra money? on average it will cost little more to do this in one hop to australia, one hop to the uk. none of that pacing around in airport terminals in between. there are always cheaper flights with a lot of time involved on the ground by it is absolutely worth spending money to fly with this airline. having a few stops as possible. there were a couple with a young

child next to me and they were worried about how it would work for them. but in half an hour the baby was completely settled and woke up, you know, as we were coming into england. that is incredible. that is definitely incredible. england. that is incredible. that is definitely incrediblelj england. that is incredible. that is definitely incredible. i thought that as i sat down. i remember all the way back from a flight in los angeles with my daughter in my arms pacing back and forth. did you turn left or right when you got on the plane? i turned right. there were only economy seats for sale on this flight. i only economy seats for sale on this flight. i was lucky to be in the front row of economy. but the seat was fine. the space was fine. i slept eight hours. i feel good. you area bit slept eight hours. i feel good. you are a bit of an official and when it comes to flights and aviation. —— afficiando. where will the next advance the? we have seen the

efficiency that made this long hop possible. presumably it is possible for flights of greater distances to be covered in one go in the future. look, absolutely. qantas have launched project sunrise and have asked airbus and boeing for a plan to get from the east coast of australia to london or new york, the holy grailfor me australia to london or new york, the holy grail for me this is a game changer, but that would be the ultimate. for now, perth to london is great. british people benefit more than we do. the idea of leaving england, europe, head down to perth, have a few days to get over the flight, have a few days to get over the flight, a beautiful city that many people often skip, before you had to the east coast for a holiday, it is a real trip. the east coast for a holiday, it is a realtrip. you have a bowtie on for 17 hours? a realtrip. you have a bowtie on for17 hours? look, i may have a realtrip. you have a bowtie on

for 17 hours? look, i may have taken it off in the middle of the flight but i put it on just before we landed. qantas first flew from syd ney to landed. qantas first flew from sydney to london in 1938 and people dressed up for flying sydney to london in 1938 and people dressed up forflying back sydney to london in 1938 and people dressed up for flying back then so i thought to celebrate that i would do so myself today. good on you. it is a bit ofa so myself today. good on you. it is a bit of a cheat taking it off halfway through but we appreciate you talking to us. thank you so much. michael smith, stretching his legs a little bit after... well, after a long time. not more australians cheating, surely! did you see that they got this temperature control thing where they reduce the temperature for the body to be tricked into thinking it is night—time, have a sleep, get over the jetlag thing as well. there are many techniques they are using, even though it is a short flight but it is quite a long way to bite i still have that image courtesy of your observation in my mind, taking the yellow ta pe observation in my mind, taking the yellow tape and outcomes the bowtie

for the bbc. —— out comes. yellow tape and outcomes the bowtie for the bbc. -- out comes. we are not used to seeing you looking this smart. laughs. british summertime, of course. as we smart. laughs. british summertime, of course. as we move smart. laughs. british summertime, of course. as we move into next week, it will be more cold. look at this lovely sunrise in north yorkshire, a sign of the beginning of touche summer. satellite imagery, clear skies in scotland, northern ireland and increasingly in northern england. a bit more clout around to the south. as we go through the day that cloud will gradually move away. we will start to see more in the way of cloud to the south—east of that. it will take some time for it to clear. showers moving through scotland, northern ireland and is the far north of inward. in the sunshine it will feel quite pleasant, temperatures get into

double figures across most areas. ten, 12, perhaps even 13 degrees. this evening and night, with those clear spells, it will turn quite chilly quite quickly. we will see frost developing across scotland and northern ireland. you can see these blue colour is starting to take over the map. temperatures going below freezing. further south and east we will see something a bit less cold, temperatures staying up about two — 12 celsius. going through the week, it is going to be much colder, as i mentioned. a battle going on, colder coming from scandinavia and less cold aircoming in coming from scandinavia and less cold air coming in from the atlantic. as those two air mass as meat, we will start to see a bit of snow falling. during monday, i mentioned a chilly start, some frost around, good spells of sunshine in the morning. cloud increasing from the morning. cloud increasing from the west. 0utbreaks the morning. cloud increasing from the west. outbreaks of rain moving in from northern ireland, west wales and the far south—west of england. at this stage temperatures are still

in double figures. as we go through tuesday, that area of low pressure is moving its way in and we will see rain across many areas, quite heavy rain, but it is this which brings the boundary between the colder air coming in from the north and the less cold air coming in from the south. we will start to see snow falling across the far north—east of scotland, mainly over higher ground. temperatures in aberdeen about five degrees, a big drop compared to monday. further south, sunny spells and showers. those temperatures just about in double figures. wednesday, increasing amounts of snow across scotland, perhaps more and as well, over the pennines. sunny spells and showers, with a rather brisk north—westerly wind. that is going to feel a bit chillier down towards southern areas. temperatures 7— ten, you will notice the wind chill more. further north, that cold air setting in and it will start to feel a bit more cold again. maximum temperature is about four degrees in aberdeen, seven degrees in edinburgh. as we go through the week, things will turn

colder. snow coming around from the eastern weekend. —— easter weekend. there is a risk that some of us will see snow, but there is a risk, berrer mind, we are more likely to see a snow over easter than christmas. -- bear in mind. much has really been a bumper month for meteorologists. and it isn't finished with you yet. it isn't, no. i mentioned mowing the lawn and various other people said to me, they had done similar things this weekend. and says she has optimistically been cleaning the barbecue. —— anne. optimistically been cleaning the barbecue. -- anne. what! the power of that very word, ensuring that the frost will return. thank you, simon. not everyone is happy about the rise of the robots.

this week, we will meet the people whose livelihoods are under threat. the robots, they go for ourjobs. and those who are doing something about it. including people who might have thought that theirjobs were safe. and we start with those who deal with the biggest things on water. this is how stuff moves around the world. your car, your tv, your phone. they all arrived in a shipping container, one of millions each year stacked on gargantuan ships and sailed from where they are made to where they are sold. 0ffloading these containers

at ports across the globe is a complicated task as they are lifted from the ships, moved to the land and then, when the right ride arrives, they are loaded onto lorries to be driven across the mainland. but at europe's busiest port, rotterdam and its third busiest, hamburg, something new is happening. some of the cranes here don't have drivers. and some of the lorries don't have cabs. these are europe's first robotic ports. so what we've got here is a mixture of remote control and completely autonomous machinery and basically, there are no humans in that little bit at all. there is a very strict rule here. human dock workers do their work outside the red line and inside, everything is completely autonomous. ports across the world perform this graceful ballet of stacking and unstacking, but at two terminals

at rotterdam and this one at hamburg, it's a dance that humans aren't allowed take part in. so what happens is, there is a human controlling the crane that pulls the containers off the ship and then loads them onto the central platform and then the human—controlled crane goes and gets another container from the ship. another crane comes along and pulls the container from that platform and loads it onto these trucks. that crane is autonomous. and so are the lorries. while the world is still waiting for the mythical self—driving car, these trucks are already making their way around the ports transporting containers from crane to crane. buried in the tarmac are thousands of little tiny transponders bleeping away, broadcasting special id numbers. and that's how these trucks know where they are to within a few centimetres. and of course, that makes this a very simple environment to drive around, with a guide track taking them from a to b to c and no unpredictable human hazards. music.

buried in the tarmac are thousands of little tiny transponders bleeping away, broadcasting special id numbers. and that's how these trucks know where they are to within a few centimetres. and of course, that makes this a very simple environment to drive around, with a guide track taking them from a to b to c and no unpredictable human hazards. they don't even need sensors to see what's around. the only reason that they need humans in charge of the cranes on this side is because there are humans on the ship and so the law says you can't let computers swing containers around when there are humans. so if there weren't people on the ship, the computers could control this crane as well. it's the same story at the other side of the port. the only thing the autonomous cranes aren't allowed to do is lower the containers onto the lorries because there are human

drivers nearby so that part is done by a human crane operator, but from an office nearby. i mean, it's all very impressive. it looks really cool, but there is a flipside to this which is every one of those trucks that's driving around ten years ago would have had a driver and now it doesn't. and there are no crane operators in the middle section either. so while we are looking at the future of work here, we really need to look about the future of the workforce as well. and the workforce at rotterdam has spoken. in 2016, 3,600 workers walked out to protest at increasing automation at the port.

niek stam is the union official for ports. he says the dockers know they can't fight automation, but he does warn that as fewer and fewer human workers earn wages, there will be less money paid back to the state through income tax. so who is paying them at the end? if the robots take over ourjobs, who is then paying the tax? that's why i said it is time to discuss about robot tax. we still need roads, we still need trains, we still need schools and hospitals, so somebody has to pick up the bill. so if we can have an income, say, 20 hours working week, we also have a separate income from the social benefits, paid by robots. i mean, if they don't like human beings anymore, that's fine. then we start fishing. but we want also an income. as a result of the strike in 2016, the port authority agreed not to cutjobs, and because the economy

is buoyant at the moment, so far these workers are doing the same work in other terminals at the ports. the port of rotterdam told us that although: niek, though, is not convinced everyone will want to retrain. we still need jobs for people who are low educated, that like to work, like to be a comrade on the working place. they still want to work with their hands. what's wrong with that? battersea power station. one of the uk's most ambitious restoration projects. at 42 acres, it's the largest construction site i have ever visited, and the race is on to complete refurb of this grade two—listed landmark by 2020.

there are 2,000 skilled contractors here working around the clock. since work began five years ago, over 30 kilometres of scaffolding has gone in to rebuild the station's chimneys and painstakingly restore its 7.5 million bricks. it is no surprise that some of the more interesting work to automate the construction industry is happening in san francisco, where dave lee have been to find out more. look, don't tell anyone, but i have been trying to earn a few extra dollars — which is why some days you can find me here, in this construction site. there is a ton of work to be done, but you know what? i don't care, because it is the end of my shift.

i am really not cut out for the construction industry, but that's ok, because thanks to companies like built robotics, maybe i don't have to be. their autonomous system allows this hulking great thing to get to work without a human driver. it can be left alone to get on with the task at hand, which in this case is flattening out the land. it is fully autonomous. what that means is basically, you load in plans for what you want your finished product to look like, and the machine looks at the plans, figures out how to navigate around the site in order to accomplish the work, and then sends commands to the on—board electronics on each machine, so they can go out there and do the work. noah is a former google engineer and he uses much of the same technology that can be found in that company's self driving car. but he says his vehicle has to consider many more factors when going about its work. so it is a lot of nuance around how

different types of soils interact with the blade, how the tracks spin and slip as you move around a rough jobsite, that is really the hard part and that is what we focus on. it is notjust here on the ground at construction sites where autonomy is changing how things work. for a fuller picture, you need to look to the skies. one of the biggest challenges with construction, particularly big projects, is knowing what is going on and where. skycatch, also based in san francisco, has created what is essentially a foreman in the sky, a drone system that can analyse sites with incredible detail and share its findings almost immediately. it would normally take weeks to survey an area as big as this, costing money and of course time. now a detailed scan can be captured in just 15 minutes. these are becoming real tools now.

before we had cameras, we took video, photos, now we can do real work with them. the technology we put inside these machines can give you data that can be immediately used on the field. at any given point construction sites are changing all the time. you may know what is going on five minutes ago, five minutes later it is completely different. the success of this company is of course good news for companies that are trying to cash in on the increased automation of construction sites. but for the millions who make their living — a good living — getting stuck in on sites around the world, life is going to change. so yes, thejobs will be reallocated. i think we will be spending more time planning, on making sure that things are done on time, but it will also have other really awesome effects. buildings will be built in days.

it will be a lot more affordable to build a highway, a lot more afordable to build a home. so we believe that this will also help equalise how quickly people have access to homes. that was dave lee in san francisco. that's it from us here at battersea power station. this is the short cut of the show, the full—length version is up on iplayer to watch now, and we have loads of backstage photos on twitter as well. thanks for watching and we will see you soon. hello. this is breakfast, with rachel burden and chris mason. a promise to boost the number of midwives