hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at 2... jewish groups plan to protest outside parliament, accusing labour leaderjeremy corbyn of repeatedly siding with anti—semites. enough is enough with the anti—semitism swirling around the labour party that is being fostered byjeremy corbyn‘s inaction. at least 64 are dead — many of them children — after a fire at a siberian shopping centre — officials say the alarm system was off and fire exits blocked. following the nerve agent attack on a former russian spy in the uk there are reports germany is deporting four russian dipolmats — and other eu countries are expected to follow. an american porn star, stormy daniels, claims she was threatened to keep her quiet about an affair she alleges she had with president trump. a guy walked up on me and said to me, "leave trump alone, forget the story." and then he leaned around and looked at my daughter and said, "that's a beautiful little girl,

it would be a shame if something happened to her mom." coming up on afternoon live all the sport. the cricket world continues to react to other sport's biggest scandals. calls have intensified for steve smith to stand down for his part in a ball tampering incident. we will have the latest that have passed. chris howe is the weather, that is rather beautiful? yes, the weather picture is not bad either! beautiful skies at the moment, we will bring you the forecast. elsewhere, we have seen a site no skier wants to come across, yellow snow. i'll be explaining why we have had that outbreak in what has been causing it. also coming up — more than £40,000 in compensation for the 11—year—old with autism after his parents sued the scouts for discrimination. this is afternoon live,

i am simon mccoy. jewish groups are planning to protest outside parliament this evening after accusing the labour leaderjeremy corbyn of repeatedly siding with anti—semites. in an open letter, jewish leaders have said that mr corbyn is "repeatedly found alongside people with blatantly anti—semitic views" but "claims never to hear or read them". jeremy corbyn has apologised for the pain caused by "pockets of anti—semitism" in the party and promised to meet representatives of the jewish community to help rebuild confidence. from westminster, alex forsyth reports. this morning, the labour leader was again facing questions about his handling of anti—semitism. why have you failed to tackle anti—semitism in your party before now, mr corbyn? jeremy corbyn accused of failing to do enough to stamp it out. two prominentjewish groups have

written a highly critical open letter in which they say... the jewish community is saying, enough is enough with the anti—semitism swirling around the labour party, that is being fostered byjeremy corbyn‘s inaction. the labour leader has been plagued by allegations of anti—semitism in his party. he ordered an enquiry into it two years ago. racism is racism is racism. there is no hierarchy, no acceptable form of it. i have always fought it in all its forms and i always will. but his own actions and associations have remained under scrutiny. most recently, over an image you may find offensive. this mural was in east london. back in 2012, jeremy corbyn seemed

to support its presence in a facebook comment, later admitting he should have looked more closely at its content. in a statement yesterday addressing the wider issue, mr corbyn said... jeremy corbyn has repeatedly condemned anti—semitism. there is not rampant anti—semitism in the labour party. jeremy has spoken many times around issues of anti—semitism, around issues of not targeting individuals. labour is an anti—racist, non—anti—semitic party. and it's not the case to suggest that any group is being targeted.

but the labour leader is once again having to prove where he stands on this crucial issue. alex forsyth, bbc news. to bring you more breaking news on the ongoing diplomatic row following the ongoing diplomatic row following the poisoning, the attempted murder of sergei skripal and his daughter in salisbury, firstly we are hearing from the united states that donald trump has ordered the expulsion of 60 russians from the united states, and the closure of the russian consulate in seattle over the uk nerve agent poisoning. this is coming from senior administration officials. they also say russian intelligence activities in the united states have been increasingly aggressive in recent months. that is coming from the reuters news agency. that is the united states reaction. germany says it will expel four russian diplomats over moscow's

suspected involvement in the poisoning of sergei skripal in england. moscow has denied responsibility for the attack on mr skripal and his daughter, the first known use of a nerve agent in europe since the second world war. britain expeued since the second world war. britain expelled 23 russians as a result of that, moscow retaliated with 23 british diplomats being sent back in return. there is also suggestion that further expulsions will follow. let's go to adam fleming in brussels. we are expecting to hear from donald tusk at some point. the point is, that eu is looking to be on the edge of something quite... well, unexpected perhaps, but certainly unusual. that is a rather large reaction, acting on behalf for britain? was also expected this to happen today. the signal, the green light was given by eu leaders at the

summit on friday, where they agreed with the uk assessment it was overwhelmingly likely that russia was behind this use of a nerve agent in salisbury. in the next paragraph of their conclusions, they said that it opens the door for member states to ta ke it opens the door for member states to take coordinated action. just to unpack that phrase a little bit, every single word matters when it comes to eu politics, member states means the individual countries themselves coordinating working together. rather than the whole eu asa together. rather than the whole eu as a bloc, working together on these actions. that is because not all the countries could agree on taking the same action. what we're seeing now, after diplomats have had a chance to speak to their capitals over the weekend, a meeting of eu ambassadors from individual member states in brussels this lunchtime, we are seeing the actual details of the actions that are being taken. just to recap what you were saying, germany saying it will expel four russian diplomats, latvia saying it will expel one and blacklist another citizen, poland saying it will expel four. that is dwarfed by the actions of the trump administration, reports

they are going to expel 60. the official statement from the press secretary of donald trump is that it will be dozens, so we are waiting on confirmation for that exact number. this is clearly coordinated. who coordinates this? i go back to the first answer, it is the individual countries themselves speaking to each other, coordinating amongst themselves, as it were. i asked at themselves, as it were. i asked at the midday briefing on the european commission and the civil service of the eu, that helped to run the eu diplomatic service, the external action service, and i asked that question, coordinated by whom? they gave a, the dance, along the lines of what i just gave you, gave a, the dance, along the lines of what ijust gave you, eu countries acting individually, within the eu framework and making their own decisions. all they could agree on, across all 28, was the attribution of this to russia. they could not quite agree on what measures to take. what we're going to see through the afternoon is a

rolling announcement of more countries taking measures. lithuania just announced they are going to expel three russians, i have been handed a note saying the czech republic will expel three. then we are waiting to hear from donald tusk, the president of the european council, who will not be taking action himself but i think the wand to mark just how action himself but i think the wand to markjust how many countries are prepared to do this, how many diplomats are going to go, and to give the overall eu response. i'm just seeing that france is expelling four. we are looking at rolling action. all of this action will have been taken on the basis, the expectation at least, that moscow will retaliate in some way? it is interesting when you look at some of the numbers. some countries, it might seem quite small. i understand thatis might seem quite small. i understand that is because some smaller countries, which have quite a small diplomatic presence in russia, in moscow, don't want to have a situation where they are left with no diplomatic representation, no yea rs no diplomatic representation, no years to the ground in moscow at all, so they don't want to send away large numbers of russians in case

the entire delegation sent away from moscow as well. that is why some of the numbers might seem quite small. it just represents the numbers might seem quite small. itjust represents the different erotic strands of different countries. when you look at the tweets —— the different diplomatic standings of different countries. they say they are classifying this person as persona non grata, we don't want them in the country any more. they're not going as far as the brits and americans, accusing these people are being undeclared spies. that is what theresa may said when she announced the expulsion. they said they believe it is part of a russian intelligence network spread across the globe and that is why we are checking them out. only the trump administration has gone so far as to explain that is why they are doing this and go along with the british view it is an intelligence network they are dismantling. something interesting from the czech

prime minister, saying that the novichok nerve agent could have come from the czech republic. that could play into the hands of moscow, the argument has always been that it came from moscow? remember, that is one of the accusations thrown back at the uk from various russian diplomats, the ambassador in london, the foreign minister will be spokespeople of briefings in moscow, saying there is no proof yet that this nerve agent was delivered, was sent there, was applied by russians. so, ithink sent there, was applied by russians. so, i think the statement from the czech prime minister has made the situation a lot more confusing. as we know, there is a massive police investigation on the ground in salisbury, looking at thousands of pieces of evidence, thousands of hours of cctv footage. the facility at porton down is looking at lots of samples and pieces of evidence as

well. it is also being examined by the opcw, the well. it is also being examined by the 0pcw, the international chemical weapons watchdog, to provide a cast—iron evidence trail about where this novichok, this agent, came from, and how it was deployed. i think the british government would probably say, let's wait and look at the evidence, let's work out the trail that way, rather than relying on individual statements from individual governments. that has confused the picture somewhat and i think it will be left on very quickly, in a big way, by moscow. think it will be left on very quickly, in a big way, by moscowlj am just looking at i fa ct, fact, stay é momentnow; infractrstaymrthg let's from momentnow; infractrstaymrthg let's - from him now line. let's hearfrom him now and 1 he line. let's hearfrom him now and 1: he has to line. let's hearfrom him now and 7444 he has to say. good afternoon. i would like to make a special announcement about the

follow—up to the european council's decision last week on the salisbury attack. to recall, last week the european council condemned, in the strongest possible terms, the recent attack in salisbury. the european council agreed with the united kingdom government assessment that it is highly likely that the russian federation is responsible, and that there is no plausible alternative explanation. we decided to recall the eu ambassador to russia for consultations. as a direct follow—up to last week's european council decision to react to russia within a common framework, already today 11! member states have decided to expel russian diplomats. additional

measures, including further expulsions within the common eu framework, are not to be excluded in the coming days and weeks. we remain critical of the actions of the russian government but, at the same time, today we europeans, together with the russian people, our mourning the tragic victims in kemerovo, in slovenia. —— siberia. he speaks in russia russian. now we will talk with turkey, as the

eu. iwant now we will talk with turkey, as the eu. i want to underline how important this initiative is for all member states in the eu. i can reconfirm that our prime minister and presidents in all european capitals appreciate this. this is what can and should improve our relations with turkey, our neighbour, important for so many reasons. thank you very much. donald tusk announcing what we have been reporting over the last 30 minutes, a number of actions by various european governments in

solidarity with britain. we are hearing that the netherlands is also sending two russian diplomats home. ukraine says that it is taking action. all of this is following the news that donald trump is sending 60 diplomats back. let's go back to adam fleming in brussels. ever the diplomat, expressing concern and speaking in russian above the fire in western siberia, but also saying they have no reason to disagree with they have no reason to disagree with the uk assessment of what happened in salisbury? donald tusk, echoing what a eu leaders agreed on friday afternoon, sorry, the early hours of friday morning, i should say, they stayed pretty late discussing this. echoing the conclusions there, that the eu position is the same as the uk, it is highly likely that russia was behind this and improbable that they were not. we now know from donald tusk that 11! eu countries

this afternoon will announce they are expelling russian did the maths. i think we heard from five or six so far, including the netherlands, france, according to reuters news agency, they are going to expel the two maps. donald tusk did not rule out further actions. —— expel diplomats. it is difficult for the eu to act as a bloc, because of the different member states‘ national interests. a common position they have managed to come to is a common attribution that it probably was russia, that was made by 28. but we know that only 11! are prepared to ta ke know that only 11! are prepared to take action like expelling diplomats. we will have to wait and see in the coming days is actually the eu diplomats want to get their heads together and come up with something else. just to clarify from the czech president, some confusing

reporting saying that he was saying that the nerve agent could have come from the czech republic. i am told he was referring to actions taken by russia that were beyond the pale and an diplomacy, suggesting that the novichok had come from the czech republic. he was saying the reason the czech republic was acting in this way is because they are really annoyed that russia tried to blame them. just some clarification from a slightly misleading tweet or report from the czech republic. thank you, talk to you later. well during a visit to estonia, the defence secretary gavin williamson said the support shown for britain was "itself a defeat for president putin". the world‘s patience is wearing thin with president putin and his actions. the fact that right across the nato alliance, right across the european union, nations have stood up european union, nations have stood up in support of the united kingdom,

as we have seen this unprecedented attack. this was being led by the kremlin. i actually think that is the very best response that we can have. their intention, their aim, the very best response that we can have. their intention, theiraim, is to divide. what we are seeing is the world uniting behind the british stance. that, in itself, is a great victory. that sends an exceptionally powerful message to the kremlin and president putin. italy is expelling two russian diplomats, that has come in in the last few seconds. naomi grimley is here. the eyebrow goes up with the figures from the united states, 60? it certainly does. that is a lot of diplomats to be expelling. to give you a bit of a breakdown, we know that 12 are individuals who, quote,

have used their positions as cover to engage in intelligence activities. in other words, they are suspected spies. they are being expeued suspected spies. they are being expelled from the un in new york. the other 48 are coming from the russian embassy in washington, dc. we are also hearing that the us plans to close, to shutter the russian consulate in seattle. we don‘t know exactly why that has been closed. seattle. we don‘t know exactly why that has been closedlj seattle. we don‘t know exactly why that has been closed. i was going to say, 60 dipper mats expelled, how much of that is to do with what happened in salisbury? that is very interesting. we have the domestic backdrop that president trump is under investigation for alleged links to russians during the campaign. he has come under a lot of flak, just in the last few days. he

called president putin to congratulate him on his election win and went against the advice of officials and failed to mention the salisbury attack to president putin in that phone call. there was a lot of criticism, not just in that phone call. there was a lot of criticism, notjust in the american press but across the world. now we see a very different response against russia. i think there will bea against russia. i think there will be a lot of world interest and political interest as well. given what we‘re hearing the eu and the countries acting in support of britain, it will be interesting how vladimir putin response? yes, is he going to have to expel all these diplomats in response? it is certainly a good day for theresa may. she had the wind in her sales last week after the eu summit issued a strong statement saying russia was highly likely to be behind the salisbury attack. now we can see all

of these countries rowing behind her and copying what britain did, with similar expulsions. just to set the american figure in context, president 0bama expelled 35 diplomats. nearly half what president trump has expelled. that was in december of 2016, just as he left office, before mr trump came into office. that was because of alleged meddling in the us elections. thank you very much. let‘s go to washington now. chris buckler is there. that number strikes you first of all, 60? yes, and split between two locations, as was mentioned. a dozen going from the un in new york, and 48 from washington, but it is a closure as well of a consulate general in seattle, the russian consulate general, giving you a sense of what is going on. it‘s notjust to do with the uk, also with the us. the reason it is being closed in

seattle, according to the white house, is because of its proximity to submarine bases and the proximity to submarine bases and the proximity to the firm boeing. it gives you a sense that america is concerned about intelligence gathering happening. it is also worth reflecting that in recent weeks we have heard from washington, from the white house, that there is deep concern about cyber attacks that have taken place in recent years that they have blamed on russia, specifically targeted at us infrastructure. what we are seeing here is tough action against the russian government, trying to say that we will not accept this kind of meddling. in the background, you can certainly talk about what allegedly happened in the 2016 presidential election. fundamentally, there is concern about what is happening within the us, as far as russian operatives are concerned, that they continue to get involved, meddling in some ways, gathering information. this is not being targeted as a

specific thing that they are going for, although the uk has been mentioned. let‘s be clear, after criticism that the us has not been tough enough in standing alongside one of its nearest allies, it must be said that there is an attempt here to try to show that they are taking that extremely seriously. but it is also about america, and about trying to show that they will hold come in their words, the russian government accountable. president trump has perhaps had some words spoken about him that have suggested he has been too soft on president putin. this is an attempt to show that they will be nothing like that, that they will be nothing like that, that there will be tough and they will take action. those 60 officials and their families will have seven days to leave america. the russian ambassador to washington, according to reuters, he was asked what the russian response would be, and the quote is that the us only understands force. all of this will have been factored into this decision to get rid of so many? yes,

but think as well about the difference in tone that we have between president trump phoning president putin, and against the advice of his advisers, to basically say congratulations on your election victory, whenever there was deep concerns in america about that. there were leaks immediately after that, making clear that president trump was not supposed to do that. we have a very different tone today. but you also get the sense that there will be retaliation. listen, america is not alone in this. this is very much a case of a message being sent from a number of nations to russia, saying we are not going to russia, saying we are not going to tolerate this. at the same time, i think that russia are going to retaliate in some way. exactly how? well, it‘s going to be diplomatic, probably. you do get a strong sense from here that america has become concerned. whatever president trump feels about vladimir putin, whatever

is said in phone calls, there are many in this administration that are worried about russian actions, and they want to make sure a signal is being sent to russia that they will not tolerate it. chris buckler in washington, on the news that 60 russian diplomats are to be expelled from the united states. president donald trump ordering the expulsion over the poisoning of the former spy in the uk. germany, france and ukraine have also announced they are expelling russian diplomats, various other european countries, they are following suit. a russian foreign ministry spokesman has had a go at the eu. she said perverted interpretation of solidarity with the uk, that is how she described it, as eu states are expected to expel more diplomats over the poisoning of sergei skripal. a parade of sovereignty is will begin, political support for london will begin, she said, this is a facebook

post. do you know what the most beautiful thing in this perverted interpretation of solidarity is, she says, i will tell you, interpretation of solidarity is, she says, iwill tell you, everything that will be happening in the sphere of public diplomacy will be explained in eu capitals as solidarity with london as required by the eu‘s single foreign policy. plenty more to go on what is going to bea plenty more to go on what is going to be a huge row that develops now, with more and more expulsions across the world. we will keep you in touch with that, and we will be going live to moscow and the united states later. southern health nhs foundation trust has been fined £2 millionafter admitting failures that led to the deaths of two patients. the failings relate to the cases of an 18 —year—old — who had epilepsy — and drowned in a bath at a care unit in 2013 and a 45—year—old who died after she was found unconscious at a mental health hospital in hampshire in 2012. 0ur social affairs correspondent michael buchanan reports. connor sparrowhawk had learning disabilities, autism and epilepsy.

the reason he is dead, however, is because of neglect by the nhs. the 18—year—old had an epileptic seizure and drowned in a bath while staying at a southern health assessment unit in 2013. his family were in court this morning to hear the trust fined more than £1 million for multiple failings in his care. no—one should die a preventable death in the care of the state. learning—disabled people should not be dying 20 years on average before their non—disabled peers. if connor was here now in the shadow of oxford crown court he would say, "why, mum?" and i would have to say, "i don‘t know but we have done you proud." the trust were additionally fined nearly £1 million more for the avoidable death of teresa colvin. the 45—year—old killed herself in a southern health hostel in hampshire in2012, despite the trust being aware that the ward she was on contained ligature points that psychiatric patients with suicidal tendencies could use. no fine will bring

tj and connor back. nothing, nothing anybody says will bring them back. at least there is some resolution, some recognition of the seriousness of it and the avoidability. both deaths were preventable. it should not have happened. the judge said the deaths were caused by systemic and deep—rooted failures at southern health — they did not take health and safety seriously, including failing to investigate hundreds of suspected deaths. today the trust‘s new chief executive give a heartfelt apology. teresa and connor should not have died. their deaths were preventable and entirely avoidable. and that is a matter of profound regret to me and the organisation. and i am truly sorry. connor sparrowhawk‘s family fought a skilled and determined campaign to get justice for their son and brother. their efforts were praised by the judge today, "you have ensured southern health

were helded held criminally liable for his death." a major victory amid the years of hurt. michael buchanan, bbc news, 0xford. time for a look at the weather... i would not want to go skiing on that, it looks horribly yellow? yellow snow is not what you want, but this is a photograph from sochi, famed for hosting the previous winter olympics. they have been going down on very yellow snow on what has been quite a fall of saharan dust and sand. you know why skiers do not like yellow snow, simon? the mind boggles, go on... it just falls early in the season, and it is not as reflective. yellow snow causes it to melt and it is probably abrasive for your skis. i would not wa nt to abrasive for your skis. i would not want to come across it. shall we

crack on with the forecast? no such problems for us weather—wise, we have a glorious start today, plenty of sunshine out and about, this was one of our weather watcher pictures from the york area showing clear skies but since then a bit of cloud has bubbled up, for example in staffordshi re bubbled up, for example in staffordshire around this area. the cloud that has developed across scotland, england and wales should melt away over the next few hours or so, but further west we have this thick at atlantic cloud moving in, associated with a weather front that is going to bring a spell of wet weather. first to northern ireland but we will all see a spell of rain some point in the night—time ahead. that is coming our way. for the remainder of the afternoon things look fine with plenty of sunshine and the winds for the most part light, the cloud continues to dissipate and we will see increasing sunshine coming through, but it will feel pleasant out and about with temperatures between ten and 13 degrees. the exception to that is shetland where we have air coming

from a chilly scandinavia that is why temperatures are only 6 degrees with the threat of passing showers. 0vernight tonight with clear skies across north and east scotland we could get pockets of frost in the countryside but ultimately we are going to see this weather systems move in bringing cloudier skies and outbreaks of rain and as the audi rides the breeze will freshen and temperatures will rise and by the end of the night we are looking at temperatures between four and ten in the south—west. as the wet weather pushes through, some mountain snow for a time pushes through, some mountain snow fora time in pushes through, some mountain snow for a time in western scotland but the snow will disappear up the mountain and turning to rain. that rain reluctant to move away from scotla nd rain reluctant to move away from scotland but for northern ireland, western parts of england and wales they should be decent breaks in the cloud during the afternoon with some spells of sunshine getting through. temperature similar to those of today, 10—13d. however, the weather is set to turn cooler towards the middle part of the week. there were rumours of a return from the beast from the east but the weather doesn‘t look that cold now, although the thing is we will see caller whether working in, there will be

showers in the north—west of the uk, speu showers in the north—west of the uk, spell of rain fleetingly in the south east of them, and turning windy following that force of the temperature is not as cool as forecast. highs of 7—9dc but nevertheless a fresh and cool feel to the weather. looking ahead to the easter weather prospects, a really mixed bag, starting on the cool side with things turning milder as the holiday weekend progresses. we are going to get strong south—westerly winds blowing bands of rain across the country, particularly wet weather at times across the south—west and also some spells of sunshine as well. that‘s the latest weather. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. 60 russians are to be expelled from the us and their consulate in seattle is to be closed, following the poisoning of sergei skirpal and his daughter. 14 eu member states including germany are also expelling russian diplomats as part of a coordinated response to the nerve agent attack. the russian foreign ministry has accused the eu of having a "perverted interpretation of solidarity" with the uk. asa as a direct follow—up to last week‘s european council decision to react

to russia within a common framework, already today 14 member states have decided to expel russian diplomats. "enough is enough," sayjewish groups in a letter accusing jeremy corbyn of failing to tackle anti—semitism. mr corbyn has said he‘s sincerely sorry for anti—semitism in what he calls pockets of the labour party. a blaze that tore through a shopping centre in a siberian coal mining city has killed at least 64 people, many of them children. nhs trust southern health has been fined £2 million for health and safety failings after the deaths of two people in its care. let‘s return to our main story, the situation in terms of russian expulsions also in the past half—hour the united states announced the expulsion of 60 russians and the closure of the russians and the closure of the russian consulate in seattle over the poisoning of the former russian

agent said skripal and his daughter yulia in the uk. the statement from the white house said the closure of the white house said the closure of the consulate was due to proximity to one of our submarine bases and boeing and it said the actions would make the us safer by reducing the russian‘s ability to spy on the states. 14 european countries have announced they will expel russian diplomats as part of a coordinated response to the nerve agent attack. the russian foreign ministry has accused the eu of having a perverted interpretation of solidarity with the uk. the uk blames moscow for the attack last month and expelled 23 russian diplomats. in the last hour the president of the european council donald tusk said the decision by eu nations to act would be made under a coordinated framework. last week the european council condemned in the strongest possible terms the recent attack in salisbury. the european council agreed with the united kingdom government‘s assessment that it is

highly likely that the russian federation is responsible and that there is no plausible alternative explanation. we decided to recall the eu ambassador to russia for consultations. as a direct follow—up to last week‘s european council decision within a common framework, already today 14 member states have decided to expel russian diplomats. additional measures, including further expulsions within the common eu framework, not to be excluded the coming days and weeks. 0ur correspondent is in moscow. they probably expected something but would they expect this? i'm not sure if they would, the scene was set at

the end of last week for some kind of somewhat concerted eu action but until today it wasn‘t clear the extent to which this would be coordinating. i think also know one was necessarily expecting donald trump to move first. he may have his domestic reasons for wanting to do something bold on the international stage, who knows? but that was a big step by the americans, followed almost immediately by this trickle of other countries, in much mola numbers, but collectively it is a significant move. historians out there will answer the question how unprecedented this is. i can‘t think ofan unprecedented this is. i can‘t think of an example in recent times of something like this, the coordinated expulsion of russian diplomats from, what is it now, 15, 16 different countries if you include ukraine and the united states as well. so yes, it isa the united states as well. so yes, it is a bigger more coordinated set of moves than one might have expected, and we will now see what if anything the russians choose to

do by way of the response. we are already hearing, and even this morning before these announcements, that the russians would treat an american move... in some kind of reciprocalfashion and american move... in some kind of reciprocal fashion and already there is talk from the russian foreign ministry of american diplomats being expelled. we may see other countries targeted as well. we also had a post on facebook from the foreign ministry spokeswoman maria zakharova in which she said, as you mentioned in your introduction, that this parade of sovereignty is was a perverted interpretation of solidarity as she put it and referred, as russian officials have throughout the crisis, to britain as a dwindling country undergoing the agonies of brexit and said today that that process is moving forward full stea m that that process is moving forward full steam ahead. the country that is leaving the eu is exploiting the factor of solidarity and imposing on the remaining ones the worsening of relations with russia. the russians

may have hoped that other european governments, particularly the germans and french, would hesitate before taking this step. if they we re before taking this step. if they were hoping that, they were wrong. it was interesting that donald tusk spokein it was interesting that donald tusk spoke in russian to express solidarity over the fire in western siberia. the russians were perhaps thinking that nobody would act while they were dealing with that.|j thinking that nobody would act while they were dealing with that. i think we we re they were dealing with that. i think we were all thinking that. it has been such an appalling tragedy involving so many children. but it seems kind of cruel in a sense to turn to this kind of diplomatic brutality. but, you know, the wheels of diplomacy have been churning since last week. i think this is a kind of diplomaticjuggernaut that was not about to be turned around, notwithstanding the appalling scenes from siberia. paul, thank you very much. paul adams there. sport now on afternoon live with jessica creighton. we‘ll come on to england‘s defeat to new zealand in a moment, but first the fall—out

to the australia ball tampering saga shows no sign of going away does it? if anything it shows no sign of abating. it is kind of gathering pace. it has been such a dramatic fall from grace for the captain steve smith. in recent yea rs for the captain steve smith. in recent years he‘s been mentioned alongside the likes of legendary batsman don bradman, he was instrumental in australia‘s ashes win over england recently, and because of his high profile he was named australian of the year recently. but now there has been so much pressure on him, it is really increasing on him to stand down as captain and has been criticised by the australian prime minister no less and former australian bowler jason gillespie spoke to the bbc and said he needs to stand down, and the chairman of the australian sports commission has been pretty damning in his assessment. let‘s see what he had to say. we think the situation calls for a very strong and decisive

response from cricket australia. there have been penalties handed down by the international cricket council. but we think australia expects a stronger and more decisive response from cricket australia, a broader response, because this really is all about the leadership and the example that the australian cricket team sets for australian sport. if an olympic athlete was caught bringing the country into disrepute, or the olympic team into disrepute, or the olympic team into disrepute, they would be put on the first plane home from the olympic games. that is an analogy that we think is quite appropriate in these circumstances. worth noting as well that earlier today steve smith stepped down as captain of his ipl side rajasthan royals, but how much longer will he be able to hold onto his captaincy for his country? as for england, despite the best efforts of ben stokes, it was a heavy defeat in auckland wasn‘t it? more test misery for england, even

the captain joe more test misery for england, even the captainjoe root questioned the team‘s consistency when they play overseas, heavy defeat really against new zealand in the first test, wasn‘t it? it was always going to be difficult, simon, because in their first to be difficult, simon, because in theirfirst innings to be difficult, simon, because in their first innings england to be difficult, simon, because in theirfirst innings england were to be difficult, simon, because in their first innings england were all out for just 58 runs. their first innings england were all out forjust 58 runs. let‘s hear from andy swiss on more from this tenth defeat in 12 tests overseas for england. england‘s hopes of salvaging an unlikely draw rested on a familiar pairof unlikely draw rested on a familiar pair of shoulders. in his comeback test ben stokes, and as his first ball disappeared to the boundary, the signs seemed encouraging. but on a day when survival was the key the wickets soon tumbled. dawid malan was the first to go as new zealand seized the moment. would you believe it? a terrible shot from jonny ba i rstow, it? a terrible shot from jonny bairstow, quite dazzling catch from kane williamson, and england were in deep trouble. but at the other end, stokes stood strong, defying a back injury as well as his opponents,

patiently he ground his way to a half—ce ntu ry patiently he ground his way to a half—century and in chris woakes he found and able ally as the pair edged england towards safety. but on 66, after restraining himself for so long, stokes finally succumbed to temptation. for the half hours of watchfulness undone in a flash and he knew it. sure enough, england‘s hopes left with him. could be out, it is out! new zealand soon wrapping up it is out! new zealand soon wrapping up an emphatic victory, for england a fifth defeat in the past six tests after what‘s proven the bleakest of winters. andy swiss, bbc news. 0n winters. andy swiss, bbc news. on to football and wales lost the china cup final beaten 1—0 by uruguay thanks to this early goal from a dense —— cavani. wales are two places higher in the world rankings but were not able to finish their chances in what was a close encounter. popular steeplechaser cue ca rd encounter. popular steeplechaser cue card will race for the final time in

the chase at sandown on the 20th of april. the 2015th king george vi chase winner has 16 victories during a career that brought two wins at the cheltenham festival but pulled up the cheltenham festival but pulled up in this year‘s ryanair chase, cue ca rd up in this year‘s ryanair chase, cue card won the champion bumper at cheltenham in 2010 and the ryanair chase three years later. that‘s all the sport for now. i will be back in the sport for now. i will be back in the next hour. thank you very much for that. in terms of the expulsions of diplomats following the poisoning in salisbury, we have an update. the latest figures, dominated by the figure of 60 from the united states, although how many are in direct relation to what happened in england is not yet clear. germany is expelling four, the czech republic expelling four, the czech republic expelling three, poland four, lithuania three, ukraine 13, france expelling four, netherlands two, estonia one, canada expelling four russian diplomats in solidarity with

the uk. we heard from the russian ambassador to the us who says the us is destroying whatever little is still left off russian—american relations, all responsibility for the breakdown of russian—american relations rests with the united states of america. this story will develop through the afternoon and we will keep you updated with any more figures and reaction as we get it. following the cambridge analytica scandal, many facebook users have been looking into what personal data the social network holds on them. a number of users have discovered that facebook has been retaining their entire contact lists including thousands of phone numbers. with me is our technology correspondent rory cellan—jones. he‘s amongst those who were shocked. are you? i decided over the weekend i would download all of my facebook data, it is pretty easy to go to the settings on your facebook page and there is a tab saying download your data. an hour later, folder arrived andi data. an hour later, folder arrived and i clicked to download the folder, 675 megabytes of data, a chan kim out of data. first of all i

wasn‘t too worried because —— chunky amount of data. it had all of my photos, videos and messages i had posted on facebook, pretty obvious. ifi posted on facebook, pretty obvious. if i had posted them on facebook thatis if i had posted them on facebook that is where they would be. but then i clicked on another thing and found that on top of that all of my phone numbers, this was a link marked contacts, and when i looked it had every contact that i‘d ever put into my phone. i thought, i suppose when i signed up way back in 2007. how has it got that? it got that because when you sign in to facebook for the first time it offers it as an option so that you know who else might be on facebook and then you can find them. that was the thinking. it to download your contacts, that includes the numbers? it includes the mobile phone numbers. but what was more

concerning, i thought that‘s my fault, i did that in 2007. i opened the door. what i didn‘t realise is i left the door open because i left some of the numbers at the top of the list and they were numbers i had only entered in recent days. your newest friends? including, quite ironically, the number of carol cadwallader, the observer journalist who has blown this whole story wide open. it is a bit of a warning as to how much data we are all giving away. is it possible to delete it? a lot of people, the #delete facebook is trending, but once you go into those settings you can‘t delete it? two things, the ultimate weapon, as it were, delete the whole of facebook, leave facebook, give it up and say i don‘t like that. facebook is keen that you don‘t do that and pointed out there is an option in the messenger app to stop doing this data collection and remove the data that has been previously collected. they are painting this is perfectly simple. they wrote to me after i

asked about this, perfectly simple, all you do is this. the point is a lot of people had a rude awakening of the last week, they just lot of people had a rude awakening of the last week, theyjust did not realise this data was being collected and they don‘t quite understand what it‘s for and why it‘s being used in that way. understand what it‘s for and why it's being used in that way. all i get us messages months ahead saying rory is missing you. you will be glad to know your number wasn‘t included because i deleted it from my phone years ago.|j included because i deleted it from my phone years ago. i know for a fa ct i my phone years ago. i know for a fact i never gave it to you. thanks very much! you‘re watching afternoon live. a huge fire at a shopping centre in siberia is now known to have killed more than 60 people — many of them children. russian officials investigating the blaze in the city of kemerovo say the alarm system at the mall had been turned off and that fire exits were blocked.

sarah rainsford reports. it was the middle of the afternoon and this place was filled with families. fire crews struggled to control the fire and it grew and grew. there was no fire alarm, only confusion as crowds made for the exit through the smoke. the woman filming this was in the cinema on the fourth floor. she says that whole area was plunged into darkness and filled with smoke and people and children were panicking. rescuers tried to douse the flames four hours but this fire was fierce and vast. the shopping centre has two cinemas, bowling, even a petting zoo, that‘s why so many of the casualties here are children. some fled to the roof in terror. 0thers jumped for their lives from the choking smoke. translation: panic, chaos, people running away, it was getting dark, the lights were off, escalators

didn‘t work, lifts didn‘t work, people were running and falling over each other, the fire alarm did not go off. at first, reports suggested just a few people had died but when rescu e rs just a few people had died but when rescuers reached the top floor they found dozens of bodies. with many still missing relatives are scouring lists of the injured. this man says his five—year—old daughter and his son igor are missing with his wife. she had called him for help and said they we re called him for help and said they were choking. the fire is now out and unofficial investigation has started. —— an official investigation. but the city in grief is asking questions, notjust about how this started but why no alarms we re how this started but why no alarms were activated, why so many people have lost their lives. sarah ra i nsfo rd , have lost their lives. sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow. in a moment the business news with jamie. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. co—ordinated diplomatic action against russia after the attack in salisbury earlier this month as 14 eu countries and the us

expel russian diplomats. the labour leader has said he is "sincerely sorry" for the pain caused by "pockets of anti—semitism" in the labour party. jewish groups say "enough is enough". at least 64 people — including children — have died in a fire at a shopping and leisure centre in russia. 11 people are being treated in hospital. here‘s your business headlines on afternoon live. debt on uk credit cards is growing at the fastest rate since before the financial crisis. the debt level in february was over 8% higher than a year ago. the reason, according to uk finance is that people are using cards for more often for smaller, contactless purchases. a warning to people who are opting for rent to own household goods. a combination of low incomes and high interest rates has meant half borrowing to meet payments. the citizen‘s advice bureau is calling for home credit loans to be capped in the way payday loans are. a cyber—crime mastermind suspected

of stealing about £870 million has been arrested in spain. he — or she — has not been identified, but is alleged to be the head of the organised crime gang that ran two malware attacks that targeted banks and siphoned off cash via bank transfers or cash machines. europol says the group had been active since 2013. one of america‘s oldest gun makers remington has gone bankrupt. it seems to fly in the face of everything we know about america and guns. everything we know about america and guns is probably not as much as we think we know. when i was trying to find out how money people own guns it‘s quite difficult to find out because guns being guns, very often used illegally, so people don‘t often own up to how many guns they have and where they are on the rest of it. however, the generally

accepted figure is there is one gun for every american, very roughly. however, that ownership is concentrated in very small numbers. the number of people who have guns is meant to be somewhere between 25, maybe 35% of the population. within that, 3% of the population own half of all guns in america. my of all guns in america. my word. i know, you don‘t want to get on the wrong side of that 3%. you wonder where they keep them. there is a range of 3% who have between seven and 140 guns per person, which is quite a lot and quite alarming. however, the next point, lots of howevers in this story, but the next point is the number of people who has guns it is slowly going down —— who have guns. the thought is the gun market is getting smaller and more concentrated. let‘s go over tojoe mellor who is in north america, and

he is our business correspondent there. tell me about remington and what went wrong with it. as you said there are lots of howevers in the story but let‘s start with the simple facts about remington, it has $950 million in debt and has filed for bankruptcy protection and the reason it is in debt is number one because, as you mentioned, gun sales have been slowing down overall and there is an effect called the trump slump, when there is someone in the 0val slump, when there is someone in the oval office perceived as being favourite bolted gun rights fewer people go out in a rush to buy guns, and the second is that remington, which is 200 years old, one of the old est which is 200 years old, one of the oldest american gunmakers, it‘s guns we re oldest american gunmakers, it‘s guns were used in the civil war, one of its rifles was also used in the sandy hook massacre in 2012 and the company is facing quite a few lawsuits in relation to that event, and that‘s why it has filed for ba n kru ptcy and that‘s why it has filed for bankruptcy protection. but crucially, and this is the however, it‘s not going to go bust, it is

just a debt restructuring programme, jp morgan and another group are buying it and will sell it on and the company says will continue making guns throughout this process. is the whole gun industry in trouble, or is itjust remington and the rest are fine? the gun industry faces not just an the rest are fine? the gun industry faces notjust an existential crisis in all of the backlash we have seen with the march over the weekend and hundreds of thousands of young people taking to the streets, but also an economic crisis because, put simply, anyone who really wants a gun in the united states already has one, more or less, and guns last a very long time, particularly assault rifles. so the feeling is there isn‘t much room for growth in this industry and that‘s why remington, not just remington but industry and that‘s why remington, notjust remington but loss of its rivals, have suffered over recent yea rs. rivals, have suffered over recent years. there is a political story but also an economic one. we will leave it there, joe mellor, thanks. let‘s look at the markets. they are

looking pretty strong. 0ne let‘s look at the markets. they are looking pretty strong. one of the reasons the american markets mark strong is there is a rumour going around, a report, that the us and china may be about to start talking about trade deals and agreements. not having a war. not having a war. not having a trade war, exactly that. the pound. yes, 1.42, that‘s about high interest rates, that is pretty high, put in the context of the last 18 months that is about as high as it has been, so looking pretty strong. and the doll is generally getting week as well. you will be back? i will be in about an hour. it's it‘s been a beautiful days so far, lots of sunshine out and about for most of us, this was one of the sunny spots, cumbria, but amir, thank you to julie sunny spots, cumbria, but amir, thank you tojulie for sending this weather watcher picture in. we are seeing something of a change in the

west because the weather front is working in bringing cloudier skies and outbreaks of rain pushing in, the rain turning heavier and steadier through the night and although there is a touch of frost across northern and eastern parts of scotla nd across northern and eastern parts of scotland early in the night, as the cloud works in temperatures lifting, so by the end of the night four degrees in aberdeen, 10 degrees in the south—west where it will turn quite might by the end of the night. tuesday‘s weather prospects, not as much sunshine —— turn quite mild. this band of rain will push through anderson as it does in the afternoon we will see cloudy outbreaks and a bit of sunshine across northern ireland, western parts of england and wales but the rain is reluctant to clear from parts of scotland. it will feel a little cooler but temperatures still not doing too badly, highs of ten or 13. that is your weather. hello, you‘re watching afternoon live — i‘m simon mccoy. today at 3... co—ordinated action against russia — america expels 60 diplomats — and eu countries follow suit — following the nerve agent already today, 14 member states have decided to expel russian diplomats. jewish groups plan to protest

outside parliament — accusing labour leader jeremy corbyn of repeatedly enough is enough with around the labour party that is being fostered byjeremy corbyn‘s inaction. at least 64 are dead — many of them children — after a fire at a siberian shopping centre. officials say the alarm system was off and fire exits blocked. coming up on afternoon live all the sport. we are talking cricket, pressure mounting on the australian captain steve smith for his part in one of the sport‘s biggest scandals. and chris has the weather. we'll be

looking ahead to the weather forecast for the next few days and what easter might have in store. elsewhere, you are seeing yellow snow affecting some of the eastern ski resorts, iwill explain snow affecting some of the eastern ski resorts, i will explain why it has happened and what has been causing it. also coming up, an american porn star — stormy daniels — claims she was threatened to keep her quiet about an affair she alleges she had with president trump. hello everyone — this is afternoon live. i‘m simon mccoy. dozens of russian diplomats have been expelled from embassies across the world following the poisoning of the former russian double agent sergei skripal and his daughter in salisbury. donald trump has ordered the expulsion of 60 russians from the united states and the closure of the russian consulate in seattle. germany and france have both

expelled four diplomats from their embassies after leaders of both countries strongly condemned the attack. in total, 14 eu countries have dismissed russian diplomats, the uk has blamed moscow for the attack and has already expelled 23 russian diplomats. the president of the european council donald tusk said the decision had been made last week to take coordinated action in support for the uk. russia has responded by calling the the move a "perverted interpretation of solidarity." the last few minutes, the foreign secretary has said that it is the biggest collective expulsion of russian spies ever. donald tusk made this dramatic announcement. to recall, last week the european council condemned, in the strongest possible terms, the recent attack in salisbury. the european council agreed with the united kingdom government assessment that it is highly likely that the russian federation is responsible, and that there is no plausible alternative explanation. we decided to recall

the eu ambassador to russia for consultations. as a direct follow—up to last week‘s european council decision to react to russia within a common framework, already today 14 member states have decided to expel russian diplomats. additional measures, including further expulsions within the common eu framework, are not to be excluded in the coming days and weeks. well during a visit to estonia, the defence secretary gavin williamson said the support shown for britain was "itself a defeat for president putin". the world‘s patience is wearing thin with president putin and his actions. the fact that right across the nato alliance,

right across the european union, nations have stood up in support of the united kingdom, as we have seen this unprecedented attack. this was being led by the kremlin. i actually think that is the very best response that we can have. their intention, their aim, is to divide. what we are seeing is the world uniting behind the british stance. that, in itself, is a great victory. that sends an exceptionally powerful message to the kremlin and president putin. in a moment we‘ll talk to our correspondent paul adams in moscow but first, adam fleming is in brussels for us. coordinated action. how unusual is this? this is quite surprising, as

borisjohnson, the this? this is quite surprising, as boris johnson, the foreign secretary, has just been tweeting, saying that nothing like this has happened on this scale before. the door was opened in the early hours of friday morning, when theresa may was here for that meeting of eu leaders. they upgraded their language they had been using up to this point, where basically the other 27 eu countries said we agree with the uk assessment but it is highly probable that russia was behind this, and the next sentence said eu member states will now take co—ordinated action to deal with this. we are now seeing the product that coordinated action. 14 eu countries, half of them, expelling russian diplomats. four from germany, poland four, lithuania three, czech republic three, france four and so on. some clarification about the numbers, i have been told it does not reflect different political persuasions, it is not that some countries are really angry so they are sending home or

russians, and some are less angry, it is more a reflection of the size of the russian diplomatic presence in those individual countries and how many russian officials in those missions are cause for concern of those national governments. that is to explain some of those numbers. it is also intriguing seeing that italy is also intriguing seeing that italy is on there, it is go to send two russian diplomats to moscow. last week, italy was seen as one of the more sympathetic countries to russia and less likely to take action, but they are. the numbers from the eu are dwarfed by the numbers being sent home by the trumpet minister is. as high as 60 that are based in washington and the united nations. —— the trump administration. that is because it is close to the submarine base and boeing. then there was the retaliation, and that is something that the eu may have factored into

this? yes, what i was hearing early on was that some countries have very small presences in moscow, and they don‘t want to shut down the entire diplomatic footprint in russia. they don‘t want to expel the same number of russian diplomats as they have in their country, versus the number in moscow, because otherwise they are left with no diplomatic representation there. also with a membrane that some eu countries have very complicated coalition governments, and very active national parliaments that expect to be consulted over these matters. —— also worth remembering. i wonder if we will see more eu countries joining that list. but then you get some countries like slovakia, the foreign minister saying we are not prepared to expel diplomats, but they have summoned the russian ambassador in for a dressing down. even those countries that are not going as far as checking people out

still going with some diplomatic action. paul adams is in moscow. they were expecting something, perhaps not quite as extreme as this? yes, as adam was saying, the mood music has been sort of heading in this direction ever since the end of last week, russian officials might have hoped that the events, the terrible events overnight and into this morning in siberia, the deaths of so many children, might have caused some european countries to hold off, perhaps thinking that might be regarded as an insensitive moment. clearly, the diplomatic cogs we re moment. clearly, the diplomatic cogs were churning, the decisions were being made. the eu seems determined to make a statement and to make it collectively. this morning, we were already hearing from certain russian officials, the kremlin spokesman, when asked what the russian response to an american move would be, indicated that it would be

reciprocal. we have heard in the last hour or so the foreign ministry saying that there will be reciprocal measures, and we don‘t know is what those are. i expect that we would see more tit—for—tat involving all of these other countries. there was also a lot more scathing rhetoric, particularly from the foreign ministry spokeswoman who called, and again, she was commenting before the news came of these expulsions, she talked about the perverted interpretation of solidarity driving big eu, referring, as russian officials have, several times in the course of the whole affair, since the alleged poisoning in salisbury to brexit, and the fact that britain is on the way out of europe, will be a weaker and more vulnerable country asa a weaker and more vulnerable country as a result. she said, nobody has cancelled brexit, but the divorce process is moving full steam ahead. the country leaving the eu is exploiting the fact of solidarity and imposing on the remaining ones

the worsening of relations with russia. i don‘t think the russians we re russia. i don‘t think the russians were quite expecting the speed and volume of this reaction. it is, as borisjohnson himself has said, an unprecedented move in terms of its coordinated nature. now it is up to the russians to decide how much further they want to take this. they may need to consider what has happened in the united states. that figure, 60, is a large number in anybody‘s count. it is difficult to see how much of that is in response to what happened in salisbury and how much of that is about what america is very angry about in terms of generally the way the russians have been behaving in the united states, as they see it? well, it certainly punctures the notion that in donald trump you have a us president that is reluctant to do any thing anti—russian. he may have his own reasons to do with the ongoing russia investigation, to do perhaps with last night‘s interview

with the pawn star that alleges a relationship with him. it is certainly clear that us officials have felt, since the election onwards, that there is a pattern of russian behaviour. the same kind of pattern about theresa may has referred to, malign and ongoing, and needs to be addressed. yes, the volume of the american response was surprising. the fact that the americans decided to move as well was not entirely unexpected. thank you for that. much of the action in terms of the announcements has come on twitter. i want to show you one tweet from the us state apartments spokesperson, perhaps putting it more strongly than others. this is what she had to say on twitter. 0n march the 4th, russia attempted to murder a british citizen and his daughter with military grade nerve

agent on british soil. we stand an unbreakable solidarity with the uk. today we will expel 60 russians from its bilateral mission and mission to the un, and we require russia to close the seattle consulate. that is what she has been saying. paul ryan, the leader of the house, has also been tweeting. what he said is that the decision to expel russian diplomats from the us makes clear that we stand with our allies and that we stand with our allies and that there will be consequences for russia‘s recklessness. we must continue to lead international effo rts continue to lead international efforts to isolate russia so that it understands its behaviour will not be tolerated. we have been talking about boris johnson, this just confirms what we have been saying, the tweet that paul was quoting. borisjohnson say the tweet that paul was quoting. boris johnson say today‘s extraordinary international response by our allies stand and history of the largest collective expulsion of russian intelligence officers ever. further reaction to what has been

going on in the last few hours. the white house has released a statement in response. it says: chris buckler can give us the latest from washington. 60 isa 60 is a very large number, notjust affecting washington. what are you reading as to what is behind the decision? let's break it down, there are 12 that are going from new york, based at the eu, and 48 from washington. it is very clear this is an attempt to show solidarity with the uk, that there is a coordinated effort by nations to say to russia, enough is enough. it is also partly about concern about what is happening inside america as well.

when you take a look closely at what is being discussed here, there is concern about russian interference, russian meddling. that goes beyond allegations that somehow moscow tried to interfere in the us presidential election in 2016. also what is currently happening, that there is some spying and covert intelligence gathering that is taking place now. in recent weeks, there have been talks aboutjust the cyber attacks that have been taking place inside america, which have been blamed on moscow. those are cyber attacks that have specifically targeted american infrastructure. for example, power supplies. that has concerned here. as part of the action, the consulate in seattle will be closed, for a specific reason. it is because it is close to a submarine base in america, because it is close to the aerospace manufacturer boeing as well. that is sending a message to russia that

there are concerns aboutjust what it is doing inside america as well as outside america. it must be said, when you look at the statements coming out of the white house, there are also talking about ukraine and also talking about syria. but this is not just about what is also talking about syria. but this is notjust about what is happening around the world, but also what is happening inside the us as well. retaliation, it will curb, theyjust don‘t yet know how? it will come. retaliation, it will curb, theyjust don't yet know how? it will comelj think there will definitely be diplomatic retaliation of some kind. when you see statements from the ambassador, threw him from the kremlin, they are getting a sense that they are saying it is all america‘s fault, it is destroying what remains of relationships between the us and russia. also, it is fairto between the us and russia. also, it is fair to say there has been a huge under criticism for president trump and is white house for not being tough enough in recent weeks and recent months. that was the case whenever president trump spoke to

paddy near —— vladimir putin, congratulating on his election, despite advisers telling him not to. that was leaked from the administration, give me the idea that there are some there that are not happy with what is seen as a cosy relationship between presidents trump and putin. this is a different tone, a hardline message saying we are not going to accept what is coming from the kremlin and what is happening in america and outside america. the white house is now saying to russia, enough is enough. thank you very much. chris buckler, in washington. we are just hearing from downing street, a description from downing street, a description from london, an extraordinary response from its allies. this is according to the reuters news agency, theresa may welcomes the action by our allies, it clearly demonstrates we stand shoulder to shoulder in sending the strongest message to russia that it cannot continue to flout international law.

these are the headlinespozmac the us is to expel 60 russian diplomats. headlinespozmac 14 eu countries, canada and ukraine are also to follow suit — expelling more diplomats — in response to the attack in salisbury earlier this month. the labour leader has said he is "sincerely sorry" for the pain caused by "pockets of anti—semitism" in the labour party. jewish groups say "enough is enough" at least 64 people — including children — have died in a fire at a shopping and leisure centre in russia. 11 people are being treated in hospital. in sport, the england cricket captainjoe in sport, the england cricket captain joe root admits in sport, the england cricket captainjoe root admits his side need to be more consistent overseas as they slumped to a tenth away defeat in 12 tests. the visitors lost the first test against new zealand by one innings and 49 runs. form australia bowlerjason gillespie tells the bbc that current captain steve smith should step down for his part in the ball tampering scandal that has rocked the sport. he has already resigned as captain for the ip side. and wales had been

beaten 1—0 in uruguay thanks to this goalfrom cavani. beaten 1—0 in uruguay thanks to this goal from cavani. i‘ll beaten 1—0 in uruguay thanks to this goalfrom cavani. i‘ll be back with more on those stories just after 3.30. jewish groups are planning to protest outside parliament this evening after accusing the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, of repeatedly siding with anti—semites. in an open letter, jewish leaders have said that mr corbyn is "repeatedly found alongside people with blatantly anti—semitic views" but "claims never to hear or read them". jeremy corbyn has apologised for the pain caused by "pockets of anti—semitism" in the party and promised to meet representatives of the jewish community to help rebuild confidence. from westminster, alex forsyth reports. this morning, the labour leader was again facing questions about his handling of anti—semitism. why have you failed to tackle anti—semitism in your party before now, mr corbyn? jeremy corbyn accused of failing to do enough to stamp it out. two prominentjewish groups have

written a highly critical open letter in which they say... the jewish community is saying, enough is enough with the anti—semitism swirling around the labour party, that is being fostered byjeremy corbyn‘s inaction. the labour leader has been plagued by allegations of anti—semitism in his party. he ordered an enquiry into it two years ago. racism is racism is racism. there is no hierarchy, no acceptable form of it. i have always fought it in all its forms and i always will. but his own actions and associations have remained under scrutiny. most recently, over an image

you may find offensive. this mural was in east london. back in 2012, jeremy corbyn seemed to support its presence in a facebook comment, later admitting he should have looked more closely at its content. in a statement yesterday addressing the wider issue, mr corbyn said... i‘ve been with the labour party nearly 50 years. i‘m ajew. i have not met anti—semitism. i can‘t think of a single instance of my political career that i have met it. there is not rampant anti—semitism in the labour party. jeremy has spoken many times around issues of anti—semitism, around issues of not targeting individuals. labour is an anti—racist, non—anti—semitic party. and it's not the case to suggest

that any group is being targeted. but the labour leader is once again having to prove where he stands on this crucial issue. alex forsyth, bbc news. at westminster is the labour mp louise ellman. she is the former chair of the jewish labour movement. in the last few minutes, jeremy corbyn‘s press officer has said he has formally written to the board of deputies to arrange a meeting. does that take the sting out of this? we have now gone way beyond words solving this problem. the representations from the mainstream jewish community are absolutely unprecedented. they reflect the anger and anguish of the jewish community in this country. i am glad thatjeremy wants to meet the board of deputies and thejewish leadership council. but he has to act as well, he has to tell his

supporters that they should stop saying that examples of anti—semitism are smears, and he has to make sure that instances are dealt with in the proper way. it is now time for action. jeremy has had a great problem recognising anti—semitism in the left. he understands the anti—semitism of the right, which is very serious, but he has a problem recognising anti—semitism on the left, including that in the labour party. that is why we have got into this awful position. isn't anti-semitism anti—semitism, wherever it comes from? jeremy seems to have a problem with that. whenever he talks about anti—semitism he talks about fighting fascists, he talks about cable street, nazis and nutty supporters. that is a very serious area. “— supporters. that is a very serious area. —— and nazi supporters. he does not talk about the incidents in the left and within the labour

party. it is notjust pop it in the labour party, there is a big problem, it should have been recognised before. i hope it is not too late. he has to show that he‘s too late. he has to show that he‘s to ta ke too late. he has to show that he‘s to take firm action. the mural mess, as some are calling it, how has it got to this? how has he got a situation where it was removed for being anti—semitic, but he did not accept all recognise that it was? jeremy‘s failure to understand the gravity of the anti—semitism in that mural is a reflection of the problem that he has in understanding anti—semitism of the left. that mural is anti—semitic. it shows jewish men on a monopoly board, playing with money, on the backs of the oppressed. it is a very, very familiar anti—semitic image, straight from nazi germany. but he did not recognise it. even when this was pointed out to him on friday, it

took him three separate statements before he was able to get anything that was anything like recognising the problem that he created. i hope he understands what he‘s done now. i think he has had a much too casual approach. i hope he understands it and that he also understands that woods will not be enough, action is what is neither. there is a feeling of deja vu, this is not a new problem for labour orjeremy corbyn. how much longer can he go on if these problems keep re—occurring? welcome he has to deal with this problem. —— well, he has to deal with this problem. he might not recognise it or think it doesn‘t matter that much, but it matters a great deal. today, you are hearing the voices of the mainstream jewish community, in an unprecedented way. it is not just community, in an unprecedented way. it is notjust a problem for the jewish community of the country, anti—semitism is a stain on the whole society. racism is a stain on the whole of society. it is everybody‘s problem, it has to be

addressed. ifind it despicable everybody‘s problem, it has to be addressed. i find it despicable and deeply, deeply distressing that we face this problem in the labour party. should he be at the protest tonight? i will be... should party. should he be at the protest tonight? iwill be... should he party. should he be at the protest tonight? i will be... should he be? that is up to him, i don‘t know if he has been invited. the best thing he has been invited. the best thing he can do is to listen to what is said by the parliamentary labour party, make sure they understand the gravity of the situation and act to deal with it, that is the best response he can make. thank you for your time. southern health nhs foundation trust has been fined £2 million after admitting failures that led to the deaths of two patients. the failings relate to the cases of an 18—year—old — who had epilepsy — and drowned in a bath at a care unit in 2013 and a 45—year—old who died after she was found unconscious at a mental health hospital in hampshire in 2012. 0ur social affairs correspondent michael buchanan reports. connor sparrowhawk had learning disabilities, autism and epilepsy. the reason he is dead, however, is because of neglect by the nhs. the 18—year—old had an epileptic seizure and drowned in a bath

while staying at a southern health assessment unit in 2013. his family were in court this morning to hear the trust fined more than £1 million for multiple failings in his care. no—one should die a preventable death in the care of the state. learning—disabled people should not be dying 20 years on average before their non—disabled peers. if connor was here now in the shadow of oxford crown court he would say, "why, mum?" and i would have to say, "i don‘t know but we have done you proud." the trust were additionally fined nearly £1 million more for the avoidable death of teresa colvin. the 45—year—old killed herself in a southern health hospital in hampshire in 2012, despite the trust being aware that the ward she was on contained ligature points that psychiatric patients with suicidal tendencies could use. no fine will bring tj and connor back. nothing, nothing anybody says will bring them back.

at least there is some resolution, some recognition of the seriousness of it and the avoidability. both deaths were preventable. it should not have happened. the judge said the deaths were caused by systemic and deep—rooted failures at southern health — they did not take health and safety seriously, including failing to investigate hundreds of unexpected deaths. today the trust‘s new chief executive give a heartfelt apology. teresa and connor should not have died. their deaths were preventable and entirely avoidable. and that is a matter of profound regret to me and the organisation. and i am truly sorry. connor sparrowhawk‘s family fought a skilled and determined campaign to get justice for their son and brother. their efforts were praised by the judge today. they have ensured southern health were held criminally liable for his death.

a major victory amid the years of hurt. michael buchanan, bbc news, 0xford. a huge fire at a shopping centre in siberia is now known to have killed more than 60 people — many of them children. russian officials investigating the blaze in the city of kemerovo say the alarm system at the mall had been turned off and that fire exits were blocked. sarah rainsford reports. a shopping centre consumed by fire with dozens trapped inside. it was the middle of the afternoon and this place was filled with families. fire crews struggled to control the blaze and it grew and grew. there was no fire alarm, only confusion as crowds made for the exit through the smoke. the woman filming this was in the cinema on the fourth floor. she says that whole area was plunged into darkness and filled with smoke and people and children were panicking. rescuers tried to douse the flames

four hours but this fire was fierce and vast. the shopping centre has two cinemas, bowling, even a petting zoo, that‘s why so many of the casualties here are children. some fled to the roof in terror. 0thers jumped for their lives from the choking smoke. translation: panic, chaos, people running away, it was getting dark, the lights were off, escalators didn‘t work, lifts didn‘t work, people were running and falling over each other, the fire alarm did not go off. at first, reports suggested just a few people had died but when rescuers reached the top floor they found dozens of bodies. with many still missing, relatives are scouring lists of the injured. this man says his five—year—old daughter and his son igor are missing with his wife. she had called him for help and said they were choking.

the fire is now out and an official investigation has started. but the city in grief is asking questions, not just about how this started but why no alarms were activated, why so many people have lost their lives. sarah rainsford, bbc news, moscow. headlines and sport coming up. here‘s chris with the weather. it's it‘s been a beautiful day, this was one of those sunny spots, this was but amir, thank you tojulie. the weather front is working in bringing cloudier skies and rain pushing in, the rain turning heavier overnight. as the cloud works in temperatures will lift so by the end of the night four degrees in aberdeen, 10 degrees

in the south—west where it will turn quite mild by the end of the night. looking at tuesday‘s weather prospects, not as much sunshine, the band of rain will push through anderson as it goes through in the afternoon we should seize and outbreaks, sunshine coming in across northern ireland, western parts of england and wales, but the rain relu cta nt to england and wales, but the rain reluctant to clear from parts of scotland. it will feel a little cooler but temperatures not too bad, highs of 10—13. that‘s your weather. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. the us is expelling 60 russians in what is the largest expulsion of diplomats there for espionage since the cold war in response to the nerve agent attack on sergei skripal and his daughter in salisbury. are expelled and embassies around the including mbassies around the including 14)assies around the including 14 eu ;ies around the including 14 eu countries, the world, including 14 eu countries, canada and ukraine. the russian foreign ministry accused the uk‘s

allies of blindly following the principles of euro atlantic unity. as a direct follow—up to last week bosman european council decision to react to russia within a common framework, already today 14 member states have decided to expel russian diplomats. jewish groups plan to protest outside parliament — accusing labour leader jeremy corbyn of repeatedly siding with anti—semites. a blaze that tore through a shopping centre in a siberian coal mining city has killed at least 64 people, many of them children. nhs trust southern health has been fined £2 million for health and safety failings following the deaths of two people in its care. sport now on afternoon live with jessica creighton. we are talking cricket and we will come to england in a moment but

first let‘s talk about australia because this scandal, and it is that, just seems to escalate. no signs of it slowing up any time soon, this afternoon we have had updates and you just have to think, just such a dramatic and incredible fall from grace for the captain here, steve smith. he was so instrumental in australia‘s ashes win against england a few months ago and such is his popularity in his home country he was named australian of the year by the country‘s most popular newspaper. is gone from being mentioned in the same breath as the legendary batsman don bradman, to being involved, as you say, in one of the biggest scandals in the sport has ever known. there has been increasing pressure on him to stand down as captain. the australian prime minister has criticised him no less and now so has the former australian bowler jason gillespie. i think everyone is in agree on is that it will be very difficult for him to continue as

captain of australia, sadly. you know, he‘s been a fine captain for australia but it‘s hard to imagine he will be able to come back from this and be the leader of the country. we have heard so many voices criticising both smith and bancroft, who were involved with ball tampering, but we haven‘t heard from the head coach darren lehmann. a penny for his thoughts, i‘m sure. his voice will be added to the mix in the coming days and we wait with bated breath. the silence is deafening. we have to go to new zealand, ben stokes did well, that‘s all we can say. yes, there is no getting away from it but the headline is more test misery for england. joe root question the team‘s consistency overseas after the team slumped to a heavy defeat in their first test against new zealand. it was always going to be difficult for england after being bowled out forjust 58

in theirfirst innings. after being bowled out forjust 58 in their first innings. let‘s after being bowled out forjust 58 in theirfirst innings. let‘s hear from andy swiss who has more on that tenth defeat in 12 tests overseas for england. england‘s hopes of salvaging an unlikely draw rested on a familiar pair of shoulders. in his comeback test ben stokes, and as his first ball disappeared to the boundary, the signs seemed encouraging. but on a day when survival was the key the wickets soon tumbled. dawid malan was the first to go as new zealand seized the moment. commentator: would you believe it? kane williamson, and england were in deep trouble. but at the other end, stokes stood strong, defying a back injury as well as his opponents, patiently he ground his way to a half—century and in chris woakes he found and able ally as the pair edged england towards safety. but on 66, after restraining himself for so long, stokes finally succumbed to temptation. four and a half hours of watchfulness undone in a flash and

he knew it. sure enough, england‘s hopes left with him. commentator: could be out, it is out! new zealand soon wrapping up an emphatic victory, for england a fifth defeat in the past six tests after what‘s proven the bleakest of winters. andy swiss, bbc news. in ryan giggs cup‘s second match in charge it endedin cup‘s second match in charge it ended in a 1—0 defeat to uruguay in the china cup. it was a tight affair for some wales had more shots on target and the south americans but edinson cavani was the difference marking his 100th appearance for his country early in the second half. popular steeplechaser cue card will race for the final time in the chase at sandown on 20th april. the 2015 king george vi chase winner has 16 victories during a career that brought two wins at the cheltenham festival but pulled up in this year‘s ryanair chase.

cue card won the champion bumper at cheltenham in 2010 and the ryanair chase three years later. finally, in the last hour it has been announced that the 2028 ryder cup will be hosted at hazeltine national in minnesota. the cause was the sight of the usa‘s victory in 2016 and it will be the first american venue to hold the event between the us and europe‘s top golfers for a second time. that‘s all the sport for now. holly hamilton is up next for you in the next hour. thank you, jessica crichton. now for more on the ongoing diplomatic row that is growing between russia and frankly pretty much everybody else at the moment, the united states announcing it is sending 60 russian diplomats home from new york and washington, dc and from seattle. this remarkable

tweet was bloated by russia in the usa, the russian embassy in washington —— was posted by russia. they are running a quiz. it then lists various consulates in russia, including yekaterinburg, st petersburg and others. a rather interesting reaction to what the united states has announced today. let‘s talk about this more with tony brand, a former british ambassador to moscow and joins us from carcassonne in to moscow and joins us from ca rcassonne in france. to moscow and joins us from carcassonne in france. first of all, how seriously will moscow have just the fact that america is expelling sony diplomats? they will be shocked, it‘s not just sony diplomats? they will be shocked, it‘s notjust the us reaction, although that is pretty sizeable. but the fact that all major western nations, from the day,

germany, france, italy, are participating in the exercise makes it unprecedentedly large. i‘m sure they calculated when taking the original action against us following the skripal attack what they would get, the got at the time of litvinenko it was action from the uk and only words from everyone else so the fact everyone else is also expelling russian diplomats will be something which they will have some trouble adjusting to. we have a picture of the russian embassy right now in the united states. it‘s all fairly calm at the moment. but inside what will be going on? will they be shredding madly for what? they don‘t need to shred because they are not being closed down but there will be lots of gloom. i was head of the british embassy at the time we had some expulsions around litvinenko, and they will be lots of gloom. they won‘t know yet who the 60 ah, so a huge amount of uncertainty. in a sense there will bea uncertainty. in a sense there will be a recognition that the job they

are there to do, which is maintained are there to do, which is maintained a strong relationship with the united states, has been very badly damaged. the united states will say thatis damaged. the united states will say that is not what some of them have been doing and the ones that haven‘t been doing and the ones that haven‘t been doing and the ones that haven‘t been doing that are the ones that will be on the list. yes. what is striking about the whole coordinated action is that it is very clearly directed against russian intelligence agents. it follows the british example that these agencies are bad things. they murdered people and try and murder people overseas and try and murder people overseas and that is a threat to all of us. i anticipate that the effect of the action will be two very severely degrade the ability of those agencies to do things like the skripal attack in the future. that will be a shock to their standing in the russian system, other people in the russian system, other people in the russian system will be saying, what on earth are these people doing is ruining our reputation and standing in the world in the way they so evidently have? vladimir putin will no doubt react in that way. what will he do quilt?

way. what will he do will putin will no doubt react in that way. what will he do will it be tit—for—tat or will you grab the initiative somehow?” tit—for—tat or will you grab the initiative somehow? i don't see how he can grab the initiative. we will see similar expulsions from western embassies in moscow, moscow will be a rather quiet town over the next few days. it is striking that our allies have chosen to take that price in order to be involved in thisjoint action. i‘m sure price in order to be involved in this joint action. i‘m sure too we will see bluster from them, this joint action. i‘m sure too we will see blusterfrom them, they will see blusterfrom them, they will say this is the west ganging up on as again, just as well we have a strong president and all of that stuff. internally, i find strong president and all of that stuff. internally, ifind it hard to see how they can judge this as anything other than a major setback for russia, a demonstration that russia‘s standing in the world is historically low, raising serious questions about the way they have been conducting their foreign policy up been conducting their foreign policy up until now. what is quite clear is that the mis, mi6, the up until now. what is quite clear is that the m15, mi6, the security agencies‘ report on what happened in salisbury is pretty convincing. we haven‘t seen it but nor has russia. those that have wouldn‘t have

carried out this kind of action without being pretty sure. that is right and this is a testimony to the professionalism of british agencies m, professionalism of british agencies in, concerned and the diplomats who have got the message over. if you think back to litvinenko, when the skripal affair began three weeks ago, there was lots of scepticism about whether the russians would do anything so pointless and stupid. in the intervening three weeks the british authorities have evidently persuaded the foreign ministries, the governments, the leaders of all leading countries in the west, and most of the rest of the eu, for example. everybody believes it was russia who did it and they are acting accordingly. tony, thank you very much, and thank you forjoining us. very much, and thank you forjoining us. pleasure. 0n us. pleasure. on that story we are hearing that sweden has sent one russian diplomat home, and given them a week to leave. another story we have covered

throughout the day on bbc news, the continuing travails of facebook. the us federal trade commission hasjust said it has an open nonpublic investigation of facebook‘s privacy practices, so a nonpublic investigation has been launched into how facebook has been operating. 0bviously how facebook has been operating. obviously it is all to do with the cambridge analytica scandal. the us government now appears to have opened any querrey, which it says at this stage is nonpublic. we will bring you more on that as we get it. let‘s get more now on the anti—semitism row involving the labour party. two mainstream jewish groups are preparing to hold a protest outside parliament this evening, claiming that the labour leader jeremy corbyn has failed to do enough to tackle anti—semitism. mr corbyn has said he‘s sincerely sorry for anti—semitism in what he calls pockets of the labour party. his supporters claim he‘s the victim of a politically motivated smear campaign. 0ur correspondent eleanor garnier is in westminster. there are those who are defending

him but it‘s clear he‘s under a lot of pressure on this. that's right, he is, what is striking about statement from the british board, but also from the jewish statement from the british board, but also from thejewish leadership council, is that their criticism is specifically aimed atjeremy corbyn directly, he is blamed politically and personally for allowing the culture to build up inside the labour party that has, they say, a loud expressions of anti—semitism to be made without concern. i‘m joined by graham bash from thejewish voice for labor. —— labour. do you accept there are pockets of anti—semitism in the labour party and thatjeremy corbyn has been left wanting on this issue? i do not accept jeremy has been left wanting at all. i know what anti—semitism is, i've experienced it all my life, especially when i was young, and i've been in the labour party for 50

years and timmy the party has always beena years and timmy the party has always been a safe from anti—semitism, a safe place for me to be a jew. pockets, very small pockets indeed. i've beena pockets, very small pockets indeed. i've been a party member all this time in eight different constituency parties and once in 50 years have i ever witnessed an incident of anti—semitism. ever witnessed an incident of anti-semitism. one labour mp said it stood for those who are dispossessed and without a voice and is in doing so and without a voice and is in doing so now, but also that this could destroy the party. what you think about that? i think it could but i think the people who are putting out these smears are those trying to undermine the labour leadership and the party in the run—up to the elections. what they are doing is this. it is a combination of the right wing of the party who want to undermine jeremy, right wing of the party who want to underminejeremy, and right wing of the party who want to undermine jeremy, and the right wing of the party who want to underminejeremy, and the pro right wing of the party who want to undermine jeremy, and the pro israel lobby who conflate anti—semitism with criticism of israel. it is a cruel deception. if this was just

about takes me a whilejeremy corbyn put out a statement apologising for anti—semitism in the party, saying that there are small pockets of anti—semitism in the party. both those groups who signed the statement says it is nothing to do with a smear statement says it is nothing to do witha smearcampaign, statement says it is nothing to do with a smear campaign, theyjust wa nt with a smear campaign, theyjust want this issue sorted out. two things to say to that. firstly, jeremy has many qualities and one of them is generosity to those who are his political opponents. i think he's being overgenerous. small pockets, perhaps very small pockets indeed. the point about anti—semitism is that it is underrepresented in the labour party. i would underrepresented in the labour party. iwould remind underrepresented in the labour party. i would remind you and people looking in today that the victims of these allegations are mainly either jewish activists themselves, a numberof jewish activists themselves, a number of those people criticised are themselvesjews, number of those people criticised are themselves jews, or activists, all of those criticised for anti—semitism, what's this about? it

isa lie. anti—semitism, what's this about? it is a lie. some of your own mps who arejewish is a lie. some of your own mps who are jewish say they have is a lie. some of your own mps who arejewish say they have been on the receiving end of anti—semitic views. you are going to be attending a sort of rival protest tonight. we know that forjewish board of deputies and jewish leadership council will hold a protest in westminster this evening. you are holding a rival protest. what will you achieve by doing that? to show the jewish community in this country is diverse. it isn'tjust people of the establishment like the jewish board of deputies and the jewish leadership council. it is also many hundreds of labour party members who are jewish who are socialist or internationalist who support the struggle of the palestinians. those injewish voice for struggle of the palestinians. those in jewish voice for labor, those struggle of the palestinians. those injewish voice for labor, those in jewish voice for palestinians, there isa jewish voice for palestinians, there is a long record of social internationalism amongst the jewish community in this country and world wide and i'm proud to be part of that. graham bash, thank you for joining me. ithink

that. graham bash, thank you for joining me. i think this issue has been going on for such a long time now inside labour that there is going to be a serious amount of mending needed to be done between some sections of the jewish community and the labour party. eleanor garnier, thank you very much. in a moment the business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. the us is to expel 60 russian diplomats. 14 eu countries, canada and ukraine are also to follow suit — expelling dozens more — in response to the attack in salisbury earlier this month. the labour leader has said he is "sincerely sorry" for the pain caused by "pockets of anti—semitism" in the labour party. jewish groups say "enough is enough". at least 64 people — including children — have died in a fire at a shopping and leisure centre in russia. 11 people are being treated in hospital. here‘s your business headlines on afternoon live.

more pressure on the australian cricket team today as one major sponsor makes its disappointment in the ball—tampering controversy known. the head of australian airline qantas has told the bbc he wants the authorities to urgently complete the inquiry and take appropriate action. qantas said it was "in discussions" with cricket australia. debt on uk credit cards is growing at the fastest rate since before the financial crisis. the debt level in february was over 8% higher than a year ago. the reason, according to uk finance, is that people are using cards more often for smaller, contactless purchases. a warning to people who are opting for rent—to—own household goods. a combination of low incomes and high interest rates has meant half borrowing to meet interest payments. the citizen‘s advice bureau is calling for home credit loans to be capped in the way payday loans are. so we like to be beside the seaside? but life can be a beach.

very good, i‘m very impressed. you have no idea what we are talking about. i‘ve worked on that reaction from that 20 minutes. there are so many insolvencies. this survey has just come out. i‘m very distracted by that because it looks like it is about to poke you in the eye. it hasn‘t got much to do with insolvencies. it's insolvencies. it‘s cornwall. devon, probably. moving on. 570 areas in the uk, looking at the number of insolvencies in these areas, the top ten, seven out of the top ten are on the coast, places like torbay, isle of wight, great yarmouth, abu tor, plymouth, whitby, i could go on. —— bootle. it is not everywhere, other areas are doing well, bournemouth,

brighton, some areas still attract people to go and spend their time there. they have lost some of the co re there. they have lost some of the core industries, the fishing industries, shipbuilding industries. another little factor i noticed about them is a lot of them suffered in the 19605 from taking away the railways, the beeching cuts, and suddenly lots of those smaller villages didn‘t have a rail connection and lost their market. joining us now is mark lamb, partner, moore stephens. they carried out this survey. what is your opinion on why we are seeing these towns unable to pick themselves up still having this level of insolvencies? you've picked up level of insolvencies? you've picked up on level of insolvencies? you've picked upona level of insolvencies? you've picked up on a couple of those already is, the declining coastal industries, shipping and fisheries. they have been declining for many years leading to a sustained long—term unemployment. but also the cheaper package holiday, it is now cheaper to fly to spain and france than it is to stay in the uk. the increase in the international mini break is a

lot more popular now than the traditional two week stay. the key thing to this is lots of these towns and cities have had an ageing population for a number of years now. the retention of the working age family is very important to get these economies back to where they should be forced the government have said without urgent reinvestment in these 270 coastal communities, it is going to be very difficult to retain the working age family and fuel the economy is. is there really a role for government? what kind of thing could government do specifically, or local government? it's taken 40 or 50 yea rs local government? it's taken 40 or 50 years to get into this decline, it can‘t take 40 or 50 years to get it can‘t take 40 or 50 years to get it back, it needs to happen and needs to happen now. regeneration, investment in infrastructure and entertainment, some cities have already taken that first step. you only have to look at margate in 2011 with the turner contemporary art

gallery and shortly followed afterwards in ramsgate by the musical hall. financial incentives, the government could give more financial incentives to the working age family to attract them to the coastal towns and also to businesses to perhaps give them more grants and subsidies to relocate. thank you for joining us, mark lamb, from the company that did the survey on seaside towns. 45th anniversary of women being allowed as members of the stock exchange. do you think that is a long time for a short time? it is our lifetime. it is our lifetime. it is. interestingly they were never banned from being members. every time they put themselves up for it just never happened. there was one

woman who had been a typist in the city since 1925 and applied co nsta ntly city since 1925 and applied constantly to join the stock exchange, she went on to be a stockbroker. you could be a stockbroker. you could be a stockbroker but not a member of the stockbroker but not a member of the stock exchange meaning you can become a partner of a stockbroker. she applied again and again and again and always got turned down. in the early 705 it suddenly became really embarrassing for the stock exchange also they also merged with birmingham and manchester, some of the regional stock exchanges and they allowed women into the stock exchange is, so londonjust began to look completely idiotic. 0ne exchange is, so londonjust began to look completely idiotic. one of the most telling points about this is i think the day they are allowed to become members they walked onto the stock exchange floor, there was no electronics trading then. they‘ll greeted it is marvellous, tremendous, really fantastic to see you here and everybody was frightfully polite and said it was fantastic but afterwards they co nsta ntly fantastic but afterwards they constantly have stories ofjust

low—level abuse, of nicknames, of harassment on a low level that co nsta ntly harassment on a low level that constantly went on. it was a very gentlemanly bearpit, i think. it is good that is gone. it is good that is gone. it has all changed now, i think. the ftse has turned around a bit, the backs down a bit, the pound looking strong, also strong against the dollar, 1.40 against the dollar, so the dollar, 1.40 against the dollar, so quite strong. thank you, jamie. an american porn star has claimed she was threatened and intimidated so she would keep quiet about a sexual encounter she claims she had with donald trump in 2006. stormy daniels told cbs news that she was approached by a man in a car park and warned to leave mr trump alone. president trump denies the affair and his lawyer denies threatening ms daniels. from los angeles, james cook reports. how do we know you're telling the truth?

‘cause i have no reason to lie, you know, i‘m not getting paid to be here. you had sex with him? yes. now, more than ever, american politics resembles reality television. you were 27, he was 60, were you physically attracted to him? no. not at all? no. did you want to have sex with him? no. but i didn‘t say no, i‘m not a victim. i‘m not... it was entirely consensual? oh, yes. five years later, stormy daniels was trying to sell her story when, she says, she was threatened by a man who approached her in a las vegas. a guy walked up on me, and said to me, "leave trump alone, forget the story." then he leaned around and looked at my daughter and said, "a beautiful little girl, it‘d be a shame if something happened to her mum." and then he was gone.

you took it as a direct threat? absolutely, i went into the work—out class and my arms were shaking so much i thought i would drop her. did you see the person again? no. she signed a deal with mr trump‘s personal lawyer who paid her 130,000 us dollars. was it hush money to stay silent? yes. the story was coming out again. i was concerned for my family and their safety. you feel like if you had wanted to go public you could have gotten paid a lot of money to go public? without a lot of money to go public? without a doubt, i know for a fact. i believe without a shadow of a doubt in my heart, and some people would argue i don‘t have one of those, but whatever, that i was doing the right thing. i turned down a large payday multiple times because one, i didn‘t

wa nt to multiple times because one, i didn‘t want to kiss and tell and be labelled all the things i‘m being labelled all the things i‘m being labelled as now. we're gonna to build a wall, folks... the money was paid 11 days before the election and some experts say it was an illegal campaign contribution. mr trump‘s lawyer denies threatening stormy daniels. the white house denies breaking campaignfinance the white house denies breaking campaign finance rules and denies the affair. as the interview aired the affair. as the interview aired the president was back in washington, weekend in florida returning his wife. james cook, bbc news, los angeles. here is chris fawkes with the weather. it's it‘s been a beautiful days so far, lots of sunshine for most of us. this was a sunny spot in cumbria, thanks to julie for sending this was a sunny spot in cumbria, thanks tojulie for sending this weather watcher picture in. we are seeing a change in the west because of the weather front bringing outbreaks of rain, that rain turning heavier over the night and although there will be a touch of frost in northern and eastern parts of scotland early in the night, as the card works in

temperatures will lift so by the end of the night, four degrees in aberdeen, 10 degrees in the south—west where it will turn quite mild by the end of the night. tuesday‘s weather prospects, not as much sunshine, this band of rain pushing through. as soon as it goes through during the afternoon we should cease and tie—breaks, sunshine, but the rain reluctant to clear from parts of scotland. it will feel cooler but temperature still not bad, highs of 10—13. that‘s your weather. hello, you‘re watching afternoon live — i‘m simon mccoy. today at 4... co—ordinated action against russia. america expels 60 diplomats and many eu countries, plus canada and ukraine, follow suit following the nerve agent attack in salisbury. as they direct follow—up to the eu

decision to react to russia in a common framework, already today 14 member states have decided to expel russian diplomats. russia‘s reaction was swift, moscow called the expulsions "unfriendly and provocative" and said it would react accordingly. jewish groups plan to protest outside parliament — accusing labour leaderjeremy corbyn of repeatedly siding with anti—semites. at least 64 are dead — many of them children — after a fire at a siberian shopping centre. officials say the alarm system was off and fire exits blocked. coming up on afternoon live all the sport. well, the ball tampering saga continues today. now the pressure is really mounting on the australian captain, steve smith, as cricket australia bosses travelled to south africa to investigate. more reaction coming up. and chris howe is the

weather. yes, we will be looking ahead to the easter holiday prospects and also further afield. eastern european ski resorts have been hit by a wave of yellow snow. i will be tell you what has made the yellow snow and why skiers are struggling to avoid it. thank you. also coming up an american porn star, stormy daniels, claims she was threatened to keep her quiet about an affair she alleges she had with president trump. hello everyone — this is afternoon live, i‘m simon mccoy. dozens of russian diplomats are being expelled from consulates and embassies around the world in a coordinated reaction to the poisoning of the former russian double agent sergei skripal and his daughter in salisbury. donald trump has ordered the expulsion of 60 russians from the united states

and the closure of the russian consulate in seattle. germany and france have both expelled four diplomats from their embassies after leaders of both countries strongly condemned the attack. in total, 16 eu countries have taken action against russian diplomats, the uk has blamed moscow for the attack and has already expelled 23 russian diplomats. in the past hour the foreign secretary borisjohnson said the action was the largest collective expulsion of russian intelligence officers ever. russia has responded by calling the move unfriendly, provocative and a "perverted interpretation of solidarity." the president of the european council donald tusk said the decision had been made last week to take coordinated action in support for the uk. well mr tusk made this dramatic announcement this afternoon. last week the european council condemned, in the strongest possible terms, the recent attack in salisbury. the european council agreed with the united kingdom government

assessment that it is highly likely that the russian federation is responsible, and that there is no plausible alternative explanation. we decided to recall the eu ambassador to russia for consultations. as a direct follow—up to last week‘s european council decision to react to russia within a common framework, already today 14 member states have decided to expel russian diplomats. additional measures, including further expulsions within the common eu framework, are not to be excluded in the coming days and weeks. well, during a visit to estonia, the defence secretary gavin williamson said the support shown for britain was "itself a defeat for president putin".

the world‘s patience is wearing thin with president putin and his actions. the fact that right across the nato alliance, right across the european union, nations have stood up in support of the united kingdom, as we have seen this unprecedented attack. this was being led by the kremlin. i actually think that is the very best response that we can have. their intention, their aim, is to divide. what we are seeing is the world uniting behind the british stance. that, in itself, is a great victory. that sends an exceptionally powerful message to the kremlin and president putin. adam fleming is in brussels for us. it is quite remarkable, in terms of

the coordination? the door to this action was opened last week, at a meeting of eu leaders in brussels, where they stayed up pretty late on thursday night discussing this issue, getting a presentation... forgive me, we are going to have to leave you, we are going to go straight to the house of commons, theresa may is talked about this now. mr speaker, just last week we marked the first anniversary of the attack on westminster and remembered the humbling bravery of pc keith palmer. it is through the actions of people like pc palmer and the policeman in trebes that week confirmed the worst of humanity with the very best. in this parliament and in solidarity with our allies in france, we show our democracy will never be silenced and our way of life will prevail. turning to the council, we discussed confronting russia's threat to the rules —based

order. we agreed import tariffs on steel and aluminium and we also discussed turkey and the western balkans, including the appropriate means of taxing digital companies. this will play a leading role in the future of the eu after we have left, and the council took important steps in building a partnership. 0n russia, we are shortly to debate the threat that it poses to national security and i will set that out in detail them. at the council i share the basis for our assessment that russia was responsible for the reckless and brazen attempted murder in salisbury, and the exposure of many others to potential harm. while eu leaders agreed. as a result, the council conclusions were changed to state that the council agrees with the united kingdom government's assessment that it is highly likely that the russian federation is responsible and that there is no

alternative plausible explanation. mr speaker, this was the first offensive use of a nerve agent on european soil since the foundation of the eu and nato. it is a clear violation of the chemical weapons convention and an unlawful use of force a clear breach of the un charter. it is part of a pattern of increasingly aggressive russian behaviour, but also represents a new and dangerous phase in russia's hostile activity against europe and our shared values and interests. i argued that there should be a reappraisal of how the collective assets best tackle the threat russia poses following president putin's re—election. in my meetings with emmanuel macron and angela merkel, we agreed on the importance of sending a strong message on russia's actions, notjust in solidarity with the uk, but recognising the threat posed to the national security of all eu countries. the council agreed immediate actions, including withdrawing the eu's ambassador from

moscow. today, 18 countries have announced their intention to expel more than 100 russian intelligence office rs more than 100 russian intelligence officers from their countries. this includes 15 eu member states, as well as the united states, canada and the ukraine. this is the largest collective expulsion of russian intelligence officers in history. i have found great solidarity from friends and partners in the eu, north america, nato and beyond over the past three weeks, as we have confronted the aftermath of the salisbury incident. together, we have sent a message that we will not tolerate russia's continued attempts tolerate russia's continued attempts to flout international law and undermine our values. european nations will also act to strengthen their resilience to chemical, biological, radiologicaland their resilience to chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear related risks, as well as bolstering their capabilities to deal with hybrid threats. we also agreed that we would review progress injune, with foreign ministers being tasked to report back ahead of the next

council. mr speaker, the challenge of usher is one that will endure for years to come, as i have made clear before we have made no disagreement with the russian people, who have achieved so much to their country's great history. our thoughts are with them today, in the aftermath of the awful shopping centre fire in kemerovo, in siberia. president putin's regime is carrying out acts of aggression against shares —— shared values on the continent and beyond, the united kingdom will stand shoulder to shoulder with the eu and nato to face down the threats together. turning to the united states decision to impose import tariffs on steel and aluminium, the council was clear these measures cannot be justified on national security grounds and that sector wide protection in the us is an inappropriate remedy for the real problems of overcapacity. my right honourable friend the secretary of state for international trade travelled to washington last week to argue for a travelled to washington last week to argue fora eu travelled to washington last week to

argue for a eu wider consumption. we welcome the temporary exam should give into the european union, but we must work hard to make sure it becomes permanent. we will continue to support preparations in the eu to defend industry in a proportionate manner, in compliance with wto rules. trinity brexit, last week the secretary of state for exiting the european union reached agreement with the european commission negotiating team on large parts of the draft withdrawal agreement. this includes the reciprocal agreement on citizen rights, the financial supplement, aspects of issues relating to northern ireland such as the common travel area and, crucially, detailed terms of a time—limited implementation period running to the end of december 20 20. i running to the end of december 20 20. lam running to the end of december 20 20. i am today placing copies the d raft 20. i am today placing copies the draft agreement in the house libraries and i want to thank secretary state and negotiating team for all of their work. the limitation team will provide time to

prepare for the new relationship we wa nt prepare for the new relationship we want to build. —— the implementation term. it is not a national interests to ask businesses to undertake two sets of changes, so it follows that during the implimentation period they should continue to trade on current terms. while i recognise that not everybody will welcome continuation of current terms for another 21 months, such continuation of current terms for another21 months, such an implementation period has been widely welcomed by british business because it is necessary if we are to minimise uncertainty and deliver a smooth and successful brexit. the most important issue must be focusing on negotiating the right future relationship, that will endure for years to come. we are determined to use the fermentation period to prepare properly for that future relationship, which is why it is essential that we have clarity about the terms of that relationship when we ask the house to the greedy implementation period —— to agree the limitation period. there are key questions to be resolved on the

withdrawal agreement, including the governance of it and how our commitments to avoid a hard border between ireland and northern ireland should be turned into legal texts. asi should be turned into legal texts. as i make clear, we are committed to the agreement that was made in september in its entirety, including the backstop option set out in the report. it remains my firm belief that we will find the best solutions for northern ireland as part of the overall future relationship between the uk and the eu. i have explained the uk and the eu. i have explained the specific european commission proposals for the backstop were u na cce pta ble proposals for the backstop were unacceptable because they were not in line with the belfast agreement and threatened the break—up of the uk's internal market. as such, they we re uk's internal market. as such, they were not a fair reflection of the joint report. but there are many issues on which we can agree with the commission, and we are committed to working intensively to resolve those which remain outstanding. i welcome

that we are beginning a dedicated set of talks today with the european commission and, where appropriate, the irish government, so that we can work together to agree the best way to fulfil the agreements we have made. we have been working closely with the government of gibraltar to make sure it is covered by the negotiations on withdrawal, the implementation period and future relationship. i am implementation period and future relationship. lam pleased implementation period and future relationship. i am pleased that the joint agreement last week directly applies to gibraltar, and we will continue to engage closely with the government of gibraltar and european partners to resolve the particular challenges our withdrawal poses for gibraltar and spain. challenges our withdrawal poses for gibraltarand spain. mr challenges our withdrawal poses for gibraltar and spain. mr speaker, following my speeches in europe and that the mansion house, setting up the future security and economic partnerships we want to develop, the council also agreed negotiations on the future of the relationship, which must be now our focus. while there are clear differences between initial positions, the guidelines are a useful starting point for the negotiations that will now get under way. i welcome the council restating the eu determination to have us close as possible a partnership with uk and the desire for a balanced,

ambitious and wide—ranging free trade agreement. i believe there is now an opportunity to create a new dynamic in the negotiations. the agreements our negotiations have reached on the withdrawal agreement and the limitation period are proof that, with political will and a spirit of cooperation, and a spirit of opportunity for the future, we will find answers to difficult questions together and we must continue to do so. whether people voted leave or remain, many are frankly tired of the old argument and the attempts to refight the referendum over the past year. with one year to go, people are coming back together and looking forward. they want us to get on with it and thatis they want us to get on with it and that is what we are going to do. i commend the statement to the house. jeremy corbyn. thank you, mr speaker. i thank the prime minister for the advance sight of the statement, and join her in condemning the appalling attack in

trebes, offering our solidarity with the french government, the people of france, and the family of arnaud beltrame, the hero of the siege. she is right to commend the heroic actions of security services here and in france, and to mark the one—year anniversary of the killing of pc keith palmer and others on westerners the bridge, who are quite properly remembered last thursday in westminster hall and saint mary undercroft. 0n russia, i welcome the international consensus that the prime minister has built, as i said two weeks ago. the most powerful response we can make is multilateral action. i would like to place on record our thanks to the eu and other states for their cooperation with us. i know we will discuss these matters later this afternoon, but i would also add my condolences to all of those families affected by the kemerovo shopping centre fire at the kemerovo shopping centre fire at the weekend. us steel tariffs, we need a coordinated response to

tackle the dumping of steel by some nations, and to resist the retreat into protectionism by the united states. the temporary respite from ta riffs states. the temporary respite from tariffs is welcomed, but we must make it permanent. mr speaker, we are pleased that some progress seems to have been made on the transition period, especially given the agreement is identical to what labour was calling for last summer. the only real question is why it took the government so long to realise that they transition on the same terms is vital to protectjobs and our economy. the government wasted months and months dithering and posturing before accepting the inevitable. this, mr speaker, is the consistent pattern of the brexit talks. wild claims and red lines, quickly becoming climb downs and broken promises. 0ur coastal and

fishing communities were told by the environment secretary only this month that the prime minister has been clear, britain will leave the common fisheries policy as of march 2000 and 19. just a few weeks later we find out this will not be the case. what about when we were told by the brexit secretary that the government would deliver the exact same benefits of the single market and customs union buster mark well, the prime minister is now saying that we will not have the benefits of the single market. after saying it was a viable option earlier this year, any form of customs union is now ruled out. injanuary, we were told by the prime minister that eu citizens arriving during the transition period would not get the same rights as those already in the uk. she said, and i quote, iam clear there is a difference between those that came prior to us leaving and those that will come when they

know the uk is leaving. now she is clear that there is no difference. the insecurity for families and businesses, and the confusion at the heart of government has dogged the first phase of negotiations. can the prime minister today give some clarity and confirm that we will not withdraw from the european nuclear agreement until alternative international arrangements for nuclear cooperation are agreed? will her government back those pragmatic amendments to the nuclear safeguards built? the prime minister had previously signalled that there would be flexibility over the duration of the transition period. yet in the withdrawal of that, they have accepted a definitive withdrawal date of december 20 20. could the prime minister explain what happened to the request for the stability and what is the government doing to ensure that this state

could be extended if a deal had not been reached? could be extended if a deal had not been reached ? mr could be extended if a deal had not been reached? mr speaker, it has been reached? mr speaker, it has been broken promise after broken promise. i can only hope... and i can only hope that the next broken promise does not involve their commitment to no hard in ireland. —— know hardboard. commitment to no hard in ireland. —— know ha rdboa rd. the commitment to no hard in ireland. —— know hardboard. the government still offered no credible solution. to move negotiations on, the prime minister has been forced into an agreement that could result in a hardboard in the irish sea. but the prime minister outline how she will prevent a hard border in the irish sea or in ireland, if she rules out any form of customs union? many uk nations and regions have benefited from the european investment bank. given that we are still paying into the eu budget, can the prime minister explain why the uk will not be eligible for any new funding

during transition? does that leave us during transition? does that leave us still paying in, to get less? mr speaker, has the prime minister signed up to there being an anglo spanish bilateral agreement on gibraltar? and can she tell the house who will leave the negotiations for the government? mr speaker... mr speaker... last week, the government presided over a new fiasco over passports. at her last brexit statement, the prime minister told this house, we are delivering told this house, we are delivering to the british people and we are going to make a success of that. tell that to workers in gateshead for de la rue. it seems like her red, white and blue brexit has become the flag of france. time after time, they sell of jobs become the flag of france. time after time, they sell ofjobs to the lowest bidder. the prime minister says last week was a significant

breakthrough, but this is the same breakthrough, but this is the same breakthrough we were told had been signed off in december, and suddenly has still been fudged four months on. we know that the hardest decisions are yet to come. in the second phase of talks, the government must stop posturing, drop the impossible lines, and put people first, giving workers and businesses the security they need. the right honourable gentleman made the point about the issue of steel, as i said at the european union council we wa nt at the european union council we want to work with the eu in talking to the united states to make the temporary exemption from those tariffs for the eu into a permanent exemption. there is a need, as i referenced and the right honourable gentleman did, to deal with the question of over capacity in the steel market. that is why a forum

was setup, including china, and the work of the forum should continue. we need to address that in a multilateral stage. he raised various other issues. on relation to euratom, he will know that the membership is legally linked to the european union. we are putting in place the arrangements necessary to ensure that we can continue to operate with others in that particular area. he talked about clarity on citizen rights, the decemberjoint clarity on citizen rights, the december joint report and clarity on citizen rights, the decemberjoint report and the report on the fermentation period agreed la st on the fermentation period agreed last friday do precisely that. they provide clarity for citizens as to what their rights are going to be. he referenced once again the northern irish border, we have set out proposals of how we can ensure there is no hard border. in the decemberjoint there is no hard border. in the december joint report, signed there is no hard border. in the decemberjoint report, signed up to by the united kingdom and the

european union, we were sure there should be no hard border down the irish sea, the internal market of the united kingdom should be retained. that all aspects of the belfast agreement should be respected. we continue to do that. he talks about the fact that the limitation period was a labour party idea. —— implementation period. could i remind the right honourable gentleman of two things? the concept ofa gentleman of two things? the concept of a smooth and orderly withdrawal was first referenced in my speech at lancaster house, and i seem to remember that the day after the referendum result in 2016, the right honourable gentleman wanted to trigger article 50 immediately. no suggestion of an implimentation period then, was there? there we go. finally, he talks about changes of

opinion. this is the leader of the opposition, saying he wants us to continue to be in a customs union. at the same time, he refuses to acce pt at the same time, he refuses to accept the competition policy which isa accept the competition policy which is a necessary part of being in the customs union. it is the right honourable gentleman who, when the shadow home secretary backed a rerun of the referendum, kept her in her job, when the shadow northern ireland secretary backed a rerun of the referendum, he was sacked. it is the referendum, he was sacked. it is the conservative party that is getting on with delivering on the wishes of the british people and delivering a brexit that works for everybody. may i commend my right honourable friend for her strong sta nce honourable friend for her strong stance over the russian attacks over the last couple of weeks. that strong stance has shown to be wrestled the world that first you ta ke wrestled the world that first you take action, and you point the finger when you have evidence, but

you make sure you do not have a never—ending dialogue, as was recommended by the leader of the opposition with those that would harm you most. can i ask her whether she has taken further steps in those councils last week to recommend to the germans that they look again at this pipeline directly to russia?” can tell my right honourable friend that obviously it is very important that obviously it is very important that we are very clear—sighted when we deal with states like russia, and recognise the threat that they pose. the subject of the pipeline of nord strea m the subject of the pipeline of nord stream america to was not raised. we have asked about further measures that might be taken by the european union. we have asked the foreign ministers to look at issues that might need to be addressed injune. the eu council will be looking again at this in june. thank you, i thank the prime

minister for thank you, i thank the prime ministerfor advance thank you, i thank the prime minister for advance sight of her statement. i would like to wish mick bailey and his family the very best following his discharge from hospital, and pay tribute to the nhs staff that cared for him in such difficult circumstances. and our thoughts remain with sergei skripal and yulia. i also want to associate myself with her comments on the awful offence and trebes, and the heroism of arnaud beltrame, and those caught up in the terrible events in siberia. i important message in the formal declaration, that it was highly likely that russia was behind the nerve agent attack. i note that they are recalling the ambassador to moscow for consultations. i welcome united

effort in responding to the reckless chemical attack in salisbury. can the prime minister tell the house what discussions she has had with european partners in ensuring that non—governmental organisations on the ground in russia continue to have the support of the united kingdom and the european union? while the snp welcomed the statement on the 14th of march, we want to see some action taken on scottish limited partnerships, often used by criminals for money—laundering. we also want action on the magnitsky amendments. can the prime minister confirm when we can expect to see the government‘s plans to clamp down on scottish limited partnerships and, more generally, to deal with all forms of russian money—laundering? mr speaker, turning to the conclusions on the latest phase of brexit negotiations, will the prime minister tell the house what representations she made to eu leaders to reverse the conclusions on the uk‘s fishing rights post—brexit? last week,

fishing immunities across scotland we re fishing immunities across scotland were left in the dark as their industry was bargained away by this government. why would the secretary of state for scotland and ruth davidson be permitted to issue a statement on the 11th of march that we would have control of our fishing grounds, for this to be reversed only a week later? what changed? did the secretary of state know what was to happen? had he been properly informed by the government? it is incumbent on the prime minister that their rights are secured and she reject any deal that leaves fishing immunities hamstrung in the transition agreement. mr speaker, members on these benches continue to hold concerns about the uk government‘s approach to the good friday agreement and the irish border. time is running out. the prime minister cannot play fast and loose with northern ireland any longer. decisions are needed to give businesses and communities in northern ireland the certainty that their day—to—day lives deserve. finally, can i ask the prime minister what discussions she has

had with the prime minister of spain over the ongoing situation between spain and catalonia, and the arrest wa rra nts spain and catalonia, and the arrest warrants that have been issued for democratically elected politicians, including those that are living in scotland? including those that are living in scotland ? surely there including those that are living in scotland? surely there is a political solution, and not the situation that spain are trying to impose? can i first of alljoin the right honourable gentleman in wishing the very best to mick bailey and his house, as he completes his recovery? and also designed the nhs staff that treated him, and continue to care for sergei and yulia skripal. i was pleased to meet some of those staff in salisbury, and talk to them about their experience, and their dedication was very clear. he raised a number of issues. on the question of action on the the magnitsky act, we have had

discussions about what an amendment would look like, we are already taking action and we want to make sure we take strong as possible action. one of the subject s that was raised was that particular issue. on slps, i will write to the honourable gentleman. we are taking action already, but we are looking at what we might be able to do. he raised the issue of catalonia. we continue to believe that we wish to see the rule of law upheld and we wish to ensure that the spanish constitution is upheld. northern ireland, we continue, as i say, there are talks starting with the european commission on the details of the ways in which we will be able to ensure there is no hard border between ireland and northern ireland and, where appropriate, they will involve the irish government. finally, he talks about the common fisheries policy. we will be leaving

the common fisheries policy and ensuring that we are taking back control of our waters. i think it is a bit rich, coming from a party that wants to stay in the common fisheries policy in perpetuity! the european guidelines of the 23rd of march and the eu proposed protocol both insist on the autonomy of the eu legal order and the jurisprudence of the european court ofjustice. will jurisprudence of the european court of justice. will my jurisprudence of the european court ofjustice. will my right honourable friend give the house and absolute assurance that the government in these negotiations will not accept exclusive, or sole jurisdiction, these negotiations will not accept exclusive, orsolejurisdiction, of the european court over the uk from the european court over the uk from the 29th of march 2019, nor after 30th of december 2020 at the end of the implementation period, and that the implementation period, and that the government will not enter a treaty or introduce legislation which confers such jurisdiction and

which confers such jurisdiction and which a recently retired european courtjudge said would be illegal viper‘s nest? courtjudge said would be illegal viper's nest? can i say to my honourable friend that as i have said before in this chamber in response to a question from our honourable friend the member for north east somerset, during the fermentation period, because we will continue to operate on largely the same basis as currently, then of course there will continue to be the role for the european court of justice. once we have ended the limitation period, it will be a very different story and we will be absolutely in the position i know my honourable friend wants, of taking back control of our laws. of course, there are some issues still to be addressed as i referenced in my statement on the withdrawal agreement, for example the governance of the agreement, but there are a number of interesting ideas that have been proposed which don't give sole authority to the european court of justice, don't give sole authority to the european court ofjustice, and that's not something we would want to see. the prime minister remarks

about european cooperation on russia showed the continuing importance of cooperation with the eu after brexit and she has rightly proposed a security treaty to be in place by the end of the transition on extradition, europol and data sharing. she will also know that a new treaty could take 18 months for other countries to ratify, could yet be referred to the court ofjustice, and will have to deal with some tricky legal and constitutional issues, for example any tradition to norway has taken over a decade to try and resolve. why is there no fallback flaws in the withdrawal agreement? and why has she set a ha rd agreement? and why has she set a hard deadline of december 2020 and what will she do if the security treaty isn‘t in place in time? what will she do if the security treaty isn't in place in time? good question, very good! cani question, very good! can i say to be right honourable lady that we are absolutely ready to start those negotiations with the european union in relation to that security partnership and in relation

to that treaty for the future. we think it is actually in both sides' interests to have the treaty in place and so far it is a clear message from my european partners and they will have every intention, as we do, of ensuring the security arrangements are in place at the time that we end the implementation period. given the very strong mood in the country to just get on with brexit, will the government now produce its draft legislation to have a new fishing policy, the new farming policy, the new spending policies, and above all the new borders policies, which will represent the brexit bonus we are all waiting for? laughter cani laughter can i say to my right honourable friend he has covered a number of issues. defra are consulting on what would replace the common agricultural policy, they will be consulting with the fishing industry and others on what would replace the common fisheries policy and legislation will be coming forward as necessary to cover all the issues

we need to address before we see the end of the implementation period and have in place the future relationship. thank you, mr speaker. i thank the prime ministerfor advance sight of her statement and welcome thejoint advance sight of her statement and welcome the joint statement she secured from eu leaders on russia andindeed secured from eu leaders on russia and indeed the actions of those 18 countries today. it is exactly the kind of internationalist approach that we need. the prime minister mentioned the discussions on taxing digital companies whose behaviour as guardians of our data is of course the subject of increasing concern. does the prime minister agree that brexit or no brexit, the uk‘s only hope of tackling the massive and damaging monopoly power of the likes of google, facebook and amazon, is to work closely with our european partners nick wood unaided approach, not only on tax but on data protection and competition regulation as well? we are looking at issues around data with the

european union, it is another area, we're bringing the gdp are into uk legislation but it is another area we want to ensure we have a good arrangement for data exchange in the future. on the tax issue there is of course work in hand at an international level at the oecd the level on companies and taxation and we believe the best result is an international result but we think it is right to look as the european union and whether there is any interim steps that need to be taken to ensure we are properly taxing these companies. the council of europe the president of the parliamentary assembly and the assembly itself to join the british delegation in condemning utterly the actions of a russian federation that are wholly unacceptable in a civilised society? i thank my right honourable friend for that suggestion and i'm very happy tojoin for that suggestion and i'm very

happy to join him for that suggestion and i'm very happy tojoin him and tojoin the british delegation in making that request. can i congratulate the prime minister on getting that unanimity on the question of russia? and could i ask her to state categorically today that the matter what happens —— no matter what happens the implementation period will end at the end of december 2020, and would she also agree with me that to go into any negotiation saying by you‘ll never walk alone, is not the way to go into a negotiation to get the best interests ? negotiation to get the best interests? i agree with the honourable lady on that particular point and honourable lady on that particular pointandi honourable lady on that particular point and i have made that point in the chamber in the past —— you will never walk away. in terms of the end date of implementation period i spoke about it being two years and in negotiations european union wa nted in negotiations european union wanted it to be december 2020 and i thought it was appropriate we had the firm date so everybody is clear

about when been to meditation period will end. for understandable reasons, defence has more than halved as a proportion of gdp since the end of the cold war. now that the end of the cold war. now that the threat from russia is re—emerging, can we reassess the need to fill the holes in the defence budget identified by the neo, the defence select committee and most recently by the joint committee on the national security strategy? can i say to my honourable friend it is obviously an issue on which he has campaigned and continues to campaign with great passion and dedication. as he will know coming out of the national security capability review we have set the modernising defence programme, we are looking carefully at the question of our future defence against the background of the threats we face, but of course defence and national security, national security covers more than simply what would traditionally be

regarded as defence but we are looking carefully at the capabilities required by the ministry of defence. the right honourable member for leeds central has migrated backwards from his usual seat. mr hilary benn. the united kingdom is a world leader in aerospace defence and satellite systems. can the prime minister clarify whether the attempts that the eu commission is apparently making to freeze british companies out of galileo contracts that are due to be issued injune is consistent with the transitional arrangements or not? and if not, what does she propose to do about it? i say to the right honourable gentleman that we have been very clear that as long as we are a memberof the clear that as long as we are a member of the european union we will meet our obligations as a member of the european union but we should continue to be treated as a full memberof the

continue to be treated as a full member of the european union. the business secretary has said the uk does have a world leading space sector, that has contributed a significant amount of specialist expertise to the galileo programme. so we believe it is notjust a question of what is in the uk's interests for us to continue to be to participate as we have done in that programme, we think it is in the interests of the european union as well because of the expertise the united kingdom can provide. thank you, mr speaker. i congratulate the prime minister on the matter meditation period agreed last week, something businesses have calling for and to be provided with much—needed certainty. one of the things they are still saying is they wa nt to things they are still saying is they want to know they will be regulatory forbearance understanding by regular it is during the fermentation period as they adjust to a new set of rules. is that something that ministers are aware of and have been discussing? i thank my right honourable friend for the question. we are aware of the issue of the sta nce we are aware of the issue of the stance of the regulators and have beenin stance of the regulators and have been in discussion with certain regulators about how they can be

working with their european opposite numbers to ensure that there is a sound regulatory footing during that implementation period. mr speaker, cani implementation period. mr speaker, can i associate my party with her words on the courage and sacrifice of colonel arnaud beltrame and her words on the russian threat. in relation to the backstop provisions, does she is share the amusement of many in northern ireland that there is so much concentration on the so—called backstop when we should be getting on to negotiate the overall agreement which will take care of the irish border issue? and would she share my view that there are many in northern ireland who are also concerned that this has been used some in the european union and in the irish government to shape their version of brexit, or indeed to thwart brexit altogether, inventing problems when there are none? would she give a clear assurance to the people of northern ireland there will be no backtracking on her firm ireland there will be no backtracking on herfirm resolve that no british prime minister could ever sign up to the sort of legal

text that the eu put forward?” thank the right honourable gentleman for his comments, and i'm absolutely clear and i share with him that the amusement that so much focus is being put on plan c when all parties have clearly said that we want to achieve this through what was planned in the joint report, the agreement on the future partner sip. —— partnership. idon't agreement on the future partner sip. —— partnership. i don't think it impossible for anyone at the dispatch box to support something which destroyed the uk internal market. we are clear that we maintain ourcommitment market. we are clear that we maintain our commitment to the whole of the december joint maintain our commitment to the whole of the decemberjoint report we will be working on those options, and we are be working on those options, and we a re fully be working on those options, and we are fully confident we can find a solution through plan a. there were many positive aspects of a council which my right honourable friend deserves congratulation for, including particularly the unanimous

support from other european countries over russia‘s appalling behaviour shoving our european friends are considerably more robust than the leadership of the opposition she agree that today‘s welcome moves on expelling russian diplomats from a number of countries must not be a one—off, but must be seen as must not be a one—off, but must be seen as the start of a more robust strategy in resisting putin‘s provocation wherever it occurs?” would say to my right honourable friend i absolutely agree and eu from ministers will look at this again and the eu council will look at this issue again —— foreign ministers. what happened in sores we was part of a pattern of aggressive russian behaviour and we need to make sure we are working across all fronts to deal with it, whether it is disinformation, propaganda and cyber attacks, we need to work together to deal with all of those threats. can i congratulate her for the level of support and solidarity shoots secured on russia from our

european friends? can i ask the prime minister, how is it remotely a cce pta ble prime minister, how is it remotely acceptable that when a young whistle—blower exposes compelling evidence of lawbreaking by the leave campaign, implicating staff at no 10, that one of those named, instead of addressing the allegations made, issues and officially sanctioned statement outing the whistle—blower as gay and thereby putting his family in pakistan in danger? it is a disgrace, prime minister. you need to do something about it. can i say to do something about it. can i say to the right honourable gentleman that any statements issued were personal statements that were issued. they were personal statements that... they were personal statements that were issued. i, of course, recognise the importance of ensuring that we do recognise that for some being outed as gay is difficult because of their family and circumstances. what i wa nt family and circumstances. what i want to see... what i want to see is

a world where everybody is able to be confident in their sexuality and doesn't have to worry about such things. russia respects strength and one of the lessons of the 19305 is that it‘s dangerous to give commitments to eastern europe, unless you back that up with military hardware. our commitment in the baltic states is relatively modest, a hundred men, i think, will the prime minister consider increasing our military commitment and our support of the baltic states so that we can build european solidarity built on a coalition of peace through security? i would say to my honourable friend that we do look constantly obviously at the contribution we are making. he's right we have several hundred troops in estonia as part of the advanced forward presence and we are contributing in other parts of europe to the work being done, for example, in poland. obviously we

continue to look at this. angela eagle. thank you, mr speaker. given that your political secretary stephen parkinson was the person that‘s responsible for outing vote leave whistle—blower using no 10 acre and documents, what are you, prime minister, going to do? you should sack him. no, i'm sorry, that is not what i should be doing. my political secretary does a very good job as my political secretary, and asi job as my political secretary, and as i have said, any statements that have been made were personal statements. sir desmond swayne. were we to adopt his policy of domestic procurement preference, wouldn‘t that be a passport to ruin? cani that be a passport to ruin? can i say to my right honourable friend that i welcome his way with words in his question, and i think

he's absolutely right, as my right honourable friend the immigration minister said earlier this afternoon, what we want to ensure is that we are providing a secure document, good value for the taxpayer, and that we as a government believe in competition and open markets. mr speaker, it has been very reassuring to see the other eu member states rally to the united kingdom‘s support on the issue of russia. does she agree that all member states and indeed the uk should be vigilant against human rights abuses wherever they occur, even when that is within an eu member state itself? can i say to the honourable lady that of course, will in the european union, we all stand up for certain values, european values. human rights are within those values that we stand up for and where any difference is shown by any individual country in relation to that then that is

something that is pointed out. thank you, mr speaker. does the prime minister share my incredulity at the crocodile tears of the snp over fishing when they would have us remain in the disastrous cfp in the first place? can i go on to ask her about the question last week from my honourable friend from berwick about mitigation scheme to protect our fishermen during the transition period? has any thought been given to that in government and might we see something about it in the forthcoming fisheries bill? can i share the incredulity that might honourable friend has in relation to the actions of the snp who would keep us in perpetuity in the common fisheries policy? we are going to be talking with the fishing industry about the arrangements that would pertain for the industry in the future, i want to see the industry enhanced and i want us to do what we

can to ensure that at the end of the intimidation period, when we have negotiated as an independent coastal state in relation to fishing and access to our waters and our fishermen's access to other waters, that we are able to see an industry that we are able to see an industry that can be enhanced and built on and can grow and provide even greater support here in the united kingdom. why is the prime minister so kingdom. why is the prime minister so attached to the reckless strategy of taking the uk passed exit day without settling the treaty on the future relationship that we would have with the eu? she could call the 21 month period and additional negotiation period, or a limbo period, that she shouldn‘t call it and fermentation period because there may be nothing to implement. —— implementation period. there may be nothing to implement. —— implementation periodm there may be nothing to implement. -- implementation period. if he looks back at my statement he will re call looks back at my statement he will recall that i said that it is our intention that this house, when it comes to look a bit withdrawal agreement and implementation bill

and to vote on that bill, should have sufficient detail on what that future relationship will be. that will take place before we leave the european union. mrjacob rees-mogg. thank you, mr speaker. many of us are concerned that in the transition period most of the red lines have gone, but can live with it on the basis that they will be restored when we finally leave. what reassurance can my right honourable friend give me that when we leave we will be out of the single market, out of the customs union and out of anyjurisdiction of out of the customs union and out of any jurisdiction of the out of the customs union and out of anyjurisdiction of the european court of justice? anyjurisdiction of the european court ofjustice? can i to say my honourable friend that i'm happy to reiterate what i have said before, that we will be leaving the single market, we will be leaving the customs union, we will be leaving the common fisheries policy, we will ensure that we take back control of our waters. he asks me about the european court of justice our waters. he asks me about the european court ofjustice and we are clear we will take back control of

our laws, but with his attention to detail, my honourable friend will know that within the decemberjoint report in relation to citizens' rights, there was as part of that for a period of time for those eu citizens who are here, where cases are taken about those rights to uk courts, it will be possible for the uk courts to have due regard to the views of the european court of justice. the gentleman for ilford southis justice. the gentleman for ilford south is rocking back and forth in a state of some perturbation and it concerns me to see him in that state. let's hear from him. it was reported the prime minister stayed at the european council meeting longer than had originally been intended. is that in metaphorfor our membership of the european union? given that she was there longer, did she have opportunity to

have bilateral discussions with other heads of government in the margins of the meeting? if so, could she tell us which ones? can i say to the honourable gentleman, that i did indeed stay overnight and the reason for this was i believe a very good one, and! for this was i believe a very good one, and i think everyone in this house would support it, we had expected to discuss the steel and aluminium tariffs imposed by the united states on thursday night, and it became clear the decision of the president of the united states wasn't going to come through until the early hours of the morning in european time, and that trade would therefore be discussed on the next day and in order to speak up for uk steelworkers i stayed on. anna soubry. can i commend the prime minister for soubry. can i commend the prime ministerfor her soubry. can i commend the prime minister for her statement today? mr speaker, it was noticed by many people that our european union collea g u es people that our european union colleagues and allies acted more quickly in support of the prime

minister‘s firm and fully proper actions against russia, more quickly than the president of the united states. what guarantees can she give us? what confidence can she give us that we will continue to have a great relationship with our fellow members of the european union once we have left the european union?” say to my right honourable friend that the united states has of course today announced the expulsion of 60 russian diplomats, that as part of the implementation period agreement, as she will be able to see, we have come to an agreement as to how we are going to operate on hour, followed common foreign policy issues during the implementation period. it is certainly the case that we continue to be part of europe. as i have said, we are leaving the eu and not europe, and we will continue to work closely with allies across europe in a

variety of fora, including not least with the united states as well in nato. i warmly welcome the robust attitude... studio: we will come away from the commons. mps attitude... studio: we will come away from the commons. mp5 on both sides of the house supporting theresa me in getting the support of the eu and other countries in the action against russia. 18 countries have announced their intention to expel more than 100 russian intelligence officers from their countries. this includes 15 eu member states as well as the united states, canada and ukraine. we will pull away from parliament. i wanted to go to the russian embassy in london. tom burridge has been monitoring what has been said in the house. considerable action taken by countries around the world now and we await russia‘s response now. countries around the world now and we await russia's response now. we have had a response already from the russian foreign ministry.

the adjectives they used to characterise this action is groundless, provocative, on friendly. they say the british position is out of line with the objectives and interest in establishing what happened in salisbury vis—a—vis the attack on sergei skripal and his daughter and they say the uk‘s position is biased, partial and hypocritical. they say the uk‘s position is biased, partialand hypocritical. if you look at the list of countries that have come out and said they will expel russian diplomats, there are some obvious countries on the list, countries like ukraine, which in effect has been at war with russia for several years really ever since the annexation of crimea and the war in the east of the country. countries like france, germany, yes, they have been pretty resolute in their opposition to russian actions vis—a—vis ukraine over the last few yea rs vis—a—vis ukraine over the last few years but if you get countries like italy, for example, italy‘s position vis—a—vis russia when russia has been doing things that generally the west hasn‘t liked has been slightly

more nuanced. italy is going to expel two officials, the numbers are small but the symbolism is huge. tom burridge, thank you very much. so, as well as the situation in russia, another continuing breaking story we have kept an eye on isjeremy corbyn and the claims of anti—semitism within the labour party. jeremy corbyn has written a letter to jewish leaders and has said he will a lwa ys jewish leaders and has said he will always be a militant opponent of anti—semitism and an ally in the fight against it. he also apologises over the mural, the depiction of the jews in that which led to the latest row within the labour party. eases the idea ofjewish bankers and capitalists exploiting the workers of the world is an old anti—semitic conspiracy theory. i‘m sorry for not having studied the conduct of the mural more closely before wrongly questioning its removal in 2012. an

apology for the way he responded to the mural. note indication in that letter whether he will cross the road in the next half—hour or so to give the message in person tojewish leaders. there is a protest outside the house of commons in about half an hour‘s time. —— no indication. he has offered to meetjewish groups, though, to discuss the issue of, as he describes it, pockets of anti—semitism inside the labour party. plenty more on that and plenty more on the situation in russia coming up at 5pm but now let‘s catch up with the weather and thatis let‘s catch up with the weather and that is with chris fawkes. hi, it‘s been a beautiful day so far, lots of sunshine out and about for most of us, this was one of the sunny spots, cumbria, buttermere, thank you to julie for this picture. we are seeing something of a change at west because the weather front is working

in bringing cloudy skies and outbreaks of rain beginning to push m, outbreaks of rain beginning to push in, the rain turning heavy and steadier through the night and although there will be a touch of frost across northern and eastern parts of scotland early in the night, as the cloud works in temperatures lift so by the end of the night four degrees in aberdeen and 10 degrees in the south—west where it certain smiled by the end of the night. looking at tuesday‘s weather prospects, not as much sun sign, the band of rain pushing its way through, but as soon as it goes through in the afternoon we should cease and cloud break, some sunshine across northern ireland, western england and wales but the ring relu cta nt to england and wales but the ring reluctant to clear from parts of scotla nd reluctant to clear from parts of scotland —— not as much sunshine. it will feel, but temperatures still not bad, high is between ten and 13 and that‘s your weather. today at five: dozens of russian envoys are expelled from the us and europe over the poisoning of a former spy and his daughter in salisbury. moscow vows to "react accordingly" to the biggest co—ordinated expulsion of diplomats in history. today 18 countries have announced

their intention to expel more than 100 russian intelligence officers from their countries. we‘ll have the latest from downing street and from washington. the other main stories on bbc news at 5: jeremy corbyn apologises for "pain and hurt" caused tojewish people after he is accused of failing to tackle anti—semitism in the labour party. enough is enough