other countries respond to the nerve agent attack in britain. russia's foreign ministry calls it "unfriendly and provocative" and promises to retaliate. at least 60 people, including many children, have died in a fire at a shopping centre in siberia. investigators say fire exits were locked and the alarm system had been turned off. emergency services are struggling to recover bodies from inside the mall. a new study, backed by the un, is warning that up to 700 million people could be forced from their homes by 2050, as food demands outstrip supply. the report into land degradation says farming, mining, pollution and urban expansion are already affecting 40% of the global population. now on bbc news, it's time to look back at monday in parliament. hello and welcome to the programme.

coming up — theresa may welcomes the international response to the nerve agent attack in salisbury. 18 countries have announced their intention to expel all the 100 russian intelligence officers from their countries. the made—in—france passport row goes on — one mp is unimpressed. nationalist nonsense which ought to be ignored. and some staffing advice for theresa may. what are you, prime minister, going to do? you should sack him. it was a day dominated by russia. the united states and its european allies agreed to expel dozens of russian diplomats in a coordinated response to the poisoning of a former double agent in salisbury. in the commons, the afternoon was taken up with a general debate about national security and russia, but before that, the prime minister

gave a statement on her meeting in brussels last week where the response to moscow's attack was discussed. she began with an update on the retaliation. today, 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 the ukraine. and this is the largest collective expulsion of russian intelligence officers in history. i have found great solidarity from ourfriends and partners in the eu, north america, nato and beyond over the past three weeks asw we have confronted the aftermath of the salisbury incident. and together we have sent a message that we will not tolerate russia's continued attempts to flout international law and undermine our values. the labour leader responded briefly, saying he welcomed the international consensus.

but he immediately came under fire from the conservatives. i commend my right honourable friend for her strong stance over the russian attacks over the last couple of weeks. that strong stance has shown to the rest of the world that first you take action and you point the finger when you have the 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. that antipathy towards the labour leader was to continue, and notjust inside the commons. in parliament square, hundreds of people gathered to protest against anti—semitism in the labour party. back in the chamber, there was a brief respite while theresa may updated mps on the situation in salisbury. sergei and yulia skripal remain critically ill in hospital. sadly, late last week, doctors indicated that their condition is unlikely to change in the near future and they may never recover fully. this shows the utterly barbaric nature of this act and the dangers

that hundreds of innocent citizens in salisbury could have face. an investigation continues into all the locations where they were present on sunday the fourth of march. as a result of this, we now have a fuller picture of a ruckus as of this act against our country. while public—health would have made it clear that the risk to public health is low and this remains the case, we assess that more than 130 people in salisbury could have been potentially exposed to this nerve agent. incredibly, they have deployed at least 21 different arguments about it. they have suggested that they never produced novichoks, or that they produced them but destroyed them. they tried to claim that their agents are not covered by the chemical weapons convention. they pointed the finger at other countries including slovakia, sweden and the czech republic, and even tried to claim that the united kingdom was responsible for a chemical attack on our own citizens.

but soon, jeremy corbyn was under attack again. cabinet ministers in this house defended russia despite the growing evidence of the enormity of its crimes from 1929 to 1931. at least that was understandable on the basis of a shared ideology. now that the soviet union — russia has abandoned that ideology, to what can she attribute the reluctance of the right honourable gentleman opposite to point the finger where it properly lies? i can find no reason to attribute to the right honourable gentleman opposite for the stance he takes on this issue, and i hope that some of his right honourable friends have done, he will be taking a different position in the debate today. so what did he say? there can be little doubt that the nerve agent used in this attack was a military grade novichok of a type manufactured by russia.

since that analysis was revealed by the prime minister two weeks ago, the russian state has had every opportunity to offer a plausible explanation as to how a nerve agent stock of this type came to be used in this attack. they've offered nothing concrete in response except denials and diversion. there is clear evidence of the russian state has a case to answer and that they have failed to do so. we can, therefore, draw no other conclusion other than russia has a direct or indirect responsibility for this. a conservative interrupted. he is condemned russia's retaliation. what he is not yet, clearly and unequivocally, is condemned the attempted murders themselves. will he now... jeremy corbyn said he had been clear, but that didn't stop two other conservatives from asking the same question. a labour mp stepped in. before more conservative mps stand up and ask their preprepared questions, they should listen again

to what my right honourable friend said in his opening remarks. the mood was getting tetchy. then, there was something of an eruption. i have been a robust critic of the actions of the russian government for more than 20 years. i was opposing — i was opposing, deputy speaker, the abuse that was going on in chechnya by russian forces, the manipulation of elections, the oppression of lgbt rights and the dodgy laundering by russian oligarchs of money through london. i was not intending to intervene in this, but i cannot actually let that remark go by. i've sat here, reading his article in the morningstar after russia

annexed part of ukraine where the strongest criticism he makes there is on ukraine, i would not condone russian behaviour or expansion, but it is not unprovoked. and then into the usual criticism of the united states and nato policy. it's just not true, madam deputy speaker. jeremy corbyn thanked his honourable friend for what he called his "usual helpful intervention". as part of her statement, theresa may defended the deal formally signed off at the european council for the brexit transition period. this will run from next march until december 2020. it's designed to avoid uncertainty as the uk leaves the eu. theresa may praised those who'd worked to secure the agreement. the council welcomed the agreement reached, including the time that the fermentation period to provide for governments, business and citizens on both sides to prepare for the new relationship

we want to build. as i said in my speech in florence, it is not in our national interest to ask businesses to undertake to set the changes. so it follows that during the implementation period, they should continue to trade on current terms. whilst i recognise that not everyone will welcome continuation of current trading terms for another 21 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. she said if there was cooperation, answers could always be found to difficult questions. for whether people voted leave or remain, many are frankly tired of the old arguments and the attempts to fight the referendum over the past year. with a year to go, people are coming back together and looking forward. they want us to get on with it, and that is what we're going to do. and i recommend this statement to the house. we're pleased that some progress

seems to be to be made of a transition period officially given that 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 a 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 these brexit talks. wild claims and red lines quickly become clamp—downs and broken promises. it's the right honourable gentleman who, when the shadow secretary backed a rerun of that referendum, when the then shadow northern ireland secretary back to rerun of the referendum, he was sacked. so i say to the right honourable gentleman, it is this conservative party in government that is getting on and on delivering on the wishes of the british people and delivering

a brexit that works for everyone. why is the prime minister so attached to the reckless strategy taking the uk past exit date without settling a treaty on the future relationship that we would have with the eu? she could call that 21—month period an additional negotiation period or a limbo period, but she really shouldn't call it an implementation period because there may be nothing to implement. given that her government and unfortunately the official opposition have had more positions on brexit than the kama sutra, isn't it time that we had this nonsense stop and that she and her governments about how our constituents be protected from the disastrous economic impact of brexit? can i say to the honourable lady that the picture she paints is not one that i recognise.

indeed, in relation to any things that she said in her question. brexit provides a once—in—a—lifetime opportunity for there to be a renaissance of east anglian fishing, though the provisions of the implantation agreement have created both anger and also some doubt as to whether the governments share the ambition of the industry locally. would the prime minister agree with me that injust around the 20 months since the the referendum, thanks to sessions like this, the british public is much better informed about the cost and benefits of leaving european union particularly the dangerous to our security and our economy. given that they're much better educated about europe and the threats, shouldn't we have another vote now that we know what the cost really is? no. a refreshingly short answer from the prime minister. you're watching monday in parliament with me, mandy baker. don't forget you can follow bbc parliament on twitter and catch previous editions of this programme on the bbc iplayer. you may remember that last week

there was quite a bit of discussion about the fact that the new post—brexit or blue passport was to be made by a dutch company. our stock over, we will be saying goodbye to the standard eu burgundy number but the security company is understood to be the preferred it for the new ones rather than the british firm. the government must ta ke british firm. the government must take responsibility for the potential fallout this may have on workers, theirfamilies, potential fallout this may have on workers, their families, the community and the wider industrial strategy. we understand the passports may be manufactured partially in the uk but it is telling that in countries like france, a state—run company makes

their passport for security reasons. security reasons the minister doesn't seem to be concerned about. the mp whose constituency is home to the maker had concerns about how reliable provider would be. and why it was felt appropriate for the prime minister to open the new headquarters of macro or two, the new company which has taken over one of the bidders to the passport contract, during the time of the procurement process. —— tallis. the government must provide clarity as to whether the bid was discussed at all or during the visit. the winning bidder will comply with the uk policy framework for security to mitigate and prevent internal and external threat to the manufacture and onward transportation of blank looks. it was very important to the home of this we abide by international rules on the fairness

of the procurement process. there was a great deal of financial due diligence done to all those companies billing and are determined to have a uk passport which will contain the most up—to—date and innovative security features, making sure our trouble document is at the forefront of security globally. tallis owns a great deal of money to this country and when we negotiate, we will be asking other countries to open up their procurement processes. it would be ridiculous to abandon the principle now. giving in to constituency pressures. there is a

degree of chutzpah in the british labour party saying it needs to be given to a british firm when originally they gave it to an american firm. any assessment of the loss of income revenues from corporation tax, that will be lost to the exchequer when this goes to a french government owned company.” thank the honourable gentleman to the question. the new bidder will be providing new facilities in the uk, newjobs providing new facilities in the uk, new jobs what we providing new facilities in the uk, newjobs what we will seek to do is work with any company that experience is any issues over redundancy of staff is any responsible government would do but it is important to us that we make sure we get value for money to the british taxpayer. can i bring the minister back from the fantasyland of free trade to the real world by

countries look after their own industry and workers? he has painted a picture of protectionism and a little britain that i don't recognise. i want us to be an outward facing global country. the government has been urged to offer the hpv vaccination to all adolescent boys in england. since 2008, girls aged 11— 13 have been offered vaccination which can stop cervical cancer. 0ne minister wanted it to go further. hbv related oral cancers of the fastest rowing types of malignancy that affect many each year and recent studies suggest the vaccination of boys is cost—effective and i congratulate the government on its decision to vaccinate gay men. does my noble friend not agree that the only way to protect men directly is to vaccinate them before they become sexually active as they already do

in many countries, including australia, canada, austria or the united states? and would my noble friend also agree with me that we have a duty and responsibility to protect these boys rather than leaving them vulnerable to potentially fatal cancers when it would be to lead them to do anything about it. my noble friend makes an important point. vaccinations against the hpv virus is bringing wider benefits but it's important to stay it's not myjudgement. in the interim advice, they did not recommend an extension of the programme, not least because of the high levels of immunity and uptake among girls that it has but that was interim advice. the final advice is being considered and what we can tell the house is the underlying assumptions will be published when a decision is made. the joint

committee on vaccination is reviewing the case. a former president of the royal college of obstetricians and gynaecologists welcomed the review. they did say there were not convinced by the cost effectiveness. is that merely for the cost for the programme if the institution —— if instituted now, or the long—term benefits? institution —— if instituted now, or the long-term benefits? the committee has to take a number of considerations into account. just as the approval of medicines happens with nice. we need to find out if the money can be better spent across the money can be better spent across the help system where there are competing demands. lady finlay is a professor of palliative medicine. does the government recognise some boys were having a homosexual relationship will not come forward and may be at higher risk prior to being offered any immunisation? but

also boys act as a reservoir for h b be among girls and they may be girls whose parents don't consent to them having immunisation but given 70% of cervical cancers are called hbv, they are particularly at risk. the minister said that would be taken into account by the review. a petition calling on pupils sitting english literally —— literature exam in england to be able to take books in with them has received 160,000 signatures. children have to learn quotes from 15 poems and the plots, themes and characters from another block. in a debate, there was support from two former teachers. what we got to ask is not what was suitable for us but what is suitable for the next generation. 0ne suitable for us but what is suitable for the next generation. one the questions we really need to be asking ourselves is, is it really necessary have so asking ourselves is, is it really necessary have so much emphasis on memory? in a society where

information is available at the touch of a button. arguably, if we went to open book exams, we would not only be a will to ask more demanding questions of students, we would actually be putting them in a situation which is closer to what they will experience in real life. no academic writes a paper without reference to anything else, purely from memory. no one writes a business report like that or professor submission. we all have access to text, to information while we are doing that. we are not expected to memorise every word we say, nor should we be. why do we expect pupils in our schools to do so. expect pupils in our schools to do so. why do we want students to rememberto 250 so. why do we want students to remember to 250 quotes? what is it till about our students, that they have a good memory. closed book

examinations in this literature encouraged the business of learning by rote. it brings to mind victorian classrooms with rows and rows of single death desk dashed desks, a teacher with kaine held aloft at the head of the class. if it is an open book exam, it takes young people longer. if they are given a dictionary in a modern language exam, it takes longer to sit and look through all of this, rather than getting on with it. how much additional stress will be caused young people by extending exams two hours and hours rather than having a finite amount of time but they had to produce quotes? there is some merit in having quotes that young people are able to refer to but i do question whether having an open book exa m question whether having an open book exam was something like english literature practically can become a reality. one mp said he hadn't

studied english literature at school, doing latin and greek instead. we didn't have texts in the example and we were encouraged to quote extensively from the text. what i can remember now owes to its erotic content rather than to anything else. are we getting confused over this issue of having to quote large quantities of text because i don't think that is part of the exam. it is important that people are not misled into believing they willjust get good marks by memorising and writing up the poems. pupils will not be marked on their ability to remember the exact words of text by heart. they may gain extra marks by the use of relevant quotes, perhaps by using approximate

language on occasion. pupils are assessed on their interpretations of the text which they may choose to do with reference to short quotations or reference to important passages. finally, theresa may has been challenged to sack a senior downing street official that the boat leave campaign exceeded legal spending limits. stephen parkinson, now the prime minister's official secretary, has denied the claims but in a statement he also revealed that he had been in a relationship with a whistleblower behind them. mr sany‘s friends say he had to rule reveal his sexuality to his mother as a result. how is it remotely a cce pta ble result. how is it remotely acceptable that when a young whistleblower exposes compelling evidence of lawbreaking by the leave campaign intimating —— implicating staff at number ten that one of

those names, instead of addressing the allegations, releases and officially sanctioned statement out in the whistleblower as gay and putting his family in pakistan in danger. it's a disgrace prime minister. theresa may told him any statement issued were personal ones. iof statement issued were personal ones. i of course recognise the importance of ensuring that we do recognise that the sum, being touted as gay is difficult because of their family and circumstances. 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. that answer didn't satisfy another labour mp. prime minister given that your political secretary stephen parkinson was the person responsible for outing the whistleblower using number ten paper and documents, what are you prime minister going to do?

you should sack him. i'm sorry, that is not what i should be doing. my political secretary does a very good job and as i have said, any state m e nts job and as i have said, any statements that have been made a personal statements. and liberal democrat tom brake asked the speaker to hold an urgent debate that would focus on the administration of referendums on what mechanisms are in place to correct past electoral rolls. john bercow agreed that it will be held on tuesday and will have highlights from the debate on tuesday in parliament. but that is all we have time for right now. goodbye. hello there. the weather is looking fairly mixed as we head through the remainder of this week.

during monday, there was some blue sky and some sunshine around for many of us. in fact, this picture comes from one of our weather wwatchers in saltburn—by—the—sea in north yorkshire. it was a beautiful end to the day on monday, but skies have been clouding over overnight. and through the day on tuesday, we start with quite a lot of cloud, some rain around which should clear toward the east and then things will turn brighter from the west later on in the day. so that's all down to the fact that we have this frontal system moving its way from west to east across the country through the day on tuesday. also, a dip in the temperatures behind that front too. so tuesday morning, we've got a lot of cloud. you can see the outbreaks of rain in the east. some snow on the mountains of scotland as well. most of that rain clears off and then we see brighter skies with some sunny spells too. we'll keep the rain and a little bit

of hill snow at times across parts of scotland. and temperatures range between around about 5—14 degrees. now, later on, on tuesday then, we'll keep the outbreaks of rain and hill snow for a time across scotland. further south across the country, clearer skies, but then we see more cloud building in from the south, with some outbreaks of rain later on into the early hours of wednesday morning. so temperatures for most of us, frost—free to start the day on wednesday. but during the day, we'll start to see some slightly colder conditions. wednesday, winds turn to more of a north—westerly direction, importing that slightly cooler air mass through the middle of the week. so here's how wednesday's shaping up. rain in the south. a little bit off sleetiness over the higher ground as well. a few wintry flurries for the mountains of scotland. whilst that rain clears towards the south—east, a few showers, but most places looking dry. temperatures certainly colder by the time we get to wednesday. by the afternoon, around about 6 or 7 degrees so probably the coolest day of the week. looking ahead towards thursday, low pressure still sitting towards the north—west of the uk and another frontal system starts to move in from the south—west so after a largely dry start to the day on thursday,

there'll be some showers pushing into wales, south—west england too, making their way further north and east, mainly for england and wales. scotland and northern ireland, it's looking a drier day, particularly through the morning. could be an isolated shower during the afternoon and temperatures on the cool side, still around about 9 or 10 degrees for most places during thursday. now what about the outlook towards easter? it starts off on that fairly cool theme, i think, but things will gradually turn milder. there'll be a little bit of rain at times, but also some sunshine to be enjoyed too. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: australia becomes the latest country to join the biggest mass expulsion of russian diplomats since the cold war. 2a nations respond to the nerve agent attack in britain. we will not tolerate this type of reckless undermining of international law, this reckless

assault on the sovereignty of nations. a security guard is among five people arrested over a deadly fire in a shopping centre in siberia. investigators say the alarm was switched off and fire exits blocked. no smiles for the cameras as european union leaders say turkey is failing to address a long list of concerns over its conduct. and, in deep water — a new report backed by the un says