this is bbc news. the headlines: china has revealed that the north korean leader, kim jong—un, did travel in a special train for talks with china's president xijingping in beijing this week. it's his first known foreign trip since he assumed power seven years ago. china's state news agency reports mr kim said his government is committed to denuclearisation, of the entire peninsular, notjust the north. in the latest diplomatic response to the nerve agent attack on a former russian spy living in the uk, nato has expelled seven russian diplomats from its headquarters in brussels. 25 countries have now taken similar action. russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov has said moscow will respond in kind. and russia's president, vladimir putin, has declared a national day of mourning for the 64 people who died died in a fire at a shopping centre in siberia on sunday. most were children. people in the city of kemerovo have been protesting and mr putin blamed what he called ‘criminal negligence‘. it's just gone 2:30am.

now on bbc news, it's time to look back at tuesday in parliament. hello and welcome to the programme. coming up, mps hear explosive allegations about campaign spending during the eu referendum campaign. it was "totally illegal." the prime minister announces a multi—year funding settlement for the nhs in england. to plan and manage effectively, we need to get away from those annual top—ups over the budget. and why did the foreign secretary feel the need to say this? can i get your indulgence, to straighten myself before you? mps have heard allegations from a whistle—blower that the vote leave campaign exceeded spending limits during the eu referendum campaign. christopher wylie is a former director of cambridge analytica which has been accused of gathering the data of 50 million facebook users. the information commissioner has

launched an investigation into cambridge analytica. and the vote leave campaign is being investigated by the electoral commission. in evidence to mps, mr wylie said cambridge analytica and a canadian data firm, aggregate iq or aiq, worked for vote leave and another brexit group, be leave. he alleged that was intended to get around spending limits. your sense of motivation has been that you are rather aghast at the techniques in the social media world that have been used for military styles purposes, are being used in the political domain? it's notjust the data. it is also more broadly that they are an example of what modern—day colonialism looks like. you have wealthy companies that, in devloping nations, going into an economy or democracy

that is still struggling to get his feet on the ground and taking advantage of that to profit from that. mr wylie cited what he called operations involving aiq in a number of countries including nigeria. you have aggregate iq, which received 40% of the funding, also working on projects that involved material that come from that and distributing violent videos of people being bled to death to intimidate voters. this is the company that played an incredibly pivotal role in politics here. if they were being paid for work for the be leave campaign, do you think they were working to a common plan for paid work to get a common result? i am absolutely convinced that there was a common plan with the be leave, the dup, and the

battery for britain. he said he had visited the canadian firm, aiq. they conceded to me, a verbatim quote, and i stand by, i remember him telling me this, it was "totally illegal." but they found it amusing because you have to remember this is a company that has gone around the world and undermined democratic institutions in all kinds of countries. they could care less as to whether or not their work is compliant because they like to win. is that your belief as well? absolutely. have you or anybody else made an assessment about whether this made much difference to the final outcome of the eu referendum? when you are caught in the olympics doping, there is not a debate about how much illegal drugs you took, right? orwell, he probably would come in first place anyway or he only took half of the amount or it doesn't matter.

if you are caught cheating, you lose your medal. if we allowed cheating in our democratic process, and we allow this amount, what about next time or the time after that? this is a breach of the law and cheating. mr wylie quoted the director of vote leave, dominic cummings. dominic cummings himself said this is what won brexit from him. he said aiq, they couldn't have done it without them and it's explained by the fact they spent 40% of their budget on aiq. are you going as far as saying that these institutions, had they not cheated, in your words, the outcome of the referendum might be different? is that what you are saying? i think it is completely reasonable to say that you are looking

at a different outcome in the referendum had they not been, in my view, cheating. just before the hearing the head of facebook, mark zuckerberg, rejected an invitation to appear before the committee. i think given the extraordinary evidence we heard so far today, it is absolutely astonishing that mark zuckerberg be prepared to submit himself to questioning in front of a parliamentary and professional hearing given that these are fundamental importances and concerns to facebook users and to our inquiry as well. we urge them to think again if he has any care for his company services. dominic cummings who was director of vote leave said the allegations were wrong, confused and nonsensical and denied that his group broke any rules. cambridge analytica and aggregate iq have also denied any link or any wrong—doing. the prime minister has announced that the government is to set out what she called a "multi—year funding settlement" for the nhs in england, and she hinted that more money would be forthcoming before the spending review next easter.

at the weekend the health secretary said in an interview that it was time to end what he said had been a "feast or famine" approach to funding the nhs. he's argued that there should instead be a ten year plan. and last week more than a hundred backbench mps sent a letter to downing street calling for the government to establish a cross—party commission to address the challenges facing the nhs. the prime minister was speaking to the liaison committee, which consists of the chairs of all the other committees. she said the current funding system wasn't sustainable. we need to, i think, get away from the annual approach we see to the nhs of budget. i recognise that for the nhs to plan and manage effectively, we need to get away from those annual top—ups of the budget that we have seen. we need to have a sustainable long—term plan and building, building on the work of the five—year forward view, but looking beyond that implant which allows the nhs to realise greater productivity and efficiency gains and this a critical power change for me.

this year and in advance of next year's spending review, i want to come forward with a long—term plan and i want that to be done in conjunction with the leaders of the nhs and clinicians and health experts. and the government will provide a multiyear funding settlement. the chair of the health committee referred to the letter sent by mps. he set up a cross publisher commission. both engage with the public at the very difficult choices in raising the funds, but also because we believe in a hung parliament. it is difficult to get those kinds of decisions to parliament and without a consensus and we cannot afford to have another failure in this area. i wanted to leave and wonder what it will be able to hear response that led into the water points. i am not convinced that the precise

apology commission proposing a c answer. it is for the government to make a decision about the spending priorities and i will suggest that we cannot afford to wait until next season. the 70th anniversary of the year, we need answer on this. i be happy to meet with you and other parliamentarians discuss how we can ensure there is that greater involvement in this and i take your point do you have made. even if it is difficult to achieve think it is desirable to build a consensus on further performing closer integration. we will be happy to talk to you and others about what involvement in working towards this long—term plan could be. and she introduced a personal note. i don't want to say compiled nobody doubts my personal commitment to the nhs. i rely on nhs every day, i am a diabetic, it was there for me when i was diagnosed a number felt to the nhs. the government has of course, since last november, we have committed £10 billion in new funding for the nhs, which builds on a record of extra

funding since 2010 but i could say i do share a lot of the diagnosis that you have put forward because there are serious cost and demand pressures on the nhs and significant areas of new demands such as mental health services and that in turn, does put pressure on her workforce and i think do fantastic outstanding job for us. in a hospitals and gps and elsewhere. the chief executive of nhs england, simon stevens, later welcomed the prime minister's announcement, saying a funded long term plan for the nhs was very welcome, timely and significant. before her remarks about the nhs, theresa may, explained the latest situation regarding expulsions of russian diplomats around the world in retaliation for the poisoning of the former spy in salisbury. just to update on the number of countries who have now expelled

because i said yesterday that number is going up, it is now 37 countries, 25 pitches that have conducted expulsions. also early this afternoon the nato secretary general confirmed that russia has been reduced from 30 to 20. a further action had that have been taken. i welcome the international support that we have garnered. you're watching tuesday in parliament with me, mandy baker. if you want to catch up with all the news from westminster on the go, don't forget our sister programme, today in parliament, is available as a download via the bbc radio 4 website. the business secretary has waded into the controversial takeover bid for one of the uk's largest engineering firms, gkn. greg clark called for a binding commitment from the takeover specialist melrose that it wouldn't sell gkn's aerospace business for five years if its eight billion pound bid succeeded. melrose agreed.

gkn employs around 6000 people across the uk. it makes parts for the aeroplane manufacturers, airbus and boeing. and it's supplied the british armed forces since the first world war. profit warnings last october and november made it vulnerable to a takeover. greg clark updated the commons on the other commitments he'd pressed melrose for. maintaining the business headquartered and listing in the uk, maintaining a uk workforce as well as engaging closely with their representatives. continuing to pay tax as a uk taxpayer. continuing to invest in r and d programme switcher crucial. investing in the training and development of the workforce.

treating suppliers while including the prompt payment. making arrangements for current and future pensioners which are to the satisfaction both to that trustees and independent regulator. concerns had been raised that melrose would carve up the company into chunks to sell off. melrose‘s model has been built on short—term ownership. i've sought a legally binding commitment to greater continuity of ownership and to exclude the option of a short—term sale of this business without the prior government consent. if the government thinks today's weekly assurances from melrose are... there is nothing to ensure workers not put to bed concerns about our industrial strategy and national security. the melrose have said in their response that they are in discussion with the takeover panel and regard that as the best way to launch them so that they're in portable with severe penalties including contempt of court if they are broken. the takeover panel monitors the adherence to them after did vent were they to be successful. is he confident that it is not

in actual fact likely to be bi, strip and so what's left. what detail what he required to be satisfied of this or is it an melrose's own words, to be done in good faith? will the secretary of state for defence if he is the richer assurance for his serious concerns, will he come to the house to confirm that he is happy with the answers given? at the close of the bed when all of the facts are known including what they've said this morning, the ministry of defence will make an assessment and advise on whether or not there are grounds for intervention on national security. it's too late for the secretary of state to drive a harder bargain. he says it is still possible to call the sin but this takeover has been hanging over their employees and their wider stakeholders for more than two and half months.

what more information do you need to gather to decide on whether to call this an? several mps were concerned that a promise from melrose not to sell off the aerospace business for five years wasn't long enough. the lead—in times are five, ten, 15 years ahead and airbus themselves have said that melrose‘s business model might threaten their ability to continue to be a customer to gkn. my question is, does he consider that the undertakings given by melrose are satisfactory or sufficient answers to the questions he's asked? i would say that it is not to me to a value eight the competing bids given that i have a cause ijudicial role in determining whether to intervene or not. i thought it was the right thing to set out areas in which i would invite the bidder to state their intentions so that it is clear to not only the shareholders but to this house and members of the public

including the honourable gentleman so that they can make their own assessment. gkn shareholders have until midday on thursday to accept the bid from melrose, or back gkn's own business plan. the government is poised to take over the running of the troubled northamptonshire county council. the local government secretary said he'd come to the decision after a report found the authority had "failed to comply with its duty" to deliver services. sajid javid said he was minded to appoint commissioners to oversee it. from day one i proposed that they take direct control over councils financial management and overall governance. getting these basics rights must be the first step in stabilising get shorty. i also proposed giving them reserve powers to act as they see fit across the entirety of the authorities functions if they consider that they must step in. his labour shadow asked

what contingency plans had been put in place should other local authorities find themselves in a similar situation. mr speaker, northamptonshire is the first but it will not be the last. given the national audit office and the local government chronicles assessments the other councils will follow northamptonshire in the coming years, what assessment is the secretary of state making and what resource is he going to make available to ensure that does not happen? because this is what happens when a government has created a 5.8 oh yen pound gap in local government funding. what everyone is saying that social care is on its knees and went children services need an additional £2 billion. look out government cannot be allowed to collapse on this government swatch. ——local government. i have to say i don't think is listened to a word in my statement.

he appears once again to have come to this despatch box with a preprepared statement and in fact was clear is i think he has been very disappointed by the report. he's disappointed indeed by the report because it's not what he wanted. what he wanted was a rapport he could use for party political purposes so he could play his favourite game, political football, a game that has no respect for the people of northamptonshire. the transport secretary came to the commons to update mps on the west coast rail franchise. the line is one of the busiest in europe. the government will be issuing a new contract until 2026, but then, chris grayling said, things will change. after 2026, the express services will start to move off an increasingly congested part of the existing network and onto a new line. i new and more frequent trains will provide additional capacity and foster services. space will be freed up and existing

routes to improve services to existing destinations. this will require a carefully managed transition. gradually the network provides and more of the intercity service. i want to explain how this new contract will ensure this transition takes place. but the shadow transport minister wondered why. i'm perplexed why the secretary of state has come to parliament to announce a set of administrative arrangements. there are so many pressing issues the secretary of state should be bringing to the house, not least the promise to come back to the house about future arrangements. rather than announce invitations to tender for rail franchises. his statement is simply thin grule. once again it sets out vague aspirations and possible options.

yet again its evidence the government won't set out a strategic direction but instead just delegates decisions to the private sector. chris grayling said he'd never been told off before for coming to the house. the snp thought the statement was "lacking in detail" too. chris grayling. he also says the congestion on the west coast main line and other areas... but does beg the question then, why is hs2... why is a north—south by not being done at the same time? there wasn't much new information in the statement. it was clear that this invitation to tender was late because it was expected in last november. can the secretary of state explain both the reasons for the delay and its implications? can he confirm the award date is still november 2018? whether the new franchise will start on the ist of april, 2019, whether this will have any wider impact on the department rail franchise schedule.

we don't expect this to have a significant impact on the franchise schedules. just put in place a direct award to tide us over because of the delay. we may be slightly late but we are probably in line with our original timetabling plans. it's important to get these things right. it's also important to make sure they have had the time to get the detail right and that's what they've been seeking to do. now, peers have agreed to give themselves a pay rise. new proposals will see the daily allowance go up by £5 to £305 from the beginning of next month. the leader of the lords said after eight years of the rate being frozen, the time was now right for an increase. while freezing the rate during that time wasjustified in mind of public wage restraint. it's clear whether a modest mechanism is introduced, over time the amount of the daily allowance will reduce

significantly in real terms. the change will cost £339,000 a year. a former first minister of scotland was against the idea. i don't believe £300 tax—free available to every member of this house indiscriminately is justifiable in terms of public opinion on the public purse. nevertheless, the pay rise was approved without a vote. returning now to those claims of spending irregularities in the brexit referendum. and in the commons, several mps claimed the campaign was influenced by the controversial data firm cambridge analytica, a firm, it's alleged, with close connections to a brexit—supporting group ‘beleave‘. they say ‘beleave‘ benefited from money given to them by the main brexit group, ‘vote leave‘. vote leave, whose leading members included the current foreign secretary and environment secretary

formally declared in has spent £6.7 million during the 2016 campaign within the £7 million limit. that sum does not include a £625,000 donation that vote leave gave to the brexit campaign aimed at students and young people and which they spent on the very same digital marketing company used by vote leave. if one campaign can get around its limit by donating to another and the same side, the cap is meaningless and so electoral commission rules are meant to restrict campaigns from getting round spending limits in this way. is he aware in terms of new allegations that a month before the referendum itself, the remain campaign set up no fewer than five new campaigns? channeling £1 million to those five organizations. does he think they should be investigated as well and if so, why hasn't he mentioned it so far? thank you for intervening and making that point. he is already heard from this side of the house that

if there are serious allegations made about either camp i would love them to be investigated. the government is strengthening the remit of the information commissioner by giving atop her powers to make sure organizations comply by its investigations including the ability to impose significant fines. we will consider the proposal for further powers as the bill passes through parliament. there have also been allegations about whether some of the spending ahead of the eu referendum was properly declared. some of those matters have been subject to electoral commission investigations. others may be in due course. i return to the point at the beginning that i shall not comment on investigations that are being carried out. now the foreign secretary may have pulled off what many are calling a diplomatic triumph with the international reaction to the salisbury attack, but he was a little less than diplomatic in the commons. he was referring to his labour opposite number, emily thornberry.

she‘s married to sir christopher nugee, but she chooses to use her maiden name. say no says the noble and learned lady baroness — whatever it is... what an extraordinary thing. that provoked a furious reaction from the speaker. we do not address people by the titles of their spouses. the shadow foreign secretary has a name. and it's not lady—something. we know what her name is and it is inappropriate and frankly sexist to speak in those terms. and i am not having it and this chamber. that is the end of the matter. no matter how senior a member, that parlance is not legitimate, it will not be allowed and it will be called out. the foreign secretary seemed mortified. just to prostrate myself before you and to apologise for any

inadvertent sexism or discourtesy that you may have deemed me to have been guilty of. i heartily tender my apologies to the right honourable lady. boris johnson insisted that he‘d meant no harm. and on that conciliatory note, that‘s all we‘ve got time for. so from me, mandy baker, goodbye. hello. temperatures on the way down in the lead—up to the easter weekend. low pressure close by. so it‘s looking unsettled. some rain around in the day ahead from this first area of low pressure, has been some uncertainty about how far north the wet weather is going to get. still a little bit about that.

south wales, southern england most likely to see some wet weather, but it may push further north to parts of wales and the midlands into east anglia as the day goes on, getting some showers, a chance of a bit of sleet and wet snow out of this, especially on the hills into the west of these areas as we go through the afternoon. much of northern england, northern ireland and scotland will have variable cloud, sunny spells and a few showers around, wintry on hills, longer spells of rain in the northern islands into shetland. single figure temperatures. that‘s the big difference across southern parts of the uk compared with tuesday. some spots reached as high as 16 celsius. the chill will be around on wednesday night under clearing skies, most of the showers still around on wednesday evening will die away and that means clear skies will be widespread frost settling going into thursday morning. it does mean is thursday begins it will be chilly, but there will be a fair amount of sunshine around,

but then we are watching another area of low pressure coming in from the south—west. a bit slower, but it will at least have some showers, some longer spells of rain but at least showers pushing into south—west england, wales and to parts of northern ireland too. gradually on thursday, edging a little bit further north—east. ahead of that, you are likely to see some dry weather and some sunshine of a fairly pleasant day. there is a weather front working in northern scotland with outbreaks of rain, sleet and snow around here, it‘ll feel quite cold. a little bit milder, those eastern areas have seen the sunshine during thursday and those heavy showers wales and the south—west edging into the midlands, parts of south—east england, continuing to feed northwards during thursday night into good friday. low pressure very much in evidence during good friday. there will be bands of showers pushing north across the uk but there will be gaps between them, we might get to see some sunshine, but for the most part it‘s single figure temperatures. that is how we are going into the easter weekend. temperatures on the cool side of average. not cold, but cool for the time of year. it is low pressure so there will be wet weather at times,

a risk of snow on northern hills, but it won‘t be wet all the time. there will be drier, sunny moments, quite pleasant in the spring sunshine. easter day looking like a decent day on sunday. mild by monday, particularly into england and wales. that‘s your forecast. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. i‘m mike embley. our top stories: chinese state media confirms north korea‘s leader kimjong—un did travel to beijing this week for talks with president xi jinping. nato expels seven russian diplomats over the spy—poisoning in britain. moscow calls it part of a western policy to contain russia. president putin calls a national day of mourning for victims of the shopping centre fire and blames criminal negligence. angry crowds denounce local officials. and the mona lisa may be allowed to go on tour. the first time it‘s left the louvre in almost half a century.