hello. a very good morning. this is breakfast, with dan walker and louise minchin. a showdown in parliament, as theresa may pepares to justify her decision to launch airstrikes on syria. the prime minister will insist that military action was in the national interest, but she'll face anger from opposition mps who say they should have been consulted first. good morning. it's monday the 16th of april. also this morning: a huge bushfire in south—west sydney forces hundreds of people to leave their homes, police say it may have been started deliberately. after a freezing start to spring, farmers are facing costs that are rising twice as fast as inflation. i've come to this farm in wiltshire to find out why. manchester city are premier league champions.

captain vincent kompany was at his wife's family's home to see second placed manchester united lose, handing city the title. and carol has the weather. a fairly cloudy start for some with patchy rain. some sunshine today. warmth on wednesday. especially in the south. i will have more in 15 minutes. i will see you at 6:15. good morning. first, our main story. theresa may will today appear before mps to defend her decision to authorise air strikes against the syrian government, without first securing the support of parliament. opposition parties say mps should have been consulted before the uk joined the us and france in bombing three syrian sites, in response to a suspected chemical attack on the town of douma.

here's our political correspondent, ben wright. today, mps will get to question theresa may for the first time after striking syria. mps were not asked to approve military action before it happened in the early hours of saturday morning. four raf tornadoes took part in the joint strike against syrian chemical weapon facilities. this one is next to damascus before and after the missile strike. theresa may is expected to tell mps the bombing of syrian targets was in the national interest of britain and necessary to prevent further use of chemical weapons. the uk government says there is clear evidence the bashar al—assad regime used one of its helicopters to drop a barrel bomb with chemicals in it on douma

earlier this month. jeremy corbyn has said other groups may have been involved and questioned the legality of the airstrikes. the government will ask the speaker of the commons to grantan will ask the speaker of the commons to grant an emergency debate following the statement of the prime minister, a chance for mps to ask whether the action of the west will continue in syria and where it will happen next. it is possible there will be a vote, a symbolic one, but not one that will tie the hands of the government. ben wright, bbc news. ben wrightjoins us. ben wright joins us. it is a significant day. plenty of mps returned from their easter break. they want specifics. they want the prime minister to justify this, to do so without coming to parliament

first. she could have suggested a recall of parliament last week but decided against it. she could have put off the strikes until after today. they will look at the rich and thick arcane parliamentary procedure, the rules, to see how they can hold the prime minister to account. she will give a statement and givea account. she will give a statement and give a chance for mps to say their peace. they say they will offer additional debate, potentially this afternoon for quite a few hours. but in all likelihood, if there is a vote at the end of it, it would be a vague and bland motion. it is not likely to change anything. for opposition parties, that is frustrating. for them, for opposition parties, that is frustrating. forthem, it is for opposition parties, that is frustrating. for them, it is too little, too late. thank you for being there for us. in the next hour, we'll be speaking to baroness shami chakrabarti, the shadow attorney general, about labour's reaction to the strikes. hundreds of people in australia have fled their homes as a large bush—fire threatens the outskirts of sydney.

more than 500 firefighters with support from aircraft have been tackling the blaze. police say the fire may have been started deliberately, though south—eastern australia has seen unseasonably hot autumn weather that's turned bushland into a tinderbox. fires have devastated the suburban fringe of sydney bushland for two days. they said it was a predictable. it has taken a huge effort to keep them away from homes. remarkably, no properties have been destroyed. on the ground, 500 firefighters, including many volu nteers firefighters, including many volunteers and members of the military, confronted the inferno. they were supported in the skies above by more than a dozen aircraft. very warm autumn weather and a lack of rain have created a tinderbox on the edge of australia's exist city. we have to deal with the worst that

mother nature can throw at us and the worst australians are presented with by nature, the better it brings out the australian spirit, the selflessness, the courage, the professionalism, and the mateship, thatis professionalism, and the mateship, that is what firefighters are showing. conditions in the firestone had eased, but flames still burn out of control. —— fire zone. there are fears the strong winds which fanned the flames over the weekend will again return. south—eastern australia is one of the most vibrant regions in the world. —— fire prone. most outbreaks are started by lightning or outed powerlines. sometimes, the beginnings are more sinister. there is a thought that this has happened on purpose. we will have more on that throughout the morning for you.

a 16—year—old boy has been charged with the murder of a 14—year—old girl in wolverhampton. the body of viktoria sokolova, who was originally from lithuania, was discovered in a park on thursday, a day after her family reported her missing. a 17—year—old boy who was also arrested in connection with the death, has been released on bail. the former director of the fbi has accused donald trump of being morally unfit to be president of the united states because of his constant lies, his views on race and his treatment of women. james comey‘s comments came in an interview with the american abc network. he was fired a year ago over his handling of the investigation into russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. president trump has previously called mr comey a liar. he has become more famous than me. president trump has made no secret of his anger at the huge amount of attention being given to james comey and his tell all book. instead of

handshakes, they are now exchanging. ahead of james comey‘s handshakes, they are now exchanging. ahead ofjames comey‘s prime time interview, donald trump called him a line and a leaker and untrutful slimeball among other things. this was james comey‘s chance to fire back. james comey made clear his disdain for the values of a president. he is not medically unfit to be president, he is morally unfit to be president, he is morally unfit to be president, he is morally unfit to be president. a person who sees moral equivalence in charlottesville a person who talks about women like they are pieces of meat, who lies and insists the public believes it,

he's not fit on moral grounds. this fight feels very personal. james comey and donald trump seem intent not only on defending their reputation, but destroying that of the other. stephen lawrence's father says he's forgiven his son's killers, nearly 25 years after the teeanger was murdered. neville lawrence says the decision has been "one of the hardest things" he's done, and he still wants justice. stephen was 18 when he was stabbed by five white youths at a bus stop in south—east london. the killers of my son, there's supposed to be five people, two have been convicted, but i forgive them. i forgive them been convicted, but i forgive them. iforgive them for been convicted, but i forgive them. i forgive them for the murder of my son. at around 11:30 tonight, nasa will launch a mission called tess to look for planets around the stars which are closest to earth. surveying nearly the entire sky, a key part of the operation will involve capturing the vibrations from the stars,

which can be turned into sounds, helping researchers to identify their age and size. here's our science correspondent, pallab ghosh. the night sky is littered with stars. they shine and they also seeing. these are the vibrations of a distant starsimilarto seeing. these are the vibrations of a distant star similar to our son converted into sound. —— sing. —— sun. and this is another much bigger and older star. professor bill chapman is analysing these sounds. there is no air in space so they can't be heard, but vibrate, and so generate sound. out of chaos we get ordered sound, like an instrument.

the sound a star makes cells us how big and hot it is. —— tells. some are too close to check. those at the right distance away would be capable to support life in what is called the goldilocks zone with the perfect temperature. in a few years' time we will know how each of the stars in the night sky sounds and whether the planet around them might harbour life. pallab ghosh, bbc news, at the kennedy space centre in florida. life. pallab ghosh, bbc news, at the kennedy space centre in floridalj kennedy space centre in florida.|j like the sound of stars. but they do not make noise! in space, no one can hear you scream. i will not go to space so hear you scream. i will not go to space so i don't mind. we have missed you.

we have missed youlj we have missed you. i have missed you both, and everyone else. have i missed much? not really. you timed it perfectly to crown manchester city's victory. manchester city are premier league champions for the third time in seven seasons, and they did it without even kicking a ball, as second—placed manchester united were beaten 1—0 at home by bottom side west brom, jay rodriguez with the goal. as if you did not know! united now can't catch their local rivals at the top of the table. isn't that great? and here's how city's title win was celebrated by captain vincent kompany. he watched the united match with his wife's family, some of whom are manchester united fans. he then went to the pub with a couple of other city players. that is kevin de bruyne he is face—timing there. staying with the premier league, and arsenal's woes away from home continued as they lost 2—1 at newcastle.

arsenal are yet to win a single point away from home in 2018. brilliant from newcastle, though. they are the only team in all four leagues to be in that position. they have now passed the crucial a0 points mark, and have pretty much secured their premier league status. celtic thrashed old firm rivals rangers four nil to reach the final of the scottish cup. they'll play motherwell as brendan rodgers side look to win a domestic treble for a second consecutive season. and the commonwealth games have come to an end on the gold coast. they were officially handed over at the closing ceremony to birmingham, who host the next games in 2022. after these big events, we talk about who was the star of the games. we will talk about netball with the women $0011. we will talk about netball with the women soon. we will talk about

another star, mike bushell falling in the pool. lovely to see sally back, i couldn't agree more. this morning as a cloudy start to the day for some of us. some patchy light rain and drizzle and as we go through the coming week will turn warmer. much warmerfor some. we will see some rain in the west at times it will be windy, especially later tonight and also tomorrow. let's focus on the temperature is first of all. either time you to wednesday and thursday, some in the south—east could hit 25 or 26. earning around 2a, the same with norwich, edinburgh 19, belfast around 18 or 19 as well. the blue vanishes, and the amber and yellow comes across us. by

vanishes, and the amber and yellow comes across us. by the time we get to thursday itself, a change in wind direction means it will start to cool down a little bit across the north. today what we have is a weather front moving northwards. north. today what we have is a weatherfront moving northwards. it has been producing cloud and drizzle which we had overnight, the patchy rain as well. that will tend to fizzle as we go through the course of the day and for many of us it will dry up. some of us are already starting on a dry note. we will see some early sunshine across england and wales and then we will see a developer across scotland and northern ireland, with some fair weather cloud developing through the day as well. in the sunshine it will feel quite nice but through the day the wind will pick up and it will be quite blustery. at the same time, another weather front coming in from the west will start to introduce some rain across northern ireland, and the cloud building ahead of that. this evening and overnight, a blustery theme to the weather. the

rain coming in, not making huge progress a ci’oss rain coming in, not making huge progress across all of northern ireland and scotland, getting in the western fringes of england and wales, with cloud building ahead of it. clearer skies across parts of the south—east. temperature—wise, it is not going to be a cold night. we are not expecting any issues with frost. so we start tomorrow with the rain again coming in from the west. still windy, we could have gusts is a50 still windy, we could have gusts is a 50 miles an hour across the outer hebrides, for example, and as the rain moved steadily towards the east it will tend to weaken. ahead of it, some brightness. behind it it will brighten up with some showers. temperatures again in pretty good shape for this stage in april. we are looking at about 13 or 1a in the north, highs of 15 or 16 further south. in the sunshine, feeling pleasa nt south. in the sunshine, feeling pleasant enough. for wednesday there will be quite a bit of dry weather around, quitea will be quite a bit of dry weather around, quite a bit of sunshine as well. a system coming in from the west producing rain at times across the far west of northern ireland and the far west of northern ireland and the north—west of scotland, but are pumping up southerly winds, so that

will have an impact on the temperatures. and you can see how they are starting to climb, most especially in the south and south—east. remember, by the time we get to thursday, a lot of dry weather around, a lot of sunshine as well, some fair weather cloud developing as you would expect through the course of the day, and these southerly winds helping the temperature rise that bit further. and on thursday, some in the south—east will hit 25 or 26 but we have a change of wind direction. it will come from more of a north—westerly across scotland, northern ireland and eventually northern england. so for you the temperatures will dip slightly as we go through the course of the week. so some of us will see beautiful pictures like this. that looks like absolutely amazing temperatures. thank you very much indeed. and a fun week ahead if you like a bit of heat. let's take a look at today's papers. you mentioned the netball, and the top story is russia launching a cyber war on the uk, as boris

johnson warns of putin's retaliation. and this is a wonderful photograph. if you have not watched it, i think it is available on bbc iplayer, england's netball is taking on australia in the gold—medal match. a few years ago they lost right on the buzzer to jamaica, and this is a massive turnaround. the celebrations are incredible, and it is one of those wonderful sporting moments which i think even if you don't like sport you need to witness. i watched it yesterday after i knew what the result was, andi after i knew what the result was, and i was standing in front of the television nearly crying, brilliant. on the front page of the times, the satellite images from these weapons strikes over the weekend, showing a scientific research centre believed to bea scientific research centre believed to be a chemical weapons facility, both before and after these allied strikes. they talk about macron, and they also talk about nhs money and

how patients might be able to decide how patients might be able to decide how it is spent. a cyber war alert on the front page of the telegraph and quitea on the front page of the telegraph and quite a few of the papers have a picture of gwyneth paltrow with a ring on herfinger. consciously uncoupling, is the word, but she might have consciously re— coupled. you would hope consciously, wouldn't you? the front page of the sun, a headline about syria and the mirror has putin's possible cyber war on britain. and i was looking at these lovely thermal trousers.” britain. and i was looking at these lovely thermal trousers. i could do with one of those. we won't need them next week, this week...” with one of those. we won't need them next week, this week... i tell you what, jose mourinho could have done with a thermal vest. i think that picture tells you everything you need to know about yesterday. jose mourinho's face, in his

postmatch interview yesterday he said we did not hand this title to manchester city today, they won it. so you could say he was quite magnanimous. pep guardiola, who a p pa re ntly magnanimous. pep guardiola, who apparently was playing golf yesterday while the team were playing. and easy, tiger. the smallest horse in the race, with the old est smallest horse in the race, with the oldest jockey, and there smallest horse in the race, with the oldestjockey, and there he is, happy as larry, having a bit of a roll and relaxing after the race. and after the weekend, for the sixth yearin and after the weekend, for the sixth year ina and after the weekend, for the sixth year in a row, all horses and all jockeys came home safe, which is really reassuring. they have reduced the height of the fences considerably. and some of them are scary, as you know, you have had a close look at them. and i rather like this. you like to go camping... asa

like this. you like to go camping... as a youngster. apparently there is the rise of extreme holidays at the moment. you go and live on a desert island and had to survive. you just get dropped off, apparently. but this one, sleeping on the edge of a cliff, i think that is actually in cornwall. £450 to sleep there. i have a bit of a hike issue, i once went to the top of st paul's cathedral and i was sick, and it landed on the top of a pigeon.” hear you, dan. hundreds of australian firefighters have been tackling a blaze which remains out of control in the outskirts of sydney. police say the fire, which broke out on saturday afternoon, may have been started deliberately. rebel talbert is the new south wales rural fire service assistant commissioner. shejoins us now. let's speak now to james bowman, who lives in sandy point, a suburb in south—western sydney. james you could see the fire from your back window. described to us what happened. yes,

it was really quite frightening. on saturday afternoon it was quite benign afternoon and i was sitting inside the house and saw a small plume of smoke the horizon. within one hour the entire horizon was consumed with this fire fronts, and we we re consumed with this fire fronts, and we were being inundated by the authorities with text messages saying now is the time to evacuate if you can. and within 20 minutes, they said you can't move, you have to stay and we had to defend the home. the next 30 hours myself and my neighbours were trying our best to actually defend the home front ember attack. we are looking at these pictures, and these are your pictures. you get a sense of how close it was. you could feel the heat of the fire as well, could you? yes, you could feel the heat, and as you are out there trying to battle the flames, embers are coming down on you and you are getting burnt at

the same time, and the acrid smoke is burning your lungs and throat. it is burning your lungs and throat. it is quite a terrifying experience. and tell us about the situation now. has gone away, do you think you are out of danger? well, at the moment things have improved in terms the weather. the wind has changed action and the fire front is to the east of us. and the fire front is to the east of us. ican and the fire front is to the east of us. i can still hear water bombers in the distance, and we have small fires in our backyard at the moment still going away. and tell us about the information you are getting. one moment you had to go, the next moment you had to go, the next moment you had to go, the next moment you were told to stay. what has it been like? it was absolutely chaotic. i really praised the effo rts chaotic. i really praised the efforts of firefighters and authorities, but when you are in a situation which is changing by the minute, you really are trying to rely on good information, and one second you think you ok, and then you are packing everything that you can enter your car that you want to save, and just in the state of

confusion. and there are some indications that this may possibly have been started deliberately. yes, we we re have been started deliberately. yes, we were the victims of this before, and 2002, when the back of our house got down in a bushfire and it looks like the same thing has happened again in 2018. it is quite terrifying that people out there would contemplate starting a fire in these conditions. and you talked about trying to defend your house, literally what are you doing? is it about having buckets, or how does it work? are you still there? yes, go on. unfortunately we have lost james. we will be speaking to somebody from the fire service, as well, because there was quite a suspicious fire and it may have been started deliberately. we will be talking about that later on the programme as well. you are watching breakfast from bbc news, and ben has got his wellies on in wiltshire to bring us news on the future of uk farming.

good morning, where are you? good morning to you. you might be able to see this on our top shot, i am in the bright red jacket. we are down in wiltshire, where it has been a pretty terrible time as far as the weather has been concerned this winter. cold, very cold, very wet, and that has meant bad news for farmers. they have had to keep their animals inside the balm for a lot longer than is normal, which costs all sorts of extra money in terms of vetting, feed, medication, all that sort of thing. extra cost they are not able to pass on to us as customers through the food chain because we're so used to food being so because we're so used to food being so cheap and it has been so cheap was so so cheap and it has been so cheap was so long, so that is the problem. but take a at this. the first lambs of the spring have been born, and crucially, they are able to be outside for the first time. that means it can get back to normal and forfarmers means it can get back to normal and for farmers they can get on with the

rest of the business of running the farm. you will be able to see the farmer in the background, she is also president of the national farmers' union. we will speak to her a little later and ask about the difficulties of getting through this winter. what it has meant for farmers up and down the country, and what it can enter all sorts of things, not least the price we pay forfood in things, not least the price we pay for food in the supermarket. so we will talk about that little later. before that, let's get the news, travel and weather where you are watching breakfast this morning. good morning, i'm asad ahmad. a man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a woman was stabbed to death in brixton. she is thought to have been aged in her 30s, and was attacked at a property on sudbourne road yesterday evening. it is believed the victim and the attacker knew each other. police say it appears to be a domestic incident. and another teenager was stabbed in haringey last night. the 18 year—old is in a critical condition in hospital. a 19 year—old has been arrested in connection with their investigation. over 160 trains a day on mainland great britain are skipping stations. figures obtained by the bbc show

that this happens most often on trains run by govia thameslink. just over one in 50 services on its southern, gatwick express, great northern and thameslink services skipped a stop last year. the rail operators say this normally happens after a delay, to avoid knock—on disruption. if you were driving past buckingham palace last night, you would be forgiven for thinking you took a wrong turn and ended up in a forest. it is because the building was transformed into a rainforest design as part of a global conservation initiative in the queen's name. the commonwealth canopy project aims to preserve precious areas of forest forfuture generations. during her reign, the queen has planted more that 1,500 trees around the world. let's have a look at the travel situation now. looking at the tube board, it is a

good service on all lines this morning, which is great news for eve ryo ne morning, which is great news for everyone who travels by tube. services are not running on south—eastern between mainstone west and strood due to emergency engineering work. nothing new only approach to the blackwall tunnel, delays going back to the woolwich road flyover. let's have a check on the weather, with kate. good morning. temperatures on the way out through the first part of this week, and by thursday we are looking at highs of around 25, perhaps 20 six celsius. drive through the week with increasing amounts of sunshine. the temperatures on the way up as well. so through the day to day we are looking at a day of sunny spells. apps a touch more in the way of cloud to begin with, staying dry and bright with some sunny spells and temperatures at a maximum of about 16 celsius, with a south—westerly breeze. as we go through the evening

and overnight, staying dry with some clear spells, some patches of cloud around at times, and i think it will bea around at times, and i think it will be a little bit easy. temperatures overnight, though, not falling too far. a minimum of about seven or eight celsius. so as we move through the first part of the week we are seeing the temperatures on the way up. there will be some sunshine to come on tuesday. temperatures by the time we get to thursday, though, reaching a maximum of around 26 celsius, the wind having eased as well. so a dry, write and increasingly warm weather to come. just finally, the heads of 53 commonwealth nations meet in london today, and ahead of that, you can find out some interesting facts about the commonwealth on our website. that's it for now. vanessa feltz is on bbc radio london in half an hour with her breakfast show, until 10:00am. hello, this is breakfast, with dan walker and louise minchin. we'll bring you all the latest news and sport in a moment, but also on breakfast this morning.

as theresa may prepares to face mps over saturday's air strikes, we'll be asking syrians here, and in damascus, about theirfears and hopes for the region. we're looking back at the highs and lows of the commonwealth games, as the beautiful gold coast passes the baton to birmingham. and corrie star bhavna limbachia will be here to talk about her character's controversial storyline, tackling religion and prejudice. good morning, here's a summary of today's main stories from bbc news. theresa may will tell mps later today that she ordered raf jets to take part in air strikes against syria because it was the "right thing to do." british, french, and us planes directed more than a hundred missiles at syrian government targets, thought to be chemical weapons bases, in response to the alleged chemical attack on the rebel—held town of douma. in an unusual move, the government's asked for an emergency commons

debate to allow mps more time to express their views. and that happens later today. hundreds of people have fled their homes as a large bush—fire threatens the outskirts of sydney. more than 500 firefighters have been tackling the blaze, which began on saturday afternoon. police say the fire may have been started deliberately. a 16—year—old boy has been charged with the murder of a 14—year—old girl in wolverhampton. the body of viktoria sokolova, who was originally from lithuania, was discovered in a park on thursday, a day after her family reported her missing. a 17—year—old boy who was also arrested in connection with the death, has been released on bail. the former director of the fbi has accused donald trump of being morally unfit to be president, because of what he called his constant lies, his views on race and his treatment of women. james comey‘s comments came in an interview with the american abc network ahead of the release of a tell—all book. he was fired a year ago over his handling of the investigation into russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

president trump called mr comey a liar. stephen lawrence's father says he's forgiven his son's killers, nearly 25 years after the teeanger was murdered. neville lawrence says the decision has been "one of the hardest things" he's done, and he still wants justice. stephen was 18 when he was stabbed by five white youths at a bus stop in south—east london. the killers of my son, there's supposed to be five people, two have been convicted, but my heart... iforgive them all for the murder of my son. at around 11:30 tonight, nasa will launch a mission called tess to look for planets around the stars which are closest to earth. surveying nearly the entire sky, a key part of the operation will involve capturing the vibrations from the stars, which can be turned into sounds, helping researchers to identify their age and size.

buckingham palace was transformed last night, as a vibrant rainforest was projected onto the front of the building to mark the queen's commonwealth canopy project. images of foliage and trees transformed the palace, as part of a global conservation initiative led by her majesty, who is seeking to preserve areas of forest for future generations. 40 countries have already committed to the scheme. look at that! remember when madness performed. maybe they did the same. surprisingly brilliant backdrop! definitely, with the flags unfurling. the whole point of a ra i nfo rest unfurling. the whole point of a ra i nforest is unfurling. the whole point of a rainforest is it is quiet. well,

serene. rainforest is it is quiet. well, serene. and sally is back on a great day! manchester city are premier league champions. a weird way to win it. a bit anticlimatic. they didn't play yesterday but defeat for second placed manchester united means they can't now be caught at the top of the league, as our sports correspondent, andy swiss, reports. and west bromwich albion have beaten manchester united! and manchester city are the champions of the premier league. it was a day when defeat for united meant delight for city. watching on tv, city captain vincent kompany, city. watching on tv, city captain vincent kompa ny, celebrating city. watching on tv, city captain vincent kompany, celebrating with his family, and the fans also in a party mood. if we win it today, it is dreamworld. some of the football has been outstanding all year. some

of the best players in the country. the triumph of city has been emphatic, but the title has not been won it this early in the season for yea rs. won it this early in the season for years. they may have had disappointment in europe, but their domestic dominance is beyond dispute. under manager pep guardiola, they scored a staggering 93 goals. success with a swagger. make no mistake, pep guardiola has done brilliantly. he has won two trophies. everyone is delighted. can he do that next step further? he has the credentials. he has done it with all the other clubs. pep guardiola was relaxing yesterday with a round of golf. his footballing talents have guided city to emphatic triumph. anti— swiss, bbc news. —— andy swiss. just watch this. this is vincent

kompany just watch this. this is vincent kompa ny watching united just watch this. this is vincent kompany watching united lose at home with his wife's family, his wife, carla, some of them, you might see it, they are actually manchester united fans. look! he is not rubbing it in theirface, at united fans. look! he is not rubbing it in their face, at least. united fans. look! he is not rubbing it in theirface, at least. a united fans. look! he is not rubbing it in their face, at least. a lovely moment. do you know what he did after that? what do you think? what would you do? you went to the pub, of course. isn't that great? just phoning the lads. kevin de bruyne you. just checking where they will meet. forever engraved on that ball. he went to the pub with other players. he was the cheerleader, as you can imagine, for city fans. look

at this! this is in the pub. captain on the field, captain in the pub. just sitting in your pub and vinny walks in, imagine that. that is excellent. a memorable pub visit, isn't it? i will sound like a grumpy old man now, but you can only celebrate with one hand these days, put your phone down! but if he did not phone it, we would not see it. thank you, whoever filmed not phone it, we would not see it. thank you, whoeverfilmed it, but the rest of you, just enjoy it. now the rest of you, just enjoy it. now the other end of the spectrum. elsewhere in the premier league, arsenal are still without a single point away from home in 2018. their latest defeat on the road came

at newcastle, who came from behind to win 2—1 at stjames' park. matt richie with the winner. that win takes newcastle past the all important 40—points mark, effectively securing their premier league status. celtic thrashed old firm rivals rangers 4—0 to reach the final of the scottish cup. they'll play motherwell, as brendan rodgers side look to win a domestic treble for a second consecutive season. chelsea ladies kept their bid for a treble alive after beating manchester city to make the final of the women's fa cup. they won 2—0 with both goals from england striker fran kirby. chelsea will face arsenal in the final at wembley on the 5th may. it was a dramatic final day of the commonwelath games for the home nations in more ways than one. this is scottish marathon runner callum hawkins collapsing just a mile from the finish line. he was leading at the time but succumbed to the 30—degree heat. he was taken to hopsital, but has since been released. the race was won by australia's mike shelley. 0h oh dear. it's uncomfortable to watch, isn't it? it took people too

long to get to him. people were shouting for help. he is fine. since released. in the run—up, he had baseball caps with freezing cold water on his head. he saw it coming. heat exhaustion, which is very, very dangerous and serious. it is almost impossible to regulate your body temperature at that heat. awful to watch, but he is fine. and now for a slightly more positive note. there was a massive win for england's netballers. england coach, tracey neville, says it feels like her team have broken the seal of southern hemisphere domination after that dramatic late win over australia to take netball gold. either australia or new zealand had won the title in each of the previous five games, and it's the first time england have beaten australia at a major tournament. it was in the final second that they

won! oh my goodness, she could be in the gymnastics team as well! it was the gymnastics team as well! it was the final second that the ball went in. it almost inspires me to get back into it. what position were you? various, centre sometimes, goal attack... ga. the commonwealth games is, of course, over. we loved it. why are you giggling? your letter is there. goal attack... why are you giggling? your letter is there. goalattack... sorry. ga. i was thinking... anyway... well, the commonwealth games was handed over to the 2022 host birmingham at the closing ceremony on the gold coast. midlands hiphop artist, lady sanity, was there performing, and a video displayed images to represent the youthful culture of birmingham. the word brum was spelt out by people in colourful outfits.

it's a first major international sporting event for the midlands city. #brum. very clever. here is the tally. scotla nd scotland and wales, their best commonwealth games. no medals for falling in a swimming pool live on television. but people will remember it forever. the political fallout from the uk's involvement in the syria conflict takes centre stage in parliament today, but what about daily life for people in the war—torn country? we can talk now to danny makki, a british—syrian journalist in damascus. danny, describe to us what life is like where you are now? thank you so much for coming in speak to us on bbc breakfast this morning. good morning to you. the

situation in damascus, if you look at the mood on a day—to—day basis, it was mixed, from initialfear and suspense and surprise from the initial attack to normality now. you have the initial one hour period of the bombardment which took everyone by surprise. no one was expecting it at that moment in time. since then, what we have seen in damascus is essentially an apple of pro—government nationalism and protesting and rallies denouncing the us. —— an outpouring. we have even seen images the us. —— an outpouring. we have even seen images and videos of the syrian president going into work, just to suggest nothing has changed and everything is the same. in recent days, definitely, it can be translated to resilience, defiance to the west, defiance to donald

trump. we have seen that increasingly in damascus over the previous few days. initially, that was not the case. at 430 in the evening on saturday, there was a large, a widespread bit of panic, in fa ct, large, a widespread bit of panic, in fact, after jets were large, a widespread bit of panic, in fact, afterjets were striking different targets in damascus. i, for one, was actually here. i could see it and you hear it falling around me. in the initial hours, there was trauma trying to understand what was happening. since then, people have learned to deal and adjust to the horrors of war in this country. because of the state of the civil conflict, the government is essentially winning, with russian and iranian support. people have used it as an opportunity to symbolise a small victory, if you like. this was not symbolic, important, but limited. there was no regime change. for

people here, it is a small victory. it is being portrayed in the media that way. i was reading about a generation of children growing up with this as all they have ever known. have you seen that impact your own family? i mean, well, absolutely. one of the biggest problems which is not really discussed to a great extent is the issue of the generations, now. look at aleppo, areas around damascus, children have grown up four, five, six years of consecutive war, learning by violence. humanity is brought in to people from a young age. in damascus and syria in general, a lot of that has been broken due to the conflict that the you can see the behaviour of children, even in the streets playing, it is far more violent. groups of children are holding guns

and pretending to be soldiers. definitely, this is an issue which will continue in the future. how do you change the mentality of a people suffering from this conflict from such a young age? aleppo really typifies that example, it is going to need a comprehensive social and cultural effort, not just to need a comprehensive social and cultural effort, notjust from syria, but internationally, to transform the way these people think after witnessing the horrors of what is six or seven is of a very horrific war. what is the best hope ofafamily horrific war. what is the best hope of a family for syria ten years down the line? what do you picture? my own opinion would differ from the line? what do you picture? my own opinion would differfrom my family's. we definitely want assyria which is completely stable, which has an economy which isn't under sanctions, which is performing well on the financial and economic

levels. it is definitely something in regards to the services in this country during these sanctions and during this war, where syria has been so isolated. it has been very difficult for people working, in terms of businesses, in terms of the economy. and more than anything, just for a period of stability to happen in this country, where you won't have the international community isolating this place. and whether you have some sort of rapprochement or peace conference to finalise a solution, that is something we may see in the next five to ten years. definitely the rebuilding and reconstruction of syria is something high on the agenda. my own quick opinion would definitely be something similar. but i would add we would like to have assyria with a more liberal outset, where you have more liberal views, which would be more ideologically closer and proximate to the western world, where i have been raised and brought up. and that is some in which hopefully can be translated into a very free press, good, open

constitution, definitely. really good to talk to you this morning. thank you so much for bringing us that information from damascus. and danny's family are working in damascus at the moment. here is carol with a look at this morning's weather. and it really will be warm later in the week. absolutely right. good morning. temperatures are set to rise for some of us into the mid—20s. as we look at the week ahead generally, it is turning warmer. there will be some rain at times in the west, and at times it is also going to be windy. blustery winds developing through the day, windy overnight and into tomorrow. let's ta ke windy overnight and into tomorrow. let's take a look at some of the temperatures we are expecting. london, 25, even 26 by the time to get to thursday. birmingham and norwich 24, edinburgh 19, belfast 18. the average at this time of year in the north is about 12. in the

south it is about 15, so we are way above average. not necessarily going to last. by the time we get to friday it will cool down for all but the south—east. where we have the yellow and amber, we hang on to the highest temperatures. today we have a weather front moving northwards, another one coming in later to the west. this one has been producing a lot of cloud, some patchy, light rain and drizzle, that will tend to fade. this morning it is quite a cloudy start where we have the patchy, light rain and drizzle but it will brighten up as we go through the day. the lion's share of the brightness across england and wales. some fairweather cloud developing. next weather front in the atlantic will be showing its hand coming in from the west, introducing some rain. temperatures today around where they should be. we have ten or 11 in the north, highs of 14 to 16 in the south. blustery end to the afternoon, the wind continuing to strengthen as we go through the evening and overnight. clear skies

to start with, so some pleasant sunsets this evening. you can see how the cloud builds as the weather front bearing rain comes in from the west. the heaviest rain will always be in the west as a continues to push eastwards, especially through tomorrow, where it will be a weakening feature. with all this going on it will not be a cold night, even when we have a clear skies. norwich seven, london about the nine mark. tomorrow we start off with clear skies and the south—east. here comes this weather front bringing the rain from the west towards the east. ahead of the cloud will build, turning the sunshine hazy. there will be some showers creeping in as well, temperatures 13 in the north to around 15 or 16 or a little bit higher in the south. on wednesday, once again a lot of dry weather around. a fair bit of sunshine. the cloud building in from the west. again we have a weather front skirting past northern ireland, taking a swipe at the west and bringing some rain across north—west scotland. by then,

temperatures continuing to climb. 14 to 17, 19 in the north. highs of around 21 to 23 as become further south. the thursday, still a lot of dry weather. not a bad week if you like the weather dry. a fair bit of sunshine around, some fairweather cloud. still some winds across many parts of the country but during thursday we will see more of a westerly coming in, which means the temperatures will not be as high as we go through the latter part of thursday. we could hit 26 somewhere in the south—east. thursday. we could hit 26 somewhere in the south-east. 26 degrees, wow. thank you very much. flip-flops and shorts all over the place. as soon as it hits 18, the shorts on. after one of wettest, coldest starts to spring in years, farmers are seeing the cost of everything from animal feed to fertiliser rising twice as fast as inflation. ben has put his wellies on to find out what is going on. he is on a farm in wiltshire. welcome to wilshire today. we will

show you around a little bit later, but the first lambs of spring are still inside the barn. you touched on the issue of the weather, and that has been the problem. farmers have had to keep their stock inside for much longer than they normally would. they have to pay for all the sort of stuff, the betting, the feed, and a lot of medication the animals were potentially need because they are inside for a lot longer. but the weather is turning, so longer. but the weather is turning, so things are looking up. what does it mean for the farmers? you are the president of the national farmers' union. how bad has this winter then? it has just union. how bad has this winter then? it hasjust gone union. how bad has this winter then? it has just gone on and on. union. how bad has this winter then? it hasjust gone on and on. we have seen a it hasjust gone on and on. we have seen a delay in grass growth, and we are probably about six weeks behind. ideally you want to get the lambing done as soon as possible. we don't like to keep them housed brainy longer than they need, and they need the grass. this week it is all to

change, but it has been tough. farming isa change, but it has been tough. farming is a 24/7job. change, but it has been tough. farming is a 24/7 job. does it mean you are behind with a lot of things you are behind with a lot of things you would have done at this point. should you have done more things than you have been able to do, because of the weather? in my farming lifetime, i never remember a winter like this one being so delayed. we have normally done the harrowing and rolling, and spring planting will be well under way, and hasn't happened. it will get there, and nature always correct, but it has been a tough time. input costs have been massively increased, bedding, feed, and it isjust what we as farmers have to cope with, to do, we love thejob, but we as farmers have to cope with, to do, we love the job, but sometimes you are farming outside and the weather can throw anything at you. as it has this last winter. i will let you get on, because i know you have a lot to do. come with me, and we will try and get across this yard without falling. as you heard, farmers are playing catch up with

everything they have to do, especially in terms of getting animals into the fields. you can see how muddy it has been, and that means it is really difficult for farmers to do they need to do. and you have a cattle farm around the corner. a really important week for you, because you have your cattle outside for the first time. that's right, about six weeks later than we would normally turn out. what difference does it make to you day to day, and what can you do that you won't able to do before? we can get on with the fieldwork on the ground work and all the spring planting, but most importantly we can get around to the grazing grass, which is the cheapest food on the farm and lowers our production cost, and puts us lowers our production cost, and puts us in lowers our production cost, and puts usina lowers our production cost, and puts us in a better place to cope with the extra cost is we have had over the extra cost is we have had over the winter. and you work at farmers weekly. how much does that affect the price of goods in the supermarket? in terms of how the supply chain stacks up, farmers are

at the bottom of it and don't hold the power, really. the power is with the power, really. the power is with the big retailers and supermarkets. so we are unlikely to see prices change in our big shop, that price will affect farmers and their bottom lines. and that makes it more difficult, but they have to do invest money now to make sure they are prepared for the winter, and it is always about planning ahead. absolutely, and farmers have to produce a product. that product is expected to be of a certain quality and arrive at a certain time. to shoulder the costs of that is down to them. farmers have to keep running regardless of the wet weather we're having. and you have so weather we're having. and you have so much to do now, and it is a bit of playing catch up, isn't it? what are your priorities, what do you have to get done? we have to get our spring planting now. we have spring cereals to go in, we have to finish putting fertiliser on the ground and get ready for two or three weeks'

time. it is really important to maximise the quality of the grass that we make, so we have quality feed for next winter. and that is one element of the cost, that the weather has been so bad when there is extra bedding and feed to pay for. a lot of uncertainty as well around brexit, which will affect what farmers invest in. sure, brexit is affecting all businesses, and what farmers are craving is some sort of certainty. we exported massive amount of product, and our biggest market is europe. farmers wa nt to biggest market is europe. farmers want to know if that market is still going to be there, what sort of ta riffs going to be there, what sort of tariffs they might face on the product, and in the same sense, what sort of tariffs we are likely to see on imports, as well. really good to see you, thank you for explaining all of that. i just want to show you what the guys have been contending with this morning. we talk about how the weather has been so awful. they have been laughing at my rather

clea n have been laughing at my rather clean wellies, but look at some of this mud. it has been one of the cold est this mud. it has been one of the coldest and wettest winters on record, which has made it difficult to these guys to get everything done that they had needed to. we have been listening to carol's forecast very closely this morning. some reassurance that things are looking a bit dry and warm in the next week orso, so a bit dry and warm in the next week or so, so good a bit dry and warm in the next week or so, so good news a bit dry and warm in the next week or so, so good news for them, but a lot of catch up to do to get the farm back to where it should be normally. we will show you around a little later and introduce you to some of the gorgeous lambs have been born on the farm over the last week. and talking about the weather, carol was talking about really warm temperatures later in the week. 26, and nice to see ben sloshing around in the mud. there is something quite therapeutic about it. have you ever had a mud bath? no, i haven't. but i have gone running in the mud, which is fun. time now to get the news,

travel and weather where you are. good morning, i'm asad ahmad. stephen lawrence's father says he has forgiven his son's killers, nearly 25 years after the teeanger was murdered. neville lawrence says the decision has been one of the hardest things he has done, and he still wants justice. stephen was 18 when he was stabbed by five white youths at a bus stop in south—east london. my my son is in the ground injamaica. i have lost that i might have a granddaughter or grandson. all that has been taken away from me. so you forgive, but you wantjustice. absolutely. if you were driving past buckingham palace last night, you would be forgiven for thinking you took a wrong turn and ended up

in a forest. it is because the building was transformed into a rainforest design as part of a global conservation initiative in the queen's name. the commonwealth canopy project aims to preserve precious areas of forest forfuture generations. during her reign, the queen has planted more that 1,500 trees around the world. other news now, and if you have travelled on a train and heared an announcement over the tannoy saying the train is no longer calling at your stop, then you are not the only one to get annoyed. 160 trains a day skip stops across the country, with the worst train operators for the issue in london. govia thameslink does it more than anyone. why? well, it says it normally happens after a delay, to avoid knock—on disruption. let's have a look at the travel situation now. good service on the tube. on the trains, services aren't running on southeastern between maidstone west and strood, due to emergency engineering works. on the roads, nothing new on the approach to the blackwall

tunnel. it is monday morning, it is just after easter, so delays going back to the flyover. let's have a check on the weather, with lucy. good morning. temperatures on the way up through the first part of this week, and by thursday we're looking at highs of around 25, perhaps 26 celsius. so it will be generally dry through the week, with increasing amounts of sunshine. the temperatures on the way up, as well. so through the day today, we're looking at a day of sunny spells. perhaps a touch more in the way of cloud to begin with, but staying dry and bright with some sunny spells, and temperatures at a maximum of about 16 degrees celsius, with a south—westerly breeze. as we go through the evening and overnight, then, staying dry with some clear spells, some patches of cloud around at times, and i think it will be a little bit breezy. temperatures overnight, though, not falling too far — a minimum of about seven or eight celsius. so, as we move through the first part of the week, we're seeing

the temperatures on the way up. there'll be some sunshine to come on tuesday. temperatures by the time we get to thursday, though, reaching a maximum of around 26 celsius, the wind having eased as well. so lots of dry, bright and increasingly warm weather to come. vanessa feltz is on bbc radio london in half an hour with her breakfast show until 10:00am. hello, this is breakfast, with dan walker and louise minchin. a showdown in parliament, as theresa may pepares to justify her decision to launch airstrikes on syria. the prime minister will insist that military action was in the national interest, but she'll face anger from opposition mps who say they should have been consulted. good morning to you. it's monday the 16th of april. also this

morning: a huge bushfire in south—west sydney forces hundreds of people to leave their homes, police say it may have been started deliberately. good morning. after a freezing start to spring, farmers are facing costs that are rising twice as fast as inflation. i've come to this farm in wiltshire to find out why. good morning. manchester city are premier league champions. yeah! captain vincent kompany was at his wife's family home, to see 2nd placed manchester united lose at home to west brom, handing city the title. nelljones lost her life in the manchester arena bombing. on what would have been her 15th birthday her family tell us why they're launching a charity in her memory. obviously, nell was ta ken

obviously, nell was taken in a terrible way, but we didn't want her death to be pointless. more on that later. and carol has the weather. good morning. a cloudy and damp start for many. it will brighten up. later, thick cloud and strong rain and wind from the west. the further south and east you are, the brighter the conditions, with lengthy spells of sunshine. this week, much warmer. i will have more in 15 minutes. thank you. good morning. first, our main story. theresa may will today appear before mps to defend her decision to authorise air strikes against the syrian government, without first securing the support of parliament. opposition parties say mps should have been consulted before the uk joined the us and france in bombing three syrian sites, in response to a suspected chemical attack on the town of douma. here's our political correspondent, ben wright. today, mps will get to quiz theresa may for the first time since she agreed to join the us and france in attacking suspected

chemical weapons sites in syria. mps were not asked to approve military action before it happened in the early hours of saturday morning. four raf tornados took part in bombing raids, part of a joint strike against syrian regime targets. here is a chemical weapons facility near damascus before and after the missile strike. theresa may is expected to tell mps that the bombing of syrian targets was in britain's national interest and necessary to prevent further use of chemical weapons. the uk government says there's clear evidence the assad regime used one of its helicopters to drop a barrel bomb with chemicals in it on douma earlier this month. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, has said other groups may have been involved and has questioned the legality of the airstrikes. the government will ask the speaker of the commons to grant an emergency debate following the prime minister's statement,

a chance for mps to ask where the west's action in syria might go next. it's possible opposition parties will call for a symboli vote too, but not one that will tie the government's hands or criticise it for the action already taken. ben wright, bbc news. nicky mason is there for us. the government has said there is a humanitarian imperative and so they made the argument they were acting legally. but the moral argument, the legally. but the moral argument, the legal argument, whether or not a strategy has been devised for the medium term, that will be discussed when the prime minister gives a statement in the commons this

afternoon. in addition, they will ask the prime minister to grant a debate to kick around these issues. the frustration opposition parties have around that is the mechanism used, yes, this is old parliamentary procedure, but the thing being voted on is vague and generic. in other words, they are not likely to get a definitive vote on whether or not the airstrikes were the right thing to do. it will be more broad about the situation in syria. big questions for the government on whether it acted correctly by not consulting parliament, a big debate after the easter break. thank you for joining after the easter break. thank you forjoining us. we'll be speaking to baroness shami chakra barti, the shadow attorney general, about labour's reaction to the strikes, in just a few minutes. hundreds of people have

fled their homes as a large bush—fire threatens the outskirts of sydney. more than 500 firefighters have been tackling the blaze, which began on saturday afternoon. police say the fire may have been started deliberately. phil mercer reports. for two days, fires have devastated bushland on sydney's suburban fringe. authorities said the fast—moving outbreak was agressive and unpredictable. it has taken a huge effort to keep the flames away from homes. remarkably, no properties have been destroyed. on the ground, 500 firefighters, including many volunteers and members of the military, confronted the inferno. they were supported in the skies above by more than a dozen aircraft. very warm autumn weather and a lack of rain have created a tinderbox on the edge of australia's biggest city. we have to deal with the worst that mother nature can throw at us. and the worst australians are presented with by nature, the better it brings out the australian spirit, the selflessness, the courage, the professionalism, and the mateship, that is

what firefighters are showing. conditions in the fire zone have eased, but flames still burn out of control. there are fears the strong winds that fanned the blaze over the weekend will again return. south—eastern australia is one of the most fire—prone regions in the world. most outbreaks are sparked by lightning or accidentally by downed power lines. sometimes, more sinister hands are too blame. australian police believe this monstrous fire in south—western sydney may have been lit on purpose. phil mercer, bbc news. a 16—year—old boy has been charged with the murder of a 14—year—old girl in wolverhampton. the body of viktoria sokolova, who was originally from lithuania, was discovered in a park on thursday, a day after her family reported her missing. a 17—year—old boy who was also

arrested in connection with the death, has been released on bail. the former director of the fbi has accused donald trump of being morally unfit to be president because of what he called his constant lies, views on race and his treatment of women. james comey‘s comments came in an interview with the american abc network ahead of the release of a tell—all book. it comes a year after he was fired by the administration over his handling of the bureau's investigation into alleged election meddling by russia. our north america correspondent, chris buckler, reports. oh, and there's james. he's become more famous than me. president trump has made no secret of his anger at the huge amount of attention being given to james comey and his tell—all book. instead of handshakes, they're now exchanging insults. ahead of mr comey‘s prime time television interview, donald trump called him on twitter "a liar, a leaker and an untrutful slimeball," among other things.

the interview, james... this was a chance for the man he fired as fbi director to fire back. in an exclusive interview with george stephanopoulos for abc news, james comey made very clear his disdain for the values of a president he once served. i don't think he is medically unfit to be president, i think he is morally unfit to be president. a person who sees moral equivalence in charlottesville, who talks about and treats women like they are pieces of meat, who lies constantly about matters big and small and insists the american public believes it, that person's not fit to be president of the united states on moral grounds. this very public fight feels deeply personal. and the consequences still have the potential to be political. donald trump and james comey seem intent not only on defending their reputations,

but on destroying the other. chris buckler, bbc news, washington. stephen lawrence's father says he's forgiven his son's killers, nearly 25 years after the teenager was murdered. neville lawrence says the decision has been "one of the hardest things" he's done, but he still wants justice. stephen was 18 when he was stabbed by five white youths at a bus stop in south—east london. the killers of my son, there's supposed to be five people, two have been convicted, but my heart... iforgive them all for the murder of my son. at around 11:30 tonight, nasa will launch a mission, called tess, to look for planets around the stars which are closest to earth. surveying nearly the entire sky, a key part of the operation will involve capturing the vibrations from the stars, which can be turned into sounds, helping researchers to identify

their age and size. here's our science correspondent, pallab ghosh. the night sky is littered with stars. they shine, and they also sing. whirring noise. these are the vibrations of a distant star similar to our sun converted into sound. and this is another much bigger and older star. professor bill chapman is analysing these sounds. of course, there's no air in space so the stars can't actually be heard, but they do vibrate, and so generate soundwaves. when we hear the sound of the stars, first of all, it tells us that out of this, if you like, this turbulence, this almost chaos, we get these ordered sounds, and it's incredible that stars resonate just like a musical instrument. this will be the first mission to scan nearly the entire sky, sector by sector. the sound a star makes will tell the scientists how big and how hot it is.

many of them will have planets in orbit around them. some will be too close. those that are the right distance away will be the ones most capable of supporting life in what the scientists call "the goldilocks zone" where the temperature is just right. in a few years' time we will know how each of the stars in the night sky sounds and whether the planets around them might harbour life. pallab ghosh, bbc news, at the kennedy space centre in florida. back to our main story this morning, and the news that theresa may will face mps for the first time since british forces took part in airstrikes against syria this weekend. many mps are angry they weren't consulted on the military action, which also involved the us and france. we can now speak to baroness shami chakra barti, the shadow attorney general. theresa may will say this was in the

national interest and the right thing to do later in a statement in parliament. do you welcome the discussion? i do, but it is too little, too late. there should have been a debate in parliament before the strikes. parliament could have been recalled last week and possibly the strikes delayed. i have questions about the legality of the strikes in any event on the basis of the testing the government has set for itself on its website. in particular, it seems far from clear to me that there was overwhelming evidence widely accepted by the international community that this had to happen so urgently. that is one of the government's and testing para meters one of the government's and testing parameters for itself. —— own test. you accept any government should have a right to do this if it is in

the interest of the nation? if it is urgent and you have to act insta ntly, urgent and you have to act instantly, few people, myself included, will dispute that. when it isa included, will dispute that. when it is a plant intervention like this, there is no reason at all in the zist there is no reason at all in the 21st century why this should not be led by parliament and why government should not be accountable to parliament rather than donald trump or emmanuel macron —— planned. parliament rather than donald trump or emmanuel macron -- planned. what about the thought it could put air crew in danger? i have not heard about that. a lot has been asserted but there has not been much evidence. perhaps it will be put to parliament by theresa may today. but in my view parliament needs to know how the government thinks it has met its own legal tests. and even those are somewhat controversial.m

its own legal tests. and even those are somewhat controversial. if it doesin are somewhat controversial. if it does in your view meet the tests, would you have the strikes?m does in your view meet the tests, would you have the strikes? it would have taken, in my view, the support of the security council or overwhelming international community support. neither were forthcoming, and you can see why not. chemical weapons inspectors were on their way in. why would you act without letting them perform the inspections? and i know people say the russians just to be so everything. that is not completely true this case, because they have been security council resolutions in the past to prohibit chemical weapons in syria, and russia and the us have been tabling rival resolutions. and if mr macron could call mr putinjust resolutions. and if mr macron could call mr putin just hours after the strikes, why couldn't there be a bit

more time and a bit more negotiation. that is far from clear from me. let's talk about the negotiations. the veto has happened in the last few years, what makes you think the russians would do anything but vetoed this kind of action? because it seems to me, and you will no doubt be talking to others during the course of the day, that the dispute is not a massive one in this case. it is about the precise nature of investigations and accountability. everybody seems to agree that there should be an investigation into chemical weapons and their use, by the syrian government and other parties, in syria. there just seems to be an area of difference about who makes the final decision over apportioning blame, and! the final decision over apportioning blame, and i think if mr macron is the guy who is on the phone to mr putin, is planning a visit, i think very soon, putin, is planning a visit, i think very soon, surely there could have been room for a little bit more

negotiation before this strike. what was so negotiation before this strike. what was so urgent, and did the international community broadly agree with that agency? that does not seem to be the case, and those are test is that the government itself has set out in legal terms. 0k, itself has set out in legal terms. ok, theresa may has talked ahead of this about the broad international support she has had until now. i just want to press you miss a little bit. if, for example, you believed in the government had founded to be legal, would you back strikes then? the thing is, legality and ethics and come together, because the government has built into its own legal test the idea that it has overwhelming international community support. it does not. and in my view, it should have been possible in this case to act more collectively at the security council level. i think there is still time,

i hope, to repair that, if mr macron says he is off to moscow soon. but i do not see how the government has met its own test is. it seems to be far short of meeting their own test in this case. and the fact that parliament couldn't be consulted is really deeply suspect in the 21st century, as well. thank you very much for your time on breakfast this morning. and i am sure many questions will be asked, and we'll see what the government says about the legality. in the next half—hour, we will be speaking to the former attorney general, conservative mp dominic grieve. we are doing two things on this programme, talking about the bad weather over the winter and the extraordinary weather, in some ways, to come. here is carol with a look at this morning's weather. we're in for we're infora we're in for a bit of warmth this week, not so much today but through

the middle of the week, wednesday and thursday. at times we had some rain coming in from the west. we have that scenario later on today, and it is also going to be windy at times as well. so take a look at the temperatures we can expect. wednesday, thursday, london 25 on thursday, possibly even 26. irving and norwich, 24. cardiff 20, edinburgh19, and norwich, 24. cardiff 20, edinburgh 19, belfast 18. to give you an idea, the average temperatures in the north of the country around 12 at this stage in april. in the south, 15, so way above average. you can see it quite nicely illustrated, mild yellow coming across us nicely illustrated, mild yellow coming across us all. and by the time we get to thursday, the wind changes direction and it will start to cool down compared with what we are used to. for today we have a weather front drifting north, are used to. for today we have a weatherfront drifting north, taking patchy cloud and ran with it. we also have another weather front coming in from the west. that will bring heavy rain. to start with,

some clout around in the northern half of the country producing patchy, light rain and drizzle. the odd spot of drizzle across the midlands in towards wales, but that will quickly clear and the most of us will quickly clear and the most of us there will be a dry day. for some of usa us there will be a dry day. for some of us a beautiful day. some clout developing but all the time through the west, the wind will be strengthening. we end the afternoon ona strengthening. we end the afternoon on a blustery note and we see rain coming across northern ireland. temperatures roughly 11 to 14 or 15. through the evening and overnight, to start with, a lot of dry weather, some beautiful sunsets, as the weather front comes in some beautiful sunsets, as the weatherfront comes in it some beautiful sunsets, as the weather front comes in it is bringing rain with it. the wind continuing to strengthen. even where we have clear skies tonight we not expecting cold night. temperatures generally holding up. tomorrow we start off with some sunshine. where we have had the clear skies, in comes the rain, the heaviest of which will be in the west. it doesn't make a lot of progress further east. the progress of does make will not be particularly heavy by then. behind it, for scotland and northern ireland, we see a return to

sunshine and showers. some of the showers could well be heavy in western scotland, but ahead of it we hang on to the dry and sunny conditions, turning hazy through the day. by the time we get wednesday, a fair bit of fair weather cloud bubbling up through the course of the day and this system just skirting past the west of the uk. it could bring some rain into the west of northern ireland and the outer hebrides and the far north—western during the course of the day, but in the sunshine it will feel quite person. look how these temperatures are climbing, 17 in edinburgh and around 23 as we push down towards london. on thursday, this southerly wind pumping across our shores. still a lot of dry weather around, a fair bit of sunshine as well. in the latter pa rt fair bit of sunshine as well. in the latter part of thursday the wind will have more of a westerly component, so it will start to feel not as warm. it will start to feel cold across scotland, northern ireland and potentially northern england. but move away from that and

we are back up into the low to mid teens, possibly 25 or 26 across the south—east. teens, possibly 25 or 26 across the south-east. that is a nice looking map. thank you for that, so you a little bit later on. —— see you a little bit later on. —— see you a little bit later on. nelljones was one of 22 people killed when a suicide bomber detonated a bomb at an ariana grande concert in manchester last may. on what would have been her 15th birthday, her family are launching the remembering nell foundation in her memory, a charity that will help support young people in the north—west of england. rachel burden has been speaking to nell‘s brothers and mother about how they are coming to terms with their loss. she wasjust... just she was just... just lovely, you know. she just had a lovely way about her. i mean, i know she was ours, and you are going to say that about your own, but she was just no trouble. i mistjust a little conversations with her, more than anything. just talking day to day

stuff. we never really had a big conversation, but there was always something you could talk about, something you could talk about, something you could have a laugh and a joke about. something you could have a laugh and ajoke about. she something you could have a laugh and a joke about. she was cuddly, she would always come and give you a big hug, and that was actually the last thing that she did was give me a hug, before i went away. out of the last few months before you?” hug, before i went away. out of the last few months before you? i can't not go in her room at 7am in the morning and open the curtains, it that's when i used to go in to get herup that's when i used to go in to get her up for school. and i can't get out of that habit of doing that, at the moment. i always have two put her light on in her room, so that if it's dark, her room isn't dark. i a lwa ys it's dark, her room isn't dark. i always said, when it happens, that i didn't want her room to become a shrine, not to appoint it has, because i can't bear to move anything from where she had it. you know, i think she put that they are, and that is where she wanted it, so

i can't move that from there. and that's how i am at the moment with it. the family has been working with nell ‘s school to create a garden of memories in her name, with help from herfriends. can memories in her name, with help from her friends. can you show us your table and tell us a little bit about it? my pebble has ariana grande lyrics on, that me and nell used to belt up voices out too. and it basically represents mine and nell ‘s relationship, because i didn't know it was possible to find someone like her until i did. and then it's got to be on the back, to represent manchester. i think it is important everyone talks about it, to keep her alive, and i think the garden is a good way to do that. because if we walk past it, and remember the times they spent with her. i mean, no one

would forget her anyway, but it keeps her memory alive, 24/7, really. what about the wider community? we are here in the school nell went to, and i know the town has been very supportive.” nell went to, and i know the town has been very supportive. i have a lwa ys has been very supportive. i have always said that the community and the school have taken some of the weight. it has not removed it, by any means, but itjust helps you stand that little bit taller than you would be able to ordinarily. your faith you would be able to ordinarily. yourfaith in you would be able to ordinarily. your faith in humanity you would be able to ordinarily. yourfaith in humanity is taken you would be able to ordinarily. your faith in humanity is taken away when something like this happens, and then thankfully the community, and then thankfully the community, and then thankfully the community, and the whole country, really, has built it back up, and we have now got faith in humanity again. today they are launching the remembering nell foundation, which will support charities which work with young people. obviously nell was taken in a terrible way. but i didn't want, or we didn't want, her death to be pointless. and i just or we didn't want, her death to be pointless. and ijust think he stood there and he took her life, along with the others, but if we can do

some good hour of what has happened, he has not won. how will you be remembering nell on her birthday?” know this is going to sound strange, your viewers will probably think i am very strange, but i know i will have to buy her a birthday card. i can't not buy her a birthday card. and that's another hard thing to deal with, because... you know, it's just not right. you know, so i'll do that, i'll buy her a birthday card. her a present, it'll be something to put in her room, and willjust have a quiet day, when we? rachel burden there, speaking to jayne, sam and joe, the family of nelljones, who was one of 22 people killed in the manchester attack on 22 may last year. we will of course be marking that

anniversary in may on the programme. and thank you to nell‘s friends for talking to us. it shows you how difficult, you can't get used to normal life, it feels weird that she is not around. time to get the news, travel and weather wherever you are watching us. good morning, i'm asad ahmad. the father of the murdered black teenager stephen lawrence says he has forgiven his son's killers, nearly 25 years on. dr neville lawrence said he had embraced the christian faith, and would spend the anniversary of his son's death next sunday in church. stephen was murdered in a racist attack in eltham, south—east london, in 1993. mr lawrence said forgiving those responsible was the hardest thing he had had to do. two men were convicted of stephen's murder. my son is in the ground injamaica. i've lost the fact that i might

have a granddaughter or grandson by my son. all that has been taken away from me. so you forgive, but you want justice. absolutely. if you were driving past buckingham palace last night, you would be forgiven for thinking you took a wrong turn and ended up in a forest. it is because the building was transformed into a rainforest design as part of a global conservation initiative in the queen's name. the commonwealth canopy project aims to preserve precious areas of forest forfuture generations. if you've travelled on a train and heard an announcement over the tannoy saying the train is no longer calling at your stop, then you are not alone. 160 trains a day skip stops across the country, with the worst train operators for the issue in london. govia thameslink does it more than anyone. why? well, it says it normally happens after a delay, to avoid knock—on disruption. let's have a look at

the travel situation now. minor delays on the overground between edmonton green and cheshunt. it is due to a faulty train. on the trains, services aren't running on southeastern between maidstone west and strood, due to emergency engineering works. on the roads, nothing new on the approach to the blackwall tunnel. it is monday morning, it is just after easter, so delays going back to the flyover. let's have a check on the weather, with lucy. hello, good morning. temperatures on the way up through the first part of this week, and by thursday we're looking at highs of around 25, perhaps 26 degrees celsius. so it will be generally dry through the week, with increasing amounts of sunshine. the temperatures on the way up, as well. so through the day today, we're looking at a day of sunny spells. perhaps a touch more in the way of cloud to begin with, but staying dry and bright with some sunny spells, and temperatures at a maximum

of about 16 degrees celsius, with a south—westerly breeze. as we go through the evening and overnight, then, staying dry with some clear spells, some patches of cloud around at times, and i think it will be a little bit breezy. temperatures overnight, though, not falling too far — a minimum of about 7—8 degrees celsius. so, as we move through the first part of the week, we're seeing the temperatures on the way up. there'll be some sunshine to come on tuesday. temperatures by the time we get to thursday, though, reaching a maximum of around 26 degrees celsius, the wind having eased as well. so lots of dry, bright and increasingly very warm weather to come. that's it for now. hello, this is breakfast, with dan walker and louise minchin. here's a summary of this morning's main stories from bbc news. theresa may will tell mps later today that she ordered raf jets to take part in air strikes against syria because it was the "right thing to do." british, french, and us

planes directed more than a hundred missiles at syrian government targets, thought to be chemical weapons bases, in response to the alleged chemical attack on the rebel—held town of douma. in an unusual move, the government's asked for an emergency commons debate to allow mps more time to express their views. if it is self defence and you have to act instantly, there are few people who will dispute taking action. but with planned intervention, there is no reason in the 21st century why government should not be accountable to parliament rather than donald trump or president macron. hundreds of people have fled their homes as a large bush—fire threatens the outskirts of sydney. more than 500 firefighters have been tackling the blaze, which began on saturday afternoon. police say the fire may have been started deliberately the former director of the fbi has accused donald trump of being morally unfit to be

president, because of what he called his constant lies, his views on race and his treatment of women. james comey‘s comments came in an interview with the american abc network ahead of the release of a tell—all book. he was fired a year ago over his handling of the investigation into alleged russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. president trump called mr comey "a liar." stephen lawrence's father says he's forgiven his son's killers, nearly 25 years after the teenager was murdered. neville lawrence says the decision has been "one of the hardest things" he's done, but he still wants justice. stephen was 18 when he was stabbed by five white youths at a bus stop in south—east london. the most ambitious search for planets around the brightest stars in the sky will begin at 11:30 this evening. the tess mission, which is being launched by nasa from cape canaveral in florida, aims to capture vibrations from the stars, which can be turned into sounds which help researchers to identify their age and size.

strangely, even though we can hear the sound... ..you can't hear the sound... watch it again with slater and take notes. —— with us later. it might hit 26 degrees this week. and sally is here! as if he did not know at home, manchester city are premier league champions. they did not play yesterday but defeat for manchester united means they cannot be caught. and the reporter, andy swiss, reports. and west bromwich albion have beaten manchester united!

and manchester city are the champions of the premier league. it was a day when defeat for united meant delight for city. watching on tv, city captain vincent kompany, celebrating with his family, and the fans also in a party mood. if we win it today, it is dreamworld. some of the football has been outstanding all year. some of the best players in the country. the triumph of city has been emphatic, but the title has not been won it this early in the season for years. they may have had disappointment in europe, but their domestic dominance is beyond dispute. under manager pep guardiola, they scored a staggering 93 goals. success with a swagger. make no mistake, pep guardiola has done brilliantly. he has won two trophies.

everyone is delighted. can he do that next step further? he has the credentials. he has done it with all the other clubs. pep guardiola was relaxing yesterday with a round of golf. his footballing talents have guided city to emphatic triumph. andy swiss, bbc news. we saw this clip in andy's report, but it's worth looking at again. city captain, vincent kompany, watching united lose with his wife's family. some of them, as you'll see in a moment, are manchester united fans. he doesn't seem to rub it in their faces too much. after that, kompany went to the pub. like that. that is how we all should

be with our rivals. and they went to the pub afterwards. he was there with a couple of other city players, fabian delph and kyle walker. kompany very much the cheer leader for the city fans in that particular establishment. elsewhere, arsenal are the only team in all four leagues still without a single point away from home in 2018. their latest defeat on the road came at newcastle, who came from behind to win 2—1 at stjames' park. matt richie with the winner. that win takes newcastle past the all important 40—points mark, effectively securing their premier league status. celtic thrashed old firm rivals rangers 4—0 to reach the final of the scottish cup. they'll play motherwell, as brendan rodgers side look to win a domestic treble for a second consecutive season. chelsea ladies kept their bid for a treble alive after beating manchester city to make the final of the women's fa cup. they won 2—0 with both goals from england striker fran kirby. chelsea will face arsenal in the final at wembley on the 5th may. some dramatic pictures coming up,

but he is ok. it was a dramatic final day of the commonwelath games for the home nations in more ways than one. this is scottish marathon runner callum hawkins collapsing just a mile from the finish line. he was leading at the time but succumbed to the 30—degree heat. he was taken to hopsital, but has since been released. the race was won by australia's mike shelley. dangerous in the heat. there was a massive win for england's netballers, as they left it very late to beat australia and take gold. either australia or new zealand had won the title in each of the previous five games. england head coach, tracey neville, says it feels like they've broken the southern hemisphere domination. it was literally in the last second. it was literally in the last second. it could not have been more dramatic. so here's the final medal‘s table.

australia, running away with it at the top. 198 medals in total. england did very well though, 136 including 45 golds. scotland and wales also enjoyed their best overseas commonwealth games. we could just keep chatting about it, it has been so good. england, second worst in terms of percentage, even though such a large amount of medals. some say the closer it is to home, the greater britain has done historically. the good thing is that 2022 is in birmingham. they are not ready to run multiple races at this time of the year. thank you so much. we will talk about that later. after one of the wettest and coldest sta rts after one of the wettest and coldest starts to spring in years, farmers are seeing the coast of everything rising twice as fast as inflation.

—— cost. rising twice as fast as inflation. -- cost. i have a special friend. look at this. two days old. they are going outside for the first time. many of the animals have had to be kept inside because of the cold and wet winter. it means they cannot go outside, meaning a larger cost for farmers. this guy is hungry so i'll put him down, back to mum. it is a big problem forfarmers. it has put him down, back to mum. it is a big problem for farmers. it has cost them so much more. you are the president of the national farmer's union. how tough as winter been?” represent 50,000 farmers across the country. in wiltshire it has been very wet so we

country. in wiltshire it has been very wet so we are country. in wiltshire it has been very wet so we are lucky. we had two big hits of snow. we have never seen anything like it. there was no milk or bread. weather hit all of us. we have to look after livestock and keep them going. hopefully today we can take them out and grass will grow. a busy week for use. a quick word on costs. as a farmer, can you pass that on? farming is one of the few industries where you cannot pass on the costs. we have to absorb them. we have business outside, so we are at the mercy of weather. the weather is changing, and we have to ta ke weather is changing, and we have to take on the costs. farmers want to keep producing high quality and a

good priced food for customers. this shows you how bad it is. notjust about things growing, but how hard it is to get around. good morning. a big week for you. you have a cattle farm around the corner. some have gotan farm around the corner. some have got an outside. it is also about getting crops in. absolutely. hopefully we will get them turned out this week. we are desperate to get them out. it has been a long winterfor get them out. it has been a long winter for them. get them out. it has been a long winterfor them. hopefully, you know, they will be out this week. is the forecast is as good as what they say it will be. we can do some ground work as well, long—awaited ground work as well, long—awaited ground work. as far as we are concerned with business of farming,

a lot of impact on costs. will prices go up in supermarkets? farmers are taking on the vast majority of the burden of this. we could see a negligible change to food prices. in reality, farmers will take on the cost and it will add to the bottom line is. as consumers, you will continue to enjoy relatively cheap food. —— lines. in terms of what you have to do now, you are playing catch up to a certain extent, getting things done. to crops catch up? how does it work? —— do. will you get fewer crops this year? they will catch up. what we sold in the autumn, hopefully it is ok. spring crops. they are going in five weeks later than normal. hopefully, we will not get a drought after we plant them otherwise they really will suffer.

but they will catch up. there will bea but they will catch up. there will be a deficit. we are looking at two and a quarter tones rather than four. many people have sold forward. i was surprised. if you do not supply what you promised to those you sell to, you take the hit financially. yes. you need to be careful and you do not want to commit what you might not be able to produce. sometimes you can get caught out. a bit of a gamble. for now, thank you very much. as i touched on, you can see some of the implications. look at this. they we re implications. look at this. they were laughing at my very clean wellies this morning. they will not be much longer. a difficult time for farmers. this week can be pretty

crucial. weather is supposed to get better and more dry. as you heard, a bitter week forfarmers in better and more dry. as you heard, a bitter week for farmers in terms of crops and animals getting out to the fields from the barns. more from me later. thank you. perfectly timed. here is carol with a look at this morning's weather. what news do you have about mud? this week is set to warm up, that is for sure. some sunshine for many but windy at times as well. in the latter pa rt windy at times as well. in the latter part of the week we are also looking at some rain. let's talk about those temperatures. wednesday and thursday will see the peak of the heat. london is looking at 25 to 26 asa the heat. london is looking at 25 to 26 as a maximum. only at norwich 24, cardiff 20, edinburgh19 26 as a maximum. only at norwich 24, cardiff 20, edinburgh 19 and belfast 18. the average in the north at this stage in april is 12, and in the south, 15. by friday, compared to what we are looking out on wednesday

and thursday, the temperature will be slowly starting to go back down again. you can see from our chart where we have yellow and flashes of timbre, that is where we will have the highest temperatures. it goes right the way across the uk. on thursday we will start to see it coming down again in the north, and by friday away from the south—east we will be comparatively cooler conditions. weatherfronts we will be comparatively cooler conditions. weather fronts today, one in the north, one in the west, and the one in the north is taking this patchy rain northwards. it is already fizzling, and we have some drizzle across the midlands and wales. that is also now fizzling, so a lot of dry weather. starting on a cloudy note, the cloud will break, and then some fair weather cloud will develop. temperatures still not for april. 11 in the north to highs of 15 or16, so for april. 11 in the north to highs of 15 or 16, so more or less where we should be. then the next weather front comes in from the atlantic. of it we will see some showers and some rain, and the wind will strengthen.

soa rain, and the wind will strengthen. so a blustery end to the afternoon. through the evening and overnight that band of rain continues to push from the west towards the east. the heaviest rain on it will always be in the west, and even though we have clear skies and the south—east it will not be told. we are pulling in the south—easterly wind. temperatures falling to ten or 11. tomorrow, once again we have a weather front moving from the west to the east, weakening as it does so. to the east, weakening as it does so. of it, a lot of dry weather and sunshine, turning hazy through the day and behind it sunshine and showers. some of those will be quite beefy, especially across western scotland. temperatures in stornoway up scotland. temperatures in stornoway up to about 13, we are seeing them climb as we pushed down towards london and the south—east. wednesday sees a lot of dry weather the it .,fl=1§):1 1 .1 for , , ‘the

it..- not. and — ’ it11not. and—f: the 7 7 7 h to highs of 19 to 23 as we north to highs of 19 to 23 as we push further south. by the time we get to thursday, a lot of dry weather around. still favoured sunshine as well. some fair weather cloud, but thursday in the south—east we could hit 25 or even 26, whereas in the north, as as the wind slowly veers around the more of a westerly, you will start to notice it starting to feel that it fresh. thank you very much, see you later on “— thank you very much, see you later on —— that bit fresher. theresa may will appear in the commons this afternoon for the first time since british, french and us forces launched air strikes on chemical weapons targets in syria. britain, the us and france have on

multiple targets against assad. short time ago i ordered the united states armed forces to launch precision is strikes at targets associated with the chemical weapons facilities of dictator bashar al—assad. facilities of dictator bashar al-assad. it is about a limited and targeted strike that does not further escalate tensions in the region, and that does everything possible to prevent civilian casualties. translation: this is hooliganism in international relations, and not minor hooliganism given that we are talking about major nuclear powers.” given that we are talking about major nuclear powers. i can only countenance involvement in syria if there is a un authority behind it.

we can now speak to the former attorney general dominic grieve, who is chair of the intelligence and security committee. thank you very much for your time on brea kfast thank you very much for your time on breakfast this morning. you were attorney general when parliament voted against taking military action against president assad. how has the situation changed, do you think?” don't think in legal terms the situation has changed very much at all. the basis for taking action against assad legally in 2013 was his use of chemical weapons, in flag ra nt was his use of chemical weapons, in flagrant breach of international law, and created a humanitarian crisis. the united kingdom has a lwa ys crisis. the united kingdom has always relied on the principle of customary international law that if there was absolute humanitarian necessity it is proper to take reasonable, necessary and proportionate measures to alleviate

it. now, that is contested, jeremy corbyn, for example, doesn't accept it. but the consequence of not accepting it is that we wouldn't have, for example, intervened in kosovo when the serbs were carrying out ethnic cleansing and threatening genocide, and we wouldn't have acted in northern iraq to prevent saddam hussein attack the kurds, because both those interventions were carried out under the same principle. so effectively it would mean that tens of thousands of people could be massacred by a government, and because you couldn't get a government, and because you couldn't geta un government, and because you couldn't get a un resolution, even though you could do something to try and stop it, you would be prevented from doing so. sojust it, you would be prevented from doing so. so just to clarify, it, you would be prevented from doing so. sojust to clarify, in your opinion, the action that was taken over the weekend, it could be argued that it was legal. yes, undoubtedly, and it is a legal base that the united kingdom has used previously. and is it satisfactory,

then, we spoke to the shadow attorney general earlier on the programme, that this debate is taking place after the action over the course of the weekend. that is a separate issue. there is an argument that it would be better to get parliamentary approval before any military action takes place, although there is no legal requirement to do it. the difficulty is that if you are going to be very limited, targeted action, holding a debate beforehand may delay taking the action when it needs to be done speedily, and also it is very difficult to have a debate on such a topic it was parliament can't disclose exactly what it is going to do. so there are arguments both ways, but i have always been of the view that if you are going to take some general tree action, than the normal principle and convention which has been developing is to get parliamentary approval. in this case it was extremely limited and was designed to deal with one specific issue, which was to try and prevent the assad regime using chemical weapons again. and part of the

argument, and jeremy corbyn was voicing this yesterday, is how far you push diplomacy before taking military action, and one of the points the shadow attorney general made on breakfast is that president macron was going to russia in may, and why couldn't a diplomatic solution be found them, rather than doing what we did at the weekend? solution be found them, rather than doing what we did at the weekend7m is worth bearing in mind that when no action was taken in 2013, the russians intervened and there was a scheme designed to ensure that chemical weapons were never used by the assad regime again in syria. instead of that, they have been used ona number of instead of that, they have been used on a number of occasions. there was a military intervention by the united states last year in response toa united states last year in response to a chemical weapons attack, and now we have had a further one. it is a bit difficult to see how diplomacy will progress matters when what seems to happen is one he is one thing from the syrians, and a promise they will not do it again, and then do the same thing repeatedly. do you think theresa may

is on strong ground when she faces the parliament? i would expect her to get parliamentary support. in any parliamentary system you will have a diversity of opinions, but will she have a majority of support in parliament? i would think so. would you have preferred for parliament to be recalled? i think it is a difficult issue. i certainly would wa nt difficult issue. i certainly would want parliament recalled if what was being initiated was a general military action which might be prolonged. but in view of the targeted nature of what she was trying to do, i am not entirely sure that having a debate beforehand would be very useful. really good to talk to you, thank you for your time. and we will be speaking to the international development secretary about this later in the programme. the organisers of the next commonwealth games in birmingham say they're certain the event will help to boost the city's prospects. but traders on australia's gold coast have warned that the games were bad for business and turned customers away.

the 11 days of competition drew to a close with yesterday's closing ceremony. from the gold coast, hywel griffith reports. being host city brings the promise of gold. medals for the athletes, lots of money for the local economy. but some on the gold coast have been left feeling shortchanged by these games. i have been here 22 years, the worst i have seen in 22 years. it has impacted almost 1.5 months of trade. and we are all down at least 50%. when they plant the games, the organisers warned of delays and disruption. the reality has been rather more empty, after local people left town. that get ready campaign was done so well that it made people imagine there was going to be gridlock. it scare them away. ina way, to be gridlock. it scare them away. in a way, i have to admit that we would have played a card steven lee. so what can birmingham learn from all this? there has been a team on

the ground looking at what the copy and what to avoid —— played our cards differently. there are some things they can't replicate, there probably won't be beach volleyball in birmingham. every host city has to play to its advantages. and so birmingham wantsa to play to its advantages. and so birmingham wants a diverse, urban games. they were only awarded in december after being taken away from durban, leaving much less time to prepare. it means we may not have three years of wrangling over what a decision might be. we have four is to go, so we need to crack on. we need to make our decisions quickly, so need to make our decisions quickly, so actually that might play to our advantage. home games normally help to produce medals. australia didn't haveit to produce medals. australia didn't have it all its own way. england's victorious netball team thinks the games bring something special.” have been talking to the volunteers, and if it can bring the city

together because of the games, i think that is a bonus for birmingham. every games needs its golden moments. it is up to birmingham to prove it can deliver. it has been fun watching, and mike on breakfast has been very much part of the commonwealth games. we will be speaking to nile wilson, who won a couple of gold medals in the gymnastics, and liz nicholl ‘s, ceo of uk sport, because there are some interesting statistics about england's sport teams. scotland, wales and england one more medal than ever before, but england had their second worst performance, and some of the big stars underperformed. there are some legitimate questions to be asked about that. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. good morning, i'm asad ahmad. the father of the murdered black teenager stephen lawrence says

he has forgiven his son's killers, nearly 25 years on. dr neville lawrence said he had embraced the christian faith, and would spend the anniversary of his son's death next sunday in church. stephen was murdered in a racist attack in eltham, south—east london, in 1993. mr lawrence said forgiving those responsible was the hardest thing he has had to do. two men were convicted of stephen's murder. my son is in the ground injamaica. i've lost the fact that i might have a granddaughter or grandson by my son. all that has been taken away from me. so you forgive, but you want justice. absolutely. separate murder investigations are under way this morning after two

separate stabbings. a woman in her 30s was stabbed to death in brixton. they have been arrested in both cases, and they are both believed to be domestic, but it takes the number of violent deaths in london this year to 59. if you have travelled on a train and heard an announcement over the tannoy saying the train is no longer calling at your stop, then you are not alone. 160 trains a day skip stops across the country, with the worst train operators for the issue in london. govia thameslink does it more than anyone. why? well, it says it normally happens after a delay, to avoid knock—on disruption. let's have a look at the travel situation now. good service on the tube. on the trains, services aren't running on southeastern between maidstone west and strood, due to emergency engineering works. on the roads, nothing new on the approach to the blackwall tunnel. it is monday morning, it is just after easter, so delays going back to the flyover. let's have a check on the weather, with lucy.

hello, good morning. temperatures on the way up through the first part of this week, and by thursday we're looking at highs of around 25, perhaps 26 degrees celsius. so it will be generally dry through the week, with increasing amounts of sunshine. the temperatures on the way up, as well. so through the day today, we're looking at a day of sunny spells. perhaps a touch more in the way of cloud to begin with, but staying dry and bright with some sunny spells, and temperatures at a maximum of about 16 degrees celsius, with a south—westerly breeze. as we go through the evening and overnight, then, staying dry with some clear spells, some patches of cloud around at times, and i think it will be a little bit breezy. temperatures overnight, though, not falling too far — a minimum of around 7—8 degrees celsius. so, as we move through the first part of the week, we're seeing the temperatures on the way up. there will be plenty of sunshine to come on tuesday. temperatures by the time we get to thursday, though, reaching a maximum of around 26 degrees celsius, the wind having eased as well. so lots of dry, bright and increasingly very warm weather to come. just finally, the heads of 53

commonwealth nations meet in london today, and ahead of that, you can find out some interesting hello this is breakfast, with dan walker and louise minchin. a showdown in parliament, as theresa may pepares to justify her decision to launch airstrikes on syria. the prime minister will insist that military action was in the national interest, but she'll face anger from opposition mps who say they should have been consulted. good morning. it's monday 16th april. also this morning: a huge bushfire in south—west sydney forces hundreds of people to leave their homes, police say it may have been started deliberately. after a freezing start to spring, farmers are facing costs it's been a cold, wet winter, and

for farmers, they've had it's been a cold, wet winter, and forfarmers, they've had to keep animals inside for much longer. what does it mean for them and what could it mean for us as customers? i'm on a farm it mean for us as customers? i'm on afarm in it mean for us as customers? i'm on a farm in wiltshire this morning to find out. he has definitely got an opinion! manchester city are premier league champions. captain vincent kompany went to the pub to celebrate with fans after second placed manchester united lost at home to west brom, handing city the title. nelljones lost her life in the manchester arena bombing. on what would have been her 15th birthday her family tell us why they're launching a charity in her memory. obviously, nell was ta ken in a terrible way. but i didn't want... or, we didn't want her death to be pointless. and carol has the weather. good morning. for some of us, a

cloudy start with patchy light rain and drizzle, it will brighten up and many of us will see sunshine with rain coming in from the west later. accompanied by blustery wind. as we go through the week, it will continue to warm up. the sum, into the mid—20s. more on that in 15 minutes. see you at aid: 15, thanks very much. good morning. first, our main story. theresa may will today appear before mps to defend her decision to authorise air strikes against the syrian government, without first securing the support of parliament. opposition parties say mps should have been consulted before the uk joined the us and france in bombing three syrian sites, in response to a suspected chemical attack on the town of douma. in the last hour, labour's shami chakrabarti told us there were questions which needed to be answered. it seems far from clear to me that there was overwhelming evidence

widely accepted by the international community that this had to happen so urgently. that's one of the government's tests for itself. also, there was no practical alternative, even when the chemical weapons inspectors were on their way into syria. but former attorney general dominic grieve insisted the strikes were necessary. there are arguments both ways, but clearly, i have been of the view that if you are going to take general military action, the normal political principle convention that has been developing is you get parliamentary approval. but in this case, it was extremely limited and to deal with one issue, to try to prevent the assad regime using chemical weapons against. our political correspondent chris mason is in westminster for us this morning. this is an important day, chris. we can see different parties laying out their stalls, can't we? you got a

sense from the conversations you have been having on breakfast this morning, a flavour of the discussion we will get in parliament a little later today. there will be a statement from the prime minister. she will make the argument that she believes the air strikes were in the national interest and were justified, and there is a decent amount of international support for them. she will talk about conversations she has had with leaders around the world since the strikes took place over the weekend. but there is real concern from some on her own benches, some on the opposition benches, that there should have been a consultation in parliament first, parliament should have been recalled last week before the strikes took place, or postponed until after mps had the chance to other back here after the easter break today. there is frustration, too, there is likely to be discussion and debate in parliament on this today. and yes, potentially, a vote as well. but the nature of the mechanism, if you like, means

that, yes, this is happening after the event, but secondly, the nature of the vote, if there is one, will be fairly generic and vague. mps won't get a proper say, a proper vote, on whether they believe the government acted properly. ok, kris meeke so, thank you very much indeed. we will speak to penny mordaunt shortly on breakfast. hundreds of people have fled their homes as a large bush—fire threatens the outskirts of sydney. more than 500 firefighters have been tackling the blaze, which began on saturday afternoon. police say the fire may have been started deliberately. phil mercer reports. for two days, fires have devastated bushland on sydney's suburban fringe. authorities said the fast—moving outbreak was agressive and unpredictable. it's taken a huge effort to keep the flames away from homes. remarkably, no properties have been destroyed. on the ground, 500 firefighters,

including many volunteers and members of the military, confronted the inferno. they were supported in the skies above by more than a dozen aircraft. very warm autumn weather and a lack of rain have created a tinderbox on the edge of australia's biggest city. we have to deal with the worst that mother nature can throw at us. and the worst australians are presented with by nature, the better it brings out the australian spirit, the selflessness, the courage, the professionalism, and the mateship, and that's what firefighters are showing. conditions in the fire zone have eased, but flames still burn out of control. there are fears the strong winds that fanned the blaze over the weekend will again return. south—eastern australia

is one of the world's most fire—prone regions in the world. most outbreaks are sparked by lightning or accidentally by downed power lines. sometimes, more sinister hands are to blame. australian police believe this monstrous fire in south—western sydney may have been lit on purpose. phil mercer, bbc news. the former director of the fbi has accused donald trump of being morally unfit to be president, because of what he called his constant lies, his views on race and his treatment of women. james comey‘s comments came in an interview with the american abc network. he was fired a year ago over his handling of the investigation into russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. president trump called mr comey ‘a liar.‘ is donald trump unfit to be president? yes. but not in the way i often hear people talk about it. i don't buy the stuff about him being mentally incompetent, or early stages of dementia.

he strikes me as a person of above average intelligence, who's tracking conversations and knows what's going on. i don't think he's medically unfit to be president. i think is morally unfit to be president. stephen lawrence's father says he's forgiven his son's killers, nearly 25 years after the teenager was murdered. neville lawrence says the decision has been "one of the hardest things" he's done, but he still wants justice. stephen was 18 when he was stabbed by five youths at a bus stop in south—east london. at around 11:30 tonight, nasa will launch a mission, called tess, to look for planets around the stars which are closest to earth. surveying nearly the entire sky, a key part of the operation will involve capturing the vibrations from the stars, which can be turned into sounds, helping researchers to identify their age and size. pay attention. here's our science correspondent, pallab ghosh. the night sky is littered with stars. they shine, and they also sing.

whirring noise these are the vibrations of a distant star similar to our sun converted into sound. and this is another much bigger and older star. professor bill chaplin is analysing these sounds. of course, there's no air in space so the stars can't actually be heard, but they do vibrate, and so generate soundwaves. when we hear the sound of the stars, first of all, it tells us that out of this, if you like, this turbulence, this almost chaos, we get these ordered sounds, and it's incredible that stars resonate just like a musical instrument. this will be the first mission to scan nearly the entire sky, sector by sector. the sound a star makes will tell the scientists how big and how hot it is. many of them will have planets in orbit around them. some will be too close. those that are the right distance away will be the ones most capable

of supporting life in what the scientists call "the goldilocks zone", where the temperature is just right. in a few years' time we'll know how each of the stars in the night sky sounds and whether the planets around them might harbour life. pallab ghosh, bbc news, at the kennedy space centre in florida. there you go. 8—10. theresa may will face mps for the first time since british forces took part in air strikes against syria this weekend. many mps are angry they weren't consulted on the military action, but the government has insisted the strikes were legal. we can now speak to penny mordaunt, international development secretary. morning to you. thank you for joining us. in many ways, the discussion has already started. we have been speaking to the shadow attorney general here on bbc brea kfast, attorney general here on bbc breakfast, shami chakra barti, attorney general here on bbc breakfast, shami chakrabarti, saying the government hasn't met its only

all requirements. that is what she says. what is your response? she is wrong. this was a very limited action with a very specific objective in mind. that was to try and deter assad using chemical weapons, and to re—establish those international norms that prohibit the use of those weapons. to make a judgment on whether that was the right or wrong thing to do, whether it was legally justified right or wrong thing to do, whether it was legallyjustified or not, whether the targets that we were looking at were right, in terms of delivering that degradation and delivering that degradation and delivering that degradation and delivering that deterrence, you would have had to have seen information that could not be shared with a wider group of people, could not be shared with parliament prior to those strikes taking place. so, this is absolutely within the government's remit to do. it operationally required us to do that. but of course, parliament

should be able to debate that and hold the government to account. the prime minister will be making a statement today, and she is also putting in an application for a debate. you talked about evidence, will the prime minister share the evidence today? she has already published the legal judgment, evidence today? she has already published the legaljudgment, the legal basis on which we took that action. and of course, now, after the event, we can talk about the areas that were targeted and parliament can judge our actions on that basis. what you can't do is share that information in advance, and you have to let the government, who can see that information, you have to let them decide. shami chakrabarti have to let them decide. shami chakra barti make the have to let them decide. shami chakrabarti make the point that diplomacy was happening, president macron is meant to be visiting russia. she made the point that she would have liked to have given more

time to diplomacy. to those who are saying give diplomacy a chance, or who are saying that we should have a un resolution on these matters, i would say, where have you been to seven years? we are trying all of those things. even when we managed secure agreements the ceasefire is, so we can secure agreements the ceasefire is, so we can get aid convoys in or sick children out of these areas that have been shelved, those agreements have been shelved, those agreements have been shelved, those agreements have been broken. the last aid convoy that went into eastern ghouta, we had 70% of the medical supplies removed, and it was shelled. and that's with agreements to go in. i'm afraid that, unless you want to outsource our foreign policy to russia, which will always veto decisions taken at the security council, i'm afraid we're going to have to reserve the right to act.”

understand the prime minister will explain today why she says this is in the national interest. could you explain that to us? well, we need to ensure that the rules which prohibit the use of chemical weapons are enforced. and clearly, one of the reasons why we have intervened is to try and alleviate humanitarian suffering that is going on in syria. these are a particularly brutal type of weapons, your viewers will have seen of weapons, your viewers will have seen the effects on the civilian population of them being used. but it also plays back directly into our own national security. if we allow people to use chemical weapons to establish this as a normal prat is of warfare, we are in very dangerous territory indeed. and it undermines our own national security. and chemical weapons, as we understand, used on the streets of this country in salisbury. and diplomats were

expelled, is that the right response, then? we are dealing with two very different situations, both of which, the actions which we have taken have of which, the actions which we have ta ken have received of which, the actions which we have taken have received international support, whether it was the salisbury situation or whether it is the action that we have taken alongside our international partners in syria. they are two very different things, though. and our actions in syria were too deterred the use of chemical weapons against a civilian population to try to alleviate some of the humanitarian suffering that was going on, and to try and establish those international norms. can you tell us whether the government is looking at this point that further strikes? we had a very limited objective, the information that we have seen so far would indicate that we have been successful in targeting the areas that we were looking to target.

obviously we hope this is a deterrent, we hope it will degrade and setback asad's chemical weapons programme but we stand ready to deal with whatever arises in the aftermath of this and our prime objective is to try and alleviate the suffering of the people of syria. penny mordaunt, thank you for your time. it's 16... syria. penny mordaunt, thank you for your time. it's16... i syria. penny mordaunt, thank you for yourtime. it's16... i made a word up yourtime. it's16... i made a word up there... good morning, isound like a computer. carol, i am not a robot. prove it! good morning. this morning, a cloudy start the day. some patchy light rain and result, all of that clearing, many of us will see sunshine for a time. as we go through this week you will notice it is warming up, particularly wednesday and thursday, at times rain coming from the west, at times

it will be windy but let's focus on the kind of temperature levels we expect. wednesday, thursday, london will be 25—26, similar to the canary islands, just a degree or so more than they expect increase. birmingham and norwich, 24 possible, cardiff, 20, edinburgh19 birmingham and norwich, 24 possible, cardiff, 20, edinburgh 19 and in belfast we are looking at 18, the average temperatures in the north 12 celsius in the south 15, we are all seen celsius in the south 15, we are all seen temperatures above—average. represented quite nicely here on this charge, you see your local mac and amber player—mac and you will see the temperatures slowly coming back down. the weather front of the north taking any cloud and light rain wizard, this front coming in from the west, that will introduce some rain and strengthening wind. at the moment, any patchy light rain and drizzle is on the way out, the clu b and drizzle is on the way out, the club continuing to break, for we

don't have sunshine, many parts of the uk today will see at least a speu the uk today will see at least a spell of sunshine if not longer. i say that because as this is whether fund comes from the west across northern ireland, cloud building, you will see some showers before the rain arrives and the wind will pick up. a blustery end to the day for northern ireland and western scotland. temperatures today roundabout bang on, 11—14— 16 degrees. this evening and overnight, dry weather around, clear skies to start, this weather front coming from west— east cloud ahead of it will build, we will hang on to clear skies in the south—east, it will not bea skies in the south—east, it will not be a cold night, some of the rain in the west will be heavy, tomorrow, continuing to push west — east, it loses its power, not quite as heavy and infact loses its power, not quite as heavy and in fact not going to make huge progress into many eastern areas. we will hang on to sunshine, although

it will be hazy ahead of this weather front. behind it it will be hazy ahead of this weatherfront. behind it sunshine and showers, some of the showers in western scotland could be heavy. temperatures up a degree or so on what we have today, by wednesday, another dry day for most of the uk, another dry day for most of the uk, a lot of sunshine around, cloud coming in from the west, producing the odd shower, the exception rather than the rule, breezy day, the wind coming from the south—west, this front skirting around the uk, it could at times bring rain across western parts of northern ireland and north—west scotland but now, we are starting to feel the warmth, in edinburgh, 17 degrees, similar in belfast, reaching 22—23, may be more in london. thursday again a lot of dry weather, also looking at high cloud coming in, just turning the sunshine hazy at times, temperatures rise in pretty good shape, 25—26 in

the south, 16—17 in the north, through thursday week seek the wind coming more from the west, the temperature coming down as we head towards the weekend.” temperature coming down as we head towards the weekend. i love a bit of orange. but it is going away by the weekend. carol, thank you. it is 20 minutes past eight. nelljones was only 14 when she was one of 22 people killed when a suicide bomber detonated a bomb at an ariana grande concert in manchester last may. on what would have been her 15th birthday her family are launching the ‘remembering nell foundation' in her memory, a charity that will help support young people in the north west of england. rachel burden has been speaking to nell‘s brothers and mother about how they're coming to terms with their loss. she was just lovely, you she wasjust lovely, you know, she had a lovely way about her. i know she was ours and you are going to say out about your own but she was just no trouble. you know, you miss

going shopping with her, that's the thing i do miss. because she loved to shop. and you know, ijust miss going into the shops with her and yes, you see other mothers with their daughters and buddies a big thing for me. because ijust think, i haven't got that now.” thing for me. because ijust think, i haven't got that now. i miss her conversations, talking day—to—day stuff, you never really had a deep conversation with derry often, but there was always something you could talk about. she was cuddly, she would give you a big hug and that is the last thing she ever did. she gave me a hug before i went away. —— very often. that is still quite prominent in my mind. how have the last 11 months being with you?” can't not go in her room at 7am in the morning and open the curtains because that's when i used to going to get her up for school and i can't

get out of that habit of doing that at the moment. i always have to put her light on in her room, if it's dark, her room is not dark. you know... and it's things like that, you go in her room and you expect to see her there or, everything that was so see her there or, everything that was so normal, normal things, now, become sacred. i always said when it happened that i did not want her room to become a shrine but to a point, it has because i can't bear to move anything from where she had it, you know, she put that there and at first she wanted it so i can't move that from their and that's how iamat move that from their and that's how i am at the moment with it. let's go in here and have a look for you will put pebbles. the family have been working with no's school to create a

garden of remembrance. can you show us garden of remembrance. can you show us your pebble and tell me about it? my us your pebble and tell me about it? my pebble has arianna grandi lyrics on the that we used to build our voices out to and it symbolises our relationship, because i didn't know it was possible to find someone like her until i did and then it's got a bon her until i did and then it's got a b on the back to represent manchester. i think it's an important thing that everyone talks about her and keeps memory alive, the garden is a really nice way to do that, we walk past it and talk about it really and remember all the times we spent with her. nobody would forget her anyway but it's just keeping her memory alive 24—7. what about the wider community, here in the school and i know the town as well has been very supportive. i've always said the community and the school have ta ken always said the community and the school have taken some of the weight, it's not removed it by any

means but it helps you stand that little bit taller than you will be able to ordinarily. itjust little bit taller than you will be able to ordinarily. it just lifts you that little bit. i think! once said it's like having a life belt round you, it keeps you bobbing around the service so are not going down there, you go down under the surface, you can struggle to get out sometimes but they keep you lifted. your faith sometimes but they keep you lifted. yourfaith in sometimes but they keep you lifted. your faith in humanity is taken away from something like this happens but the community, the whole country has spilled the back—up and we've now got faith in humanity again. which is important. yes. today they are launching the remembering nel foundation which will support charities involved with young people. nel was charities involved with young people. nelwas taken in charities involved with young people. nel was taken in a terrible way but i didn't want her death to be pointless. and ijust think... he

stood there and he took her life along with the others but if we can do some good out of what happened they've not one, he's not one, by doing that. her death will help others. we can use her memory to do some real good. she would want that. give something back that she lost, the life she will never get to live, other people will hopefully have the opportunity through us to improve their lives. how would you remember her on her birthday? this is going to sound strange. you will probably think undera to sound strange. you will probably think under a strange, but i know i will have to buy her a birthday card, ican't will have to buy her a birthday card, i can't not. and that's another hard thing to deal with. because you know... it'sjust not right. you know, iwill do that, i

will buy her a birthday card, at present, something to put in her room and yes, we will have a quiet day, would we ? room and yes, we will have a quiet day, would we? really difficult to watch that, isn't it? thank you to the family for talking to us. rachel burden was speaking to jayne, sam and joe — the family of nelljones who was one of 22 people killed in the manchester attack on 22nd may last year. and we will be marking the anniversary here on bbc breakfast. it is 26 minutes past eight, carol will have the weather for us and we will have the weather for us and we will have the weather for us and we will have one of the gold medallist from the commonwealth games. time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are. much warmer weather on the way this

week, and we have to wait longer over the next day or two, strengthening wind, blowing in rain in western areas, but from midweek onwards, more sunshine, temperatures climbing even higher. improving weather for most of us today. rain and drizzle in scotland and the far north of england, sunny spells developing widely. the best sunshine in the afternoon, in southern england to the east of dorset. in the west, we will pick up, rain later in northern ireland, temperatures 13—18, near normal for this time of year. a big area of low pressure to the west, staying out to the west, throwing a head this active weather front. that is arriving in scotland and northern ireland overnight. rain can be heavy as well. strengthening wind overnight, so pretty mild out there, 7-10 overnight, so pretty mild out there, 7—10 agrees. gailes likely through the irish sea, a wet start the scotla nd the irish sea, a wet start the scotland and northern ireland. the

rain will push through slowly, arriving into western part of intent and wales, rain becoming lighter later in the day, heavy showers and thunder in the northwest. warm air is across the south east and east anglia, around 19 degrees. warm on tuesday. by wednesday, rain should clear way, retreating out to the west. not far away from the north—west, mind you. increasing sunshine, wind becoming lighter as temperatures climb up. 17 degrees through the central belt of scotland, 23 or so in the south—east of england. the peak of temperatures will be on thursday. by this stage, not as windy, just fair weather cloud in the north and west, more sunshine around and temperatures responding. 19 in scotland and northern ireland, low 20s in the south—east. this is business live from bbc news with maryam moshiri and sally bundock. the commercial conundrum — martin sorrell quits wpp so what now

for the world's biggest ad agency? live from london, that's our top story on monday 16th april. after 33 years at the top, sir martin's departure is shrouded in mystery, but the ad industry is facing radical changes. also in the programme: one of the world's biggest social media firms waybaw makes an abrupt u—turn after trying to censor gay content in china.