tonight at ten, an apology from theresa may for the anxiety caused to caribbean migrants facing the threat of deportation from britain. she meets caribbean leaders in downing street, telling them she regrets the way people who came to britain decades ago have been treated by her government. i want to apologise to you today, because we are genuinely sorry for any anxiety that has been caused. and more accounts have emerged from some of those who came to britain from the 1940s onwards of living with the threat of deportation. it's just upsetting to think that an ordinary person like me could go through something like that. i'm still going through hell at the moment. and there are growing calls for those who've suffered to be compensated — we'll have the latest. also tonight, in salisbury, the big clean—up operation after the chemical attack could take months and cost millions of pounds. thousands of supporters of the syrian government have been out in force to mark syria's national day, we report from aleppo.

tonight, at this ancient citadel, a defiant statement from president assad that he is here to stay. as more and more people rent homes long—term, we report on the problem of sub—standard housing and the landlords being blamed by the government. and a new type of plankton discovered in the south atlantic named after a certain blue planet. of course, it's a great compliment, and one's delighted. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news, yes, another goal for harry kane tonight, as tottenham threatento drag brighton back into the relegation battle at the bottom of the conference. good evening.

the prime minister has apologised to the leaders of 12 caribbean nations, expressing her regret for the anxiety caused to thousands of people who came to britain between the 1940s and 1970s. downing street says that people from the so—called windrush generation have a right to stay in the uk and will not be detained or deported. tonight, there are calls for those who've suffered, through loss of jobs or welfare benefits, to be properly compensated, as our correspondent adina campbell reports. that was the first day that he started school... paulette wilson, another descendant of the windrush generation who arrived into the uk as a child from jamaica. despite living here for more than 50 years, she was held in a detention centre for not having the right paperwork. when i saw the "illegal" paper, ijust didn't understand it, and i kept it away from my daughter

for about two weeks. i was just walking around in a daze, thinking, "why am i illegal?" archive: in jamaica they couldn't find work, but full of hope they sailed for britain... the treatment of long—term immigrants from commonwealth countries now living in the uk has become the focus of international political debate. jamaica's prime minister, andrew holness, today met theresa may to discuss the welfare of those affected. prime minister, we welcome your response, and we look forward to a speedy implementation of your proposed solution. then there was a more intimate discussion at number ten with commonwealth leaders, and inside, hoping to make amends, theresa may apologised. i take this issue very seriously,

the home secretary apologised to the house of commons yesterday for any anxiety caused, and i want to apologise to you today. after the meeting, some of those who had attended gave their reaction. it is regrettable that the circumstance which we now find ourselves was allowed to get this far. but nonetheless we want to consecrate the future, so how did we get to this point? the mv empire windrush arrived in the uk in 1948 with a92 people on board. over half a million people from the caribbean were invited by the british government to help build the post—war economy. changes to immigration rules in 1971 meant that those settled in the uk were granted indefinite right to remain. but it's thought up to 50,000 commonwealth—born people may not have registered to prove their right

to stay in the uk. the 1999 immigration act safeguarded the windrush generation against their forced removal. but in 2014, these assurances were removed, under theresa may as home secretary. the home office says it is looking at nearly 50 cases relating to windrush migrants as a result of calls received today. it has admitted it destroyed landing cards backin admitted it destroyed landing cards back in 2010 belonging to this group but insisted they were not seen as reliable evidence in immigration cases. with all eyes now on how the home office handles these cases going forward, jamaica's prime minister says he is poised to work with the british government. minister says he is poised to work with the british governmentm minister says he is poised to work with the british government. it is a concerning matter, but we stand ready as caribbean leaders to ensure

that the commitment is kept. ralston came to the uk as a baby from a small caribbean island. he has spent most of his life living, working and raising his family in leicester, but in 2010 he was denied from updating his passport having been told by the home office he was not a british national. watching theresa may's apology, he is trying to stay positive. i think it's a genuine apology, just got to take her at her word, but ijust hope that the genuineness will be seen in the action of what happens after, from now on. whether apologies are enough to draw a line under this ongoing issue, caribbean leaders say they will continue to fight for the rights of all those affected. adina campbell, bbc news. live to downing street, and our deputy political editor, john pienaar. is it your view that the prime

minister today has managed to contain some of the clear damage that has been done here? the stain from this will not be wiped away easily, and the timing could scarcely have been worse. today the prime minister was at the commonwealth summit, asserting britain's global reach, then in the commons defending the military strikes in syria as an example of britain using its powerfor good. and then this, which overshadowed all of that, and we saw what was described in one paper, a favourite paper of the prime minister, as a fiasco which shames britain, a fiasco which shames britain, a fiasco in a department which tea may lead for years. the sight of her here apologising to a room of caribbean leaders was notjust politically embarrassing, it was difficult to watch. the prime minister can expect some very tough, very direct personal questions about the department that gillette for yea rs the department that gillette for years when she faces mps in the house of commons tomorrow. bash that she led. more broadly, this could

make harder her mission of protecting britain's standing and influence up to brexit and beyond. a member of the negotiating team says that europeans may fear harsh treatment when they assert their rights to stay in the country. ministers would deny that, as they you would expect, but this has all come with a cost in moral authority, certainly to the government, possibly also to the country. more details have been released about the poison attack on the former russian agent sergei skripal and his daughter yulia which took place in salisbury last month. the substance was delivered in a liquid form, and a very small amount was used. during the day, plans were announced for the decontamination of those areas in salisbury affected by the poison, as our correspondent duncan kennedy reports. the police have already said the biggest concentrations of the novichok nerve agent were found on sergei skripal‘s front door. but until now, we didn't know what form the agent took. but now officials have

confirmed it was a liquid, not in the form of a gas or vapour. they also say that it was transferred directly from person to person or item to item. the officials also confirmed that the novichok hasn't disappeared, as it doesn't evaporate. but they stress the concentrations are small and the risk to the public is low. but it will now mean a huge clean—up involving 190 military personel. recovery is really about looking at the sites where there could have possibly been contamination and then testing those sites, cleaning, testing, cleaning, and repeating that loop until such time as there is no contaminant detected. officials say a total of nine sites will need decontaminating across salisbury. as well as mr skripal‘s house in the suburbs, there's the bar that he and his daughter yulia visited, and the zizzi restaurant

they went to after, before ending up on a nearby bench, where they were both found collapsed. officials say the clean—up will take several months, which is the last thing nico alesi wanted to hear. he's run this pizza shop in the city centre for five years. we are 60% down on where we were before that. we are struggling. sergei and yulia skripal continue to recover — sergei in hospital, yulia at a secret location. it's more than six weeks since they were victims of the nerve agent, and like them, the city where they were attacked has many more months of recovery ahead. duncan kennedy, bbc news, in salisbury. mps have been debating the government's right to use military force without the consent of parliament, following saturday's american—led air strikes on syria.

the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, said a change in the law was needed so that parliamentary backing had to be sought before any planned military intervention. theresa may told the commons that doing so would seriously compromise national security and the lives of people at home and abroad. syrian state media are claiming that united nations chemical weapons inspectors have entered the town of douma in syria, the scene of a suspected attack ten days ago. western powers believe president assad's forces were behind the attack, which led to the missile strikes by britain, france and the us. 0ur chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, is in aleppo tonight. aleppo's ancient ramparts, now a monument to president assad's staying power. once in rebel hands, once the scene of the war‘s worst fighting, which divided the city and cost so many lives. now for the government, a site of celebration,

chosen notjust to mark syria's independence, but to show the world the war is going its way. i could not stand here, you could not stand here, we would have been sniped or beheaded. and this is look, look, it became, you know, normal again. tonight, inside this fortress, soldiers strike up national anthem to a crowd of syrian elite and invited guests, some from abroad. entertained by songs and dance of a syria gone by. a syria from before the war. stirring old emotions and defiance too. translation: it's a big celebration for aleppo and all syria. we are very happy and celebrating this day. you can see the people around here, we are the winners. god protect the president.

translation: we are celebrating two things, our independence and surviving the air strikes, through the leadership of bashar al—assad. tonight, government supporters rally around theirflag, their president. in a city where so many have lost so much, and for those forced to flee, even the city they once called home. victory for president assad's supporters meant huge losses for those who backed the rebels. we reported from the city during the last days of the brutal battle for aleppo, it's all the families and fighters driven from here, and many of them went to the neighbouring province of idlib, the last major rebel held area in syria. so when western leaders talk about a

negotiated end to the war, president assad and his allies are ever more entitled to end it on the battlefield, not at a negotiating table. but for now the focus is on the question of what kind of chemicals were used in that reported attack just outside chemicals were used in that reported attackjust outside damascus in douma — the world is now awaiting the verdict of the world's chemical watchdog, the inspectors from the opcw. many thanks, lyse doucet, in aleppo. the squeeze on wages is showing signs of easing, according to official figures, narrowing the gap between inflation and wages between december and february. other figures show unemployment has fallen to its lowest level since 1975, as our economics editor, kamal ahmed, reports. over the last few years i think things have been fairly tough, but we're beginning to feel a bit more confident about the future. i'm lucky enough

to have my own home. i've got two young kids and it's quite tough to provide for them. it's nice to get a little wage increase, but by the time i've got it in one hand, it's out the other. our incomes, a vital part of the economy. and away from the statistics, the real—world, and how people are feeling about the year—long income squeeze. as soon as we get a pay rise, rent goes up, food goes up, everything goes up. so that little pay rise is, like, hello, goodbye! take my son, he got himself on the housing ladder. he's now got a young family, he's got twins. he needs to move up to a bigger house, they've only got a little maisonette, he hasn't got a chance. just like maria and nigel, at this hi—tech communications and radar firm, the wage squeeze is still true for many workers, but the evidence is growing that 2018 will be better than 2017. let's look at the improving picture on incomes. if we look at last month's figures, they said wages were increasing by 2.6%. today, that number rose to 2.8%, the highest for three years. and better news on jobs as well.

unemployment is at its lowest level since 1975. the head of the firm that employs maria and nigel, and 170 others in west london, reveals why things are looking up. we went through a period where we had to reduce the size of the business, lay some people off. we had a very constrained environment for pay rises. since that time, so over the last three orfour years, we've seen maybe 20% a year growth in our business and that's been reflected into significant pay rises for our staff. there is one striking thing speaking to people here — the good times have not suddenly returned. over the last decade, people's real incomes have hardly moved at all. how unusual is that? well, the last time we saw figures on income that bad, queen victoria was on the throne. wages are slowly being fixed and are rising, at the same time as the rate of the increase in prices is easing. a stronger pound making

imports of things like food and fuel are cheaper. the outlook is still tough for 2018, but that income squeeze is drawing to an end. kamal ahmed, bbc news. the high court has heard that south yorkshire police knew about the bbc‘s plans to broadcast footage of the search of sir cliff richard's home in 2014, one month before it took place. the singer claims that images of the raid, carried out following an allegation of sexual assault, were a "very serious invasion" of his privacy, and he's suing the bbc. the corporation disputes his claims. sir cliff richard was never arrested or charged, as our special correspondent, lucy manning, tells us. sir cliff richard arrived at court to hear more details about how a bbc helicopter came to film and broadcast pictures of the police searching his flat in 2014. the bbc and south yorkshire police disagree about how close their relationship was. the force's head of communications, carrie goodwin, admitted in court

she had known nearly a month before the search the bbc was going to film officers going in to carry out the raid, and broadcast it as soon as it could. we understand there are eight officers here, they're from south yorkshire police... danjohnson was the bbc reporter who south yorkshire told the date and time of the search, the police claims under pressure. he was in court as the force was accused of telling him more, helping the bbc film police arriving when a press officer texted mrjohnson their location details. ms goodwin admitted she had seen this bbc report on the one o'clock news and no—one at south yorkshire police had contacted the bbc to object to the helicopter pictures. later that afternoon, she texted mrjohnson... the bbc‘s barrister, gavin miller, put it to carrie goodwin...

"south yorkshire police were quite happy to use danjohnson and the bbc "to get coverage of a high—profile child sexual abuse case. " "that couldn't be further from the truth," she said, "no." mr miller continued. "that's why south yorkshire police went out of its way to enable the bbc to report." "i completely disagree," she said. there was also written evidence today from gloria hunniford, who was in court last week. a close friend of sir cliff richard's, she said when she watched the bbc‘s report of the search, it was beyond belief. she'd never seen anything like it before on british television. she said the singer was broken, violated and betrayed, and lost so much weight he felt like skin and bones. lucy manning, bbc news. up to a third of so—called millennials, those people born between 1981 and 2000, may still be renting a home

by the time they retire. a report, from the think—tank the resolution foundation, also shows the number of families renting has increased threefold in this century, up from 600,000 to a record 1.8 million in 2016. the report calls for longer tenancy agreements and limits on rent increases. another urgent issue is sub—standard housing, something the government blames on landlords. our special correspondent, richard bilton, has been to margate, in kent, to see the efforts there to clamp down on bad landlords. it's been a long, cold winter for those trapped in britain's housing crisis. some dread the night. because i've got pain in my back when i walk. john hobson lives in the dark. an electrician, sent by the letting agent, turned the lights off last november. imagine, just a torch to find your way. it's awful.

on the stairs, i could break my neck going down those stairs because we're disabled. parts of my body, i could trip and fall down. i've slipped on a step many a time. good morning, mr hobson. and they haven't discussed with you repairs... by daylight housing officers arrive, they‘ re not impressed. hello. so you canjust see it hasn't been maintained for a very, very long time. something as important as electrics, you would expect that to be looked after much better than this. it's notjust the electrics, there are holes in the wall, the sink is blocked. you can see that the penetrating dampness has continued down to this floor as well. now, the landlord says he wanted to do a full refurbishment, but that would have meant making john and his partner homeless, so they left it like this, and that was in 2016. john is paying £525 a month to live in a place like this.

this is one of the worst cases that we've seen. they've got no lighting, which means during the hours of darkness they're struggling to get up and down the stairs. is it dangerous? yes. yes, it is. nationally, one in four rented properties in england fails to meet the decent housing standard. that's more than a million households. some councils, like here in margate, actively pursue rogue landlords. there's a lot of dog mess around. but this's been smashed open. but it's hard work. like many seaside towns, margate's old guest houses have been broken up into individualflats. as you can see, this place is home to lots of families and it's grotty and it's run down. but it's more than that. this is the fire alarm system.

you can hear, it's not working, it's not functioning. this whole building is unsafe. the housing team want to see what the flats are like inside. heat detector there. this is where bethany hague lives with her two young children. half the doors are hanging off. it's cramped and in poor condition, there are mice. damp penetration at some point, i assume, from a flat above. the fire alarm does not protect her family. i've had a problem with my boiler since i moved in as well. like, you can't get anywhere else because you need guarantors and loads of money, and you just don't get anywhere. we're stuck here. you're struggling, aren't you? yeah, a lot. it's horrible being in flats like this. so who charges a family £520 a month to live in a dangerous place like this? the agent for bethany‘s flat

is prime uk estates. now, they didn't want to be interviewed, but they agreed conditions were completely unacceptable and they say that for months they've been harassing the landlord to get work done here. the landlord is consort property and when we spoke to them they said it was the agent's fault. so they are both blaming each other for the conditions that bethany is having to live with. hey, bethany, how are you doing again? hi, i'm good, thank you. good to see you. six weeks on, i went back. the fire alarm has been fixed, but not much else has changed in bethany‘s flat. i've lost hope, to be fair. i don't even hope any more because i know it's not going to get done. just going round in circles complaining about things and them saying they'll get done, and they don't. so ijust give up. and then there wasjohn, the man in the house with no light. his landlord didn't want to be interviewed, but admitted obligations had not been adhered to and said work

would be carried out. i don't know much about it until he comes out and fixes it. john now has lights and a newjunction box. the agency has apologised and says john and his partner can stay in the property, which will be fully refurbished. what's it like living a life where you can just be left in the dark? it's hell, but the problem is, i've lived like this for so long now , i don't know how to change it. these are not isolated cases. i think the majority of landlords are good, they provide safe accommodation, but i think there is a significant minority that really are not good at management. some of them, quite frankly, don't care. the council here prosecutes bad landlords, but most councils simply don't. and at the end of a long winter, millions are still trapped in unacceptable conditions. richard bilton, bbc news you, margate. starbucks has said it

will close all 8,000 of its us branches for one day next month for staff training on preventing racial discrimination. it comes after a video emerged of two black men being arrested last week in one of its cafes in philadelphia, it sparked outrage. they'd refused to leave after being told they couldn't use the toilet. a number of labour mps have strongly criticsed what they see as a rise in anti—semitism in the party. they were speaking during a debate in the house of commons. one labour mp was applauded when she spoke of the abuse she'd faced and another said he'd been targeted for supporting labour's jewish members. our political correspondent, vicki young, has the story. demanding action. jewish groups protesting three weeks ago, urging jeremy corbyn to tackle anti—semitism in his party. you're not socialists.

he's admitted there's a problem and apologised for the pain caused. today, he listened to the powerful personal testimony of his ownjewish mps, describing the abuse they'd received on social media from within the labour party. "firstjob forjeremy corbyn tomorrow — expel the zionist, bicom, smear hag bitch ruth smeeth from the party. this ruth smeeth is britannia phobic. we need to cleanse our nation of these types. i have never felt as nervous and frightened as i feel today at being a jew. it feels that my party has given permission for anti—semitism to go unchallenged. denial is not an option. pariahcation is not an option. being a bystander, who turns the other way, is not an option. the time for action is now. john mann leads an anti—semitism group in parliament, his family have felt the repercussions. i didn't expect my son, after an islamist death threat, to open the door, in the house on his own as a schoolboy, to the bomb squad.

i didn't expect my wife, in the last few weeks, from a leftist anti—semite, in response to the demonstration, to be threatened with rape. labour's admitted it's been too slow to deal with complaints, but has promised to put its house in order. if anyone is denying the reality of anti—semitism on the left, they are not doing so with the endorsement of the labour party or the leader of the labour party. mps spoke today of hurt and anguish, but there was defiance too. we are going nowhere and we stand and we will keep fighting until the evils of anti—semitism have been removed from our society. applause vicki young, bbc news, westminster. sir david attenborough, and his blue planet team, have expressed their delight at the news that a type of plankton, discovered in the south atlantic, has been named after them.

the honour was bestowed by scientists at university college london. sir david said it was a "great compliment" that would raise the profile of an important feature of the oceans, as he explained to our science editor, david shukman. the amazing images of blue planet 2, they electrified audiences around the world, but these weird forms of life all depend on one thing — plankton. tiny organisms you can't often see with the naked eye. these rays stir the water to make the plankton light up in the dark. a rare glimpse. incredible detail is revealed by microscope. the plankton are far smaller than a human hair and this type, recently discovered, has been named blue planet, after the programmes, the first time this has happened. david attenborough was at university college london today with some of the scientists who've

been working on the plankton. students looked on as he saw images of it for the first time. oh, hello, david. hi, how are you? i'm very well. you're enjoying these, obviously? oh, i think they're marvellous, i think they're stunning. what about the one named after blue planet, this little one here? i'm not sure about the likeness, but... but he had a serious point, too, that plankton have a vital role to play for the planet as a whole. they are an essential element in the whole cycle of oxygen production and carbon dioxide, and all the rest of it. you mess about with this sort of thing and the echoes, and the reverberations, the consequences, extend throughout the atmosphere.