this is bbc news, and these are the top stories developing at 11: labour calls for the home secretary to "consider her position" over the "misery" caused to windrush migrants, after it emerges that landing cards were destroyed by the home office. a woman dies after a us plane's engine explodes mid—air causing her to be partially sucked out of the window. is physically on fire? the head of the cia has reportedly travelled to north korea to meet the country's leader, kim jong—un. inflation fell to 2.5% in march, the lowest rate in a year — raising doubts over an expected interest rates hike. also: as the war on marine plastics continues we join the floating science lab performing a health check on britain's seas.

good morning. welcome to bbc newsroom live. labour says the home secretary amber rudd should consider resigning over her handling of the controversy surrounding the residency status of thousands of people from the commonwealth who arrived in the uk in the 1970s. many are facing the threat of deportation because they can't prove that they've been living in the uk in the interim. this morning, the european parliament's brexit coordinator, guy verhofstadt, said he wanted to be sure that the same wouldn't happen to eu citizens who remain in the uk after brexit. our assistant political editor, norman smith is at westminster. more pressure on the government

following this revelation at home office records were destroyed. government hoped yesterday they had managed to dampen this down with apologies from theresa may and other ministers. today it has burst into life again after labour called for the home secretary amber rudd in effect to walk the plank for failing to ta ke effect to walk the plank for failing to take responsibility for our department's conduct of this whole windrush sager, sparked in part by the latest closures that the landing cards given to families arriving have been destroyed. they were a p pa re ntly have been destroyed. they were apparently stored in the basement of apparently stored in the basement of a home office building in croydon in sacks and were destroyed. for many of those individuals caught up in this whole row, they are viewed as crucial bits of evidence which have

now simply been destroyed. they're now simply been destroyed. they're no longer available. the office say there were never definitive bits of evidence but certainly significant pieces of evidence proving your right to remain in the uk and this morning the shadow home secretary diane abbott said it was time for amber rudd to consider her position. i think this incident is so shameful and has caused such distress to so many people that she really needs to consider her position. the government says the landing cards would not be definitive proof of status, what do you think? was it the right move to destroy them and what do you make of the government's justification? the government is wrong to dismiss the importance of landing cards. many of these windrush generation were based on

when did the person first into the country? the landing cards would have proved that. the fact they were just thrown away shows the home office doesn't have a care for commonwealth migrants despite what amber rudd is saying now. at the same time, labourare amber rudd is saying now. at the same time, labour are calling for a group exemption for the windrush generation, to exempt them from the normal immigration checks and for there to be an assumption that they have a right to stay. labour is also calling for the home office officials to have the burden of proof, and in other words, it will be up to them to prove people are here illegally rather than for individuals to prove they have the right to stay here. and at the same time, pressure from europe with senior meps now raising concerns about what will happen to the 3 million or so eu migrants living in britain who of course will have to have their cases considered if they wish to remain in britain. they have two provide five years evidence of

living in britain and concern about whether they, too, might face significant difficulties. have a listen to one of the eu's chief negotiators speaking this morning. even with agreement now, things are not over. we still need to have the citizens' writes completed —— rights because after the scandal and britain, we want to make sure the same thing as not having to european citizens so we have to organise the the home office on the 24th of april next week a special session with committees all involved in citizens having these rights and if there are changes needed, we will also communicate to david davidson to see what modifications are needed to

real problems for eu citizens. the blame game is well and truly under way. ministers seem to point their finger of under way. ministers seem to point theirfinger of blame under way. ministers seem to point their finger of blame at home office officials but now we have labour very directly demanding the head of the home secretary, others still blaming theresa may because it was she who as home secretary introduced the much tougher immigration checks, the much tougher immigration checks, the so—called hostile environment for illegal immigrants which critics say that lies behind the problems now facing many of the windrush families. a woman has been killed after an aircraft's engine exploded at 30,000 feet in the united states. the explosion caused a window to break and the woman was nearly sucked out and had to be pulled back in by other passengers. the southwest airlines flight was travelling between new york and dallas when it had to make an emergency landing in philadelphia.

our north america correspondent james cook reports. there's a hole in the side of your craft. with a huge bang and a sharp drop, a terrifying ordeal began. on board south west flight 1980, passenger martinez started a video. it is like we freefalling and everybody is freaking out and crying. the left engine had apparently blown up, sending shrapnel into the fuselage and smashing a window. there was an explosion and then almost immediately the oxygen came down and within a matter of ten seconds, the engine then hit a window and busted wide open. in the cockpit, the pilots preparing for an emergency landing radioed for help. survivors say one woman

sui’vivoi’s say one woman was survivors say one woman was sucked halfway out of the cabin before they managed to pull her back. other passengers desperately tried to block the hall with their courts. the passenger who died wasjennifer riordan, a mother of two from new mexico. she was on a business trip for her employer, wells fargo bank. we're taking this extremist seriously. this should not happen and we want to find out why it happened so we can make sure that the preventive measures are employed. an investigation is now under way into what is the first passenger death in a us airline accident since 2009. let's talk to steve landells, a former pilot and flight

pilots association.

but fa ct l hfiss assess its strap iis assign; i hsfiss assess its strap lis assign; i he hsfiss assess iss ésfss lis sssljsfii i he have been 2 lot ., hsfiss assess iss ésfss lis sssljsfii i he - have been i lot worse but he could have been a lot worse had the pilots not had the training and professionalism. we had the pilots talking to a air—traffic control, sounding incredibly calm

despite the situation. you have practised for when something goes wrong lots of times and when the training comes in from the simulator, you use yourjudgment. you don't normally true for multiple emergencies like in this case but they were well—equipped to handle they were well—equipped to handle the whole event and it was a tragic accident unfortunately but even when the aircraft landed, i gather there was a small fire as well so once they got on the ground, they still had problems to deal with. the aircraft are designed and a very robust and air travel is the safest form of transport by a long way, but these accidents are very rare and that's why we in the flight safety world will scrutinise exactly what happened to stop this happening again. when the window was smashed and this woman passenger was almost sucked out of the window, if you had your seat belt on, would that happen? how does that work?m

your seat belt on, would that happen? how does that work? it is a differential pressure difference cruising at any altitude so ethical appears in the fuselage for whatever reason, they will be a huge to pressure from inside the aircraft pushing whatever‘s closest out of the window to having your seat belt on, we will never know whether that will have made any difference, they would have been a huge pressure differential so anything in that window would have been sucked towards the window and in this case u nfortu nately towards the window and in this case unfortunately it was, tragically, a person. thank you for being with us steve landels, former pilot and flight steve landels, former pilot and flight safety specialist. the head of the cia has reportedly travelled to north korea to meet the country's leader, kim jong—un. mike pompeo went to pyongyang over the easter weekend to prepare for direct talks between mr kim and the american president, according to unnamed officials. our north america correspondent, barbara plett usher has this update. us media are reporting that mike

pompeo, cia director, paid a visit to north korea at the weekend to lay the groundwork for the summit. mike pompeo has been nominated to become secretary of state. during that visit, he met with kimjong—un secretary of state. during that visit, he met with kim jong—un and it was a week later that the white house said it had directly confirm that kim jong—un was willing to negotiate about the possibility of giving up his nuclear weapons. it seems to be this meeting that donald trump was relating to when he said that contact had happened at the highest level. we had talks at the highest level. we had talks at the highest level. we had talks at the highest level. let's leave it short of that, but we have had talks at the highest level and it's going very well, but we'll see what happens. all of this has come to light as donald trump is hosting the japanese prime ministers shins or abbey at his resort in marital shinzo abe at maralago. he wanted to

be sure that japan's security interests would not be downplayed during a meeting between the americans and the north koreans. he seems to be satisfied with things have gone so far, especially donald trump's promised to raise the issue of japanese citizens who have been abducted by north korea at any meeting, which is an important issue for shinzo abe. so how have we arrived at this point? towards the end of last year when north korea held a number of weapons tests including one on the 29th of november which it claimed was its "most powerful" missile to date. north korea claims it is capable of hitting the us mainland. this was not received very well at all by president trump who in one of his infamous tweets called the north korean leader kim jong—un "little rocket man." fast forward to this year however and north koreas attitudes start to change with the country saying it is "open to ending nuclear programme". one of the biggest symbols of this change was in february when north and south korea competed under one "unified" flag at the winter

olympics in south korea. a month later in an unprecedented move, north korea invited the us president for talks with its leader kim jon—un which donald trump accepts. then, towards the end of march, north and south korea announce their leaders will meet on april 27 with rumours that both countries may be seeking a peace treaty to bring an end to their conflict. our north america editor jon sopel has been following developments for us and described the talks and described the talks as "astonishing." the last high—level talks like this in north korea happened when madeline albright was secretary of state in the year 2000. but that wasn't a covert mission in the way that mike pompeo has been on. it is just off the scale of what you would

anticipate and covering this white house as i have since donald trump was inaugurated, you get used to big surprises. you think, goodness gracious, i can't believe that happened. this is a different order altogether. it was only last september that donald trump was at the united nations general assembly calling kim jong—un little rocket man in saying that us weapons were locked and loaded and we could destroy your country. no other name calling hasn't stopped. the testing has stopped from north korea. it looks like, bit by bit, progress is being made and i'm sure donald trump would say that my tough talking has paid dividends. maybe it is not a blanket us demand, no nuclear weapons, no nuclear programme at all, and i've heard very senior former administration officials, some serving administration

officials, talking about that as though it may be a way through. listen, this is still early days and thenis listen, this is still early days and then is a hell of a long way to go but there seems to be more progress than has been made in a generation. the headlines on bbc newsroom live: labour has called for the home secretary to consider her position over the windrush immigrants. a woman dies after an american plane's engine explodes mid—air causing her to be partially sucked out of the window. the head of the cia has reportedly travelled to north korea to meet the country's leader, kim jong—un. a town with a population of around 35,000. the second lowest attendance in the whole of the efl. accrington stanley last

night sealed promotion to league one for the first time in their 50 year history. these were the scenes at full time at the wham stadium after their 2—0 win over yeovil. stanley, whose name is taken from stanley street in accrington, went bust and out of the league in 1962. the "club that wouldn't die" was reborn six years later and started the 1980s in the second division of the cheshire county league. you might remember the famous milk advert around that time, accrington stanley, who are they? well, john coleman their manager and the players awnsered that question last night.they‘re unbeaten in 1a matches and closing in on the title. brighton moved a step closer to playing in the premier league again next season after a 1—1 draw at home to tottenham. harry kane scored his 26th league goals of the season to put spurs infront. brighton were behind forjust two minutes before pascal gross levelled with an penalty. brighton's last four games are away to burnley, manchester city and liverpool, and at home to manchester united. spurs are now eight clear of chelsea in the race to finish in the top four, and face manchester united in the fa cup semi—finals next.

five manchester city players have been named in the pfa team of the year, including sergio aguero for the first time. the argentine striker has scored 21 goals in 28 games as city romped to the premier league. kyle walker, nicolas otamendi, david silva and kevin de bruyne have also been chosen. manchester united's david de gea is included along with liverpool's mo salah, chelsea's marcos alonso and three spurs players including harry kane. mark cavendish will make his return from injury at next month's tour of yorkshire. the former road race world champion has been involved in a number of crashes ina frustrating start to the seasaon but will be on the start line in beverley. cavendish says he's not quite sure how his form will be after recovering faster than expected from rib and ankle problems. that's all the sport for now, we'll

see you later. the latest inflation figure out this morning shows the inflation figure fell by 2.5% in march. this compares with 2.7% in february. our business presenter, maryam moshiri is here. talk us through the figures. first of all, the rate of inflation fell to 2.5% in march from 2.7%, the lowest it has been for a year and thatis lowest it has been for a year and that is down 0.5% in the last two months which is quite a fast fall compared to what we were expecting from inflation. if you look at the rate that is preferred by the ons, the consumer price index including housing costs,, that was down to 2.3% in march from 2.5% in february so whichever way you look at it, inflation is going down and the reasons are to threefold. first of all, things like women's clothing

and shoes, those prices not rising by as much as we should expect and also interestingly, the change in timing of the budget has had an impact because we used to have the budget in march and that always impacted tobacco and alcohol prices because we saw duties on both those items rising. well, in 2017, the budget was held in the autumn so we haven't seen those price rises being factored in. from a macroeconomic viewpoint, the reason we have seen the rate of inflation following is because the pound has been strengthening. in 2017, we saw a post—brexit weakening of the then in the last 18 months, the pound has strengthened little by little. that makes imports cheaper for uk importers and that means the cost of goods has become law and law and the reason the pound has strengthened, there are many economic reasons. i won't go into them, but the weaker dollar is a big reason because of dollar is a big reason because of dollar weakness, because of the us trade and budget deficit, has had a

huge impact on how the pound is trading against the dollar. not so much against the euro. let's look at those figures. the pound against the euro, in all honesty, has not really changed dramatically. the markets have factored in a rate rise in may so it remains to be seen what happens there. what does happen there? does that have a bearing on there? does that have a bearing on the bank of england's decision on whether to put up interest rates? we have all been talking says about november about the bank of england raising the cost of borrowing from 0.5to 0.7% raising the cost of borrowing from 0.5 to 0.7% and that is by inflation is falling because we have factored that in, but i am not sure this is going to make a big difference to the bank of england's plans. everyone is expecting a rate rise andi everyone is expecting a rate rise and i think we're going to get it. however, this may impact on future rate rises or the speed at which borrowing rises in coming months

because the bank's remit is to keep inflation under control at the 2% target. it's not there, but it is falling on its own without the bank having to do much to make that fall happened even faster. thank you very much. there are reports that a planned visit by weapons inspectors to the site of an alleged chemical attack in douma has been delayed. sources for the reuters news agency say that gunfire was heard at the site, delaying the inspection scheduled for today. a team of experts from the chemical watchdog arrived in damascus on saturday, but so far have been unable to visit the site because of what russia calls "security issues". syrian president bashar al—assad denies responsibility for the attack. we can go to the hague now and our correspondent, anna holligan. for the members of this team who have been sent out by the opcw, this

isa have been sent out by the opcw, this is a frustrating trip. very frustrating and usually sensitive. we have been in touch with the opcw and there is something of an information blackout in place as you might imagine. we have statement saying they will not comment on operational details. the policy exists to preserve the integrity of the process of investigation and to ensure the safety of expect and the personnel involved in this. all parties are asked to respect the confidentiality parameters required for a rigorous and unimpeded investigation. one of the reasons is there have been two occasions in the past in which opcw teams on the ground in serbia have been targeted —— in syria. it is little coming out of the building in terms of the operation in syria at the moment, however, there are ambassadors from

russia, from the uk sitting down in there at the moment discussing the salisbury attack because this is the first time they have had an opportunity to consider the opcw‘s independent findings. thank you very much indeed. we'll be back with you later on. a self—injected drug that could drastically reduce the effects of migraines could be available as soon as next year. a study of the drug found it reduced by half the number of days migraines affected some people with the condition. the drug is self—administered like those used by diabetics. dr brendan davies is a consultant neurologist at university hospitals of the north midlands. tell us more about how it would work. the study involves a self injected treatment like a pen

injection for diabetes. it hasn't yet been developed to its entirety, but the treatment is very effective. it produces taken thing is that people who have taken the drug have previously been exposed to lots of medication so they are not first—time migraine sufferers. they have been treated with between two and sometimes up to four preventative is. the benefits are largely at evens, it means people can take the treatment and forget about it for the next month as computer tablets. often the problem with tablets in migraine treatment if they are not well tolerated and they have been repurposed and developed for other conditions and used in migraines to see if they work with is this new injectable treatment —— whereas this new injectable treatment has specifically been developed for

migraines. talk through the impacts that migraines have on people. anyone who hasn't had one might not understand how painful it is, explain a bit about that. well, imagine having a throbbing headache with sensitivity to the light and noise around you, feeling sick, possibly vomiting, possibly having diarrhoea and not wanting to move and having that on at least nine or ten days a month and after that has happened, possibly taking another half a day to recover and having to try to continue your normal working life or look after the family. that's what sufferers of migraines in this study are putting up with before the study. so far this population of migraine sufferers who have awful headaches with additional symptoms which can interfere with their usual leisure and work activities, to have a drug that made reduce the frequency by 50% in at

least one in three who take the medication is a wonderful treatment going forward. thank you very much, doctor brendan davies. the headlines are coming up on the bbc news channel. in a moment we say goodbye to viewers on bbc two. first we leave you with for a look at the weather. it's looking very nice across parts of england and wales with sunshine and it is turning warm. the cloud will generally clear away over the uk and eventually you should see scenes like this. this is from our weather watcher in cornwall, basking in the sunshine. the cloud further north and west will melt away to the north. there will be cloud for western scotland and northern ireland, outbreaks of rain continuing. the northeast of scotla nd continuing. the northeast of scotland also very nicely with some sunshine and temperatures across england and wales, 22 to 25 celsius.

further north, those temperatures about 17 to 19 celsius. overnight, taking us into thursday, we've still got this weather front in the west thatis got this weather front in the west that is bringing outbreaks of rain and some sea fog on the coast from time to time but those as a dry, fine day and a very warm day. this is bbc news. our latest headlines: labour calls for the home secretary amber rudd to consider her position over the misery caused to windrush migrants, after it emerges that landing cards were destroyed by the home office. a woman dies after a us plane's engine explodes mid—air causing her to be partially sucked out of the window. the head of the cia has reportedly travelled to north korea to meet the country's leader, kim jong—un. inflation fell to 2.5% in march, the lowest rate in a year, raising doubts over an expected

interest rates hike. news coming into us that the media watchdog ofcom says it has raised seven new investigations into the impartiality of news and current affairs programmes on the rte channel, russia today, the news channel. uk's ofcom has opened seven new investigations into the impartiality of rt. you may remember that after russell ‘s brew poisonings there were calls by some people for russia today, which broadcasts in the uk, to be closed down and the investigations, according to ofcom, form part of an

off: update into the licences held by the company that broadcasts the channel. ofcom are also saying that until recently the overall compliance record has not been materially out of line of other broadcasters but since the events in salisbury they say they have observed a significant increase in the number of programmes on the service that warrant investigation as potential breaches of the ofcom broadcasting code and they will announce the outcome of the investigations as soon as possible. that is the latest from ofcom, saying that they will consider all the new evidence of the investigations in the two rt. more on that as it comes into us. more now on the response to the alleged chemical weapons attack on civilians in syria. a team of experts from the chemical watchdog arrived in damascus on saturday, but so far have been unable to visit the site because of what russia calls security issues.

joining me now from our studio in bristol is chemical and biological weapons expert richard guthrie. thank you for being with us. it must be hugely frustrating for these experts in syria who cannot get to the scene of the suspected chemical attack. it has been frustrating for attack. it has been frustrating for a number of days because the inspection team were first held up on the lebanese and syrian border and they then arrived in damascus where they have been for a number of days. obviously the faster you can get to an inspection site or an investigation side the more reliable the evidence you can gather is. how long will the evidence remain in place, or traces of the evidence? by all accounts the allegation is that this was a huge attack and around a thousand were injured. it was large

scale in terms of the number of civilians that were hurt but not that large scale in the number of devices. i feel it was probably only two devices. again, it is very difficult to tell from a distance but two devices were photographed, barrels that were dropped from the sky. that points to government involvement because only the government has helicopters in the barrels must be dropped from helicopters rather than fast moving aircraft. i cannot imagine the syrians or the russians who also put in an formal investigation request would be taking inspectors to one of those situations where a barrel is still sitting in place when it is obviously in a drop to munition. it is difficult to doubt whether the site would have been interfered with, as would have been alleged, but at this distance it is difficult to tell. the longer the gap between the incident happening and the investigation happening, the less reliable the evidence. some evidence

will linger, there maybe some chemical compounds you can discover in the remains of the buildings but most of those remains will affected by the environment and will dissipate as time goes on. if there were, as cynics might suspect, a clean—up or cover—up operation, how would it be done? would people spray down the area with water and how they clear away the evidence? down the area with water and how they clear away the evidence ?|j think once you think through that question i would not answer that because it might give information to someone who might want to clean up a site in the future but the other factor that is important is witnesses and it is not clear how many of the residents who were in the area would still be available in douma and some have moved up to another area in coaches around a week ago. can you tell from the video pictures we saw of some of the victims frothing at the mouth and so on and needing to be spray down with

water, is that evidence in terms of what the chemical experts who are going there will want to find out? it is obviously what triggered the first interest in this but videos have two floors immediately. one is that you have to be confident of the location the video was taken, and also the time the video was taken. those can sometimes be open to doubt simply because some videos do not have time codes embedded in the more they could be fraudulent time code embedded in them but the evidence was rather compelling and the images we re was rather compelling and the images were consistent so the evidence was very strong that a large number of people were exposed to a toxic chemical in the town. the difficulty is pinning it down to establish it is pinning it down to establish it is definitely a chemical attack and not what some others have claimed, are set up or a masquerade to make it look like a chemical attack. thank you very much for being with us. richard guthrie, a chemical and

biological weapons expert. let's go back to one of our main stories now. american officials have begun an investigation into the death of a woman who was almost sucked out of the side of a passenger plane. seven others had to be given medical treatment after part of an engine broke away off in midair and tore a hole in the fuselage. the boeing 737 with 149 people on board made an emergency landing in philadelphia. let's talk to dai whittingham, chief executive of the uk flight safety committee, who joins us on webcam. thank you for being with us. how unusual would you said incident like this is? it is extremely well, and i suppose the stuff of hollywood have added to the interest of people, i am sure. aviation is hugely safe with over 4 billion people who flew last year and no fatalities at all for commercialjet last year and no fatalities at all for commercial jet aviation so last year and no fatalities at all for commercialjet aviation so it is wonderful. the engine itself, the

cfm 56, which appears to be the root cause of this problem is a hugely successful and brilliant engine. the series has accumulated millions of hours of safe operation said this is a really rare event. engines do fail and they are certified against a standard which means that internal failures have to be contained within the core of the engine, as far as possible, but the fan blades on the front do not have the same standard applied to them, but the manufacturers have to demonstrate that if the blade does separate, as happened on this occasion that it does not cause undue damage and the path takes it away from the aircraft but clearly something else has gone on here. we were looking at pictures of the broken window, the one broken window. talk to us about what would happen then. what happens inside the cabin when a window like that smashes? thirsty when the fan blade

has separated, it does not seem to be the blade itself that hit the aircraft, it seems to be part of the cowling said the airline will look at how that debris separated at the impact site. the window has been broken so you immediately have a breach in the pressure hull so that the internal cabin pressure will try to escape to the outside which is why you get the rush of air. it is normally over quite quickly. on this occasion, i think, normally over quite quickly. on this occasion, ithink, with normally over quite quickly. on this occasion, i think, with an injured and probably unconscious person sat right next to it, then they would be drawn towards that opening. again, restrained by passengers and by the seat belt, and i believe it was the woman that unfortunately died who was sat there. how difficult does it then make the plane to fly? we know then make the plane to fly? we know

the pilots managed to land the plane but once the window has smashed how ha rd but once the window has smashed how hard is the plane to fly? they are the centre handle with or without pressurisation but as the cabin pressure would have dropped the oxygen masks would have dropped automatically on the flight deck crew would have had to don their own emergency option masks and one of the first things they do is to start an emergency descent to a level where you do not need additional oxygen. they would have been handling the engine failure, there are drills for that and they are trained to deal with that sort of thing andi trained to deal with that sort of thing and i understand they may also have had a fire warning from the damage to the firewire because we know the engine did not catch fire, and then they were faced with damage to the leading edge up the wing as well, so some of the high lift devices would have been a concern for them as they started their

approach. again there are processes that the pilots would go through to make sure that the aircraft handled within their expectations. they would have loaded some extra speed on it for safety but, i understand they also landed with a lower flap setting so that enough lift but againa setting so that enough lift but again a higher setting so that enough lift but againa higher landing setting so that enough lift but again a higher landing speed, safely managed, and well done to them for getting through what was quite a complex emergency. indeed, but also a terrifying experience for everyone on board. thank you very much indeed, chief executive of the uk flight safety committee. thank you. malaria experts are calling for a renewed effort to combat the disease which is becoming more common after two decades of decline. campaigners and health groups say it's because of increased resistance to drugs and insecticides, as well as cuts to funding. the co—founder of microsoft, bill gates, has spent millions on efforts to eradicate the disease. he says it's time for world leaders to come together to take action. there is good news, which is that

the gaps have been cut in half in this century, but in the last two yea rs this century, but in the last two years those numbers went back up and it happens with malaria that both this mosquito the parasite of all the tools, the mosquito is now evolving around our bed nights which isa evolving around our bed nights which is a chemical and we need a new generation of bed nets and i will show one of those that are starting to get out at the conference we are having. we need new drugs that avoid that resistance and unless we are inundated, the cases could go back up inundated, the cases could go back up and malaria was killing over1 million children a year when we got started and now we want to get these tools out to exactly the places where there is the greatest burden. we need the donor countries like the uk and the us to be very generous so that these literally tens of

millions of bed nets and new drugs can get out there. the uk reiterated its strong commitment and the prime minister and the commonwealth meeting. the us maintained its strong funding and our foundation is announcing funding so it takes billions of dollars to fund both the scientists but more importantly the in the field delivery. the countries that have malaria need to help to get the message out and they need to help do the distribution. if you have your kids not sleeping under those nets they cannot have this great impact. you're spraying teams have to go out and do a very good job. ministers have warned the nhs was not prepared for last year's crippling cyber attack and has shown an alarming failure to tackle internet security despite growing concerns about threats to the uk. a government report into the wannacry hack which left 20,000 cancelled appointments and operations criticised the health service's response. in improved cyber security,

but admits there's more work to do. facebook has laid out its response to new data protection laws that are coming into force next month. the social media giant has come under fire recently over its handling of facebook users' information. now they're proposing to use facial recognition in europe, and for parents of users aged under 15 to approve what data they share with facebook. in the next few hours, a full session of the cuban parliament is due to open in which raul castro will stand down as the country's president and his replacement will be announced. when he does step down, it will bring to an end almost 60 years of castro rule in cuba after his brother, fidel castro, took power in january 1959. our cuba correspondent, will grant, reports from havana between them fidel and raul castro

have been at the helm in cuba for almost 60 years. this week marks the end an era as row castro stepped down from the presidency and hands it onto someone younger and outside castro family. his expected successor is the country's vice president but that has to be voted on and confirmed by the full session of parliament. few cubans expect any surprises and they are looking to see whether the council of ministers will be made up of younger men and women whether the original generation of revolutionaries, now mostly in their 80s will stay in place. there have been plenty of moments that looks like the start of

a new beginning in cuba, not least during the recent thaw with washington the obama administration, they rarely ushering meaningful change. row castro will stay on as the head of the communist party and few expect far—reaching reforms to be introduced overnight but important decisions loom for the new president and it will be significant to see the island led by someone other than a castro for the first time since 1959. there is an extraordinary meeting between mike pompeo and the leader of career. we have had confirmation of career. we have had confirmation of it from donald trump in a tweet. let us tell you what he said. it said the meeting went very smoothly and that a good relationship was formed. that is the latest

confirmation from donald trump that there was a meeting between his head of the cia and the north korean leader kim jong—un which is really an extraordinary diplomatic development and it paves the way for a meeting between kimjong—un and president trump himself. it also saysin president trump himself. it also says in the tweet that details of the summit between the two leaders are being worked out now. it does look like the summit is going to happen, raising hopes really of a diplomatic rep rush meant, notjust between north and south korea but also between north korea and the united states and lowering tensions between the two countries. more on that as it comes into us. in a moment, a summary of the business news this hour but first the headlines on bbc newsroom live: labour calls for the home secretary to consider her position over the misery caused to windrush migrants, after it emerges that landing cards were destroyed by the home office. a woman dies after an american plane's engine explodes mid—air, causing her to be partially sucked out of the window.

the head of the cia has reportedly travelled to north korea to meet the country's leader, kim jong—un. hello. in the business news: uk inflation has fallen to the lowest rate in a year. according to the office for national statistics, consumer price inflation fell to 2.5% in march after prices for women's clothing rose more slowly than last year. that's down from 2.7% in february. the data appears to show that the squeeze on uk households is coming to an end as wages rise. economists still expect the bank of england to raise interest rates in may. uk passport maker de la rue will no longer fight

the government's decision to award the contract to franco—dutch company gemalto. de la rue, which also issued its second profit warning in less than a month, said it had considered all options. uk passports will revert back to their original blue and gold colour from october 2019. global coffee chain starbucks will close 8,000 of its us branches for racial sensitivity training next month. the stated aim of what they're calling unconscious bias training is to prevent discrimination in starbucks stores. this is after the firm had to apologise for the arrest of two black men in a philadelphia store. the two men had asked to use the bathroom when the staff called the police. as you've been hearing, the uk's rate of inflation eased off in march after rising as high as 3.1% towards of last year. cpi inflation stood at 2.5% in march and the consumer prices index including owner—occupiers' housing costs, the ons‘ preferred

measure of inflation, was 2.3% in march, down from 2.5% in february. data released yesterday suggests the squeeze on living standards may be coming to an end as wage growth closes in on price rises. joining us now is vicky pryce, chief economic adviser at the centre for economics and business research. what is your take on these figures? inflation looks like it is falling faster than when predicted. absolutely, what it does show is the main reason inflation picked up is because of the weakness of the pound following the referendum vote. that, of course, has now been reversed to a considerable extent that it has also fed through the system more or less, not completely, but it has fed through the system so it is much less significant as an influence and we see actually that despite the wage increases that we have just had announced, the domestic pressures on

inflation are very weak. what does this mean in terms of the bank of england and its decision—making process in may? it will be difficult for them to avoid raising rates in may because the markets expect it but it means there is less reason for it for later because the markets are already talking about two increases this year but we mayjust see one. there is an issue with the way the bank of england looks at inflation right now and it may still encourage them to raise rates in the future and the way they look at it is that they really seriously believe that the economy has a growth problem in terms of not being able to expand much faster than maybe 1.7% per annum and if it does thenit maybe 1.7% per annum and if it does then it leads to inflationary pressure because it has no capacity available at a lot of people would disagree with that and there was a lot more potential to the economy to grow particularly if investment picks up that they have to be very careful in my view in terms of raising rates, given that the consumer, despite increasing wages

are still feeling quite deprived of real wage increases for ages now and they have been showing that in low spending. why does the bank of england see the economy is growing in that way if you disagree? the main reason they believe it is the cases because of low activity and we have now moved to lower growth scenario because we have not been investing enough in the past but productivity is low and that means you hit those barriers in terms of growth the minute you try to expand and you just can't and it is reflected in high wages and high costs to the economy rather than extra output. thank you very much indeed. a quick look at the markets now. an unexpected fall in british inflation to a one—year low weighed on the pound and pushed up the ftse 100 stock index. markets still betting that the bank of england will raise the cost of borrowing when it meets in may. that share price varies down on the

back of it not fighting the decision to award the passport contract. that is all the business news. regular and much. a video has been released of a polish teenager who barely escaped a horrific collision after herfriend pushed her into the path of a passing bus. the unfortunate girl barely misses being crushed and gets up apparently unhurt, while the other girl seems shocked and apologetic. police in southern poland say they fined the perpetrator. well! i am well! iam not well! i am not really sure that was a friend. although she does fairly mortified. this is the scene in the house of commons where prime minister's questions is due to get underway.

our assistant political editor, norman smith is at westminster. he is always capable of divining in advance what will be discussed. no surprises for guessing that windrush in some form will be part of pmo ‘s. it is almost certain to be what mr corbyn raises today. there has been an awful lot going on since the last pmq an awful lot going on since the last pmo ‘s, we have bombed syria and had the poisoning of the rations and labour engulfed in an anti—semitism row, do not expect him to touch any of those with a barge pole but expecting to focus on windrush, partly because he actually raise the issue at pmq partly because he actually raise the issue at pmo ‘s last month when he raised the case of one windrush individual who had been deprived cancer treatment on the nhs because it did not have the necessary documentation so i think an absolute

banker that mr corbyn will return to the windrush issue. what will be interesting is where he points the finger of blame because this morning we had diane abbott calling for the head of the home office, the home secretary amber rudd, but there are at good number of people who think the real person who should take the rap is the prime minister herself in pa rt rap is the prime minister herself in part because it was sure you introduced immigration controls as pa rt introduced immigration controls as part of creating a hostile environment for illegal immigrants and also with the latest kerfuffle over the disposing of those landing cards, the destroying of those landing cards, that actually happened under theresa may's watch, when she was in charge of the home office in 2010. interesting to see whetherjeremy corbyn blames directly mrs may or whether labour continue to focus their attack on amber rudd. interesting to see the reaction from the tory benches because many tories are equally appalled at this whole saga so

interesting to see just how much support mrs may gets on that. on other issues, i expect tory mps will be talking up the fact that earnings are now outstripping inflation and we have got more cash in our pocket but basically today is windrush, windrush and more windrush. we will have full coverage of that life here on bbc news with norman smith as well, our princess —— assistant political editor that at westminster. now the weather prospects with simon king. we have a lot of sunshine across the uk today and it will be the warmest day of the year quite easily and it will get warmer still as we get into tomorrow but at the moment a lot of blue sky. mrs cornwall at the moment, lovely scenes there, and the cloud further north is breaking up gradually so in wales at the moment there is increasing amounts of sunshine here. you can see from the satellite imagery that we have an area of glad that we have this morning and it is gradually breaking up. the scotland and northern

ireland it is going to persist a little longer into the afternoon and with it some outbreaks of light rain and drizzle. it will be confined towards the far north west of scotla nd towards the far north west of scotland and the west of northern ireland later this afternoon. sunshine in the north—east of scotla nd sunshine in the north—east of scotland and england somewhere out have lots and lots of sunshine. the temperatures get up to 22 or 25. even temperatures get up to 22 or 25. eve n a cross temperatures get up to 22 or 25. even across scotland and northern ireland the temperatures are still about the high teens, 18 or 19 in a few places. through this evening and tonight you have got cloud and wet weather. an old weather front is hanging around. clear skies elsewhere and temperatures overnight tonight down to nine or 12 degrees. on thursday more sunshine in the forecast. if you live around the coast you may well just see some mist and fog met —— lapping onshore from time to time but away from the coast a lot of clear blue skies really across many areas and we have lost the cloud and rain from

scotland. temperatures, look at that in the south—east of england! 28! a very warm day. going into friday a slight change of wind direction, high pressure still keeping things relatively quiet but with the wind coming and more from a westerly direction it will bring some cloud and a few showers towards western scotland. a bit of cloud floating around on friday but all in all another fine day really with lots of sunny spells expected. temperatures down a little bit across these northern parts, 15 or 17 and further south temperatures down touch but still be classed as a day. things are still looking relatively settled and there are a few exceptions, a bit more in the way of cloud and there may be thunderstorms working to the east on sunday. for the next few days we keep the warm, if not very few days we keep the warm, if not very warm

few days we keep the warm, if not very warm weather, but for many of us it is dry with sunshine as well. goodbye. this is bbc news, and these are the top stories developing at midday: labour calls for the home secretary to "consider her position" over the treatment of windrush migrants, after it emerges that thousands of landing cards were destroyed by the home office. and that story is expected to dominated prime minister's questions which is about to get under way in the house of commons — we'll bring it to you live as soon as it begins. a woman dies in the united states after a plane's engine exploded causing her to be partially sucked out of the window. the head of the cia has travelled to north korea to meet the country's leader, kim jong—un. good afternoon.

welcome to bbc newsroom live. let's go to the scene in the house of commons where we are expecting to hear prime minister's questions in the next few minutes, the whole issue of windrush is expected to be debated. a lot of criticism of the government, of the home secretary and theresa may herself when she was in the home office. now prime minister of course, but facing questions about what happened under her tenure as home secretary. let's

go to her assistant political editor norman smith at westminster. questions not only for the current home secretary, but a certain former home secretary, but a certain former home secretary, but a certain former home secretary, theresa may, now prime minister. that makes it almost inevitable that jeremy corbyn prime minister. that makes it almost inevitable thatjeremy corbyn will challenge theresa may over the issue of windrush. clearly in government, they hoped yesterday they had managed to dampen down the whole row with the apology from the prime minister and meetings with caribbean leaders and the promise of no further deportations but the story keeps on building in part because of the steady trickle of really terrible cases that have come to light for some of these windrush families who have been affected and in part, too, because we're now into something of a blame game. we had from diane abbott early on the day saying it was time for the home secretary to consider her position. let's see how the prime minister gets on in the chamber. this week, the uk plays host to the

commonwealth heads of government meeting. we will welcome 52 country's representatives to london. a third of the world's population. we will discuss priorities including ocea ns we will discuss priorities including oceans and cyber security to tackling malaria and ensuring that all children have access to 12 years of quality education. with 60% of the commonwealth under the age of 30, the summit will have a particular focus on how we revitalise the organisation to each of its continuing relevance, especially for young people. meetings with ministerial colleagues and others, in addition to my duties in this house, i will have further meetings today. the whole house will be aware of the stories of people who came to this country from the commonwealth more than 45 years ago,

people facing the anxiety of being asked for documents they cannot provide to prove their right to reside in the country they call home. will the prime minister indicate what she and the government are doing to provide reassurance in these cases? my honourable friend has raised an important issue which has raised an important issue which has caused a great deal of concern and anxiety so i would like to update the house. people in the windrush generation who came here from commonwealth countries have built a life here. they have made a massive contribution to the country. these people are british, they are pa rt these people are british, they are part of us and i want to be absolutely clear that we have no intention of asking anyone to leave who has the right to remain. and for those who have mistakenly received letters challenging them, i want to

apologise to them and say sorry to anyone who has been caused confusion or anxiety felt as a result of this. i want to be clear how this has arisen. the house must come down. there will be a full opportunity for questioning of the prime minister on this occasion as there is with every occasion but the questions and answers must be heard. prime minister. those commonwealth citizens who arrived before 1973 and we re citizens who arrived before 1973 and were settled here have a right conferred by the 1971 immigration act to live in the uk. they were not required to take any action with the home office to document their status. the overwhelming majority already have the immigration documents they need but there are some who, through no fault of their own, do not and those are the people

we are working hard to help. my honourable friend, the home secretary, has made clear our new dedicated team is being set up to help these people evidence their rights to be here and access services and will aim to resolve cases within two weeks once the evidence has been put together. last month, i raised the case of albert thompson, a man who has lived and worked here for decades, paid his taxes and yet been denied national health service treatment. the prime minister brushed it off. will she say what she will now do to ensure that mr thompson gets the cancer treatment he urgently needs and is entitled to? the honourable gentleman did raise the case of

albert thompson. it was not brushed off. the home office have been in contact with mr thompson's representatives. i want to make one point very clear, that no urgent treatment should be withheld by the nhs regardless of ability. i also wa nt to nhs regardless of ability. i also want to make clear that as it happens, mr thompson is not part of the windrush generation that i have just spoken about, in answer to the first question. finally, clinicians have been looking at mr thompson's case and he will be receiving the treatment he needs. on the 20th of march, the prime minister wrote to me stating while i sympathise with mr thompson, we encourage and to make the appropriate application and provide evidence of his settled status here. yesterday we learned that in 2010, the home office

destroyed landing cards for a generation of commonwealth citizens and so have told people we can't find you in our system. did the prime minister, who was then home secretary, sign off that decision? no, the decision to destroy the landing cards was taking in 2009 under a labour government. all the evidence... the prime minister must be heard. the leader of the opposition must be heard. and he will be. jeremy corbyn. order! there was a lot of this yesterday, very noisy and extremely stupid

barracking. it must stop now. that is the end of the matter. the public absolutely despise that type of behaviour from wherever in the house it takes place full stop cut it out and go up. jeremy corbyn. could either make the prime minister in what our government that created a "really hostile what our government that created a " really hostile environment what our government that created a "really hostile environment for immigrants" and her government that introduced the 2014 immigration act. mr speaker, introduced the 2014 immigration act. mrspeaker, i introduced the 2014 immigration act. mr speaker, i think we need absolute clarity on the question of the destruction of the landing cards and is trying to blame officials, i remind herof is trying to blame officials, i remind her of what she said in 2004 when she said she was sick and tired of government ministers who simply blame other people when things go wrong. does she stand by that advice? the honourable gentleman at

me if the decision to destroy landing cards had been taken in my time as home secretary. the decision to destroy the landing cards was taken in 2009 and as i seem to recall in 2009, it was a labour home secretary. and she was home and that it was as causing stress and that it was as causing stress and pain to a generation. the home office has become too concerned with policy and strategy and loses sight of the individual. who is the premise to think is to blame for this, the current home secretary or her predecessor? predecessor? i would say to the right honourable gentleman, the home

office is a great department of state which touches peoples lives every day in a of ways. my right honourable friend the home secretary has been swift and responding to this issue of the unfortunate confusion and anxiety, for which we have apologised, which has arisen from the windrush generation. the right honourable gentleman referred earlier to action that we had taken asa earlier to action that we had taken as a conservative government to deal with illegal emigration. can i say to the right honourable gentleman that i think it is absolutely right that i think it is absolutely right that we ensure that people who access our services that are paid for by taxpayers, that are relied on by people living in this country, have a right to do so, that we take action against people who are here illegally. the windrush generation are here legally. they have a right to be here. they are british. if he wa nts to to be here. they are british. if he wants to question the issue of

taking action against illegal immigration, i suspect, taking action against illegal immigration, isuspect, i taking action against illegal immigration, i suspect, i suggest he has a conversation with the former shadow home secretary, the right honourable member for normanton, castleford importer quantify coup in 2013 said we need much stronger action from government to bring illegal immigration down. —— castleford and pontefract. this is an app isn't about illegal immigration, this is about commonwealth citizens who had every right to be here. cases like mr thompson have happened because it was home office policy in 2012, to create the really hostile environment for migrants. and she was the home secretary that sent home office plans around brent, telling migrants to go home. mr speaker, on monday, the immigration minister said that somebody citizens had been deported in error. the home secretary didn't know and then asked

commonwealth high commissioners if they knew of any cases. does the prime minister no how many british citizens have been wrongly deported, where two, and what provisions she has made to bring them back home to britain? we apologise unreservedly for the stressed that has been caused to anyone who may have been told incorrectly that they do not have the right to be in the uk. we are not aware of any specific cases ofa are not aware of any specific cases of a person being removed from the uk in the circumstances. and we have absolutely no intention of asking anyone to leave, who has the right to remain. but the work will be done by the home office to reach out to those from these windrush generation who may be do not have the necessary documentation to ensure that that is provided. there will be no cost to them. nobody will be out of pocket asa them. nobody will be out of pocket as a result of this. there is a difference between the windrush generation, who are british, who are pa rt

generation, who are british, who are part of us, who have a right to be here, and we want to ensure that we give them the reassurance of that right, and those other people who are here illegally, and i think it is absolutely right that the government should make every effort to ensure that people who access our services have a right to do so, and that we take action against people who are here illegally. mr speaker, iam who are here illegally. mr speaker, i am informed that mr albert thompson has still not been informed when he will be getting the treatment he obviously needs as a matter of urgency. doesn't the home office keep records? it has been months since these cases were first brought to government attention. we know that at least two british citizens languish in detention centres in error and this morning the jamaican prime minister said he knows of people who are unable to return to britain. mr speaker, this isa return to britain. mr speaker, this is a shameful episode, and the

responsibility for it lies firmly at the prime minister's door. her pandering to bogus immigration targets... has led to a hostile... has led to a hostile environment for people who had been contributing to our country. it led to british citizens being denied nhs treatment, losing theirjobs, homes and pensions, thrown into detention centres like criminals, and even deported. vital historical records shredded and ministers blaming officials. mr speaker, the windrush generation came to our country after the war, to rebuild our nation that had been so devastated by war. isn't the truth, isn't the truth, mr speaker, that under the prime

minister, the home office became heartless and hopeless and doesn't see ryan a government that is both kallis and unconfident? —— doesn't she won a government. asi as i have said, the windrush generation did come here after the warand generation did come here after the war and help to build this country. many of them worked in public services and contributed. they have a right to be here. they are british and that is why we are working with those who have no documentation, to ensure that they have that provided for them. the decision was taken in 1971 not to require them to have documentation. that is what has led to the problem that we now see into the relation —— in relation to the anxiety of these people but the right honourable gentleman talks about being callous and having a disregard for people. i have to say to him that i am the prime minister

who initiated the race disparity audit which said, what are we doing in this country to ensure people have equal opportunities in this country? and can i say to the right honourable gentleman, he talks about being callous. i will not take that, following a debate last night... where powerful contributions were made, particularly by the members of the stoke—on—trent north, from barking and liverpool way the tree. i will not take an accusation of canas from a man who allows anti—semitism to run rife in his party. —— of callousness. thank you very much mr speaker. a few weeks ago a gentleman from

islington called jeremy mincey did my constituency of carlisle. he brought with him a vision of 1970s britain. when theresa from maidenhead next comes to carlisle, and she reassure the people of carlisle that she will bring a vision of 21st—century britain which includes the ideals of freedom, opportunity, choice, personal responsibility and most importantly of all, national security? can i assure my honourable friend that teresa from maidenhead would bring exactly that and i am very pleased to see that in yesterday's unemployment figures, we see employment in this country at a record high. so we will... any visit to carlisle will be aboutjobs. it will be about the future. it will be about the national security, our commitment to spend 2% of gdp on our defence, our commitment to ensure that we have the powers for our intelligence services and law enforcement agency that they need to keep us safe. i look forward to my

visit to carlisle. ian blackford. thank you mr speaker. does the prime minister agree with her secretary of state who is sitting along from her that the rate clause provides victims with double support? —— the rape laws. i know this issue has been raised a number of times in a house and it is an incredibly sensitive issue and of course, i fully recognise the sensitivities that are involved for the mothers involved. we have taken great care, considerable time and care to set up procedures following extensive consultations that mean that no government staff will question these mothers about what they have experienced. what the point my right honourable friend was making was that a mother will be granted the exemptions through gate —— engaging with specialist professionals like health and social workers who may be able to provide them with supporting those circumstances over and beyond theissue those circumstances over and beyond the issue of their entitlement. ian

blackford. i have to say that is not quite the point of state made which he seemed to offend all at the meeting of the parliament in edinburgh. mr speaker, rape crisis scotla nd edinburgh. mr speaker, rape crisis scotland has been clear, paying benefits on proving trauma is not a choice. it is a disgrace and one which may well read from the women involved. the chair of the british medical association in scotland has said it is fundamentally damaging for women, forcing them to disclose rape and abuse at a time and in a manner not of their choosing, on pain of financial penalty. mr speaker, this is the form, with a box for the child's name. what kind of society do we live in? prime minister. we live in a society where we have taken every minister. we live in a society where we have ta ken every care to minister. we live in a society where we have taken every care to ensure that this is dealt with in as sensitive a manner as possible. that

is why the government took considerable time and made extensive consultations in putting the arrangements in place. as i say, nobody will be, no mother in these circumstances will be granted the exemption by dealing with job centre staff, they will be granted the exemption by dealing with specialist professionals. thank you, mr speaker, can i add my support to the prime ministerfor the speaker, can i add my support to the prime minister for the action she took at the weekend regarding the use of chemical weapons in syria? prime minister, we have a huge disparity in cornwall between average house prices and average wages. many families working and earning between 15—20,000 per year would need to earn ten times their income for an open market house, with the average salary in cornwall being about £80,000 per year. the challenges of housing delivery fundamentally different in urban areas are better rural and coastal ones and i know my right honourable friend cares deeply about getting people on to the housing ladder.

will she therefore meet with me and a group of rural and coastal mps to discuss how we can tackle this vital issue? the point my honourable friend raises is very important and he's absolutely right to do so. home ownership is a dream that people, too many young people today and sadly doubt they are not going to be able to achieve and although we have been having success, last year we saw more homes built than in any but one of the last 30 years, and we do need to ensure that we are helping people into home ownership, see more homes being built, and i would be happy to meet with my honourable friend and others to discuss the matter. thank you very much, mr speaker, i welcome the prime minister's consultation on domestic abuse, particularly the recognition of financial abuse, yet the government insists on paying universal credit into just one household account, making women more financially vulnerable. 85% of abuse survivors say they wouldn't have dared request split payments as a

special measure as it would have worsened the abuse. will the prime minister listen to the cause of women's charities and make split payments of universal credit the norm? can i say to the honourable lady that actually, as i understand it, it is possible for special arrangements to be made for split payments to be made? domestic abuse and domestic violence is a terrible abuse and a terrible crime that we must deal with but as i understand it, it is possible for arrangements to be made for split payments. it, it is possible for arrangements to be made for split paymentsm the prime minister aware that along the prime minister aware that along the length of the a5 from the m1 junction to staffordshire over the next 12 years, it is proposed to build upwards of 50,000 houses and develop 2000 acres for new businesses. is she further aware that this road is in part still single carriageway and will she discuss with the secretary of state

for transport releasing £10 million to get the next stage of the expressway project going? i'm grateful to my honourable friend, i very much aware of the key role played by the a5 in the midlands and the plans for growth and new housing that he has referred to along the route which is so important for him and his constituents. as he will know, we are already making investments in the a5 but i have heard his case for the a5 also promoted by midlands connects, as has my right honourable friend the transport secretary and this case will be considered very carefully as we make decisions on by the road investment. the national audit report today says that there are around 8200 people below a requirement and others leaving the armed forces has increased and there are significant shortfalls in critical skills. in the 2017 ma nifesto, critical skills. in the 2017 manifesto, the tory party and the prime minister said they would attract and retain the best men and women for the armed forces. isn't this another broken promise? what has gone wrong? can i say to the

honourable gentleman that we do of course want to ensure particularly that we are recruiting people with the skills the armed forces need. as we look at the modernising defence programme, we are looking at the capabilities that we require in order to defend this country and face the threats we do and that will also involve looking at the particular skills necessary. thank you, mr speaker. in the autumn budget, the chancellor announced plans for a mid wales growth deal. in an area that has received historically low levels of investment, this slightly important initiative has been welcomed by everyone, especially the 90% of smes located in the region. therefore, can my right honourable friend inform the house what progress is being made and also confirm that this welcome growth deal will not only enhance links between north and south wales but also connect wales to the midlands engine? can i say to my honourable friend that we are actively considering the proposals for the mid wales growth deal. i know he's put a lot of effort into this, particularly in bringing local

partners together, including making important cross—border links for this area. we believe that the best decisions and proposals for what is going to work for mid wales will come from people who live, work and do business there. and so we will be offering help and support and uk government ministers in wales have already met a variety of local partners to start this process off. we are ambitious for wales and i am keen to see every part of wales seeing a city or growth deal. thank you, mr speaker, last month the prime minister met six—year—old alfie dingley and his family at downing street so i think she understands how vital it is he gets access to the cannabis amazed medicine to treat is very rare and severe form of epilepsy. on monday, the home office received an application for a licence from our free's gb and leading urologist for him to access the medicine. can the prime minister assure his family she will do what you can to ensure the application is granted by the home office as quickly as possible so alfie can get the hell be desperately needs?”

alfie can get the hell be desperately needs? i was very pleased to be able to meet alfie and his family and i know the sympathy of members across the whole house are with alfie and his family as he undergoes treatment. i have written to the family to reiterate our commitment to exploring a range of options forfinding a commitment to exploring a range of options for finding a solution for him. of course, we want to ensure that people get the treatment they need. it is also important that medicines are properly and thoroughly tested but i will certainly ensure the home office looks at this application speedily. thank you, mr speaker, as the second largest donor to the global effort against malaria, the uk, since the year 2000, has helped cut deaths from malaria by 60%, saving nearly 7 million lives but much more needs to be done. will the prime minister give her personal commitment to maintaining the uk's global leadership in respect of the fight against this deadly, yet preve nta ble, against this deadly, yet preventable, condition?” against this deadly, yet

preventable, condition? ithank my honourable friend for raising this issue which is a very important one. it is one of the issues we will be focusing on in this commonwealth heads of government week. yesterday, i called my fellow commonwealth leaders tojoin the i called my fellow commonwealth leaders to join the uk in i called my fellow commonwealth leaders tojoin the uk in committing to halving the area by 2023. we are the second largest donor to the fight against malaria. we remain committed as my right honourable friend, the foreign minister said in international development questions, to our five—year pledge to spend £500 million per year tackling it and yesterday i announced the uk will commit a further £100 million to the global fund with the aim of unlocking a further £100 million of investment from the private sector. three months ago, mr speaker, following the carillion collapse, building work stopped on the two thirds finished midlands metropolitan hospital in smethwick. on the 28th of february, i raised this with the prime minister and she assured me that the department of health and social care and nhs improvement are working with the trust and the private finance

initiative company so that work can recommence as soon as possible. six weeks later, after endless dithering from those bodies, i have two after the prime minister to get a grip of her ministers and officials and get a decision, get a deal and get this hospital built. will she do that? iam aware i am aware that he has raised this issue before. the contract between the trust and the pfi company is still in place the pfi company is obliged to manage the project and find another subcontractor who can deliver the building work. as the right honourable gentleman might know, even before caerphilly and there were some delays that took place to this particular project. —— before mcclung. the chancellor of the duchy of lancaster is looking at this and has been in discussions with the mirror the west midlands,

andy street. we recognise the level of concern raised on this issue and we are working to resolve it. will my right honourable friend join me in congratulating team england in winning the second largest tally of gold medals at an overseas commonwealth games as they return on saturday to birmingham, which will be the next host of the games? can i say to my right honourable friend i am happy to congratulate team england on coming second in the medals table. i'm also happy to congratulate scotland, wales and northern ireland, all of whom had very good commonwealth games. it was an excellent commonwealth games. australia put on a very good show. i'm very pleased to see that one of the last results was in the women's 2018 has been an unprecedented year for violent crime in london. less

than four months in we have seen 60 murders already, the metropolitan police do a fantasticjob but home office documents show there is a correlation between the reduction in police resources and rises in violent crime. even after the preset increase the met will still need to make savings of £325 million by 2021 and will the prime minister recognise that these chronic cuts are unsustainable and commit to reversing this harmful underfunding? money is being made available to police forces in the 1819 year. my right honourable friend the home secretary has taken action in relation to the strategy she has published. i also have to say to the honourable lady that we do not say there is a direct correlation or causal factor between the number of officers on the ground and the numbers of crime. she may waive her hand at that but those are not my

words, they are the words of the shadow policing minister. there was a debate yesterday about anti—semitism and i listened to appalling testimonies from the memberfor appalling testimonies from the member for liverpool appalling testimonies from the memberfor liverpool a appalling testimonies from the member for liverpool a —— appalling testimonies from the memberfor liverpool a —— liveable wage matri and other areas and they we re wage matri and other areas and they were horrifying but also uplifting in the sense of the bravery that they have shown in tackling their abusers. can i asked my right honourable friend that she agrees with me that not only should every political party have absolutely no place for anybody who is an anti—semite, but also, just as importantly, should kick out of the party a ny importantly, should kick out of the party any apologists for anti—semitism. party any apologists for anti-semitism. i absolutely agree with my right honourable friend. i think it is incredibly important for political parties in this country to

show a very clear signal that we will not accept, we will not tolerate anti—semitism in any form. i made reference to a number of speeches that were made yesterday and can! speeches that were made yesterday and can i alsojoin my right honourable friend in commending those members of this house, particularly the members for stoke—on—trent north and liveable wage matri who have suffered incredible abuse as a result of this anti—semitism but who have also shown incredible bravery in being willing to stand up and set that out to this house. theirs was a fine example of the best of this house of commons,. this week the uk becomes the chair of the commonwealth. many of us will have walked past demonstrations outside the parliament on the issue of kashmir and they understand the prime minister will be issued with a petition this afternoon. the

stalemate in bilateral talks between india and pakistan has failed to deliver any solution to this major nuclear flash point. how deliver any solution to this major nuclearflash point. how will the prime minister use the uk's new position to boldly pursue peace and human rights violations in kashmir? the honourable gentleman raises the question that i know has been raised in this house before and is of concern and i am in this house before and is of concern and i am sure in this house before and is of concern and i am sure will be to not just him but also his constituents. we continue to take the view that the best resolution of this issue is for india and pakistan themselves to come together and resolve the issue. that will be the way to resolve it that will actually ensure the sustainability of a resolution. rbs recently announced plans to reduce the number of mobile banking visits in the murray. following representations from myself and local councils, the bank confirmed yesterday they would not go ahead with their plans. will the prime minister join with their plans. will the prime ministerjoin me in welcoming this, but does she agree that rbs needs to

engage more with local communities because they had done so they would know how unacceptable the proposals were. i am very happy to join my honourable friend in welcoming the decision has been taken by rbs and i wa nt to decision has been taken by rbs and i want to commend him for the efforts on behalf of his constituents. these are commercial issues for the banks but we had been clear that in making such decisions the banks need to consider very carefully the impact on people and their access to services. following india's commitment by prime minister modi and the finance minister to end tb by 2025, could the prime minister commit to encouraging other commonwealth leaders on the commonwealth leaders on the commonwealth heads of government meeting this week to make similar commitments in advance of the un high—level meeting on tv and will she attends to show britain's

continued support for the fight against tb. the honourable gentleman raises a very important issue and we are happy through various channels to show we are encouraging others to follow the example of india in relation to tb. it is something that at one stage was eradicated here in the uk but other countries around the uk but other countries around the world need to ensure that action is being taken. unemployment is at a 43 year low and investment in uk industry is at a high, including the tech industry, would she come and visit imagination technologies that had an £8 billion investment and shows the confidence that overseas industries have in our tech industry? i think that might be a bit of a detour but i support industry? i think that might be a bit of a de tour but i support what my honourable friend is saying about the importance of high—tech

businesses and the importance of companies like imagination technologies on the work they are doing. cardigan bay has sustained communities on beauty and bouncy but lifeboat station has protected people for many years but from twe nty20 people for many years but from twenty20 it is possible that ceredigion will no longer have an all—weather lifeboat. the bible work of the rnli serves as the fourth emergency service so it is important that ceredigion has access to the service whatever the weather. obviously search and rescue at sea is provided by an number of organisations. of course, the coast guard and rnli but they do have a proud tradition at the rnli and we should be very grateful to the record that the rnli has shown in search and rescue at sea. it is

obviously independent and it decides where it thinks it is best to put its resources but we are supporting the work of independent lifeboat charities through our rescue boat grant fund which has allocated over £3.5 million since 2014 to increase capacity and resilience by providing new boats and equipment. the commonwealth is a wonderful organisation. too many commonwealth countries have anti—gay legislation on their statute books and, of course, a lot of the mara legacy to colonial days when britain was a very different country. what message does she have to commonwealth leaders this week about gay rights? and more importantly the message going to gay people in those countries who are suffering because of the legislation? my right honourable friend raises an important point and we have a special responsibility to change hearts and minds on these issues within the commonwealth. i addressed

the commonwealth forum yesterday and when i did so i said that across the commonwealth discriminatory laws that were often made many years ago do continue to affect the lives of many people. they are failing to protect women and girls and criminalising same—sex relations. many such laws were put in place, often by this country. i deeply regret the legacy of discrimination and violence and even death that persists today. as a family of commonwealth nations we must respect one another‘s customs and traditions but do so in a manner that is consistent with our common value of equality and the uk message that we gave yesterday is that we stand ready to support any commonwealth member who wants to reform outdated legislation that makes such discrimination possible. when the president —— not when the prime minister meets president modi mike shea understand one —— seek to understand what india is relatively speaking so successful encountering child trafficking and/or lessons for

this country? i have already met prime minister modi this morning and iraid on prime minister modi this morning and i raid on the issue of human trafficking and the work being done in india and we will set up discussions between our officials. london welcomes our good friend prime minister modi today. we'll should take the opportunity to condemn absolutely the mobile billboards that are going around london today condemning my minister modi and will she congratulate and thank the contribution made by the 1.7 million indian dyas spread to the work of this country? can i say to my honourable friend that india is indeed a good friend of the united kingdom and the indian diaspora here in the uk play an enormous role and make an enormous contribution to our society and economy and i am very happy to join my honourable friend in congratulating them on, thanking them and indeed encouraging that

continue into the future. and i spoke to prime minister modi we discussed how we can encourage and increase the links and development between our two countries. the vile online and social media abuse suffered by female politicians in particular, which was movingly highlighted in the debate yesterday but also by recent events at the weekend back home in northern ireland is a testimony to how this must be tackled head—on. can the prime minister assure us that steps will be taken to bring social media companies and platforms to account and that the wild west culture of anything goes is brought to an end as quickly as possible? the right honourable gentleman has raised an important point about how these platforms can be used for the sort of abuse that we heard of in the chamber here tonight and that has also been raised in northern ireland in the last matter of days. we are

working with the social media companies and good work has been done with them on a number of aspects such as child abuse is platforms but we are also, as we continue to work with on the wider issues, we are looking at the issue of liability for social media companies. they are not publishers but on the other hand they are not just platforms and we are looking at that issue urgently. free and fair elections are the foundation of our democracy. the prime minister will be aware of events that happened in the gower constituency in last year ‘s brexit whether labour activist dan ‘s brexit whether labour activist da n eva ns ‘s brexit whether labour activist dan evans is admitting spreading lies and libellous accusations against ourformer lies and libellous accusations against our former colleague byron davies, in order to influence the outcome of the election. it appears his efforts worked. does the prime minister believed that the leadership of the labour party need to make very clear that our democracy has no place for this sort of behaviour does she believe that

the honourable thing would be for the honourable thing would be for the new incumbent that seek to resign fight a free and honest by—election? resign fight a free and honest by-election? of course our former colleague byron davies has received an apology and a donation i understand has been rated charity but of course he lost his job as a result of the action that was taken and can! result of the action that was taken and can i also say? that across this house people will talk about free and fair elections that is what we believe in as a but political parties do not need to just talk about free and fair elections, they need to ensure they put into practice. last week shot door direct said they would close all of their manchester sites with the loss of 2000 jobs including nearly 1400 in my constituency. it was without

prior warning or discussion with staff and unions or oldham council or myself. given that this is about the ascendance of automation, what specific measures is the prime minister undertaking to support my constituents and will she meet with me and my colleagues to discuss this and the more general impact of automation on the labour market? this is obviously that area of great concern for the workers and their families in manchester. dwp jobcentre plus are working with the company to understand the level of support required for employees and dwp are ready to put in place their rapid response service to support any workers made redundant at helping them back into employment as quickly as possible. there are a number of ways jobcentre plus can support workers and they will ensure they are doing that in this instance. she raises a wider issue about the impact of automation on

jobs but looking at that question is a matter that we are doing and looking at as part of our industrial strategy and i will ask the business secretary to meet with her to discuss that. malaria has been mentioned by several members in this chamber today. in the conversations with the prime minister of canada this week will the prime minister discuss how the g—7 can help to drive progress towards a malaria free world? i thank my honourable friend for raising that, i haven't yet met prime minister trudeau this week but it is certainly an issue that we have made sure has been choke on about here in the commonwealth heads of government and we will raise it in the g—7 context. in 2009a we will raise it in the g—7 context. in 2009 a woman was raped and murdered. since 2012 a man has been avoiding extradition for it and they

tell their charges of sexual violence against women in waltha mstow. violence against women in walthamstow. there have been 47 hearings to date, of which the judge did not show up to seven of them in seven differentjudges had been appointed. when she talks to her good friend prime minister modi whilst he is here in london, will the prime minister commit to raising this case with him so that we can finally get justice for michelle?” have already met prime minister modi for our bilateral discussions. there we re for our bilateral discussions. there were a number of issues of extradition between the united kingdom and india and i think what we do raise a number of cases with the indian government, as i did this morning. it is important that we recognise the independence of the judiciary in both countries. order! points of order tend to come after

urgent questions so we will look forward with eager anticipation and a sense of excitement the contribution of the honourable gentleman at that point. we will leave the house of commons at that stage and that session prime minister's questions at which theresa may again apologised to the members of the windrush generation who were wrongly threatened with deportation. this bbc news. the media regulator ofcom has opened seven investigations into the due impartiality of news and current affairs programmes on the russian news service rt. the regulator says that since the poisoning of a former spy and his daughter in salisbury last month it has observed an increase in the number of programmes that warrant investigation. our media editor amol rajan joins us now. firstly for the people who do not know, what is our tea and why is it being investigated like this? used

to be called russia today and it was setup in 2005 by putin. they would deny that they are a kremlin propaganda channel but from those who are in their offices their basic issueis who are in their offices their basic issue is to destabilise the western consensus around news events so the chemical attack in syria, everybody else says this but this is the russian point of view. in britain we have a broadcasting code and a lot of state broadcasters, notjust russian ones, also chinese state broadcaster who are allowed to broadcaster who are allowed to broadcast on channels like free view. rt sometimes sells pretty close to the window they have been fined in the past but when you get a very contentious event like salisbury when the russian point of view is very different to the western point of view there is particular sensitivity and ofcom have looked at the rt coverage in several different programmes including sputnik presented by george galloway and the seven

programmes do not just george galloway and the seven programmes do notjust sail close to the win but they actually getting to a place where rt is materially very different to everyone out and we have to have another look and see if they are still fit and proper to own a broadcasting licence. after salisbury one—way people were saying was to punish russia would be to shut down rt altogether. it is an extraordinarily bizarre and anomalous situation where the same video, three—minute report about a chemical attack in syria is subject to broadcasting regulation and if it comes out on channel one to two on your set—top box at home but it could appear on your mobile phone through the internet and is not regulated so it has always been a wea k regulated so it has always been a weak argument. people also say it is a propaganda channel and it might be a propaganda channel and it might be a propaganda channel and it might be a propaganda coup if you took them off there and there is the defence off there and there is the defence of saying you need a plurality of voices and with things we have in this country is a free and open media and it is important have

different perspectives but there is a broadcasting code and the company leads back to the russian government so it is important to say that what they have done is notjust out of sync with the concerns of western media but also beyond the pale. thank you very much indeed. with just a month until the royal wedding, prince harry and bride—to—be meghan markle have been attending the commonwealth youth forum, a spin off event from the commonwealth heads of government meeting. here to tell us more is our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. what have they been up to? worth noting that two thirds, or 60% of the total population of commonwealth is under the age of 30. engagement with the use is very important and that has been happening here at the commonwealth youth forum which was opened by prince harry earlier this week and also earlier this week the queen appointed him the youth ambassador for the commonwealth so he arrived

here accompanied by meghan markle and it is clear that harry will perform this role is commonwealth youth ambassador after the wedding and he will be sharing it with meghan markle and i think it is a role to which they will both be very suited. we know he is good with young people and keen to engage with the man that is something that meghan markle will enjoy as well. have they got other things on their mind at the moment? of course they have. it is just one mind at the moment? of course they have. it isjust one month now until the big day, their wedding day at windsor on may 19 so no doubt a lot of planning going on in the background. thank you. as the crusade against plastic in our seas continues, the health of the waters surrounding the uk are subject to detailed scientific observation. now, the bbc has been given rare access to the government's science ship. it's a floating laboratory that's studying everything from the health of our fish stocks and the seabed, to the amount of litter dumped off our shores. our science correspondent richard westcott joined the endeavour as it sailed down the east coast of england. inching out of lowestoft on a quiet

night, the £23 million floating science lab, heading down the east coast to explore one of the world's big environmental problems. what a stunning view, sunrise over the thanet wind farm. but we're not here for the view, it's the science done on—board vessels like endeavour here that's teaching us all about the rubbish we're dumping into the sea. so why am i holding this plastic phone? i'll explain more later. paid for by public money, endeavour spends most of the year running a health check on britain's seas. so, sue, this is a really interesting and different camera, isn't it? what is it? so this is our sediment profile imaging camera, it essentially takes a photo of a slice into the sea bed, so we'll be looking at, for example, differences in the colour spectrum down through the sediment slice, and that can tell us things like how far the oxygen's penetrating

into the sea bed, but we can also look for things like burrows that some of the animals have made. this cosy home probably belonged to a worm. animals suggest a healthy sea bed. the only way to monitor fish stocks is to catch some. just look at the way the diving birds are trying to cash in, and the nets often catch more than they bargained for. come on then, josie, let's see what you've have got, tip it out. now, we talked about the phone earlier, and here is why its relevant. you found this on the ocean floor, didn't you? yes, we did. how does a phone end up on the ocean floor? well, that looks like it might have come off a ship, so it could have been off a wreck, or something that someone's thrown overboard perhaps. and a plastic bag. they're interesting as well, aren't they? because you're finding fewer plastic bags, is that right? yes, that's right. it's really interesting for us because it's been recording the sea floor data for about 25 years now, so it is a really good set to show exactly what we've been

collecting on these trawls, and plastic bags, we've found its declined since the introduction of the 5p charge. the scientists spend most of the year gathering data but today's voyage is a bit different. moored up next to hms belfast, some special guests come on—board. pelicans dive into the sea, and they eat the food in the sea and it's really bad because the pollution of the sea, all the plastic, it can get stuck. had you ever thought before today about how you use plastic? no. so has it changed the way you think now? yeah, now i want to make the world a better place. richard westcott, bbc london news, on board science ship endeavour. the company that makes uk passports, de la rue, has said it will not appeal

against the government's choice of a franco—dutch company to produce britain's post—brexit blue passports. the contract for the new passports was won by gemalto, which is based in amsterdam. de la rue said it had considered all the options, but had decided not to challenge the decision. the arrival of your firstborn is always an emotional moment. and it seems it's no different for gorillas. take a look at this. this is cayala the lowland gorilla, greeting her little baby boy with a big kiss on the lips. the species is listed as critically endangered, so it was a major success for the smithsonian zoo in washington dc. it's the first time in nine years they've successfully bred a male lowland. they've called the baby moke, which means "junior" or "little one" in the lingala language. in a moment the news at one: first the weather. for a few of you it will feel as

though we have fast forwarded into some in the next few days and that is even in some areas where you have rampant —— the gradient and conditions earlier today. the sunshine is building across western europe and now it is coming towards us with temperatures today in the high 20s and the cloud has cleared from the south and there is cloud to the west of northern ireland with a few spots of rain and trade in the highlands and islands to finish the day but for most it is dry with good sunny spells in the evening. temperatures peaked at 18 or 19. 25 towards the south—east of england. the many tonight you will stay clear. a weather front to the west brings thicker cloud to northern ireland later. a few to showers come across the highlands and islands once again after a dry start of the night and temperatures dip into single figures so for the early commuters it is not especially warm but when the sun gets up temperatures take a big boost. on

thursday week weather front, zone of cloud extends from scotland to the irish sea. a few showers in scotland but most places are dry and misty at times around the coast of the west. blue skies for much of the day. some of the heat will be deflected away as we go through thursday night and into friday as atlantic air pushes in. a gradual process with more clout than mr ran to start friday and there could be mist and fog patches on the english channel. a few showers in the highlands and islands and some of them are heavy but any cloud will break up a good sunny spells in the afternoon and is not as warm as thursday but friday shapes into a pleasant day for many with temperatures above where they should be. we go into the weekend on a fine should be. we go into the weekend on afine oak should be. we go into the weekend on a fine oak with high pressure in charge and weeks away during the second half of the weekend and it

sta rts second half of the weekend and it starts to destabilise the above us so saturday is dry in most places and finding the sunshine with light wind but on saturday night and sunday showers and thunderstorms in the west will push their way to the east. one thing to watch and keep an eye on if you are running the london marathon this weekend, as well as contending with strong sunshine and high pollen levels and potentially the warmest of the weather on record you could see in a thunderstorm. her out to dry? we've seen in some of the papers, there's not been a sense of enormous affection between the departments, shall we say but it is so close to the bone for the prime minister of course because she was in charge there before so she let amber rudd. go on it.

the one o'clock news is starting over on bbc one now. jo and will be here at noon tomorrow with all the big political stories of the day. dojoin us if you can. bye bye. theresa may apologises unreservedly in the commons for the way some of the windrush generation have been treated — insisting they're british and ‘are part of us' labour called the controversy a shameful episode which could be laid at the prime minister's door. isn't the truth, mr speaker, that under her the home office became heartless and hopeless, and doesn't she now run a government that is both callous and incompetent? but mrs may said the decision to destroy landing cards, which showed when people first arrived in the uk, was taken under the last labour government. we'll have the latest on the controversy from westminster. also this lunchtime.