in a wide—ranging interview, the young leader talks to me about his image, his relationship with president trump and his plans to strengthen trade ties with the uk. the commonwealth heads of government are in london this week and to discuss relations for britain trade is higher on the agenda. what's on offer from canada? we are looking of course to have a seamless transition as we go from the deal we just signed with the entire european union including great britain to having a version that a stand—alone that will flip over the day after brexit. we're very happy with with britain, our largest trading partner in the european union and we will look to make sure there is predictability. speaking of trade, the majority of your trade is done with united states and mexico. president trump wants the nafta deal signed as soon as possible. deal or no deal? it depends on what happens with the table.

we're looking at a level of positive momentum and enthusiasm as we approach the deadlines around both the mexican elections and the us midterms. we see the coming weeks as an opportunity to really dig in and see if we can get to that when, win, win. we have had a good run of trade deals, canada has. we are feeling good about trade and we are optimistic about nafta even though we know there will be a lot of hard talking. there is hard talking. are you concerned about trump's threats that he may pull out? we have been working constructively with this administration for over a year now. there's always a certain amount of rhetorical flourish with the way to the president operates. we stay focused on getting things done that will be good for canada and good for the united states.

what would it mean if it collapsed? i'm very much focused on how we are going to move forward. the ties that exist between canada and the united states are so complex and multilayered that i am very confident we're going to stay in a good place. how can you have that situation when you are dealing with an administration that believes in protectionism ? for example, stoking fears of a trade war? both the president and i are looking to create a benefit for the largest number of people. particularly folks in our own countries that have felt left out of the kind of growth and progress we have seen over the past 30 years. if we can actually work together to create and enhance jobs then that is what we are going to do. there's areas where we disagree

and he knows myjob is to stand up for canadian interests and he gets that. dealing with him, is it challenging? any relationship amongst leaders is challenging. there has been nothing like this. we have not seen this m0 before. do you find that challenging? canada's relationship with the united states was always one of the most important for any canadian prime minister to deal with. this is certainly a standup time. the president prides himself on a particularly that is challenging aspects of global systems that we have taken for granted. it does keep me on my toes, but we have a good working relationship because that's

what canadians expect me to do. the secretary—general of the un says the cold war is back with a vengeance. the mechanisms that were in place to prevent the escalation of conflict are no longer there. do you agree with that? i think we're living in a time where we are seeing there's different stresses and conflicts than we had in my father's time or even a decade ago. that's why we have to be thoughtful about how we pull together as a global community to deal with challenges whether it's a significant country no longer playing with international rules or economic pressures coming out of asia. how do you deal with russia? demonstrating strength and solidarity amongst the international community. i think vladimir putin is someone who plays on power structures and strength and seeing a strong and concerted response

from the international community. he was taken aback by how vehemently the international community responded to the terrible attacks in salisbury. that was absolutely irresponsible and illegal of russia to have engaged that way and there were immediate and direct conferences. i think continuing to demonstrate that there is a strong will in the international community to push back against their actions. you say it has taken aback, but do you think it is likely to change russia's behaviour? i'm not going to get into predicting or analysing what they do in general, but i do think however, that a strong and unified response by the international community to stand up for the rules that we have long—established like don't use chemical weapons

against civilians, against your own country in the case of syria or someone else‘s country like in the salisbury attack, that for me is something we have to show that no, we will not accept that and there will be consequences and we will stand firmly. if you look at these strikes on syria, do you think they accomplish anything? i think they managed to degrade the ability of syria to continue to deliver chemical weapons on its own civilians. i think that's the direct and explicit point of the air strikes were and it was very targeted on that level. as we move forward the solutions of diplomatic and political but having a clear response from the community is a line that must not be crossed is again a very strong signal. it has not changed the course of the war. it has not changed their behaviour. it was not about changing the course of the war,

it was about saying the use of chemical weapons is something that is going to be matched with a very clear and strong response from the international community. ideally, it would happen through the security council but as you pointed out the structures that used to hold well in terms of how it worked with russia playing a spoiler role at the security council means we actually did not have other choices then to have a direct and measured response. when you wake up in the morning and see a tweet like get ready russia — how does it make you feel? i focus on the substance and the great relationship that canada has with our... when you look at your phone, do you think anything? i had a heads up through our

military and security that those... that those tweets were coming out? that they were looking at a strong and measured response. i knew what was going on in the substance of things was on a track that could be illustrated by a tweet, i don't spend a lot of time on twitter. do you feel that you have had any influence over president trump? we have established a good relationship and we can talk about important issues. he listens. you have rebranded canada. certainly your personal brand has played a huge role in that. what are some of the downsides of that? i think one of the things i try to point out and remind people of his canada did not suddenly changed when we had an election

two years ago. canadians did not radically change their approach. it has always been canadians engaged around the world in diplomacy and development, and innovation. but your brand, people took notice when you entered the international stage. i was able to pull together general perceptions that people had around canada and focus them and lift them up a little bit in a way that, as the world was going in a particular direction stood out a bit. people paying a little bit more attention to canada and canadians and what we are doing is a good thing. but there have been downsides to that, have there not? if you look at your recent trip to india, there was a lot of criticism. when you are a politician you get criticism for anything you do. whether it's successful or less successful. i try not to stay focused

on the criticism or the openness to criticism, but on the doing of actual substantive things. the trip was a great moment to connect with a very strong diaspora. it was an opportunity to sign significant deal with investors in canada and india. we ended up creating good jobs in canada through the trip. there was once a point where the dancing and outfit changes did have appeal. i don't think of things in terms of, oh is this going to go viral or not? i think of things in terms of how do i want to engage and what is authentic to how we engage with the world? for me, giving... i have a constituency in montreal where there's a strong indian community and i am regularly at their celebrations and engage with them. for me, continuing that in india was natural. it was a reflection of the deep

connections between our country. people can criticise and can take what they wish from it, but again the deepening of the relationship is a very positive thing. one of the criticisms was that with the novelty gone there is little substance. i think the economic approach we have had was successfully signed trade deals around the world at a time where anti—trade and anti—globalisation is everywhere. creating the highest growth rate in the g7 in canada, with 2017 being the best year in the g7 in canada. because we are doing things like lowering for the middle class. giving generous checks to the middle—class and low—income families. we are actually creating substantive of progress for canadians in a way that is notjust good

for us as a country, but it is countering a lot of the populist anxiety out there. that's very much what i am focused on and i will stay focused on and i will let opinion folks opine on what they want. i will keep delivering for canadians. have you learned lessons from these things? if you don't learn everyday on how to do things better then you won't evolve as a leader and won't be able to be there to respond. i am always going to take and reflect on what we can do next. can i ask about a controversial pipeline? an energy project considered one of the most controversial in ca nada's history. do you feel you are in between a rock and a hard place or giving up your values? not at all. my values and the approach i put forward when i got elected was we can no longer pretend there's a choice between what's good for the economy and what's good

for the environment. the only way to build a responsible economy and country and environment that works for future generations is to do both of the same time. verses oil by rail or truck, pipelines are much safer and we are captive to a us market for our oil resources. getting our oil to the pacific. it really matters because that is a discount now, but we are also captive to a market — that as we pointed out earlier — is a little bit less predictable than it has been in years past and i think diversifying is good. thank you so much. it's a real pleasure. thank you. i appreciate it. that evening. today's storm is

across east and less of the way the last of the very warm weather. the week ahead is much more typical weather on our way, typical that we should get to the stage at spring. nice when the sun is out but much cooler when the clouds come your way. showers across scotland, northern ireland and northern england leading to a fresh start, temperatures to signal figures but committee southern and eastern areas, wu skies ahead, comfort. a fine day for most, with the sunshine in the morning across eastern areas clouding over into the afternoon but with some sunny spells. the morning break this gives away to some outbreak ‘s brain in the afternoon pushed into western scotland and around the irish sea coast. to bridges around 15 degrees. not as warm as it has been but still pleasa nt warm as it has been but still pleasant enough with some sunny spells, cloudy and damp weather will spread across all parts across

monday evening and into monday night. more updates on bbc news. i'm babita sharma in singapore. the headlines: as he prepares for his visit to the us, president macron issues a plea to donald trump: don't pull out of the iran nuclear deal. is better than the sort of north korean type of situation. —— it is. we talk trade, equal rights and motherhood with new zealand's prime minister, jacinda ardern. i'm kasia madera in london. also in this programme: a suicide attack at an election centre in the afghan capital, kabul. at least 57 people are killed. we meet the very lucky man who's survived a snake, bear and, most recently, a shark attack. we speak to him live from hawaii.