hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm ben brown. the government presses ahead with plans to expand existing grammar schools in england — labour calls it a vanity project. after more than 200 women were wrongly given the all clear for cervical cancer, ireland's health minister says the public must be told who knew what when. my my children are going to grow up and start asking questions and why did mum die, if nobody is held accountable, they will take on the hatred and the fear and i don't want that. the prime minister splits her cabinet into two groups to consider options for customs arrangements after britain leaves the eu. junk food adverts could be banned on london's tubes and buses, as the mayor tries to tackle what he calls the ticking time bomb of child obesity. coming up on afternoon live all the sport. what have you got for us today,

catherine? good afternoon, ben. gareth southgate will decide on the england squad and into the world cup. he will announce 23 names next week. and is wayne rooney going or staying at everton? we will have more in the next half—hour. staying at everton? we will have more in the next half-hour. and helen will have the weekend weather. i will but it is causing us forecasted a headache. this rain is pushing in from the atlantic. some areas will have quite a soggy weekend. i will try and put more detail on that later! thank you. also coming up: by royal invitation — the choir made up of people with disabilities preparing to sing in windsor for the wedding.

hello everyone, this is afternoon live — i'm ben brown. the government is pressing ahead with plans to expand existing grammar schools in england. it has promised £50 million to provide new places at selective schools. labour has dismissed it as a vanity project, saying it's a misguided use of overstretched funds. our political correspondent iain watson reports. here is a test for you. when did the prime minister say this? we know grammar schools are hugely popular with parents. we know they are good for the people that attend them. it was 2016, before the general election, losing her majority in 2017, the commitment to lift a ban on new selective schools was dropped. now £50 million has been made available for existing grammar

schools in england to expand. the £50 million for grammar school expansion is a relatively small part of a large capital pot which is there to make sure that we can accommodate the needs of families and make sure we have got good school places and diversity in choice. the funding was ear—marked in 2016, the new education secretary has now authorised it. to get the cash, schools must pass some tests. they will have to prove there is local demand and set out what they will do to attract more pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. leading grammar schools say they welcome the challenge. it's no doubt where they are dominated by the middle classes, that can have a negative effect, so it's welcome we are looking at the way grammar schools admit pupils rather than debating whether they should exist or not. labour say the focus should be on schools in greater need. unfortunately the government have shown they are ideological driven to help the selected few while the rest of schools are facing

cuts and having a damaging effect on education. when is a new grammar school not a grammar school? when it's an annex. this school in kent set up an annex ten miles away, so critics say money for expansion could mean more grammar schools by the back door. not content with dropping a manifesto pledge to create entirely new grammar schools, today the government has dropped another. it had said it would get rid of so—called inclusivity rules when it comes to new free schools, translated, that means they could select up to 100% of the pupils on the basis of their parent's religion. that's now gone, and only up to half of the pupils in these schools will be selected on the basis of faith. i do welcome the fact that the government has abandoned its plans to allow religious groups to open free schools and only open them

to children of particular faiths. this is our school... more money will be made available via local authorities to expand faith schools in their areas, where there is demand. the government says it wants to offer more choice but critics say there is still too much emphasis on schools selecting pupils rather than parents selecting schools. chris philp is the conservative mp for croydon south, he's welcomed the move. iama i am a south london grammar school boy and i think grammar schools give opportunity to children from ordinary or even poor backgrounds the chance to fulfil their potential. grammar schools are not about casting aside children who do not get in. the rest of the school system is incredibly important. i can't schools, free schools, all of those schools are important. there are more children going to good and outstanding schools than ever

before. grammar schools are popular with parents. they are massively oversubscribed, often 22 one. so letting these popular schools that pa rents letting these popular schools that pa re nts wa nt letting these popular schools that parents want to send their children to, let them provide more places strikes me as common sense. croydon, my borough is a good example. there are grammar schools in sutton to the west. there are one or two in bromley to the east which is where i went, but there are none in croydon. my went, but there are none in croydon. my constituents have to send their children miles and miles, so expanding a sutton grammar school in to croydon would be a good idea. it increases choice for parents and thatis increases choice for parents and that is a good thing. joining me now from westminster is the former schools minister and now executive chairman of the education policy institute, david laws. what do you make of this? as they we re what do you make of this? as they were just hearing, the conservative

point of view is it increases choice and there is huge demand from pa rents for and there is huge demand from parents for grammar schools so why not increase the number of places?|j think not increase the number of places?” think the evidence suggests that today's announcement on grammar schools will not move the dial in any particular significant way in terms of the challenges facing our country. if you are a believer in grammar schools you will be disappointed by the fact that the announcement, however large £50 million sounds, only creates a few thousand places. if you are concerned about social mobility and are thinking about the opportunities for poor georgian, very few of whom getting to grammar schools, that probably means only a few hundred extra places across the country would go active poor children. but if we look at the evidence on grammar schools which we have done using the government's own data, what we find is really interesting. what we find is those pupils who get

into grammar schools do fractionally better than they would do if they we re better than they would do if they were going to ordinary nonselective schools, about a third of gcse grade in each of five subjects. but that does come we find at a price. those children who do not access grammar schools, particularly in areas where there are a lot of selective places actually do worse than they were doing parts the country which does have grammar schools. the odd thing about the government's policy is it is only for political reasons increasing grammar schools in the areas which already have them. ironically, the government is putting more places into the areas already covered, which is likely to negatively impact on those children who do not get grammar school places. the government say this is about choice, parental choice and excellence, having centres of excellence, having centres of excellence in our education system. and what we found in the same report, and using the government's own data is a high ability pupil of

the type that gets presently into grammar schools, if they go to a high performing nonselective school, which are obviously available throughout the country, they are likely to get exactly the same level of grades. in other words, there are plenty of nonselective schools that doa plenty of nonselective schools that do a really good job. and the truth is, this announcement today looks as if it has been designed to deliver in part the manifesto commitment that the government made. it is not large in size. it will have very little impact on social mobility. if we really have a country want to concentrate on things which move the dial, we need to be focusing on the big policy areas which will make a difference, intervening early because so much of the disadvantage gap in performance arrives even before children enter school. testing pupils at age 11 have to see they are ready for grammar school are simply never going to be a pro social mobility policy if young people from poor backgrounds have already fallen well behind in their learning. we need to intervene early

and we need to do much more to attract the best teachers to schools in the most challenging circumstances. we know at the moment we have a real problem with the recruitment of teachers, particularly in disadvantaged areas. these are the things which will move the dial on social mobility. today's announcement is trivial on social mobility. it may be trivial but it has aroused huge passions on both side of the debate and grammar schools are so controversial, they inflame passions, debt they? they do, it is a very divisive issue. it is understandable that people who see grammar schools across the country who do a greatjob and get good results will automatically think perhaps this is the solution to all our national problems. but if you take and collect up the most able pupils in the country and put them in schools with the best teachers, of course they are going to do well. it does not necessarily mean that something which looks good

in terms of one school makes sense asa in terms of one school makes sense as a national policy, and the head of the 0ecd's education department that looks at the international evidence from all over the world says actually social segregation through selection does not drive improvements in education from an entire country. the best education systems in the world managed to combine excellence with equity and don't rely upon the type of selection we have in grammar schools. while we have so many poor georgian falling behind before they even arrive in school, using a test at age 11 to divide children up into grammar schools and non—grammars is never going to be a pro social mobility policy —— poor children. thank you for your time. ireland's health minister says he wants to get to the bottom of ‘who knew what, and when‘ about a scandal involving the country's cervical cancer screening service. the head of the health service in the irish republic has said he will resign, after it emerged that more than 200 women were wrongly told

that their cervical smear tests were all clear. 17 women have since died. the failings occurred after the tests were out—sourced to an american company. 0ur ireland correspondent chris page sent this report. stories like emma's had moved and stunned people in ireland. she was given the all clear for cervical cancer five years ago but the result of her smear test was wrong, she was only diagnosed with the disease in 2016 and is now terminally ill. i've been told to get things in place for my children will stop it has not hit me that i'm dying, because i'm so worried that people are going to get away with it. the scandal came to light in a court case brought by this woman. she was awarded 200 million euros. doctors have given her between six

and 12 months to live. my settlement will mostly be spent on buying me time and paying for clinical trials to keep me alive and to allow me to spend more time with my children. if i die and i truly hope that won't be the case, the money will provide for my family. it's emerged that at least 208 women should have had treatment earlier. 17 have died. public and political anger has grown. ireland's top health official tony 0'brien faced fierce questioning at a parliamentary committee yesterday. the woman on the radio this morning has no time to wait. she says she is too angry to worry about dying, and we are here kicking a football about. let's have an investigation and see what happened. where is the accountability? why don't we both wait until the outcome of the expert review, then we can both reflect.

at the moment you are causing hysteria. last night, he announced he was standing down. mr 0'brien‘s resignation will take effect this afternoon. however, the women who have had catastrophic news are likely to keep the issue in the spotlight. emma says she wants to ensure no one else will die needlessly. when you are a parent, there is nothing else you want for your children, that's why i am going to keep soldiering on as long as i have here. the prime minister has split her cabinet into two groups to consider the options for customs arrangements after britain leaves the eu. a downing street spokesman said each group will contain a mix of pro—leavers and remain supporters, and that the work was being undertaken "as a priority". 0ur political correspondent,

jonathan blake is at westminster. we know the prime minister is in a bit of a pickle over the whole question of the customs union, and this seems like a novel way of trying to sort it out, almost like a classroom exercise? it is a bit like that. she has given them some ministerial home work to get on with, with a group of people who they might not necessarily sit next to in class, if you like, or have the same opinions on brexit. this is an exercise to come up with what downing street calls the right solution on how the uk and the eu will do business in terms of customs

after brexit. you have a mix of remain and leave supporting cabinet ministers in each group. one is looking at the customs partnership option where the uk would collect ta riffs option where the uk would collect tariffs on goods coming into the uk on behalf of the eu and then refund to businesses the difference, if the uk had set lower tariffs and was staying here. the other group will look at the maximum facilitation option which is where technological solutions would in theory minimise the need for customs checks on goods coming into the uk and then going on into other european union countries. there is a matter of timing here because there is a priority for the government to sort this issue out. the partnership model is thought to be the prime minister's favourite but it is clear no decision has been made on what the government's position will be, going into the next phase of negotiations with brussels. there is a meeting of the brexit subcommittee of the cabinet next tuesday, when i expect some of these findings from the two ministerial groups to be presented. whether we will get a position on which is the government's preferred

option by ben is another matter. thank you. one of the leading pro—brexit campaign groups has been fined £70,000 for breaching electoral rules before the eu referendum. the electoral commission found that leave. eu broke its spending limit, and failed to declare its finances correctly. arron banks, who co—founded leave.eu, said he would contest the decision in the courts. the entire commission is composed of former mps, liberal mps, the snp, former mps, liberal mps, the snp, former labour leaders of councils, all sorts of people, that all believe in remain. but i can tell you one thing, we're not going to let matters rest here. we will be going to court to challenge this so it is certainly not the last word on the subject. the head of the electoral commission, claire bassett, says its evidence is robust. what we have done is carried out a really detailed and robust investigation and the findings of

the investigation or in a 30 page document we have published this morning. that sets out the details of each offence, why we have come to that conclusion and the evidence we have looked at. i think that is a really strong testament to what we have done and i am confident it will stand up to scrutiny. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines. expanding grammar schools — the government says it will spend £50 million to help existing english ones take more pupils. the head of ireland's health service is to stand down over failures in a cancer screening programme. the prime minister has split her cabinet into two groups to consider options for customs arrangements after britain leaves the eu. in sport, gareth southgate will name his final 23 man squad to go to the world cup. 0n his final 23 man squad to go to the world cup. on wednesday, theirfirst matches in tunisia. sam allardyce says he will speak to wayne rooney

to see if he wants to leave everton to see if he wants to leave everton to play for dc united in the us. and british number one kyle edmund is in the quarterfinals of the madrid open as he continues his charge into the top 20. i will be back with all the stories later. president trump says he'll get a great deal when he meets the north korean leader kimjong—un at an unprecedented summit next month. speaking at a campaign rally in indiana, donald trump said he'd be pursuing peace for the whole world when the two leaders meet in singapore. 0ur washington correspondent chris buckler reports. in the heart of america's midwest, and surrounded by his supporters, donald trump made a speech aimed at american voters. but amid the talk and tax cuts were messages about foreign policy, and other countries will have been listening very

closely as he discussed his planned summit with the north korean leader kim to end. on june 12 in singapore, i will be meeting with kim jong kim to end. on june 12 in singapore, i will be meeting with kimjong il and to pursue a future of peace and security for the world, for the whole world. —— kim jong security for the world, for the whole world. —— kimjong un. so the relationship is good and hopefully something very good is going to happen and they understand it is very important for them, it is important for everybody, so japan, south korea, china, everybody, i think it is going to be a very big success. the release of three americans held prisoner in north korea was the final stumbling block to the meeting. they returned to a presidential welcome. and with its own filmic video of that homecoming, the white house set the stage for

the white house set the stage for the drama still to come, meeting when donald trump once again will be at the centre of events. in his second visit to north korea, the us secretary of state might pompeo finalise details of the summit directly with kim jong un. finalise details of the summit directly with kimjong un. —— mike pompeo. both sides seem happy to hold it in singapore onjune 12. pompeo. both sides seem happy to hold it in singapore onjune12. the president seemed bold and by the idea that his tough talking led mr kim to the negotiating table. in walking away from the iran nuclear deal, he has taken a similar hard—line deal, he has taken a similar ha rd—line stance, but deal, he has taken a similar hard—line stance, but european allies are increasingly angry that companies from their countries could face sanctions for continuing to trade with iran. despite his campaign slogan of america first, president trump finds himself involved in difficult international diplomacy and ridding north korea of nuclear weapons will test all of the negotiating skills he likes to boast

about. police in western australia have found seven bodies at a remote family home in the margaret river wine—growing region. four of those who died were children. police said all the bodies had gunshot wounds, and two firearms were discovered at the scene. the police commissioner described it as a horrific tragedy — and said they weren't looking for a suspect. one million customers of npower are facing higher bills from next month — it's the latest of the big energy firms to raise gas and electricity prices. npower says typical annual dual fuel bills will rise by 5.3%, or £61! a year — although it says most of its customers, who are on fixed rate contracts, won't be affected. today bbc news is taking a look at renting across britain. one of the issues most often highlighted is that of generation rent — young, single, 20 somethings unable to buy their own home. but government figures show the most rapid rise in private renting over the last 10 years is among those

entering middle age. if this continues, analysts say there will be more strain on the benefits system in years to come. kevin peachey reports. when you can rent a home with a view like this, why worry about climbing the property ladder? leslie is 51, lives in an old converted pub in cumbria, and is one of the growing band of middle—aged renters. i don't think it has anything to do with your age, actually. the delights of renting are convenience, and it's cheap. it allows me to come and go as i want. do you worry about the future? i don't want to know where i am going to be in ten years' time. i don't want to be in the same house doing the same thing in the same place. that is actually what scares me more. many tenants won't have the same idyllic spot as leslie, but the outlook for many is decades of renting. let's look at the numbers.

26% of 35 to 44—year—old spent privately. that is a number that has doubled in the ten years with the financial crisis. among 45 to 54—year—olds, private renting rose from 8% to 14% over the same period. some 20% of all uk households now pay rent to a landlord. catching up with the 28% making mortgage repayments. from the outskirts of the lake district, to the outskirts of london, where, for people like paul, renting in middle age is less of a choice and more of a financial necessity. i am not a person who thinks that the world owes me anything, and so i don't really frame it in that way where i think necessarily that i should get help, but i do think we need to do something about this crazy spiralling out of control housing market. i will have to think about whether i will retire at the retirement age, whether, because i don't have this big asset to fall back on, whether i willjust have to keep on working.

the impact on the uk is huge, we must help the people who might be stuck in generation rent, and the middle—aged rent. we rely so much on pensioners to look live off their assets, live off their home and we will not have that in the future and it will have a massive financial cost of the uk. backed in cumbria, the future is not concerning leslie. should concern policymakers otherwise we will have a crisis. let's bring you an unusual view of the sun now. this is speeded—up footage of our star, slowly rotating, during the course of the month of march. this actually took 27.5 days — though this clip only lasts for 15 seconds. it was filmed from a satellite using special cameras — my

my producer in the galleries says let's go to our very own ray of sunshine. i would let's go to our very own ray of sunshine. iwould have let's go to our very own ray of sunshine. i would have said that but idid not sunshine. i would have said that but i did not think of it in time! last week and was amazing but this one is not as good? don't blame me, don't blame the messenger! i have got a nice link from looking up at the sun high up in the atmosphere to fund strengths. we often look at uv levels at this time of year. 0ften people associate the highest uv levels with the middle of summer but the sun is a strong in late april as it is in late august. it depends on how high in the sky it is. as we head towards may 21 to the same strength asjuly as we head towards may 21 to the same strength as july the 21st so as we head towards may 21 to the same strength asjuly the 21st so i am talking about uv. even though it will be cooler than last weekend,

the sun is just a strong. it is not dependent on the temperature. ok, you are going to talk about the weather in europe will stop it has been bad in some places? it has. they have had flooding in europe. some greek islands and across turkey yesterday it was pretty nasty. in between we have fine weather and this is the area of cloud which will come in. there will be more showers and thunderstorms which will come across greece and turkey. it looks pretty miserable as well across the arts. it is cold air coming in. that will give us some snow across the pyrenees and the alps this weekend. madrid may escape with just a shower. even some showers in rome. we will see some showers in kiev and berlin. we are not the only ones experiencing unsettled weather. athens is doing very well indeed.

shall we talk a little bit about what is happening here in the uk? we have had the east—west split. the sunshine across the eastern side of england and scotland. the rain is getting into the western side of scotla nd getting into the western side of scotland and northern ireland. it has been pretty miserable across northern ireland today. it is now getting into dumfries & galloway. some fine sunshine to linger across the south—east. we may see some fine weather to come in northern ireland later. this weather front will give us later. this weather front will give usa later. this weather front will give us a headache this weekend, weather forecasters that is, about how far east it creeps and how much rain it will bring. considering the time of year, a touch of ground frost tonight. we have got to clear the rain from the north—east of scotland. we will have some cloud

across the east. there could be some heavy thundery showers. it is not a wash—out and as i mentioned earlier, we will cease sunshine that temperatures will only be around 1a to 17 in the sunshine. the lightish wins it will feel quite pleasant. then tomorrow evening, the moon walk across london, it looks like we will have the weather front hanging around across the east and bringing heavy rain. another weather system develops across a line of cloud and bringing heavy rain, pushing into the north of england and we may seek another pulse of rain coming up and there is the uncertainty, how much rain will pulse northwards and how much east it will get. it looks like the west will the the clear skies overnight while further eased, because we have the weather front into sunday, it looks like a cloudier, wet affair. sunday could well be quite wet across eastern parts of england for a time. then it

sta rts parts of england for a time. then it starts to dry up and we will see few showers following on behind. it looks like most of us will get one good day this weekend but it is not going to be like it was last weekend. as ever, we will keep you posted. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. grammar schools in england are to be given extra funding to help them expand — if they can show they're helping disadvantaged pupils. grammar schools do not add anything extra for pupils but it creams off and takes some children that have been given tuition and have already gotan been given tuition and have already got an advantage over other children and leaves everyone else behind. more than 200 women in ireland were wrongly given the all clear for cervical cancer — now the country's health minister says the public must be told who knew what when. the prime minister splits her cabinet into two groups to consider options for customs arrangements after britain leaves the eu.

#we # we all need somebody to lean on... in a moment... the uk's first ever gospel choir — made up of people with mental and physical disabilities — is to sing at the wedding of prince harry and meghan markle. sport now on afternoon live with kat downes. more developments today on the future of wayne rooney — what is the latest? yesterday i was talking about the fact that we heard that wayne rooney had agreed a deal in principle, to move to the united states to play for dc united in washington. today it is the manager talking, and sam allardyce has said thatis talking, and sam allardyce has said that is the first he heard of it. he

said wayne rooney has not mentioned wanting to leave everton although he will be speaking to him in training. staying with football. the world cup in russia is getting closer and england are set to name their squad in a few days? we will hear that he will name his final 23 man england squad on wednesday and the fa will hand a 35 man provisional squad to fifa on monday and southgate will tell the players his final 23 a couple of days later. england begin their world cup campaign on the 18th of june against tunisia. wayne rooney has not asked to leave everton — according to their manager sam alla rdyce. rooney's being linked to a move this summer to dc united in america's mls. he's thought to have agreed a deal in principle, but has yet to sign it. this is what allardyce had to say about those rumours. there appears to be

an interest from dc united, where that is and where that lies and where wayne lies with it, i cannot tell you, at the moment. so, only after i have spoken to him today will i find out where the situation actually lies. let's put this right, wayne rooney has not asked to leave, neither has wayne rooney had a confrontation with me, and we have not been in any difficult situation, because we are two adults and we talk. it's a big day for kyle edmund — who plays denis shapovalov for a place in the semi finals of the madrid open this evening. he's the british number one with andy murray injured, and his success in spain means he will move into the world's top 20 for the very first time. as our tennis correspondent russell fuller told me, edmund is having a good year. around about the time he turned 23, i don't think people expected him to reach the semifinals of the australian open, but he has been in an atp final as well, and now the first masters quarterfinal, this is

the top tier tournament on the men's tour just beneath the top tier tournament on the men's tourjust beneath the grand slams and this is on clay which is significant, because even though he's a fine hard—core player he looks a different animal on clay, a very fine player indeed. he hits it powerfully and he has a big serve and he looks very impressive when he imposes himself on matches on this surface. dennis schaap a lot in the quarterfinals, a talented teenager himself —— shapovalov. himself -- shapovalov. they have already created a rivalry, one match transact, the us open nasty, edmund —— one match stands out, the us open last year,

—— one match stands out, the us open last yea r, kyle —— one match stands out, the us open last year, kyle edmund retired with a neck injury, and in canada last year, a neck injury, and in canada last yea r, kyle a neck injury, and in canada last year, kyle edmund was on top, when sha povalov year, kyle edmund was on top, when shapovalov was faulted and disqualified. these two could have many matches over many many years. and the weather has got in the way of what should have been a historic day for ireland's cricketers. they were all ready to play pakistan in their first ever test, and then it started raining in malahide, and it hasn't stopped since. so there's been no play at all this morning. fingers crossed the weather improves this afternoon. that's all the sport for now. the prime minister has agreed to appoint more panel members at the public inquiry into the grenfell tower disaster — after being urged to do so by groups representing the victims' families, survivors and the local community. it's being seen as a u

turn by theresa may, who last year said she wouldn't appoint any more panel members. the inquiry is chaired by the retired high courtjudge, sir martin moore—bick. karim mussilhy is from the grenfell united community group which is made up of families who escaped or lost loved ones in the fire, welcomed the news. this panel is now going to help massively in the public inquiry into uncovering why the fire happened but how it happened. and to make the recommendations so this never happens again. we are very lucky to be working with an organisation like g re nfell be working with an organisation like grenfell united who have done so much fantastic work and this is a small element of the work that has gone into the fight forjustice and the fight for grenfell. it is a big step forward for us, we have campaigned, with the help of the mps who came to meet us last weekend,

and people like adele, and grenfell united who also lost loved ones on that terrible night, we have a panel, we are moving positively in the right direction. let's hope the public inquiry will uncover the truth now. the mayor of london, sadiq khan, wants to ban adverts forjunk food on the capital's tubes and buses, and parts of the overground rail network. it's part of an effort to tackle childhood obesity — 40% of 10 and 11 year olds in london are overweight. the bad news is childhood obesity levels in london are one of the worst in europe, four out of 1010 and 11—year—olds in london are overweight or obese and that means problem for them as children but they are likely to be obese and overweight as adults and that causes physical and psychological issues

for the person and also is a massive strain on the nhs and impacts economic productivity so i'm announcing proposals to ban the advertising of unhealthy food and drink on public transport so in the future you won't see foods that are high in sugarand future you won't see foods that are high in sugar and salt and fats being advertised on the underground and buses in the future. that was the mayor of london, sadiq khan. joining me now is professor corinna hawkes, director of the centre for food policy at city, university of london. will this make a difference?m will this make a difference? it will make a difference as part of a package of measures, part of the london food strategy which includes a range of different measures, designed to tackle childhood obesity. the evidence is very clear that when children see this kind of advertising they are more likely to like that food and eat that food,

so, yes, it will be impactful. presumably the manufacturers ofjunk food can find plenty of other places to advertise. they can. we need a comprehensive restriction but we need to start somewhere in london, and london can show the way for cities around the world and in the uk in implementing these kind of restrictions, but let's remember that what we want in the uk is a healthy food economy, this is not about stopping companies doing good business, it is about trying to say, that business is in the business any more, what we need is a healthy food economy and businesses selling and marketing healthy food, like the campaign called veg power which is advertising healthierfoods. campaign called veg power which is advertising healthier foods. this ban onjunk advertising healthier foods. this ban on junk food advertising is something that amsterdam has been pioneering, what has been the story

there? they have taken a lot of different measures, banning advertising in sports stadiums and public transportation, and they had an education and treatment and public campaigns —— they have done. range of different things. amsterdam shows is when you do a lot of things at once, when there's strong political commitment, then change can really happen. some people will say, what about alcohol? you see adverts for vodka and whiskey on the underground. what i say is, if advertising is not helping public health, don't do it. they should be a lobby for the restriction of alcohol advertising. advertising should be there to inform people and inform consumers but when it tips over and starts to harm people and their health, it is something that does not have a place in society.

the other argument is that this is the nanny state, we can make our own decisions about what we want to eat. just because i see an advert about burgers doesn't mean i'm going to automatically by one. the evidence is that people are affected by it, but of course people should be free to eat what they want, we're not talking about banning food, we're talking about banning food, we're talking about banning the marketing of these foods and we know from the evidence that when children are young and they are growing up that their preferences are influenced by this and we want children to learn to love healthy food. advertising gets in the way of parents wanting their kids to be healthy. professor, thanks forjoining us. police have confirmed that scott hutchison, the singer in the rock band frightened rabbit, has been found dead, near south queensferry to the west of edinburgh.

mr hutchison's family has described the 36 year old as passionate, articulate and charismatic. the inflation measure used to set interest rates on student loans is "absurd", according to a report by the commons treasury committee. former education secretary, nicky morgan, who chairs the committee, said the use of the retail price index for loan repayments, which normally gives a higher rate of inflation than the consumer price index, appears grossly unfair in a moment the business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. expanding grammar schools — the government says it will spend £50 million to help existing english ones take more pupils. the head of ireland's health service is to stand down overfailures in a cancer screening programme. the prime minister has split her cabinet into two groups

to consider options for customs arrangements after britain leaves the eu. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. the boss of barclays — jes staley — has been fined more tham £6a2,000 for the way he handled a whistleblower. regulators said he "failed to act with due skill, care and diligence" when the bank received an anonymous letter back in 2016. he says he accepts theirjudgement. npower is the latest energy company to raise its prices. they'll go up by 5.3% from next month — putting up the average bill by around £61! a year. the move affects a million people. potholes are costing insurers and drivers a million pounds a month. the aa says that's the amount it's

costing to fix vehicles damaged by bad roads. the number of claims so far this year is the same as for the whole of last year. looking at the issue of renting — and it's no longer the preserve of the young. people in their 40s are renting in large numbers as well? yes, an older generation is now getting into the market, research shows that the proportion of people between the ages of 35 and 50 who are renting privately as opposed to two the council and housing associations that has doubled in the past decade. several reasons, the fact that house prices have gone up beyond be reach of many people so they are renting, and also when we had the financial

crisis, in the aftermath of that, banks were forced to tighten up how much they lent and how they lent to people in so many people failing to qualify now for mortgages. the last reason is quite sad, an increase in the number of people having to rent because of a relationship breakdown. what's the position on disabled people? that can be quite tricky, the survey says 93% of all properties on the rental market are not accessible to disabled people. joining us now is sheron carter — she runs habinteg housing association, which provides accessible homes. that is a shocking figure. 93% of homes not access a ball to disabled people —— accessible for the is that discrimination, ignorance? there is

a huge challenge in that there is an acute shortage of housing for people to afford to buy and rent across the country and it is made harder for disabled people. the vast majority of stock that is available was built before there was any requirement to design to mobility or access. does and so the vast amount of homes that are available on the market do not accommodate access ability needs in any shape or form, but since access ability standards were brought into play a ability standards were brought into playa minimum ability standards were brought into play a minimum level of accessibility is required to be in built into new homes but for most disabled people it doesn't make the whole of the home totally accessible. it will an hour a wheelchair user to be able to access the accommodation for example and maybe get into the living room but to get upstairs and into the toilet and the kitchens, access is still

restricted —— it will allow. and the kitchens, access is still restricted -- it will allow. sorry to interrupt. what is the way forward ? to interrupt. what is the way forward? you to interrupt. what is the way forward ? you have to interrupt. what is the way forward? you have described a difficult situation, how can it be solved? we would like the 7% that you mention, that is a very basic level of accessibility and what we would like is for the highest standard, the lifetime homes standard, the lifetime homes standard, which is referred to as category two in the built in regulations, we want that standard to be the default standard for new— build to be the default standard for new—build homes to be the default standard for new— build homes and to be the default standard for new—build homes and the advantage of thatis new—build homes and the advantage of that is that when you build a lifetime home you can adapt it more easily to cater for a wide range of needs and it makes it cheaper in the long run. so as we see the increasing numbers of disabled people in the uk, older people, young families requiring accessible homes, it makes sense for all new homes, it makes sense for all new homes to be designed to that standard so they can be made more

flexible as people's needs change. thanks forjoining us. the markets? the ftse 100 thanks forjoining us. the markets? the ftse100 is doing quite well. itv shares have been doing quite well because of speculation about possibly being a takeover target. zpg — which owns zoopl and uswitch has seen its shares rise after news that its being bought by a private equity firm. and brent crude is still quite high, because of all the political tensions over iran. thanks for joining us. as people prepare for the wedding of prince harry and meghan markle — now just a week away — a group of amateur singers in the west midlands have been busy creating a unique wedding gift. gosp—ability is the uk's first gospel choir made up of people with mental and physical disabilities — and they've been

invited to sing in windsor in the run up to the big day. a choir rehearsing at their weekly practice. nothing extraordinary about that, but this is no ordinary choir. they are gosp—ability, the uk's first gospel choir made up of all abilities. the singers have overcome, or are living with, a physical or mental disability. they are practising hard, hoping to create a unique gift for prince harry and meghan markle ahead of their wedding. so what is the inspiration for this choir? the inspiration has come through the amazing work that prince harry and his family have done, particularly with organisations like invictus, fantastic work. to bring the idea to life, sandra set up nationwide auditions at coventry cathedral, and those with disabilities, like this muscular dystrophy sufferer, jonty g, came to try out.

everyone in the choir experiences difficulties to their life, and expressing that through music brings such a strength and power. alongside those with less obvious issues. 26 choir members were selected. news of their existence spiralled, and after just three weeks of rehearsals, they were invited to perform live in front of the archbishop of canterbury. i cannot hold a note in my head. and i will spend the service, when they are singing, listening to them, thinking, "i can't do that!" what do you think prince harry will make of the choir? i hope they will get to hear the choir at some point. i think they will be thrilled to hear them and see what they're doing. # we all need somebody to lean on.# but no time to waste. sandra has written a charity single, the big love song, a wedding gift song for harry

and meghan to raise money for various mental health charities. but the story doesn't end there. this idea started as a little concept but it is growing and growing and growing. next stop, windsor guildhall where gospability will perform 36 hours before the royal couple tie the knot. and joining me now is the choir founder sandra godley and one of the choir members sue cressman. you will be performing in windsor a few days before the wedding, how exciting? really exciting, this started as a small idea and it has developed and it has been amazing that so many people have caught this vision and now we will be performing in windsor. this is based on what harry has been talking about in terms of mental health? absolutely.

all the work they have done with invicta ‘s and other charities, but be moving thing that got me was seeing harry what behind the coffin of his mother and he was talking about the trauma around that, and many of the people who applied to be in the choir said because of what harry did, that is what has given them the motivation to be in the choir. 26 members of the choir, you are one of them. you had so many applicants? i'm so proud, quite shocked, i thought i be streaming at first, —— ithought i shocked, i thought i be streaming at first, —— i thought i was dreaming at first, and it was a bit of a shock, i hadn't sung in 40 years, and the last time i sung was at school. i loved it then and i always said it was my secret lover. were you nervous? we are all going to be nervous in windsor, but we are together and it is great to have that camaraderie. there will be

vips? yes, celebrities, a group of people organising special people to come, and all of our relatives, it will be a big jamboree. tell us about the song that you have written. it is a surprise, i know. crafting this was amazing because this is a love song and some of the lyrics came quite easily but i had to focus on them as a couple and think about their journey to to focus on them as a couple and think about theirjourney to —— together and now the words are ones which most people can identify with. it is hard to sing? it is a lovely tune and we want people to download it. i think it will be a single. we can't reveal too much but you could sing maybe a little bit? oh my goodness.

#no # no matter what some might say, your love will go all the way # without you there, there is no song # you're right where you belong... studio: fantastic said this is love song? —— so this is. studio: fantastic said this is love song? -- so this is. yes, for two lovely people and we hope they like it. the city of coventry is where i live and they are really behind this massive project and they are sending their best wishes as well. huge thanks to coventry. it is making a statement. all of us have had several people... several people have had mental health issues, and physical issues, i've had breast cancer twice and i'd technically have a broken neck, as well, so we

have a broken neck, as well, so we have had to get over a lot to get into this choir but we are all so together. everyone has a story of adversity and the triumph over adversity. and this choir is bringing them together, and when they get together for rehearsals, i can't stop them talking, they are just relating to each other as family. everyone has become friends? i think we will be for ever. so wonderful and we look forward to hearing the song in its entirety on the 17th. it is now being mixed in nashville by my producer. in nashville? wow. how exciting. let's hope that the royal couple love it, i'm sure they will. i hope so. i'm sure they will. thanks to both of you. well, our special programme "the royal wedding singalong" follows gosp—ability‘s journey to windsor and you can watch

it tonight on the bbc news channel at 930pm — and across the weekend, including 1030am on sunday morning. time for a look at the weather. here's helen willetts. it was a lovely start to the day for many, touch of frost through the lens of scotland, even in the middle of may, but the sunshine was eroded from western areas but the east had the best of the sunshine. this is how it looked earlier in the afternoon across the northern ireland down district and that is because we have a weather front giving rain. the rain will move east and you can see the clearer skies following behind on the satellite picture so we will have some evening sunshine. into pembrokeshire and cornwall, devon, as the rain meanders east, it tends to weaken the weather front, so very little rain left as it approaches the south

and east and that will inhibit the fall of temperatures here. further west we have the risk of grass frost, baby parts of northern ireland and the south and west also looking chilly —— maybe. saturday dawns on a cloudy night for parts of scotla nd dawns on a cloudy night for parts of scotland and southern england. the rain is pushing in from the south but further west, scattered but sharp showers, and many parts of scotla nd sharp showers, and many parts of scotland and parts of northern ireland and northern england, with decent spells of sunshine, although when phil especially warm. —— it won't feel. as we go to the evening, there is uncertainty of the progress of the rain but it looks like it will turn quite wet in central and eastern areas. the next polls of rain moving north through the evening across northern england and towards the borders of scotland —— the next polls. that is where the uncertainty lies, where the weather front will sit, and how quickly and

how far north these pulses of rain will come, and so the west looks drier and clearer on sunday, the brighter weather should hold on, as well, but the potential is there for a rather wet sunday across the eastern half and northern half of england and eventually north eastern parts of scotland. i'm hoping most parts of scotland. i'm hoping most parts of scotland. i'm hoping most parts of the uk will get at least one nice day this weekend but it will feel quite chilly if you are in the cloud and if you are in the rain, but with the strong sunshine 15-16 rain, but with the strong sunshine 15—16 will feel pleasant and there will be more settled weather early next week. hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm ben brown. today at 3. the government presses ahead

with plans to expand existing grammar schools in england — labour calls it a vanity project. after more than 200 women were wrongly given the all clear for cervical cancer, ireland's health minister says the public must be told who knew what when. my children are going to grow up and start asking questions and why did mum die. if nobody is held accountable, they will take on the hatred and the fear and i don't want that. the government has agreed to two additional experts sitting on the grenfell tower disaster inquiry, after pressure from campaigners. london could become only the second city in europe to ban junk food adverts on public transport as its mayor tries to tackle what he calls the ticking time bomb of child obesity. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport with katherine downes. hello. in the last hour darren

ferguson has commented publicly for the first time since his father sir alex ferguson suffered a brain haemorrhage at the weekend. i will have more in half an hour or so. thanks, katherine, and we'll be joining you for a full update just after half—past. helen willetts has all the weather. still the detailed a little elusive one where the rain will be this weekend but it will not be a wash—out, there will be some sunshine. not as warm as last weekend but i will fill you in on the detail in the next half an hour. thanks, helen. also coming up this afternoon... by royal invitation — the choir made up of people with disabilities preparing to sing in windsor in the run up to the wedding. hello everyone, this

is afternoon live, i'm ben brown. the government is pressing ahead with plans to expand existing grammar schools in england. it has promised £50 million to provide new places at selective schools. labour has dismissed it as a vanity project, saying it's a misguided use of overstretched funds. 0ur political correspondent iain watson reports. here is a test for you. when did the prime minister say this? we know grammar schools are hugely popular with parents. we know they are good for the pupils that attend them. it was 2016, before the general election, losing her majority in 2017, the commitment to lift a ban on new selective schools was dropped. now £50 million has been made available for existing grammar

schools in england to expand. the £50 million for grammar school expansion is a relatively small part of a large capital pot which is there to make sure that we can accommodate the needs of families and make sure we have got good school places and diversity in choice. the funding was first ear—marked in 2016, the new education secretary has now authorised it. to get the cash, schools must pass some tests. they will have to prove there is local demand and set out what they will do to attract more pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. leading grammar schools say they welcome the challenge. it's no doubt where they are dominated by the middle classes, that can have a negative effect, so it's welcome we are looking at the way grammar schools admit pupils rather than debating whether they should exist or not. labour say the focus should be on schools in greater need. unfortunately the government have shown they are ideologically driven to help the selected few

while the rest of schools are facing cuts and having a damaging effect on education. when is a new grammar school not a grammar school? when it's an annex. this school in kent set up an annex ten miles away, so critics say money for expansion could mean more grammar schools by the back door. not content with dropping one manifesto pledge to create entirely new grammar schools, today the government has dropped another. it had said it would get rid of so—called inclusivity rules when it comes to new free schools. translated, that means they could select up to 100% of the pupils on the basis of their parent's religion. that's now gone, and only up to half of the pupils in these schools will be selected on the basis of faith. i do welcome the fact that the government has abandoned its plans to allow religious groups to open free schools and only open them to children of particular faiths. this is our school... more money will be made available

via local authorities to expand faith schools in their areas, where there is demand. the government says it wants to offer more choice but critics say there is still too much emphasis on schools selecting pupils rather than parents selecting schools. iain watson, bbc news. chris philp is the conservative mp for croydon south — he's welcomed the move. iama i am a south london grammar school boy and i think grammar schools give opportunity to children from ordinary or even poor backgrounds the chance to fulfil their potential. grammar schools are definitely not about casting aside children who do not get in. the rest of the school system is incredibly important. academy schools, free schools, all of those are important and doing well. there are more children now going to good and outstanding schools than ever

before. grammar schools are popular with parents, they are often massively oversubscribed 22 one. so letting these popular schools which pa rents letting these popular schools which pa re nts wa nt letting these popular schools which parents want to send their children to that struggle to get in, allowing them to provide more places is common sense. croydon is my borough. there are grammar schools in southern to the west. 0ne there are grammar schools in southern to the west. one or two in bromley to the east, that is where i went, but no grammar schools in croydon. many of my constituents have to send their children miles and miles at a grammar school. so expanding a sutton grammar school into croydon, a satellite site, would be a good idea. it would increase choice for pa rents parents and it would be a good thing. joining me now from our leicester studio is geoff barton, a former head teacher and now general secretary of the association of school and college leaders. where do you stand on the issue of

ploughing £50 million into more grammar schools? i think it is a bad idea. i was head of a maintained school. there was no selection involved, the pupils came from a whole range of backgrounds. i think a lot of people will see a government which talks about social mobility, implement in a plan which has no evidence which helps children from a poor background. at a time when schools like the one i ran being closed down because of a lack offunding. i being closed down because of a lack of funding. i think this is a really disappointing decision. the government would contest most of that. they say it will help people from ordinary and poorer backgrounds. it will increase choice and the schools are centres for excellence and what is wrong with excellence? we all love excellence, we all want excellence for everybody, not just

we all want excellence for everybody, notjust those children who have sat and 11 plus test to get into school. the problem is, where grammar schools already exist, as soon as you grammar schools already exist, as soon as you expand that, in the package we heard of an expansion of an annex ten miles away, if you put an annex ten miles away, if you put a grammar school an annex ten miles away, if you put a grammarschool in an annex ten miles away, if you put a grammar school in a place weather is no selection at all at the moment, what does it do? it creates anxiety for parents wondering if their child passes the test. if they pass, presumably they will be delighted. if the child misses the test, the school they were previously happy with, now they will think it is second—rate or second class. at a time when we need 47,000 more teachers over the next eight years, when we need more funding in our schools, this will be seen as someone funding in our schools, this will be seen as someone fiddling on the margins, rather than tackling the biggest issue which is how every child from every background gets a great education. £50 million sounds like a lot of money but in terms of

the whole budget it is pretty tiny, it isa the whole budget it is pretty tiny, it is a drop in the ocean? absolutely and that is why lots of people watching this in a whole range of different schools would say why are we diverging that much money to those 163 schools? that money could be used in different ways. if there are schools which are demonstrating that social mobility is working on their watch, or if there are schools showing what is being done to help build literacy, why could the money not be done to share that great practice, rather than going on with what too many of us than going on with what too many of us looks a kind of sentimental or retrograde step. if you don't like grammar schools, would you abolish the current existing grammar scores, just get rid of them? not at all, because grammar schools do a good job. and in a sense, we would be surprised if they didn't. if you select children academically at 11, you put them in a school which has high aspirations because parents wa nt high aspirations because parents want their children to do well

there, then at the end they will be likely to get great results. the question is if you then expand that system integrate places where they have not got that centre into the educational eco—culture, what do they get? you will have some parents being pleased, many parents being disappointed, lots of parents thinking the money has been diverted and a government likely to find that the children are being coached for selection are precisely the kind of children being coached for selection in the existing grammar school system. some people might be confused because you havejust system. some people might be confused because you have just said grammar schools do a good job so why not expand them ? grammar schools do a good job so why not expand them? as soon as you move into an area where you haven't got selection and you say let's now introduce selection tests because we are opening in new school for 450 children, say, those 450 children are going to come from somewhere else. they will come from other schools. you will cream of the most academic children and take them out of existing schools. those schools will lose theirfunding, of existing schools. those schools will lose their funding, though schools will have their reputation potentially damaged, though schools will have parents thinking those are

now second best schools. if we look at international evidence, what we know is perrins want great local schools where every child from every background has the same entitlement rather than those being coached for the 11 plus. thank you. ireland's health minister says he wants to get to the bottom of "who knew what, and when" about a scandal involving the country's cervical cancer screening service. the head of the health service in the irish republic has said he will resign, after it emerged that more than 200 women were wrongly told that their cervical smear tests were all clear. 17 women have since died. the failings occurred after the tests were out—sourced to an american company. 0ur ireland correspondent chris page sent this report. stories like emma's have moved and stunned people in ireland. she was given the all clear from cervical cancer five years ago but the result of her smear test was wrong, she was only diagnosed

with the disease in 2016 and is now terminally ill. i've been told to get things in place for my children. it has not hit me that i'm dying, because i'm so worried that people are going to get away with it. the scandal came to light in a court case brought by this woman, vicky phelan from limerick. she was awarded 200 million euros. doctors have given her between six and 12 months to live. my settlement will mostly be spent on buying me time and paying for clinical trials to keep me alive and to allow me to spend more time with my children. if i die and i truly hope that won't be the case, the money will provide for my family. it's emerged that at least 208 women should have had treatment earlier. 17 have died.

public and political anger has grown. ireland's top health official tony 0'brien faced fierce questioning at a parliamentary committee yesterday. the woman on the radio this morning has no time to wait. she says she is too angry to worry about dying, and we are here kicking a football about. let's have an investigation and see what happened. where is the accountability? why don't we both wait until the outcome of the expert review, then we can both reflect. at the moment you are causing hysteria. last night, he announced he was standing down. mr 0'brien's resignation will take effect this afternoon. however, the women who have had catastrophic news are likely to keep the issue in the spotlight. emma says she wants to ensure no one else will die needlessly. when you are a parent, there is nothing else you won't do for your children,

that's why i am going to keep soldiering on as long as i have here. the prime minister has granted the wish of grenfell tower families — by allowing additional panel members at the public inquiry into the disaster. it's being seen as a u—turn by theresa may, who made the announcement after an appeal from survivors of the fire. the enquiry is chaired by the retired high courtjudge, sir martin moore—bick. karim mussilhy from the grenfell united community group which is made up of families who escaped or lost loved ones in the fire, welcomed the news. this panel is now going to help massively in the public enquiry into not only uncovering how this fire happened, but why it happened. and to make the recommendations so that

this never happens again. we are very lucky to be working with an organisation like grenfell united who have done such fantastic work. this is a small element of the work which has gone into the fight for justice and the fight for grenfell. it isa justice and the fight for grenfell. it is a big spec forward for us. we have campaigned a lot and with the help of the members of parliament who came to meet us last week and stormzy and i dell, and grenfell united, and these wonderful people and those who lost loved ones on that horrific night, we now have a panel. we are moving positively in the right direction. let's hope the public enquiry will uncover the truth now. ben ando is here and has been looking at the detail. why has the prime minister changed her mind on this? i think is fair to say that although this does look like a say that although this does look likea u—turn, say that although this does look like a u—turn, back in december when

the prime minister said the panel would remainjust one person, so martin moore—bick, she did review the right to review that later. she had a meeting yesterday with support groups of survivors and those who escaped from the fire, and decided that so martin moore—bick does need some support. there will be two people. we do not yet know who they are or where their expertise will lie. a statement from downing street said given the scale and complexity of concerning issues that are emerging from the enquiry‘s early investigations, the prime minister has a continuing duty to assure the enquiry has the skill and expertise it requires for the challenges that lie ahead. this news comes in a written statement from the prime minister. next week on monday, mps will be debating the grenfell fire disaster. the

second stage of the investigation, which is likely to hear the more evidence and probably more detailed evidence and probably more detailed evidence will start later this month. thank you. two britons have been kidnapped in the democratic republic of congo. local media reports say a female wildlife ranger, who was with the britons, was killed. the alleged attack happened just north of the city of goma, in the national park. the foreign office is aware of the situation and investigations are under way. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines. the government presses ahead with plans to expand existing grammar schools in england — labour calls it a vanity project. after more than 200 women were wrongly given the all clear for cervical cancer, ireland's health minister says the public must be told who knew what when. the government has agreed to two additional experts sitting on the grenfell tower disaster inquiry, after pressure from campaigners. darren ferguson has commented

publicly for the first time. he thanked hospital staff for the care of his father sir alex ferguson. wayne rooney will meet with sam alla rdyce to wayne rooney will meet with sam allardyce to discuss whether he will continue to play with everton or move to the us. and kyle edmund continues his race into the world top 20. i will be back with more stories later. thank you. the prime minister has split her cabinet into two groups to consider the options for customs arrangements after britain leaves the eu. a downing street spokesman said each group will contain a mix of pro—leavers and remain supporters, and that the work was being undertaken "as a priority". i spoke to our political correspondent, jonathan blake a little earlier — he gave me his take

on theresa may's approach. she has given them some ministerial home work to get on with, in a group of people they might not necessarily sit next to in class or have the same opinions as on brexit. but this is an exercise we are told, as part of the government's work to come up with what downing street calls the right solution on how the uk and eu will do business in terms of customs after brexit. you have a mix of remain and leave supporting cabinet ministers on each group. one is looking at the customs partnership option. that is where the uk that is would collect import tariffs on goods coming into the uk on behalf of the eu, and then refund to businesses the tariffs. and the other group would look at the maximum facilitation option where

technological solutions would in theory minimise the need for customs checks on goods coming into the uk and then going on into other european countries. there is a matter of the timing hair, because there is a priority for the government to sort this issue out. the partnership model is thought to be the prime minister's favourite, but it is clear no decision has been made on what the government's position will be, going into the next phase of negotiations with brussels, there is a meeting of the brexit subcommittee of the cabinet next tuesday, when i expect some of these findings from the two ministerial groups to be resented. whether we will get a decision on which is the government's preferred option by then is a different matter. one of the leading pro—brexit campaign groups has been fined £70,000 for breaching electoral rules before the eu referendum. the electoral commission found that leave. eu broke its spending limit, and failed to declare its finances correctly.

arron banks, who co—founded leave.eu, said he would contest the decision in the courts. the entire commission is composed of former mps, liberal mps, the snp, former labour leaders of councils, all sorts of people, that all believe in remain. but i can tell you one thing, we're not going to let matters rest here. we will be going to court to challenge this so it is certainly not the last word on the subject. the head of the electoral commission, claire bassett, says its evidence is robust: what we have done is carried out a really detailed and robust investigation and the findings of the investigation are in a 30 page document we have published this morning. that sets out the details of each offence, why we have come to that conclusion and the evidence we have looked at. i think that is a really strong testament to what we have done and i am confident it will stand up to scrutiny. fresh doubts have emerged about government plans to overhaul

the way female offenders are dealt with in england and wales. the ministry ofjustice has refused to say whether it'll fulfil a pledge it made to build and open five new "community prisons" for women by 2020. the department has also delayed a female offender strategy, due to come out a year ago. our home affairs correspondent danny shaw joins me in the studio now. what did the government originally promised on this and what are they saying promised on this and what are they sa ' promised on this and what are they saying now? in november 2016 there was a white paper published by liz truss when she was thejustice secretary, and she said over the next four years, by the end of 2020, they will open five new small community prisons for women, where they will be held closer to their homes. there will be integrated support which will help them resettle into the community and help women offenders with the complex

needs they have. i have asked the ministry ofjustice where it has got to, and they are refusing to commit to, and they are refusing to commit to that pledge it made. they are not saying on track for those prisons to open, there is only 2.5 years to go, they're not saying anything about it at all, other than the fact there will be a strategy launched later this year in the autumn. that strategy is delayed. it was meant to be published at the beginning of last year. the whole thing is really up last year. the whole thing is really up in the air about whether this female offender strategy is going to be what it was originally promised to be. why do you think that is? we had those bold promises, why is there some doubt about this?” had those bold promises, why is there some doubt about this? i think partly because there has been a change of leadership at the department. you had liz truss, then david liddington took over, and then david liddington took over, and then david gauke took over this year. they are all different people with different priorities. there is an issue about spending, the department has to cut £1 billion from its

budget, so the priority really is on savings rather than investment, and i think the ugly, i think there is less pressure on the prison system than there was. the prison population has fallen quite true matic lee by almost 3000 over the past year or so, it is now about 83,000 400. that has released a bit of pressure and i suppose it has taken away some of the focus and some of the momentum to reform the prison system and modernise the estate. thank you. a report into the suitability of homes for disabled people in the uk has found thatjust 7% of houses available for rent were of an acceptable standard. research from the equality and human rights commission found that some disabled people feel trapped inside their own homes. 0ur reporter, ellis palmer went to derby to try and find a house. renting as a disabled person can be

a bit ofa renting as a disabled person can be a bit of a nightmare. the first difficulty is finding a place, as we found in derby. i went to see seven letting agents in the city's cathedral quarter and told them all i was looking for a property with a step free bathroom. not one had a single place for me to do. i asked the equalities and human rights commission is my —— if my experience is commonplace. the accommodation for disabled people in this country is not acceptable. it is not accessible in the main and the properties are not capable of being adapted. we want disabled people to be able to live independently. by that means, they can contribute theirfull that means, they can contribute their full potential to society. the uk government said it is providing uk government said it is providing uk councils with £7 billion to give

out as grants to landlords to adapt homes. and the association of residential letting agencies say landlords are obliged to take this up landlords are obliged to take this up if asked. the money can be used to make changes or remove them if needed. my experience in derby today has left me feeling disappointed, but not surprised, as i have faced the situation in various uk cities before. unless there is a broader social shift and cultural change as well as a legal change, this situation is not going to get any better for young renters like situation is not going to get any betterfor young renters like me. ellis palmer, bbc news, derby. we have special coverage of the issues experienced by people who rent their homes all day here on bbc news. and there'll be more in our business round up in about 20 minutes' time. let's bring you the weather forecast for the weekend. helen willetts has got that for us. hello, it has been an east—west

split. further west we have seen this massive weather front bringing in some rain. it is starting to clear. there will be some evening sunshine for the west of northern ireland and eventually western fringes of wealth and the south—west of england. while it progresses eastwards it will weaken. the hind it, some chilly air following. eastwards it will weaken. the hind it, some chilly airfollowing. we could have some grass frost for northern ireland. further east it will not be as cold as last night as we have more cloud around which will bring us a great start tomorrow. a few showers around during the day. this rain develops later in the day, quite a wet evening as the rain heads northwards. temperatures round about average for the time of year. it will not feel bad in the sunshine. itjust depends how much sunshine. itjust depends how much sunshine we will see. the rain could get stuck on the eastern side of the ukfor get stuck on the eastern side of the uk for sunday. i will have more

later. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. grammar schools in england are to be given extra funding to help them expand — if they can show they're helping disadvantaged pupils. grammar schools do not add anything extra for pupils but it creams off and takes some children that have been given tuition and have already got an advantage over other children and leaves everyone else behind. more than 200 women in ireland were wrongly given the all clear for cervical cancer — now the country's health minister says the public must be told who knew what when. the government has agreed to two additional panel members sitting on the grenfell tower disaster inquiry — after pressure from campaigners. junk food advertising is to be banned on london's public transport in a bid to tackle childhood obesity we know children in deprived parts

of london are more likely to be overweight and obese than those in wealthier parts of london. in a moment.. we'll be discussing the uk's chances at this year's eurovision song contest. sport now on afternoon live with katherine downes. more news on sir alex ferguson? it's nearly a week since sir alex ferguson suffered a brain haemorrhage. darren ferguson has been speaking,

his son, and he said the action has been overwhelming. —— the reaction. he said the staff at the hospital have been amazing, as well, and they continue to request receipt at this time. sir alex ferguson is out of intensive care after his brain haemorrhage but continues as an inpatient in hospital as he recovers. but good to hear from darren ferguson that things are looking up. indeed. we will hear from gareth southgate pretty soon about who is in his world cup squad. 0n about who is in his world cup squad. on wednesday he will name his final 23 man england squad for the world cup and the fa will get a 35 man provisional squad to fifa on monday and then southgate will tell the players his final 23 a couple of

days later, and england begin their campaign against tunisia on the 18th ofjune. now the rest of the sport news. wayne rooney has not asked to leave everton — according to their manager sam alla rdyce. rooney's being linked to a move this summer to dc united in america's mls. he's thought to have agreed a deal in principle, but has yet to sign it. this is what allardyce had to say about those rumours. there appears to be an interest from dc united, where that is and where that lies and where wayne lies with it, i cannot tell you at the moment. so, only after i've spoken to him today will i find out where the situation actually lies. let's put this right, wayne rooney has not asked to leave, and neither has wayne rooney had a confrontation with me, and we have not been in any difficult situation, because we are two adults and we talk. juventus' goalkeeper gianluigi buffon has been charged

by uefa over comments about referee michael 0liver, after their champions league game with real madrid. buffon was sent off for dissent after 0liver awarded real a late penalty, which they scored to progress 4—3 on aggregate. buffon, playing in his final european game, said the english official had "a bag of rubbish for a heart" and should "sit in the stands eating crisps" for "ruining a dream". it's a big day for kyle edmund — who plays denis shapovalov for a place in the semi finals of the madrid open this evening. he's the british number one with andy murray injured, and his success in spain means he will move into the world's top 20 for the very first time. as our tennis correspondent russell fuller told me, edmund is having a good year. around about the time he turned 23, i don't think people expected him to reach the semifinals of the australian open. beating dimitrov along the way.

but he has been in an atp final now as well. and now the first masters quarterfinal — this is the top tier tournament on the men's tourjust beneath the grand slams. and this is on clay which is significant, because even though he's a fine hard—court player he looks a different animal on clay — a very fine player indeed. he hits it powerfully and has a big serve and he looks very impressive when he imposes himself on matches on this surface. denis shapovalov awaits in the quarterfinals, a very talented teenager himself. this will be a tight contest. he is wonderfully charismatic denis sha povalov wonderfully charismatic denis shapovalov with his floppy blond hair. he's only 19. they have already created quite a rivalry. they have surat thani times in the space of 18 months. —— they have played four times. a few matches stand out, the us open last year. edmund retired with a neck injury. when denis shapovalov was just ahead on points. and in canada last year.

in the davis cup. edmund was on top, when shapovalov was faulted. he hit the ball into the stands but it ended up hitting the umpire. and was disqualified. these two could have many matches over many many years. and the weather has got in the way of what should have been a historic day for ireland's cricketers. they were all ready to play pakistan in their first ever test and then it started raining in malahide, and it hasn't stopped since. so play has been abandoned for the day — and they're hoping to get underway at 11am tomorrow morning. that's all the sport for now. you going to be watching the song contest? probably not. i might catch a bit of it, but i'm on breakfast very early in the morning, so it will be early to bed. that is no

excuse. the uk is hoping for its first eurovision win for more than two decades tomorrow. the favourites are cyprus, israel and france — but sadly not britain. as usual there'll be a huge global audience for the contest. but people in china won't be able to watch this year — after the european broadcasting union terminated its contract with chinese tv, because it censored a semi—final performance which featured a gay relationship. david sillito reports from lisbon. the two male dancers made it more than clear what this love story was about in ireland's eurovision song. millions watched, but not in china. they presented an edited version of the programme. viewers complained they had, through the show, tried to blur out the rainbow flags in the audience. the decision to strip mango

of its broadcasting rights is being widely welcomed among the show‘s fans. this is notjust a song competition, it is a festival of diversity and tolerance. regardless of who they are married to, what gender they are, or what language they speak, it is everybody coming together through the shared passion of music. and lisbon is awash with eurovision fans. what of britain's hopes this year? surie is a eurovision veteran, having been a backing singer in 2015. #do # do you remember when we were kids with no fear? it's an incredible feeling, because the electricity that is charged from the crowd, the eurovision crowd in that arena, is like no other audience i have ever experienced. go surie!

and she does have many supporters. however... does britain stand a chance? no. once upon a time the uk was a eurovision superpower. the last 20 years, not so good. time, ithought, to talk to dr eurovision. yes, paul really has a phd in eurovision. i think there is a problem with perception. we don't take it seriously enough? yes, people think the music is rubbish. there is some good talent in this contest but we don't see it in the same way. # hold your head up, don't give up... and our odds this year? 200 to one. but remember, there is always hope. have you thought about if you win? i'll probably just spontaneously combust into glitter and feathers

because that is eurovision. # don't give up... so how do you win eurovision? with me to discuss what truly make the perfect eurovision song is bbc data journalist, clara guibourg, and the entertainment journalist, caroline frost. you have been doing some actual research into eurovision songs in tombs of happy songs and sad songs and which are the most likely to win —— in terms of. and which are the most likely to win -- in terms of. it is quite surprising, but sad songs are more likely to win an eurovision. eight out of the last 12 contests we found the song that was victorious was sadder than the average line—up that

year, counterintuitive that may seem, given the topic and if you break it down every year you can see strikingly that songs are getting sadder year by year. you are presenting a graph with a line about musical positivity. that is right. maybe this is down to songwriters catching on to the fact that sadder songs are more likely to do well. sad songs sell. that is right. and this line—up is 30% sadder than the one in 2006. that is not encouraging me to watch a 30% sadder! what are you looking forward to in the contest? does the uk have any chance? i'm afraid not. really? an outside chance, but at the moment

surie is second from last in terms of the bookmakers odds and there is a wealth of european and israeli tale nt a wealth of european and israeli talent and australian in between her and those top ten tasters so it is not looking likely. it used to be that britain won all the time in the old days. what has happened? we could reflect on many political metaphors for increasing isolation, but it seems that according to your data that we are not really following the signs and although we hear about songs being meaningful and sad and getting the big votes, we insist on bashing out big bangers and it is a —— no surprise when we come home with the wooden spoon. what about surie? that is mid-tempo. you have a map as to where the sad songs and the happy songs come from?

there it is. green is sad and purple for happy. that is right. it shows how happy each country's average eurovision entry is, you can see the countries in pink and purple tends to enter upbeat and happy songs, and there is striking patterns. there is a gloom belt cutting across in central and eastern europe and if you look further east towards scandinavia things perk up. you can see that the uk has tended to enter a lot of sad songs. but that is confusing, because if they are more likely to win and we haven't been winning... it hasn't helped so far. we need to get a bit sadder. why is australia in the eurovision song contest which what contest?

australia have a card which they have never exercised before but several break the 60th anniversary they've given a glorious invitation. —— but to celebrate. i used to live in australia and they would get up at three o'clock in the morning, so they have earned it. some of your research focuses on the key is that the songs are in. that is right. the most common key for a eurovision song overall is c major, over 10% of the songs are in c major but if you wa nt to the songs are in c major but if you want to win you might be better off sticking with a minor. why? that might bea sticking with a minor. why? that might be a question for caroline. musical folklore suggests that d minor represents a mournful nurse and need to come home, that's the

only thing i've got. some sort of intuitive subconscious being reached and touched. we will now listen to a sad song and a happy song. let's have a listen. this is conchita. # walking over glass # walking over glass # well, the time has passed... studio: that was the winner from 2014. that was also a song that was protested by the russians and they boycotted about conchita appearing but in the end the people's vote one out, maybe because of the russian heavy— handed nurse. out, maybe because of the russian heavy-handed nurse. we have a happy

one from israel. this is the entry this year. # look at me commanded beautiful creature —— look at me, i'm a beautiful creature... studio: that isa beautiful creature... studio: that is a bit weird. that is not getting any points. that was the long-time favourite until cyprus sna ked any points. that was the long-time favourite until cyprus snaked up. in the last few decades, singing in english has been seen as more commercial, but nations are also experimenting in their own native

tongues as they are becoming more celebratory of what they have to offer themselves. what is the happiest song that has ever been in the eurovision song contest? the happiest is one from the uk, andy abrahams from 2006.” happiest is one from the uk, andy abrahams from 2006. i don't that one. very forgettable, i'm afraid. i thought you were going to say puppet ona thought you were going to say puppet on a string. # come on baby, ijust want you to believe me # even if our world stops loving i could never stop loving you... studio: i like that, do you like that? i have nothing to say about that? i have nothing to say about that song. laughter it did not do the magic on the

night. it might have been on top of the pops in the late 80s but it did not have what was required on the night to set it apart. the last british winner was katrina in the waves “— british winner was katrina in the waves —— and the waves? british winner was katrina in the waves -- and the waves? that is right. 1997. where have we been going wrong? gemini came home with no points. we just have not been recruiting the right content. you need a combination of magic, charismatic front person, a song and resonance and you need it to reach a global audience for the you will be watching? 0f global audience for the you will be watching? of course. there is a chance we might do it? you never know. thanks forjoining us. i can safely say i will not be watching.

and you can see if it's nil pwa for the uk in the 2018. eurovision song contest live from lisbon tomorrow night from eight o'clock on bbc one and bbc radio two. the mayor of london, sadiq khan, wants to ban adverts forjunk food on the capital's tubes and buses, and parts of the overground rail network. it's part of an effort to tackle childhood obesity — 40% of 10 and 11 year olds in london are overweight. our health correspondent james gallagher reports. if you take public transport in london, you're bombarded with adverts for junk food. whether in underground stations or bus stops, london mayor sadiq khan wants them banned. he says ads promoting food high in salt, fat or sugar are contributing to childhood obesity. we have a situation where children are obese, they will probably be obese as adults.

it impacts them physically, psychologically and inhibits their life chances and is also a strain on the nhs. i think having fewer children who are obese, fewer children who are overweight is a win—win for society. the mayor says seeing signs like this are making us more likely to want to buy one of these. 0nly amsterdam in europe has tried this measure already. health experts say tackling childhood obesity will not be the silver bullet. the idea gets a mixed reaction for people heading to the tube. i think it will help, i don't think it will be the be all and end all it. but it will help, won't it? it's a free market. just warnings, in terms of the risks

of eating junk food. ithink bans... they don't work. i don't think it's a good idea. almost four in ten children are overweight or obese by the time they leave primary school in london. celebrity chef jamie oliver says banning junk food ads could reverse the problem. if a child is born today, i think that by 2030 the statistics will be different. but some argue the current rules on adverts are already tough enough. i think current regulations do the job because they are among the strictest in the they world, they apply across all media, it's not just about the placement of the advertised. the rest of the world tends to look to the to the uk for leadership. we are not complacent and if there is evidence more changes need to be made, the regulator will make those changes. the planned advertising ban comes one month after the sugar tax came into force across the uk. it seems there's a growing appetite from politicians for tackling

our waistlines. in a moment the business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. the government presses ahead with plans to expand existing grammar schools in england — labour calls it a vanity project. after more than 200 women were wrongly given the all clear for cervical cancer, ireland's health minister says the public must be told who knew what when. the government has agreed to two additional experts sitting on the grenfell tower disaster inquiry — after pressure from campaigners. here's your business headlines on afternoon live. the boss of barclays — jes staley — has been fined more than £642,000 for the way he handled a whistleblower. regulators said he "failed to act with due skill, care and diligence" when the bank received an anonymous letter back in 2016. he says he accepts theirjudgement. npower is the latest energy company to raise its prices. they'll go up by 5.3%

from next month — putting up the average bill by around £64 a year. the move affects a million people. potholes are costing insurers and drivers a million pounds a month. the aa says that's the amount it's costing to fix vehicles damaged by bad roads. the number of claims so far this year is the same as for the whole of last year. we have news about people who are renting in this country, and isn't just young people, but also older people. that is right, there is evidence that the proportion of people aged between 35 and 54 who are renting from a private landlord has doubled in the last decade. there are several reasons for this. house prices have risen beyond the

reach of many people so they are having to rent and of course in the wa ke having to rent and of course in the wake of the financial crisis many of the banks and building societies lending to people have had to tighten up their lending procedures so many people are falling foul of that. what we have seen rather sadly is that when people break up with partners or have a divorce, they are having to rent. so people renting to force of circumcised rather —— people renting through force of circumstance rather than choice. yes, and losing your rented accommodation is the biggest cause of homelessness in the uk and we have seen a surge in the number ten is seeking advice about their tenancies. —— a surge in the number of te na nts tenancies. —— a surge in the number of tenants seeking advice. joining us now is amy hughes from citizens advice.

why are we seeing a surge in enquiries? there is a lot of pressure now on the private rented market, it is difficult for people to access home ownership and there isa to access home ownership and there is a limited supply of social housing and we have huge arms of people live in private rented accommodation. —— huge numbers. people live in private rented accommodation. -- huge numbers. what colour things are they worried about? —— what kind of things. affordability is a very big issue, re nt affordability is a very big issue, rent forms a large part of people's household income and accessing accommodation in the private rental sector is also extremely expensive and people have to pay high letting fees and they have to find a deposit and they have the cost of removals. there is a big issue concerning security, people don't have very good security in the private rented sector, quite easy for the landlord to end a tenancy and that leaves people quite vulnerable to eviction so it makes them more cautious about

complaining about things like repairs because of that and that also adds to the... it makes it very difficult for people to move on from the private rented sector because they are trapped in by these high costs. briefly, what is the way out of this? people need to come and get advice if they are having problems with their tenancy, if they visit their local citizens buys we can help them with their issues —— citizens advice was we can give budgeting and debt advice and employment and benefits advice. thanks forjoining us. and a quick look at the markets. the ftse 100 has been in positive territory today — itv shares have been doing quite

well because of speculation about possibly being a takeover target. time for a look at the weather. here's helen willetts. it was a lovely start to the day for many, touch of frost through the glens of scotland, even in the middle of may, but the sunshine was eroded from western areas but the east had the best of the sunshine. this is how it looked earlier in the afternoon across the northern ireland down district and that is because we have a weather front giving rain. the rain will move east and you can see the clearer skies following behind on the satellite picture so we will have some evening sunshine. into pembrokeshire and cornwall, devon, as the rain meanders east, it tends to weaken the weather front, so very little rain left as it approaches the south and east and that will inhibit the fall

of temperatures here. further west we have the risk of grass frost, maybe parts of northern ireland and the south and west also looking chilly. saturday dawns on a cloudy note for parts of scotland and southern england. the rain is pushing in from the south but further west, scattered but sharp showers. and many parts of scotland and parts of northern ireland and northern england, with decent spells of sunshine, although it won't feel especially warm. as we go to the evening, there is uncertainty of the progress of the rain but it looks like it will turn quite wet in central and eastern areas. the next pulse of rain moving north through the evening across northern england and towards the borders of scotland. that is where the uncertainty lies, where the weather front will sit, and how quickly and how far north these pulses of rain will come, and so the west looks drier and clearer on sunday, the brighter weather should hold on, as well, but the potential is there for a rather wet sunday across the eastern half and northern half of england and eventually north

eastern parts of scotland. i'm hoping most parts of the uk will get at least one nice day this weekend but it will feel quite chilly if you are in the cloud and if you are in the rain. but with the strong sunshine 15—16c will feel pleasant. and there will be more settled weather early next week. hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm ben brown. today at 4. the government presses ahead with plans to expand existing grammar schools in england — labour calls it a vanity project. the government has agreed to two additional experts sitting on the grenfell tower disaster inquiry, after pressure from campaigners. after more than 200 women were wrongly given the all clear for cervical cancer, ireland's health minister says the public must be told who knew what when. my children are going to grow up and start asking questions

and why did mum die. if nobody is held accountable, they will take on the hatred and the fear and i don't want that. london could become only the second city in europe to ban junk food adverts on public transport as its mayor tries to tackle what he calls the ticking time bomb of child obesity. coming up on afternoon live all the sport — katherine downes. yes, it's the first time we have heard from darren ferguson since his father sir alex suffered a brain haemorrhage last weekend. he has thanked football fans in general for their support and complement to hospital staff for the care they have given. i will have more in the next half—hour. thanks, katherine. helen willetts has all the weather — helen. a bit ofa a bit of a mixed bag.

a bit ofa mixed bag. i a bit of a mixed bag. i think there will be one good day this weekend. i will be one good day this weekend. i will put all the meat on the bones in about half an hour. join me if you can. thanks, helen. also coming up... # we all need somebody to lean on...# by royal invitation — the choir made up of people with disabilities preparing to sing in windsor in run—up to the wedding. hello, everyone — this is afternoon live — i'm ben brown. the government is pressing ahead with plans to expand existing grammar schools in england. it has promised £50 million to provide new places at selective schools. labour has dismissed it as a vanity project, saying it's a misguided use of overstretched funds. 0ur political correspondent iain watson reports.

here is a test for you. when did the prime minister say this? we know grammar schools are hugely popular with parents. we know they are good for the pupils that attend them. yes, it was 2016, before the general election. losing her majority in 2017, the commitment to lift a ban on new selective schools was dropped. now £50 million has been made available for existing grammar schools in england to expand. the £50 million for grammar school expansion is a relatively small part of a large capital pot which is there to make sure that we can accommodate the needs of families and make sure we have got good school places and diversity in choice. the funding was first ear—marked in 2016, the new education secretary has now authorised it. to get the cash, schools must pass some tests. they will have to prove there is local demand and set out what they will do to attract more

pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. leading grammar schools say they welcome the challenge. it's no doubt where they are dominated by the middle classes, that can have a negative effect, so its welcome we are looking at the way grammar schools admit pupils, rather than debating whether they should exist or not. labour say the focus should be on schools in greater need. unfortunately the government have shown they are ideologically driven to help the selected few while the rest of schools are facing real—term cuts and having a damaging effect on education. when is a new grammar school not a grammar school? when it's an annex. this school in kent set up an annex ten miles away, so critics say money for expansion could mean more grammar schools by the back door. not content with dropping one manifesto pledge to create entirely new grammar schools, today the government has dropped another. it had said it would get rid of so—called inclusivity rules when it comes to new free schools.

translated, that means they could select up to 100% of the pupils on the basis of their parent's religion. that's now gone, and only up to half of the pupils in these schools will be selected on the basis of faith. i do welcome the fact that the government has abandoned its plans to allow religious groups to open free schools and only open them to children of particular faiths. this is our school... more money will be made available via local authorities to expand faith schools in their areas, where there is demand. the government says it wants to offer more choice but critics say there is still too much emphasis on schools selecting pupils rather than parents selecting schools. iain watson, bbc news. chris philp is the conservative mp for croydon south — he's welcomed the move. i am a south london grammar school boy and i think grammar schools give

opportunity to children from ordinary or even poor backgrounds the chance to fulfil their potential. grammar schools are definitely not about casting aside children who do not get in. the rest of the school system is incredibly important. academy schools, free schools, all of those are important and doing well. there are more children now going to good and outstanding schools than ever before. grammar schools are popular with parents, they are often massively oversubscribed by 20—1. so letting these popular schools which parents want to send their children to, but struggle to get in, allowing them to provide more places is common sense. croydon is my borough. there are grammar schools in sutton to the west. one or two in bromley to the east, that is where i went, but no grammar schools in croydon. many of my constituents have to send their children miles and miles at a grammar school. so expanding a sutton grammar school into croydon, a satellite site,

would be a good idea. it would increase choice for parents and it would be a good thing. joining me now from our central london studio is carl cullinane, research manager at the sutton trust, a charity that seeks to address educational disadvantage and improve social mobility. what are your thoughts on this £50 million the government is spending on grammar schools? what we would say is we welcome the focus on disadvantaged young people in today's announcements. what the sutton trust has been saying for a long time, any expansion in grammar schools should be predicated on tackling the fair access issue, because research has shown for a long time that grammar schools are extremely socially selective. free school meals pupils make upjust over 2% in school meals pupils make upjust over2% in grammar school meals pupils make upjust over 2% in grammar schools, while it

is about 15 cents of those nationally. if you are from a certain background, you are much more likely to get in. it should be about tackling their access and all young people should have an equal playing school to get into these type of schools. are you saying they do not currently have an equal playing field? currently no. if you are from a disadvantaged background, even if you have the same ability in english and maths, you are less likely to get into a grammar school than someone from a richer home. is it because they could pay for private tuition or they have more books in the house? what are the reasons? from the home environment, from the school they have been going to, to the level of coaching that that these kids receive. if you

have gone to a private prep school you are ten times more likely to get into a you are ten times more likely to get intoa gram you are ten times more likely to get into a gram than someone who is eligible for free school meals. a lot of these kids are receiving tens of hours of tutor preparation and coaching to get them through these tests. in addition to today's announcements, we would like to see more robust measures in terms of levelling the playing field even more. the government would disagree with your analysis. we heard from one tory mp who said grammar schools provide opportunity for children from poorer backgrounds, opportunity, choice, excellence, those are things we should be celebrating in this country? they provide some opportunity to some young people but we think they should provide more opportunities to more young people from those backgrounds. the that mean you would like to see the existing grammar schools abolished ? like to see the existing grammar schools abolished? no, grammar schools abolished? no, grammar schools are part of the education system in this country and what we think is crucial is the access issue needs to be tackled, and they need to appeal and cater to a wider group of society. we also think it is

important not to overemphasise the importance of grammar schools. the announcement today, 50 million is a small proportion of the schools budget as a whole, and they promised a dropa budget as a whole, and they promised a drop a drop in the ocean in terms of the school system in general. it is crucial that if we were to move the dial on social mobility in this country, we need to improve schools overall and make sure children who go to all schools are able to flourish and succeed. thank you for yourtime, carl flourish and succeed. thank you for your time, carl cullinane. the prime minister has agreed to appoint more two more members to the panel overseeing the public inquiry into the grenfell tower disaster — after being urged to do so by groups representing the victims' families, survivors and the local community. it's being seen as a u—turn by theresa may, who last year said she wouldn't appoint any more panel members. the inquiry is chaired by the retired high courtjudge, sir martin moore—bick. karim mussilhy from the grenfell united community group which is made up of families who escaped or lost

loved ones in the fire, welcomed the news. this panel is now going to help massively in the public inquiry into uncovering why the fire happened and how it happened. and to make the recommendations so this never happens again. we are very lucky to be working with an organisation like grenfell united who have done so much fantastic work. this is a small element of the work that has gone into the fight for justice and the fight for grenfell. it's a big step forward for us. we have campaigned, with the help of the mps who came to meet us last weekend, and people like stormzy, adele, and grenfell united, and those who also lost loved ones on that terrible night. we have a panel, we are moving positively in the right direction. let's hope the public inquiry will uncover the truth now. 0ur correspondent, ben ando,

has been giving me more details about the prime minister's decision. i think is fair to say that although this does look like a u—turn, back in december when the prime minister said the panel would remainjust one person, so martin moore—bick, she did review the right to review that later. she had a meeting yesterday with support groups of survivors and those who escaped from the fire, and decided that sir martin moore—bick does need some support. there will be two people. we do not yet know who they are or where their expertise will lie. a statement from downing street said given the scale and complexity of concerning issues that are emerging from the enquiry‘s early investigations, the prime minister has a continuing duty to assure the enquiry has the skill and expertise it requires for the challenges that lie ahead. this news comes in a written statement from the prime minister.

next week on monday, mps will be debating the grenfell fire disaster. the second stage of the investigation, which is likely to hear more evidence and probably more detailed evidence will start later this month. the director of a yachting management company has been given a 15—month suspended sentence forfailing to ensure the safety of four sailors. the four died when the cheeki rafiki yacht capsized in the atlantic. douglas innes, was acquitted of the manslaughter of the four men following a retrial in april. ireland's health minister says he wants to get to the bottom of "who knew what, and when" about a scandal involving the country's cervical cancer screening service. the head of the health service in the irish republic has said he will resign, after it emerged that more than 200 women were wrongly told that their cervical smear tests were all clear. 17 women have since died. the failings occurred

after the tests were out—sourced to an american company. 0ur ireland correspondent chris page sent this report. stories like emma mhic mhathuna's have moved and stunned people in ireland. she was given the all clear from cervical cancer five years ago but the result of her smear test was wrong. she was only diagnosed with the disease in 2016 and is now terminally ill. the cancer is throughout my body. i've been told, while i have energy, to get things in place for my children. it has not hit me that i'm dying, because i'm so worried that people are going to get away with it. the scandal came to light in a court case taken by this woman, vicky phelan from limerick. she was awarded 2.5 million euros in a settlement with an american laboratory which was carrying out tests for the irish health service. doctors have given her between six and 12 months to live. my settlement will mostly be spent on buying me time and paying

for clinical trials to keep me alive and to allow me to spend more time with my children. if i die, and i truly hope that won't be the case, the money will provide for my family. it's emerged that at least 208 women should have had treatment earlier. 17 have died. public and political anger has grown. ireland's top health official tony 0'brien faced fierce questioning at a parliamentary committee yesterday. mrs mhic mhathuna on the radio this morning has no time to wait. she said she is too angry to worry about dying, and we are here kicking a football about. let's have an investigation and see what happened. where is the accountability? why don't we both wait until the outcome of the expert review, then we can both reflect. at the moment you are causing hysteria.

last night, he announced he was standing down. mr 0'brien's resignation will take effect this afternoon. however, the women who have had catastrophic news are likely to keep the issue in the spotlight. emma mhic mhathuna says she wants to ensure no one else will die needlessly. when you are a parent, there is nothing else you won't do for your children, that's why i am going to keep soldiering on as long as i have here. chris page, bbc news. two britons have been reported kidnapped in the democratic republic of congo. local media say a female wildlife ranger, who was with the britons, was killed. the incident happened just north of the city of goma, in the national park. the foreign office says it is in close contact with the local authorities, and staff are providing support

to theirfamilies in britain. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines. the government presses ahead with plans to expand existing grammar schools in england — labour calls it a vanity project. the government has agreed to two additional experts sitting on the grenfell tower disaster inquiry, after pressure from campaigners. after more than 200 women were wrongly given the all clear for cervical cancer, ireland's health minister says the public must be told who knew what when. in sport, sir alex ferguson's son darren has thanked football fans in generalfor the support darren has thanked football fans in general for the support they have shown his father after his brain haemorrhage last week. commenting publicly for the first time since alex's dullness, he also praised hospital staff for their care. everton manager sam alla rdyce hospital staff for their care. everton manager sam allardyce says he will speak to wayne rooney this afternoon and that whether he wants to leave everton to play for dc

united in the us. and british number one kyle edmund is in the quarterfinals of the madrid open as he continues his charge into the top 20. i will be back with more of those stories just after 4:30pm. see you then. the trial of two men and a woman accused of murdering four children in an arson attack in walkden, is expected to hear from the alleged ring—leader of the attack. 23—year—old zak bolland is accused of fire bombing the family home of the children. 0ur correspondent danny savage is outside of manchester crown court with the latest from the case. good afternoon. just tell us what has been happening in court. this is the first day of the defence in this trial today. we have heard the prosecution, it is now the defence's turn to give their side to the story. first into the witness box was zak bolland. he is 23 years

old. he admits reckless arson in connection with that fatal fire in walkden last year, but he denies murder and attempted murder as well. he told the court how, on the night of the fire, he went to the rear of the property with his co—accused david worrell. he said mr worrall used an axe to break the kitchen window. they both each through one petrol bomb through that window into the house to start the fire. the central point of zak bolland's defence is he believed the house was empty at the time of the fire. he told the court how he had confronted the mother of the children, michelle pearson, early on that evening, in an ongoing row over some damage to a car. in the hours that followed he noticed a police van sitting outside the home and he thought the family was being taken into protective custody. his point was that when he went to set fire to the house a few hours later in the dead of night, he

thought he was throwing petrol bombs into an empty house. he said he was devastated when he later found out that children had died and he made arrangements to hand himself into police. he denies murder, he attempted murder as well. the trial continues here on monday. thank you. danny savage reporting from manchester. police have confirmed that a body found at a marina on the banks of the firth of forth is that of scott hutchison — the singer in the rock band frightened rabbit, who went missing two days ago. the band has released a statement describing their sadness and pain at the news, and saying he leaves "a legacy of hope, kindness and colour that will forever be remembered". the prime minister has split her cabinet into two groups to consider the options for customs arrangements after britain leaves the eu. a downing street spokesman said each group will contain a mix of pro—leavers and remain supporters, and that the work was being undertaken

"as a priority". 0ur political correspondent, jonathan blake is at westminster. we know the prime minister has been ina bit we know the prime minister has been in a bit of we know the prime minister has been ina bit ofa we know the prime minister has been in a bit of a pickle on this issue, so she have come up with a rather novel way of trying to sort it all out? she has, she is handing it over to some of her most senior cabinet ministers, splitting them down the middle, a mix of leave and remain supporting ministers on each side. 0ne supporting ministers on each side. one group will look at one of the options for customs arrangements with the eu after brexit, and the other group will look at the other. 0n other group will look at the other. on one side you have the maximum facilitation argument, whereby technological solutions would minimise the need for checks on goods coming into the uk and travelling onwards into the european union. 0n the other side you have

the customers partnership, under which the uk would collect tariffs on behalf of the eu, on goods coming into the country, and if there were no tariffs set on goods which were staying here and not going any further, that money would be refunded to businesses. as i say, you have a mix of opinions in these two groups. there might be some difficult discussions in the coming days and the clock is ticking for them to present their ministerial homework, if you like. the cabinet‘s sub committee is due to meet next tuesday. we expect that some point for the government to come up with its preferred option. looking ahead, there are deadlines looming. another summit with the eu injune, and then ultimately by october, when the uk and eu hope to have the broad details of a future relationship worked out. as for when we will get a decision on this very divisive issue and a difficult issue for the

cabinet, that is not clear. it is divisive and difficult as you say. you wonder whether this idea will work in terms of getting a clear—cut solution. aren't both groups going to end up arguing? quite possibly. i am sure there will be disagreement across the table when these two ministerial working groups as downing street has described them, sit down to thrash out these options. i think it is unlikely that they will be able to come back in a week's time and say, we have sorted this out, come up with a new idea or solve the problems, there is your solution. it is not that simple. the issues on both sides are most pressingly on the customers partnership option, how you sign up to that but also allow yourself to do independent trade deals with other countries around the world, and on the maximum facilitation option, how you do that, but not have any kind of border infrastructure in place between

northern ireland and the republic of ireland. those are the two pressing issues on both sides, but there are many others, and then there is the small matter of getting parliament here to agree with it and the eu to agree with either option and they have not welcomed either one with open arms so far. thank you. one of the leading pro—brexit campaign groups has been fined £70,000 for breaching electoral rules before the eu referendum. the electoral commission found that leave. eu broke its spending limit, and failed to declare its finances correctly. arron banks, who co—founded leave.eu, said he would contest the decision in the courts. the entire commission is composed of former mps, liberal mps, the snp, former labour leaders of councils, all sorts of people, that all believe in remain. but i can tell you one thing, we're not going to let matters rest here. we will be going to court to challenge this so it is certainly not the last word on the subject.

the head of the electoral commission, claire bassett, says its evidence is robust. what we have done is carried out a really detailed and robust investigation and the findings of the investigation are in a 30 page document we have published this morning. that sets out the details of each offence, why we have come to that conclusion and the evidence we have looked at. i think that is a really strong testament to what we have done and i am confident it will stand up to scrutiny. fresh doubts have emerged about government plans to overhaul the way female offenders are dealt with in england and wales. the ministry ofjustice has refused to say whether it'll fulfil a pledge it made to build and open five new "community prisons" for women by 2020. the department has also delayed a female offender strategy, due to come out a year ago. in november 2016 there was

a white paper published by liz truss when she was thejustice secretary, and she said over the next four years, by the end of 2020, they will open five new small community prisons for women, where they will be held closer to their homes. there will be integrated support which will help them resettle into the community and help women offenders with the complex needs they have. i have asked the ministry ofjustice where it has got to, and they are refusing to commit to that pledge it made. they are not staying on track for those prisons to open, there is only 2.5 years to go, they're not saying anything about it at all, other than the fact there will be a strategy launched later this year in the autumn. that strategy is delayed. it was meant to be published at the beginning of last year. the whole thing is really up in the air about whether this female

offender strategy is going to be what it was originally promised to be. why do you think that is? we had those bold promises, why is there some doubt about this? i think partly because there has been a change of leadership at the department. you had liz truss, then david liddington took over, and then david gauke took over this year. they are all different people with different priorities. there is an issue about spending, the department has to cut £1 billion from its budget, so the priority really is on savings rather than investment, and i think thirdly, i think there is less pressure on the prison system than there was. the prison population has fallen quite dramatically by almost 3000 over the past year or so, it is now about 83,400. that has released a bit of pressure and i suppose it has taken away some of the focus and some of the momentum to reform the prison

system and modernise the estate. time for a look at the weather. last weekend there was so much sunshine. but this weekend there is a little bit less? that is one way of putting it. interestingly, many people think the strength of the sun depends on the temperature. it does not. it depends on how high the sun is in the sky. the strength of the sun is about the same in late may as it is in latejuly. late april is the same as late august so it can catch you out. although there will not be as much fun this weekend, there will still be some sunshine and it will be strong sunshine. and the weather in other parts of europe has been atrocious? portugal has had some of its nicest weather all year recently, but the nasty weather has transferred eastwards. the greek islands and turkey have had flash flooding. there has been

thunderstorms and a deluge in some areas. portugal should expect quite well. this is our weather system for the weekend. it could bring some more snow to the pyrenees and across the alps as well. this time of year it is indicative of pretty cold air stuck behind our weather system which will cause off a few issues this weekend. there will obviously be some sunshine across europe as you can see. across scandinavia it is looking fine and dry but not here in the uk. don't blame the messenger first and foremost. it is notjust in the uk, in paris as well there are one or two showers around and in rome. this weather system is pushing its way gradually eastwards. it is easing

but it will hang around across the eastern side of the country, possibly in the north sea, but at times we will see pulses of rain moving their way northwards and that is the concern. under the clear skies further west, an indication of how chilly the air is. three degrees in belfast and there could be some grass frost around in rural areas. tomorrow does not look disappointing to start with. possibly some rain comes the south later. because the winds are quite late in comparison to today, the showers will be slow—moving, heavy and potentially thundery. in between there will be strong sunshine. it is the moonwalk in london tomorrow evening and u nfortu nately in london tomorrow evening and unfortunately there is the chance of some wetter weather working its way northwards. there is still quite a lot of uncertainty about where this rain will fit. —— six. it is quite

difficult to get the exact location of the weather front. it could still be around eastern areas in particular on sunday. it looks on sunday 50 west will be best. this is our wiggling weather front across eastern areas. 0n our wiggling weather front across eastern areas. on sunday we have rain. further west we have showers. hopefully, we have drier weather on sunday with fewer showers. low pressure is not too far away so showers cannot be ruled out. if the weather front is that the eastwards, the showers will become more prevalent as well. it is certainly not a wash—out, as you can see, and it will not be particularly cold. we will see temperatures around about average. as we get a ridge of high pressure in, that is guaranteed to give us drier, brighter, settled weather. stay tuned to the forecast. this is bbc news — our latest headlines. grammar schools in england

are to be given extra funding to help them expand — if they can show they're helping disadvantaged pupils. grammar schools do not add anything extra for pupils but it creams off and takes some children that have been given tuition and have already got an advantage over other children and leaves everyone else behind. more than 200 women in ireland were wrongly given the all clear for cervical cancer — now the country's health minister says the public must be told who knew what when. the government has agreed to two additional panel members sitting on the grenfell tower disaster inquiry — after pressure from campaigners. the director of a yacht management company has been sentenced — for failing to ensure the safety of four men who died when the cheeki rafiki sank. sport now on afternoon live with katherine downes. it's nearly a week since sir alex ferguson suffered

a brain haemorrhage — today we've heard from a member of the ferguson family for the first time? darren ferguson, the manager doncaster knights you missed the match at the weekend, and it emerged that his father had suffered a brain hambridge lie wrote —— a brain haemorrhage last weekend and now darren ferguson has released a statement, thanking everyone for the best wishes and also he said the staff at the hospital have been magnificent. he says they continue to request privacy at this time. as

we know sir alex ferguson is out of intensive care but still recovering after the brain haemorrhage. the world cup is getting close and gareth southgate will be naming his squad. just a month to go, gareth southgate will name his final 23 man squad for the world cup on wednesday, the fa will hand a 35 man provisional list to fifa on monday and then southgate will tell the players his final 23 two days later. england begin their campaign on the 18th of june england begin their campaign on the 18th ofjune against tunisia. wayne rooney has not asked to leave everton — according to their manager sam alla rdyce. rooney's being linked to a move this summer to dc united in america's mls. he's thought to have agreed a deal in principle, but has yet to sign it. this is what allardyce had to say about those rumours. there appears to be an interest from dc united, where that is and where that lies and where wayne lies with it, i cannot tell

you at the moment. so, only after i've spoken to him today will i find out where the situation actually lies. let's put this right, wayne rooney has not asked to leave, and neither has wayne rooney had a confrontation with me. we have not been in any difficult situation, because we are two adults and we talk. we can expect clarity on that over the coming days. juventus' goalkeeper gianluigi buffon has been charged by uefa over comments about referee michael 0liver, after their champions league game with real madrid. buffon was sent off for dissent after 0liver awarded real a late penalty, which they scored to progress 4—3 on aggregate. buffon, playing in his final european game, said the english official had "a bag of rubbish for a heart" and should "sit in the stands eating crisps" for "ruining a dream". it's a big day for kyle edmund — who plays

denis shapovalov for a place in the semi finals of the madrid open this evening. he's the british number one with andy murray injured, and his success in spain means he will move into the world's top 20 for the very first time. as our tennis correspondent russell fuller told me, edmund is having a good year. around about the time he turned 23, i don't think people expected him to reach the semifinals of the australian open. beating dimitrov along the way. he has been in an atp final now as well. and now the first masters quarterfinal — this is the top tier tournament on the men's tourjust beneath the grand slams. and this is on clay which is significant, because even though he's a fine hard—court player he looks a different animal on clay — a very fine player indeed. he hits it powerfully and has a big serve and he looks very impressive when he imposes himself on matches on this surface. denis shapovalov awaits in the quarterfinals, a very talented teenager himself. this will be a tight contest. he is wonderfully charismatic,

denis shapovalov, with his floppy blond hair. he's only 19. they have already created quite a rivalry. they have played four times in the space of 18 months. a few matches stand out, the us open last year. edmund retired with a neck injury. when shapovalov was just ahead on points. and in canada last year in the davis cup. edmund was on top, when shapovalov was defaulted. he hit the ball in anger he thought into the stands but it ended up hitting the umpire. and was disqualified. these two could have many matches over many many years. nadal isjust

nadal is just getting under way in his match in madrid against dominic thiem. and the weather has got in the way of what should have been a historic day for ireland's cricketers. they were all ready to play pakistan in their first ever test and then it started raining in malahide, and it hasn't stopped since. so play has been abandoned for the day — and they're hoping to get underway at 11 tomorrow morning. that's all the sport for now. officials in gaza say israeli soldiers have shot dead a palestinian man. the palestinian health ministry said at least a hundred and seventy others have been injured as protests on the gaza strip enter their seventh week. palestinians have gathered in the area each friday to press for refugees to be allowed to return to homes that are now in israel. dozens of protestors have been killed since the end of march. after experiencing the personal heartbreak of losing his son who was born stillborn, at full term, the mp will quince began a campaign

to introduce compulsory paid his bill has been discussed in the commons today. in this special report, he explains why the issue is so close to his heart. i never thought i would come into politics thinking i would be a campaigner on baby loss and rights for bereaved parents, but it was tragic circumstances that brought me to this position. my wife and i lost our son, who was stillborn, full term in october 2014. i got two weeks off work, and my wife had herfull maternity, and it is really important you have that time to come to terms with what has just happened, the enormity of losing a child. on entering parliament, i assumed that everyone would be covered under some legislation, but actually, after anyone loses a child older than six months, it isn't covered by any legislation at all.

since i spoke up about this and put forward a parental bereavement leave bill, i have been surprised and in some cases shocked by the number of people who have come forward and said how their employer did not act with kindness and compassion, and acted with complete insensitivity to what had happened. there have been too many cases where people have had to take unpaid leave or holiday, or worse, people havejust been forced back into work because they are put under so much pressure. i think it is important to say most employers are brilliant and do act with that compassion and kindness, but we do need this legislation and this enshrinement in law of that right to take time off that is paid at the equivalent of statutory maternity or paternity pay, and that is really because there are some employers that don't do the right thing. every bereaved parent wants to know that their child's life, however short, had an impact, made a difference, and i don't doubt that my son's life, very, very short indeed, is going to make a difference by helping those tens of thousands

of bereaved parents every year when we get this legislation onto the statute book. joining me now is steven wibberley — the head of the charity cruse bereavement care. we heard there that most employers do the right thing but there are some who don't. is legislation important? it is clearly important, boasting poised to do the right think about losing a son all the daughter is unimaginable pain for pa rents daughter is unimaginable pain for parents —— most employers do do the right thing but losing a son or daughter is unimaginable pain for pa rents daughter is unimaginable pain for parents and the parents need to have time to grieve. most employers will give them time off, but not all do, so for the first time parents will the right? have the right % have time . work

i: h e you would - fl e you would - to -- e you would - to see some flexible. you would like to see some more flexibility in the legislation so that perhaps the bereaved parents can take the time off when they want rather than straightaway? we think thatis rather than straightaway? we think that is important, so that we recognise that grief clearly lasts a lifetime and the current legislation will give the right to take time off

during the first eight weeks after the child's death but we recognise there are important times, the first christmas without the child and the first birthday and the anniversary of the child's death and parents might want to use that paid time off. we would like to see that window where they can take the lead to extend it beyond year. we are talking about people in full—time unemployment but they are people on zero—hours contracts or they are self—employed, how would they be affected ? self—employed, how would they be affected? that is one of the gaps thatis affected? that is one of the gaps that is going through with the legislation and there is still consultation happening and we are talking to the civil servants about this, and we hope this will also include protection for those people you described and clearly more and more people are on zero—hours contracts and it is important they are contracts and it is important they a re protected contracts and it is important they are protected in this area as they should be in other areas of employment law. thanks forjoining us. london could become only

the second city in europe to ban junk food adverts. the mayor of london, sadiq khan, wants to ban adverts on the capital's tubes and buses, and parts of the overground rail network. it's part of an effort to tackle childhood obesity. the bad news is childhood obesity levels in london are one of the worst in europe, four out of ten 10 and 11—year—olds in london are overweight or obese. and that means problems for them as children but they are likely to be obese and overweight as adults and that causes physical and psychological issues for the person and also is a massive strain on the nhs and impacts economic productivity. so i'm announcing proposals to ban the advertising of unhealthy food and drink on public transport so in the future you won't see foods that are high in sugar and salt and fats being advertised

on the underground and buses and trams in the future. earlier i spoke to professor corinna hawkes, director of the centre for food policy at city university in london. she says the ban should make a difference. it will make a difference as part of a package of measures, part of the london food strategy which includes a range of different measures, designed to tackle childhood obesity. the evidence is very clear that when children see this kind of advertising they are more likely to like that food and eat that food, so, yes, it will be impactful.

presumably the manufacturers ofjunk food can find plenty of other places to advertise. they can. we need a comprehensive restriction but we need to start somewhere in london, and london can show the way for cities around the world and in the uk in implementing these kind of restrictions, but let's remember that what we want in the uk is a healthy food economy, this is not about stopping companies doing good business, it is about trying to say, that business isn't business any more, what we need is a healthy food economy and businesses selling and marketing healthy food, like the campaign called veg power which is advertising healthier foods. and they have done education and treatment and public campaigns. range of different things. amsterdam shows when you do a lot of things at once,

when there's strong political commitment, then change can really happen. some people will say, what about alcohol? you see adverts for vodka and whiskey on the underground. what i say is, if advertising is not helping public health, don't do it. there should be a lobby for the restriction of alcohol advertising. advertising should be there to inform people and inform consumers but when it tips over and starts to harm people and their health, it's something that does not have a place in society. the other argument is that this is the nanny state — we can make our own decisions about what we want to eat. just because i see an advert about burgers doesn't mean i'm going to automatically buy one. the evidence is that people are affected by it, but of course people should be free to eat what they want — we're not talking about banning food, we're

talking about banning the marketing of these foods and we know from the evidence that when children are young and they are growing up that their preferences are influenced by this. we want children to learn to love healthy food. advertising gets in the way of parents wanting their kids to be healthy. in a moment the business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live. the government presses ahead with plans to expand existing grammar schools in england — labour calls it a vanity project. the government has agreed to two additional experts sitting on the grenfell tower disaster inquiry — after pressure from campaigners. after more than 200 women were wrongly given the all clear for cervical cancer, ireland's health minister says the public must be told who knew what when. here's your business

headlines on afternoon live. the boss of barclays — jes staley — has been fined more tham £642,000 for the way he handled a whistleblower. regulators said he "failed to act with due skill, care and diligence" when the bank received an anonymous letter back in 2016. he says he accepts theirjudgement. sainsury and asda may have to sell 73 supermarkets if their proposed merger is to get the go—ahead. that's according to analysts maximise uk. regulators will need to be satisfied that the merger doesn't hurt consumer choice. potholes are costing insurers and drivers a million pounds a month. the aa says that's the amount it's costing to fix vehicles damaged by bad roads. the number of claims so far this year is the same as for the whole of last year. let's talk about energy prices

because npower are putting up their prices. yes, by 5.3% and that will add £64 to the average bill. it will not impact people on prepayment and fixed deals but it will hit about a million people. the companies says this is down mainly to a rise in wholesale prices. this comes on the heels of other price rises from the likes of british gas and scottishpower so the pressure really going on. you mention the huge fine for the boss of barclays bank. yes, he has been fine £642,000 and the bank itself is going to dock his bonus by about half a million. it is about the way he handled a whistle—blowing incident. in 2016 he

instructed the head of security to find out who had written an anonymous whistle—blowing letter, not his smartest move, witchy has admitted. —— which he has. before we feel too sorry for him paying this fine, he earned about £2 million in wages in 2016 and £1 million in bonuses so he can afford the fine. he still has a few quid. joining us now is laura lambie, senior investment director at investec wealth and investment. some people say he has got off lightly? investors in barclays were pleased that a line has been drawn under it, the fine represents about 1496 under it, the fine represents about 14% of his salary and the good thing from the perspective of barclays that it was it was not like barbel or the other scandals which were to do with the bank itself —— libel macro or the other scandals. buy are

hoping that is a line drawn under the —— they are hoping that is a line drawn under the scandal. will this have sent a message to bank bosses about what not to do when there is a whistle—blowing duration? very much. —— situation? there is a whistle—blowing duration? very much. -- situation? very much. the f cai looking for the chief executive to be leading the way in pointing out the right way to do things ina pointing out the right way to do things in a company —— fac. he is the first chief executive of a major company who has been fined by the fac and not lost hisjob company who has been fined by the fac and not lost his job and company who has been fined by the fac and not lost hisjob and so company who has been fined by the fac and not lost his job and so that isa fac and not lost his job and so that is a dubious honour for him. moving on to energy prices and the increase from npower, why are they sticking up from npower, why are they sticking up prices? the timing is important, the regulator is about to cap price

rises. it is to do with the rise in the price of wholesale but also the government has been increasing costs in energy companies by insisting on smart meters and suchlike so there has been an increase in cost and we have had price rises from four of the big six. what can consumers do? those who are on variable rates, they will be expecting a rise in cost but more and more people are nailing down their costs into fixed—rate contracts which will be good news for them. in over a week there is a ratherfamous good news for them. in over a week there is a rather famous wedding going to be happening, of course. is there any impact on business from this? people spending more? there could be. we are expecting an influx

of american tourists and that is all is good news because they are quite high spenders. if you look back to 1985, 86, when prince andrew got married, there was a decrease in the numberof married, there was a decrease in the number of visitors who came to the uk but in more recent years with prince william, we have seen a big increase in numbers of visitors who have come to the uk which has been good for our gdp. why is it happening in this instance? because the bride is american, that has a big influence on americans coming over, and the fact that we dupont and pageantry extremely well —— we do pop. thanks forjoining us. thanks forjoining us. as people prepare for the wedding of prince harry and meghan markle — now just a week away — a group of amateur singers in the west midlands have been busy creating a unique wedding gift. gosp—ability is the uk's first gospel choir made up of people

with mental and physical disabilities — and they've been invited to sing in windsor in the run up to the big day. trish adudu reports. a choir rehearsing at their weekly practice. nothing extraordinary about that, but this is no ordinary choir. they are gosp—ability, the uk's first gospel choir made up of all abilities. the singers have overcome, or are living with, a physical or mental disability. they are practising hard, hoping to create a unique gift for prince harry and meghan markle ahead of their wedding. so what is the inspiration for this choir? the inspiration has come through the amazing work that prince harry and his family have done, particularly with organisations like invictus, fantastic work. to bring the idea to life, sandra set up nationwide auditions at coventry cathedral, and those with disabilities, like this muscular dystrophy sufferer, jonty g, came to try out. everyone in the choir experiences

challenges in their life, and expressing that through music brings such a strength and power. alongside those with less obvious issues. 26 choir members were selected. news of their existence spiralled, and afterjust three weeks of rehearsals, they were invited to perform live in front of the archbishop of canterbury. i cannot hold a note in my head. and i will spend the service, when they are singing, listening to them, thinking, "i can't do that!" what do you think prince harry would make of the choir? i hope they will get to hear the choir at some point. i think they will both be thrilled to hear them and see what they're doing. # we all need somebody to lean on.# but no time to waste. sandra has written a charity single, the big love song, a wedding gift song for harry

and meghan to raise money for various mental health charities. but the story doesn't end there. this idea started as a little concept but it is growing and growing and growing. next stop, windsor guildhall where gosp—ability will perform 36 hours before the royal couple tie the knot. trish adudu, bbc news, coventry. well, our special programme "the royal wedding singalong" follows gosp—ability‘s journey to windsor and you can watch it tonight on the bbc news channel at 2130 — and across the weekend, including 1030 on sunday morning. that's it from your afternoon live team. next the bbc news at five with jane hill. time for a look at the weather. here's helen willetts.

it has been a split in the weather forecast today with east and west, further west we have had a massive cloud and weather front bringing rain, but that is starting to clear and there will be even in the sunshine for the west of northern ireland and eventually the western fringes of wales and the south—west of england. whilst it moves east it will weaken and behind that it is quite cold air following, so we might have a touch of grass frost for parts of northern ireland. further east it won't be as cold because we have more cloud which will bring a rather grey started the day tomorrow. a few showers around through daytime, dry and bright weather, and this rain developing late in the day, quite a wet evening as the rain heads north. temperatures around average sober and feel too bad but it is about how much sunshine we have —— so it won't feel too bad. more later.

today at 5. the prime minister agrees to two additional panel members for the grenfell tower inquiry. after pressure from campaigners, two experts will support sir martin moore—bick, in his investigation into the fire which killed 71 people. we want to know why the fire started, how the fire started. the culture of the institutions that were supposed to listen to the concerns of the community. why did this happen? we'll have the very latest.... and we'll be finding out what this means for the inquiry. the other main stories on bbc news at 5... more money for grammar schools in england. the government says it'll mean more choice for parents — labour calls it a vanity project. after more than 200 women were wrongly given the all clear for cervical cancer, ireland's health minister says the public must be told who knew what and when.