today at 5 — the government approves controversial plans to build a third runway at heathrow airport. campaigners say the move will damage the environment and increase noise pollution — but the transport secretary says expansion will benefit the economy. expansion at heathrow will bring real benefits across the country, including a boost of up to £74 billion to passengers and the wider economy, providing better connections to growing world markets and increasing flights to more long—haul destinations. and increasing flights to more long-haul destinations. it is almost inconceivable that you have 250,000 extra flights, with all of the vehicle journeys that will mean in terms of road journeys, in terms of rate, without having serious impacts on the airwe rate, without having serious impacts on the air we breathe. we'll be talking to the chief executive of heathrow shortly. the other main stories on bbc news at 5... the grenfell inquiry hears how the london fire brigade received more calls about survival guidance on the night of the fire — than in the previous ten years. comedian michael mcintyre has been robbed by thieves on a moped

who smashed his car window with a hammer. the disgraced hollywood film producer harvey weinstein pleads not guilty to rape and sexual assault in a court in new york. and their man in moscow — i'll be talking to michael mcfaul, former us ambassador to russia, about relations between vladimir putin and the west. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at 5. plans for a new third runway at heathrow airport have been approved by the government. the proposed expansion has faced fierce opposition from campaigners who say it will breach the uk's legal limits on air pollution —

but the transport secretary chris grayling has told the commons that expansion will allow britain to keep pace with other international economies, and that the benefits of the scheme will stretch far beyond london. the proposals will be voted on by mps within weeks. our business correspondent theo leggett reports. this isn't down on the farm, it is london's vast airport at heathrow, scene of intense daily activity. when it was first built, heathrow was meant to provide all the airport capacity london needed. it's a long and involved business but when finished, the result will be an airport worthy of the world's metropolis. 70 years later, it is bursting at the seams. there simply is not enough space for any more flights. politicians have been arguing about how to expand airport capacity in the south—east for decades, but today the government threw its weight firmly behind a third runway at heathrow. expansion at heathrow will bring real benefits across the country, including a boost of up to £74 billion to passengers and the wider economy,

providing better connections to growing world markets and increasing flights to more long haul destinations. so what is actually being planned? this is heathrow as it stands today, with two runways, north and south. the new third runway would be built to the north—west and would pass through where the village of harmondsworth currently stands. two other villages would also be affected. heathrow‘s owners say the cost of the project would be £14 billion, although opponents say it could be higher than that. nearly 800 homes would have to be demolished. but then the airport would then be able to handle hundreds of thousands more take—offs and landings every year and more than 50 million extra passengers. it's a plan the villagers of harmondsworth have been fighting against for years. it lies bang slap in the middle of the most densely populated residential region in the country and it is almost inconceivable you could have 250,000 extra flights with all the vehicularjourneys that would mean in terms of road journeys and freight without having serious impacts on the air we breathe

and the noise people suffer. those in favour of a third runway believe it will bring significant economic benefits, notjust for london and the south—east but for the country as a whole. the crucial thing to understand about a hub airport like heathrow is that the bigger routes to cities like new york are fed by smaller feeder planes that include rather than exclude other parts of the uk. we need to start taking a long—term view on infrastructure. but the plan has to be approved by the house of commons, and many london mps are unhappy. they think the new airport will bring not only more planes but more noise and pollution as well, blighting the lives of local residents. they include members of the conservative party's own ranks. this is a massively expensive and polluting proposal to expand

heathrow, but also i think people would prefer to see a regional airport strategy with the connections they need on their doorstep rather than going hundreds of miles to london to then fly from heathrow. it is a 20th—century strategy in a 21st—century point—to—point world. there is no doubt that today's announcement brings the prospect of a third runway at heathrow a step closer, but opponents remain determined to make their voices heard and are unlikely to back down until the tarmac has actually been laid. our chief political correspondent, vicki young, is at westminster. how big is the task for the government now? well, they are still going to have to do a lot of persuading. over the decades we have had commissions, reviews, consultations, the arguments for and against our incredibly well rehearsed. still, there will be some

work to be done. we heard from one conservative mp that is not happy about this. there are others, of course. the argument from the government is that this is the kind of bold decision that ministers and governments have shied away from for far too long. earlier, governments have shied away from for fartoo long. earlier, chris grayling reiterated this, saying it is exactly the kind of research and the government should be making for the government should be making for the good of the economy. this is a real demonstration that this is a government willing to take big decisions, decisions vital to britain in the post—brexit world. trade opportunities, jobs, opportunities for our country. it will be a battle going forward and there still is strong opposition, difficult stages to overcome. but we are absolutely determined to deliver this project, which we think is crucial to all of our futures. with a minority government, that could be tricky. it was interesting that a lot of these flights would be going to places like northern ireland and scotland, that is relevant when it comes to parliament because the prime minister relies on the dup

and, in this case, she might be able to rely on the snp, who have been for this. labour say they will look at the evidence and judge it against certain tests today with pollution and climate change, and boosting capacity. the government matter is pretty confident it does have the numbers. i think what they would like to show us that this is a bold decision, the kind of thing that theresa may is able to do to show that she is in charge of the government. let's talk now to heathrow airport's chief executivejohn holland—kaye. good evening. good evening. is this a situation, essentially, where economic considerations, business considerations, have beaten environmental? absolutely not, we have to do the right thing for the economy, but we also need to make sure we do the right thing by the environment. the last four years we have spent working as part of the

airport commission process, the independent review, and then as part of the last couple of years with the department for transport is making sure we have a really robust plan to tackle the environmental issues that people are so concerned about, make sure that we do the right thing for local communities and make sure we deliver the economic success this country so desperately needs, connecting every part of the uk with a growing market in the world, making sure that britain can continue to be one of the world's a great trading nations. can you say to someone today watching is that moving from two runways to three i’u nways moving from two runways to three runways will not have any impact on either air pollution or noise?|j runways will not have any impact on either air pollution or noise? i can say confidently that we can meet air quality standards. we meet them today and we can meet them with expansion. we have a number of measures to make sure we do that. we also guarantee that we will not be increasing the use of the new runway if we cannot demonstrate we are not delaying the uk meeting air quality targets. we are very clear that we

can meet our targets, and make sure that we deliver what is right for the uk in the right way. you mentioned air quality, fair enough. you didn't address the issue of noise? noise is a very important issue for local people, making sure there is respite, so there are times of day when they don't have a plane flying over their heads. that is something we have been able to design in to the new plan. we are also able to minimise the number of people impacted by removing the position of the runway, changing the point that planes land... but it will be noisier than today? well, fewer people will be impacted with noise than today because of a number of things. most importantly, planes are getting quieter. just 20 years ago, when i bought a house in west london, i have a concorde flying of my head every day. planes were clearly noisier. they are quieter and that is benefiting the whole economy and local people. that will

help. but we need to go beyond that and that is why we have a world leading home and school installation plan that we have committed to as pa rt plan that we have committed to as part of the expansion proposal, which will benefit not only people in the new flight path, but people in the new flight path, but people in the existing flight path as well. there is a real benefit for neighbours in the existing and new flight neighbours in the existing and new flight paths. they would say if you are not building a third runway, you would not need to do those things? but there is a real benefit. this is for people that are living in places like richmond, twickenham, that he may have been speaking to. this is a real, tangible benefit for them. one further thing that is very important to local people is to have longer times at night without planes flying over their heads. as part of this proposal, we are committing to extend this period for five hours today to six and a half hours. that will benefit all the people in the existing flight path is. it is a real prize that people have campaigned for for many years. it will benefit constituents of people

like justine will benefit constituents of people likejustine greening. will benefit constituents of people like justine greening. what about the wider plan? even people who absolutely support the need for a third runway say there needs to be a significant increase in rail links. it has to be much better connected. do you really believe that will happen, that is there? absolutely. we are well connected today into london, getting better connected with crossrail coming in, the piccadilly line, those are committed projects. we have just piccadilly line, those are committed projects. we havejust too. the priority is to make sure we are a well—connected transport interchange. it will open at heathrow to people in wales and the west. southern rail access, a privately funded project that chris grayling initiated a couple of weeks ago, it will open at heathrow to people in the south west and south of london. people who currently struggle to get here by car, even

though they only live four five miles away will suddenly be a will to get to work or travel far more easily. so we have a good integrated plan. for those that cannot get here by public transport, that are troubling, we will have more capacity to connect the regions of the uk in scotland, northern ireland and down in the south—west, to make sure we connect all of britain to the growing markets of the. you heard about the political difficulties around all of this. what happens if it doesn't go through, ultimately?” what happens if it doesn't go through, ultimately? i am confident this will go through. we spent a long time listening to the regions of the uk, listening to politicians and understanding what they need. this was always a labour policy. ten yea rs this was always a labour policy. ten years ago it was a labour government that approved heathrow and was opposed by the conservatives. now the conservatives are fully behind it, as are people in scotland and northern ireland. there is a consensus across parties. not everybody is convinced. some people made their mind up long before the airport commission was set up. the

vast majority of mps want to see heathrow expand. they wanted to make sure we are doing the right thing for the country, and setting us up to become one of the world's a great trading nations at the very time we are leaving the european union. thanks very much forjoining us, the chief executive of heathrow airport. we will be talking to somebody opposed to heathrow expansion a bit later in the hour. that is coming up at about 5.40. i will be talking to somebody that has long been campaigning againsta somebody that has long been campaigning against a third runway. companies involved in refurbishing grenfell tower have been accused of increasing the "pain and uncertainty" of victims' families by not fully engaging with the public inquiry. meanwhile the london fire brigade has been defending its advice to residents to stay put in their flats while the fire spread — saying its firefighters were faced with terrible dilemmas given the unprecedented nature of the blaze. richard galpin has this report. the ferocious fire tore through the

tower block almost one year ago. now it has been revealed that london fire brigade received a huge number of calls from residents that were still inside, asking how they can survive the flames. in total, 72 people never made it out, many having heeded the advice of firefighters to stay inside, rather than trying to get out down the staircase. so, did firefighters waste time trying to fight the flames, rather than focusing on evacuating the rapidly burning building? that was the question posed today by lawyers representing the victims. in response, the fire brigade said it had faced terrible dilemmas and unprecedented challenges. the inquiry also heard today a description of how the many people directly affected by the fire

we re people directly affected by the fire were now feeling as the evidence is presented. the bereaved and the surviving people of grenfell tower come to this inquiry in a calm rage. the basic facts are stark. in the second decade of 2ist—century london, governed by a regulatory framework designed to ensure fire safety, a local authority instigated and oversaw the refurbishment of a social housing high—rise tower block in such a way as to render it a deathtrap. the cladding used in a renovation has already been highlighted as one of the main causes. at the inquiry today, blame is now being attributed. we also need to exercise great care in dealing with this phase of the inquiry that it does not ignore the fact that it was the

decision by kensington and chelsea local authority, the tmo and its contractor, to try to refurbish on the cheap. the companies involved in making and fixing the cladding also faced sharp criticism for not providing any explanation so far to the inquiry. the corporate silence deprives the families of the degree of resolution and understanding to which they are entitled and has only served to increase their pain and uncertainty. it is inhumane to remain silent when so many seek understanding and answers — answers which are within the corporates' gift. one of the companies said it would not be in a position to make a detailed statement until it had received all the relevant documents and had had access to the site of the fire. meanwhile, the survivors and those that lost loved ones are notjust

focusing on the inquiry. they are also focusing the criminal investigation which is running in parallel, hoping this will lead to concrete action. it's hoped that during the intensive criminal investigation which is currently taking place, that at the end of it the criminal procedure is initiated where people are convicted and are punished duly. and this is something that has been stated by the residents from the beginning. it is not enough to simply focus on any financial aspect, because no amount of money would bring back the lives of those that have gone. but this will not be a quick process. it's likely to be several years before anyone could potentially be put on trial and convicted. our correspondent, tom burridge joins me from outside the hearing in central london it seems like there has been a lot of criticism of the general refurbishment of the tour? the

companies that refurbished grenfell tower have already been criticised and accused of turning the building into a death trap and having scant regard for fire safety. today, they have been very pointedly accused of failing to engage with the inquiry. one of the barristers representing the families of those killed in the fire and the survivors said there was a corporate silence which was inhumane. that the companies had no desire to assist the inquiry, and the silence was only increasing families' pain and uncertainty and robbing them the conclusion which they deserve. why are the companies not more forthcoming on the inquiry would like? possibly because there isa would like? possibly because there is a police investigation in parallel to the public inquiry, that is ongoing and the companies will not want to incriminate themselves when they give evidence at the public inquiry and criminal terms. the companies have released opening state m e nts the companies have released opening statements today, many of them, and

some of them doing gauge with specific points. for example, ryden was the main contractor. it said the supply of combustible cladding was an industrywide problem and many other people had not pointed it out. the tenancy management organisation said it was not a specialist construction company, that is why it contracted a work—out to so many others, and that it shows —— it shows ryden because it believed it was the best quality and the best value for money. —— chose. there was also a question over the design of the building and the use of combustible materials. one of the barristers said that the cladding was like petrol on the night of the fire. we also learned today that a company brought in as fire safety co nsulta nts company brought in as fire safety consultants before the refurbishment made and assessment before the

building was refurbished. it is assessment was that the refurbishment within combustible cladding would have made little or no difference to the fire risk, the risk that the fai opposed to the building. given what we know since, and given the fact that the cladding on the night basically acted as a fuel source to spread these flames rapidly through the building, killing 70 people, that advice was clearly flawed. breaking news, and we are hearing about the death of fashion designer kate spade. she began her workaday handbag designer, also designing clothes, shoes, home accessories. we are hearing on reuters that she was

found dead in herflat in new york by her housekeeper. that is what the reuters news agency as saying. a number of american media outlets, including television, are suggesting that in fact she appears to have taken her own that in fact she appears to have ta ken her own life. that in fact she appears to have taken her own life. i should say thatis taken her own life. i should say that is coming from quite a wide number of american media reports. we don't have confirmation of that at the bbc. that is apparently what various media outlets in the united states are saying. the fashion designer, extraordinarily successful, kate spade, found dead in herflat in new york. she was successful, kate spade, found dead in her flat in new york. she was 55 yea rs in her flat in new york. she was 55 years old. that is just through from new york city in the last few moments. the hollywood film producer harvey weinstein has pleaded not guilty to charges of rape and sexual assault. the former movie mogul appeared in court in new york. he faces charges relating to alleged attacks on two women. if convicted, he could face

25 years in prison. his lawyer spoke to reporters outside the court in manhatten. mr weinstein has denied these crimes. he has maintained that he has never engaged in nonconsensual sex with anyone. he is taking this matter very seriously. he is working on helping us address these issues, and i think, under the circumstances, he is holding up reasonably well. no—one can be happy to be in the position he is in. as i said in court, rape is a terrible crime and he has denied these allegations. as terrible a crime as rape is, it is equally reprehensible to be falsely accused of rape. our correspondent, neda tawfik is in new york. what happens from here on in? well,

this is set to be a long, drawn—out process. we heard from harvey weinstein‘s lawyer that he is going to be filing several motions. he said he is going to first seek to dismiss the charges, he hopes it does not go to trial. he says if it does, he will work vigorously to clear harvey weinstein‘s name. in court, he had argued that these two separate cases happened years apart, and should be tried separately. that is, of course, going to be one of theissues is, of course, going to be one of the issues that the prosecution and defence are going to have to work with, with thejudge. another defence are going to have to work with, with the judge. another issue that a lot of people are speculating about is something we saw in bill cos by‘s about is something we saw in bill cosby‘s second trial, where additional women accusers were allowed to give evidence. now, this wasn't specifically decided in this

brief procedural hearing, but that is certainly something that will likely come up. as i say, harvey weinstein is next expected to be making an appearance in court on september 20, but this is going to bea september 20, but this is going to be a long process on the way to a possible trial. the comedian michael mcintyre has been robbed by thieves on a moped, as he waited to collect his children from a school in north london. his car windows were smashed by two men wielding a hammer — who then stole his watch and sped off. the incident was one of several robberies carried out by people on mopeds in london in the last 24 hours. this footage taken just minutes after the attack clearly shows the broken car window and comedian michael mcintyre speaking to the police. witnesses described how men riding on a moped hammered at the window and forced michael mcintyre out of the car before robbing him. a police statement said the victim was stationary in his car when two males on a moped smashed the car windows with a hammer before

stealing properties. hello! michael mcintyre, one of britain's most successful comedians, was said to be uninjured in the assault. one onlooker said he was seen comforting his very shaken children. then today, this. as the pizza delivery bike pulls out, we see a second moped travelling at speed after an attempt to rob a nearby shop. on the other side of the road, the gang were being taken on and chased by bystanders. and these weren't the only moped—related crimes of the last 48 hours. however, the head of the metropolitan police, speaking today to the commons home affairs committee, said the number of incidents overall is declining. when i came in as commissioner in april 2017, moped enabled crime had been going up like that in the previous year, and like most violent crimes the start of it was in 2014. for the last several months,

we have seen, now, 50% reduction, it's coming down and down and down. we have done that through new tactics, better intelligence, and more focus on particular spots. nevertheless it still leaves the number of moped related crimes in the thousands. and hammer wielding thieves smashing their way into a stationary car? thankfully, michael mcintyre was said to be fine. a woman in a similar assault that day is now in a critical condition. but it was clear this was a terrifying ordeal for him and his children. david sillito, bbc news. joining me now is luisa porritt, liberal democrat councillor for camden in north london. it is your borough that has more cases of this nature than any other

borough in the capital. as far as you can work out, what is going on? why this spade, why this increase? well we have seen that the spate of attacks that have happened recently have been more violent nature, attacks involving knives, there appear to be links between knife crime and crimes carried out using mopeds, typically robberies. in camden specifically, it is targeted because we have a lot of tourists, quite an affluent area. there is a bit ofan quite an affluent area. there is a bit of an over spill from islington, where gangs are coming and can easily access and move between both bowlers, but it has also spilled into boroughs across london. even though my borough is still the worst affected, the trend is downwards. in parts of south london, it is going up parts of south london, it is going up this year. therefore, what can local councils, local politicians, the police, what are the measures to

try to tackle this? one of the things we have been advocating as lib dems is to invest in more police officers across london. that will help address various types of crime, including this one. having a more visible police presence will help to deter these criminals. one of the reasons they feel they can be so brazen in their activities is that they know they can get away with it. another part of the problem is that, within the the met, there is a bit ofa within the the met, there is a bit of a risk averse culture. there are understandable reasons for that. they tend not to always choose to pursue people, because of something happens to one of those criminals, if they get injured... in the immediate aftermath, in terms of literally trying to chase them, because by definition it is criminals are operating in busy, noisy london streets, as we have seen with michael mcintyre, in broad daylight? exactly. that is in the aftermath. they need to take a call

internally as to whether to make the pursuits in the first place, because it can be dangerous. if anything happens to one of those criminals when they are riding a wave, immediately, that would trigger an internal investigation within the met and lead to the officers in question being suspended. in terms of prevention, some of the things that the met have been saying is that the met have been saying is that for people that own mopeds, scooters and motorbikes, to lock up, chain their bikes, cover them up, make it less attractive for criminals to steal mopeds in the first place, because that is giving them the means to carry out these crimes, and then also a lot of it is about public awareness. it seems thatis about public awareness. it seems that is set in now, there is a lot more awareness of that and people are indeed quite frightened. actually, that means that reporting has gone up, and that is helpful because it allows the met to paint a picture about where specific crime hotspots are. ok. i mean, there is a

lot in there that we could carry on talking about, but we must leave it there. thank you. much more coming up there. thank you. much more coming up in the next half an hour. we will talk more about heathrow airport. time for a look at the weather... here's ben rich. good evening. some places took longer than others to brighten up but most of us got there in the end with some sunshine. this is how it looks from space. the cloud tending to melt in the south. extra cloud in the south of england. some showery rain here. elsewhere, a nice enough entered the day and through this evening, long clearance bails but this next area of cloud moving into the north of england and scotland later. turning chilly, sunspots down to three or 4 degrees. a cool start tomorrow, but foremost a bright start. in the south west, a brighter

day than today. we will see some extra cloud in parts of the north of england and the far south—east of scotland. temperatures higher than today, 21 or 22 degrees. towards the end of the week and the weekend, most end of the week and the weekend, m ost pla ces end of the week and the weekend, most places dry, a few showers at time —— at times in the south. this is bbc news — the headlines. the government has approved controversial plans to build a third runway at heathrow airport. campaigners say the move will damage the environment — the transport secretary says expansion will benefit the economy. the expansion of heathrow will bring real benefits across the country, including a boost of up to £74 billion to passengers and the wider economy. providing better connections to growing world markets and increasing flights to more long—haul destinations. the grenfell inquiry has heard how the london fire brigade received more calls about survival guidance on the night of the fire —

than in the previous ten years. the fashion designer kate spade has been found dead in her new york city flat. local media say the 55 year old's death was suicide. time for the sport with hugh woozencroft. hello. good afternoon. nine days to go until the start of the world cup, but some moves are being made by the top premier league clubs before the possibility of those inflated tra nsfer fees possibility of those inflated transfer fees later this summer. the brazil boss said he wanted his players futures to be decided before the tournament begins and fred has done that. he isjoining manchester

united £452 million from shakhtar .net. united united £452 million from shakhtar . net. united are united £452 million from shakhtar .net. united are expected to com plete .net. united are expected to complete the signing of the porto teenage defender later this week. the arsenal manager will make their swiss defender his first major signing since taking over. he makes the free transfer move from juventus after seven yea rs the free transfer move from juventus after seven years in turin where he won bets here at title seven times ina won bets here at title seven times in a row. he says that he will improve the club on and off the pitch. same with the ball, doctors in america believe that loris karius suffered a concussion in the champions league final ten days ago. the liverpool goalkeeper came under extremely strong criticism for the two high profile errors during their defeat to real madrid. the liverpool medical staff did not notice anything untoward at the time but the doctor, an expert on the issue

of concussion says that is understandable. the point is, it was probably not seen by the medical tea m probably not seen by the medical team or happened so quickly they may not have spotted it. if they had examined him, they might have found nothing at that stage. the symptoms may have, or later. that is why concussion is such a terrible quandary and we have got to be careful with it and this is why i have always said that any sign or symptom, that player must come off and stay off, because the signs and symptoms can develop later and that looks as though that may have happened with this player. the other player at the centre of that storm is sergio ramos. he has had his say on the incident saying... clearly he thinks the reaction has

been exaggerated there. well, after missing much of 2017 due to pregnancy and giving birth to her daughter, serena williams has dropped out of the top 100 highest—paid sport stars in the world meaning that there are no women on the list. it was topped by floyd mayweather, the former boxer earning over £200 million, according to the forbes magazine rankings. that is thanks to his fight against conor mcgregor. there was a large financial gap between floyd mayweather and lionel messi with cristiano ronaldo following just behind. the athletes earned a total of nearly £3 billion, up by 23% from last year. the highest—paid britain on the list was lewis hamilton in 12th place. alexander zverev has been knocked out of the quarterfinals at the french open by dominikteam. he quarterfinals at the french open by dominik team. he struggled with a hamstring injury during the second set of their match. he was soundly

beaten by that number seven seed. thiem will play in his third consecutive semifinal at roland garros meeting either novak djokovic or the italian competitor. novak djokovic is trailing by two sets to one but he leads by a break in the fourth set. in the women's quarterfinals, madison keys eight her competitor from kazakhstan. she went on and won the second 6—4 and will meet sloane stephens next in a repeat of the us open final last year. that is all sports are now. thank you. regional papers across the north of england have joined forces to demand action is taken over the disruption caused by northern rail's timetable change. three of the largest newspaper groups — covering titles including the manchester evening news, yorkshire evening post and the bradford telegraph and argus — are calling for the prime minister to lead a review of railfranchising.

let's talk to lord o'neill — jim o'neill is vice chair of the northern powerhouse partnership, and also served as commercial secretary to the treasury. good evening. who is responsible for this? to be honest, i am not that interested in allocating the blame, because the problem is there are so many different participants, that is why the government, if it is wise, buying into something that i learned in over 30 years of finance, do not let a crisis go to waste and how big a fiasco can you have delivered right in front of you as this? i think for the government, they should think quickly and opportunistically and now make it clear that they are going to deliver paris to transport for the north, along the lines of what transport for london has had and has been very

successful with for so long, because as they often say in terms of the conceptual framework, they plan to have all these things in the future, including transport for the north type transport for the whole of the north. here is a chance to deliver it and stop this situation where something happens and the immediate focus is who can we shift the blame onto? if you have something like transport for the north, it would be one body that is accountable and has clear responsibility and, by the way, under the whole brief history of the northern powerhouse, they have come up with a moderate and credible state—of—the—art plan for what the north of england needs to connect itself in terms of people and freights and roads and trains. let us do it. otherwise they should stop talking about the northern powerhouse as a serious thing. that makes sense and i appreciate your talking about future strategy and

thatis talking about future strategy and that is something you are passionate about. in terms of the here and now, we are hearing daily about people who cannot get to work, what could and should the government do in the here and now so that someone watching this thing is, i know i can get to work tomorrow or the next day? how do you tackle this in the immediate future? lesson, i am not a trained expert. i have no idea, frankly. as they have indicated, it is virtually impossible for them to deliver tomorrow what they claimed and thought they were going to be able to announce and deliver one week ago, because clearly the system was not ready for the new timetable and from what i have seen, they are making a pretty clear it will be the end ofjuly at the earliest that they can get back to what they thought they were going to do and somebody obviously does need to delve into why that apparent decision was made when they were clearly not ready for it. even when they do that, it will not satisfy

they do that, it will not satisfy the underlying problems that people in the north of england face. not enough reliable, fast, affordable traffic, particularly trains connecting to all different parts of the north. given that you are talking in these broad strategy terms, iam interested talking in these broad strategy terms, i am interested to know what you make of the decision today about heathrow as well because chris grayling was adamant that this was not just about london, grayling was adamant that this was notjust about london, that grayling was adamant that this was not just about london, that this would benefit the whole country. do you think that is right?|j would benefit the whole country. do you think that is right? i am on record some yea rs you think that is right? i am on record some years ago as saying, that the east west train connections is more important than hs2 and if the government wanted to be serious about rebalancing, they would have chosen birmingham rather than heathrow or gatwick. others, including important people in the north think that heathrow was the right choice and now it looks like it has finally been decided. linked to why i'm saying this, the government should use this as a

springboard for demonstrating that it can make big and powerful transformative decisions it can make big and powerful tra nsformative decisions more quickly than the ridiculous amount of time it has taken to decide about heathrow and they have made very friendly comments about doing all sorts of things to improve the daily and weekly dilemmas facing people in the north of england, particularly around northern powerhouse rail and the role of transport for the north, use this fiasco to get on and say you're going to do it and make some big and bold steps in the budget this autumn about implementing that and giving some signs of that ahead of it. very good to talk to. thank you for your time. in the next five minutes, we will talk more about heathrow, because we will talk to someone who has been campaigning against the project. that is coming up against the project. that is coming up shortly. the conservative mp, heidi allen, has spoken of her own termination as she backed calls in the house of commons for a relaxation of the abortion

laws in northern ireland. she said current legislation amounted to telling women they couldn't ‘make their own decision' about whether to have a termination. iama i am a moderate, progressive woman in this country and i am proud that this country is my home. as a woman who believes in choice and an individual‘s right to determine their own destiny and as a woman elected to parliament in the 21st century, i stood yesterday to support the request but this debate, because she is standing up for all the women in the uk but mostly because i have been there. i am making it my business. they are sha raf making it my business. they are sharaf render result spoke volumes about how people in the south of ireland felt. they voted for change decisively. how can it be that northern ireland will soon be the only part of great britain and ireland were terminations are to all intents and purposes outlawed? i was

ill when i may be incredibly hard decision to have a termination. i was having seizures every day. i was not able to control my own body let alone care for a new life. so, mr speaker, are you seriously telling me that in the civilised world, rape, incest or a foetus who is so deformed that it could never live, are not sufficient grounds for a woman to have the power to decide for herself that she should not make that decision? no, enough. very suddenly and unexpectedly we have a window of opportunity before us. whether you feel that window has opened as a consequence of no functioning devolved administration in northern ireland or because the referendum was so close and relevant as to be impossible to ignore or simply because you feel the glaring light of equality and human rights eliminating the women of northern ireland. this has become their moment and they will have my

unequivocal support. heidi alan speaking in the commons this afternoon, conservative mp. we will talk more about our main story tonight, the cabinet approving those controversial plans for a third run day at heathrow airport. we have been talking about it a lot. at the start of the programme, we heard from the chief executive of heathrow airport. stephen clark is from the anti—heathrow expansion campaign group teddington action group and joins me now. thank you for coming in. the chief executive of heathrow said this would be an enormous economic benefit to the whole country, particularly in a post—brexit world when we need to focus on trade and how we are going to do business. has anything changed for you ? how we are going to do business. has anything changed for you? we would agree it would be in the economic interest of heathrow airport, but not in the interest of the uk

economy. the reason for that is that they are betting the high cost of heathrow which is likely to become higher, that is going to disadvantage consumers, businesses and in fact, affect the ability to rebalance the economy and one of your previous interviewees talked about at birmingham airport and it would have been more sensible to use the regional network. this does certainly, it could benefit heathrow although the scheme does not look viable and it must be doubtful as to whether this project is ever going to get built. why do you say that? everyone will have heard chris grayling being robust in the commons at lunchtime. we heard from heathrow, lots of people say that heathrow, lots of people say that heathrow in particular operates at capacity already, there is no other european airport operating at 98% capacity which means as soon as there is a problem, we know the chaos that it causes. if we are going to keep up with other european countries, the argument goes, this is why you need a third runway.

heathrow is in the wrong place, it is in the wrong place for the country and from london. it will blight the lives of up to 1 million londoners. 2 million more will be blighted by noise. but they are trying to do is embed an airport the size of gatwick and to put it into effectively the most densely populated area of the country. which is supposed to get to capacity within two years. working on the basis of hypothetically quieter planes, there are still projecting a vast number of people will be impacted, not shown clearly in the mps, but in the information request, and will be 400,000 people who are already significantly impacted by noise and with double the number of flights within two years. the environmental concerns are enormous as well. we talk about them a lot.

on that point, i asked the chief executive about air pollution and he said he was 100% confident that air pollution targets would all be met, that they would not be an issue and when it came to noise, he did talk about a lot of projects and schemes that would be put in place to minimise noise disruption including soundproofing homes and schools and all those issues and he said it would be restrictions on night flights. very strict timings. do you not have confidence? the night flight not have confidence? the night flight ban is six and a half hours. the world health organisation recommends eight hours and the select committee says it should be a minimum of seven hours. for people under departure like as in teddington, it is going to be less quiet at night. we will get six and a half hours and present are supposed to get between 10:50pm and six o'clock in the morning. there

are are a lot of myths about heathrow and how it is going to help the economy, when on detailed examination, i went to the transport select committee and looked at noise but the more you look at it, what they project is that by 2050, there will be 12 more additional local flights and one additional flight to an emerging market. ten new routes have been established through regional airports in the last two yea rs. regional airports in the last two years. quite where all these projections and the benefit that the economy comes from, it is difficult to comprehend. it will be bad for the regional economy, sucking jobs away from the rest of the economy and sucking it into the south—east which is polluted and congested and overheated in terms of the economy. there was a long way to go and i think we will be talking again about this. thank you. stephen clark. the cost of petrol rose last

month at the fastest rate in 18 years. figures from the rac show that rising global oil prices helped put up fuel costs by nearly 6 pence a litre in may. the organisation says a combination of higher crude prices, and the weaker pound, is to blame for the increases. jon kay reports. going up. again. in the last month, petrol and diesel have both increased by an average 6p a litre. that is the biggest monthly jump in nearly 20 years. and here in rural somerset where many people rely on their cars, they are feeling it. i drive about 35 miles a day to get to work four times a week. and i work in dorchester. so over the course of a year, it is about £1000 a year for me on petrol. i have got a disabled mother who i have to take places as well and itjust goes. you skimp on everything else, you skimp on the luxuries, you don't go out as much, because you have to get to work, it is your priority, isn't it?

it is disgusting, how high the fuel prices are. why have they gone up again this time? the cause of this has been as a result of a double whammy, effectively. we have seen the cost of a barrel of oil go up by about $80 in may. what we have also seen is the weakening of the pound. now, that double whammy, as oil is traded in dollars, means that the wholesale costs have increased, which translates to higher prices at the pumps for drivers. in may, diesel increased by an average of 6p to £1.32 a litre. petrol also went up by 6p, it is now £1.29 litre. it means the average tank of fuel has gone up by £3.29 in one month. experts say there are signs that the oil price has cooled a little in recent days, which means prices might have peaked for now, but economists and politicians will be watching closely. the west's relationship

with russia has rarely been more precarious. britain is embroiled in the row about the poisoning of sergei skripal and his daughter — and in washington, president trump's administration is dogged by accusations of russian involvement in his election. earlier today, mr trump took to twitter to describe the inquiry into collusion as a "russian witchhunt hoax.". joining me to discuss some of this is michael mcfaul, who was us ambassador to russia during the obama adminstration, from 2012 to 2014. he's now professor of political science at stanford university, and has written a book — from cold war to hot peace. good to see you. thank you for

coming in. he spent a considerable amount of time living and working in russia and i am fascinated how you watch the relations and watch the news coming out of their since the time you left and we have had our own issues here in the uk which i have mentioned and with president trump. how do you view it, as you stand back and watch this unfolds?” think us and russian relations are worse today than at any time in the last 30 years. you need to go deep into the cold war to remember any time of such confrontation and the russian relationship with the west, including the uk, sergei skripal was one of the people who i help to get out ofjail in 2010 when i worked in the white house. it was at a time when we were more corporative and we did not want a confrontation, we wa nted did not want a confrontation, we wanted to be doing things that were good for russia and the united states, we a re good for russia and the united states, we are obviously not there today. do you have any doubts that

he and his daughter were poisoned on the orders of was that vladimir putin or someone around him, why does that happen? i don't know for sure, iamjust does that happen? i don't know for sure, i am just observing this. before, i had other sources of information and now i do not. i believe your prime minister and what she said and there has to be a recourse as a result of what happened. whether vladimir putin directly ordered it or not, that is a question i would like to know the a nswer a question i would like to know the answer to. i know in other cases it is not so clear—cut. there are people around him who do things on his behalf to give him deniability, not unlike what happened in our elections in 2016. other agents are working on his behalf that did certain things to interfere in our elections. he could say that they are private actors, but is it part ofa are private actors, but is it part of a kremlin strategy to project force ? of a kremlin strategy to project force? the answer to that is yes.

you would have met him. is it possible to say how he struck due, what you thought of his modus operandi in the period that you were ambassador? i first met a long time ago, in the spring of 1991. he made no impression whatsoever. had you asked me back then who would be the next president of russia, he would not make my top 100 list at all. over time, i have got to know him, i worked with him and was around him as ambassador when he met with my bosses, including president obama andi bosses, including president obama and i think over time he has become more suspicious of the west. he thinks the united states are out to get him and he thinks that i was sent to russia to ferment revolution against him and i want to state, thatis against him and i want to state, that is categorically not true. president obama semi to extend the

policy of cooperation we had. over time, he listens to fewer and fewer people, he is isolated out where he lives and does not believe he has any equals and he sees us in an antagonistic relationship with russia, a competitive relationship ona russia, a competitive relationship on a good day, an enemy relationship on a good day, an enemy relationship ona on a good day, an enemy relationship on a bad day. do you feel there is any way back from matt will things improve while he is still in power or do we have to wait until there is a different man in power? tragically, i do not think there will be fundamental change. we can cooperate with vladimir putin on a narrow interest that are win win for us and for the uk and russia, but there will be some movement of russia towards the west, as long as president putin is empowered, my a nswer to president putin is empowered, my answer to that is no. does belligerent language on twitter make

that harder in terms of specific needs the us and russian relationship? what would you advise now? president trump i think has fundamentally misplayed his messaging regarding the russian intervention in the 2016 election. the evidence is overwhelming, there is no doubt that vladimir putin intervened to try and help trump and heard clinton and he should have said that. he does not say it because he is worried that if he does, people will question whether he is legitimate president and therefore he says things like did today that are untrue. it is not a witch hunt, it is an investigation to try and denounce american sovereignty. we should have the right to choose our president, without external powers being involved in that and i wish that president trump would think about it in national security terms, rather than republican or democratic terms. people listening to you will pick up

ona people listening to you will pick up on a degree of pessimism about the immediate future, is there anything that an ambassador in that position today can do? other small advances that can be made? on the big hard issues, there is not a lot of traction. maybe north korea, maybe on counter terrorism we can cooperate but on big fundamental issues, vladimir putin has his view and he will not change and a big breakthrough will happen after his era is over. in the margins, yes, our ambassador there is doing a greatjob. he should engage with russian society and try and push back on the disinformation that comes through radio and television every day in russia to say this is not true. we are not trying to do that and i think over time, incrementally, back and have a positive effect. really good to talk to, we could have chatted for a whole hour. i will come back again!

thank you. time for a look at the weather... here's ben rich. thank you. biggs did not turn out badly today. some places took longer than others to brighten up but most of us got there eventually. the satellite picture tells the story. you can see the way the cloud that was extensive tended to burn back to the south, some southern areas have held onto cloudy conditions but foremost, we have seen sunshine. tonight, clear spells will be overhead in most places allowing it to turn cool, some places down to three or 4 degrees but then we have ploughed rolling from the north sea as the night wears on. some spots starting on wednesday morning, it should warm up quickly because there will be a lot of sunshine in the first part of the day. this cloud rolling onto north seacoast continuing to bring the odd spot of

drizzle, some of that extra ploughed into south—east scotland. temperatures generally up to 19 or 20 degrees. it looks try as we head towards the wigan but there is the potential for some showers, particularly down towards the south —— towards the weekend. a third runway at london's heathrow airport — the government finally gives the go—ahead, saying it will help the uk thrive after brexit. after almost two decades of delays, the transport secretary said the controversial £14 billion runway would be in the national interest. it's going to be a battle going forward, there is still strong opposition to this. there's still some difficult stages to overcome. but we are absolutely determined to deliver this project, which we think is crucial to all of our future's. mps will now vote on plans next month, we'll be asking how likely it is that the expansion will finally happen. also on the programme tonight: companies involved in refurbishing grenfell tower are accused of increasing the "pain and uncertainty" of victims' families at the public inquiry. it is inhumane to remain silent,

when so many seek understanding and answers. joining forces, newspapers across the north of england call