this is bbc news, i'm rebecca jones. the headlines at aid the. company bosses could face up to seven years in jail for mismanaging staff pension schemes under government plans. when it comes to pensions, the penalties need to be as stiff as possible, because this is people's lives. theresa may will ask mps for more time to rework her brexit plan — and offer parliament another vote, but labour accuses the prime minister of running down the clock. there have been some early wins for "the favourite" at the baftas — actress rachel weisz told us what it meant to be nominated. very exciting to be part of the story, to work with the goddesses that are olivia colman and emma stone. it was a true ensemble, each one of us relied on the other two so it is lovely all three of us have been recognised here tonight. also this hour — monkeying around at belfast zoo... visitors were surprised to find

a chimpanzee wandering outside its enclosure after it managed to make a ladder out of branches to escape its pen. and in rugby — england romp to victory against france in the six nations match at twickenham. company bosses could face prison sentences of up to seven years amid new government plans to tackle mismanagement of employee pension schemes. ministers say the original plans of a maximum two year prison sentence have been toughened up after a public consultation — but some say meeting the standard of proof required in the criminal law could be problematic. our business correspondent rob young reports. when the construction giant carillion collapsed last year,

its pension pot had a black hole of hundreds of millions of pounds, as did the bhs pension fund when the high—street retailer went into administration in 2016. bankrupt kodak's uk scheme had an even bigger deficit when it was overtaken by technology. pension schemes end up in trouble for many reasons. the government's proposing a new law to try to make sure that bosses‘ poor behaviour isn't one of them. the work and pensions secretary, amber rudd, says she will make wilful or reckless behaviour relating to a pension scheme a criminal offence, with jail terms of up to seven years and unlimited fines. in recent years, there have been calls for tougher powers. how can you actually demonstrate that a director did wilfully and knowingly short—change the pension scheme? but that is not an insurmountable obstacle, and it's certainly not a reason why we should say, "well,

let's not bother having such strong penalties." company bosses hardly ever go to prison, it seems. will this law change that? well, i certainly think, when it comes to pensions, the penalties need to be as stiff as possible, because this is people's lives. the government's original plan was for the maximum sentence to be two years. the public clearly didn't think that was tough enough. after a consultation, ministers here at the department of work and pensions have decided to increase the maximum term to seven years. the pensions regulator says a package of new measures would allow it to police the industry more effectively, but this former pensions minister isn't convinced by the proposed new law. what we really need is not locking people up years after the event, but stopping people losing their pensions in the first place. that means cracking down on companies when they're not putting enough money in while they're still running, not trying to clear up the mess

when it's already happened — this is too little, too late. more than a0 million people are members of occupational pension schemes. most savers needn't worry about their bosses. the industry regulator says the vast majority of companies and pension trustees do the right thing by their members. rob young, bbc news. tom mcphail is the head of retirement policy at hargreaves la nsdown, and speaking a little earliier he gave us his thoughts on the proposed changes. they had to act on this. we have had a small number of very high profile cases where clearly things haven't gone wrong. there was a lot of good regulation in place, both in terms of the pension schemes and in terms of the pension schemes and in terms of the pension schemes and in terms of the auditing of companies but we have had these isolated companies such as bhs and carillion where things have gone wrong and it has been clear that further measures are needed to control the navy of company directors. i think it unlikely we will ever see significant numbers of prosecutions

under the legislation. that is not entirely the point. the point is it will modify directors's behaviour and control where they put the money, when they are making tough decisions about paying bonuses, dividends and putting more money into pension schemes and i think in that respect it will probably prove quite effective. i want to pick up on the idea of bonuses and dividends ina minute, on the idea of bonuses and dividends in a minute, butjust to get back your point about how lucky we are to seek —— how likely we are to see people actually go to jail about this, how do you prove that someone is recklessly failed to put money into a pension after the event? it must be pretty difficult, mustn't it? yes, i think it will be difficult, and the work that the pensions regulator already does, in terms of deficit reduction programmes, agreeing with companies over the time period over which they are going to reduce the deficit on pension schemes, there is already a pretty good regulation in place there will stop the pensions

regulator has been getting tougher over the last couple of years, bhs had this famous case where it was 23 yea rs had this famous case where it was 23 years was the plan to close the deficit on its pension scheme, clearly a meaningless timespan for this kind of thing. bringing those time periods down is already in train. all of that israeli could work. going beyond that and screwing the employers down even further i think is tough. you've always got to keepin think is tough. you've always got to keep in mind the importance of keeping the business afloat. if you tie it down too hard and the company goes bust, everybody loses, so you a lwa ys goes bust, everybody loses, so you always have to strike a balance with these things. to pick up on that, this idea of striking balance perhaps by companies cutting dividends or bonuses if there was a risk of pension contributions being made, that not so be counter—productive in that it perhaps sends a signal that a company is in trouble, and that might deterfuture company is in trouble, and that might deter future potential investors ? might deter future potential investors? yes, certainly, that will bea investors? yes, certainly, that will be a consideration, and i think we are seeing a bit of a shift in the

balance of power between the shareholders, the capital and the workers, the employees and their retirement rights. i think the government is sending a bit of a signal here that the shareholders aren't going to have it all their own way, and you are right, one of the possible knock—on consequences of that is it will be slightly tougherfor some of that is it will be slightly tougher for some companies in of that is it will be slightly tougherfor some companies in their capital rating. but i think we come back at this point that if a business is sitting on a big deficit on its pension scheme, it will have to think twice about how it pays its bonuses, pays out dividends to shareholders. that could have a knock—on effect on the share price. but we need to protect the workers‘s pensions, we cannot have situations like bhs, like a really and again in the future. the baftas are taking place in london and the award for best supporting actress has just been announced and it has gone to rachel weisz for her role as the duchess of marlborough in the favourite. she

beat her fellow co—star, emma stone for that from of course starring olivia colman. here the two of them are in one of the scenes from the film. olivia colman of course waiting to find out whether she has won the award for best actress, but her co—star rachel weisz winning best supporting actress. as i say, she beat emma stone, amy adams, who had been nominated for vice. clare foye had been nominated for first carr man and margot robbie for mary queen of scots. the favourite doing pretty well at the baftas already, it is already won outstanding british run, best make—up and hair and best production design. rachel weisz taking home the best british actress award. the government says it will give mps another chance to vote on brexit at the end of the month, even if the prime minister has not been able to negotiate a deal by then. but ministers have admitted that that this might not be a so—called "meaningful vote",

one to approve or reject any deal reached with the eu. our political correspondent iain watson has more. fewer than 50 days to brexit — this week, theresa may's government will renew its efforts to renegotiate a deal with brussels. today, one cabinet member admitted that a revised deal may not be in place by the end of the month. i think it's important to stress that the government will commit that if the meaningful vote, in other words the deal coming back, has not happened by the 27th of february, then we would allow a further motion, votable in parliament, to take place, to give that sense of assurance as to the process moving forward. so just to translate from his parliamentary language, if theresa may's new vision isn't agreed with brussels by the end of the month, mps will be given another chance to vote on their own ideas. the prime minister's promise of more brexit votes is significant. some of her own ministers are now so worried about the prospect

of no—deal that they have been considering resigning and rebelling to try to force her to delay our departure from the eu. with more votes in parliament this week in brexit, the prime minister is under pressure, so her message to them is quite clear — don't do anything hasty, give me until the end of the month before deciding whether to take matters into your own hands. but labour and some conservative mps say this is simply kicking the brexit can further down the road, and the opposition is warning the prime minister, if she can't reach an agreement with them, she might still face the possibility of another referendum. if she's prepared to come and meet us on our genuine worry that the current proposals will affectjobs, particularly in the manufacturing heartlands, where i am right now, then we'll talk to her, but of course if she doesn't go that way, if she chooses to go with her hard right people who want to crash out, then we've still got the people's vote option. less than seven weeks to go until we're due

to leave the european union, and agreement with brussels and at westminster is still proving elusive. iain watson, bbc news. speaking to iain a little earlier i asked him what mp‘s wanted to see from the prime minsiter in the coming days. first of all, a sign of activity that she is actually tried to get the deal over the line. we have heard it may not even be ready, this revised deal by the end of the month, in which case mps get an opportunity to put forward their own ideas. between now and then there will be a hive of activity. the brexit secretary stephen barclay is meeting the chief negotiator of the eu michel barnier tomorrow, and a p pa re ntly eu michel barnier tomorrow, and apparently will discuss three different options for dealing with the irish backstop, this way of avoiding a hard border in ireland, but gibson is too close to the euros for some people's liking. he will discuss some of the ideas that have been worked out, one is of course a

time limit, another is that british being allowed to exit unilaterally from this agreement, and the third alternative arrangements. these are the kind of things that have to be fleshed out what is effectively using the time available to extend the transition period to leaving the eu and trying to work up a trade deal. all of that is on the agenda but don't forget that eu negotiators before have said the backstop has to before have said the backstop has to be an all—weather backstop, it can't be an all—weather backstop, it can't be time—limited a unilateral exit. the brexit secretary has as work cut out. on a different front whole range of other ministers will see their counterparts in europe perhaps try digital way at any potential resista nce try digital way at any potential resistance or find another way through. jeremy hunt sees his opposite number in france, poland, the justice secretary opposite number in france, poland, thejustice secretary david gauke will be there as well, and in addition to that domestic clue there will also be work on an employment bill getting under way to try to persuade labour mps that there is something in it for them. so a hive of activity, as you say. a lot of this, though, will depend on the

response ministers get from their european counterparts. what is the mood music there? it has been positive the sense they're willing to have more talks, the negotiations, another meeting between the prime minister and the commission president, jean—claude juncker, at the end of the month. they think that is why they are effectively writing this unofficial deadline of 27th of the british comeback with something potentially meaningful by then. but on each of the key issues, trying to get movement on the backstop, time limit the backstop, time and again they said they are unwilling to basically reopen the huge 585 page withdrawal agreement. what they are offering is reassurance, and that reassurance is not enough reassurance for many of her critics here at westminster. and we'll find out how this story, and many others, are covered in tomorrow's front pages ff at 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers. our guests joining me tonight are the author and journalist, yasmin alibhai—brown and the broadcaster, lynn faulds wood. mike ashley's sports direct

has pulled its bid for patisserie valerie, just two days after submitting it. sports direct‘s offer on friday came a week after the deadline for bids. the beleaguered cafe chain collapsed in january after concerns about its accounts. up to 900 jobs were lost when 70 outlets were closed. the remaining 121 cafes continue to trade in the hope of finding a buyer. the administrator, kpmg, is still examining a number of offers for patisserie valerie. a fundraising appeal to find the pilot of the plane which crashed into the channel with footballer emiliano sala on board has raised more than £100,000. david ibbotson's family are hoping to collect three times that amount in order to find his body. the sum raised so far includes a £27,000 donation from the french footballer, kylian mbappe. the headlines on bbc news.

company bosses could face up to seven years in jail for mismanaging staff pension schemes under government plans. theresa may will ask mps for more time to rework her brexit plan — and offer parliament another vote — but labour accuses the prime minister of running down the clock. there have been some early wins for "the favourite" at the baftas — in the past few minutes rachel weisz has won best supporting actress. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's holly hamilton. hello. we will start with the rugby. it was billed as the crunch. instead it was more of a demolition, england thrashed france 114—8 at twickenham with five tries, including a hat—trick from jonny may. more from our correspondence joe hat—trick from jonny may. more from our correspondencejoe wilson. hat—trick from jonny may. more from

our correspondence joe wilson. we are going to win! they had not come to london to watch another performance of les miserable ‘s. we're100% confident. performance of les miserable ‘s. we're 100% confident. 20096. performance of les miserable ‘s. we're 10096 confident. 20096. but when you follow the french rugby team these days you must travel with something other than confidence. it hopes to have a sense of humour. i mean, imagine watching your team being run ragged in the first minute of the match when england's elliot daly kicked the ball forward, only one man was into touch down. this is the february ofjonny may. here comes as next finish. this time a pass floated to may's wing. he may be right in front of you but tried to stop him. another try. next it was england's other winged chris ashton who kicked the ball through. may day, the french may have screamed. in vain. hat—trick. england after slade scored already

had 30 points. already. as taken away to the second half, remember england had already expected that the longer this game went on, the more chances to score they would get. there were two more england fries, just two. the latest edition of kick and chase ended with owen farrell providing the finishing touch there. the referee asked for replays of this, by the way, but he was happy, it stood. england defensively? this might sum it up, mathieu bastareaud, nearly 19 stone, in reverse. and when overwhelmed their opponents from first to last handshake. and england's women also top of their six nations table and on course for the grand slam, after beating france 41—26 in a match billed as a tournament decider as well. england ran in seven tries

overall in the bonus point win. both teams had won their opening fixtures, as well. to football now. if you thought there was a demolition at twickenham today, turn your attention to the etihad, where chelsea suffered their heaviest defeat in nearly 30 years. they were beaten 6—0 by manchester city to put pep guardiola's side back to the top. with both liverpool and spurs winning, city would be hoping those are sergio aguero's shooting boots. they didn't have to wait long for the lead, three minutes in fact. bernardo silva found space, raheem sterling did the rest, his 15th club goal of the campaign. soon after, it was established that it wherever had indeed found the correct footwear. evenif indeed found the correct footwear. even if you give him a shot from 30 yards, there's every chance this can happen. a premier league screamer which had chelsea fans screaming at their televisions. this mistake let their televisions. this mistake let the argentine in for another, the

away side 3—0 down afterjust 19 minutes. then the one added a fourth against the side who let's not forget won the title four years ago, before the man of the moment had the chance to complete back—to—back premier league hat—tricks. raheem sterling started it all. fitting, then, he was the one to finish it. chelsea's heaviest premier league defeat. city on the ball, back on top of the table. meanwhile, totte n ha m top of the table. meanwhile, tottenham kept the pressure on the top two as well with a 3—1win at home to leicester. something young men wrapped up the goal with stoppage time at wembley. —— sounds reigning champions chelsea came from 2-0 reigning champions chelsea came from 2—0 down to draw with wsl2 leaders manchester said. young's deflected free kick with minutes of the match was enough to claim the point. celtic are through to the quarterfinals of the scottish cup after an emphatic 5—0 win over st

johnstone at celtic park. scott sinclair got the scoring under way after just two sinclair got the scoring under way afterjust two minutes, latching onto oliver burke's ross. then it was just six minutes later that scott brown score the day live —— goal of the day with his long—range effort. james forrest added number three just after the break before single air added his second and third of the day to finish the scoring, and aberdeen and hearts are also through. cricket, and england appeared in early control of the third and final test against the west indies, ex to a stunning bowling performance from both moeen ali and mark wood. england collapsed with the bat 277 all out, but moeen ali took two wickets in two balls to start england's fightback and then it was woods who followed his team—mate's example, also taking two wickets in successive deliveries to leave the west indies on 59—4. three more wickets have fallen, two for

woods di would click macro more in the next hour. "the favourite" has won the prize for outstanding british film at the baftas, with rachel weisz picking up a best supporting actress gong for her role in the movie. olivia colman is widely tipped to win the leading actress category for her role as queen anne in the film. ‘roma', ‘bohemian rhapsody‘, the musical remake ‘a star is born', and the space drama ‘first man' are all nominated in seven categories. as the actors and actresses arrived earlier this evening some of them gave their reaction to being nominated, including rachel weisz who was up against her co—star emma stone for best supporting actress — and, as we've just heard, has won that award. very exciting to be part of this story, to work with the goddesses that are olivia colman and ms dhoni. it was a kind of true ensemble, age

one of us relied on the other two, so it is lovely that all three of us have been recognised tonight. and there is not here because she is filming but she sent regards, she is an honorary brit at this stage, her accent is better than mine. there is an extra sense of responsibility in playing someone who really lived, and the attention to detail and just the awareness of being respectful of the awareness of being respectful of the legacy of that person. so absolutely, but at the end of the day also myjob was always the same in trying that i have to try to go as deep as possible into these characters and sort of excavator whatever i can, all the truth that i can and try to metabolise those and embody them. so in a certain way my job is the same, that i have two hold myself to that standard. job is the same, that i have two hold myself to that standardlj think that is the story that damian wanted to tell, the kind of kitchen—sink drama and going to the

moon, and janet was so crucial to both sides of that i think. the wives were both sides of that i think. the wives we re never both sides of that i think. the wives were never really taken into consideration, their story was never read it all before. she has a really quiet grace but strength and honesty as well, doesn't she? won she does, as well, doesn't she? won she does, as so many people do, and i think it is that kind of ordinary story about this woman who on the outside seemed to be living a relatively ordinary life within this kind of extraordinary circumstance that i find really and trusting.|j extraordinary circumstance that i find really and trusting. i have been doing this almost four decades andi been doing this almost four decades and i have never been nominated or awarded anything before, so to suddenly have golden grove, screen actors guild, baftas and oscar nominations, it is so extraordinarily unreal, i can't quite believe it has happened. so i am enjoying the ride as long as it lasts, i had a bit like cinderella in the last coach, i know that come 25th of favourite, midnight, i will turn back into a pumpkin. richard e grant still waiting to find out if he has won the bafta for best

supporting actor. meanwhile, a star is born has won the first bafta of the night for musical performance. and we'll have a special programme, live from tonight's bafta ceremony with news of which films have won awards and which dresses have made the headlines. that's tonight at half past nine on the bbc news channel. the scientist who discovered the link between eating too much processed meat and bowel cancer has accused the government of not doing enough to encourage people to cut their consumption. the department of health says it's committed to ensuring that all food products are as safe as possible. ben ando reports. the cancer risks in eating too much processed meat, like bacon and ham, were first exposed four years ago, but since then, says the man who discovered the link, nothing has been done to warn people or reduce consumption. four years ago, when i was in the who committee, deciding this was carcinogenic, we were not sure there were alternatives. now firms in france and the uk are making good bacon, good ham, without any nitrate.

without any nitrite. this is safe and we know it can be done. so the government should really work with the industry, the meat industry. so what and how much is safe? processed meats include sausages, bacon, ham, corned beef, and deli meats. nhs guidance says to eat no more than 70g a day — that's the equivalent of about two sausages or three thin slices of ham. cancer campaigners say there are other much more risky factors. we know the link between processed meat and cancer is not well—known, especially compared to the link with smoking, but it is putting it into context — that smoking is inherently much more risky when it comes to cancer. but with ham a staple of many school lunch boxes, professor corpet says parents in particular need to think about how much processed meat their children are eating. ben ando, bbc news.

chinese new year is being celebrated around the world. it's the start of the year of the pig, which highlights the last of the 12 chinese zodiac characters. the pig is said to bring wealth, fortune, and fun. yunus mulla joined the celebrations in liverpool. the liverpool chinese community is the oldest in the country, so there was no excuse for staying at home. it's so great to see everyone come out for this and just immerse in the culture. i like the outfits, the food, and the decorations in the music. ijust love everything about it really. it's lovely everyone getting together enjoying themselves and just brings the community together, doesn't it? to mark the arrival of the year of the patent,

there were traditional gifts. to say thank you for the lions coming to ward off this evil spirits, so hopefully good luck for the next year. three festivities included today dragon and lion dancers. the lion dance teams train most of the year, but for the dragon, we do six weeks we do all shows in the northwest. it's 20 years since this famous chinese arch outside of mainland china was gifted to the city by shanghai. it makes this year celebrations extra special. the city by shanghai. that advantage today is with all about culture activities and health care, sports music we'll have more investment come to the city, my business, more jobs. more business, morejobs. the chinese year of the pig is said to be one of the more sociable years. thousands of people who turned out today, they will agree. a family from county down,

who witnessed chimpanzees escape from their enclosure at belfast zoo, have described it as an incredible experience. footage posted on social media shows several of the chimps sitting on top of a wall, while another walks down a path close to members of the public. the incident, which happened yesterday, has led to questions over safety at the zoo. managers insist it was a highly unusual event, and say that additional security checks are being carried out. catherine morrison reports. this is the moment a group of chimpanzees at the belfast zoo makes its bid forfreedom. using a branch as a makeshift ladder, to get to the top of the wall. mum, it's escaping! one escapes the pen altogether, right in front of a family from hollywood, in county down, who were filming the whole thing. i couldn't actually believe it,

when it started climbing up the wall, we thought it wasjust messing. but then all of a sudden there's four of them sitting on the wall, and then, now that i'm thinking about it the wall needs to be higher. there needs to be more security, because we were actually talking about it last night. if that had been a tiger or a lion, you know, it could been a whole different story. danielle was at the zoo with her two children, including grace, whose voice can be heard in the video, and her partner. two fell. it happened right in front of us, even though we seen them climbing out we sort of stayed there, started recording it. because we didn't see any aggression or nothing from the chimpanzees at all, so we felt pretty safe. eight—year—old grace will have a story to tell in school tomorrow. i never saw a chimpanzee escape from the zoo before, and i wasjust like thinking how i didn't know what to do. but how did the chimpanzees get hold of the branches? the zoo has blamed recent stormy weather for weakening trees inside the enclosure. it's the second escape attempt by animals at the zoo in as many months. injanuary, a red panda called amber went missing overnight,

before being discovered in a nearby garden. these are serious incidents, we need to remember that they are wild animals. and this is not their natural habitat, so we need to be looking at how we can keep everyone safe. no one from the zoo was available for an interview today, and in a statement, a spokesperson said it was a highly unusual event, and that additional checks were being carried out at other enclosures, to ensure the health and safety of animals and visitors. catherine morrison, bbc news line, belfast. best supporting actor has been announced at the buffers and it is gone to