today at 5pm, the uk economy grew last year at its slowest rate for 6 years. official figures show it grew by 1.4% last year and there's more bad news forecast. but the chancellor remains upbeat. the important thing is that the economy is coming ahead of the opr forecast for 2018 and that is in the midst of increasing trade tensions around the world. will have the latest detail in reaction for you. the other main stories on bbc news at 5pm... as theresa may and jeremy corbyn exchange views on brexit, sernior conservatives say labour's plans for a customs union with the eu aren't workable. decision time on whether it's safe for horse—racing to resume in the uk after four more cases of equine flu were identified at the weekend. scientists warn that human activity is endangering all of the world's insects, with catastrophic consequences for the planet. it's 5pm, our main story is that uk

economy grew last year at its slowest rate for six years, according to the latest officialfigures. the office for national statistics says growth in 2018 was 1.4%, down from 1.8% the previous year, and the lowest since 2012. the manufacture of cars and steel products fell sharply, along with construction. the chancellor philip hammond said the slower growth was likely to continue this year because of the uncertainty over brexit and a weaker global economy. 0ur economics correspondent andy verity explains. this telford manufacturer takes metal parts for everything from gateposts to lorries

to streetlights and coats them in zinc. in 2018, as for many british companies, business was slower than it would have liked. 0rders started dropping in the spring and for the rest of the year, that got worse. as it became obvious the economy was slowing down, the pound dropped in value, meaning it needed more pounds to buy raw materials in dollars or euros. cost pressures for us in 2018 were mostly due to rising zinc costs. zinc is our largest raw material used within a factory and it used to coat all of our components. as a double whammy for our customers, with rising steel prices, this proved very difficult for us in 2018. we also experienced a high turnover of staff which has had a negative impact on our efficiency. manufacturing has often struggled when other sectors have done well. for most of the year, the services part of the economy, everything from warehousing to shops to haircuts was keeping the economy going. the important thing is the economy is coming ahead of the 0br's forecast for 2018. that's in the context of a weakening

world economy and increasing concerns about trade tensions around the world. so, a robust performance for the uk economy in 2018 which is all the more remarkable given the uncertainty around the brexit process. while the economy was still growing at the end of 2018, even the services part of it wasn't growing by much. this chart shows how much slower the economy is growing by now compared to the past. in the last three months of 2018, it was up byjust 0.2%, slower growth than most economists expected. these official figures show that the economy shrank in december by 0.4% and it was down in construction, in production and in the crucial services sector that makes up most of the economy. they have to treat these numbers with a degree of caution, but according to these official estimates, that's the first time that's happened since 2012. the figures have led some economists to fear that as the rest of the world economy is slowing

down, in the uk it's hitting the brakes harder and the bank of england has said brexit‘s related uncertainty is likely to be one reason that's happening. the bank of england made a big point about uncertainty really affecting business sentiment and consumer confidence. so, the longer that uncertainty lasts, the potential, the greater the potential for damaging investment and consumer spending. what households can buy with their money has been growing recently but that's only sustainable if the economy grows, too. before the financial crash, the average economic growth was more than twice what these figures show. and andy is with me now. can we deal with the brexit point first, the issue around uncertainty with brexit could be one of the factors, will you say about that and is it principally that or not? the

statistics do not show you exactly what is causing bletsoe to some extent you' re what is causing bletsoe to some extent you're making an economic assessment which has an element of subjectivity about it. brexit supporters would quarrel with philip hammond saying is clearly brexit related uncertainty taking its toll and they would say it is more down to the global economy which is going down and the bank has been warning that the global slowdown will have he knocked on the fact to the uk. and if you expect brexit uncertainty to do, making businesses nervous about investing large sums and machinery to make their businesses more productive and that is happening, business investment is down by 3.7% and west growth or shrinkage since 2010 and similarly trade is not doing well, the gap between what we export and import is growing so it is not the only negative factor growth suggesting they had the buffers at the end of

2018. if it is a big slowdown how will we see the impact on households? the prospect of a slowdown or recession which some economists will fear is not necessarily the prospect of shrinking incomes, what happened in 2009 with interest rates were cut to the bone and they actually saved hundreds of pounds and were better off in the recession but worse off in the recovery so it can be the really reverse of what you expect, a squeeze on living standards and that has gone on when we had economic growth and economic growth is adding people to the economy and did not necessarily mean that each of those people were getting better off. it is not what you expect. thank you very much. 6:05pm is the time. the prime minister and the labour leaderjeremy corbyn look set to hold further talks over brexit. but theresa may rejected one ofjeremy corbyn‘s five demands for backing a brexit deal, keeping the uk in a permanent customs union.

mrs may is trying to find a way out of the political stalemate over brexit with the uk's set departure date of march 29th just over 6 weeks away. she's due to make a statment to mps tomorrow. 0ur political correspondent nick eardley has the latest. the painstaking process of trying to deliver brexit continues, searching for a compromise and brussels, trying to build support at home. has the p.m. trying to build support at home. has the pm. that your demands? trying to build support at home. has the p.m. that your demands? jeremy corbyn has little to agree with the government on. the prime minister wa nts to government on. the prime minister wants to talk and her letter to jeremy corbyn, theresa may says she wa nts to jeremy corbyn, theresa may says she wants to discuss changes to the brexit deal to avoid a hard border and ireland and pledges not to sacrifice workers' rights and environmental protection hands funding for the left buying communities but a significant sticking point remains, whether to

joina sticking point remains, whether to join a customs union. number ten says it can agree but ministers are dismissive of labour's ids. it is dismissive of labour's ids. it is dismissive that non—eu members do not have a say in eu trade policy and to pretend you can do so is a dangerous delusion. much of what jeremy corbyn has put forward has a tinge of realism about and in the prime minister's letter will flush them out on some of those issues and a sense. raber says there is a basis for discussion. it looks like there could be some progress but also, she has to guaranteeing a permanent customs union and it is not prepared she —— it is not clear she is prepared to go down that lying. there are still real differences, not least on that idea ofjoining a customs union. jeremy corbyn is not about to sign on the dotted line and

backed the pm's plan but theresa may needs as many votes as she can get and this might provide some cover for it labour mps to get on—site. and this might provide some cover for it labour mps to get on-site. we estimate there is somewhere between 40 estimate there is somewhere between a0 and 60 that are looking for ways to support this at the moment and obviously if the labour party where then to go for that, she would have then to go for that, she would have the majority she needs. the compromise continues but remember there is not long left. let's speak to our europe correspondent damian grammaticas, who's in brussels. six weeks to go and what is the perspective there than the debate around the potential customs union which might or might not be an area of compromise in westminster? but we have this evening here is a meeting between the two negotiators, michel barnier and the brexit secretary, they will have dinner in a few

hours' time here in brussels at the uk ambassador to the eu, the permanent representatives resident. michel barnier speaking and luxembourg and said he found that idea ofjeremy corbyn about a customs union interesting, because the problem at the moment was that there were negative votes in the uk parliament against the current withdrawal agreement and against the no deal and how to find a positive majority in the uk but he said very much and very clearly the issue is for the uk much and very clearly the issue is forthe uk and much and very clearly the issue is for the uk and it is in the uk where it movement has to come, this is what he was saying. translation: something has to move on the uk side, it is clear something has to move there, we have found an agreement with the uk government and it was a compromise on several points. we move towards the uk position, in particular the points. we move towards the uk position, in particularthe irish backstop. it was not my original

proposal i remind you, mine was more simple and was rejected and we went towards a british proposal which was uk wide to make a single customs territory between the uk and the eu. so what he said was tonight he will not be discussing any reopening of the withdrawal agreement and no changes to that are possible and he said he will listen to what the uk side are proposing ideas about arrangements and technology but he said that i can only be something for now he was very clear that the eu views this as a settled agreement and will not be changing these discussions and what they are concerned about here i think are what we are seeing, the clock running down and the uk government running down and the uk government running down and the uk government running down the clock towards that deadline and no clear way out being obvious at this stage in time. thank you for the latest in brussels.

5:11pm. the transport secretary has been answering questions in the house of commons this afternoon after a contract to carry freight in the event of a no—deal brexit, which was awarded to a company with no ferries was withdrawn. that speak to our political correspondent. let's speak on that pressure on hand. some significant pressure on hand. some significant pressure not only over the decision to award the contract that the decision that has been counseled. this is part of the government has my plan for a possible new deal brexit and that eventuality, there isa brexit and that eventuality, there is a concern that any potential checks would mean there is a lot of congestion on the dover calais ferry route and for possible preparations, the government did award some contracts the government did award some co ntra cts to the government did award some contracts to shipping companies to provide extra freight capacity and one of those went to seabourn freight who said they would operate

varies and that was a contract with £118 varies and that was a contract with £13.8 million and it later transpired that seabourn freight had no ferries and the transport secretary when asked about this that he did this was a start up company but he was convinced of its liability because i'm in a major international company which was based in ireland and it transpired that the company withdrawn its support from seabourn freight leading the secretary to cancel the contract and he was summoned to a nswer contract and he was summoned to answer questions about it and this is when explaining about it. suddenly and unexpectedly withdrew their backing from seabourn and in their backing from seabourn and in the light of this and after very careful assessment i took the decision to terminate the contract. my apartment concluded there were fiow my apartment concluded there were now too many commercial issues to be resolved to enable them to establish alternative arrangements and finance

to bring fairies into points. i think made clear, not a penny of taxpayers money has gone or will go to seabourn. the contract we agreed with the three ferry companies are essentially a commitment to block tickets on additional sailings when we leave the eu. despite those reassurances, there has been much criticism and some from the conservative benches but as you might expect an awful lot from the opposition, labour today said this was a shell of the incompetence and in fact the shadow transport secretary said that grayling should resign. mr speaker what began as a debacle has now descended into a whitehall fast. this minister is rewriting the textbook for ministerial incompetence. i

repeatedly won the secretary of state this was the wrong decision at the time and as that the industry and he ignored those warnings and each of the house last month that this procurement was done properly and it has since emerged that the dft took short cuts on the seabourn freight procurement and the deal was signed off by a subgroup of a subgroup and the men of or oversight that the insurance board did not look at it and he pointed the finger ata look at it and he pointed the finger at a company for the contract consolation and mr speaker is it really a good time to further insult the irish? grayling insisted that there had been adequate due diligence with seabourn freight and in his file was right to get back into a small business particularly when it was supported by a major company. nonetheless some pressure on chris grayling, and it is worth saying that number ten has said that

they have confidence in the minister. a 2a year old man has appeared at hull magistrates court on charges of voyeurism, outraging public decency and three counts of burglary. he was remanded in custody. pawel relowicz is the man arrested in relation to the search for libby squire, the student who went missing 11 days ago. the charges aren't connected to her disappearance, but he remains a person of interest. the headlines on bbc news... a fall in factory output and car production are blamed — as figures show the uk economy last year grew at its slowest rate since 2012. theresa may will address mps tomorrow about recent brexit talks — as she says she wants further talks withjeremy corbyn over her deal. a decision will be made tonight about whether british horse racing can resume again this week after an outbreak for the highly infectious equine flu.

and support, joe denly has passed a half—ce ntu ry and support, joe denly has passed a half—century of the final day in st. lucia. england 138—2 in their second innings. arsenal midfielder has signed an agreement to join the italian champions for a four—year deal that summer and he will earn just over £a00,000 a week it is understood. and the first managerial job, then for manchester united in england midfielder is at oldham athletic and the team he supported a boy. i will be back with more on the stories just after 5:30 boy. i will be back with more on the storiesjust after 5:30 p:m.. 5:17 p:m.. the british horseracing authority is to confirm this evening whether racing will resume later this week —

after the sport was put on hold because of an outbreak of equine flu. four more cases of the highly contagious virus were identified last night at the newmarket stables of trainer simon crisford. the news came after six horses were found to be infected in cheshire last week. one of racing's biggest events — the cheltenham festival — is around a month away. the four—day festival is the fourth most—attended sporting event in britain. with that in mind... we're joined by the champion horse trainer kim bailey at cheltenham racecourse. it is good to have you with us, tell us it is good to have you with us, tell usa it is good to have you with us, tell us a little bit about your concerns for the state of the sport right now and let your hopes are for this decision? we are obviously in a transitional situation at the moment and we are locked down and in many respects the whole of racing has ground to a halt and i am pretty confident that they will probably release the hold and racing will ta ke

release the hold and racing will take place wednesday weekend. there has been a slight improvement in situations in the fact that island are letting english courses go there so are letting english courses go there so they must feel in control of what is happening so long time i did not think it will have a huge amount of perfect. but it has been difficult for the past five or six days. the decision initially by the bha has been a overreaction, what is your sense of that? i do not think so. i am nota sense of that? i do not think so. i am not a bad cell it is really important to put that bit of information across before everyone sta rts information across before everyone starts worrying about it. the bha have been well advised and what they are doing and this is a virus as such has not happened in this country for ten years and they are playing a cautious high and late in the long term i think is the right thing for them to do. you mentioned island and they would be interested in the contest if you would like between the situations and island not least the stomach by how some of the rules are applied and will you

help the viewers understand the difference is? if you take the two countries, they are run by their own bodies and their own board and they are very different. but ireland does is for island ‘s information and what english does is for their information. we are very open about what is happening in ireland have a different approach so i think them i think it works in both ways but they are different operations and run their own companies and their own situation. i do not think we need would it be fair for situation. i do not think we need would it be fairfor me situation. i do not think we need would it be fair for me to say that there is more openness on this side of the receipt then the other side. i think we have been very good for the way that we have placed, but we have been very open at the end of it but it is a difficult situation and we are a huge racing company and —— country and i think the bha have done it in the correct format and i hope we have racing by the end of the week and if we do it will be a

five day blip that did no harm to anybody. when you look at the economic importance, tell us a little bit about the impact of the last few days on those people, who we re last few days on those people, who were involved in it? i think the biggest area is the self—employed jockeys. those who are not retained by any yard, they are reliant on their writing fee to make a living and with no racing, there is no writing fee and it is writing out every day and work and school but their paycheque is on the racetrack and having no racing is a problem for them but then have christ you have the delays who look after the horses and jockeys and a dress that jack is to make sure that they carry the right weight to go on the racetrack and the transport for all the horses to and from the resource. and those outside the confines of a

racing art are those who are most affected. over 5096 of horses in the uk are not vaccinated and some viewers would find that may be a bit ofa viewers would find that may be a bit of a surprise what is your thought on that? it is not terribly surprising because in racing, there are surprising because in racing, there a re rules surprising because in racing, there are rules and regulations where we have to be vaccinated but it is not for anyone who has a pony or a writing boris and it is up to the individual. if they are performing and a then they have to have a passport and it has to be stamped that they are vaccinated so there are horses who will not go to any event who remain unvaccinated because it costs the best part of a 50 -- £50. indeed and a final thought if i may in terms of it is a busy period and what about the training schedule, has not been affected and what are you doing? we

have been carrying on as normal and we are not in a lockdown situation and even if we were, being on a private premises, it would make absolutely no difference to what we have been doing. horses have been trained as normal and of racing resumes we will go to it straightaway. thank you very much for joining straightaway. thank you very much forjoining us today. thank you. the champion trainer talking to les and did attempt to share his views on what the position is on the sport right now. up to 86,000 women aged between 35 and 39 with a family history of breast cancer should receive annual mammograms, according to new research. a trial by the charity breast cancer now found that screening a younger age group detected small tumours early in comparison to the current nhs screening age of a0. our health correspondent dominic hughes has the story. at present, breast cancer screening is offered for women from the age of a0 who are thought

to be at a moderate or higher risk because of significant family history of illness. but a new research project that extended screening to at—risk women from the age of 35 found there could be real benefits. more tumours were detected when they were significantly smaller in size and before they reach the lymphatic system which can spread the disease around the body. the earlier breast cancer is found, the more treatable it is. screening finds breast cancer at a really early stage before it can be seen or felt. at that stage treatment is less invasive, and the cancer is more likely to be survivable. more people are surviving breast cancer than ever before. but it remains the biggest killer of women under 50 and england and wales. more than 920 under 50 years lost their lives to the disease in 2017. it is the uk's most common cancer with around 55,000 women and 350 men being diagnosed each year in the uk. the authors of the study one that more analysis

is needed on the risks, costs and benefits associated with extending the screening programme. if it is made more widely available, as many as 86,000 women in the uk could be eligible but that is likely to still be some years away. the defence secretary gavin williamson has set out plans to modernise the armed forces so the united kingdom can redefine its role in the world after brexit. mr williamson said britain needed a bolder and stronger military, ready to use its power, or risk being seen as a paper tiger. he said china and russia had blurred the boundaries between war and peace. global britain needs to be much more than a pithy phrase, it has to be about action and our armed forces represent the best of global britain and action. taking action alongside

our friends and action. taking action alongside ourfriends and and action. taking action alongside our friends and allies, action to strengthen the hand of fragile nations and support those who face natural disasters. action to depose those who flout international law. the baftas last night proved a golden success for the period drama ‘the favourite,‘ which swept up seven awards, including best actress for its british star olivia colman as queen anne. the best film award went to the black and white mexican movie ‘roma,’ the first time a production by the video streaming service netflix has won. our entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba reports. joining the duke and duchess of cambridge at the annual film awards, representatives of cinema royalty. and it was a royal themed film that won the most awards, the favourite. go back to your rooms. british star rachel weisz won best supporting actress, and the historical comedy drama took home seven awards and all including

outstanding british film, best costume design and best actress for olivia coleman. look at me! how dare you? close your eyes! she paid tribute to co—stars rachel weisz and emma stone. emma and rachel... must keep it together. not just for your performances but what you did after the camera stopped rolling and we have never talked about this and i find it very emotional, but you were the best and classiest and coolest honour guard any woman could ever have and i love you. #so # so you think you can stop me and said in my... the best actor prize went to rami malek for his portrayal as freddie mercury in the green biopic bohemian rhapsody. thank you so very much to queen, to brian mann, roger taylor, to the entire queen family. we wouldn't be here without

you and to the greatest outsider of them all, thank you. freddie mercury, again. best film went to black—and—white mexican drama roma, the first time a netflix film has won the night's most prestigious award. meanwhile in the music industry, the grammys, the biggest awards ceremony in music took place in la last night, hosted by the singer alicia keys. dua lipa flew the flag for british music accepting the award for best new artist. the top prize, album of the year, went to country artist kacey musgraves for her album ‘golden hour‘ whilst cardi b made history becoming the first female artist to win best rap album. the night was dominated by women with a surprise appearance from formerfirst lady, michelle obama. 5:28pm and the remainder of headlines, the day's sport coming up

as well. but now time for a look at the weather. as we head to the coming week, settled conditions head to an area of high pressure that is building down towards the south and west and will eventually start and milderairand we see west and will eventually start and milder air and we see mark air across island, bringing out rates of patchy rain. temperatures up into double figures so as we head into the evening weather friend is bringing these outbreaks of rain and continued their journey bringing these outbreaks of rain and continued theirjourney eastward, turning process them for the western half of scotland and elsewhere, under clear skies down towards east anglia and the price of these we could have a patchy frost and maybe some mist and fog around first thing on tuesday morning but we are starting to draw in this milder air from the south and west and there a lwa ys from the south and west and there always tend to be a bit more cloud through western areas and the rain phasing out as it makes it way to northern england and down towards the far south and east, it should

feel quite pleasant because by the temperatures will be back up into double digits so it is starting to feel a bit more springlike. this is bbc news. the headlines. a fall in factory output and car production are blamed — as figures show the uk economy last year grew at its slowest rate since 2012. theresa may will address mps tomorrow about recent brexit talks — as she says she wants further talks withjeremy corbyn over her deal. a decision will be made tonight about whether british horse racing can resume again this week after an outbreak for the highly infectious equine flu. a man who was arrested in connection with the disappearance of the university student, libby squire, has appeared in court in hull accused of unrelated offences. scientists have warned that human activity is endangering all of the world's insects, with catastrophic consequences for the planet. let's have a look at all of the day

prospects ‘s sport. sport with hugh woozencroft. going to strengthen their grip on the day three of the third and final test against the weight in in st. lucia. lost the very first ball of the withjennings gone chiefly once again on 23. he went for 69 in the past few minutes and show route is still there in a few moments ago england hundred a9 for three and their second innings at the lead of 272 and it was already lost for england after defeats in the first two tests. ramsey has agreed to join you vent us this summer. he signed a four—year deal to move to the champions is a free agent after 11

yea rs champions is a free agent after 11 years in london. he passed a medical last month and it's understood will become the highest—paid british player of all time running a basic salary of more than £a00,000 per week. paul is the new manager at oldham week. paul is the new manager at old ham athletic. the week. paul is the new manager at oldham athletic. the first and former midfielder has signed a deal to the end of next season. the full tear is his first managerial appointment and is a co—owner of salford city. i thinki appointment and is a co—owner of salford city. i think i spent enough time preparing for this and it's on the next few games and couple of months where we will know if it's the right thing to do. for now i've got a good feeling about it and it will hopefully be the right thing to do. the ever sorceress reports brassiere lifting the ban on runners

and islands with immediate effect. we'll find out this evening whether the british horseracing authority will allow racing to us resume on wednesday informal cases of equine flu have been identified in newmarket. six horses were infected in cheshire last week and the meeting is a month away. here is the leading trainer. the next step is the crucial one. we knew it was out of co nta ct the crucial one. we knew it was out of contact with horses that were in contact with a horse that was infected. there was a very tenuous line to it. it was a good enough decision to buy time and decide what to do. andy quy need to get on personally and obviously everyone hopes we can purely because if you can't now then when can you? the

same thing is going to be stopping ina week same thing is going to be stopping in a week as they said we can't go now and then see what else can change. sean o'brien is going to join london irish after the rugby world cup. he won the most recent of his 5a cabs in the six nations win over scotla nd his 5a cabs in the six nations win over scotland at the weekend. he also toured twice with the british and irish lions. he will link up again with the exiles director of by again with the exiles director of rugby who gave him his first cap backin rugby who gave him his first cap back in 2009. this mortgage renews for scotland and wreh—wilson will miss the ramp major of the six nations and the glasgow forward suffered ligament damage in the lost island. the welsh open snooker is under way in cardiff. john is the defending champion he's looking in good form and beat fellow scott graham byfour good form and beat fellow scott graham by four frames to nothing good form and beat fellow scott graham by fourframes to nothing in the first round. begin the first player to win the welsh open five times last year. and in the last few

minutes three—time world champion mark williams has made it into the second round. he beat a fellow welshman for frames to three. your fight all of those stories and more on the bbc sport website. it will be a full round up in sports day at 6:30 p:m.. insects first appeared on earth hundreds of millions of years ago, and have evolved into the most numerous species on the planet. but a major new scientific study has found that more than a0% of those species are vanishing fast, with an extinction rate eight times that of mammals, birds or reptiles. the use of pesticides and fertilisers, and the conversion of land to urban areas, are partly to blame. the study warns the consequences for the planets ecosystems could be catastrophic. our environment analyst roger harrabin reports. how the countryside used to look.

wild flower meadows buzzing with insects. but feels like these have virtually disappeared because intensive farming produces more food at less financial cost. pesticides may keep food prices down but they are a disaster for insects. the report says intensive farming is number one culprit for insect decline, followed by pollution, invasive species and climate change. in the last 50 years we have been losing insects to insecticides. it must leave an impact on the environment. it is a very bad system. butterflies and mothss are hardest hit. the number of widespread butterfly species fell by 58% on farmland in england between 2000 and 2009. so many things depend on insects. in this country we have things like birds, amphibians,

mammals, all you'd insects. if we lost insects we would also lose those. in addition to our own food resources. a catastrophic impact. the threat to besi is well—established, although some species are more resilient than others. environmentalists want action. governments have given way to pressure from farmers. they have failed to take the action they needed to take to reduce the use of pesticides. insects have been poorly studied, so the authors of this report have made some assumptions. but their findings fit a pattern of human impact on the natural world, a world in which one species of insect will almost certainly outlive humans. roger harrabin, bbc news. with all of that in mind and clearly

there's a massive area of concern here i'm going to talk to andy saulsberry who is with me this evening. he's a principal entomologist at the royal horticultural society. i mentioned some of the factors we heard there of the causes behind this trend. tell us more about the principal causes as you see them and may be some things that can be practically dealt with and others clearly that will be more of a challenge. the weight we grow our cops these changes and increasing utilisation and pollution. and included the use of pesticides and that's not just included the use of pesticides and that's notjust insecticides as you might think it's also host plants being killed off. he must've known about this for a long time. this report is simply underlining the scale of the challenge but it's a challenge we have known about for ages. it comes as no surprise to us.

this is a review of the evidence thatis this is a review of the evidence that is out there. and we are beginning to take a bit of notice now. for the people that have a general sense of how important it is that this trend does not continue how would you could help people understand how important it is to the ecosystem? his many examples out there and many people have heard about this and the fact that we would lose a lot of crops but people fail to notice that dung beetles are incredibly important and you go to places like australia and when they first introduced european cattle had a massive problem and they were disappearing. then he did dung beetles from europe to solve that problem and so you take away the dung beetles you have recycling problems and there's many examples like that. he food plants for insects and that and birds will

starve. memos will starve. and the systems will collapse. are we talking decades? the rate and were you alarmed when he saw the review? the rapid rate of deterioration. you alarmed when he saw the review? the rapid rate of deteriorationm does appear it is exhilarating over the last 100 years particularly as agriculture has intensified. of course you have data from across the uk which is seen massive declines. do you detect that there is any political will? this is the action needs to be taken. where does the decision—making really lie? is it for individuals to start taking responsibility for what they do in the way that they consume food that's been produced in a certain way? rescue people to think very carefully about the kind of food that they consume or was it more to do with decision—making in a much higher level? it's a bit of both.

i'm from the horticultural society and everyone should grow some plans and everyone should grow some plans and not use pesticides as often in their gardens in the research mentions that gardens are valuable places and environments but there's also the big picture as well. and i have been advising on the strategy and this is one part of the action. i know viewers what's to know a bit more about it and if someone is sitting and thinking i'm not that much in the garden but i would like to do something that would be something nice for me to do in the garden what would be a practical benefit in this area as well? quite simply get out there and garden. the more plants you have another plaintiff got the more diverse

things are. get the whole garden ecosystem going in a nice mix of things and will recall pests. good to talk to you. let's hope people are listening. thank you so much for coming in today. in the past two minutes and up to from the labour party about disciplinary action being taken against members of the party accused of being found guilty of anti—semitism. between april and january there was more than 670 complaints against members resulting in a total of 12 expulsions to date. the latest on this let's talk to alex forsyth. what's the update? labors been trying to prove they have a on these allegations but as

pa rt have a on these allegations but as part of this labor mps push this party executive to publish these figures, they have been dealt with and those figures have just come out and those figures have just come out and spending the figure from april last year up to january this year. the party leaders are keen to point out that over a third of those complaints be related to nonparty members? some of those relate to social media posts and allegations that date back sometime. of those more than 600 complaints and 220 we re more than 600 complaints and 220 were not sufficient evidence to carry on with any further investigation. 96 were immediately suspended from the labour party and 211 were referred for further investigation. there are still some investigations outstanding ongoing at the moment but we know that 12

people have been expelled from the labour party and as you might imagine the general secretary in the root leadership are keen to show this is about transparency and publishing the figures to build trust to show that really have a grip of this problem and are taking it seriously. it's worth noting that the labor mp that's been pushing back against the anti—semitism for so long has tweeted that she says she wants more detail about those cases whether that was deemed to be insufficient evidence for investigation and she says i can't believe it's only been 12 expulsions and so while labor says this shows his rooting out the problem margaret hodges says she does not think there are serious about that. thank you again for that update. the headlines on bbc news. a fall in factory output and car production are blamed — as figures show the uk economy last year grew at its slowest rate since 2012. theresa may will address mps tomorrow about recent brexit talks — as she says she wants further talks

withjeremy corbyn over her deal. a decision will be made tonight about whether british horse racing can resume again this week after an outbreak for the highly infectious equine flu. an update on the market numbers for you — here's how london's and frankfurt ended the day. and in the the united states this is how the dow and the nasdaq are getting on. president trump will travel to el paso in texas today, to hold his first rally of the new year. he has controversially claimed that the city's 78—mile border fence with mexico is the reason why crime rates have fallen in the city. it's just four days before the us government is due to shut down again, if there is no agreement on funding for a wall that extends right across the border. our correspondent gary

o'donoghue reports. this is the fence that transformed el paso from one of the most violent cities in america to one of the safest — or at least that's according to donald trump. i want to welcome everybody here, all of you volunteers... but when he arrives here, he's likely to find a lot of people who don't believe that — and they're prepared to tell him so. it's an absolute lie, it's an outright lie. el paso is a community full of families, we have mixed documentation, we have people who cross everyday from juarez who come to take care of our children, to come take care of our families. and we have been a community united by the border — we are not divided here in el paso. with a powerful barrier in place, el paso is one of the safest cities in our country. there's no doubt that there's a huge difference in the crime rate

between el paso here in texas and juarez over there across the highway in mexico. here, there were 23 murders last year. over there, a town admittedly twice the size, there were 1200, that's a 50—fold disparity. the question is, is the president right to say it's the wall that makes all the difference? on the other side of that fence is mexico... el paso's republican mayor was one of those taken aback by the president's use of his town to make a bigger political point. i'm not saying that the fence shouldn't be part of a broader strategy, i mean, we're a sovereign nation, we need to control our borders, but as far as el paso's crime rate, no, it was low before the fence came up and it's gotten even lower since. in reality, violent crime has fluctuated in both el paso and juarez. the two years after the fence went up in 2009, it actually rose on the texas side of the border,

as territorial wars between the drug cartels intensified. but there are those here who believe a fence or wall has played an important part. but what about those who accuse the president of using misleading facts? i don't agree that he lies because... the numbers of violent crimes went up after the wall went up? well, but how much had they dropped before then? and why did they go up? did they go up because of the wall, or did they go up because other crimes were occurring? linking immigration and crime have been constants for president trump, but it's antagonised democrats, and that's made a deal in congress all the harder. gary o'donoghue, bbc news, el paso, texas. its been forty years since the iranian revolution stunned the world. decades on the reverberations of that event are still being felt across the middle east — especially in iraq. just last week donald trump said he wanted us troops in stay in the country to keep an eye on iran.

as our correspondent — martin patience — now reports — many iraqis fear their country could become a battleground in a wider struggle. the holy city here is the most sacred place for shia muslims. millions make a pilgrimage here every year. many are from iran. the great power of the region. and in the past a0 years, tehran has never been so influential as it is now. and that is making america and its allies nervous. the us led invasion in 2003 reshaped this entire region. the overthrow of saddam hussein removed iran's biggest adversary. so it was america that opened the door for iran and tehran's influence now stretches here in iraq to syria, all the way to the shores of the mediterranean. when the us talks about

iranian influence in iraq, it is referring to these iraqi men. 100,000 strong, young and old, all volunteers. these shia militias were formed to defend their homeland from the islamic state group. but now america views them as an extension of iran's military reach. translation: they have advance surveillance technologies and satellites. they do not need to know about iran. are you worried about the potential conflict between your men and american forces? if fighting breaks out between us in iraq it will not only be iraqi sustaining casualties. i wish to remind them that during the invasion afterwards more than a000 soldiers lost their lives, and i would like to address to the american people and tell

them, the lives of your boys are not cheap either. we are no match to the power of the american army, but we can still inflict enough pain on it. the shia militia know that cost. almost 30,000 died in the fight against the sunni extremists of is. for these men, it is about defending their families and their faith. translation: one fighter tells me that if they were not here, is would overrun the shear heartlands. but many iraqis now fear their country could get caught up in the wider struggle between america and iran. martin patience, bbc news, iraq. social media sites should be fined or shut down if they don't tackle

dangerous selling by influencers, england s children s commissioner has said. influencers are personalities with large numbers of followers on social media platforms. a bbc panorama investigation found a 13—year—old who lost money on a game promoted by an influencer on youtube, and a girl who suffered from an eating disorder asked to promote a diet product on instagram. catrin nye has the story. welcome to dubai! social media influencers are digital superstars. many are paid to advertise products to the followers online. zara mcdermott from last years love island tv series is one of them. what's the most you've ever got offered for a post of a product? £3000 for one instagram story which would probably take me maybe ten minutes. to do. zara regularly promotes things like clothes and holidays but has discovered a darker side

to the industry. probably 60—70% of the stuff that comes my way i will turn down. what sort of stuff? anything gambling related, alcohol—related. you wouldn't even believe the amount of12, 13, 1a—year—olds have come to us as well as six or seven—year—olds that see our posts. 13—year—old mattie herbert wants to be a youtuber himself, he follows morgs, a british 17—year—old youtuber with millions of subscribers. worth $776. 3-2-1. one day he saw morgs promoting a mystery box game for a pay to open a box and do not know what they will win. it felt more like a game rather an actual gambling website. i saw that there was a box where you could actually win a gaming pc which are really expensive, like thousands of pounds. and my first reaction was i want that. using his debit card he spent his birthday

money trying to win. what happened ? i won a key ring and a pot of slime which probably would have been worth like £5. in total. even that never arrived. morgs said he was assured the site was an e—commerce store but accepts he was naive, he is now removed the video and wants to apologise. mystery brand did not respond to our request for comment. they are big influence, aren't they, on teenagers. they should be careful what they put on, they should be regulated. there are also increasing concerns about diet products being promoted by influencers. england's childrens commissioner is calling on the government to introduce legally enforceable measures to force social media platforms to take more responsibility. if companies chose not to follow the legal requirements they could be fined, they could be closed off, they could be shut down. it makes those platforms, those digital sites, responsible for what goes

on the platforms in a way that they haven't yet been to date. that was catrin nye reporting. and you can see more on this on panorama: million pound selfie sell off tonight on bbc one at 8:30. standby for bbc news at six which is coming up. officials in a remote part of russia have declared a state of emergency because of what they call "a massive invasion" of polar bears. the animals have been spotted in built—up areas of novaya zemlya more than 50 times since december. on some occasions they have entered homes and offices, and reportedly injured people inside. hunting polar bears is illegal in russia but a sanctioned cull has not been ruled out. within three minutes let's catch up

with all of the weather and mel is with all of the weather and mel is with me once again. as we head for the coming week with many areas will feel as though february has got a bit of a spring in its staff. many areas have seen sparkling sunshine and that's because they have the settled conditions courtesy of an area of high pressure. this building downs towards the south in the west. we are seeing more of a norther airflow but we start to draw more mild airforthe airflow but we start to draw more mild air for the southwest and as we head through the week that milder air really works its way across the uk so you will notice a difference in those temperatures. work i will work its way and another island of the past few hours during that sunshine were hazy through northwestern parts of scotland but away from that plenty of crisp sunshine on offer and did not sunshine on offer and did not sunshine and fresh with temperatures like this it has felt quite pleasant. as we head into this evening to weather fronts that have brought the outbreaks of patchy rain worked their way into the east and make her more persistent for the far

northwest of scotland and that cloud just spreading into northern england. down towards east anglia in the far southeast or particularly in rural spots we could have a patchy frost and may be some mist and fog around. we are starting to draw in that milder airfor the around. we are starting to draw in that milder air for the southwest and what it will mean is quite a bit of cloud particularly for western areas as we head through the day on tuesday and more of a breeze as well. particularly for far north of scotla nd well. particularly for far north of scotland and there was a front start to fizzle out as they bump into the area of high pressure but they may just get down to the northwest of england. away from that it's fine and of the best of any brightness down towards the far south and east and a bit of the far northeast of scotla nd and a bit of the far northeast of scotland as well where temperatures will fare that much better tomorrow and 12 celsius is the maximum. we continue to see that milder air pushed its way and as we head into wednesday but our area of high pressure just goes further out towards the east. we talked to drop

more of the southern airflow as we head through the afternoon and that will help to break up some of that cloud particularly for the southern half of the uk. for the afternoon more of us getting to see some sunshine. and it will feel pleasant what the across the board double digit temperatures once again. and to thursday still have that airflow and that will make further inroads northwards and so more of us will get to see more in the way of sunshine and once again as we head through thursday with temperatures like this last february will feel a little more springlike. 2018 was its worst performance in nine years. manufacturing and construction are the hardest hit — with the economy growing byjust 1.a% last year.

2018 was a challenging year for us. we've had rising raw material costs, our customers have suffered raw material increases, and we suffered from a high employee turn over this year. we'll be looking at why the economy has been hit so hard. also tonight. a 2a—year—old man arrested in connection with the disappearance of the hull university student libby squire has appeared in court charged with unrelated offences. help for the very young — hundreds of thousands of babies are living in poverty in the uk according to new research. human activity could drive the earth's entire insect population to extinction within a century — says a major new report.