today at five: japanese car—maker honda is expected to announce its swindon plant is to close, putting 3,500 jobs at risk. the firm is expected to make an official announcement about the plant's future tomorrow. i think it's going to be a sad day for swindon as a whole. it's not just the workers, but the whole of swindon and other subsidiary companies and everything that goes with it. i'm in swindon and i'll be bringing you the latest. the impact is going to be felt right gci’oss the impact is going to be felt right across the town and the whole area. workers say they are shocked and surprised. the other main stories on bbc news at 5: seven labour mps quit the party, condemning jeremy corbyn‘s handling of anti—semitism and brexit. for my part, i have become embarrassed and ashamed to remain in the labour party. mr corbyn said he was "disappointed" that the group had felt "unable to work together"

on labour policies. the border force intercepts a boat carrying betwen 20 to 30 migrants off the coast of dover. shamima begum tells the bbc she apologises for joining the islamic state group in syria, but still expresses sympathy for them. and train companies propose an overhaul of ticketing, with tap—in, tap—out payments and better value for passengers. it's five o'clock. our top story tonight, the japanese car—maker honda is set to announce its plant in swindon in wiltshire will close. the move could put up to 3,500 jobs at risk. company sources have not denied reports emerging this afternoon

that the plant will close in 2022. but an official statement from the firm is expected to be made tomorrow. our business correspondent, jonty bloom, reports. the civic has been a hugely successful car for honda and it employs almost 3500 workers at its factory in swindon producing it. many more are dependent on the plant's survival. there are huge supply chains which provide them with the millions of pounds of components and parts they need every day. i think it's going to be a sad day. i think it's going to be a sad day for swindon as a whole. it's not just the workers but the whole of swindon, othersubsidiary just the workers but the whole of swindon, other subsidiary companies and everything that goes with it. unite call this a shattering blow to uk manufacturing as a 3500 strong workforce to skilled, well—paid jobs at the uk can ill afford to lose.

last year honda produced 160,000 vehicles at the swindon factory which means it makes one in ten of the cars manufactured in the uk but honda announced last month it will close the factory for six days in april to help it deal with any border disruption caused by brexit and has warned about the threat of ta riffs and has warned about the threat of tariffs and delays on profitability in the uk but local mps said this decision has nothing to do with britain leaving the eu. whilst the timing of this is obvious they are ata timing of this is obvious they are at a moment when we have still to make important decisions about brexit, there are longer term, more global issues that are influencing the decision makers injapan and i think we need to hear the precise reasons for honda's decision when they make their announcement, which will be in some hours' time. one factor is that japan has just signed a free—trade deal with the eu which

would bring down the tariffs on japanese built cars in coming years. our business correspondent jonty bloom is here with me now. what is the significance of this? this is a huge plant. it's very important to swindon and emblematic, it was one of the first japanese large manufacturing companies attracted to the uk in the 1980s and it looks like it's going to be going within the next couple of years. that's 3500 jobs in the car plant itself but if you look at the knock—on effect, the supply chain, the lorry drivers who bring all those parts into the swindon plant, that's 1200 those parts into the swindon plant, that's1200 people in honda alone on top of the factory. there are car plant park makers all over the country that make things like exhausts, steering columns, lights, shock absorbers, and they will all be desperately affected by this. some also work for other companies but this is a significant number who do nothing but manufacture for honda and the plant —— if the plant in

swindon goes, thosejobs and the plant —— if the plant in swindon goes, those jobs will go as well. 0ur reporter will glennon is outside the honda plant in swindon. what reaction has there been? what reaction has there beamm what reaction has there been? it is a devastating blow is notjust for swindon but for the whole of the automotive industry here at the factory we have seen some workers leaving in the last few moments and a couple of them have stopped and spoken to us and they say they are surprised and shocked. some of them have only heard about the closure of the factory through social media, none of them have been told anything by management here in swindon yet. unite the union have said they are seeking urgent clarification of what is being said and are seeking urgent meetings with honda management and they have even asked for the business minister greg clark to make a statement. this is going to be

really felt in swindon, it will have a huge and wide—ranging impact because it's not just a huge and wide—ranging impact because it's notjust the thousands ofjobs because it's notjust the thousands of jobs that because it's notjust the thousands ofjobs that are going to go in this factory, it's also the related jobs in the supply chain and everybody in the town of swindon know somebody who either works see that honda or is connected to honda. we've spoken to honda today and they have issued asa to honda today and they have issued as a statement which basically says they want to say anything to us, they want to say anything to us, they won't confirm or deny this statement until they have spoken to the workers here who are called associates. as you heard already, just a few moments ago through jonty, swindon has two mps and both of them have come together to make joint statements today saying that this has nothing to do with brexit. we are being told by the unions that perhaps it does because of those other trade deals that are tied up with all of that. honda, we are expecting them to make an official statement tomorrow morning but back

in september, they did say that there were no plans to close this plant and that it had a future. those plans, though, seem to have changed. will have more on that during the course of the hour. more analysis after 5:30pm from experts in the car industry about what this means for honda and the wider car industry in the uk. seven labour backbenchers have resigned from the party in protest at jeremy corbyn's approach to brexit and anti—semitism. they'll remain as mps and describe themselves as the independent group. luciana berger, one of the seven, said she was "embarrassed and ashamed" by her foprmer party, saying it had become "institutionally anti—semitic." another, chris leslie — who served as a minister in tony blair's government — said labour had been "hijacked" by the far left. labour leaderjeremy corbyn said he was disappointed by their decision to quit. 0ur political correspondent jonathan blake reports. the time for talking was over. seven labour mps chose this room

on this morning to act, frustrated with their party and its leader of the time had and its leader, the time had come for them to quit and form a new group. this has been a very difficult, painful, but necessary decision. we represent different parts of the country. we are of different backgrounds. we were born of different generations. but we all share the same values. i cannot remain in a party that i have today come to the sickening conclusion is institutionally anti—semitic. all seven gave their own reasons, and with that, damning criticism reflecting anger that they and others have felt for some time. british politics is now well and truly broken and in all conscience we can no longer knock on doors and support a government led byjeremy corbyn, or the team around him. this group of seven hopes to grow.

there was an appeal for others from other parties to join them. you don'tjoin a political party to spend years and years fighting the people within it. you get involved in politics, you join a party, to change the world. so, we invite you to leave your parties and help us forge a new consensus on a way forward for britain. but the group was clear this move was about him, jeremy corbyn's approach to brexit, his failure as they see it to tackle anti—semitism and their unease at labour's lurch to the left. in a statement mr corbyn said i'm disappointed that these mps have felt unable to continue to work together for the labour policies that inspired millions at the last election and sorts increase our vote by the largest share since 19115. it comes at a time when our constituents are facing real hardship with universal credit being introduced, we have rising crime, homelessness on a scale we have not seen for decades, and the government

is bungling brexit, so we should be working together for the long—term interests of the country. it's hard to avoid comparisons to this moment in 1981 when a group of mps left labour and set up the social democratic party, later merging to become what is now the liberal democrats. it hurt labour then and some say the same will happen now. when people leave the labour party there is bound to be damage. we had evidence of this in the early 1980s. it is not good if people leave a political party, but we have to stick to our principles and work for what we put forward in the manifesto. history willjudge them. there is no doubt that if they regard themselves as democrats, i wonder whether they are going to stand down and create by—elections. a lot of them talked about how proud they are to represent their constituents. well, if they're so proud of that, why don't they give their constituents the opportunity to see if they want them elected?

party loyalty runs deep around here. it is no small move for any mp to disown their own side, and those who have left labour today will know it is a gamble because there may be others who want to help them and join them. but the move will galvanise jeremy corbyn's supporters and those against him within labour who believe it is better to stay and fight from within. what this group will achieve, what it will become, is not clear, but these now—former labour mps felt enough was enough and they are better off out than in. jonathan blake, bbc news, westminster. 0ur political correspondent chris mason is at westminster for us. they will unavoidably be looking at the history books before they make this decision to quit and the precedents are not encouraging for mps who leave their parties. no, they're not, mps who leave their parties. no, they‘ re not, and mps who leave their parties. no, they're not, and if you add that to they're not, and if you add that to the striking element of the news conference this morning, i was there

throughout, the expressions on their faces as they listen to each other ta ke faces as they listen to each other take their moment in front of the microphone, is that this was a very sad moment for them after a huge amount of soul—searching. 0ur sad moment for them after a huge amount of soul—searching. our last act of desperation, really. we've seen a good number of those mps privately and increasingly publicly be increasingly outspoken about the labour party underjeremy corbyn. they have walked away keenly aware of the historical precedent and while there is a keen argument going on amongst some political nerds about what the implication for labour was of the establishment of the sdp, there are plenty saying this cannot possibly make it easier for a party on the left to when and if you are of the left, how would

you find this justifiable? they are aware of these arguments and still concluded ultimately they had to walk. i expect you and i could nerd for britain on that subject! what about when it leaves the brexit process ? about when it leaves the brexit process? are these potentially mps who could be persuaded to support theresa may's brexit deal? that was put to them. on the point of brexit and whether these mps could be persuaded to vote with the conservatives, that question was put under wasn't a clear cut answer. the argument effectively was, let's see precisely what is on the table in a few weeks' time but that is a possibility. the curiosity is there and it is only day one, it's only six or seven hours since this announcement from this bunch of mps. we don't quite know what form its going to take, they are a group of independents who say they are going to sit together on the benches in

the house of commons but they are not a political party, they have a very bright idea of what their vision is but some of that vision is defined against what they didn't like onjeremy corbyn as opposed to necessarily the platform upon which they now stand and there are those who have reflected to me privately today that there are others in the labour party in the fold who would share quite a lot of their views but ultimately want to stay affiliated to the party. there are others who might be tempted tojump to the party. there are others who might be tempted to jump because of, for example, the anti—semitism row but would have a different view on brexit so putting together a whole new political party and making it viable is a huge challenge. let's speak now to the labour mp for exeter, ben bradshaw. hejoins us from our westminster studio. good afternoon. does this make the task for people like you who have been critical of some ofjeremy corbyn's actions as labour leader, particularly issues like

anti—semitism and brexit, does it make your task harder?” anti—semitism and brexit, does it make your task harder? i don't think so, it doesn't alter the parliamentary arithmetic on brexit. there is no way these seven would support brexit unless it was conditional on a ratification of a referendum but it's sad when people leave the labour party, these are people of great talent we have lost. i hope the party leadership will think about why they have left and does not want anyone else to leave. i certainly don't want anyone else to leave and i think all of our members and other mps who may feel u nsettled members and other mps who may feel unsettled at the moment, all of our focus at the moment should be on trying to get the country out of this brexit crisis and ensure that the leadership honours are unanimously agreed policy now that all the options are exhausted. unanimously agreed policy now that all the options are exhaustedm they had to go, is it the manner of their going that particularly upsets you? in a sense when people leave a political party, it's like leaving a family or leaving a tribe. they feel

compelled to say unpleasant things about those left behind and luciano verger was saying she is embarrassed and ashamed of her party —— luciano berger —— mike luciana.|j and ashamed of her party —— luciano berger -- mike luciana. i don't think they said bad things about individual colleagues. i think they are individual colleagues. i think they a re clearly individual colleagues. i think they are clearly distressed and had strong individual reasons. it is often underestimated outside politics how difficult a decision this would have been for each one of them individually and i completely respect and sympathise with the reasons that they have given but i think they have reached had the wrong conclusion at the wrong time andi wrong conclusion at the wrong time and i believe the focus of every labourmp and memberand and i believe the focus of every labour mp and member and trade unionist must be now on trying to get us out of the brexit crisis and ensuring that the party leadership honours the democratic vote that our conference made in favour of a public vote and i think we achieved

that more easily by sticking together and fighting together. many of the constituency activists will be rather annoyed because they have gone out and slogged to get these people elected as labour candidates and yet now they are walking away from the party but holding onto their seats. yes, some may do although i have to say, a lot of ordinary labour party members are feeling very unsettled at the moment. i'm spending a lot of my time telephoning labour members who contact me who either have resigned orare contact me who either have resigned or are threatening to resign or are letting their membership lapse and i'm having some very difficult conversations with them so i think probably the views of labour members and activists will be next on this but it won't have been an easy decision for them and we all have a very important and valuable relationships with our party members, with our activists, with all of our labour council lists who we work with and campaign for over the years and this is why in terms of how difficult it would have been and how dissatisfied they wear

should be underestimated but i think it was the wrong conclusion at the wrong time. i think we should stick together to ensure we can get this country out of the brexit crisis and keep this pressure on the leadership to honour the democratic vote. i heard len mccluskey talking about democracy earlier. jeremy corbyn has based his leadership on party democracy and respecting the members' views so for me, the important thing is now he honours that democratic expression of the members views at the party conference and backs a public vote to ratify any brexit steel. that for me and the vast majority of members is now the test. —— ratify a brexit deal. can you give assurance that you won't follow suit and leave labour? absolutely, i have been labour? absolutely, i have been labour through and through. i've been a labour party member for nearly a0 years, i'm not going anywhere and under our electoral system, the idea that in one fell

swoop we are going to rebrand and reorganise our british politics, i'm afraid our electoral system is a real barrier to this and one of the things i think we should reflect on, whichever party we support when this brexit crisis is resolved, is whether our first past the post electoral system serves our politics well. i don't think it does but it's a big barrier to the success of another party but for all sorts of reasons, i'm labour, i'm not going anywhere and labour has always been anywhere and labour has always been a vehicle in our country for progressive change and that remains the case. ben bradshaw, thanks very much forjoining us. the headlines on bbc news: japanese car—maker, honda, is expected to announce its swindon plant is to close, putting 3,500 jobs at risk. seven labour mps quit the party, condemning jeremy corbyn's handling of anti—semitism and brexit. the border force intercepts a boat carrying betwen 20 to 30 migrants off the coast of dover. and in sport:

0lympic 800 metre champion caster semenya arrived in court in switzerland today to challenge controversial plans to limit testosterone levels in female athletes. the sports' governing body wants competitors with high levels of male hormones to take medication before competing. tyson fury‘s rematch with deontay wilder could be in doubt. the british heavyweight boxer has signed a deal with espn to broadcast his fights in the united states. but the first bout last december was aired on rival us broadcaster showtime. chelsea's maurizio sarri and manchetser united's 0le gunnar solsjaker come face to face in the fa cup tonight with a place in the quarter—finals at stake. i'll be back with more on those stories after 17:30. the london schoolgirl who joined the islamic state group in syria, but now wants to come home, has apologised to the british public.

but, in an interview with the bbc, shamima begum equated terrorist attacks in the uk with what the international coalition of countries fighting is were doing in syria. the 19—year—old gave birth to a boy at the weekend. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports. shamima begum, who left her home in east london aged 15 to join the islamic state group, explaining today what it was that inspired her to go. was it because you watched some beheading videos? is that right? notjust the beheading videos. they show families and stuff, the good life that they can provide to you, and all else. i'm notjustifying the videos, but yeah, not just the fighting videos, but the fighting vidoes as well, i guess. she left britain with two school friends, travelling through turkey to syria, and became a symbol of young, british peoplejoining is. you helped them. you helped the enemy of britain. but i wasn't the one that put myself down i didn't want to be

on the news, at first. i know a lot of people, after they saw that me and my friends came, they actually encouraged them, i did hear, yeah, a lot of people were encouraged to come after i left, but i wasn't the one who put myself on the news. we didn't want to be on the news. she was asked what she thought about the manchester bombing of 2017 in which 22 people died. she appeared to regret it, but then compared it to the coalition bombing of is held towns in syria. i do feel that it's wrong that innocent people did get killed. it's like, it's one thing to kill a soldier that is fighting you, you know, it's self—defence, but to kill people, like women and children, just like people in... the women and children in baghuz who are being killed right now unjustly by the bombings. it's a two—way thing, really. because women and children are being killed back in islamic state right now. and it's kind of retaliation. theirjustification was that it was retaliation, so i thought that is a fairjustification.

shamima begum is asking to be allowed back to the uk. she said that if she is sent to prison, she would like herfamily to look after her newborn baby boy. with the us—led coalition close to announcing the defeat of is in syria, and president assad's forces re—taking many of the areas that had been held by syrian opposition groups, 5.5 million syrian refugees are starting to consider whether to go home. the un expects a quarter of one million to head back this year. 0ur middle east correspondent, yolande knell has been talking to some of those making the journey. this is the border with syria and after yea rs of this is the border with syria and after years of fleeing civil war there is now a long queue to enter there is now a long queue to enter the country. all of these people are syrians who have been staying in

jordan but have now decided to go home and is not an easy decision to go back because they are going to be giving up all of their rights as refugees. mariam spent two years in a refugee camp. translation: we want to go back to our country, to our house. there's nothing better. when we left, we hoped for calm, and now, god has calmed everything. since government forces retook rebel held areas last year, there have been thousands of returns. overtime now, people have been able to hear back from relatives of improved security. we start to see an interest of refugees to go back. at the syrian embassy in amman, refugees wait to sort out the paperwork they need to go home. it's costly. moussa has saved up $170 to register his daughter's birth injordan. she is one of the million refugee babies born during the war. soon, her father plans to take her and all his family back to daraa.

it's where syria's uprising began. but after all the turmoil, moussa is glad president assad wasn't overthrown. translation: if the islamic state group, the nusra front task and all those other fronts and factions had their way, syria would have been divided into 1,000 pieces. instead, president bashar al—assad preserved a united syria. back at the border, more syrians head home. fighting has devastated much of their country, but people are desperate to rebuild their lives. the uk border force has intercepted a boat carrying 3a migrants off the coast of dover. the first group of migrants has been brought to shore by a coastal patrol vessel and given blankets. the migrants, who include a number of women and a child, were picked up in three small boats and taken to dover.

their nationalities are not yet known. joining us from dover is simonjones. what's the latest news? the 3a migrants were packed onto a very small boat. the boat was brought back to the lifeboat station down at the port behind me. initially there was some confusion about numbers. coastguards originally thought there were 19 people on board which was a large enough number but then they realised they were actually some people hidden on board a cabin inside the boat so that final figure we are being told now is 3a people. we watched as many of the migrants were brought back into the port by border for sports. we saw a number of women and children being taken of the borderfor sport. they and children being taken of the border for sport. they were then put into va ns border for sport. they were then put into vans where they were taken away

for questioning. amongst the 3a, three people on board the boat, three people on board the boat, three men were arrested on suspicion of immigration offences so it's unclear how many were actually migrants, where there —— weather people on board were traffickers but certainly we know 3a on board that small boats. border force officials had expressed real concern back in november and december about the number of people trying to make this crossing. in the middle of february it must be particularly treacherous. although it as february it has been pretty mild and the sea has been very calm and we believe this figure of 3a may be the single largest number to arrive on a single boat. the home office are pointing out that the numbers attempting this perilous crossing are falling, they say from around 250 attempting to make the crossing in december to 90

injanuary, and make the crossing in december to 90 in january, and that make the crossing in december to 90 injanuary, and that might be linked with weather conditions. but the feeders as the weather gets better with spring arriving, many more will be tempted to make the crossing from northern france but the warning is that they are trying to traverse the biggest amount busiest shipping lane in the world and all the danger that comes with that. time for a look at the weather. here's darren bett with the forecast. the weather is going to be getting better. today was probably a shock after a ll better. today was probably a shock after all the mild air recently. we had some rain around and there is still some around at the moment. all these showers are packing in towards these showers are packing in towards the northwest, a couple of areas of rain affecting the southeast and east anglia. those will pull away and skies were clear. still some heavy showers for a while across northern areas, as far as north

wales and northern england but they should become fewer and lighter as the night goes on and the blustery winds will ease as well so we will see clear skies developing, chilly in some areas, eastern scotland could see temperatures close to freezing. tomorrow, the temperature is going downhill. i think the cloud will be increasing from the west the atla ntic will be increasing from the west the atlantic and we got rain in northern ireland through the afternoon. crossing the irish sea. the driest weather this time is probably going to be around the southeast of england and east anglia, a breezy day, temperatures like today of around nine to 11 celsius. sarri the headlines: japanese car—maker, honda, is expected to announce its swindon plant is to close — putting 3,500 jobs at risk. seven labour mps quit the party — condemning jeremy corbyn's handling of anti—semitism and brexit. the border force intercepts a boat carrying betwen 20 to 30 migrants

off the coast of dover. time for a round up of sports news — sarah mulkerrins is at the bbc sport centre. hello. the olympic 800 metre champion, caster semenya, is challenging controversial plans by athletic‘s world governing body — the iaaf — to make female athletes with naturally high levels of testosterone take medication to lower them. semenya, who was born with hyper—androgenism, says the rule discriminates against women like her and is an infringement on their human rights. and while the iaaf believe that if semenya wins the case, transgender atheltes could have an unfair advantage, katrina karkazis, who's done extensive research in the field at yale university, says that added levels of testosterone don't give athletes an advantage. it does not bring the kind

of performance advantage they are claiming it does. it is one factor among many that contribute to athleticism, it is not the decisive factor and so, for example, it is impossible to say and it is untrue people with higher levels do better. there's a big night of football to come in the fa cup, with holders chelsea taking on manchester united in the final match of the fifth round. and both managers know that some silverware could make all the difference to theirjob prospects. 0ur sports correspondent katie gornall is at stamford bridge. lets start with the hosts. they lost three out of the last four, the pressure is on maurizio sarri.m is. he has had a decent start to his chelsea career but the results have been so inconsistent recently. it is not the results, teenagers and the

performances that have been quite alarming. a recent a—0 defeat to bournemouth, 6—0 defeat to chelsea, last time out in the lake and it led toa last time out in the lake and it led to a criticism that he is perhaps a bit tactically inflexible in not getting the best out of his star players and leading up to this game, his assistant was pleading with the fa ns his assistant was pleading with the fans and immediate saying, he needs to be given time in the way that pep guardiola was given. chelsea did get back, but certainly, he could really do with a good performance from his idea, just to boo the morale. has been a good start for 0le gunnar solskjaer. i don't one on his long—term future at old trafford? know, but certainly a when he wouldn't do his long—term prospects any harm. it is a limit we are looking at the fa cup as a trophy he could win, to boost his prospects of

keeping thejob long could win, to boost his prospects of keeping the job long term. could win, to boost his prospects of keeping thejob long term. he has revitalised manchester united since he took over in december. ten wins in11 games, he took over in december. ten wins in 11 games, dramatically. they did lose to paris st germain last time out, but he has got the best out of his star players. tonight, there will be without a couple of their players which would be a big blow, they have been in such good form recently. the chances for someone like sanchez to come into the side who hasn't played so well so far could be a chance to really prove what he can do. we don't have any tea m what he can do. we don't have any team used as an expert or get under way at 7:30pm. thank you so much. former heavyweight world champion tyson fury has signed a deal with espn, for a reported £80 million. the american broadcasters will show his next five fights in the us, but the deal could put his much anticipated rematch with deontay wilder in doubt. the first fight aired on rival broadcaster showtime —

who wilder has worked with exclusively throughout his career. however, fury beleives a re—match is now "even more makeable". an announcment on his next fight will be made in due course. i've already beaten the ante world in his home country. if it doesn't, it doesn't. it's only a boxing fight. i it doesn't. it's only a boxing fight. i already beat him in america. let's make it happen. we are better than the biggest england defence coachjohn mitchell biggest says that maro itoje could be back in contention to play against wales this weekend. the lock picked up a knee injury in england's six nations opener against ireland in dublin. it was first expected that he would miss the game in cardiff because of medial ligament damage, but england say he's recovering quicker than expected. that's all the sport for now. we will have lots more at half past

six. more now on our top story: the japanese car—maker, honda, is set to announce the closure of its plant in swindon in wiltshire will close. the move could put up to 3500 jobs at risk. company sources have not denied reports emerging this afternoon that the plant will close in 2022. but an official statement from the car maker is expected to be made tomorrow. in the past few moments, international trade secretary liam fox —speaking from tel aviv — gave his reaction to honda's announcement to our correspondent tom bateman. that would be very unfortunate. 0bviously premature to comment until we have actually got the company, they would close the plant for six days, that is brexit related. car production in the uk has been very strong. but we have seen with the diesel emissions, some of the rules

coming in around states that there isa coming in around states that there is a big drop in demand, that big drop by consumers is bound to have a knock—on effect with producers. drop by consumers is bound to have a knock—on effect with producersm isn't official yet, this is speculation so far, but as we said, there has been no denialfrom honda about announcements tomorrow in the future of its‘s plant. more analysis of what lies behind the decision now from david bailey, professor of industrial strategy at aston business school in birmingham. thank you very much for being with us. coming off the back of the announcement a couple of weeks ago, about what was happening in sunderland, this is presumably more worrying news for the car industry. a string of bad news. a500 jobs lost atjaguar, a string of bad news. a500 jobs lost at jaguar, land rover, a string of bad news. a500 jobs lost atjaguar, land rover, nissan, and is now honda are potentially a yet to be confirmed announcing the closure of its plant in 2022. there a range of different factors probably explain that, the new trade

deal with japan, the slowdown in the market, the shift away from diesel. brexit is a factor. huge uncertainty for the industry is now starting to catch up with some of these really big investments. i should that the mp from swindon is possessing he has heard from the company, he is insisting this is not to do with brexit and he says they are saying it's all about the business case for under and to be fair to them, i suppose nissan has already made a decision to pull back work to japan. there is biggerfactors affecting the car industry, diesel for example, electric cars and the rest which might mitigate against a car production internationally? i'm guessing the mp is living in cuckoo land. he is a brexit supporting mps that he would say that. there are huge factors at play in terms of a squeeze taking place in the car industry, massive investment required in new technologies, the japan eu free trade deal means that

the firms can make cars injapan increasingly export them to europe without tariff barriers, but brexit isa without tariff barriers, but brexit is a huge issue, the japanese came to the uk in terms of the car industry to access the european single market. they are bewildered by britain's decision to leave and they have made it absolutely clear that brexit could have a big impact on them in terms of extra costs, so hunter had to make decisions about 2022,, 2023 hunter had to make decisions about 2022, , 2023 under extreme uncertainty. is that we are not going to bother in the uk anymore, we will shift production back to japan. the question is what other car makers and the implications, of the hunt decision notjust for the jobs, the other drivers for example employed by honda to bring parts from various suppliers, there are the supplies themselves that make the supplies themselves that make the parts, what is the effect more broadly across the automotive sector? there are 3500 jobs in swindon, you can double or triple that in terms of the border impact

on the economy. the supply chain for example, and also the linked industries also. a profound impact on supply chain companies here in the midlands for example. what does it mean for the industry? this is a very stark warning to the government about the ending uncertainty. the industry was to be as close as possible to the single market and prefera bly possible to the single market and preferably in the customs union. ideally, parliament needs to rule out ina ideally, parliament needs to rule out in a deal, if we have an ideal coming at the end of march, i expect there to be furtherjob losses. even if there was a deal, this is a long—term decision now. if this this dilemma is the announcement comes tomorrow, we have to be careful that there isn't an announcement, this is very strong rumour. nonetheless, if thatis very strong rumour. nonetheless, if that is what they do, they are not coming back. those jobs that is what they do, they are not coming back. thosejobs will that is what they do, they are not coming back. those jobs will now have to be found elsewhere, people with skills will have to be

redeployed. that is right. those workers that can move on and keep their manufacturing skills will probably do 0k. when we look for example at what happened to the rover workers in birmingham, this is the biggest car plant closure since then, those workers that were able to keep working and keep their skills maintain good wages. those that took longer to find work but then had to retrain to go into service as often had to take big income drops, so yes, the workers will have two move on and in turn, the government will have to look at supporting the supply chain in particular as we go into brexit, into supporting supply chain companies which would otherwise be inviolable but may be impacted by the uncertainty going forward. thank you. a lot of your members must be effected by any announcement over the future of hyundai. what you make what we are hearing tonight?|j

the future of hyundai. what you make what we are hearing tonight? i think it's absolutely disgraceful. is the worst exa m ple it's absolutely disgraceful. is the worst example of announcing such a serious impact on people'sjobs worst example of announcing such a serious impact on people's jobs that i've seen probably ever. i think it's disgraceful for the company that they've allowed it to leak in this way and if the government are complicit in that, the shame on them as well that they have not instructed the company to go and talk to the trade union and their employees and to do this with a bit more sensitivity than what they've done. i think it's disgraceful behaviour. when you put this in the content behaviour. when you put this in the co nte nt of behaviour. when you put this in the content of nissan's decision of the earlier part of the month to effectively council planned expansion in sunderland and to build inajapan expansion in sunderland and to build in ajapan instead, expansion in sunderland and to build in a japan instead, honda says expansion in sunderland and to build in ajapan instead, honda says it will be building its cars injapan. what you think the prospects are for the industry more likely?” what you think the prospects are for the industry more likely? i think your previous speakers told you what the concerns of the sector are and i think this confirms everything that they have told this government is all the way along with brexit. i

think not only have the companies told the government, the ambassadors came and wants the government about what japanese companies may do came and wants the government about whatjapanese companies may do and there is no doubt that this isn't just an announcement that affects honda, it affects the supply chain, we can see supply chain, it makes it harderfor we can see supply chain, it makes it harder for the rest of the automotive sector as well. i've got no doubts whatsoever, this is the first of more announcements, and b are not on the scale, but certainly serious if we don't sort it out. a policy to get out of brexit that gives us frictionless trade and free tariffs. but in truth that isn't going to give those jobs back if they are going tomorrow. they have announced that it is their intention. as this stage, they haven't announced it unfortunately, thatis haven't announced it unfortunately, that is the whole point. my point is that is the whole point. my point is that even if sorry to interrupt... for give me to interrupt, just to be

clear, what i'm asking you and i apologise if it wasn't clear, even if the government wants to get a deal on brexit, that won't alter views on honda is making plans for the future. that is based on frictionless trade, the percentage... it was only very recently that hyundai said that this was a strategic important part of their global footprint, so was a strategic important part of their globalfootprint, so if it was a strategic important part of their global footprint, so if it was such a strategically important part only recently, i'm sure if we got the right deal, they're potentially this can be overturned. thank you. the headlines on bbc news... japanese carmaker, honda, is expected to announce its swindon plant is to close — putting three—and—a—half thousand jobs at risk. seven labour mps quit the party — condemning jeremy corbyn's handling of antisemitism and brexit. the border force intercepts a boat carrying betwen 20 to 30

migrants off the coast of dover. an update on the market numbers for you — here's how london's and frankfurt ended the day. still trading in new york. train companies say they want a complete overhaul of the way rail tickets are bought and sold — so that passengers are automatically offered the cheapest fare. the rail delivery group, which represents the companies, says peak fares could also be scrapped in the future. 0ur transport correspondent tom burridge reports. working your way through lots of rail fares to choose the best tickets for you and the way you work sometimes isn't easy. why should they pay the same amount of money when they are working four days. people are unsure of what tickets you buy and are they getting the

best deal? i bought a ticket for £8 a9 and it's costing me £26 but if i came half an hour earlier, it was £37. it doesn't make any sense. train companies want passengers everywhere to have a tap in tapped out london style system. swipe and you would automatically be charged at the cheapest fare for your journey. and if you travel the same route often, your weekly rate would automatically be capped. that type of system is welcomed in places like we were, in flexible working space of people don't have a set pattern. this mum of two who has her own business as trade ticketing hasn't kept business as trade ticketing hasn't ke pt pa ce business as trade ticketing hasn't kept pace with modern ways of working. to me it is really important i can work flexibly with a flexible working space, once i'm fully back at work in april i will be working from home parts of the week and then in parts of the week because i've got two children, i've got to switch out my schedule. i can't get the train at the same time

every day. it doesn't work for me. there are certain days where we have tea m there are certain days where we have team meetings and i need to be n. ticketing systems today are also too complex and full of anomalies. a single can sometimes be 10p cheaper than a return. the industry much more flexible tickets to stop a mad rush for the first off—peak train after the rush hour. 0n routes like london to manchester. because the system is so complicated, people often feel they are not getting the cheapest ticket. they train companies state that put people off travelling by train. the train company say the average price of a ticket wouldn't change and it's proposals, some fans will go up, others down. they consulted nearly 20,000 passengers, now they need the government on board but the real change to the way we buy train tickets could take years. facebook ‘intentionally and knowingly‘ violated data privacy laws, and needs much stricter regulation, according to a damning report by mps.

the culture select committee said the firm's founder mark zuckerberg failed to show ‘leadership and personal responsibility‘ over the rise of fake news — and it accused social media platforms of behaving like "digital gangsters." facebook said it was open to any form of ‘meaningful regulation.‘ 0ur media editor amol rajan reports. it‘s totally fake news. it‘s just fake. i‘m telling you, it is just fake news. the time "fake news" has entered the mainstream in recent years, thanks to one man above all. in america, there has been grave concern that the election of donald trump may have owed something to interference by russia in the presidential election. an investigation by former fbi director, robert mueller, is looking into the allegations. the nearest thing to that in britain is the culture select committee‘s report on fake news and disinformation. its findings, published this morning, are scathing about technology companies and the legal and regulatory framework in which they operate. the committee says, facebook intentionally violated both data privacy laws and anti—competition laws. it recommends a new code

of conduct, overseen by an independent regulator. and it says that current electoral law is not fit for purpose. rather than having a system where the tech companies just apologise when things go wrong, and carry on repeating the same mistakes, we should have a proper statutory regulatory system, which imposes a standard on the tech companies, with a regulator that can act against them if they fail to reach those standards. this system exists in broadcasting, it is common in other industries, and we need it in the tech sector, as well. sir nick clegg told me, they have taken extensive steps to weed out harmful content on its platform, and make political advertising more transparent. facebook has engaged a huge amount in this report. we have given around ten hours of oral evidence to the committee, we have answered over 700 questions from the committee. this report is incredibly important, we have engaged a huge amount, and we have fundamentally changed as a company since the start of this enquiry.

if you want to know where a company prioritises, look at where it invests, and we have invested a huge amount in people and technology to tackle the issues of online harms that this report raises. but coming so soon after the outcry over molly russell, the 1a—year—old who took her own life after seeing pictures of self harm on facebook—owned instagram, it shows the technology companies and those who legislate against them, are entering a new era. 0ur media editor amol rajan there. tensions between india and pakistan, both nuclear powers, are escalating. four indian soldiers were killed today after a gun battle with militants. it comes just days after a suicide attack last week on indian troops in indian—administered kashmir. india has accused pakistan of being behind the bombing by islamist militants, south of srinagar— an allegation islamabad firmly rejected. in a further escalation, pakistan has withdrawn its amabassador to india. sangita myska reports from delhi. it was in the early hours of this morning that soldiers and security police sealed off a village

in this district. security forces say they fired a warning shot into the air, militants immediately fired back. hours of fighting it left seven people dead including four soldiers and two militants that indian police say were behind last week‘s terror attack. the aftermath of that attack was caught on camera. this was all that was left, the bus, part of a huge military convoy transporting over 2000 troops. it was blown up by a suicide bomber, one of the new generation of kashmiris radicalised in a region where the majority of the population is muslim. the islamist militant group, jaish—e—mohammad has claimed responsibility, based in pakistan it‘s been fighting for kashmir‘s independence for nearly 20 years. pakistan‘s prime minister, imran khan has vehemently denied the accusations that his country has had a direct hand in last week‘s attack. this morning, pakistan recalled its ambassadorfrom delhi to discuss rising tensions between the two countries.

cashmere has been a source of conflict between the two countries since 19a7, the nuclear neighbours have fought three wars over it. so far, india‘s primary response in dealing with pakistan has been to try and have it isolated diplomatically. to that end, it‘s been widely reported here that indian officials have compiled a dossier that they say proves the pakistani government has been directly financing the organisation responsible for last thursday‘s attack. in the meantime, the indian government has yet to announce whether it will go one step further and order military action. thejustice secretary has said he believes there is a ‘very strong case‘ for abolishing prison sentences of less than six months — except for violent and sexual crimes. david gauke said prison didn‘t work for those serving short custodial terms. he argued there should be a shift in resources from prisons to probation, to make community sentences more effective.

tributes have been paid to the veteran labour mp paul flynn who‘s died, aged 8a. mr flynn had represented newport west for more than 30 years. he‘d been ill with rheumatoid arthritis. jeremy corbyn said he was a "credit" to the party. natwest has apologised after a woman who telephoned to apply for a loan was told that "all vegans should be punched in the face". the customer, who‘s from bristol, wanted a loan to pay for a nutrition diploma. the bank said the outburst by a member of staff, which came after the customer told him she was a vegan — was "wholly inappropriate". the impact plastic is having on our environment was highlighted dramatically by the bbc documentary series blue planet. now the government has unveiled plans for how it thinks the uk could cut down on its use. ministers want to introduce a new tax on plastic packaging, alongside a ‘deposit return‘ scheme for cans and bottles. but large retailers have been accused of trying to water down the proposals, as our environment analyst,

roger harrabin reports. plastic litter harms marine life so the government is introducing a deposit return scheme for bottles and also cans. small, on—the—go bottles are the most likely to appear in the sea so retailers want the deposit restricted to those small containers, but environmentalists say many family sized bottles end up in the ocean, too. they are fighting for all bottles, big and small, to face the deposit. there‘s another reason for a catch—all deposit. it would improve the quality of materials for recycling. environmentalists say tough policies are needed. for nearly a0 years, industry has been trying to fight proposals to institute a deposit return scheme and we are seeing that continue now with them opposing a wide—ranging, all—in deposit return scheme, which would actually have the best impact on the environment. but here‘s another view — people buying family—sized bottles are likely to drink them at home

then put them in their own recycling bin. why make them pay a deposit? well, we share the ambition to reduce bottles overall, but we just want to build on an existing, successful scheme, which is kerb—side recycling. we know that consumers already recycle lots of their bottles through that and therefore what we are saying is, build on that and have a food—on—the—go system, which picks up the bottles we buy when we are out and about. this sort of norway—style recycling machine is likely to arrive in the towns of england whatever decision the government makes on bottle sizes. there are other questions over what goes into your bin. the government says in today‘s consultation, it will standardise rules to end confusion over what you can recycle and what you can‘t. and there are radical thoughts on dumping, too. ministers have raised the possibility — just a possibility so far — that the makers of furniture, mattresses, carpets, tyres and fishing gear might also be obliged to pay for the ultimate cost

of getting rid of them. time for a look at the weather. we were talking about the wet weather. i‘ve never been cold that before. it‘s a first. it‘s ok. we have seen some wet weather today, as probably is a real shock to the system given how mild it‘s been recently. we have seen cooler air coming in from the atlantic together with a lot of heavy showers in the north—west and this band of cloud has been a bit of a nuisance today. itago has been a bit of a nuisance today. it a go well for the rains are clear from here in hampshire. it is still cloudy late on in the afternoon. further north, it‘s been a day to catch one or two rainbows. here is a

double rainbow. this rain in the south—east and east anglia will still pull away and the cloud will leave too. heavy showers running down to north wales and northern england but overnight there is become fewer. they become lighter and the strong and gusty winds we have had eases as well. skies tend to clear a bit. it is going to turn chilly over southern and eastern parts of the uk, temperatures will be farfrom parts of the uk, temperatures will be far from freezing in some rural areas, tomorrow starts bright promising but very quickly a cloud over. initially, the sunshine turned hazy, the club they could get rain by the end of the morning. it causes the iris the and into western scotland. probably the driest brightest weather will be a east anglia and the south, temperatures like those today still strong and blustery south—westerly wind. now, let‘s agrees with weather systems bringing the arena really going to be affecting more than the northern half of the uk. it could be wet for well overnight and into wednesday morning over the has cumbria. that‘s how we start the day on wednesday,

the heaviest rain moves out into the north sea over toward scandinavia, and brightens up a considered part of scotland, damp weather still for northern england, perhaps north wales, and returning to northern ireland once again, southern parts are missing out on the rain and temperatures are beginning to rise just a little bit. that is what we are going towards the end of the week. we have some way for a while across northern areas, for all of us later it sounds warmer, once again. the nats where assist in coming in from the atlantic, kept away towards the west of the uk, this is the big player, large area of high pressure keeping much of central europe mild and dry. some cold air digging down into the north east of europe, but we are on the warmer side of things. 0uraircoming all the way we are on the warmer side of things. 0ur air coming all the way from the canaries, like it did for much of last week as well. temperatures rising, stronger winds in the north—west of the uk, ebutt apache mist and fog for england and wales, sunshine around, temperature is rising everywhere, widely 15 or 16,

high as 17 or 18 celsius. this programme contains repetitive flashing images. it‘s being described as a "body blow" to manufacturing in britain. the japanese car maker honda is to shut its factory in swindon. thousands ofjobs will be lost, as production moves back to japan. the wiltshire plant will close by 2022. i think it‘s just going to be a sad day for swindon as a whole. it‘s notjust the workers here, but it‘s the whole of swindon, and all of the subsidiary companies and everything that goes with it. the local mp says the closure is due to global trading conditions, and not brexit. also on the programme: you don‘tjoin a political party to spend years and years fighting the people within it. i am leaving behind a culture of bullying, bigotry and intimidation. seven labour mps say they‘ve had enough and are quitting the party — over anti—semitism, and the handling of brexit.