tonight at 10: amid anger and recriminations, seven mps decide to leave the labour party,over anti semitism, and the handling of brexit. they say they won't be forming a new break—away party, but instead will sit in the commons, as independents. 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. jeremy corbyn says he's disappointed, but labour's deputy leader says the party must change direction, orface more defections. our other main story tonight... in a shock move, honda is set to close its factory in swindon. 3,500 jobs, are at risk. as you can imagine, the reaction is terrible, yeah. doom and gloom. lots of families, lots of people with children — like ourselves. so, yeah, gutted, really, yeah, absolutely gutted. shamima begum tells the bbc it was her choice to join the islamic state group, as she asks the uk for forgiveness.

in a medicalfirst, a woman from oxford gets dna treatment, to halt the most common form of blindness, in the uk. commentator: mata at the back post. pogba! brilliant! and manchester united reach the quarter finals of the fa cup, with a 2—0 win over chelsea, at stamford bridge. and coming up on sportsday on bbc news: fighting for her right to run. why 0lympic 800 metre champion caster semenya faces the biggest battle of her career. good evening. seven mps have taken the drastic step of deciding to leave the labour party, and are forming a new independent

group that will sit in the house of commons. as they announced their decision, they gave a damning verdict onjeremy corbyn's leadership, over brexit and anti—semitism, saying they condemned what they called a culture of bullying and intimidation. mr corbyn says he's disappointed they're leaving the party, and labour's shadow chancellor, john mcdonnell, says the seven should do the "honourable thing" and resign their seats to fight by—elections. our first report tonight on the labour defections, is from our political editor, laura kuenssberg. a warning that it contains some flashing images. finally, after a frenzy of rumour... ..labour mps with decades of experience between them, making their way into a stifling, cramped london room. where, after months of struggle to make their presence felt, they announced they would be labour mps no more, whether because of anti—semitism... the leadership has wilfully and repeatedly failed to address hatred against jewish people within its ranks.

i am leaving behind a culture of bullying, bigotry and intimidation. 0r ideas — a profound clash of ideas between this group and jeremy corbyn over another eu referendum. this has not been an easy decision for any of us. the evidence of labour's betrayal on europe is now visible for all to see: offering to actually enable this government's brexit, constantly holding back from allowing the public a final say. maybe they believe brexit‘s broken our politics altogether, reckoning time for something new. it is time we dumped this country's old—fashioned politics and created an alternative. 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. many of your colleagues in the labour party are going to feel that you have let them down. some of them may even feel that you are betraying them by leaving, when you should be sticking together. what do you say to your colleagues and to members of the labour party who feel that way? this is a labour party that has changed beyond recognition. you have to make a decision. it's notjust the politics, it is whether you can feel a moral integrity to go along with things that you can no longer justify or accept, and i've come to my own breaking point. i cannot do that any longer. do you accept that by leaving, because of the way our political system works, that makes a tory government more likely at the next election? people feel politically homeless, and they are asking and begging for an alternative. it seemed none of them knew quite what to say at the end. not yet a political party with a leader or a manifesto,

their long held private fears now very public. but how many others might follow them and leave him? good morning, how nice to see you all here this morning. good morning, how nice to see you, and goodbye! no party wants to say farewell to some of its support. i'm disappointed, but all of these mps stood on our manifesto in 2017, jeremy corbyn's manifesto. they all increased their majorities. now, they're on a different platform. so, the honourable thing, the usual thing for them to do now, is to stand down and fight by—elections. backbench unhappiness atjeremy corbyn isn't new, but he's had powerful supporters from the very start. there's a strong whiff of hypocrisy here. they stood as labour mps on a platform in the general election 18 months ago. all of them got massive increases in their majorities. i have to tell them, it wasn't because of their own personal charisma! but the cameras and the crush

are because there are others who believe the system can't be repaired, maybe even including a sprinkling of tories too. this isn'tjust about brexit. this group, that's causing such a frenzy already, believe our whole political system is broken. but whether this tiny number can grow to something with a real impact, is something only weeks and months will tell. this may be their biggest moment, a flash that fades. a few could become the many. so, what's the reaction been to the decision by those mps to leave labour? 0ur deputy political editor, john pienaar, has been to luton south, gavin shucker‘s constituency, to gauge opinion on the news he'll now sitting in the commons, as an independent. everyone takes a risk sometimes — children playing, voters choosing their mp.

it doesn't always go to plan. here in luton south, they elected gavin shuker to be their labour mp. now, he's in the independent group. if he expected to be criticised today, he was right. surely it would be better if you're in the party, to try and change things from inside, which was always the argument with not leaving the eu in the first place, you know? you're better inside, trying to change things, rather than being outside, because you can change nothing from the outside. i'm unclear what they're trying to achieve by doing this now. they say they want to have a new politics, a new direction for the country. they want people to join them. as in a new party? who knows, in the future... a breakaway party? is now the time? i think we've only got three parties that we know we can vote for. someone new, someone fresh who's hopefully got new ideas and is a bit stronger than jeremy corbyn. who have you voted for before? unfortunately, labour. i always back labour but i feel the current leader, i like him, but he's a bit weak, in my opinion.

for some, the last labour split in the 19805 is a fond memory. well, i'm conservative and i'm hoping this sham with labour will make a bit of a mess and support the conservative, from my point of view. you're hoping it splits the labour vote? i hope it splits the labour vote, yes. the reaction among labour volunteers here was much as you'd expect. we're disappointed, but were not surprised. it's apt that gavin is one of the seven dwarves who've resigned today, because he's a political minnow. we look forward to him calling a by—election, where he will be annihilated by the official labour party candidate and consigned to the dustbin of history, where he belongs. i think there will be some sympathy. some people sort of feel like the party's going backwards rather than forwards. i don't personally feel that myself. but i think there will be sympathy for him. today's breakaway was always likely to upset party volunteers. it could undermine support too, and that could help labour's rivals. but although old voting habits and class loyalties have broken down, it will inevitably be hard for a breakaway like today to grow support in a political system

so geared towards two big parties. "playing politics" is how some may describe today, but the differences run deep and the country's future is tied to the political ups and downs to come. it's no game. john pienaar, bbc news, luton. let's go back to laura in westminster. is your sense that this is the real beginning of something substantial? could there be other defections, do you think? there may well be. just because today has been a long time coming, it doesn't mean it matters any coming, it doesn't mean it matters a ny less. coming, it doesn't mean it matters any less. it's no secret that since he won as party leader, there's been significant unhappiness inside the parliamentary party in labour, about jeremy corbyn's style of leadership at many of his policies and

particularly over his handling of the anti—semitism crisis that has gripped the labour party. it's no surprise that in the end a small group of his mps have finally decided to walk out the door. i also think it's highly likely in the next couple of days you may see a sprinkling of others doing the same. but the numbers are still likely, at this stage, to be small and there is a question about how much impact a handful of mps sitting as an independent group could have. but what is also happening, which is different to brea kaways but what is also happening, which is different to breakaways that have happened before, and the memory of what happened in the early 80s with the sdp ring is heavy on the air at westminster at the moment, is a very real possibility a small group of conservatives, with concerns over brexit, may alsojoin conservatives, with concerns over brexit, may also join this group. tonight i have talked to two tory mps who are thinking about this very seriously, and if that were to happen in this group find some kind of form as a centre ground, trying to find some sort of consensus over

moving forward over brexit, that could, i stress could, give it a very different potential. so small at this stage, very, very small that maybe they hope with a potentially big impact in the future. apart from anything else, it seems to me tonight that both of our two main westminster parties are not in happy places. just at the moment, when parliament is warming up to make some very, very big judgments over brexit, which of course, could have a per pound impact notjust on their future, but more importantly on all of ours. 0k laura, thank you. laura kuenssberg, live at westminster. the car manufacturer honda is expected to announce the shock closure of its factory in swindon, putting 3,500 jobs at risk. last june, the japanese firm pledged its commitment to the uk, but the plant is now likely to close in 2022. honda has made vehicles in wiltshire for more than 30 years, but production will now switch to japan in a move the unite union has called "a shattering body blow, at the heart of uk manufacturing".

0ur correspondentjon kay reports from swindon. for 30 years honda cars have been heading out of this factory to a showroom near you. but for how much longer? workers leaving the swindon plant tonight were stunned by news that the site could close. i've got two kids, i've got a mrs, obviously this is my full—time job, this is my life, so obviously without this, technically i'm jobless. ijust think all these companies that are closing down, it shouldn't be happening. i'm hearing there might be a meeting tomorrow so we willjust wait and see what they say about that tomorrow. but obviously it is all over social media so, yeah, that is all we know at the moment. so you found out on social media? yes, we found out on social media. last month, honda announced it would shut the swindon operation for six days in april, to deal with any brexit disruption. and some of the 3,500 workers now blame brexit for a more permanent closure.

i can't imagine a more stark warning to the government. no deal will be catastrophic for the uk car industry and if there is no deal in particular, this will not be the only plant closure. there will be more to come. honda has helped transform this old railway town into a vibrant business hub, and many here believe the threat to the plant now is more about global trade and vehicle trends than it is about uk politics. whatever the reason, the unions are furious. for the last two years, the uk car industry has been the jewel in the crown of british manufacturing. today's announcement, should it be confirmed, just rips the heart out of it. a lot of people in swindon, all they have ever known is honda. martin has worked at the plant since the 1990s. his honda parked proudly on the driveway. but tonight he is worried not just about the thousands ofjobs at the plant, but the thousands more in the chain.

all the companies that supply honda, all the lorries that go in and out, picking up the cars, all the people that supply the parts, they are not going to have the money to go into the shops to spend and things like that. that is going to hit the shops, the retail. it isjust going to be a catastrophe. honda is the biggest thing to ever hit swindon. without honda, there is no swindon. tomorrow morning, the thousands of workers here hope to get some kind of explanation, but many of them have told us they are less bothered about the way and that they care far more about what next. john kay, bbc news, swindon. our business editor, simon jack is here. i'll be seeing a fundamental shift in the way japan sees the uk as i'll be seeing a fundamental shift in the wayjapan sees the uk as a base for manufacturing vehicles?”

think the answer is yes. there is no single reason any company will give for having such a massive decision. the honda, it is the case there is a new eu—japan the honda, it is the case there is a new eu— japan trade deal, which will reduce tariffs because mae didn't japan coming into the eu. the honda factory was working at 50% capacity. we saw nissan withdraw its investment, that was about investment. sony and panasonic gave different reasons for their withdrawal. what you are right in saying, there is a fundamental feeling that a deal that was struck between the uk and japan in the 19805 by margaret thatcher, saying this is your natural outpost within the eu as a launch pad into europe has been changed. japan will say, li5ten, we sent a 15 page do55ier after the referendum. we have had the ambassador talking about ri5ks of frictionless trade and if that 5to p5, of frictionless trade and if that stops, and what we are getting now i5 stops, and what we are getting now is they are saying that deal we struck with you 30 years ago, the frictionless trade, natural outpost, has been frustrated. in that sense,

we feel that promise that used to tie the5e we feel that promise that used to tie these two countries very closely together has been broken. simon, many thanks. simon jack. shamima begum, the teenager who left the uk to join the islamic state group when she was15, has told the bbc, she never intended to become a "poster girl" for the terrorist organisation. now 19, and with a two—day—old baby, she says she wants the uk's forgiveness, and while it was wrong that innocent people died in the terror attack in manchester, she saw what happened as a "kind of retaliation" for attacks on is. she's been speaking to our middle east correspondent, quentin somerville. underneath her dress 5he cradled her two—day—old 5on. 0nly underneath her dress 5he cradled her two—day—old 5on. only four years have passed since she left britain, but that is a lifetime in the islamic state group. shamima begum stuck with the extremists until the very last moment. but now she wants forgiveness.

i made the choice, i did have the mentality to make the decision and i did it on my own, knowing that it was a risk. but ijust want forgiveness really from the uk. like everything i have been through, i did not expect i would go through that. losing my children the way i lost them, i don't want to lose this baby as well and this is not a place to raise children, discount. maybe temporarily, but not in the future. if they had not been defeated, would you have stayed? no, i would have left. she was brought to this camp in northern syria after she and her dutch jihadi husband surrendered to forces. she says she no longer

supports the 0as but still says it's propaganda. so, here's your opportunity, then, to apologise to some of the people who were murdered by the group that you've joined. some of the british men and some of the women, some of the kids from manchester, who were killed in the manchester arena. you must have heard about that attack? what did you think about that? i was shocked, but... but? but, i just couldn't... i didn't know about the kids, actually. 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, like the women and children in baghuz that are being killed right now, unjustly, by the bombings. it is a two—way thing, really. because women and children are being killed back in the islam state right now. and it's kind of retaliation, like, theirjustification was that it was retaliation so i thought, ok, that is a fairjustification.

is claimed and celebrated the attack, one in a series that killed hundreds across europe. the home secretary says anyone returning from the islamic state group will be investigated and may be prosecuted. shamima begum is unwanted here in syria and unwanted at home. as the islamic state's caliphate collapses, it leaves more than just rubble in its wake. 12 more british women arrived at this camp in the last week alone. quentin somerville, bbc news, northern syria. the justice secretary says he wants to scrap most short term prison sentences in england and wales, saying a radical new approach is needed to crime and punishment. david gauke says there's a "very strong case" for abolishing jail terms of less than six months for most offences and replacing them with what he called "robust" community sentences. a group of 3a men, women and children have been

detained by the uk border force near dover, after trying to cross the channel in a small boat. they were brought to shore by coastal patrols, and their nationalities are not yet known. three men have been arrested. from dover here's our special correspondent lucy manning. blankets over their heads, life jackets on, safe on the border force's cutter. hmc vigilant living up to its name, rescuing 3a migrants from the channel. children can be seen standing at the back. this, a far cry from the small, overcrowded inflatable boat they started theirjourney in. they balanced on it precariously, a dangerous voyage. with 3a men, women and children plucked from here, it's thought to be the most migrants rescued from just one boat in the channel. it was early morning when lifeboats and border force boats launched their rescue operation. they were brought into dover port. it's not clear what nationalities they are, but many recently have been iranian.

the migrants have been taken to be interviewed by immigration officials. three people were arrested. this is the largest group of migrants in a single boat that we are aware of, and there must be a concern that this will become more commonplace as the weather improves, as temperatures rise, as the sea becomes calmer, and that is why it is so important that we act now, that the home secretary acts now before it becomes an even more serious problem. last year, 539 people attempted to cross the channel in small boats, with 434 of them making the journey between october and december. the bbc believes around 90 people this year have arrived here in the same way. however, that number is just a small fraction of those who arrived here on the back of lorries in our ports. with the weather improving, the concern is more people and more boats will make the crossing. the second border force boat that was redeployed from overseas has yet to arrive. it is still undergoing maintenance.

the home secretary had at the end of last year declared the migrant crossings a major incident. after something of a lull, this was the third boatload in five days, and by far the biggest. lucy manning, bbc news, dover. the founder of the world's biggest producer of telecoms equipment, the chinese company huawei, says he wants to invest more in britain. that's despite security concerns in some parts of the world about his business. the firm is a giant in global electronics, shipping more phones worldwide last year than apple and second only to samsung. yet several governments have blocked companies from using huawei equipment, amid accusations the technology could be used to spy on customers, with the information being passed to the chinese authorities. despite these concerns, huawei equipment has been used widely in the uk for more than a decade and british intelligence officials say security risks could be managed if the firm is allowed to bid for work

on national infrastructure projects such as ultra—fast smartphone networks. well, our asia business correspondent karishma vaswani, has been speaking to the man, behind huawei. this is the man the us says is helping china spy on the world. ren zhengfei, a former engineer in the chinese military, started huawei 30 years ago with just three people. he has built a global telecoms giant, bigger than apple, nokia and ericsson, with some of the fastest 5g technology in the world. translation: we will never undertake any spying activities and we will never accept anyone's instructions to install a back door. if we take any such actions, then i will shut the company down. what would you do if the uk decided

to ban huawei altogether? would you pull your investment out of the uk? would you cut jobs pull your investment out of the uk? would you cutjobs there? translation: we will continue to invest in the uk, we still trust the uk. if the us does not trust us, we will shift our investment from the us to the uk on an even bigger scale. but the us insists while we could use its technology to spy and it has slapped multiple charges on the firm. 0n it has slapped multiple charges on the firm. on its request the cfo of quai wei was arrested in canada, setting off a new round of tensions between the us and china. up until now ren zhengfei has chosen to stay clear of the politics. translation:

this kind of politically motivated act is not acceptable. but questions about how independent quai way is from the chinese communist party are being raised. countries like australia have banned quai way‘s five g technology just australia have banned quai way‘s five g technologyjust on those doubts. in the last several years the chinese communist party has been a lot more coercive and this really crystallises worries that companies like huawei will be forced to help them conduct espionage. chinese companies have only started threatening the dominance of western businesses over the last decade. as they have come up, the world has had to grapple with the different system they operate in. central to this is the fear that these companies are obliged to serve the interests of the chinese communist party. whether they do or not may be beside the point, the perception in itself could determine their success in the future. let's take a look at some

of today's other top stories. train operators have put forward proposals that would overhaul how we pay for tickets. the rail delivery group, wants to see more regulation governing peak time and off—peak fares, with more flexible pricing, as well as a pay—as—you—go system across the network, that would automatically calculate the cheapest fare. facebook says it's open to "meaningful regulation" after mp5 called for a compulsory code of ethics to stop the spread of fake news. a commons committee says technology firms shouldn't be allowed to act as "digital gangsters" and accused facebook‘s founder mark zuckerberg of failing to show "leadership or personal responsibility", over disinformation on its site. it's being celebrated as a medicalfirst. a woman from oxford has had gene therapy to try to halt the most common form of blindness in the uk, age related macular degeneration. surgeons injected dna into the affected eye under local anaesthetic

to try to protect her remaining vision. our medical correspondent, fergus walsh, has this exclusive report. can you see the letters on this line, the next one down? no, it's become a blur. little by little, janet 05borne is losing her sight. just look straight ahead. she has age—related macular degeneration, amd. it's a massive problem in the uk, affecting several hundred thousand people. the condition means her central vision is blurred. you're not clear, but i can see your glasses and your ears... can you see the colour of my eyes? no. you can see the light, can you? in a world first, this professor of ophthalmology at the university of oxford is going to use an injection of gene therapy to try to halt amd in her left eye. so, how does it work? in some people, as they age, genes responsible for the eye's natural defences start

to malfunction and begin destroying the cells in the macula — the most sensitive part of the retina, responsible for sharp central vision. in this trial, an injection is made at the back of the eye. a harmless virus infects the retinal cells and releases a synthetic gene. this is used by the cells' own machinery to make a protein. it's hoped this will stop the immune system overreacting and keep the macula healthy. the procedure, at oxford eye hospital, is done under local anaesthetic, and takes less than an hour. if it works, the implications would be huge. imagine a future in which the commonest cause of blindness in the uk could be prevented by a single injection. that's what's at stake here. because if this treatment is successful, it could be offered to patients before they've lost any vision, stopping their disease in its tracks. approximately 350,000 people in the uk are severely sight—impaired

by age—related macular degeneration. a genetic treatment administered early on to preserve the vision in patients who'd otherwise lose their sight would be a tremendous breakthrough in ophthalmology, and certainly something i hope to see in the near future. it's too early to know if janet's sight loss has been stopped, but she'll be monitored over the coming year, along with other patients on the trial. it would mean a lot to you to keep your vision? it would be amazing, absolutely amazing. there is already a gene therapy treatment for another rare form of blindness. if its successful forjanet‘s common condition, it would help many older people retain their sight and their independence. fergus walsh, bbc news, 0xford. manchester united are through to the quarter finals of the fa cup, after knocking out rivals chelsea in the fifth round with a 2—0 win at stamford bridge, piling more pressure on blue's manager maurizio sarri. katie gornall was

watching the action. yes, i had of the game we were talking about the futures of both managers here who are under scrutiny for very different reasons. maurizio sarri needed a morale boosting win for his side, whilst on goodness oscar is the caretaker manager of his side. when could do his chances of keeping thejob his side. when could do his chances of keeping the job long term no harm at all. it was a game that was open for the first 20 minutes and it turned in half an hour a wonderful ball from paul