the chairman of the chinese technology giant huawei has said there's no way the united states can crush his company. in an interview with the bbc, ren zhengfei said efforts to limit huawei's global expansion would only encourage it to improve its products and services. president trump has urged the venezuelan military to end their support for president nicolas maduro and refuse his orders to block humanitarian aid. in a speech in miami, mr trump said soldiers risked losing everything if they did not switch their allegiance to the oppposition leaderjuan guaido. a teenager who left britain to join the islamic state when she was 15 has asked the uk for forgiveness. shamima begum wants to return to raise her newborn baby. she said she was sorry for those who lost friends and relatives in terror attacks carried out by the group. now it's time for a look back at the day in parliament.

hello, and welcome to monday in parliament, our look at the best of the day in the commons and the lords. on this programme: from the battlefield, to a legal minefield. the case of shamima begum, who wants to return to the uk afterjoining the islamic state group, focuses mp‘s minds. if they are british citizens, they have the right to be brought back here. daesh and its sympathizers are essentially tying us up in knots in our own courts. peers have concerns over health hazards from urban traffic. research has found that children exposed to air pollution at age 12 have an increased likelihood of both depression and conduct disorder when they reach age 18. and tributes for paul flynn, a very individual member of parliament.

paul was the most free—range, organic of politicians, and we should all aspire to follow his example. but first: the home secretary, sajid javid, has said there "must be consequences" for people like 19—year—old shamima begum, who fled to syria four years ago to help the so—called islamic state group. shamima begum was one of the schoolgirls from bethanl green in london who went to syria to sign up with the jihadists. she's been criticised for not being remorseful about her decision. she says she doesn't regretjoining is. she's now in a refugee camp. at the weekend, she gave birth to her third child, a baby boy, who she wants to bring back to the uk. her first two children both died from malnutrition. asked to make an urgent commons statement, sajid javid was firm about his view of anyone who'd gone tojoin is. whatever role they took in the so—called caliphate, they all supported a terrorist organisation. and in doing so, they have shown

they hate our country and the values that we stand for. this is a death cult that enslaved, for example, enslaved and raped thousands of young girls, and celebrated attacks on our shores, including the tragic manchester bombing that targeted young girls. now that the so—called caliphate is crumbling, some of them want to return. and i've been very clear, mr speaker, where i can and where any threat remains, i will not hesitate to prevent this. our world—class police and security services closely monitor all those who return that pose any risk, and we won't hesitate to use the range of tools that are at our disposal, including temporary exclusion orders to put in—country restrictions in place and managing risks through terrorism prevention and investigation measures, also called tpims. mr speaker, the house will have also seen the comments of shamima begum that she's made in the media, and will have to draw

its own conclusions. quite simply, if you back terror, there must be consequences. thank you, mr speaker. there is a huge concern in this country about the return of shamima begum. this is an individual who willingly travelled to syria to become a supporter of a terrorist organisation. she has shown no remorse for her decision, and it appears she only wishes to return to the united kingdom for the benefits this country can offer her. many are very angry about this, but her case highlights the problem facing this country, home secretary. that as a british national without any form of dual nationality, she cannot be refused entry. he talks about doing everything, whatever it takes to bring people tojustice. so why is he not making the very valuable designated area fence, which many of us campaigned for? why is he not making that

retrospective, and does he really think that the law as it stands, where people can go to syria to make themselves jihadis, to offer their support to foreign fighters and not be guaranteed prosecution, surely the law is not strong enough? given that people may start to return to the uk and face legal proceedings here, i will not comment further on individual cases. but can the home secretary confirm that anyone returning to this country as a uk citizen should expect to face justice for their actions, in a legal process in which our police, our prosecutors, and our courts take into account the individual circumstances of each case? i do have grave concerns about situations where young vulnerable children or people who have been recruited by

extremists could be left stateless. so could the secretary of state assure us that this will not happen? and could you also detail to the house the stakes the department are taking to tackle online grooming by extremists? surely the home secretary has the balance right in what he's said today. it is important that these people are not left stateless in ungoverned spaces, floating around or consorting with those of ill intention. in this country, we have the courts and judicial structures, the rule of law and security institutions of the state. will he confirm that we have to take the responsibility for dealing with these people? and we cannotjust close our eyes and pull up the drawbridge. mr speaker, i completely understand the fact that the home secretary wants people who have gone abroad to commit terrible crimes to face the full force of law. but if they are british citizens, they do have the right to be brought back here. so too do their offspring. and so i ask the secretary of state, what steps is he taking in order to recover, safeguard, protect the newborn baby who i believe may be a british citizen now currently languishing in a refugee camp? again, mr speaker, i cannot get

drawn into a particular case, but i'll respond to her general point. as a father, i think any parent would understand and have sympathy with any child that is completely innocent and born into that battle zone, or perhaps even taken there by their parents in the first place. but ultimately, we must remember that it is their parents who have decided to take that risk with their child. 900 british nationals have gone to support daesh in syria and iraq. just 40 have been prosecuted for that. can i say to the home secretary, this simply isn't good enough? now it may be that daesh has been defeated in theatre. but daesh and its sympathizers are effectively tying us up in knots in our own courts, and these people are getting away with it. the home secretary has admitted that 360 of these individuals are still at large and are likely to return back to this country. when will this government stop

maintaining that it can't liaise for british citizens until they leave syria, when they know that there are many british citizens, including one of my constituents, who cannot leave syria because theirjailers will not release them unless it is to the home country of that captive? ultimately, surely these individuals should be taken back to the uk, where they can face justice in our courts, rather than our government totally absolving itself of any responsibility. first of all, it is worth again pointing out that the foreign office's advice for many years now, when it comes to syria, has been that it is very dangerous and no british citizen should be travelling to syria. and if a british citizen has ignored the advice, then they will know that there is no constitutional support, no diplomatic relations that we have with syria.

sajid javid. the collapse of the regional airline, flybmi, has put almost 400 people out of work. the airline went into administration at the weekend, there's been particular concern about the loss of the route between londonderry and london sta nsted, which is the only direct connection between the two cities. this route had been subsidised by the government. it said the local council was responsible for managing the contract. in the commons, a transport minister said an alternative airline would be in place to service it "soon enough". our priority is to protect employees, passengers, and local economies. we are fully focused on supporting those affected and remain in close contact with the industry and the civil aviation authority to ensure everything possible is done to assist. thank you, mr speaker.

it won't have escaped anyone's attention that the transport secretary is sitting there, but hasn't come to the house to make a statement. he seeks to hide behind his minister, and she's been dropped in it. but perhaps he's been dealing with the bombshell dropped by honda this morning. 18 months ago, monaco airlines left taxpayers with a bill of more than £60 million. clearly the government's failed to learn the lessons from that disaster. in fact, the transport secretary's dithered and delayed for nearly a year, allowing loganair to cherry pick the profitable parts of flybmi before putting it into administration. so when will this government wake up to the undeniable truth that its shambolic handling of brexit is leading our country into an economic disaster? mr speaker, i've never been a woman that's been dropped in it. it is myjob and i'm disappointed that the shadow transport secretary of state wanted to see a he and not a she at the despatch box, but hopefully i can respond

to his questions as best i can. i'm pleased that loganair has announced that they will be stepping in to cover the roots from aberdeen to elsewhere on 4 march. but mr speaker, at a time when aberdeen is feeling the impact of the loss of easyjet flights, the news of flybmi going into administration is deeply worrying, particularly because they explicitly mentioned breexit uncertainties as one of their reasons, and it has been said in studies recently that aberdeen is set to be the hardest hit city in the uk by brexit. i know the minister doesn't like mentioning the b—word, the brexit word, but the fact is that flybmi did say that brexit uncertainty was a factor, not the total reason, but a factor, as it was with jlr, ford, and no doubt we will find out shortly for honda. isn't it time for the prime minister to do two things? one, to rule out no deal, and two, to establish a brexit redundancy fund that would support businesses

that are being put out of business as a result of brexit? flybmi have also said that their decision doubled as an economic one. they were averaging only 19 people per flight, unsustainable for any company or business. the public service obligation was the first of its kind and has been in business since 2017. i'm also thankful for the assurance that the government will continue to subsidize the route until 2021. will the minister please outline that there will be provisions to expand this commitment for another two years beyond that to encourage other airline providers to take on the contract? does she agree with me that the uk aviation industry is actually a success story, and we have the third largest aviation sector in the world, and we would like to continue that to be the case? can she assure me that she's working with the industry to make sure that they are planning effectively for all brexit scenarios, and perhaps the opposition would like to help on this by reducing uncertainty by voting for the deal? the government has faced renewed demands to sack the firm in charge

of army recruitment. the outsourcing giant, capita, won the £495 million contract back in 2012, but has failed to hit soldier recruitment numbers every year since. at question time in the commons, mps raised the failure to reach the target of 82,00 fully—trained soldiers, with the annual shortfall currently running at between 3—4,000 recruits. while the applications erupt, the enlistments, those actuallyjoining, are dramatically down. the secretary of state has called their performance "atrocious". it is, the scots guards are barely at 50% manned. i believe, mr speaker, that their performance is so awful that they are now becoming a threat to one element of our national security. when will the government come out of denial and sack this useless, hopeless company? what i would say to him is that once again, the signs are positive. sandhurst is now 100% full,

and improvement over the last two years. the infantry training centre at gatwick is now 80% full, 20% lower than we need, but a significant increase in improvement from where we were last year. so all the signs are heading in the right direction. yes, they are! the challenge we face is that whilst applications are up, the conversion rate is getting better, but that will take time to feed through into the strength. let me tell him now, if the decline continues at the rate we have seen for the time the conservative party has been in government, by may 2022, the army will be down tojust 68,000. now given that the promise to reach 82,000 soldiers was unceremoniously dumped from the conservative manifesto at the last election, can the minister tell the house, are they still committed to reaching this number? and if so, what is his plan to do so? well, with respect to the honourable

lady, she talks about the army. i'm assuming she actually means the regular army when she talks about 68,000, because of course, as far as i'm concerned, the army also includes the army reserve, giving a combined force of about 112,000. that also includes approximately 3,500 soldiers who wear a uniform and are proud to call themselves soldiers, but are currently under training. so, i think she needs to think about what definitions she's actually using. the national audit office has recently confirmed that capita has not recruited the required numbers of regulars and reservers in any yearsince the contract began in 2012. clearly, extra resources are needed, but may i also suggest that the government considers restating the 2nd battalion,

the royal regiment of fusaliers, which was the best recruited unit in the army when it was disbanded? well, i've been here long enough, mr speaker, to be able to pay tribute to my honourable friend for his consistent defence of the 2nd battalion, the royal regiment of fusaliers. but as the national audit office equally said in the same report, the army has already conducted a full review of the current recruitment strategy, and as a result, the contract with capita was realigned and a comprehensive improvement plan was introduced. and whilst that will take time to bear fruit, as i've already said and demonstrated in the previous question, we are now beginning to see the early signs of that improvement plan bearing fruit. we know that there are real shortages with people leaving early, but also particularly in the area of cyber. so, will the minister explain to the house how he's working with others across government to make sure that we have the cyber skills we need in our armed forces? i think it's a very important question, the honourable lady will be aware of the {1.9 billion

investment across government that we are making in cyber. i've taken a particular personal interest in this issue, and one of the areas where i want to look very carefully at is to make sure that the career structure that we offer within the armed forces matches these 21st century skills, which, historically, they haven't done. you're watching our round—up of the day in the commons and the lords. still to come — why did the peer burst into song? now, when we're in our car, waiting for a few moments to pick up a friend orfamily member, how important is it to turn off the engine? a recent study has found that an idling engine can produce up to twice the emissions of a car in motion. the emissions include chemicals such as sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, which can lead to breathing difficulties and other health problems. it was an issue taken up in the house of lords. side roads near the city opposite,

there were drivers were sitting in theircars parked with the engines idling, discharging poisonous fumes. now, we know that this is illegal, but it still persists. i worry about the effect on the passersby, but my main concern is for the little vulnerable children with little vulnerable lungs, and the effect it has on them. so, what can be done about this? my lords, my noble friend is absolutely right. it is already an offence to leave a vehicle running unnecessarily while the vehicle is stationary. and i do know that in the city of westminster, this is particularly a concern, idling around schools in the west end. and i know that that counsel is working on it, and issuing warnings and, if necessary, fix penalty notices. there is no considerable evidence

from the national institutes of health that pollution may contribute to not only miscarriage and stillbirth, but also cancer in the long—term. i wonder if the noble lord could tell us whether or not there is some research being actively proposed either by the department of health or someone else that is actually looking into this issue of stillbirth? because there are over 3,200 stillbirths in britain a year, and this is one of the largest in any developed country, and it is a massive shock that most of them are unexplained. my lords, we're increasingly aware of the impacts of air pollution on physical health, but recently published evidence has shown a convincing link between air pollution and mental health. in particular, research has found that children exposed to air pollution at age 12 have an increased likelihood of both depression and conduct disorder when they reach age 18. so, can the noble lord, the minister confirm that

in assessing the impact of air pollution on health, we will take into account both mental and physical health? pollution is increasing, and people are being damaged today. so, could the minister explain what is happening today that will reduce pollution today? precisely why in requiring local authorities to come forward with plans, nottingham are the first authority where the plan agreed retrofitting 171 buses to reduce emissions. nottingham replacing heavy high—polluting vehicles such as been lorries with electric vehicles, all on their current plan. leeds putting in a clean air zone starting 6 january next year. would my noble friend i agree with me that awareness is extremely important to tackling this issue, and initiatives undertaken by counsel such as westminster where the use volunteers around schools to knock on people's windows and tell them to turn their engines off and tell them of the problems

of air pollution that they're causing, is actually extremely valuable in the fight against this terrible scourge was green i'm well aware of my noble friend's expertise and leadership on this particular matter. a number of local authorities, entire hamlets in the city of westminster, are all examples of local authorities raising awareness. it's for us all to change our behaviours and stop parents idling their cars outside of schools, for instance. the death was announced at the weekend of a significant political figure in the 1960 and ‘70s. this is how it was announced in the lords. my lords, i regret to inform the house of the death of the noble baroness lady falkender on 6 february. on behalf of the house, i extend our condolences to the noble lady's family and friends. lady falkender had been the personal and political secretary to the labour prime minister harold wilson

throughout his two terms in number ten. she was regarded as one of the most influential women in politics in those decades, and was thought to have helped harold wilson draw up his controversial resignation honours list in 1976. the deaths also been announced at the age of 84 of the labour member of parliament, paul flynn. mr flynn had represented newport in south wales in the commons since 1987. for a brief time, he was in jeremy corbyn's shadow cabinet. often a fiery orator in the commons, paul flynn was rarely short of forceful opinions. after 46 years of the harshest prohibition in europe, we now have 320,000 addicts. isn't it true that prohibition creates the drug, creates the gangsters, and creates the deaths?

could you reflect on this and the rest of his conduct as foreign secretary to realise that his brand of clownish incompetence is a joke that's no longer funny, and consider being replaced by a competent politician who will attract the respect of the world, and not the ridicule that he attracts? they were told that if they went there, they'd stop the huns and bayonet belgian babies, they went there as a result of persuasion and propaganda. then we must remember this, the proper lessons of warfare and the immense wasteful loss of human life. third question revealed that blanchard house had no prisoners during that period. it is not to get rid of the drugs, but to get rid of the prisoners! can the minister tell me what he was on when he gave that question? and mps from all sides

had plenty of appreciative words for paul flynn. his representation of newport spanned 31 years of unbroken service. he was a voracious campaigner for many causes, and was ahead of his time, and a tireless advocate for his constituency. and he did this with a wit and a humour, which cut through any tendency to pomposity in this place. i have to say that he and i contributed to some creative and very productive friction on the committee, and, nevertheless, every member of the committee had a very high regard for his extraordinary commitment. his sense of principle, the fact that at times he was the conscience of the committee on issues like conflicts of interest. and we will greatly miss him. all of us fall into different categories as politicians. some are factory farmed, some are free range. paul was the most free range, organic of politicians, and we should all aspire to follow his example.

tributes to paul flynn. now, it's not every day that the house of lords is alive to the sound of music. but what's wrong with a burst of song every now and again? as we know, northern ireland has been without a devolved government for two years. but at the end of last week, the british and irish governments revealed they're going to present the parties in northern ireland with a new plan to restart talks. a ministerfor northern ireland said he'd be looking for the right words to capture the development. but here we are again. i was trying to find a way of how to describe the events of friday. and it wasn't easy to find a very positive way of doing it, but i did find one way, which you may or may not find useful. many of you will be of an age where you can remember angela lansbury in her prime and bedknobs & broomsticks. and she sang a song, after all, it's a step in the right direction,

it's a step in the right direction after all. laughter. # after all, it's a step in the right direction # it's a step in the right direction after all... there you go. applause laughter thank you. the rest of the song, i will not sing. which is maybe just as well. that's was the singing lord duncan. good enough for britain's got talent? i'll let you decide. that's it for this programme. alicia mccarthy will be here for the rest of the week. but for now, from me, keith macdougall, goodbye. hello again. there is a trend for our weather to turn very mild towards the end of this week.

we are seeing southerly winds develop over the next few days, and they will drag up is warm air. there is a question mark as to how much cloud there will be. towards the end of the week, as pressure begins to rise, that is where we are most likely to see the cloud break and given some decent cloud breaks towards the end of the week where we could see temperatures lift as high as 17 or 18 degrees celsius. we have clear skies at the moment across a good part of england and wales. too much in the way of trees for things to get desperately cold and we have a number of showers across northern and western areas of the uk. with the winds falling light, here in the countryside, a few patches of frost starforming so it's going to be quite a cold start to the day, one or two fog patches in the south as well. tuesday morning, we will see showers for a time across western scotland,

north—west england. the cloud thickens in northern ireland and we start to see wet weather arriving here, and ultimately on tuesday afternoon some of the rain blows into western areas of scotland, western parts of england and wales as well. it will be a mild day with temperatures into double figures for many of us. the southwest winds will continue overnight, bringing cloud and rain continuing across north and western areas of the country. temperatures no lower than seven to 10 degrees. it will be a frost free night. wednesday, low pressure to the north of the uk. we still have this weather front moving in that will bring further spells of rain. as it tries to push east, it will probably weaken. for most of us, it will be a cloudy day with the rain mainly concentrated in the north and west. temperatures around 12 or 13 degrees. temperaturesjust

west. temperatures around 12 or 13 degrees. temperatures just beginning to climb. cloud around on thursday but a better chance of seeing sunshine. we could see highs on friday reaching midteens. that is your latest weather. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: the founder of huawei hits back. in an exclusive interview, ren zhengfei says american actions against his company and his daughter are politically—motivated. translation: there's no way the us can crush us. the east will still shine and if the north goes dark, then there is still the south. 16 us states sue the federal government over donald trump's national emergency declaration to build a border wall. british teenager shamima begum tells the bbc it was her choice to join the so—called islamic state but asks the people of the uk to forgive her. and a medicalfirst — a woman gets dna treatment to halt the most common form of blindness in the uk.