you're watching bbc news at nine with me, annita mcveigh. the headlines... japanese car giant honda confirms it plans to shut its swindon factory in 2021 with the loss of 3,500 jobs, citing its need to invest in a changing marketplace. this is a move towards electric vacation which we had seen in europe and around the world. —— electrification. a warning tojeremy corbyn that more labour mps could split from the party, after seven mps quit yesterday to form an indepdendent group. 16 us states are suing the trump administration after the us president declared an emergency to raise funds for a mexican border wall. researchers develop a new test could speed up the diagnosis of sepsis — potentially saving thousands of lives a year. could the golden eagle be making a return? researchers in wales may introduce the species back into its landscape

for the first time since the 1800s. mata at the back post. pogba! brilliant! and manchester united will face wolves in the fa cup quarter finals after beating chelsea 2—0 at stamford bridge last night. good morning and welcome to the bbc news at nine. in the past hour, the japanese car maker honda has confirmed that it will close its plant in swindon in three years‘ time. the factory employs 3,500 people, and it's understood all of the workforce have been sent home for the day. trade unions described the closure as a shattering body blow. the business secretary greg clarke has said it is deeply disappointing the decision

has been taken now. but honda's senior vice president for europe has told the bbc that brexit is not to blame for the decision. we'll be live at the honda plant in swindon in a moment, but first this report by colin campbell. fresh off the production line, new honda cars leaving the swindon plant this morning. but in 2021, the factory will cease operations and close down. bowing to a waiting press, honda's chief officer says it is because the country is accelerating its commitment to electrified cars. translation: accelerating its commitment to electrified cars. translatiosz response to unprecedented changes in the global automotive industry. honda say they will support their workers to a difficult time. translation: these other changes coming at us globally, we had to respond to them. it is a really sad

day for our people in swindon, and we deeply regret the impact this will have on them and their community. ca rs community. cars had been made up the swindon side for 30 years, 3500 workers will lose theirjobs. doom and gloom. lots of families, lots of people with children like ourselves, so gutted. this is my life, my lifeline. without this, technically, lam lifeline. without this, technically, i am jobless. everybody works hard here and it is a big, sad shame to see this happen. last month honda announced it would shut at the swindon operation for six days in april to deal with any brexit disruption. some workers here blame brexit for a more permanent

closure. i think unquestionably brexit has to play a part in the decision. whether it is the biggest part, i would question, decision. whether it is the biggest part, iwould question, but decision. whether it is the biggest part, i would question, but when you are making long—term investment as in the car industry, any uncertainty is damaging. arriving in the 80s, providing jobs for locals, honda helped transform swindon into a vibrant business hub. roughly for one manufacturing job there are four at risk in the supply chain and local economy. if you multiply that 3500 jobs by four it is a major impact on the local economy. honda says the decision to close the site was not taken lightly. they say they understand the impact the closure will have on all workers, suppliers and the local community. colin campbell, bbc news. our business correspondent nina warhurst is outside the honda plant in swindon. sears confirmed this morning, really grim news for the hunter workers and the wider swindon community —— fears confirmed. that's right. colin touched on it, the emotional impact for these workers who went home

yesterday with all the rumours and speculation under a media presence at their place of work, but no confirmation about what would happen. that came out 8am, 3500 jobs will go, sooner than expected, in 2021. and you had to multiply that by203 2021. and you had to multiply that by 203 when you consider the impact on the wider economy, had to make new here, hauliers, suppliers, logistics, elements making up the local economy. we are joined logistics, elements making up the local economy. we arejoined by doctorjanet‘s match from the university of oxford —— university of oxford, she is an expert on white scale operations like this. could honda had to do anything differently 01’ was honda had to do anything differently or was there a certain inevitability? there was a lot of speculation about brexit. hunter cannot do much about holding stock, they are a just—in—time manufacturer, mean kits and components are delivered they few others before they are assembled —— honda cannot do much. so to hold a

weeks worth of stock to mitigate brexit is not something they could ever do without ruining their business model. the unions are pointing at the prime minister, her inability to secure a deal, could she have done anything differently? she and her ministers have made assurances and promises to japanese manufacturers both in automotive and pharmaceuticals, and if those promises are not kept than the uk because macalou says the trust of its japanese partners. japanese manufacturers place a lot of emphasis and belief un—trusted relationships. so there is something specific to the japanese psyche where trust is that important and once eroded it is difficult to rebuild? it is their way of doing business, they rely on trusted long—term relationships both with

employees and members of the supply network. in a statement this morning they said they wanted to focus on activity in regions where it expects to have high production volumes, meaning not in the uk but not the eu either. does this mean it probably would have happened anyway, even if we we re would have happened anyway, even if we were in the south of france? are both very possible. the automotive sector is undergoing a lot of structural changes would shift towards electric vehicles in the future and self driving cars. so how that will play out remains to be seen. that will play out remains to be seen. do we need to worry about the wider automotive industry or are we being left behind? upload this is the first of many possible... we have already seen the problem with nissan. this factory is running at less than optimum production volume and it is not surprising that perhaps the japanese made their

decision to move elsewhere, but other factories could be at risk, as future trends play out. worries about the wider automotive industry in the uk, but today is all about hunter. i spoke to the first person i saw this morning and asked what honda means to swindon, he says everybody here knows somebody who has worked at honda or work said honda, another person said they are very worried about the 3500 people flooding the job market at the same time into two and a half years because there are already not enough jobs here to go around. thank you, nina warhurst. we can cross to tokyo and talk to our correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes. the news was confirmed just over an hour ago, the senior vice president has told the bbc today that brexit was not to blame but has previously said that if the uk left the eu

without a deal it would cost honda tens of millions of p. unions are blaming the prime ministerfor, they say, making a mess of briton because my departure from the eu. so pick apart what the exact rationale is for this decision by honda?” apart what the exact rationale is for this decision by honda? i think it isa for this decision by honda? i think it is a complicated picture. swindon was part of a strategy by japanese auto—makers to get into the european car market in a big way in the late 19805 car market in a big way in the late 1980s and early 1990s. we saw honda go to swindon, toyota in derby and nissan up in sunderland. there's factories were all built as launch pads for the japanese car manufacturers to build, they hoped, large—scale production for serving the european market. that has not really happened, the only one that has grown to scale is nissan which makes over half a million cars every

year, both to swindon for honda and derby for toyota have languished around the quarter of a million mark at the most. swindon was producing about 150,000 cars a year, which is not the sort of scale that either company hoped for. it has been under threat folsom time, but as your previous contributor said, japanese companies have a strong commitment to their workforce, trusted relations, they do not like to close factories and they do not like to get rid of workers. it has been a very difficult thing for them to do. in that light, this restructuring they are going through, the fact that this has come at a time when brexit is happening, which is making these already not verifiable factories even less viable, the a nalysts factories even less viable, the analysts i had spoken to in tokyo say it is not the big reason why it is happening, it is not the driving force behind the restructuring, but

there is no doubt the timing, we have heard from nissan now we have seen have heard from nissan now we have seen will close the honda plant, the timing, there is no doubt that brexit is having an effect on japanese decision—making on whether it will continue investing in the uk the brexit. refer to, what are those in the know injapan refer to, what are those in the know in japan saying refer to, what are those in the know injapan saying about a possible impact on otherjapanese car manufacturers in the uk, especially in light of the new eu slashjapan trade deal? that is very important and means that honda can produce ca i’s and means that honda can produce cars injapan and export them to the eu territory from 2027. the people i have been speaking to here say the next one down the road that is vulnerable is toyota plasma corporation and derby —— produce ca i’s corporation and derby —— produce cars injapan and export them free of tariffs the eu. toyota has other

operations in europe, a plant in turkey and in france, a joint venture in the czech republic, so toyota has other options for staying inside the eu, so the derby plant is very vulnerable. but people have also said to me that if there is a ha rd also said to me that if there is a hard brexit, no deal to keep the uk inside the customs union, even the nissan plant in sunderland in the long run it's very much injeopardy. rupert wingfield—hayes in tokyo, thank you. jeremy corbyn has been warned that he faces the prospect of more resignations by labour mps in protest at his leadership. seven backbenchers have left to sit as independents, because of mr corbyn‘s handling of brexit and anti—semitism. last night, two conservative mps told the bbc that they too were considering leaving their party to join the group. let's talk to our assistant political editor, norman smith, who's at westminster for us. having made their move, are there

any strong signs that other mps might be training this seven independents, including potentially some conservatives? —— might be joining? there is a significant number who shared the views of the gang of seven, certainly on europe. we know that some of them believe that the two tory mps believe the party is being taken over by ukip extremists. there is a certain synergy extremists. there is a certain synergy but whether any will walk anytime soon is more in—depth. at the end of the day, i suspect brexit may be the key factor, certainly on the labour side. many labour mps ta ke the labour side. many labour mps take the view they want to hang in see whether mr corbyn pivots to support another referendum and in all probability we will get a vote in the not too distant future because there are signs that labour

backbenchers will table amendments ona backbenchers will table amendments on a referendum, so it mr corbyn backs those i suspect he probably gets around the threat, but if he doesn't then potentially other labour mps may decide we will go too. but much will depend on this new group themselves, whether they can demonstrate they are making headway and can set up a credible organisation with credible policies, with funding and a clear set of policies and a game plan. nothing a tt ra cts policies and a game plan. nothing attracts people like success. if, on the other hand, they have had their one—day announcement and then not much happens, that will be much less attractive. it is a hugejump, as was acknowledged by one of the gang of seven, and coffee, who highlighted what a huge decision it is foran mp highlighted what a huge decision it is for an mp to abandon their own party —— ann coffey. i think there is a number of my colleagues that have expressed concern privately, but everybody has their own journey. and, as you will appreciate, it is a huge thing to do,

to leave and resign from a party which i have been a member of for 41 years and represented as an mp for 27 years. that is a huge step to make. and i think each of us has our separate journeys. and some may decide to stay and fight. and, of course, that is also, you know, a quite understandable response. so i don't think there's anything right or wrong. the other difficulty, of course, for the gang of seven as it is relatively easy to say what you are against, you are against mr corbyn, you are against his brexit strategy and what she regard as the culture of intimidation. the charter when you have to say what you are full, which means it is more likely to see tensions and divisions in their own ranks. as for the tory side of the equation, which probably makes it less likely you will see a significant number of tory

defections is that for the gang of seven, clearly mr corbyn's leadership is an absolutely key factor. bluntly, leadership is an absolutely key factor. blu ntly, they leadership is an absolutely key factor. bluntly, they believe he is not fit to be prime minister. tory mps may have significant disagreements with theresa may over brexit but i don't think they put her in any sense in the same category as jeremy corbyn and her in any sense in the same category asjeremy corbyn and they may take the view that once brexit is eventually result there is a greater chance of the tory party, if you like, returning to its natural equilibrium, whereas the gang of seven seem equilibrium, whereas the gang of seven seem to take the view that the labour party is now lost tojeremy corbyn and what they regard as the ha rd left. thank you very much, norman. i'll be speaking to the shadow business secretary, rebecca long—bailey, in around ten minutes' time, to get more on all of this — so stay with us for that. the founder of the chinese communications giant huawei has said the united states will not crush the company, despite washington urging its allies to boycott it. ren zhengfrei also told the bbc that the arrest of his daughter, the company's chief financial officer, was politically motivated. the united states has accused huawei

of stealing trade secrets and creating security loopholes for the chinese state to exploit, which mr ren fiercely denied. translation: our company will never undertake any spying activities and will never accept anyone's instructions to install a back door. if we have 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 over there? translation: we will continue to invest in the uk. we trust in the uk. we hope that the uk will trust us even more, because if the us doesn't trust us, then we will shift our investment from the us to the uk on an even bigger scale. the centre of the way speaking to

the bbc. -- the centre of the way speaking to the bbc. —— the founder of huawei. the headlines on bbc news... japanese car giant honda confirms it plans to shut its swindon factory in 2021 with the loss of 3,500 jobs — citing its need to invest in a changing marketplace. a warning tojeremy corbyn that more labour mps could split from the party — after seven mps quit yesterday to form an independent group. and 16 us states are suing the trump administration — after the us president declared an emergency to raise funds for a mexican border wall. and in sport... manchester united heap more pressure on chelsea manager maurizio sarri. paul pogba makes one, and scores the other as their 2—0 win sets up an fa cup quarter final at wolves. leeds united have been fined £200,000 by the english football league for spying on opponents' training sessions before matches. their manager admitted he sent someone to watch derby train last month. and britain's george russell has high hopes for his first season as a formula one driver, but his williams team couldn't get their new car to barcelona

on time for four days of testing. i'll be back with more on those stories later. see you in half an hour. thank you, sally. each year in the uk, more than 50,000 people die from sepsis. it's a serious complication resulting from an infection, and can lead to multiple organ failure. now a team at the university of strathclyde hopes a new test they've developed could help speed up diagnosis, potentially saving thousands of lives a year. tim muffett reports. twice my heart stopped, i had two cardiac arrests in hospital, and i was in an induced coma for eight days. what started as a sore throat nearly ended ryan's life. i went to the doctor and was sent home. i was gradually feeling more unwell and i really couldn't recognise what was happening to me. my whole body ached, i felt really confused. ryan was sent home again by a different gp. the next morning,

i collapsed in the house. my wife phoned an ambulance. and the paramedics came out and the first thing they said was it could be sepsis. it was really scary, i couldn't believe somebody could go from having a sore throat to almost die. a quicker diagnosis could have got ryan on antibiotics faster. he has made a full recovery, but a quarter of sepsis survivors suffer permanent, life—changing after—effects. normally, when we pick up an infection, our immune system tries to fight it, attacking the germs that caused it. with sepsis, and no—one fully understands why, it overreacts, attacking notjust the infection but organs and body tissue as well. a one—hour delay in administering the correct antibiotic can lead to a 10% increased chance of death. blood tests and diagnosis can take hours or days, so, this team at the university of strathclyde in glasgow have been working on a way to make it easier and quicker. we have put an array of eight

sensors on to a microchip, and these sensors are about the same size as a human hair. this enables us to measure a sepsis marker in the blood at very low situations and very quickly. —— very low concentrations. so, you could drop the blood on to the chip, and get a result on screen. it tells us a sepsis biomarker was present in the sample. what impact could this technology have? ultimately, save lives and reduce suffering from sepsis. getting a diagnosis early is critical. it will be at least three years before this product is available, and medical expertise will still be needed to come up with a diagnosis. but the work is receiving a cautious welcome. sepsis now kills more people than bowel, breast and prostate cancer combined. the number of episodes that are recorded of sepsis is increasing. a lot of that is because we are reporting and therefore recording it more frequently. but, of course, we have a growing population, and an ageing population, and sepsis preferentially affects

the very young and very old, although not exclusively. if you feel very much more unwell than you have before, and if something just doesn't feel right, trust your instincts. phone 101 or go and see your gp, and just ask, could it be sepsis? sepsis is treatable and survivable but, as ryan knows, a late diagnosis can make things far worse. tim muffett, bbc news. let's now speak to campaigner melissa mead, a mum from cornwall whose son died from sepsis in 2014 just after his first birthday. melissa, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us. i have been looking at the video you made in memory of your beautiful boy william to raise awareness of sepsis. you said in that video, this really struck me, i didn't know about sepsis and the doctors didn't

suspect it. what did they think what's wrong with william? for the whole time we took him to the doctors we were sent away with the diagnosis of a viral cough. like you say, they didn't suspect it at all, and if they are not going to suspect that i will not think about it, because i simply did not know what it was. how quickly did it become clear that william was gravely ill? from his first symptom of sepsis to his death was 36 hours, we were sent home during that period even though he was gravely ill, and i think highlighting ryan's story, he was sent home by the gp. in many circumstances these kinds of tests are fantastic but we need to make sure that the people in the community are thinking about sepsis. afterwards, when you learned what had happened, did it shock you that gps and doctors in the hospital did not realise sooner that this was

what was wrong? precisely. it was devastating. for us, we would have hoped for a conclusion that he had died of something so rare that nobody could have spotted it, but to be told it was quite common, the third biggest killer in the uk and doctors and consultants are all trained on it, it is heartbreaking. of course. and we know that if sepsis is caught early enough and treated with antibiotics and fluids it can be treated very successfully. the new rapid test from researchers at the university of strathclyde can pretend —— potentially give a diagnosis intimate a half minutes, it can currently take up to 72 hours, that is an amazing step forward ? hours, that is an amazing step forward? anything that will identify sepsis much more quickly is always going to be welcomed, but the doctor treating the patient has to suspect it in order to do that test. and

like you heard and not reported before, we need to make sure that people are getting to a&e much more quickly within the hour with 10% chances of dying increasing, we need to make sure people get their much more quickly, there was on the front line, gps, are thinking sepsis in order to do that test, and when it comes to we can get treatment into people much more quickly. as members of the public, parents and individuals, that we are on —— armed with the information to say to armed with the information to say to agpor armed with the information to say to a gp or hospital doctor, could it be sepsis? there is the speed of the test but awareness is crucial. since william's death, how much do you think the awareness has improved, since that time? i would say dramatically, people are talking about it in the community, we see it in the doctor's' surgeries, in the thanasi is, in the doctor's' surgeries, in the tha nasi is, the in the doctor's' surgeries, in the thanasi is, the work of the sepsis

chess get into the community, that is where it has to be, over 70% of sepsis cases come from the community. so we need to empower the public with the information and enable them to be confident at making a decision and raising the question of could it be sepsis? a vice thank you for talking to us, it is a wonderful legacy for william —— talking to us, it is a wonderful legacy for william -- thank you for talking to us, it is a wonderful legacy for william, all the awareness you have raised. thank you. let's get more now that the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, has been warned he faces the prospect of more resignations by labour mps in protest at his leadership. there was a stormy meeting of the parliamentary labour party last night, after seven backbenchers announced they were leaving to sit as independents because of mr corbyn's handling of brexit and anti—semitism. we're joined by shadow business secretary rebecca long—bailey, who's in our westminster studio. good morning and thank you for

joining us on bbc news at 9am. is mr corbyn listening to the likes of deputy leader tom watson? he said more mps could leave the party u nless more mps could leave the party unless mr corbyn tackles their concerns. yesterday was a very sad day both for other mps who are still within westminster but also right across the membership. we had a gi’oup across the membership. we had a group of mps who felt they could not stand on our policy platform, and a ma nifesto stand on our policy platform, and a manifesto set out in the 2017 general election which offered an agenda for transformation and hope and they all had various reasons as to why they could not do that. i know it was an agonising decision for many of them but i do not think it was right at a time when many communities are facing horrific policies like universal credit, rising crime, poverty on levels that even the un has called out as apparent. it was right for us to unify as a party, have discussions

and disagreements behind closed doors, and we would expectjeremy to listen to that as our leader, and he does, but to make sure that for the rest of the world and the country that we put on a unified front and deliver the force for change that communities need. the face you say a unified front, that unity has to go much deeper than a front. lbs unified front, that unity has to go much deeper than a front. lsteremy corbyn's handling of brexit, i am sure you will accept, will be crucial to the future of labour and perhaps as to whether other mps follow the seven who left yesterday? i think we can all agree the government's handling of brexit has been bumbling, to say the least. has labour's been any more effective? be asked for the government to recognise eu nationals here within great britain, we pushed for it and it was agreed. we pushed for a transition period, the government agreed to and implemented that. we

pushed against the government's proposals in relation to not supporting a customs union arrangements because we know how damaging it would be two industries, now the government has to consider its options, because the options they are putting on the table do not support industries all communities. we are putting forward a radical alternative that we think could bring the country and to mps together within westminster around a customs union deal, a strong single market deal and a clear fall under existing rights in relation to workers, environmental standards and health and safety. the base the seven mps who left the labour party yesterday clearly think there are huge flows in jeremy corbyn's leadership and whether he can be an effective leader of the labour party, let alone a potential prime minister. with so much anger and concern, do you really expect that there will not be more mps following in the footsteps of the seven

yesterday? i truly hope there are not, i know many other other mps are labour to that calljeff not, i know many other other mps are labour to that call jeff but what willjeremy corbyn due to address those concerns? in the wake of the seven going, he needs to convince those still in the labour party that he can lead the party?” those still in the labour party that he can lead the party? i am sure there is decisions will be held with mps who might be troubled or have concerns that they specifically want to raise withjeremy, but our mps are labour to their call, they want to deliver the change that communities need. they have expressed issues in various things, they understand we have these conversations with each other and ourselves and we try to formulate policies and programmes in the party to keep us together and unify us,

but to break away and create the risk of prolonging a conservative government is not labour and it is not what many of our mps and members wa nt to not what many of our mps and members want to see. the news on honda, 3500 jobs to go in swindon, their chief executive for europe says it is not about brexit but why do structural issues. what would labour do to try to mitigate the huge effects of this? this is absolutely devastating for the 3500 workers at swindon but also right across the supply chain, those businesses who provide parts and services to honda, and indeed the local economy, all of the shops and businesses that rely on those workers spending their money in the local area, and it is a devastating blow to our automotive industry, the jewel in britain's crown, as it were. there are a number of questions i would ask and we'll be pushing the government to make a statement on this. honda have stated it is not to do with brexit, it is to do with commercial decisions but commercial decisions don'tjust appear out of thin air, there has to bea appear out of thin air, there has to be a rationale for making those commercial decisions. i also

understand they are not ceasing production of these models, they are going to be producing them within japan and still exporting them to the eu so it is interesting to note that only in the last few weeks there has been a trade deal between there has been a trade deal between the eu and japan that imposes zero ta riffs the eu and japan that imposes zero tariffs on vehicles. they also mention electric vehicle production and the fact they need to ramp up their processes and investment in those processes, and i would question why they don't have the confidence to invest in those processes here in britain. is it because of business uncertainty due to brexit? is it because we don't have a robust and radical industrial strategy that is investing in research and development to the levels required in our infrastructure was make to the levels required, for example. these are all things we have set out as a potential labour in government, we wa nt to potential labour in government, we want to improve the amount we spend on research investment, increase it to 3% of our gdp which is what other leading industrial nations do, similarly with infrastructure we have set out a £250 billion plan to give our infrastructure of the

biggest upgrade it has seen in a generation. certainly, just saying it isa generation. certainly, just saying it is a commercial decision isn't good enough. we need to see the detail now. we have to leave it there, rebecca long—bailey shadow business secretary, thank you for that. in a moment the weather but first let's here'sjoanna gosling with what's coming up on the victoria derbyshire programme at10am. good morning. we speak to alex skeel who was told he was ten days away from death when he escaped a violent, controlling relationship with his girlfriend. 22—year—old jordan worth was jailed for seven and a half years, becoming the first woman in the uk to be convicted of the offence of coercive control. alex's story has been made into a bbc three documentary and he talks to us alongside the police officer who helped him to realise he was being abused. join us for that interview at 10am, bbc two, the bbc news channel and online. now it's time for a look at the weather with carol kirkwood. good morning, carol. it sounds like it is getting milder.

it certainly is, by friday some parts of the uk could hit 18 degrees, others are widely15—16. this morning it has been a chilly start, some frost and some fog, a lot of sunshine, showers in the west replaced by thicker cloud coming in turning sunshine hazy in the west and already we are starting to see the signs of some rain arriving in northern ireland and by mid afternoon it will be affecting western parts of england, wales and scotland. through this evening and overnight the rain will continue to push north—eastwards, it will be heavy across cumbria and western scotland. a lot of cloud around, a milder night than the one just gone so milder night than the one just gone so no issues with frost. tomorrow we will say goodbye to the rain as it pushes into the northern isles to be replaced by another band coming in from the west. again, tomorrow, that will tend to ease through the day and return more patchy in nature. there will be quite a bit of cloud around tomorrow but across the north—east of scotland, parts of eastern england, favoured for the sunshine, temperatures widely in double figures. hello, good morning, this is bbc

news at nine with me annita mcveigh. the headlines for you. japanese car giant honda confirms it plans to shut its swindon factory in 2021 with the loss of 3,500 jobs — citing its need to invest in a changing marketplace. jeremy corbyn is warned that more labour mps could split from the party — after seven mps quit to form an indepdendent group yesterday. 16 us states are suing the trump administration — after the us president declared an emergency to raise funds for a mexican border wall. researchers develop a new test could speed up the diagnosis of sepsis — potentially saving thousands of lives a year. and the golden eagle could be making a return to wales. researchers say they may introduce the species back into its landscape for the first time since the 1800s. some figuresjust in,

some figures just in, the some figuresjust in, the number of people in work has reached a record high of 32.6 million. we will get more detail on that and some analysis for you in just a few minutes. another line to bring you is unemployment fell by 1a,000 between october and december two 1.36 million, according to those officialfigures. time now for the morning briefing, where we bring you up to speed on the stories people are watching, reading and sharing. the japanese car maker, honda, has confirmed that it will close its plant in swindon in three years' time. that is a huge talking point this morning. the plant employs 3,500 workers. the japanese company made 160,000 models of the honda civic at the factory last year. ian howells is honda's senior vice

president in europe — the most senior person in the company. here he is responding to the announcement. it is certainly a very sad day for us, as it is certainly a very sad day for us, as you it is certainly a very sad day for us, as you said, we have been here 30 years in a manufacturing sense and it is something in terms of a decision, we have not taken this lightly. but as our president has announced globally today, this is actually being driven by some very big and really unprecedented changes in what we are seeing in our motor vehicle industry. this is a move really towards electrification. we started to see it in europe, we have started to see it in europe, we have started to see it in europe, we have started to see it around the world and it is in response to what our consumers are looking at and also what legislation is driving us towards. u nfortu nately, what legislation is driving us towards. unfortunately, that means we have to start looking very closely at where we focus our investments and at the moment that's going to be in the markets where we have large production and large manufacturing, and that's the type of areas like north america, china andjapan of areas like north america, china and japan where we are looking at probably around 2 million units per marketplace in that respect. when we look at europe, unfortunately we are looking at probably around 150,000

units so when you start to look at where the investment needs to be made, the investment in markets, u nfortu nately made, the investment in markets, unfortunately that means as far as swindon goes the investment is not going to go there. what we are announcing today is a proposal to shut swindon in 2021, which is the end of the current life—cycle of the civic, the car they are currently producing, and we are working towards that date and that day we imagine we will cease production altogether. the eu and japan have just done a trade deal which means over time you can export from japan free of charge into the eu, how much ofan impact free of charge into the eu, how much of an impact if i have on your decision? nothing at all. we are very aware of the european partnership agreement with japan. it is something we see as, relatively, way of doing business. what we are talking about here is a strategic change in the way we are producing vehicles, the type of vehicles we are producing and that's what we're looking at today, we are not looking

at that operational, tactical type of pricing or costing. we are looking at a big strategic change. the eu deal made no to japan, and of course, the question everyone will be thinking about is brexit. if i look back to a document you put out in 2017, you a very sustainable future for honda in the uk, that seems an enormous change of posture ina seems an enormous change of posture in a very, very rapid frame of time. in 2017 you said there is a sustainable future for honda and that has changed very quickly. i'd like to say. that brexit as well as the european partnership agreement is not something that has been part of this decision. what this decision is being driven by is a combination of two factors. one, 2021 is the date at which the new civic will start production and two is that we have to start to make that decision now. honda's senior vice president in europe ian howells. labour has been warned that more mps could leave the party unless it changes.

seven backbenchers have quit and formed an independent group, in protest atjeremy corbyn's handling of brexit and the anti—semitism row. the shadow chancellor, john mcdonnell, has been giving his reaction. i went to a labour party meeting last night. people were very straightforward. i listen to what tom watson said as well and i agree with him, we need to start listening and that's what we will do. we need and that's what we will do. we need a mammoth, massive listening exercise and address some of the criticisms that have been made. i think we are finding a way forward but it's got to be on the basis of taking the advice of people like tom watson, the plp, and others. how worried are you about this group of seven defectors? i'm really disappointed. i don't understand why they have gone, i still can't understand it, all the issues that they have raised we are addressing andi they have raised we are addressing and i would rather they had stayed with us and help to sort those problems out there and walk away. i'm hoping we will maintain some form of dialogue. there were reported to be about 36 people who

considered defecting. isn't that worrying? i don't think there is that scale. the key issue for us, and it was made clear the parliamentary labour party, tom watson has said it and others, the labour leadership, and i'm part of that, we need to keep listening, bring people in, talk to them and if there are issues we have to address we will address them and if it's about the style of the leadership we will address that, if it is about policy we will listen to that as well. the phone calls i have had this morning have not been about the labour party, they have been about 3500 people at honda losing their jobs and brexit and that's what we have to concentrate on and focus our minds on. we can get bogged down in terms of internal party differences but in the real world out there people are losing theirjobs, they have the threat of no—deal brexit, thatis have the threat of no—deal brexit, that is what we have to focus on, as we sort out our party problems as well. john mcdonnell. let's look at what you are reading on the bbc news app, at number one it is the news honda has confirmed it will close

its swindon car plant in three yea rs' its swindon car plant in three years' time with a loss of 3500 jobs, unsurprisingly that's the number one story that you are looking at. at number two is a story that has just come in looking at. at number two is a story that hasjust come in in looking at. at number two is a story that has just come in in the last short while. 11 people are being held after a man dies after being stabbed in the euston area of london. the victim, after being stabbed, made his way into the reception of a hotel where staff tried to help him but he died shortly afterwards. this was near euston station late last night, so 11 people have been arrested and are being held on suspicion of murder, say police. looking down to the most watched, the number one story is about syrians returning home, queueing, in fact, about syrians returning home, queueing, infact, to about syrians returning home, queueing, in fact, to return home after yea rs of queueing, in fact, to return home after years of war. there are now long queues to re—enter the country each day on the border withjordan. jordan opened its crossing towards

the end of last year after the security situation improved on the syrian side of the border and it is reported several thousand people are looking to re—enter syria each day, traders and returning refugees and so traders and returning refugees and so on, so that's our number one story on the most watched. that's it for today's morning briefing. sport now and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's sally nugent. beginning with the fa cup. yes, cracking game to watch if you we re yes, cracking game to watch if you were a neutral, perhaps not if you we re were a neutral, perhaps not if you were a neutral, perhaps not if you were a chelsea fan. manchester united cruised past chelsea 2—0 last night to reach the quarter—finals of the fa cup. and in doing so, heaped the pressure on blues boss maurizio sarri. sarri said his side looked confused as they slumped to a fourth defeat in five games. -- third —— third defeat in five games. ander herrara put united ahead.

man of the match paul pogba provided the cross for that goal, and then scored one himself on the stroke of half time. united just look so galvanised under caretaker manager ole gunnar solskjaer — look at these pictures of herrara and striker alexis sanchez. an absolute massive result. obviously we have had some criticism after the game against psg. we didn't create a lot. well, tonight was a tough, tough game, and i have to say everyone, down to a t, they did absolutely what we asked about them. we were unlucky because we played very good first half. and as the end of the first half it was 2—0. i feel the pressure for the result, of course! not something else. it seems like now is an appropriate moment to look at some of this morning's back pages.

the sun makes no bones about it — they're saying sarriverderci — the boss on borrowed time. the times have also gone with sarri on the back page — but they say he is on the brink. certainly looks like the players weren't playing for him last night. the telegraph focus tho on a brilliant manchester united performance. perfect pogba and a picture of the pile—on. the draw for the quarterfinals took place after the final whistle. manchester united's reward for beating chelsea is a trip to wolves. the other three matches see swansea host premier league champions manchester city. millwall take on brighton and watford play crystal palace. the draw for the women's fa cup quarterfinals sees holders chelsea travel to durham, while women's super league leaders manchester city will face liverpool. manchester united will play reading and aston villa host west ham. leeds united have been fined £200,000 by the english football league for spying on opponents' training sessions before matches. the efl said leeds' conduct "fell significantly short of the standards expected" and it

"must not be repeated". manager marcelo bielsa admitted he sent someone to watch derby train before the fixture between the two sides last month. there he is explaining with his spreadsheet. a rematch between tyson fury and deontay wilder could be in doubt because they've signed deals with rival tv networks in the usa. their first fight in los angeles last december was shown on showtime in the us, who wilder is tied to. however, fury‘s next five fights will have to be shown on rival espn after he agreed a deal worth a reported £80 million. hopes of eitherfacing anthonyjoshua are also slim as he is with another broadcaster. i've already beat deontay wilder in his own country. if the rematch happens, it happens. if it doesn't, it doesn't. it's not the end of the world.

it is what it is. it is only a boxing fight. i have already beat him in america. i want the fight to happen, so, let's make it happen. where better than the biggest tv station in the world to do it? meanwhile nicola adams‘ world title fight against mexico's arely muscino at the royal albert hall next month is off because adams is injured. the fight will take place later this year. the williams formula one team will be missing again from pre—season testing which is underway in barcelona. which is under way in barcelona. they are the only team who couldn't get their car ready in time. they're hoping britain's george russell will get to drive it tomorrow. ferrari's sebastian vettel topped the timesheets, while world champion lewis hamilton was one of the slowest in his mercedes. and finally 21 brave souls gathered at the cresta run in the swiss town of st moritz over the weekend to take part in the grand national toboggan race. only members of the st moritz tobogganing club can take part in the iconic run

which drops by 514 feet, with ten corners on the course. the infamous shuttlecock corner saw a few runs come to an early end. everyone who crashed was ok though. the winner for the second year running was switzerland's nico juelich. and finally, we all know that liverpool is as famous for music as it is for football. the beatles conquered all of europe, much like the football team and are extremely popular in germany. as bayern munich have shown with this instagram post ahead of their champions league match at anfield tonight. here's their take on the beatles classic abbey road album cover. a reminder that sportsday is on the news channel at 6:30pm this evening. we'll be live at anfield to look ahead to liverpool's last 16 first leg match against bayern munich. and there's live commentary on the big match on radio 5 live as well.

kick off‘s at 8pm and there's live text commentary on the bbc sport website. i think ithinki i think i can safely say we have it covered. back to you. loving the creativity from buying munich, sally! thanks very much. the time is 9:49am. the headlines for you now. japanese car giant honda confirms it plans to shut its swindon factory in 2021 with the loss of 3,500 jobs — citing its need to invest in a changing marketplace. a warning tojeremy corbyn that more labour mps could split from the party — after seven mps quit yesterday to form an indepdendent group. and figures released in the last few minutes show the number of people in work has reached a record high of 32.6 million. an update on the market numbers for you — here's how london and frankfurt stand at the moment. and in the the united states this is how the dow and the nasdaq are getting on. let's get more on those official

figures on unemployment just let's get more on those official figures on unemploymentjust in in the last few minutes showing unemployment fell by 1a,000 between october and december. down to 1.36 million. that is a 1t% unemployment rate. our business correspondent simon gompertz is here. give us some more detail on those jobs figures and wages. against the background of worries about the future of the car industry this is a pretty positive picture aboutjobs and wages. on thejobs pretty positive picture aboutjobs and wages. on the jobs front, that unemployment rate of 1t% of the workforce is very low historically, and the number of people employed at 32.6 million is a record in recent times that they have measured, so we are going back to the 70s and earlier. so, this is positive news. on the wages front, that's rising at 3.4%a on the wages front, that's rising at 3.1t%a year

on the wages front, that's rising at 3.1t% a year according to these figures. now, you have to take off at the rate of price rises in the economy because we are trying to keep up with prices, but that's running at 2.3%, so in what we call real terms, our wages on average, some people might have wages not going up that much, but on average they are going up by a little more than 1% and that keeps us ahead of price rises in the shops. one interesting discussion point around thejobs figures is interesting discussion point around the jobs figures is what some might call the quality of those jobs. how many of those jobs are zero—hours contracts, which suit some people are very contracts, which suit some people are very well, but obviously caused are very well, but obviously caused a lot of concern for others? the office for national statistics puts out precise figures on that. 844,000 people in zero—hours contracts, they say. and that's down 57,000. and so thatis say. and that's down 57,000. and so that is a shrinkage of the number of people relying on zero—hours contracts, and other interesting news about the labour market is more older women coming into the labour market, and that's probably a result of the pension age going up and it's

one of the reasons why the total number of people employed is rising. there is also some detail in there on the number of eu citizens working in the uk. it is something a lot of people watch, and perhaps predictably, given the political climate at the moment, the number of eu people in the uk working is down 61,000 a yearon eu people in the uk working is down 61,000 a year on year and people from other parts of the world working in the uk is up 130,000 a year on year so you see working in the uk is up 130,000 a year on year so you see a working in the uk is up 130,000 a year on year so you see a shift from where people coming to work in the uk are from. . thank you very much, simon gompertz. a coalition of 16 us states is taking donald trump to court over over his plan to use emergency powers to spend billions of dollars on a wall along the border with mexico. led by california, the states say they re suing the president to protect their residents, natural resources and economic interests. our north america correspondent peter bowes reports. another legal showdown over a policy

at the heart of donald trump a's agenda. the 16 states including california, new mexico and new york arguing that the president doesn't have the authority to use funds already allocated to other projects to build a wall. it follows congress's rejection of mr trump's demand for $5.7 billion. he got 1.3 billion for an election promise that he originally said mexico would pay for. but on the wall, they skimped, so for. but on the wall, they skimped, soi for. but on the wall, they skimped, so i was successful in that sense. but i want to do it faster. the states are arguing it is congress's role to allocate funding and that the president has no right to invoke a state of emergency to get what he wa nts. a state of emergency to get what he wants. president trump got it right when he said he didn't have to do this. mr president, you shouldn't do this. mr president, you shouldn't do this. the trump administration already faces multiple lawsuits over

his declaration, including one from the american civil liberties union. but they may be in for a tough fight. the president has wide discretion over what constitutes a national emergency. donald trump saw the lawsuits coming when he announced his decision to override congress and he said he expected to be sued and that the matter would probably end up being decided by the us supreme court. peter bowes, bbc news. there are calls for fashion producers to be charged a penny for every new item of clothes they make, to help improve collection and recycling rates. that's the view of mps, who say fast fashion where clothes are made cheaply and quickly in response to trends is a major contributor to greenhouse gases, pollution and overuse of water. here's our environment analyst roger harrabin. sifting the residue of fast fashion, millions of clothes, many of them barely one, some garments at this sorting centre in kent will be sent to eastern europe, some to africa, some will be offered for sale second hand in the uk. we throw away over1

million tonnes of clothing here in the uk and 300,000 of those tonnes of clothing go to landfill or incineration. so what we are saying is that fashion needs to take responsibility for the clothes it puts on the market and we want the government to introduce an extended producer responsibility scheme to invest in recycling and sorting centres like this one in every city in the uk. the impacts of fast fashion stretch round the world. in east asia, many rivers are polluted with waste from the clothing industry. the fashion trade produces as many greenhouse gases as all the world's aircraft. young people's habits of buying cheap clothes that don't last, then throwing them away, isa don't last, then throwing them away, is a trend that must end, the mps say, and they want the government to make firms pay the cost of disposing of old clothes. green campaigners say their recommendations are tame. they say we need to hold cultural

change to end what they call overconsumption of clothing. roger harrabin, bbc news. researchers are hoping a new wildlife project will bring the golden eagle back to wales after nearly 200 years. the species is one of britain's rarest birds of prey and can only be found in small areas of scotland and northern ireland. there are just around 500 breeding pairs of the birds remaining in the wild after they were hunted down in the 1850s. now it's time for a look at the weather with alina jenkins. good morning. good morning. good morning, anita, the favourite temperature record was set in 1998 where we saw a high of 19.7 celsius. while we may not be breaking records over the next few days, we are going to see increasingly mild, if not warm airflooding all the to see increasingly mild, if not warm air flooding all the way up from africa. by the end of the week, temperatures are going to be quite widely 16 or 17 celsius, somewhere could well see 18, not quite 19.7 celsius but well above the february

average. back to today and we are in between weather systems, this is yesterday's rain, long cleared eastwards, we have this mass of cloud approach in western scotland and northern ireland bringing increasingly wet and windy conditions here. ahead of it we have some sunshine, also a few showers, so some sunshine, also a few showers, soa some sunshine, also a few showers, so a great recipe for rainbows across south—west england just a few hours ago. this theme continues through the day, some showers across western areas running through the central belt of scotland, the best sunshine across eastern and south—eastern england, mainly fine and dry day here, but turning increasingly wet and windy across northern ireland, really quite a blustery afternoon here, the rain slowly extending its way north and eastwards. temperature was, nine or 10 celsius for scotland and northern ireland, 11 or 12 and the best sunshine further south and east. increasingly breezy as well, this is an idea of average strengths through the afternoon but they will strengthen across northern ireland and western isles this evening as the rain settles in, becoming persistent and heavy across north—west england into western scotland, perhaps up to a couple of inchesin scotland, perhaps up to a couple of inches in places. the rain clears

from northern ireland eventually and things they mainly dry across southern parts of wales into southern parts of wales into southern and eastern england, it will be a milder night than the one just gone. lows of around six or seven celsius. into tomorrow we still have our frontal system with us, you still have our frontal system with us, you can see still have our frontal system with us, you can see it is mainly affecting the northern half of the uk, further south it will continue mainly dry, but fairly cloudy. still some outbreaks of rain to come tomorrow morning particularly across scotla nd tomorrow morning particularly across scotland and northern england, becoming increasingly patchy through the day, some showery rain working eastwards a cross the day, some showery rain working eastwards across parts of wales. the best of the dry and bright weather the further south and east you are, 12 or 13 celsius. a quick look ahead to thursday, which for many looks to be dry with increasing amounts of sunshine, a bit more cloud to the far north and west of the uk, could provide one or two showers, but most will have a fine, dry and mild day. by will have a fine, dry and mild day. by this stage temperatures up to 13 or 14 celsius and this theme continues heading towards the end of the week, increasing amounts of sunshine, temperatures widely 15 or 16 celsius, somewhere it will see

18. bye—bye. hello, it's tuesday, it's ten o'clock, i'm joanna gosling. the labour leadership is warned that more mps could join the seven who have quit the party to sit as an independent group in parliament. the bbc has been told that at least two conservative mps are considering joining them too. we need to start listening, and that's what we'll do. i think we need a mammoth, massive listening exercise and address some of the criticisms made. we'll speak to labour voters and hearfrom derek hatton, who was expelled from the labour party in the 1980s as part of a purge of the hard left militant tendency. he says he's now been allowed to rejoin the party. we speak to alex skeel, who was told he was ten days away from death when he finally escaped a violent, controlling relationship with his girlfriend. she was the first woman in britain to be convicted of using coercive control in a relationship. he tells us how hard it is for people to walk away