"don't blame brexit," says honda, as it confirms it's closing down its factory in swindon 3,500 jobs will go in two years‘ time — the unions call it a shattering blow. there's about 10, 12 peoplejust from our little family, all work here. good friends that work here and i know they've just got married, had babies, just bought houses, and you feel for these people. have japanese firms lost faith in the uk? we'll have a special report from tokyo. also this lunchtime — after the resignation of seven labour mps, the shadow chancellor says the party needs a mammoth listening exercise. donald trump is sued by 16 american states for invoking emergency powers to build his wall. karl lagerfeld — a creative giant of the fashion industry — dies at the age of 85. and, where golden eagles dare — plans to bring them back to wales for the first time in centuries.

and coming up on bbc news, jurgen klopp says the league is liverpool's priority ahead of their last 16 tie with bayern munich in the champions league. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. the japanese car maker honda has confirmed it's closing its factory in swindon in 2021 — with a loss of 3,500 jobs. at a news conference in tokyo, the company's boss denied that brexit is a factor. instead, he said the closure is because of dramatic changes in the car industry — especially the need to move to electric vehicles. in the last hour, the business secretary has described the news as a bitter blow, and promised the government will

help those workers who're affected. here's our business correspondentjonty bloom. this factory alone builds one in ten of all the cars produced in the uk. but today, production ground to a halt as 3,500 workers were told the factory will close in just two years‘ time. honda opened 30 years ago. at the time, its arrival was seen as a massive vote of confidence in the british economy. this morning honda will open its new car assembly plant in swindon. and its closure will be a massive blow, not just to the town but to whole generations of families who have come to depend on it. my wife works here, my brother works here, my cousin works here. i'm trying to think. there's loads of us. her dad, stepdad, her brother. her mum works in the canteen, her other brother's a chef in here. i don't know, there's about 10, 12 people just from our little family all work here.

good friends that work here that i know have just got married, had babies, just bought houses and it's just, like, you feel for these people. i feel for everyone, i really do. even the management that spoke to us inside, like. you can see it in their faces, they are just as shocked as everybody else. this morning the business secretary tried to reassure those honda workers. we completely understand the challenges that you face and we will do everything that we possibly can to support every single person in the community, in the workforce, in the supply chain to make sure that their skills and their ingenuity will find expression and application in the years ahead. and the consequences will be felt notjust in swindon but throughout this country and the rest of europe. the distribution network of lorries which feeds the factory employs at least 1,200 people. on top of that, suppliers of exhausts, suspensions, windscreens, cables and the 2 million other components used here every single day will lose a huge part of their business when honda goes. the supplier network of this closure

here at honda could be significant, because we will see local companies having to shed workers because they'll be losing their honda orders. and that may pose risks on the stability of the supply network for other manufacturing companies in the uk. honda insists the production line at swindon that uses those millions of pounds worth of components a day is not the victim of brexit, although it has recently complained that border delays and tariffs would cost it dear. instead, it says, the sudden global shift to electric cars is behind this decision. this is a move, really, towards electrification. we started to see it in europe, we've started to see it around the world, and it's in response to what our consumers are looking at and also what legislation is driving us towards. 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 a large production and large manufacturing, and that's the type of areas like north america, china and japan. the uk is investing heavily in an attempt to become a world leader in new electric cars, so honda's decision is not only a severe shock to the car industry now, but a serious setback to those ambitions. jonty bloom, bbc news. 0ur correspondent athar ahmed is at the honda plant in swindon. tell us a bit more about the mood there, athar ahmed. there, athar at tell us a bit more about the mood there, athar at around 9am this morning a large number of honda employees started leaving the car plant employees started leaving the car pla nt after employees started leaving the car plant after management had told them earlier in the morning that the plant would be shutting down in 2021 and that 3500 jobs would be lost as and that 3500 jobs would be lost as a result. just to give you a sense of scale as to how big this car plant is, it is a 370 acre site,

160,000 honda civics were produced here last year, and as i said, 3500 jobs are expected to be lost, which adds to the sense of shock and devastation here today in swindon. i spoke to many of the workers as they we re spoke to many of the workers as they were coming out. one individual told me he'd worked here in swindon for more than 20 years and anticipated retiring here but he thought this was his finaljob, and now he's having to consider looking elsewhere. another person i spoke to told me that 12 members of his extended family had worked at honda over the last few years. there was a real sense of community here which expands beyond just the company itself. and as i said, that sense of despair, that sense of confusion as to what might happen next is really felt here. athar ahmed, thank you very much indeed. athar ahmed at the honda plant in swindon. well, as we heard, honda is not the only japanese firm pulling investment from the uk. nissan, panasonic and sony have also made significant announcements over the past few months.

so, isjapan losing faith in the uk? from tokyo, our correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes reports. no—one likes delivering bad news and honda's ceo takahiro hachigo is no exception. after a prolonged explanation of the challenges facing honda, he finally got to this crucial line. translation: we will begin consultation with employees in a direction towards discontinuing automobile production at honda uk manufacturing in 2021. in other words, honda's uk plant is shutting down in two years' time. takahiro hachigo's explanation was long and rather vague but essentially it comes down to this. honda simply doesn't sell enough cars in europe to justify having a big plant in britain any more. instead, it wants to concentrate its production in places where it does sell a lot of cars. and that means the united states,

here injapan, and increasingly in china. but why do it now? well, one reason is the need to invest huge amounts in electric technology. but the other, according to some here, is brexit. the plant is sort of like a canary in a coal mine. it is the weaker entity there, and simply the business environment with the risk of a hard brexit has become too toxic to continue to participate there and they finally made the decision to close it. toyota's plant in derby is also producing far below its capacity, and therefore, is also at risk. but christopher richter thinks even the much bigger plant nissan has in sunderland is vulnerable to a no—deal brexit. now they still have the qashqai there, the smaller suv, and they are still going to let it

run out, the production on this iteration of the model. but i think it would be really hard to imagine that they continue for another iteration if we have the kind of hard brexit, 10% tariff, you know, barriers at the border kind of very toxic for business environment. in the 1980s, honda arrived in britain hoping to conquer the european car market. that did not happen. and now, after 30 years, is going home. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in tokyo. labour's shadow chancellor john mcdonnell says the party needs a mammoth listening exercise after seven mps quit yesterday. the party's leadership is being warned more labour mps could be close to resigning, and the bbc‘s also been told that two conservative mps may be about to leave their party. 0ur political correspondent nick eardley reports. good morning, mr corbyn, expecting any more resignations today? what

110w any more resignations today? what now for labour? after seven mps quit the party there are warnings that could be more to come. good morning to you all. good morning to you all and goodbye to you all. he wasn't giving much away but some in the party have real concerns that these mps could be joined soon party have real concerns that these mps could bejoined soon by party have real concerns that these mps could be joined soon by others, frustrated at the party's stance on brexit, angry at its handling of anti—semitism claims. brexit, angry at its handling of anti-semitism claims. i'm really disappointed, i don't understand why they've 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 stayed with us and i would rather they stayed with us and helped us sort those problems out and walk away, and i'm hoping we will maintain some form of dialogue. we need to start listening and that's what we will do, we need a mammoth, massive listening exercise and address some of those criticisms that have been made. so, i think we are finding a way forward. the question is, will a pledge to listen 110w question is, will a pledge to listen now be enough? because, there are many labour mps who are unhappy, who don't think the leadership has listened up until now and are warning that some are on the brink

and could end up leaving too. party loyalty is a big thing here and one of those who did make the leap yesterday says it won't be easy for others. i think that a number of my collea g u es others. i think that 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 and leave and resign from a party which i've been a member of four 41 yea rs. which i've been a member of four 41 years. one man who is back in the labour party is derek hatton, he was thrown out in the 80s as a member of the far left militant group and some think his readmission is a slap in the face. i've got very strong principles and views, values that i've always had. 0bviously, principles and views, values that i've always had. obviously, as time goes on, sort of things change at the edges but the fundamental stuff is exactly the same. this story isn't just about labour, is exactly the same. this story isn'tjust about labour, though, there are at least two conservatives in parliament who might end up leaving their party too. so, this independent group sitting in the top

right together in the commons for the first time, could get bigger. at a time of political upheaval, historic allegiances are being questioned. nick eardley, bbc news, westminster. let's go to our assistant political editor who is at westminster, norman smith. the leadership promising a listening exercise — will that stop other mps leaving the labour party? i think the honest answer is probably not. but whatjohn mcdonnell‘s intervention probably has done is put a breathing space, cooling off period, because he is much more emollient and conciliatory approach will help and it is better than going after recalcitrant labour mps with a metaphorical baseball bat. john mcdonnell is trying to reach out saying, i understand you haveissues reach out saying, i understand you have issues about policy, i understand you have issues about mr corbyn, we will even try, he says, to keep a dialogue going with some

of the defectors. but, so profound are the divisions over brexit, over mr corbyn‘s style of leadership, i think we will down the line see further mps jumping overboard. the reason they are not doing so at the moment is partly the softly softly approach from the leadership, partly i think people are waiting to see whether the gang of seven can make a success whether the gang of seven can make a success of it, because no one wants tojoina success of it, because no one wants tojoin a burning ship success of it, because no one wants to join a burning ship that's about to join a burning ship that's about to sink. partly, and perhaps most importantly, i think many labour mps are waiting and watching to see what jeremy corbyn does on brexit and whether he does now pivot to back a fresh referendum. and if he doesn't, then i suspect we may indeed see another tranche of labour mps abandoning the party. norman, many thanks. norman smith, ourassistant political editor. 16 us states are suing the trump administration over the president's plan to use emergency powers to pay for his border wall with mexico. the lawsuit, filed in a federal court in california, claims the president's move is a violation of the constitution. from los angeles

peter bowes reports. another legal showdown over a policy at the heart of donald trump's agenda. the 16 states — including california, new mexico and new york — are 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. soidid... i was successful, in that sense, but i want to do it faster. i could do the wall over a longer period of time — i didn't need to do this — but i'd rather do it much faster. and i don't have to do it for the election. i've already done a lot of wall. president trump got it right when he said he didn't have to do this.

mr president, you shouldn't do this. and i hope that smarter heads prevail in congress, bipartisanly, so that we stop the president from undermining 240 years of a democracy that most around the world try to emulate. the states are arguing that it's congress's role to allocate funding and that the president has no right to invoke a state of emergency to get what he wants. in colorado, we will be on the side of the rule of law. cheering and because colorado would be hurt by this illegal action, having funds that are dedicated to be spent here moved elsewhere, we will be joining in action to challenge this. cheering we will not be silenced! 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, 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. fashion brands and retailers should be charged a penny for every item of clothing they sell. that's the idea from a group of mps who want to end the throwaway culture which saw 235 million items of clothing sent to landfill last year in the uk. the mps say a penny levy would fund a clothes recycling scheme — as our environment analyst roger harrabin reports. the best designs from london fashion

week will be copied and sold on the high street, but there is concerns about where they will end up. at a sorting centre in kent they are sifting the residue of fashion, many clothes barely won. some will go to eastern europe, southern africa. mps say it is time for fashion producers to pay towards sorting out the mess. we throw away over 1 million tonnes of clothing in the uk, 300,000 of those go to landfill or incineration. we are saying that fashion needs to take responsibility for the clothes it puts on the market. covers the impact of fast fashion stretch around the world. many rivers in asia are polluted with waste from the clothes trade. the industry produces as many greenhouse gases as all the world's aircraft. it also creates many much—needed jobs. but young people because my

habit of buying cheap clothes that do not last and then throwing them away is a trend that must end, mps say. some retailers have agreed targets to recycle more. the problem with recycling is technology—based, there are not necessarily the strongest technical innovations available to recycle the volume of material we would like. it has been a big talking point among young diviners at london fashion week. —— young designers. ever since i have understood fast fashion is a bad thing, ifeel i have cut down so much on it where i buy and who i buy it from. because i am a student i prefer to get things from the high street, i cannot afford things in luxury brand shops. environmentalists warn we cannot carry on this way. people need to buy less, care for their clothes more and start thinking about what is the right thing to do in this context. we are facing global catastrophe. 0nly

catastrophe. only 11 retailers have adopted targets to reduce their shocking impact on the environment. the industry is starting to change, but whether consumer culture can change is another question. the time is 1:19pm. our top story this lunchtime... honda confirms it's closing down its factory in swindon — 3500 jobs will go in two years' time. and coming up... the sailor snapped by alfred eisenstaedt in the photograph died at the age of 95 coming up on bbc news, scotland will be without fly—half finn russell for their six nations match in france this weekend. he's failed to recover from the concussion which forced him off for club side racing 92. the golden eagle is one britain's rarest birds of prey, currently found only in small areas of scotland and northern ireland. but now, thanks to ambitious plans by conservationists,

they could soon return to wales, for the first time in 200 years. john maguire reports. with a wingspan of more than two metres the golden eagle is imposing, impressive, and imperious. an apex predator that targets both living and dead prey, feeding on mammals such as rabbits and birds as large as grouse. but persecution in the 19th century saw the population of breeding pairs reduced to the hundreds, and today confined to isolated pockets in remote areas of scotland and northern ireland. now, conservationists want to see them reintroduced to snowdonia. we propose to reintroduce the golden eagle back to snowdonia, where it belongs. snowdonia in welsh actually means "home of the eagle." these birds were... went extinct about 200 years ago, but we need to bring them back to balance our ecosystems and also to provide economic opportunities for rural communities.

but the proposals are contentious. the national farmers' union here in wales says it has real concerns about introducing this apex predator back into the welsh countryside, which the union says has changed hugely over the last 200 years. it's concerned about the threat especially to newborn baby lambs, and also to the wildlife that exists on farms, including many endangered species. rooney, an 11—year—old male, is often flown by his handler at this farm in the brecon beacons. the farmer here says he would be thrilled to see golden eagles return. i would like to see golden eagles back in wales, and i'm sure they would have a clean—up job and would be a good thing for the environment. returning these birds to north wales will require licensing and will have to be strictly controlled to ensure that if this majestic creature comes back then it will not only survive but also thrive. john maguire, bbc news.

record numbers of people are in work in the uk, according to the latest figures published this morning. official statistics also show average earnings rose in the year to december. 0ur personal finance correspondent simon gompertz is here. tell us more about the news and jobs? kidneys, the last three months of last year compared to the three months before, 80,000 more self—employed, 80,000 more unemployed people, most of those going into full—time employment —— good news, in the last three months of last year. and the average number, 4% unemployment. that figure might seem high to some but if you compare it against the recession after the financial crisis when it was over 8%, in the recession is in

the 80s and 90s over 10%, 4% is a really good figure and the lowest since 1975. one of the big figures cell factors is lots more women coming into thejobs market cell factors is lots more women coming into the jobs market and cell factors is lots more women coming into thejobs market and lots more employment for older women because of the pension age going up. and people can ask for higher wages? the average wage is 400 95p a week, but it is going up at a rate of almost 3.5%. so the buying power of the average wage, because it is rising that fast, and average, it is increasing at a faster rate than price increases in the shops, by about 1% a year. that puts people in about 1% a year. that puts people in a stronger position when they are shopping, they can really feel the benefit. thank you, simon gompertz. each year in the uk, more than 50,000 people die from sepsis. it happens when the body overreacts to an infection, and can lead to multiple organ failure.

now a team at the university of strathclyde is hoping that a new test it's 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, 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 dying. 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. 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 onto 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 concentrations, and very quickly. what impact could this technology have? ultimately, save lives and reduce suffering from sepsis. 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. sepsis is treatable and survivable but, as ryan knows, a late diagnosis can make things far worse. tim muffett, bbc news. the president of the national farmers' union has warned that a no—deal brexit is the stuff of nightmares. speaking at the nfu conference in birmingham, minette batters also said it was absolutely shocking farmers still don't know what trade conditions they'll be operating in after the uk leaves the european union. the environment secretary michael gove told the conference he's confident there will be a deal. more than 300 bin workers in birmingham are starting the first

of a series of strikes in a dispute with the city council. the action is in protest at payments made to some bin workers who didn't take part in industrial action 18 months ago, when thousands of tonnes of rubbish piled up on the streets. a police search is under way in australia for a missing british tourist and his french companion. the alarm was raised when a passer—by found items belonging to 20—year—old hugo palmer, who's from east sussex, on shelly beach on the new south wales coast. detectives said they'd later discovered the pair's rental car in a nearby car park. the foreign office says it's in contact with the australian authorities. the legendary fashion designer karl lagerfeld has died at the age of 85. he was the creative director for chanel, and had been unwell for several weeks, missing a number of recent fashion shows. chi chi izundu looks back at the life of one the industry's creative giants. insta ntly

instantly recognisable in a black and white suit, his white hair pulled back into a ponytail, fingerless gloves and dark sunglasses. karl lagerfeld, the german designer, had a seven decade career, created collections simultaneously thought the celebrated house of fendi and his own signature label, but he shall be best known for his association with chanel, which he had been with since 1983. when did you first start taking an interest in fashion? i was always interested in fashion even before i knew it was called fashion, it always fascinated me. in his first season he was reported to be working 16 hours a day and was delighted to do it. i am a caricature of myself and i like that, claims one quote attributed to

him. the news comes at one of the fashionable's busiest periods during london fashion week, with tributes pouring in. designer henry holland tweeted a coach from lagerfeld, to design is to breathe, so if i can't breathe i am in trouble. designer donatella versace posted a picture of herself and karl lagerfeld on instagram, writing your genius touch the lives of so many, especially gianni and i. we will never forget your talent and inspiration, we were always learning from you. in january inspiration, we were always learning from you. injanuary he missed a chanel haute couture show in paris, sparking speculation about his health. it was the first time he did not attend one of his catwalk shows. designer, photographer, businessman, karl 0tto lagerfeld is regarded as one of the most important fashion visionaries of the 20th and 21st centuries. the fashion designer karl lagerfeld, who's died aged 85. finally, it's an iconic image which came to symbolise the end of the second world war.

this famous photograph taken by alfred eisenstaedt shows an american sailor kissing a stranger in new york's times square to celebrate vj day. well, now that sailor — george mendonsa — has died at the age of 95. the photo was taken in august 1945 and went on to become one of the most famous of the twentieth century. time for a look at the weather. here's lucy martin. hello. a cool and frosty start for some of us this morning. that is the exception rather than the rule this week. this photo was