this is bbc news. the headline. three conservative mps quit the party over the government's handling of brexit. today theyjoined the new independent grip on the other side of the commons. you win in politics when you are in a team with shared values and principles and i believe that mine are no longer welcome in the conservative party. meanwhile theresa may is in brussels for crunch talks with european commission presidentjean—claude younger as the clock runs down to brexit. bangladesh says there is no question of shamima begum being allowed to enter the country after the uk government said they intended to revoke her british citizenship. a potentially fatal blow is dealt to the planned merger between sainsbury‘s and asda as the

competition watchdog says it could put up prices and cutjobs. and the stars have been arriving at london's 02 arena for the brit awards tonight. good evening. three conservative mps have resigned from the party today and it is with a savage attack on the handling of brexit by theresa may. heidi allen, anna soubry and sarah wollaston said the party have been taken over by hardline brexiteers. in a dramatic moment of parliamentary theatre, the three mps joined the newly formed independent group of labourmps joined the newly formed independent group of labour mps on the opposition benches. the prime minister said she was saddened by

the resignations. here is our deputy political editor and his report does contain some flash photography. small in number, big ambition. today a trio of mps walked away from the tory party and joined the breakaway band who had already quit labour, taking their first steps into the political centre as an independent group. with the labour quit as they make 11. joan ryanjoined last night. the new recruits setting up their grounds for divorce from the tory party. friends and family who enabled me to win... brexit a big reason for going. the hardline, anti—eu awkward squad that have destroyed every leader from the last a0 years are now running the conservative party from top to toe. they are the conservative party. i am not leaving the conservative party, it has left us. the conservatives said another had grown too harsh.

i am tired of feeling numb. i can no longer represent the government in a party that cannot open their eyes to the vulnerability of those in society. which has deepened whilst we have had the power to fix. all three have lost faith in theresa may's handling of brexit. the party that was once the most trusted on the economy and business is now marching us towards the cliff edge of a new deal brexit. edge of a no deal brexit. mps can transform politics in the way that you say and if i may, is a new party part of your plans and if it is do you accept that the odds in the political system are heavily against you succeeding? it is against us, but we have got to try. we have got to try. over the coming weeks and months we will be having conversations and most importantly reaching out to the country to see what they would

like from a new, moderate, centre—ground party. high drama has become commonplace. brexit is at a critical stage, the prime minister cornered and cornered again. now this is more evidence of a huge spring in traditional party loyalties. is it isita is it a turning point? far too early to say. this is something of a breaking point. tory colleagues have reacted, some insider at the foreign secretary berlin. these are extremely talented people and i hope one day we will be able to welcome them back into the conservative family and we will be able to do that by showing them the brexit we will deliver in accordance with the referendum is not the brexit of their worst fears. others demanding they face by—elections. let the people vote in those constituencies and see what people there think about this. here, at the moment the three now former tories took their new places, comradeship for new friends, a hostile act to

the big parties and to a prime minister still refusing to rule out a hostile act to the big parties and to a prime minister still refusing to rule out a no—deal brexit. we can take no deal off the table by agreeing a deal. the three tories had already joined the independent group and begun the long hard climb to political influence. when we look back on these scenes, quitting their party may seem like the easy bit. our political correspondence joins us now our political correspondence joins us now from westminster. jonathan, quite simply, a hugely significant day in british politics today. yes. it is quite something for three members of any party, let alone the governing party to decide that their time is up and they have no option left but to resign and that is what we saw today, with sarah wollaston, heidi allen and anna soubry setting out the reasons, both in terms of the policy that the conservative party has pursued in recent years, talking about the welfare programme of cuts, letting down the most

vulnerable in society, to what anna soubry described as the hard right, ha rd soubry described as the hard right, hard right members of the conservative party having taken it over from conservative party having taken it overfrom top to conservative party having taken it over from top to bottom and running the show, as she put it. also to the government's handling of brexit, all those reasons combined mean that those reasons combined mean that those three tory mps have joined the seven labour mps who announced that they were resigning at the beginning of the week and joan brian who added to that number yesterday to take the independent route to ii. we had this new group in parliament, that is what they are, not a formal couple —— michael political party, they do not have a leader or any political parties apart from some broad aims set out on their website. we have a sense of where they might be going but so far they seem to be seen how many more people may come on—board from any side the house of commons before they nail their colours to the mast and say this is what we stand for and this is what we will be pursuing, politically. it will be interesting to see how many more

peoplejoin them interesting to see how many more people join them and what impact and influence they can have. asjohn hinted at in his report, the system is stacked against them, favouring the two main parties here at westminster. obviously theresa may is in brussels at the moment, but her reaction to this news, how was that received? well, she said she was saddened by the decision of these three mps to resign. but she said that it is her commitment and the commitment of the government to pursue brexit and to deliver on what was her manifesto commitment of leaving the customs union and the single market along with that. she made the point that leaving the eu was never going to be an easy thing to do, because it has been such a divisive issue. it is interesting to note the time with which the prime minister responded, which was with disappointment but not really to heavily criticise or condemn these mps for what they had done. that

reflects the mood in the party. mps are not pleased about this, it is clearly something that they wish had not happened, although it had been expected and they might be one or two tory mps who think good riddance, generally speaking, i think some have said that the door is left open to them if they want to return in the future, but there is a mood that, 0k, return in the future, but there is a mood that, ok, if they want out, then let them have their say and let them do their thing. i cannot see many more conservative mps certainly at this stage following them. if there are more defections in the coming weeks, they are more likely to be from the labour side. news tonight that derek hatton has been suspended from the labour party, give us the background to this. suspended just a couple of days after he was readmitted, having been expeued after he was readmitted, having been expelled from the labour party more than 30 years ago. derek hatton was afar than 30 years ago. derek hatton was a far left—wing firebrand deputy leader of liverpool city council in

the 1970s and at that time he pushed through an illegal budget, cause disruption in the city and protest at government cuts by margaret thatcher's government at the time. the group e belonged to was judged to be breaches of the labour constitution and he was expelled and a while ago he signalled his intent to rejoin the party withjeremy corbin as leader and that was confirmed, that he had been readmitted earlier this week, on the very day there was labour mps chose to resign, but just very day there was labour mps chose to resign, butjust a couple of days later, he has been suspended pending a decision by the national executive committee and it is thought to be over a tweet he posted in 2012 which has beenjudged by some over a tweet he posted in 2012 which has been judged by some to over a tweet he posted in 2012 which has beenjudged by some to be anti—semitic. one labour mp described it as claiming that all israelis were accountable sorry, all jews were accountable for the actions of the israeli government. we will have to wait and see whether

derek hatton is in fact readmitted permanently to the party. jonathan blake at westminster, thank you. chris curtis is a political research managerfor yougov. chris curtis is a political research manager for yougov. thank you for speaking to us. you have obviously, numbers are your game, you speaking to us. you have obviously, numbers are your game, you have been looking at the numbers and already it looks interesting for the independent group. take us through what you guv has found. after our standard question on our weekly polling, we asked a follow—up hypothetical were we asked about the independent group, imagined they stood candidates in the next election, but if they did, how would you vote? and what we found is 1496 of the public claimed in a situation that they would vote for this new political party which would put them in third place behind the conservatives and labour. they have had a lot of momentum in the past few days, certainly today, how do

they look in the current form that they look in the current form that they are in? where are they going to have to look for to get their support base? the first important point to make, particularly at the moment, is that there is definitely fertile ground. at the last general election, the two main parties, labour and the conservatives got over 80% of the vote between them which feels unnaturally high by modern day standards. what makes the situation even more unsustainable is that it situation even more unsustainable is thatitis situation even more unsustainable is that it is now accompanied by a fairly unpopular leader of the labour party, a lot more people dislike him than like, 22% of the public had a favourable view of him in our most recent polling and an unfavourable leader of the conservative party. two parties with unfavourable leaders and yet they got a very high percentage of the votes at the last election. added that you have got partisan loyalties that you have got partisan loyalties that are not what they used to be, the result of the referendum which is adding new dividing lines into british politics and i think that

that means that means that there is fertile ground. that does not mean it will not be problems for this party, not least the electoral system in the uk which generally does punish third parties, but i think there is definitely potential for them. obviously it is all about awareness from the british public. just how closely have the independent group being followed in your opinion? so, we asked this question, 38% of the public told us that they were following the story very closely. as with everything, there are lots of people who will not be paying attention to the news and lots of people who will not pay attention to politics, but we have seen attention to politics, but we have seen movements like this manage to come through and they have currently got momentum and we will wait to see if they can continue that going forward into the future. we will leave it there. thank you. chris curtis. theresa may says progress has been made in the brexit talks following crunch talks with the

european commission presidentjunko junker in russells, but the prime minister warned that time is of the essence with departure only 37 days away. she has been answering questions about the meeting. following your meeting this evening, are you confident that the eu is prepared to offer guarantees that you think and get the attorney general to change his legal opinion on the potential permanency of the backstop and indeed convince parliament in turn? i have had a constructive meeting this evening andl constructive meeting this evening and i have underlined the need for us and i have underlined the need for us to see legally binding changes to the backstop which will ensure that it cannot be indefinite and that is what is required if the deal is to pass the house of commons. we have agreed that work to find a solution will continue at pace, time is of the essence and it is in the interest of both of us that when the uk leaves the eu it does so in an orderly way. we have made progress

and the secretary of state for leaving the eu and the brexit secretary and the attorney general will be in brussels tomorrow for further talks. theresa may is speaking a short time ago from brussels. shamima begum who left britain tojoin the brussels. shamima begum who left britain to join the islamic state group four years ago has told the bbc that she expected more sympathy from britain. it follows the decision of the home secretary to try and strip of british citizenship. our home affairs correspondent reports. in this refugee camp in syria, a clearly deflated shamima begum, the 19—year—old who left school to join iis and has just given birth 19—year—old who left school to join iis and hasjust given birth had appealed for help to return to the uk. she learned today that the government was instead taking away her british nationality, so her baby, who she was carrying under her close, will still be british. baby, who she was carrying under her close, will still be britishlj thought they would be more sympathetic because of my situation andi sympathetic because of my situation and i did explain that i did not

know fully what i was getting into andi know fully what i was getting into and i made a mistake and i was hoping that i would get some sympathy and instead i did not. secretary sajid javid. the home secretary sajid javid. the home secretary explained in parliament about why the government had pried so about why the government had pried so many people who went to join is of their nationality. if they pose any threat to this country, i will do everything in my power to prevent the return. this includes stripping dangerous individuals of their british citizenship. this power is only used in extreme circumstances, we re only used in extreme circumstances, were conducive to the public good. it has been suggested that sajid javid made the decision partly for political reasons, to look tough and enhance his leadership ambitions, but he insists that it had been looked at by experience government lawyers and officials who are at the home office and it was an absolutely lawful decision. shamima begum left

britain as a 15—year—old schoolgirl and at the time police said she had been groomed. now four years later she is losing her british citizenship and being told to rely on her possible anger —— you nationality through her mother. on her possible anger —— you nationality through her motherlj don't nationality through her mother.” don't think they are allowed to do that. i have only one citizenship. i'm pretty sure you're not allowed to do that. some immigration lawyers question the fairness of the decision which would not even had been legal if she had been of com pletely been legal if she had been of completely british heritage. been legal if she had been of completely british heritagem there is evidence of wrongdoing, she will be prosecuted in a court of law in this country and if there is insufficient evidence to prosecute her, then how on earth could she infle ct her, then how on earth could she inflect the severest penalty upon her without going to the court of law? her appeal is likely to take months to go through the courts and this evening the bangladeshi foreign minister said he was deeply

concerned that she had been wrongly identified as a holder of dual citizenship. he said that there was no question of her being allowed to enter bangladesh. daniel sanford, bbc news. the headline. three conservative mps joined the new independent group in parliament, putting their party over the government's handling of brexit. meanwhile theresa may is in brussels for crunch talks with european commission presidentjean—claude juncker as the clock runs down to brexit. bangladesh says there is no question of shamima begum been allowed to enter the country after the uk government said they intended to revoke her british citizenship. time to catch up with the sport and we will cross to the bbc sport centre. thank you. it is another big night in the champions league with manchester city in action away at

schalke. it is goalless, 50 minutes or so schalke. it is goalless, 50 minutes or so into the first leg of the last 16 tie. pep guardiola has made seven changes to the side from the fa cup win over newport at the weekend. it does look pretty open and manchester city seem to be on top of that. sergio aguero has gone close with a header. atletico madrid host juventus in the other tie of the night. it is goalless there as well. there is commentary of the city game on five live sport. there is one game in the championship this evening — derby are taking on struggling millwall. a win for derby tonight could see them back into the playoff spots. there's another replay in the fifth round of the scottish cup taking place as well. minutes against kilmarnock. chelsea manager maurizio sarri said winning matches is the only solution as his future

remains in the spotlight. chelsea were knocked out of the fa cup by manchester united on monday and have dropped to sixth in the league after three straight away defeats. after thursday's europa league second leg against malmo, they face manchester city in sunday's league cup final. they use it to win and now we are having trouble and i can understand that very well. there is not another way. we need to have a good performance and a good result. i have to think that i will be the manager of chelsea for a long time, otherwise i cannot work. the deadline for cardiff city to make the first instalment of the £15 million transfer fee for emiliano sala has been extended for another week. the argentine striker died when a plane — piloted by david ibbotson, who remains missing — crashed into the english channel last month. french club nantes sent a letter

to the premier league club on february the 5th requesting the first of three payments within ten days. cardiff are withholding payment while they seek clarification on details of the accident and want to wait until crash investigations are complete. west indies won the toss and opted to bat first in the first one day international against england in barbados. it's an important staging post en route to the world cup in the summer. the home side posted a challenging total of 360 for 8 off their 50 overs — star man chris gayle helping them along the way with 135 off 129 balls. in reply england are 91 for 1. the wicket ofjonny bairstow has just fallen for 34 runs. england's women's side go up against india in three one—day internationals beginning on friday. it's the start of a tour of the sub—continent that also includes three t20s against india and a series in sri lanka. it's the first time england have played india since beating them

in the semi—finals of the world t20 in november, but england opener amyjones says the squad aren't being complacent. i guess you can take confidence from previous games and obviously it was a big one, everyone was obviously very confident on the back of that, but obviously playing india is a lwa ys but obviously playing india is always challenging and we have never won series out here. equally, our practice when brilliant and all the girls are feeling pretty confident. looking forward to it. an emotional steve stricker was close to tears on wednesday as he told a news conference what it means to him to be handed the task of regaining golf‘s ryder cup. stricker, who won the event once as a player, will lead the usa team in his home state of wisconsin as the american captain. some people see this and they don't think i am very passionate or fiery about playing the game of golf and

what i do for a living, but deep down i am very competitive and we wa nt to down i am very competitive and we want to witness more than ever and i am here to help in any way i can. so, iam am here to help in any way i can. so, i am very blessed and happy to be here, thank you. just before we 90, be here, thank you. just before we go, manchester city have scored in there again, sergio aguero has put them 1—0 up in their last 16 tie, them 1—0 up in their last 16 tie, the first leg of their tie against schalke. plenty more updates on the website. i'll have more for you in sportsday at half past ten. let us go back now to news that theresa may says that progress has been made during the brexit talks following crunch talks with the european commission president jean—claude juncker in brussels. european commission president jean—claudejuncker in brussels. our europe editor has been following events europe editor has been following eve nts fro m europe editor has been following events from brussels and joins us live from there. what progress? well you might ask. i think what we are seen you might ask. i think what we are seen at the moment and we have seen

this very often during the brexit process a re this very often during the brexit process are two very different narratives. in orderfor process are two very different narratives. in order for there to be a deal, any deal, you need to have a meeting of minds from both sides, whereas theresa may says she sees progress, there has also been suggestions from her and her collea g u es suggestions from her and her colleagues that they could be a breakthrough imminently on the backstop, so that is guaranteed to keep the irish border open after brexit. that is not what we are told by eu officials. jean—claude juncker told me himself this afternoon he did not expect a breakthrough and he and the prime minister, we are told inajoint and the prime minister, we are told in a joint statement, they have gone down the road at the meeting today that they have been done before, to have a look at what alternatives there could be to the backstop in there could be to the backstop in the future, but the eu says those alternatives do not exist now. what changes could be made to the political declaration, which is non—binding, as to how the two sides

can see the future, and also what kind of guarantees the eu could provide in order to assure mps that the backstop mechanism, if it were to be triggered, would not be permanent. when it comes to those assurances, the eu says it is ready 20 47 to issue those legally binding clarifications or assurances, but what the prime minister then said she is continuing to ask for were legally binding changes and that is where the two sides do not meet at the moment and the eu says it is concerned at what it sees as complacency amongst many mps that it will be all right on the night, that the will blink in the end, whereas the will blink in the end, whereas the eu says, that backstop is important to us, not only because it guarantees the northern ireland peace process, but because it guarantees the integrity of the eu's lucrative single market after brexit, because the land border between the eu and postbag that uk

will run through the island of ireland and the ease says it will not blink if it is to its own advantage. such macro disadvantage. iam advantage. such macro disadvantage. i am interested, how closely where the events today been followed from brussels? all the events in parliament are followed extremely closely, but from an eu perspective, what the eu says is turmoil in parliament, with labour losing mps and the conservative party losing mps and what the eu says is what we need to know is if and when we give something to the uk, that it is going to be that thing that the majority of mps, wherever they are sitting, can unite around in order that this brexit de liz parkes. with these says is, considering the current turmoil, they are not sure about anyone change that could definitely do the trek and what they

wa nt to definitely do the trek and what they want to avoid in the remaining 37 days that we have to go is to give a little now and then the prime minister comes back, perhaps in a week, and we have heard that she will meetjean—claude juncker again and says, i need a bit more and a little bit more. trust is very low here, because theresa may and her cabinet signed off on this current deal back in november and she has come back and said it is not good enough for the majority of my mps. this is not a pattern that the eu wa nts to this is not a pattern that the eu wants to repeat and that is why addictions are —— here i that these talks will go down to the wire if mps do not intervene and ask for an extension of the eu's leaving process. anki. -- michaelthank you. more now on the news that the shamima begum who left britain to join the islamic state group says that she expected more sympathy from britain following the decision of

the home secretary to try and strip her of her british citizenship. joining me now from south london is jacqueline mckenzie, an immigration and asylum lawyer. there seems to be and asylum lawyer. there seems to be a lot of confusion over the interpretation of immigration laws in the uk and bangladesh. could you ta ke in the uk and bangladesh. could you take us through where we are right now in terms of citizenship? take us through where we are right now in terms of citizenship7m take us through where we are right now in terms of citizenship? it is confusing. i cannot say anything about bangladesh, but in terms of the uk, as we understand it, shamima begum is british and she is british ina way begum is british and she is british in a way that is described as other than by descent which means she can then pass on her citizenship to any children she has, whether they were born in the uk or not. what we do know is that we have two british people and we understand that the home secretary has issued an order that she has been deprived of her

british citizenship and the next stage for her is to appeal that by making an application to a tribunal for special immigration appeals commission. in terms of bangladesh, i understand the latest news from there and it goes to why the home secretary felt that he was able to do this, on the basis that she had a claim to bangladeshi citizenship, the latest news is saying that bangladesh is saying that she does not. in terms of their law, i understand that this was attempted a few years ago in two cases that we know of, there is an appeal coming up know of, there is an appeal coming up later, were this bangladeshi right of citizenship by descent was applied and the government was told that they cannot do that. it is all about eligibility and the problem with shamima begum is that she is below the age of 21. yes. that bit

is not very clear, but what the uk government is saying is that if you have got parents from another country and their laws allow you to claim your nationality as a result of that parentage, then you can do so of that parentage, then you can do so and it looks as though someone has said she will be entitled to it and she has got it but she has to make an application and go through the process and go through the bangladeshi system and that does not appear to have happened and we understand that bangladesh is saying that she has not bangladeshi. there is another human being involved and thatis is another human being involved and that is her child, where do we stand there? that child is british. one of there? that child is british. one of the problems about this case is that we know very little, we do not know who the father is, we understand she is married to a dutch man and there is married to a dutch man and there isa is married to a dutch man and there is a lot of assumption that she —— he is the father and we do not know if the child can take his citizenship and there is talk that

the child might even be bangladeshi. we know that the child is british and if that child could avail itself through a family member or somebody else offer travel documents or a british passport and arrive in the uk, they would have to admit that child. jacqueline mckenzie, we are hoping to get some clarity on this, thank you for that. a proposed merger between two supermarkets could be blocked after the competition watchdog for the deal might lead to higher prices and less a choice for customers. the authority is concerned of the proposal, which would create the largest supermarket chain in the uk will lead to a poor shopping experience for consumers. st. mary's has called the finding outrages and today its share price fell 185% because of the doubt over the plan. emma simpson has more.

they are already two giants of the grocery world, and i want to get even bigger, to fend off the likes of aldi and lidl, but the regulator doesn't like this merger one bit. we think it's likely that prices will rise, service levels will deteriorate, or both. and the reason we believe that is because of the reduced competition in grocery shopping in supermarkets, grocery shopping online, and purchases of fuel at the company's petrol filling stations. popping to the shops here in watford — sainsbury‘s, asda and tesco are all here competing for customers. this merger would mean the big three becoming the big two, controlling nearly 60% of the uk grocery market. i don't think it'll be an advantage to the shopper. i think it's more for them than for us. as long as their standards don't drop, i don't mind. on this main road, asda and sainsbury‘s are literally side—by—side, but their plan to merge now looks in serious doubt. the regulator has raised

concerns in just about every possible way, from reduced competition in hundreds of local areas to online shopping and higher petrol prices. but sainsbury‘s claims this deal would mean lower prices, and that the regulator's approach is flawed. with brexit looming and a completely unpredictable set of competition rules, i mean, who would invest in this country? this is just outrageous. today's findings are provisional, but the concerns raised may prove too big and complex for both companies to overcome. this controversial megamerger now seems destined to never make it to the checkout. emma simpson, bbc news. time for the weather. today has not been the brightest for all of us but some did well with sunshine and that brought high

temperatures, close to 15 degrees. temperatures could climb a bit higher than that over the next couple of days, certainly during tonight will be keep a lot of cloud and it splashes of rain. for most come out mild. but clear breaks across the south west of england and northeast scotland. we have the highest temperatures today on the northeast of scotland, that is with the lowest temperatures will be overnight. could be a touch of frosty but for most, we start off cloudy. odd spot of rain but should fade away as the day wears on and likely to see the cloud working up to reveal sunshine especially across england and in the afternoon. what breezy across the northwest corner. when coming from the south or southwest, so the air inherently very warm. 16 but maybe all the way up very warm. 16 but maybe all the way up to 18 degrees in one or two places, similar on friday but turning cooler over the weekend. hello, this is bbc news. the

headlines... three conservative mps quit the party over the government's handling a brexit. today, they joined at the new independent group on the other side of commons. you went and politics when you are with a team and in that team with shared values and principles. and i believe mine are no longer welcome in the conservative party. meanwhile, theresa may is in brussels for crunch talks with european commission presidentjean—claude juncker as the clock runs down to brexit. bangladesh says there is no question of shamima bagum being able to enter the country after the uk government said they intend to revoke her citizenship. let's return to our top story, the three mps have resigned from the conservative party. they arejoining

the eight mps who left labour to form the new independent group in the house of commons. the prime minister said she was saddened after the three criticised what they called the government's disastrous handling a brexit, and said it had undone all the efforts to modernise the conservatives. earlier, the three mps held a press conference to explain their actions. let's hear a flavour of what they had to say, starting with heidi allen.” flavour of what they had to say, starting with heidi allen. i can no longer represent a government and a party who cannot open their eyes to the suffering endured by the most vulnerable in society. suffering which we have deepened whilst having the power to fix. the conservatives will always recognise as the party of economic competence. but when we allowed a cabinet minister to sayf business in a promised or bullied into submission by the rg and wrecking the country and parliament kicking and screaming to the edge of

ano kicking and screaming to the edge of a no deal abyss, kicking and screaming to the edge of a no dealabyss, i kicking and screaming to the edge of a no deal abyss, i am done.” kicking and screaming to the edge of a no deal abyss, i am done. i think what we now see if the party that was once the most trusted on the economy and business is now marching us towards the cliff edge of a no—deal brexit. i have been saying for weeks if it became main party policy to deliver it no deal, then i would have to leave. but i am afraid there comes a point when running down the clock is in effect the same thing and none of us are prepared to wait until our toes are at the cliff edge before we take a stand. to the millions of people who feel abandoned and not represented by either of abandoned and not represented by eitherof our abandoned and not represented by either of our two broken main parties and indeed all our parties, we share your values can be your dreams and your aspirations. we three have never been called your so—called typical tory. like everyone , we are so—called typical tory. like everyone, we are tired of tribalism and are tired of british politics

being dominated from its extremes. it is time for change and a we are a team with your support that will deliver that change. while speaking in brussels a short time ago, theresa may said she was disappointed by the trio's decision to leave the conservative party. well, i'm saddened by the decision that three former members of my party have ta ken that three former members of my party have taken today. they have given dedicated service to our party over a long time and i thank them for it. of course, the question of the uk's relationship with the european union has been a source of disagreement in my party and also in the country for a long time. and it leaving the european union after over 40 yea rs leaving the european union after over 40 years was never going to be easy. but i believe that by delivering on our manifesto commitment and delivering on the result of the referendum, we are doing the right thing for the country and by doing this we can move forward together for that brighter future

move forward together for that brighterfuture for move forward together for that brighter future for the country. but iam brighter future for the country. but i am determined that under my leadership, the conservative party will offer the decent, moderate and patriotic politics that i believe the people of the uk deserve. to discuss this in more detail now, joined by matthew goodman, professor at the university of kent, and john camea at the university of kent, and john came a political commentator for the independent. lovely to see you both here this evening. listening to some of the words that were said they are, saddened, sick and tired, i expected not that. the clues were there. it was only a matter of time until a few conservatives ended up joining those labour defectors, but the question is what happens now? have many other defectors are going to come out and join the independent group and how is this group now going to impact on the two main parties at the next election over at perhaps by elections coming up. parties at the next election over at perhaps by elections coming upm this a game changer, do you think about what has happened the last few

days? i was going to say, not today but certainly the labour defections are very significant. the conservative defections, less so, but they broadened at the base of this new party to be. i think the long—term damage is going to be felt byjeremy corbyn's long—term damage is going to be felt by jeremy corbyn's labour long—term damage is going to be felt byjeremy corbyn's labour party, i think the conservatives will be able to get up because after all, theresa may is not going to be leading them into the next general election. their chance to renew, whereas for the labour party, it was very personal animosity towards jeremy corbyn that has driven them out. personal animosity towards jeremy corbyn that has driven them outm terms of the numbers, i mean, where, what is their strength? who can they hurt the most? i think electorally, they will end up hurting labour more than the conservatives. if you look at their pitch commit which is basically let's keep britain in the european union and have a second referendum and who is involved, i think they are going to be gunning

for middle—class remainders, perhaps university students, that sort of remain wing of british politics. i think they are going to have some difficulties in doing that in london and university towns, the future election will have to compete with labour and many election will have to compete with labourand many remain election will have to compete with labour and many remain voters look like they quite like whatjeremy corbyn says on things about the economy even if they are a bit wary about him the man. i think there is going to be some interesting capitation between labour and this group. and i think brexit is going to be possibly result by the end of next month. that is the extraordinary thing of the timing of it today's defections. you know, these conservative and p say they do not want a note of brexit, but that is something the house of commons is actually going to decide next week when the event puts her plan to the value on the 27th. it is astonishing they did not wait until then. have you got a firm grasp on who they are? their identity? are theyjust a

brexit potential party is that they are not even a party yet. you are talking about the economy and some policy issues there that need to be looked at. we do not have that yet, do we? who are they? the founding statement is very vague, the need of evidence and ideology and all the individuals involved are prominent in the people's vote campaign are calling for another referendum. they are coming very much from that part of british politics. out of the question is how could this turn into something more than it currently is, and what will they say about electoral reform, will they say about taxation, what would they say about taxation, what would they say about schools, nhs and all of these things? as john says, about schools, nhs and all of these things? asjohn says, they may find that that core unifying issue of brexit ends up actually gradually leaving the radar quite soon. absolutely. when we saw the seven labour mps announcing their defection, each one of them gave different reasons slightly for

leaving. they began with anti—semitism, moved on to brexit with chris leslie, and then animated mostly by chemical and's foreign policy. but those are all not make a practise is to be this unifying issue, then it is going to be anti—atjeremy issue, then it is going to be anti—at jeremy corbyn that is going to hold them together. and that is difficult how the tories fit into that. it is difficult because you ask yourself what are they actually hoping to achieve? when it comes to the numbers on practicum that we already knew where they were voting. it is all symbolic or... and s is a day that their defection does not change the palm entry arithmetic on brexit one bit. the advocate for second referendum were already in the minority on the house of commons. they change party levels does not actually affect that. there is one possibility we have not yet

discussed which is maybe they were just fed up and maybe they were sick and tired of the anti—semitism issue in the labour party and the conservatives genuinely felt that they were no longer in alignment with their more you're a sceptic colleagues. and maybe they are people, within a look at politicians as if they have a grand plan, maybe they just that we don't want to live like this any more. we don't want to be in these divided parties any more and just have a happier life standing as if they have a grand plan, maybe theyjust that standing as if they have a grand plan, maybe they just that we standing as if they have a grand plan, maybe theyjust that we don't wa nt to plan, maybe theyjust that we don't want to live like this any more. we don't want to be in the divided parties any more and just have a happier life standing is independence. i think that is right. i think what is obvious is when the seven came out with that, they did not have a grand plan. theyjust had had enough of jeremy not have a grand plan. theyjust had had enough ofjeremy corbyn's party. you know, the conservatives are slightly harder to understand for me, but maybe that isjust me. but none of them seem to have a planned but they all seem to have enough to agree on to keep them together for the moment. how long do you give them? well, the american historian richard hofstadter to the new

parties are like bees. once they have stunned the party system, they quickly die. these independents have stung politics, haven't they? another tumultuous week. will it last? what is next? we have possibly two by elections coming up, the one in newport and we may have a violation in peterborough. let's see if they stand candidates in those. local elections, they could conceivably stand candidates and those in over the longer—term, we have the next general election. where they will have to i assume come up with a full manifesto and a com plete come up with a full manifesto and a complete programme. just going wider, what do you think alyssa saying about the state of british politics? well, i think it is clearly saying that the two main parties are seen to have moved towards the extremes. i think you will feel that quite emotionally and i think many feel there is a vacuum in the middle. and they are trying to fill it. but i agree with matthew completely, the voting system in

this country does not give them much ofa this country does not give them much of a chance. that does not mean they will not have an effect on the syste m will not have an effect on the system because although the sdp was not successful electorally, he had a huge effect in chucking the labour party coming back to its senses. thank you so much to both of you for your reflections on the week in politics so far. thank you. it is time for those headlines here on bbc news. three conservative mps enjoying the new independent group as we have just been saying in parliament and according their party over the government possibly handling a brexit. meanwhile, theresa may is in brussels for crunch talks with european commission presidentjean—claude juncker as the clock runs down to brexit. bangladesh says there is no question of shamima bagum being allowed to enter the country after the uk government said they intended

to revoke her british citizenship. just to give you an update on the numbers there... everyone is up. 40% of companies he reported their gender pay gap are doing worse this year than gender pay gap are doing worse this yearthan in gender pay gap are doing worse this year than in previous years. that is according to research by bbc news. firms are more than 250 employees are legally obliged to discuss the —— disclose a difference in average pay received by their male and female employees annually. our economics correspondent has more. high on the menu of topics at networking breakfast are pay and progression. some women may feel short—changed, but they have plenty of ideas on what is needed. i think, generally

speaking, women tend to be less upfront when it comes to money and things. whether you are giving value, that's what matters. but the gap really opens up once women have children. one of the directors at a major bank, she had twins, and she didn't want to go back to her full—time practice, she wanted to go back to part—time. she worked at the company for 12 years as managing director — they refused. but what does the gender pay gap actually mean? if you line up all the men and women in a company in order of their pay, it's how the salary of the woman in the middle compares with that of the middleman. so it's notjust about whether men and women are getting equal pay for equal work, but also to what extent women are joining and progressing to more senior levels. last year, men and an average of 18.4% more than women, and two out of every five companies

who filed so far have seen their pay gaps widen. we appreciate you joining us... france will be fining companies who don't improve, but our government says there is good reason why pay gaps may temporarily increase. for example, engineering has traditionally been a very male dominated industry, they are doing great things to try to improve the pipeline of young women entering the industry, and so i think we perhaps would need a more nuanced view than simply fining people. businesses should not think that i am sitting on my hands waiting, i am impatient, and there is always the ability of government to do more if required. banks still have some of the biggest pay gaps. changing practices and culture takes time, but at heathrow airport, they eliminated their pay gap. we've been implementing things like a piece of software thatjudges the gender bias of the

language in job adverts. for us, it is about removing barriers that we might not even know about. the conversation won't end soon. over 9000 companies are yet to reveal the numbers. some may be even less palatable. dharshini david, bbc news. new laws to extend the no fly zone for drones around airports will come into effect next month. this will increase from about half a mile to three miles. police will now also have the power to stop and search people of suspected of using drones near airports. this evening's brit awards are well under way. best female solo artist is smith and george as rep best mail. the british scrip award was given to 1975 from manchester. they reached number one with their album this year. hugh

jackman hosting the show at the 02 arena, performing the title track from his musicalfilm of the greatest showman. from the skies over afghanistan, kosovo and most recently iraq, the tornado has been the raf‘s front line war plane. now after over 40 yea rs, the raf‘s front line war plane. now after over 40 years, the iconic aircraft has been retired. to mark the end of an aviation era, three tornadoes have in making a series of farewell flight paths and our defence correspondent was given exclusive access to one of those flights. once more to the skies, but not much for much longer. the bbc on board one of the last four lights of the raf‘s tornado. it's been in service for 40 years. this is raf cottesmore

outfield coming up. originally designed to fight the cold war to carry nuclear weapons, but it first went into combat over the desert in 1991. the mission is to attack an iraqi airfield... several were lost in a hail of iraqi anti—aircraft fire. john nichol was among those who lived to tell the tale. nearly 30 years in operation, you can absolutely put it up with the spitfire in an iconic status. just a few weeks ago, wing commanderjames heaps was conducting air strikes on is. now it is a chance to enjoy the tornado's final goodbye back home. the bestjob anyone could have. but for his passenger, it has been more of a challenge. i think i am a landlover! but soon, there will be no more

rides in one of the raf‘s most iconicjets. jonathan beale, bbc news, raf marham. for more on this we are joined by one of the first female pilots on a front line tornado and was involved in patrolling the no—fly zone in iraq. you were part of the tornado force. i certainly was, iwas iraq. you were part of the tornado force. i certainly was, i was onto squadron at the time. what was she like to fly? i love to fly her. it isa like to fly? i love to fly her. it is a huge step up from the hawk cam of the training aircraft you are fly. he thrust is enormous, it has afterburner and thrust rivers when you are landing. it feels like an enormous leap when you go to something like the tornado after the training aircraft you are on. you still look at petrol heck i'm a very exciting the way you described it

there. how will the tornado history read? i think it is going to, and john summed it up nicely in the previous interview when he says it has been an iconic aircraft. 40 yea rs has been an iconic aircraft. 40 years a front line service, 30 years on operations. it is incredible when you think about that. it had it pretty unique capabilities, didn't it? what many did not realise is that it also took part in the hunt for the girls that it also took part in the hunt forthe girls in that it also took part in the hunt for the girls in nigeria. but in terms of its capabilities, what made it so special? one of the things that i loved and i really am going to sound like a petrol head on this one is the unique ability with radar to enable it to fly at a very low level and at high speed without the actual pilot study and the controls. you are monitoring very closely obviously and coordinating with the navigator and the weapon system from the back—seat. but that capability i think put it in a unique area for

wa rfa re think put it in a unique area for warfare at the time. sorry, i was reading one of your stories about your time flying the tornado and you we re your time flying the tornado and you were describing an evening mission where you had to return to base purely on fumes in your tornado. just explain to us how it felt knowing you were in what was considered a safe plane. yeah, it is going to be challenging. the one thing that i do love about flying and especially flying jets is the fa ct and especially flying jets is the fact it is challenging. you have to make decisions under huge amounts of pressure. but i loved the fact that you were always in a team environment, that you were talking people all the time and especially for something like the tornado —— tornado which is a to c aircraft. take that collaboration with the back—seat or is phenomenal. it landing on fumes, it is a challenging situation. you are never going to go below your minimums so you know there is always a safety bracket there. but sometimes you are

asked to push the boundaries a little bit to ensure that you get thejob done little bit to ensure that you get the job done and that is where you asa the job done and that is where you as a pilot and navigator have to make the right decision. what was it like... ithink make the right decision. what was it like... i think you are the second woman to fly the tornado. what was it like? i was straight afterjoe salter to look into the system a few yea rs salter to look into the system a few years after her. it was challenging. i cannot lie. you are the only woman ona i cannot lie. you are the only woman on a squadron and what you are going off to serve in iraq, you are working purely with men all the time. some might say that is a great advantage him and others might not. but the one thing i did miss was actually female conversation. that was the one thing that i met my husband is to be very sad when i did not use my to call him. i needed to speak to another woman. do you think it's the right moment to say goodbye to the tornado? obviously, human error is one of the great causes of

air crashes. i have heard you say this in the past. how has technology played in replacing the tornado?” make him a technology is going to a lwa ys make him a technology is going to always help, i have to say. when you look at the amount of work that the drones are doing, the unmanned aerial vehicles as well and areas of warfare. when you look at the new capability that we are getting really getjs and finally on the front line but also the job it is doing, it took a little while for it to get to the front line and actually be able to take over the capability that the tornado was offering. but it can certainly do that now. i think we have upgraded tornado so many times over its 40 yea rs, tornado so many times over its 40 years, the aircraft we fly now is not the same aircraft from 40 years ago. and technology is but a massive pa rt ago. and technology is but a massive part in that. at the same time, all good things come to an end. we lost the harrier quite a few years ago now. that was a debate about whether we would lose harrier or tornado at the time. some might say this is a natural point, at what point do you

ta ke natural point, at what point do you take an aircraft out a service? however sad and emotional it is for those of us in the moment. from a former air cadet, it was a pleasure, amanda. my pleasure. thank you very much. time for the weather. some really warm air heading our way, something tropical. did not look tropicalfor this way, something tropical. did not look tropical for this weather water in the southwest of wales. we had better fortu nes in the southwest of wales. we had better fortunes in terms of sunshine here in aberdeen. and not too far away on the more i first met we had to be serious as high as 50 degrees. not bad going at all. those could be set to climb even further because the jet streams him and went high set to climb even further because thejet streams him and went high in thejet streams him and went high in the atmosphere had picked up some really, really warm air from close to the caribbean, bringing in our direction. it is essentially tropical air, he has cooled off a little bit on its journey but still brings potential for temperatures

declined to 17, possibly 18 degrees and one or two places over the next couple of days. yes, it is still only february. out there at the moment, we have a lot of cloud, the odd splash of rain around here and there is sun breaks down to the southeast. best of the clear skies go to the northeast of scholars will be had to sunshine and warm here today, that is what we are likely to have the lowest of temperatures tonight but for many, we keep the cloud, it will stay pretty mild. to mark what a great start for many places. that will be just the odd shower around the spot of rain here and there but do what weather should tend to ease in the cloud should break upa tend to ease in the cloud should break up a little bit as a day wears on his willful suffering than a welcome up some sunny spells. in northeast currently, you get some shelter from the south or southeast —— westerly wind i should say, you get some sunshine again and make get temperatures on the way up to 17 or possibly even 18 degrees. as a move out of thursday into friday, high pressure builds more strongly from the near continent towards the south east of the uk. not many white

lions, not many isobars in that shop. the winds will be light so that could bring some fog and some of that fog could be slow to clear. through the day, most of us seeing dry weather and spells of sunshine and most of which are still widely 14-16d and most of which are still widely 14—16d and you can add a degree or two and one or two spots. into the weekend then, high pressure still across europe and frontal system is trying to push and from the atlantic and the squeeze up it to it's going to bring us a win from the south. this will not be renewed tropical airof this will not be renewed tropical air of that couple of days but it will still bring temperatures above average over the week yes they might come down a little but depending on how much sun we see can be but it will stay largely dry and there will be some of spells of sunshine so i think over the next couple of days, it will continue to feel like spring.

hello, i'm karin giannone, this is outside source. the teenager who ran away tojoin isis in syria — shamima begum — reacts to plans to remove her british citizenship — telling the bbc she expected more sympathy. i was hoping that britain would understand that i made a mistake, a very big mistake, i know, because i was young and naive. meanwhile civilians in syria are being helped to leave the last piece of territory still held by islamic state that's now on the brink of falling. theresa may has been busy in brussels trying to get changes to her brexit deal as three of her mps defect from the conservative party further weakening her position at home. and bodycam footage is released from the avalanche in the swiss mountain resort that killed a skiier and