much flit much but ii‘ul‘ei largely settled but the eastern coast could still be a little bit chilly. goodbye. are a. it's a high—risk strategy for the prime minister. mr corbyn says he wants a customs union and workers‘ rights to be priorities. i welcome the prime minister's offer for talks following the meetings that i've held with members across this house and look forward to meeting her later today. i'm always happy to meet party leaders across this house. i want to find a way forward. i want to find a way forward that delivers on the referendum, that delivers brexit, and does it as soon as possible. her move has sparked fury from tory brexiteers and a ministerial resignation. we'll get the latest from westminster — and brussels. also on the programme this lunchtime.... the jury in the trial of the hillsborough match commander david duckenfield returns a hung verdict on the manslaughter charge against him

strong criticism from mps over london's crossrail — ministers must explain, they say, why it's so over budget and delayed. the army investigates, after footage emerges of soldiers shooting at a picture of jeremy corbyn. brunei introduces new islamic laws to punish gay sex with stoning to death — and thefts with amputation. and the world's largest amphibian — the chinese giant salamander — finds a new home at london zoo. coming up in the sport later in the hour on bbc news: relegated with five games left to play, fulham's owner, shahid khan, says they've let the fans down, but he remains committed to the club. good afternoon and welcome

to the bbc news at one. theresa may is preparing to meetjeremy corbyn, to try to forge an agreement over brexit which could break the deadlock in parliament. at prime minister's questions, mrs may said there were a number of areas where the two leaders agree, and she was determined to deliver brexit ‘as soon as possible‘. but her decision to negotiate with mr corbyn has provoked anger amongst tory brexiteers and, this morning, one of her ministers, nigel adams, resigned, accusing mrs may of making a ‘grave error‘. and there are risks for the labour leader too. here‘s our political correspondent, nick eardley. prime minister will it be a labour brexit? can you fix the cracks in your cabinet this way? this is not prime minister wants to be, but after failing three times to times to get a deal through parliament, she is now looking to labour. she has tried to get that through un—conservative votes and not being able to, she is trying to now do that on labour votes. so could an

unlikely compromise between these two get brexit three? the prime minister say she can‘t change the withdrawal agreement, the way we leave, but she will explore what our future deal looks like.” leave, but she will explore what our future deal looks like. i think there are a number of areas we agree on in relation to brexit. we both wa nt to on in relation to brexit. we both want to deliver that leaving the eu with the deal, we both want to protect jobs, with the deal, we both want to protectjobs, i think we both want to ensure that we enter free movements, i think we both recognise the importance of the withdrawal agreement. what we want to do now is to find a way forward to command the support of this house and deliver a brexit. labour wants a close-knit relationship following eu trade rules through a customs union and that could be the price of his leader‘s support. that could be the price of his leader's support. i welcome the prime minister's offer for talks following the meetings i have held with members across this house and look forward to meeting her later today, and i welcome her willingness today, and i welcome her willingness to compromise to resolve the brexit deadlock. there are big differences and no guarantee a deal will be reached, but the prime minister is hoping

there will be movement as soon as today. if not, theresa may is promising to respect any vote in parliament if labour does as well. she wants it all done by may to 20 seconds to avoid the uk taking part in european elections. scotland‘s first minister will meet the prime minister as well, she is one in any agreement now could be a trap. minister as well, she is one in any agreement now could be a trapm may be unpicked by hard—line prime minister because remember, whatever theresa may might agree with us right now, by her own admission, she is not going to be prime minister so she can‘t deliver on anything. so ta ke she can‘t deliver on anything. so take a pause, get rid of this ticking clock and do this properly and sensibly. and none of this is as simple asjust and sensibly. and none of this is as simple as just getting a deal through parliament, winning the votes through the commons. theresa may knows that her party is deeply divided and if she pivots towards labour to try and win some of their votes, many of her own brexiteers will be absolutely furious. welsh

office minister nigel adams resigned this morning, furious mrs may has offered to work with the opposition. stop, think very carefully what you are doing. if you give legitimacy to are doing. if you give legitimacy to a man that i think is genuinely not fit to run britain and will do its damage, you will damage the very prospects of your own party and, most importantly for people like me, the prospects for our country. jeremy corbyn could face the anger of some of his party, too, if he agrees to a deal that doesn‘t lead toa agrees to a deal that doesn‘t lead to a referendum. every shed of -- every shred of evidence available says that what most labour parties —— what most labour voters and party members want to see and i am sure he will be mindful of that. talks this afternoon could change what brexit looks like, but westminster is still very divided. in a moment, we‘ll speak to our europe correspondent,

damian grammaticas, in brussels. but first, our assistant political editor, norman smith, is in westminster. and there are political risks for both theresa may and jeremy corbyn with these talks. there are, simon, but for so long, mrs may has said she has no plan b. well, she does now, and it is called jeremy corbyn. but this attempt to forge a brexit deal with the labour leader has provoked an incandescent explosion of rage amongst her party‘s brexiteers. 0ne of rage amongst her party‘s brexiteers. one said he felt like he had been punched in the face. another compared mrs may‘s conduct to that of neville chamberlain at munich when he caved in to hitler. in the commons this lunchtime, we have had a series of tory mps getting up amazed that mrs may is prepared to do a deal with a marxist, rather than her own party. but it seems to me the prime minister has had a sort of do

masculine conversion on the road to brexit. the sort of moment of realisation that she is simply not going to be able to get her brexit deal through on the back of tory and dup deal through on the back of tory and d u p votes deal through on the back of tory and dup votes alone, she is going to need labour support. secondly, a realisation that for any deal to get through, it will have to be a softer sort of brexit and that may mean staying in some form of customs union. i think she has also realised she has to take on her party‘s brexiteers, many of whom seem more interested in pursuing no—deal. but the stakes are enormous, it risks splitting her party, it risks bolstering mr corbyn‘s authority and, above all, it might not work, which means mrs may goes back to square which means mrs may goes back to square one, which means mrs may goes back to square one, but facing the undying enmity of her party. norman, thank you very much. let‘s go to brussels. they are watching events here just as closely as we are. the issue of an extension overshadowed by that

looming date for euro elections. yes, exactly, simon. we are here at the european parliament in brussels because we expect to hear shortly from jean—claude juncker. there will bea from jean—claude juncker. there will be a debate about brexit and we will hear his opinions and those of the swedish prime minister. what you have heard from norman is about risk, well, the eu sees a lot of risk, well, the eu sees a lot of risk, too. they see the risk if they granta risk, too. they see the risk if they grant a short extension that nothing is resolved and in the coming weeks perhaps just before european elections, there is the risk of the uk facing no—deal again, elections, there is the risk of the ukfacing no—dealagain, or elections, there is the risk of the uk facing no—deal again, or having to hold those elections. the longer term risk if they grant along extension, the uk needs to stay in, but they would be asked to hold those elections. so the eu, it seems all the signals are it is going to stick to the position they outlined already, which is that the uk has to provide clarity by this time next week when eu leaders meet here to decide on an extension. and clarity

means passing some sort of meaningful vote through parliament to show there is a clear way forward to show there is a clear way forward to get a short extension. if there is no clarity, the demand is likely to be along extension and holding european elections to make sure the uk has held those properly if it wa nts to uk has held those properly if it wants to stay in. thank you very much. let‘s pick up there on the timetable for the prime minister over the next few days and we will look at what the eu is demanding. 0ur reality check corresponded chris norris is with me. we are running out of options. yes, we have this very short extension until april 12th, but the prime minister wants to work with labour to get a deal agreed by may 22nd instead. but there is jeopardy and that because if perhaps the government thinks it has a deal, it will not necessarily decide by april 12th, today has to do that, whether it is going to take part in european elections. if it tries to

implement a deal, which thinks it has done with labour, and that runs into difficulty in parliament, highly likely given what we have seen, you could get to a point where may 22nd becomes a cliff edge for a no—deal brexit with no other opportunity. that is why the eu may refuse the idea of a short extension and say, no, you can have a longer extension instead. but that does mean taking part in those european elections. will the prime minister accept that? we don‘t know, but it would clearly cause even more anger on the conservative backbenches because that longer extension could because that longer extension could be nine to 12 months, perhaps even longer. 0n the eu side, there is also a reservation about the idea of that longer extension. that is partly because they don‘t want brexit to become a distraction at a time where they have to bed in a new european parliament, they have got to choose a new president of the european commission, and have negotiations on the next long—term budget. so any longer extension could well come with conditions such

as insurance from the uk that it wouldn‘t be an obstructed member of the eu if there was that long extension. but that would only be a political premise, the eu cannot get a legal guarantee from the uk that it won‘t cut up rough if it remains a member. theresa may corbyn scheduled to meet in westminster in westminster in the coming hour. but now, back to you. backed —— many thanks. the jury in the trial of the hillsborough commander david duckenfield has failed to reach a verdict on the manslaughter charge against him. he was on trial over the deaths of 95 supporters at the fa cup semi—final in sheffield in 1989. let‘s go live to our correspondent fiona trott, who‘s outside preston crown court. what reaction has there been to this outcome? there is disappointment that has been no outcome to this gross negligence manslaughter charge because this has already been a very long journey for the relatives. 0ver

the past 30 years, they have had two inquest, a private prosecution, independent inquiry and now this crown court prosecution. as for 74—year—old david duckenfield, we hear the crown prosecution service is looking for a retrial. let‘s go over what the jury was considering over what the jury was considering over the past 11 weeks. the prosecution said david duckenfield, as match commander that day, did not consider the consequences of his actions. 2,000 fans flooded through actions. 2,000 fans flooded through a gate and down the tunnel into pans that were already packed, david duckenfield himself, thejury heard, during the 2015 inquest, said, i probably wasn‘t the best man for the job on the day. he didn‘t give evidence in his trial, but his lawyer benjamin myers qc said this, he has not been treated as a normal person but as a target of blame, and he said the hillsborough stadium was potentially lenient —— legal. it is given a cat singing ship and judging

him on how well he sails it. the trail relates to 69—year—old graham mackrell, the ground‘s safety officer. but for the 96 victims who died that day, there is no complete closure yet for their relatives. fiona, thank you. mps have warned that crossrail — the new train line linking east and west london — may not be completed by next year, and could run further over budget. the line was supposed to open last december and has already cost almost £3 billion more than planned. 0ur transport correspondent, tom burridge, reports. not a single new crossrail station is complete. electrics for cctv and tannoy systems are still being sorted. this is farringdon. other stations are further behind. 0n the surface, this station is pretty much good to go, but look more closely and there is plenty of work still to be done. under the original plan,

passengers would have streamed through here down onto trains last december. as things stand, the new line won‘t be ready this year — but, in today‘s report, mps are sceptical about whether it can be finished next year. the mps on the public accounts committee are highly critical of the management of the project before the delay and a significant overspend became public last summer. they argue local and central government were fixated on the original finish date. if they hadn‘t ignored warning signs, say the mps, the project might not have veered so drastically of course. the fact that crossrail wasn‘t delivered in december last year, as was promised, is obviously a big problem, and it‘s going to be an extra £2.8 billion already injected into it, and we are not sure when it‘s going to be opened or how much more money it‘s going to cost, so at this point we are still blind as to what the outcome will be. this is the first train that will run on the eastern overground branch of the new route...

featured in a bbc documentary, the testing of the trains. marrying them up with digital signalling is still ongoing. it‘s why there is so much uncertainty. new management at crossrail will announce a new target finish date later this month. the tunnel, the trains and the platforms are much bigger than on other lines on london‘s underground. in purely engineering terms, a new high—capacity rail line underneath central london is an impressive feat. the government rejects today‘s report from mps, saying it acted swiftly to strengthen governance and oversight after crossrail admitted the delay. tom burridge, bbc news. the army has launched an investigation after a video was shared on social media showing soldiers shooting at an image of jeremy corbyn. the footage, which was captured in kabul, appears to show personnel using the image of the labour leader

as a target on a practice range. i‘m joined by our correspond, john donnison. this emerged this morning for them what had people been saying? this were four soldiers from the 3rd battalion parachute regiment, based in colchester. we don‘t know if they were following orders or if there was a senior officer present. the ministry of defence have issued a statement saying this was totally unacceptable behaviour. it said that the soldiers we re behaviour. it said that the soldiers were firing paintball rounds and not actual real bullets. we also had a labour spokesperson saying the incident was alarming and unacceptable, and earlier today the prisons minister rory stewart, who was a member of the armed forces, he said this was outrageous behaviour and said soldiers should not be party political. the mod has said it has launched a full investigation. thank you.

the south—east asian country of brunei has introduced strict islamic laws to make sodomy and adultery punishable by stoning to death. the move has sparked international condemnation, including from high—profile stars such as george clooney, and the country‘s gay community has expressed shock and fear. 0ur lgbt correspondent ben hunte reports. the sultan of brunei, one of the richest men in the world, ruling over a small south—east asian nation. and it‘s in this country where strict new islamic laws are being introduced, making gay sex between men and adultery offences punishable by stoning to death. translation: anyone visiting the country will attain good memories, and are able to experience our peaceful and harmonious environment. and the best hospitality. homosexuality was already illegal in brunei, and those caught could face up to ten years in prison. but the sultan, who is the world‘s second longest reigning monarch is calling for stronger islamic teachings. he wants brunei to become more

aligned with the islamic faith and sharia law. if this law is actually enforced it will be a real setback for the human rights of the people of brunei. and we are talking about a country which has maintained a moratorium on the death penalty since 1957, so they have not executed anyone since 1957. because of its oil wealth brunei has an investment agency, which owns some of the world‘s top hotels, including this one, the dorchester in london. it‘s these properties that some campaigners are calling for people to boycott. campaigners with huge public platforms, eltonjohn tweeting that he‘s already refusing to stay at these hotels, as well as other big celebrities asking their followers to rise up and do something now. george clooney has said we are putting money in the pockets of those who choose to stone their citizens. brunei‘s lgbt community has expressed shock, whilst there is a small hope

that the new laws may not actually be widely enforced, people still say they are powerless. before, lg bt people were living in secret. now, they are living in fear. ben hunte, bbc news. our top story this lunchtime... theresa may is preparing to meetjeremy corbyn, to try to forge an agreement over brexit which could break the deadlock in parliament. and coming up... england stars inspire the next generation of netballers. coming up in the sport in the next 15 minutes on bbc news... tottenham are heading home. they play their first game in their new stadium tonight, against crystal palace. the new chair of the general medical council, dame clare marx, says that the bullying of doctors by senior colleagues is a problem which could affect patient care. her comments come as the doctors‘ union, the british medical association, is investigating claims of a culture of sexism at the organisation.

hugh pym is here. two related issues here. what has dame claire been saying? the general medical council is the regulator of doctors conduct across the uk, and it is saying that bullying within the profession is a problem, and this could for example take the shape of a consultant bullying a junior doctor. 0ne doctor got in touch with us today saying she‘d been openly shouted at by a senior doctor in front patients and staff, and this had been really bad for her confidence. a new initiative is being today, new training of doctors, how to tackle it in the workplace and how to report it, and here is what dame clare marx told me. we know from some of the high profile cases that come into the public domain that there are some doctors who have left theirjobs because they have felt bullied,

not only by their colleagues but by other members of the health care teams, and i think that we know that, where there is poor culture within an organisation, you are more likely to get uncontrolled behaviours that are felt to be undermining and bullying. it comes as the general medical association faces allegations of sexism and harassment. two senior doctors on the gma‘s committee have based incidents of harassment, lewd comments being made, and one said there was a culture of institutionalised sexism. the bma has apologised and said it will announce an independent enquiry. the government is being urged to abolish gel services of less than a year. mps on thejustice select committee

say some crimes should be punished with community sentences instead, to reduce the number of inmates. they‘ve warned prisons are in the depths of a continuing crisis. regional airline flybe has cancelled dozens regional airline flybe has cancelled d oze ns of regional airline flybe has cancelled dozens of flights because of what it called operational issues. services out of belfast, birmingham and edinburgh were among those affected. the company blamed an industry—wide shortage of pilots for the problems, as well as its own staff taking holidays. the parents of a woman who killed herself at a mental health hospital say failings in her care were "unbelievable". claire greaves from pontypool was a patient at cygnet hospital in coventry. an inquest found a series of care failings contributed to her death in february last year. paul martin reports. i was 100% focused on dying. now i want to live every second of this life, because it really is incredible. life can change in a minute. that is claire greaves four years ago, looking to the future. she‘d suffered from an early age with anorexia and a personality disorder. she was a campaigner,

a role that took her to the breakfast sofa, where she explained what it was like to be kept in a police cell because a mental health bed was unavailable. i was absolutely terrified at the time. itjust made the situation a lot worse at a time when i really needed it to be better. but, while campaigning for better mental health services for others, her own struggle continued. in 2017, she was moved to this new specialist hospital in coventry. but, after a period in seclusion, claire‘s parents became worried about her treatment there. she told us that... she... had no furniture in the room. a mattress was brought in at night for her to sleep on and then taken back out. she also mentioned that there had been... poor support for her hygiene. colin and debbie were trying to get claire moved closer to home

when she killed herself in her hospital room. but an inquestjury did not decide claire‘s death was suicide. they reached an open conclusion and said that failings here at cygnet contributed to claire‘s death. staffing levels were a problem. claire‘s observation levels were not increased despite her making several self—harm attempts in the days before she died, and her care plan wasn‘t followed, which meant she was alone in her room when she took her own life. it seems unbelievable that that can happen. they‘ve got these systems in place to make sure that they manage the health care properly, but the failings were quite shocking. 0ne charity says the case shows the strain specialist mental health care is under. the issue of staffing, mental health staffing is absolutely crucial, but too often we see a shortage of the right kind of skills and, when people have those skills, they are not looked after within the system to be able

to continue to do that. cygnet healthcare says it‘s making a number of changes following recommendations made at the inquest. paul martin, bbc news. in exactly 100 days‘ time, the uk will play host to the netball world cup in liverpool. there‘s been a huge spike in interest in the sport since this moment, when the engand women‘s netball team exceeded all expectations by beating australia and taking the gold medal at the commonwealth games. well, this morning, some of those netballing stars were joined on court by schoolchildren to celebrate the upcoming event. 0ur correspondent katie gornall reports. and they‘ve done it! england have done it! they did it, and one year later, for some, it‘s still sinking in. when england snatched commonwealth gold against the mighty australia,

many people back home celebrated like they were part of the team. and that excitement is set to build again. today in manchester, 100 schoolchildren took part in a training session to mark the countdown to the world cup in july. it still gives me goose bumps now, just to think what we achieved, the history we created. and how far netball has come in this last year, the ladies and men that have picked up a netball since that moment. it is amazing for us. it‘s inspirational. england‘s success at the commonwealth games saw a huge spike in participation. more than 130,000 people started playing netball, or more netball, after watching the gold medal match. the hope is that similar success at the world cup could lead to more people falling in love with the sport. this time they‘ll be on home turf. the netball world cup is being hosted in liverpool. and tickets for england‘s matches have already sold out. since i've been in this role, as head coach, both my tournaments

have been out in australia. i've seen the impact that the yellow and green had on the world rankings. so to have a sea of red around that stadium, huge support to us, and it gives us the eight player going into that tournament. that's all we can ask. because we actually need all of you. scotland will be trying to bring england back down to earth when they face tracey neville‘s side in their second match. meanwhile, northern ireland‘s new head coach, dan ryan, has a huge challenge, with his native country, australia, in the same group. it's going to be an amazing opportunity for our players to test themselves against the world's best. and it sets up our world cup campaign really nicely. nothing is better than coming up against the number one country in the world, it's going to be an interesting experience when the national anthem is being played. i'll be really proud to represent northern ireland at these games come and see how we go. it‘s predicted to be one of the most open world cups yet. and once again, players in the sport, at every

level, will be hoping to seize the spotlight. katie gornall, bbc news, manchester. the world‘s largest amphibian has been given a new home at london zoo. four chinese giant salamanders, which are critically endangered, were taken in by the zoo after the uk border force stopped an attempt to smuggle them into the country. 0ur science correspondent, rebecca morelle, was given an exclusive look behind the scenes. a bizarre—looking beast. meet london zoo‘s latest resident, a chinese giant salamander which can reach nearly six feet long, making it the biggest amphibian on the planet. today, it‘s being moved to a new enclosure. the salamander‘s very young, far from fully grown, so a quick weigh—in and then it‘s swabbed to check its health. this animal has already been on quite a journey. it was discovered after an attempt to smuggle it into the uk. i was amazed when i got the call from uk border force, and actually seeing these critically

endangered amphibians being smuggled illegally really hit us hard, because they are a species that we‘ve dedicated so much effort to conserve in the wild. it‘s such a rare chance to see a creature like this up close. these animals were once widespread across china, but they were taken from the streams that they live in and bred in farms for their meat. a recent survey found that there are now barely any of them left in the wild. chinese giant salamanders are living fossils, virtually unchanged since the time of the dinosaurs. they are unlike any other animal on the planet, but it‘s this uniqueness that‘s making them so highly sought after. the trade of wildlife is rife throughout the world, and i think, as species like the chinese giant salamander become rarer, that can actually place more demands on the trade of the species, so anything that creates more

pressure on amphibians in the wild is going to be detrimental to their future survival. at london zoo, it‘s time to move the salamander. the hope is to eventually create a breeding population — but, highly territorial, for now it‘s in the tank alone. they don‘t have scales, they have soft skin... it‘s a chance for the public to learn about one of nature‘s giants, even if it is a little shy while it gets used to its new home. rebecca morelle, bbc news. now the weather with tomasz schafernaker. scenes like this is not unusual in april, a dusting of snow on the daffodils, a good covering in south lanarkshire. some pretty nippy weather around. it‘s about as cold as it‘s going to get over the next couple of days. from friday,