this is bbc news. the headlines at 10 o'clock. cautious optimism from labour and the conservatives over brexit talks after they broke up last night that progress. there has been no movement from the government on the actual content of the political declaration and that is key. conversations with the labour party are continuing, they we re labour party are continuing, they were continuing last night and we expect to exchange more text with the labour party today so this is an ongoing process and i'm optimistic that we will reach some form of agreement. the housing dreams that turn into nightmares. growing numbers of complaints about new builds. and pension contributions must be paid, from today, by millions of workers. and the travel

show is in tokyo as the city council down to hosting the 2020 paralympics. good morning. welcome to bbc news. both labour and the conservatives say they hope brexit talks will continue over the weekend. the two parties have been meeting since wednesday to find a proposal to put to mps which it is hoped can break the brexit deadlock before an emergency eu summit next week. but the talks appeared to break down yesterday when the shadow brexit secretary sir keir starmer accused the government of refusing to consider changes to the brexit deal‘s political declaration. our political correspondent matt cole is here. what is the political

declaration and why is it this bit that die in such dispute about? we have been talking for months about theresa may's deal as a shorthand for what mps have been voting repeatedly against in the comments, let's be honest. now, that deal falls into two parts. we have the withdrawal agreement. that is effectively the divorce deal with the eu, settles what britain will pay on departure for its liabilities, and how you divide up who gets the children, that kind of thing, but there is a second part of the deal known as a political declaration. unlike the withdrawal agreement it is not legally binding. the political director of —— political declaration effectively looks ahead to the possible future relations, it is aspirational, if you like. it is not legally binding and it is that bit that labour particularly in negotiations they've had over the last couple of days

wa nt to had over the last couple of days want to see changes. they probably wa nt want to see changes. they probably want the changes that actually could be legally binding at least in uk law on the government because if they are not then whatever they agree the government in a few weeks' time could change, theresa may could 90, time could change, theresa may could go, new prime minister could come in and say, i'm not doing that. both sides have suggested they have not yet found common ground. there are mixed messages about whether or not they might actually be meeting this weekend or whether they will find, they have been exchanging text, not text messages, text, documents. there must be some positive things that they are at a stage where they are prepared to approach each other with apparently open minds. we seem to have conflicting opinions of what is going on. the government says there are no red lines, they are open to talks, they haven't gone in with a closed mind. labour says the last two or three days have seen

them find some level of intransigence from the government. philip hammond today talking at a meeting of finance ministers of the eu in bucharest seem to be much more positive about these things. deep conversations with the labour party were continuing, they were continuing last night, we expect to exchange more text with the labour party today so this is an ongoing process and i'm optimistic that we will reach some form of agreement. philip hammond seem to suggest talks we re philip hammond seem to suggest talks were happening this weekend. labour say that no, there are not. we understand that sir keir starmer, the shadow brexit secretary has written to the government but in terms of that turning into talks of substance, doesn't appear to be the case. labour's key point is that out of this they want the government to give up on one of the key red lines over which theresa may has refused

to cross since the brexit vote took place in the first place, that is she doesn't want a customs union with the european union, labour does. the customs union is a much closer economic relationship that crucially would prevent britain signing its own trade deals, and it is that intransigence that labour are pointing to is the problem here, as diane abbott, the home secretary —— shadow home secretary, complained a little earlier. the mess we are in is theresa may's mess. even tory mps accept that. the labour party has stepped up. we want to help. we are engaged in those talks in good faith. but the government has to perhaps show a little more flexibility than it has done so far. there has been no movement from the government on the actual content of the political declaration, and that is key. and time ticks on. we have an eu summit on wednesday when we will find out if the government will get an extension it has asked for, a

different extension or no extension at all. what we have is a busy week coming up. on wednesday it is an emergency summit, the 10th of april, two days ahead of what isn't blocked in as the new brexit date, april 12, and at that summit we know that theresa may wants to delay the brexit day even further. she wants it pushed back to june brexit day even further. she wants it pushed back tojune the 30th at least. she wants to get a deal done before then and leave sooner prefera bly before then and leave sooner preferably before may the 23rd, when european parliamentary elections need to take place which she does not want britain to take part in, but in her letter requesting an extension she has made clear that britain will play ball and participate if need be. the eu want what they call a flextension, horrible word, which means you could leave sooner if you don't need all that time, but for the flextension to be granted all 27 members have to ee, to be granted all 27 members have to agree, it has to be unanimous and

the noises coming out of countries like france are saying, if you have no credible political plan behind the deal, whether it is between labour and the tories or whether mps come up with something that the government can take and run with, if you haven't got something like that then they are minded not to say yes. u nless then they are minded not to say yes. unless article 50 is cancelled britain could leave on friday without a deal. which suggest it is ma nifestly without a deal. which suggest it is manifestly in the interest of the government to get something out of the labour party between now and wednesday in order to demonstrate that there is a plan, a timetable, whatever, that could persuade the other eu leaders to give them an extension. if the deal is not done over the weekend with labour there will be votes in the commons, indicative votes, you put out some options, leaving without a deal, and everything in between, and mps have not been able to get anyone of those votes where a majority of mps

expressed a preference for a particular version of events, and if the government could get that it said it would abide by that instead of what it could come up with with labour but time is very much of the essence, and i think we are now so far beyond the 11th hour, that the clock probably needs new batteries, it has been taking so long. we are in our syria situation where this week could prove fundamental and a nswer week could prove fundamental and answer questions about if we are leaving, how we are leaving and if we are living, we are going to have a full election campaign for the european parliamentary elections which some would see as a de facto, for want of a better phrase, second referendum. the developer persimmon has announced an independent review into its housing quality, after increasing concerns about the standard of its new builds. but the property advice group the homeowners alliance has told the bbc that issues with new homes aren't limited to just one developer. here's our consumer affairs correspondent colletta smith. this was supposed to be

justin's dream home. he'd saved up for a new build, thinking he wouldn't need to do any work to it. we have zero insulation. we've moved out twice. every ceiling in the entire property has been removed. but the reality has been very different. we have had countless problems with the heating system. everything in here has been replaced. the top floor was totally stripped. it's just an endless list of problems. justin bought his house from one of the biggest developers, taylor wimpey, under the help to buy scheme. it is well below standard. ttrying to negotiate with the builders has been endless trauma from day one. installation issues, damp issues... cold bridging issues. a couple of doors up lynn lives in an identical home with her partner and three daughters. this is not isolated to this particular property or this estate, it has got to be national. the developer taylor wimpey say

they sincerely apologise to justin and lynn and have taken action to put things right. more generally they say: i'm not talking about dodgy kitchen units. i'm talking about major structural failings. at this solicitors, timothy takes new calls nearly every day from people battling against a host of different developers right across the country. he thinks the problems with the new builds are down to lack of skills in the workforce. people are making mistakes potentially because they don't realise the significance of what they are doing due to a lack of training, a lack of experience, and a lack of supervision overall. developers are under pressure to build lots of homes and quickly. on top of that, every building company we have spoken to in recent years has told me it's a nightmare trying to get hold of enough staff with the right level of skill.

what new—build homeowners are now living with is the consequences of that. taylor wimpey say last year they increased the number of workers they hire directly by nearly 30%. the government say they are trying to tackle the issue by creating a new homes ombudsman and spending more on new construction training hubs. there are now calls for a new law to let owners hang on to some of their final payments for a couple of years. there is no incentive for a builder to build right and move on. so that's why we're calling for a snagging retention so people can hold back the money so they put their money where their mouth is and the builders will get things done properly. that's too late forjustin and lynn. they have some advice for anyone else facing similar problems. it does get you down, doesn't it, but you have got to keep going on and use each other to banter off. if you didn't you would cry. colletta smith, bbc news, in norwich. millions of workers will now

see more of their wages automatically diverted into a pension, from today. the minimum contribution is going up from 3% to 5%. employers will also have to increase their contributions. here's our personal finance correspondent simon gompertz. this is a tale of two hairdressers. one, chloe, full—time and ready to have 5% clipped off her wage for her work pension after today's increase. i just think that a little bit of money that i don't see, you know, it goes straight out of my wages before i even see it, and ijust think, well, for the future you may need it. cos you won't be working. and you'll need to top up for your old age and enjoy doing things as you get older. and this is taneika, who's been blown out of the pension scheme after having a baby and coming back part—time. pensions are tricky for new parents to afford. i think once you've a baby you are kind of put to the side

and that's how it is. you don't really have much say. it's like you've had a baby, you don't want to do this, you are on a lower wage, and that's it. and then there's a danger you get a lower pension. yes. it's notjust the cost. employers aren't obliged to sign up people like taneika, who earn less than £10,000 a year. to be fair, it's a challenge for the boss as well. the business has to contribute a top up, which has gone up to 3% of pay. for the majority of small businesses it is an onerous burden that's just going to get worse and worse and worse. and i think something like 70% of people work for a small business in this country, so it'll have an impact on the employment of whether people will actually take people on. is it all worth it, the biggest scheme, nest, which has 7.5 million save rs scheme, nest, which has 7.5 million savers has gained 9% in value in recent yea rs, savers has gained 9% in value in recent years, the people's pension has 8%, so if you are in it, you are ahead. there has been a big increase

in women starting pensions. then there's the danger that you have to ta ke there's the danger that you have to take a career break and you potentially comeback to earn less, and have less money coming in so less to save, if you can afford to save at all. matter because so many women don't earn enough to meet the basic level of income to join a company pension scheme they are not being included, so we need to have a way that as soon as you start earning anything you are automatically enrolled in your company pension scheme, so there's a natural level of saving that goes on and that encourages more women to save for their futures. right now the challenge for savers like chloe is how to afford today's higher pension payments. the government says it's letting us earn more before income tax kicks in and raising minimum wages, and that should help. simon gompertz, bbc news. the aircraft manufacturer boeing says it's temporarily cutting production of its 737 airliner, following two crashes. production will decrease from 52 to 42 planes a month,

while the firm works on changes to its max model which was involved in crashes in ethiopia and indonesia. the headlines on bbc news. there is cautious optimism from both the conservatives and labour over brexit talks after they broke up last night without progress. the developer persimmon has announced an independent review into its house—building over concerns about the standards of its new build properties. millions of workers will see more of their wages automatically diverted into a pension from today. minimum contributions are going up from 3% to 5%. sport now, and we have a round—up from mike bushell. it's grand national day, and there is one horse

that stands out amid the a0 runners, one that could well make history because last year, tiger roll will again be written by dave russell and is favourite for repeat success, making him the first horse since red rum in197a to making him the first horse since red rum in 197a to complete back to back victories. his irish trainer has a record 11 runners going into day. he's in good form, but it will be a big ask to go back and win the national a second time, but he's in good form, and i couldn't be happier with him. he is definitely one of the favourites. jockey barry geraghty will not be taking part after suffering a broken leg and heavy fall in the topham chase yesterday. two horses were injured on the second day of the meeting, fatally, yesterday. mo salafi has

been without a goal for two months did this. what a way to end the goal drought. jordan henderson sealed the win late on. liverpool are two points clear of manchester city but they have played one game more. they scored their goal which was a nice goal and we made the equaliser, so game on again and the second half was good, they came out and tried again, but then we were completely in control and scored two wonderful goals. it's fa cup semi final weekend. tomorrow, watford will face wolves, while later today, manchester city will be hoping to continue their march to the quadruple when they face brighton at wembley. and for city manager, pep guardiola, reaching the final would be a special moment. i think when i was young, in catalonia, so it was quite usual to see the final of the fa cup

rather than the premier league games. so in the tradition, wembley, both managers going there in front of the players, to hold this trophy. i have never been there and i cannot deny how nice it would be personally. but i think for the players as well and for the club. at this moment, they are one of if not the best team in the world, with an array of players that are top players and the reason why they are top players is that they are not only technically gifted, but they are a fit side. they are a very motivated side, hence the reason why they are going for four trophies. an exceptional squad of players at the moment. and that makes the challenge even bigger. england's women were beaten 1—0 by canada in their world cup warm up

match in manchester. phil neville's team were undone by one of the game's evergreen stars. 35—year—old christine sinclair of canada scoring a remarkable 180th international goal. england have four more warm up matches before taking on scotland in the opening game of the world cup, which starts in june. even though we don't like losing i thought it was a brilliant game. the players showed me everything that i wanted to see, really. some great performances. i was really happy. i felt relaxed watching it. it wasjust was really happy. i felt relaxed watching it. it was just the type of test we needed because we wanted to play a team that had experience and flexibility in the system and we saw that tonight, and i thought we handled most things really well. scotland drew1 all in a friendly with chile. scotland took the lead through erin cuthbert. but chile equalised thanks to a penalty. scotland play brazil next on monday. onto rugby union, and sale have narrowed the gap between themselves and

the premiership's top four with victory over harlequins. this opportunist try from byron mcguigan made the difference for the home side as they moved to five points behind harlequins. the scottish international ran over half the pitch for sale's only try of the match, in a 28—17 win. great britain's charley hull remains in contention at the first women's major of the year in california. she shot a second round of 69, to finish on three under par. but 5 strokes ahead is the leader, in kyung kim of korea, she's 8 under par. that is all the sport, you can get the latest on the grand national and find out which horse you fancy on the bbc sport website. there is a pin stickers' guide to the grand national and that is basically what you need to do, isn't it? close your eyes and stick a pin in the newspaper. it is that sort of race. i'm keeping my hopes up. i was the last but one in the office sweep there were two bits of paper left,

but i didn't get the donkey, so i'm hopeful. thanks very much, we will be talking about tips later in the day. six soldiers have been arrested, the secretary of state says that there is no place for these kind of actions in the military and, if true, those involved will face the full force of the law. the chief of the general staff general sir mark aldon smith said inappropriate behaviour was downright unacceptable. united nations security council has called for an immediate end to fighting in libya. forces loyal to the most powerful warlord in the country are advancing from their stronghold in benghazi to the east of the country close to the unity government which is based in the capital, tripoli. clashes have been reported just 50km from the capital. ramzan karmali reports. he was meant to find a solution

to an escalating problem. but the un secretary general‘s mission to tripoli appear to have failed for now. the united nations remain available to facilitate any political solution able to unify the libyan institutions. libyans deserve this security, prosperity, and the respect of their human rights. he was there for talks with general khalifa haftar, from the self—styled libyan national army. but they broke down. general haftar‘s troops are under orders to get to tripoli to overthrow the internationally recognised government. translation: this is considered a great achievement and progress towards tripoli. it means that we are technically inside tripoli. we still have a few check points to secure, and when i say that we have entered these areas, this means that the battle tomorrow will be on the outskirts of the city.

since 2011 and the fall of colonel gaddafi, libya has experienced violence and division as various groups try to take control of the oil—rich country. based in tripoli is a national unity government, led by prime minister fayez al—sarraj. he has urged militias to defend tripoli. in the east of the country, based in benghazi, is the libyan national army. they are backed by egypt and the united arab emirates. but the united arab emirates along with france, italy, the uk and the us have called for a de—escalation and fear any conflict will propel the country back to a state of chaos. a soldier who walked towards a bomb left on an underground train has been awarded the queen commendation for bravery. lieutenant colonel craig palmer was travelling to work when the device partially exploded a few carriages away at parsons green station. a fireball swept through the tube train injuring more than 50 people. he took photographs of the smouldering bomb before contacting the police.

we can hear from we can hearfrom lieutenant we can hear from lieutenant colonel palmer himself now. he is in our newsroom in salford. good morning to you. first, congratulations on being commended in this way stop the second thing is to ask why walk towards it? thank you for your kind words. i have asked myself that a couple of times, why did i do it? i did not ask to be on the train that day. but i was, therefore is a british army officer, i had to do the right thing. in that particular moment, in amongst the british public i had to step up and do the right thing. it is interesting because presumably you didn't have long to think about it.|j because presumably you didn't have long to think about it. i had no time to think, i was on a commute, i was dressed in a suit, i have just said goodbye to my wife, thinking about the weekend, not in a military

space as it were, then the reality kicks in, and i had moments to assess, kicks in, and i had moments to assess , process kicks in, and i had moments to assess, process and do something which was decisive. what did you do? what was the purpose, the thinking? in the early stages i was trying to just understand and confirm what was happening. it was all very confusing. there was a bit of an unreal calm, and find myself in front of a mass of people on the platform, looking at a smouldering carriage. i kind of thought it might bea carriage. i kind of thought it might be a terrorist event of sorts. i wasn't quite clear. i stepped back onto the train and then i could see the debris on the train and a smell of smoke and i realise that i had this chill, i knew from the smell of the explosives, that this was a terrorist event and i would have to think very quickly as to what i was going to do in that moment. you took some photos which we are going to

see, talking about what was happening. what stood out for you? was it obvious immediately that this was probably an explosive? the smell confirmed to me that it was explosives. that gave me a real boost to step up and do something. but i didn't think about photographs at that moment in time. i had to close the gap between where i was and where this thing was unfolding. ididn't and where this thing was unfolding. i didn't know at that moment whether the situation was finished, whether there will be more bombs, and where was the terrorist? was he there? i was the terrorist? was he there? i was focused immediately on two or three people who were in the vicinity. i didn't know in the early stages as to whether this attack was over. i had to close the carriage to assess the situation. where you saw the device it was not a reassuring sight that struck you. the device it was not a reassuring sight that struck youlj the device it was not a reassuring sight that struck you. i was looking for and confirming, where is the

terrace, where other bombs, are there any other dangers? and when i got to the carriage i could see through the window something which i from my previous experience that it was a from my previous experience that it wasa ied from my previous experience that it was a ied but i was only 90% certain as to the state of it, and i knew that i had to call the emergency services and police to give them may steer as to what this was going to be. this was early in the event but i knew that the police were probably inbound, andi i knew that the police were probably inbound, and i knew, because i could not find the bomber of the terrace that somebody was on the run and that somebody was on the run and that person needed to be caught. and presumably there was the risk that that device might not have completed its cycle. i knew by looking at it, 90%, that it was a partially activated ied. it was still therefore dangerous and lethal. at that sort of range it could have

been catastrophic. but i decided, some might say recklessly, i took an honest risk assessment of the situation, opened the door, went in, got my phone out to take his might click photographs as evidence, because i could see that the bomb was burning away in front of me, i could see that it was wrapped in a little carrier bag, and i knew that that little carrier bag was vital evidence. somebody had brought on a little carrier bag which is a strange thing, and insulated carrier bag onto the train, and i told the police to try and catch the guy, who had brought the little carrier bag onto the train. and the evidence helped in the trial and conviction of the bomber who has since been jailed for life, which must have given you some satisfaction to know that this trail of evidence to lead to someone and a conviction. you have got children. ijust wonder

what your family said when you told them what you had done. they might have thought breakfast and they might have thought the worst things. first of all, when i finished, i stepped off the platform, then waited for the police commander to arrive and leave him so that he had arrive and leave him so that he had a clear assessment then went into work, did halfa a clear assessment then went into work, did half a day was network then went home to my wife. when i got home, i knew it was with a mixture of pride and also a little bit of, don't do that again, which is understandable. my wife knows me. she wasn't shocked that i did what i did, but she did ask me, please don't ever do that again. they must be hugely proud of you, and relieved that you came back in one piece. we are grateful to you for coming to talk to us, thank you very much and congratulations. thank you very

much. lieutenant colonel there with his story of bravery. it may have been reckless but it is an admirable thing to have done and we are grateful to him for telling us about it. now the weather with susan powell. it is probably not surprising that pinning down the detail on the weather is difficult. low pressure is swirling the cloud across the uk through this weekend. there are some gaps to be found at times but it is like trying to predict which sock will come out of the tumble drier first! eastern counties thanks to that easterly wind always having more cloud, and towards the west, the best of the brightness and top temperatures, but for much of scotland, a cloudy picture without pics of rain. the far north and east south—west getting the brightest whether. overnight, cloud becoming widespread. just northern ireland and north wales with the risk of a patchy