hello and welcome to dateline london. i'm carrie gracie. this week. halt all military activity. this is bbc new. the headlines at 11am.: that is the message cautious optimism from both the from the united nations from conservatives and labour party over the united nations security council brexit talks after they broke up and the g7 to rival forces in libya. last night without progress. the but as the so called libyan national army presses on towards government perhaps has to show a the capital, who, if little bit more flexibility as it anyone, is listening? israel's elections: the candidates, the issues and the implications has so far. there has been no for the middle east. and brexit: life on a knife edge may be movement from the government on the beginning to feel like the new normal for westminster actual concept of the political politics but this week declaration, and that is key. the the decisions move to europe. my guests today are janet daley of the sunday telegraph, conversations are continuing. we are middle east commentator expecting to exchange some more tax rachel shabi, bernard purcell with the labour party today. so, who edits the irish world this is an ongoing process, and i am optimistic we will beat some sort of and american writerjef mcallister. agreement. housing greens turn -- housing dreams of turning into thank you to you all. there is a united nations backed nightmares. higher pension government in tripoli, contributions must be paid by today but for how much longer? a rebel army is marching on the libyan capital,

deaf to pleas from the visiting secretary general for millions of people. tiger roll of the un last week and defying is in line for a repeat performance the wishes of the wider international community. at the grand national at aintree this afternoon. since the uprising that toppled muammar gaddafi in 2011 libya has muammar gaddafi in 2011, libya has been wracked by civil war. antonio gutteres had hoped to bring all sides together this month both labour and the for a un backed conference conservatives say they hope to plan national elections. but at the head of the self brexit talks will continue proclaimed libyan national army, khalifa haftar seems over the weekend. the two parties have been meeting to have other plans. since wednesday to find a proposal select as look at why it is. jef, to put to mps which it is hoped can break the brexit deadlock before an emergency eu summit next week. you're stuck because of it. why is it that libya is still such a wreck but the talks appeared to break down so many years after the fall of yesterday when the shadow brexit secretary sir keir starmer accused gaddafi? you have to go to the ritz. the government of refusing to consider changes to the brexit gaddafi? you have to go to the ritz. gaddafi is not something you can get deal‘s political declaration. before we speak to our political over so quickly. —— you have to go correspondent, let's just before we speak to our political correspondent, let'sjust remind before we speak to our political correspondent, let's just remind you of exactly what that political declaration is. it's the document that sets out proposals for how do

uk's long term future relationship with the eu would want after brexit itself has happened. it is not legally binding, but will be worked up legally binding, but will be worked up intoa legally binding, but will be worked up into a full agreement during the transition period, assuming, of course, they leave with a deal when we get a transition period. if you leave without a deal, there would be a transition period. matt cole is here to explain more. why is the political declaration regarded by labour as political declaration regarded by labouras an important political declaration regarded by labour as an important target for change? and principalterms, because the eu has made it very clear the withdrawal agreement, the divorce deal, is non—negotiable, and is fixed. the bit about going forward, the political declaration, that is how the future relationship will unfold, under big differences in the visions about how this should be. bill, from day one, said there should be no customs union or single market membership, while labour

labour said they want one. they won close alignment with the single market. this would appear, probably, to be the sticking point in his negotiation. labour said there has been no movement oi’ negotiation. labour said there has been no movement or concession from the government. philip hammond says today there are no red lines, they are open to all negotiations in the stocks. the 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. he is confident, and yet what be undersun, he is confident, and yet what be under sun, despite philip hammond suggesting talks are taking place today, labour are saying there is nothing in the diary. actual face—to—face talks between the different negotiating team is not happening. i think labour are very clear that the problem is a lack of willingness to compromise or change. that is what diane abbott has been saying this morning.

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 presumably this is even more important in the run—up to the eu summit on wednesday, because the language coming out of brussels is, we wa nt language coming out of brussels is, we want to see that there is evidence that you can't get a deal of some kind agreed before we are prepared to give you this extension you have asked for. theresa may has written to the eu leaders think i would like an extension, i don't wa nt would like an extension, i don't want brexit day to be friday, to live without a deal on april to 12. however, eu leaders have made it fairly clear, the french are not loose, that they want there to be something, something of substance, be it that there is going to be a

general election on a referendum, or that there is a workable deal with political clout behind it being set up, either between labour and the government... because that would potentially give you the numbers. exactly. all of that doesn't happen, there is talk of more talks between politicians on wednesday, if may goes to brussels with nothing to say, this is why i want an extension, to achieve this, the french, the french, the spanish, the belgians, they would not be likely to offer that. theresa may has to come up with something to give her a reason to grant an extension. it might not be the land that she wa nts, might not be the land that she wants, it might be longer, but either way, things could get pretty sticky. she might have the only option of saying she wants an extension so she can have a general election. an interesting week ahead, as ever. thank you very much. the homeowners alliance says they have seen an increase in the number of people approaching

them for help over the last two years because of serious defects with their new—build homes. the home builders federation own satisfaction surveys show a rise in the number of customers reporting snags — from 93% in 2015 to 99% in 2018. professorjohn nolan chairs the construction industry council, and isa construction industry council, and is a structural engineer. on that basis, argue for coming with us,... are you surprised by these figures, oi’ are you surprised by these figures, orare are you surprised by these figures, or are they consistent with your impression of what is happening in the new side of the market?|j impression of what is happening in the new side of the market? i am not surprised at all. the all—party parliamentary group for excellent in the built environment back in 2016 reviewed housing quality, and what be hard at that time, i was sitting

on that panel, what we that time was pretty damning. and to my mind, we haven't seen a great deal that would tell us that things were improving. presumably, if the quality is suspect, is not just presumably, if the quality is suspect, is notjust that the new owner might have calls to be unhappy about that, but subsequent owners are down the line in future years. i'll be prodding up a problem for the future in the way we have allowed standards to slip?|j the future in the way we have allowed standards to slip? i am absolutely sure that is the case. if you compare this with something much more terrible, the grenfell disaster, but it is very clear that there were considerable quality problems in all sorts of areas, and add that to the collapse of the ball at the school in scotland and the subsequent report that didn't find any single school that they looked aft after that i didn't have serious

problems. we have definitely got a problems. we have definitely got a problem with systemic failure in our industry, which is notjust confined to this country. i think it is a one point problem. we are probably one of the best, but certainly we have got a problem in terms of quality and standards. to what degree does a self certification play a part in this? that was an issue we talked about in the grenfell, in terms of the various forms of protective measures that were supposed to be made to make the building for your stay. i appreciate we are not talking about that here, but i wonder if there is a more general problem now, that we have created a situation where we used to have building inspectors routinely coming and checking on sites, that that work is often done not by the developers of the construction companies themselves.” developers of the construction companies themselves. i think the inspections that were historically done by building control or the

other insurance organisations, those are still being done, but i think that there is a problem insofar as consumers understanding what those inspections actually cover. because thatis inspections actually cover. because that is quite considerable. and there is a requirement, if you like, that's everybody that is building whatever should be inspecting their own work, but clearly per now have understood that they need to have some means of over viewing that, and i think that is something that we need all the way across the industry, that we find yourself in a situation where we no longer have the clerks of works and the resident engineers on site inspecting quality. that inspection is all been done to a contractor now. when you are hiring contractors at the lowest price, you are going to get the

lowest value, and i think that is symptomatic across the industry, not just in housing. the are you pleased that persimmon have made this decision to set up an independent review? i am delighted, but what i really wa nt review? i am delighted, but what i really want to see is the new homes housing ombudsman that the conservative party stated that they we re conservative party stated that they were going to have at the last party conference, that was recommended by the all—party parliamentary group, that looked into this back in 2018. thank you very much forjoining us. the aircraft manufacturer boeing said it is temporarily discreet decreasing manufacturing. 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. 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. 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 headlines on bbc news: cautious optimism from both the conservative party and labour over brexit talks after they broke up last night without progress. the

developer persimmon has announced an independent review into its housing quality at an increased concerns about the standard of its new—build properties. millions of workers will see more of their automatically diverted into a pension from today. minimum contribution rates go up from 3% to 5%. 200 jobs are set to go in birmingham after the announcement that gkn aerospace will close its kings norton factory. gkn was bought by the melrose group in a takeover last year. the plant, which manufactures windows and canopies for military and civil aircraft — is due to shut in 2021. in a statement, the company said the kings norton factory did not have a sustainable future. our business correspondent rob young has been looking at the story. what may confuse people who can think back a few months is that they thought the kings norton site was safe. the history of this, is that about a year ago, melrose, but

specialise in buying a pair performing companies and turning them around, but gkn aerospace for £8 billion again she was opposition. and so to try and make this deal go ahead, melrose entered into a series of undertaking with the government to try to reassure mps and unions, and one of those promises it made it would not sell the aerospace part of gkn aerospace for five years. so, the decision to close one of the aerospace factories has led to a furious response. unite union has said the decision has come totally out of the blue. they are demanding a meeting between management, and they have said the fear this is the start of gkn aerospace operations being run down. the local mp said it isa being run down. the local mp said it is a breach of faith with employers, and the chairman of the select committee has written demanding were to note this work will go, and it is difficult to reconcile the commitments made to you to go with

this decision. and supports the public could not unreasonably argued, we promise not to sell out, shutting it down is a different thing, and we have made that on commercial reasons. we are still committed to the idea of doing aerospace work, but the factory is not sustainable. marrow say, the decision to close its factory was a commercial decision made by the management of gkn aerospace, and gkm say the company does not have a sustainable long—term future. they have looked at the order book and the cost of the factory. the government this morning have said that this is a commercial decision, and it is not in contravention of the deed of covenant agreed between the deed of covenant agreed between the department of business and melrose a year ago. in other words, there is no comeback. this is right. and that is what melrose say as well. unions and politician feel that these kinds of promises, when it isa that these kinds of promises, when it is a commercial decision, perhaps not necessarily have to wait that

they were a delight. some years medical what happened when cadbury was taken over and scruff took it over and made certain assurances, and then the long established cadbury production site was shut down. people were very angry. at the time, there was talk of changing the law to prevent this kind of thing happening. there have been some twea ks to happening. there have been some tweaks to what happens when companies try to take over another, but that was largely to do with when foreign companies were trying to ta ke foreign companies were trying to take over british companies, and the secretary of state can only intervene in a very limited number of cases, which has to do with national security and media plurality. there have been because, you are right, for the british government to perhaps adopt tougher rules like existing laws in the united states. they can be a bit more interventionist when it comes to companies being taken over. but

the view of the government here as you want to send a message that britain is open for business, open for investment, and it will only intervene if it absolutely has to, and the department for business a year ago said it has managed to get melrose to commit to these binding undertakings when it wanted to buy gkm, and they are seeing today that they have not broken nose. thank you very much. —— broken doors. the secretary of state says there is no place for this kind of actions in the military, and are true, those involved must face the full force of the law. chief of the general staff said inappropriate behaviour was downright unacceptable. sirmick sir mickjagger says he sir mick jagger says he is sir mickjagger says he is on the mend after having a heart operation

in the united states. in a tweet, the singer said he was feeling much better and thanked hospital staff for doing a superbjob. the stones postponed their tour of the us and canada, after their frontman pulled out on doctors orders. a soldier who walked towards a bomb left on an underground train has been awarded a bravery medal by the queen. a fireball swept through the tube train entering more than 50 people. lieutenant colonel palmer took photographs of the smouldering bomb before contacting the police. a little earlier, he came into a studio in salford to tell me about his interesting date on the tube.” didn't ask to be on the train that day, but i was, and therefore is a british army officer, i had to do the right thing, and in that

particular moment, in amongst the british public, i had just had to step up and do the right thing. presumably, you did not have long to think about it. i had no time. i was ona think about it. i had no time. i was on a commute, i was dressed in a suit. i had just said goodbye to my wife, was thinking about the weekend. i wasn't in a military space, as it were. but reality kicks in. i had moments to assess, process , in. i had moments to assess, process, and actually do something which was decisive. pointed you do? what was it thinking? in the early stages, i was really to just understand and confirm what was happening. it was all very confusing. there was a bit of an unwelcome, and i found confusing. there was a bit of an unwelcome, and ifound myself in front of a mass of people on the platform, looking at the smouldering carriage. i kinda thought it could bea carriage. i kinda thought it could be a terrorist event, but wasn't quite clear. i stepped back onto the

train, and at that point, i could see debris on the train, and a smell of smoke, and i realise i had this job, ijust knew of smoke, and i realise i had this job, i just knew from of smoke, and i realise i had this job, ijust knew from the smell of the explosives, that this was a terrorist event, and down i really had to think very quickly as to what i was going to do in that moment. you took some photographs that we are going see as you talk stop what did you see? what stood like for you? was did you see? what stood like for you ? was it did you see? what stood like for you? was it obvious that this was the explosive? this will confirm to me that it was explosives, and 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 progressing was unfolding. ididn't where i was and progressing was unfolding. i didn't know at that moment of time to one of the situation was finished, for that there was going to be more bombs, where was it terrorist? was he there? i was focused immediately on two of the people who were in the vicinity. i didn't quite know in the

early stages as to put that attack was over, so i had to close with the courage to assess the situation. good morning. on this year, there is one horse that really stands out in the a0 runners, and it is one that could make history as well. last year's, irish trained winner tiger roll — who will again be ridden byjockey, davy russell — is the hot favourite for a repeat success, which would make him the first horse, since red rum in 197a, to complete back to back victories. his irish trainer gordon elliott, has a race—record 11 runners. he is in good form, and he is well, but we have other runners in the race, but it would be a big as to wendy grand national for the second time, but he is in good form. he is definitely one of the favourites.

liverpool have gone back to the top of the premier league after beating southampton last night. the game was poised at 1—1 before mohamed salah — who has been without a goal for almost two months — did this. quite a way to end the drought. jordan henderson then sealed the win late on. liverpool are now two points clear of manchester city but have played one game more. we had in the first have already very good moments, very good chances in the box. they scored their goal which was a nice girl, and we made the equaliser. so, came on again. and the second half, it was clear they would come out and try again. you need a couple of minutes, but then we were completely in goal, and then we were completely in goal, and then escorted two wonderful goals. it's fa cup semi final weekend. on sunday, watford will face wolves, while later today, manchester city will look to continue their march, to an unprecedented 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, it was quite usual to see the final of the fa cup done in the premier league games, so the tradition in old wembley, both managers going the in front of the players. i have never been there, andi players. i have never been there, and i can't deny how nice it would be personally, but i think for the players as well and for the club. england's moment lost last night, and the manager says it is good preparation ahead of the world cup. canada won 1—0 thanks to 35—year—old christine sinclair scoring a remarkable 180th international goal. england have four more warm up matches before taking on scotland in their openning game of the world cup which starts injune. even though we don't like losing, i thought it was a brilliant game of football. i thought my players

showed me everything that i wanted to see, really. i thought there was some great performances, i really did. iwas some great performances, i really did. i was really happy when i was watching it, i felt did. i was really happy when i was watching it, ifelt relaxed. it was just a type of test that we needed, because we wanted to play against an experienced team with flexibility. we saw that tonight. i thought we handled it well. scotland drew 1—1 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. they have narrowed the gap between themselves and the premiership top four but victory at harlequins. this opportunist try from byron mcguigan made the difference, for the home side as they moved to, 5 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 woman's competition of the year.

she shot a second round of 69, to finish on three under par. south korea's, in, kyung kim, leads the event on 8 under. that's all the sport for now. now for the weather. i called my hands up at the start of this forecast, because pinning down the detailfor this this forecast, because pinning down the detail for this weekend is going to be pretty do tricky. the biggest difficulty is predicting where we will see the thickest cloud and wind. it is quite a complicated by the picture, with areas of a thick clouds swirling around areas of low pressure that brought us all of the showers in the weekjust gone. as a rule of thumb, the easterly breeze will mean eastern areas will feel cooler, but not always. towards the west, we should get some of the sunshine and the best of the once, but some spots are looking korea for sunday than the bill before this afternoon. a closer look at this afternoon, and for much of scotland, solid cloud and outbreaks of rain.

the highlands and the northern isles doing pretty well for the second pa rt doing pretty well for the second part of the day, along with dumfries and gallery and ayrshire. hopefully and gallery and ayrshire. hopefully a little further is, as far east as kent and east anglia, often rather grey and cold around the coast. looking great for the national art entry. 13 the afternoon high. perhaps a little cooler by the time the race takes place. if you are heading out this evening, still some rain to come across scotland. perhaps a few showers running into the south—west of england. generally more cloud up front as the night goes on, more than last night. north wales and perhaps northern ireland, the risk of a touch of frost. typically those of around six or 7 degrees. first thing on sunday, the cloud more evenly spread across the uk. to the north, they cut boast a pretty solid on sunday. further south, it looks like we will see sunny spells developing, and the temperatures will also shoot up, but

you can see what happens once it gets a little bit warmer across eastern counties. there is a risk of some pretty big thunderstorm developing, and those could affect the fa cup final taking place at wembley. some punch each other is certainly for sunday afternoon. monday could be a similar story as well. great first thing, and a little bits of brightness. some heftier rain spreading over england and wales. northern ireland and scotla nd and wales. northern ireland and scotland will enjoy the best of the brightness on monday.