this is bbc news. the headlines at 12pm. cautious optimism from both the conservative party and labour over brexit talks after they broke up last night without progress. the government perhaps has to show a little more flexibility than it has so little more flexibility than it has so far. there has been no movement from the government on the actual concept of the political declaration, and that is key. the conversations with the labour party is continuing, they were continuing la st is continuing, they were continuing last night. we are expecting to exchange some more tax with the liberal party today, so this is an ongoing process, and i'm optimistic we will be some form of agreement. the housing dreams turn into nightmares. growing numbers of complaints about new—build

properties. higher pension contributions must be paid from today by millions of workers. also this hour, raheem sterling's gift of 500 schoolchildren. they are heading to wembley after the manchester city star got them tickets for this afternoon's fa cup semifinal against brighton. tiger roll is hot favourite to repeat his success of last year at the grand national at aintree. and don't happens 12, collect looks at the technology employed to help keep our air clean. hello, good afternoon. both labour and the conservative party say they hope brexit talks will continue over the weekend. the two political parties have been meeting since wednesday to try to find a proposal

which could be put to mps to break the brexit deadlock before an emergency eu summit, which take place on wednesday. but the talks appear to break down yesterday when the shadow brexit secretary sir keir starmer accused the government of refusing to consider changes to the political declaration. in a moment, we will have the latest from max cole, but a reminderfirst we will have the latest from max cole, but a reminder first of exactly what the political declaration is. it is the document political declaration is. which sets out proposals for how the uk's long—term future relationship with the eu will work after brexit. the political declaration is not legally binding but will be worked up into a full agreement during the transition period. a transition period may only get if it isa a transition period may only get if it is a transition deal. our political correspondent, matt cole, explained to me earlier why the political decleration is proving so divisive. the withdrawal agreement, which is the divorce deal part of theresa

may's deal, that is non—negotiable, thatis may's deal, that is non—negotiable, that is locked and fixed. the bit about going forward, the political declaration, that is how the future relationship will unfold, and there are big differences and divisions about how it should be. cherries resubmit from day one has said there should be no close relationship in terms of customs union or single market relationship. labour want to customs union, which had been written cannot due to a around the world. this would appear, probably, to be the sticking point in this negotiation. labour says there has been no concession from the government. philip hammond, the chancellor today saying there are no red lines, and they are open to all negotiations in the stocks. the conversations with the labour party are concerning. they were continuing la st are concerning. they were continuing last night. we are expecting to exchange some more tax with labour party today, so this is an ongoing process, and i am optimistic that we will get some form of agreement. young he is confident, but we

understand that labour has said there is nothing in the diary for today. we believe there has been an exchange of letters, but face—to—face talks between the different negotiating team is not happening. i think labour are very clear the problem is a lack of willingness to compromise or change. that is certainly what i am there with us diane abbott has been saying. we want to help. we are engaged in these talks in good faith. but the government perhaps has to show a little more flexibility than it seems to have done so far. there has been no movement from the government on the actual concept of the political declaration, and that is key. presumably this is even more important in the run—up to the eu summit on wednesday, because it limits coming out of brussels is, we wa nt to limits coming out of brussels is, we want to see that there is evidence that you can get a deal or some kind of great before we are prepared to

give this extension. theresa may has written to the eu leaders sing, i would like an extension, please, 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 will 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... pic that would potentially give you the numbers. exactly. if that doesn't happen, there is talk of more mps on monday talking between different option. but on wednesday, if theresa may goes to brussels with nothing to say why she wants an extension, to achieve this, the french, the spanish, the belgians have said they would not be minded to offer that as an extension. women like us to give them something to give had a reason to grantan them something to give had a reason to grant an extension. if they do, it might not be the length she

wa nts, it might not be the length she wants, it might be longer. but either way, things could get pretty sticky, and she might only have the option of saying she wants general election so she can have an election. 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. joining us for your webcam is steve turner from the joining us for your webcam is steve turnerfrom the home builders federation. thank you for being with us on federation. thank you for being with us on bbc news. when you hear the decision that the persimmon has made, do you think that reflects well on the industry badly?” made, do you think that reflects well on the industry badly? i think it isa well on the industry badly? i think it is a very positive move from persimmon, to acknowledge that it had been heavily criticised in recent yea rs, had been heavily criticised in recent years, and they have made a clear statement they will address it. i think the rest of the industry

is overwhelmingly delivering a very high quality homes already. there is a clear intent to go further. the industry is absolutely committed to working with the government to put an ombudsman in place, but as i say, overwhelmingly, buyers with new—build homes are happy. overwhelmingly, buyers with new-build homes are happy. produce think the problems arise from? is a poor quality and workmanship because contractors are often subcontracting in order to meet the need to get enough labour to do the job, in order to meet the need to get enough labour to do thejob, and it is at the actual use of material such as a problem? there has been a huge recruitment drive over recent yea rs, huge recruitment drive over recent years, and that has addressed a housing shortage that we have got. but we have got to ensure that as we do that, and as people grow, the quality and procedures are in place to ensure that homes are of the quality people expect, and overwhelmingly, are sadly so, that overwhelmingly, are sadly so, that over 97% of people that buy new—build homes would recommend them toa new—build homes would recommend them to a friend. so, and the vast majority of cases, we are getting it

right. in the incident is, but it doesn't we have got responsibilities to go and, rectify the problems, and consumers are protected by a two—year guaranteed by the builder and a ten year structural warranty. any it surveyed four years ago, they found 92% of buyers reporting problems, and of those, 35% reported these new builds reported 11 or more problem. given that survey and your more recent survey, what has been done that could get is from that first set of figures to your more positive sets of figures? what is change in those four years? presumably nothing has changed in terms of the government regulation, so terms of the government regulation, so it must be something that'll change within the industry. so it must be something that'll change within the industrylj so it must be something that'll change within the industry. i think is volume has increased steadily between 2013 and 2017, there was a dip in build quality and customer service. the industry was heavily and quite rightly criticised for that. there has been a huge amount of work going on at an industry

level and within individual companies to address that, and we are now seeing improved levels of quality and customer service come through across the board. why are you so keen on the idea of an ombudsman, because in some ways i can understand why complainants are, by consumer organisms are, but often when companies are involved and have to do with a new regulator, it is the last thing they want. i wonder what your industry is enthusiastic about this idea. , the industry is a consumerfacing industry. about this idea. , the industry is a consumer facing industry. we about this idea. , the industry is a consumerfacing industry. we sell a product to consumers. we want to ensure that consumers have confidence in bobby bowden, and it is quite right that we provide the address and reception the customer quite rightly expect. we want to work with all parties, all stakeholders are engaged with discussions with him on the best of an ombudsman in place. we are drafting a new industry code that the industry is committed to that will drive up quality further and

improve when things go wrong. sceptics might wonder what at the industry is keen on the idea because it pushes resolving complaints further down the road. it means you can see, if you are not happy with oui’ can see, if you are not happy with our response, go to the ombudsman, which is months away before it can get dealt with. it might actually increase consumer frustration. no, there will be a clear process. ultimately, it is a builder that is responsible with any issues the customer has with a new proton. the first port of call will always be the builder. the warranty is also provided with a resolution service where consumers are not happy with what the builder has done. what we wa nt to what the builder has done. what we want to do is put a further step in place that, if the consumer is still not happy with any issues, they have got the ultimate recourse to go to an ombudsman who can levy fines against a builder. it is improving redress of the industry. at the same time, though, we are putting in in terms of the inspection process, in

terms of the inspection process, in terms of the requirements on builders to ensure the property is right first time, because ultimately, builders want to provide, and indeed overwhelmingly urging, building a house customers are happy with. thank you very much. 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: and it is cautious optimism from both the conservative party and labour over brexit talks, although they broke up last night without progress. the developer persimmon has announced an independent review into its housing quality after increasing concern about the standard of its new—build properties. millions of workers will see more of their weight is automatically diverted into a pension from today. there minimum contribution rate is going up from 396 contribution rate is going up from 3% to 5%. the aircraft manufacturer boeing said it is temporarily decreasing production of its airliner after 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 defence secretary gavin williamson says he is appalled by claims ofan williamson says he is appalled by claims of an alleged attack against a teenage female soldier was sleeping. six army soldiers have been arrested and mr williamson has launched a review of behaviour across the military. the minister says that there is no place for these kind of actions in the military and, if true, those involved must face the full force of the law. the chief of the general staff, general sir mark carleton—smith, said inappropriate behaviour was "downright unacceptable". the united nations security council has called for an immediate end to fighting in libya. forces loyal to do most powerful were not in the country are advancing closer to the unity government based in the capital, tripoli. clashes have been reported just fifty kilometres 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 peace, 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 the 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. police are letting off people who use drugs without warning, because of not wanting to "harm their life chances". officers are being told not to charge or even issuing warnings to everyone caught with cannabis for recreational use. the west midlands has been called the "cannabis capital" of the uk because home office figures say more cannabis plants are grown there than anywhere else in britain. west midlands police's chief

constable dave thompson told the home affairs committee last week that his officers often found ‘huge amounts of cannabis‘ when carrying out stop and searches for weapons. i don't set out the strategy to criminalise lots of young people, a defence life challenges. if you look at stop and searches, for example, we ta ke at stop and searches, for example, we take policy decisions when we search for cannabis. my answer is not to give everyone a cannabis one, it is disastrous to their life chances. what do you make of the calculation that the chief constable in the west midlands had made?” think it is really an interesting debate that he has started. i think, at the moment, we have a situation or prohibition in the uk, and the objective of that was to stop people from taking drugs. and as we have

seen from what is happening across the country, it doesn't seem to be working at the moment. i think it is right that we have started having that debate about whether there is something else i could be done.|j suppose a difficulty for people perhaps as it does not look as if there has been a debate. it also police officers in the west midlands have made a policy decision to do this. really without talking to the public about what is going on. actually, across the country, localised, there has been, particular when police and crime commissioners have engaged with this issue, there has been that debate started. i think what chief co nsta ble started. i think what chief constable thomson has done is a reflection of two things. firstly, as he said far better than i could, it is about my choices are people later on, but also about what we can expect the police to do in this day in age. since austerity started, you have lost almost 22,000 police officers. one of the worst parts of myjob at the moment is having to say sorry to the public, because that we can do everything that they

wa nt that we can do everything that they want us to do. it is soul destroying. we a position we have to decide to were to scant resources, and it's probably better to put them at the highest risk is. i hate having to say to an elderly lady who has been burgled, i am sorry, we cannot come to you at any time, but particularly if mark scott one of my officers is dealing with small amounts of cannabis. the difficulty, i suppose, and this is not a criticism of the police, knowing to what extent the use of cannabis led some young people to other drugs. there is a lot of debate about that, under always has been. therefore, if you don't interject at the earliest possible stage, are you risking that that young person will beginning on a journey that could and returned dealing with a far worse addiction? drugs arejust dealing with a far worse addiction? drugs are just inherently unsafe, we know that. but ijoined the police to keep people safe, and to keep

criminals off the streets, and if i thought addressing an 18—year—old, for example, for a small amount of cannabis would help keep them safe, would help make society better, i would help make society better, i would do it all day long at the expense of other things. but we have had prohibition in this country since i first world war, roughly, in its current state, and it is not budget. because we know that people still take drugs, people are still getting into drugs. so if what we are currently doing in is not keeping teenagers and everyone else, it is in helping them to take a step away from drugs, perhaps it is time to think about what else might help them get away from drugs. how big a problem is it for you in dorset? dorset is a really safe place to live. it has got a big town, bournemouth, and what we have seen before it was a national issue, was the introduction of drugs into our area from bigger cities, it cole cou nty area from bigger cities, it cole county lines now. and dorset police have had to step up, and they have done a very successful and try to

integrate that supply of drugs into a radio. but we are trying to, i think turn a certain extent, push more to watch out, because as long as it is money to be made, it would appear, no strokes guns will bring drugs into what is a safe area. how do you see this being ultimately resolved, because you could go on but is quietly ignoring, effectively, a crime, because it is still a crime in the law, for the reasons you have outlined very clearly. at what point does the government of whatever political persuasion have to grasp this nettle, because you appear to be saying that a police officer on the front line, this is a law that isn't working, and actually you would prefer the problem of drugs, and it clearly is a problem, was dealt with ina clearly is a problem, was dealt with in a different way. that's right. what i have to make really clear, we have a parliament to make the laws. they are sovereign, and it is myjob

to enforce those laws. it is not my job to decide which laws should be on the statute book or not. but part of myjob is to inform the policymakers and the lawmakers so that when they pass laws and consider whether or not laws need to be reviewed they have got the views from the front line. as well as other views as well, education, health, and parents and families whose lives have been destroyed by drugs. thank you very much for being with us this afternoon. hundreds of pupils from raheem sterling's old school are heading to wembley this afternoon after he got them tickets to watch the fa cup semi—final. the england forward surprised students from ark elvin academy, by inviting them to watch manchester city's game against brighton. here's natalie pirks. it's pe as usualfor the pupils of ark elvin academy, but this has been no ordinary week. on thursday, ten of them met their school's most famous former student,

and then 250 of them discovered that, thanks to raheem sterling's generosity, they were going home with a pair of tickets for today's semi. despite his success and the fact that he's moved out of london and he's playing for manchester now, he still remembers where he's from and he sticks close to his roots. and for our children to have role model who thinks of them and has his heart in our community, that means a huge amount to us, it's very special. well, this used to be copeland community school. and every day for a young raheem sterling there was a very visual reminder of his dream to one day play at wembley stadium. his former coach still works here. he's always has been a very, very nice person. very generous. and always willing to help where he could and look out for people. i think it's great that he's doing that. it gives a lot of people in the area, from the school, the opportunity to go to wembley and see a game. a lot of them haven't been to wembley before. for those with the golden tickets,

sterling is a role model. he is our inspiration. he is our everyday reason to keep playing football. he got found here and itjust goes to show that with hard work, determination, passion, and focusing on your studies, anything is possible. the school will now rename its sports hall after the manchester city star and want him back to cut the ribbon — they hope, with the fa cup in tow. natalie pirks, bbc news, wembley. now it's time for a look at the weather with susan powell. no pressure is swirling cloud across the uk over this weekend, and there are some decent caps to be found in it too, but it is a little bit like trying to protect what sock will come out of the tumble drier. the eastern counties will have more

cloud and feel chillier, to the was come up with shelter, the best of the brightness and a top temperature. for most of scotland today, a cloudy picture. they fight not on the far south—west, getting the brightest weather. overnight, the brightest weather. overnight, the cloud becomes more widespread. perhaps northern ireland and north wales with the risk of a patchy frost. sunday, quite crowded to start the day in many areas. it anything, on sunday, they not holding onto the cloud, but dry to the site. with this in turn, our temperatures could push up enough to spark off the odd hefty, thundery shower. cautious optimism from both the

conservative party and labour over brexit talks after they broke up last night without progress. the government perhaps has to show a little more flexibility than it has so far. there has been no movement from the government on the actual concept of the political declaration, and that is key. the conversations with the labour party is continuing, they were continuing last night. we are expecting to exchange some more tax with the some more text with the liberal party today, so this is an ongoing process, labour party today, so this is an ongoing process, and i'm optimistic we will be some form of agreement. the independent developer persimmon has said it will have a review into its houses because of new build quality. higher pension contributions must be paid from today by millions of workers. rates are going up from three to 5%. and now for the sport. thank you to stop under grand national day with £150 million set to be bet on this race. there is one standard horse

and it is one that could well make history too. here is irish winner last year tiger roll which will be ridden by the same jockey as last year. it will make him the first horse who competes he will get back to back wins if you win this race. he has a good firm. he is well good. we have a big ask to come back and win the national the second time, but he is a good format. he is d eftly but he is a good format. he is deftly one of the favourites and he isa deftly one of the favourites and he is a character and everyone likes him around the place. the pill had gone back to the top of the premier league with a hard—fought win at southampton. liverpool —— liverpool. there are now two points clear of manchester city. but they have played one more. we had in the past have good moment, there are good chances any box. they scored a goal,