i think it is a shame that those remain—supporting parties aren't able, weren't able to come to an agreement to be fighting that together, but the wider aim of the securing of a people's vote to stop brexit is one where we are very still working together. but before any european poll, there are of course local elections this thursday, and after all the recent political turmoil in westminster, some conservatives are forecasting a difficult night for their party, because while bins and buses will no doubt be issues in these council contests, few think that the din of brexit willjust be drowned out. jessica parker, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with tomasz shafernaker. fairly quiet on the weather front today compared to what we had yesterday. tomorrow it is looking pretty good. a bright day on the way

with some sunshine, tuesday and wednesday will gradually warm up, temperatures up to 20 degrees. this afternoon will be fresher than that, typically 13 to 15 but notice across western parts they will be a bit more cloud, bits and pieces of light rain, mistand more cloud, bits and pieces of light rain, mist and murk overnight in the southwest, welsh hills but many central and eastern areas should have plenty of clear weather and it will be nippy, temperatures down to low single figures out of town. tomorrow's forecast and a lot of bright weather around but not necessarily clear blue skies for many of us. central areas may be cloudy, cloud across the west of the country but temperatures in some spots around 17 degrees. goodbye. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: britain's fracking tsar quits

after six months in thejob. natascha engel says ministers are paying too much attention to a small but noisy environmental lobby. a woman is shot dead and three people are injured at a synagogue in california. police are questioning a 19—year—old man who they say opened fire with an assault rifle. nicola sturgeon says no westminster government can ever stand in the way of scotland choosing indpendence. security fears in sri lanka has lead to church services being cancelled — a week after easter suicide bombings by islamist militants killed more than 250 people. he has run quicker than anyone else before, including himself here in london. eluid kipchoge is the champion again. eluid kipchoge has won the london marathon for a fourth time. the kenyan won in the second fastest time ever. britain's sir mo farah finished fifth. now on bbc news, it's time for the week in parliament in which alicia mccarthy looks back

at a busy week of politics. hello and welcome to the week in parliament— where mps return from their easter break after the shock of the sri lanka terrorist attack. there is no religion on this earth which teaches that the way to salvation is blowing up innocent children. there's outrage over the shooting of 29 year old northern ireland journalist lyra mckee. to those responsible for this act of terrorism, we say we've heard your excuses, and your hollow apologies. no one buys it. and just who was behind the leak about the use of chinese tech firm huawei for a new mobile data network? let me be clear, from the side of the house, ifa minister did leak the information, they are not fit to serve

in the cabinet, and are certainly not fit to be prime minister. but first, mps returned to a sombre westminster after their easter break. there'd been outrage over the shooting ofjournalist lyra mckee in londonderry by republican group the new ira — we'll have more on that injust a moment. and there was both shock and grief across the house following the easter sunday bombings in sri lanka in which at least 250 people died. the uk is now advising against all but essential travel to the country, with the foreign office warning that terrorists are very likely to try to carry out indiscriminate attacks there. eight britons were among those killed by suicide bombers at churches and top—end hotels. the speaker, john bercow, led mps in a minute's silence to remember the victims — and then the foreign secretary made a statement. these attacks were a primitive and vile attempt to sow division between people of different faiths.

religious tensions have caused some of the bloodiest battles in human history. and it is somber and sobering that even in the 21st century, attempts continue to such believers of different religions against each other. 0ur response must be to deny the perpetrators the satisfaction of dividing us, by being united in our condemnation and united in our support for religious tolerance. surely one of humanities greatest achievements. there is no religion on this earth which teaches that the way to salvation is blowing up innocent children, or shooting people at prayer. we must also not make the mistake of saying that one act of evil begets another. we should call it out for what it is. an act born of pure vicious mind polluting hatred, perpetuated by sickening, despicable, individuals

who don't worship god. they worship death. savage acts of terrorism don't discriminate by age, but they also don't discriminate by faith either, and these this is so sad for sri lanka, it takes us back to the dark old days that my right honorable friend has spoken about. these are such cold calculated attacks that it really does make us all think about the character, the thought process of those involved.

0r dare i say the lack of thought at all. and to attack christians, as has been said, on easter sunday is nothing short of barbaric. on this day and every day in the future that we stand shoulder to shoulder with all of those who stand for the right of all god's children, to freely practice their religion in safety and peace in the face of such barbaric hatred. well, the right honorable gentlemen spoke incredibly powerfully and you know, i absolutely agree with him. sadly, i doubt we will ever defeat the ideology of hatred, because it's a persistent feature of human existence. but whichever guise that it emerges, we must be ready to stand up and fight it. jeremy hunt. and there was another death that united mps in condemnation of violence. the murder of 29 year

old northern ireland journalist lyra mckee. she was shot while observing rioting in londonderry‘s creggan estate. the organisation known as the new ira has said it was behind the shooting and has offered what it?s called full and sincere apologies. the northern ireland secretary set out what had happened that night — she said police had been carrying out searches, in londonderry looking for firearms and explosives. while the searches were being carried out, the crowd gathered. three vehicles were hijacked and a satellite, and the police came —— set a light. under attack with up to 50 petrol bombs thrown at police lines. during the disorder, a gunman fired a number of shots in the direction of police, wounding lyra mckee. to those responsible for this act of terrorism we say we have heard your excuses and your hollow apologies, no one buys it. this was no accident. there is nothing that can justify this murderous act, and you are being called out for what you really are. i'm struck with the contradiction

between lyra mckee and the values she stood for and the values of those who chose to take her life, because those are the starkest contrasts. who represented the modern city of derry? northern ireland of today? and i think it was the lyra mckee's. not the gunman who mowed her down. the snp‘s spokesperson quoted lyra's own words. we were the generation destined to never witness the horrors of war, but to reap the spoils of peace. the spoils just never seemed to reach us, let us be sure that she's the last to suffer. all the political parties in northern ireland, all of the communicant right across the board are united in their absolute determination that we will move northern ireland forward, never return to the terrible types of incidents that we've seen on such a scale before. i find the apology offered today by the new ira absolutely nauseating, nauseating.

they cannot undo the grief, the pain, heatache. and the suffering to lyra mckee's friends, family, and partner. lyra mckee's funeral was held on wednesday, and theresa may, along with other senior westminster politicians, travelled to belfast to join mourners at the funeral. the prime minister sat between the irish taoiseach leo varadkar and the president of ireland michael d higgins. dup and sinn fein politicians also attended the service at st anne's cathedral in belfast. and there was a standing ovation when father martin magill demanded to know why it had taken a murder to bring the two sides together, asking — "why in god's name does it take the death of a 29—year—old woman with her whole life in front of her to get to this point?" power—sharing in northern ireland broke down injanuary 2017 — and sinn fein and the dup have been in a stand—off ever since. so what, if anything has changed? here's jayne mccormack. what we're hearing is dup has promised a time—limited process to restore the assembly immediately

alongside a tox process to resolve high standing issues, including culture and language. sinn fein rejected that proposal when it was first proposed back in 2017, and it says that as of right now, it has set out clear terms that it wants to see the us and be restored on the basis of rights and equality. —— assembly restored. so at this moment in time, there is no indication that anything significant has changed, back over to the british and the irish governments to see if they can get the parties to move from their entrenched perspective positions. jayne mccormack there. nicola sturgeon has said she wants to hold a second referendum on scottish independence by 2021 — if the country is taken out of the eu. the first minister told holyrood that she would introduce legislation soon to set the rules for another vote. the uk government's current position is it that it will not agree to transfer power. i believe that position will prove

to be unsustainable. however, by making progress with primary legislation first, we won't to squander valuable time now in a standoff... in a standoff with a uk government that may soon be out of office. whatever the first minister claims, and for all the warm words about being inclusive, her statement is inherently divisive. astonishingly, the way the first minister thinks we come together is for the people of scotland to be plunged into another divisive referendum within the next 18 months. first minister, this isjust absurd. the timing of this statement has everything to do with the first minister's party conference taking place in just three days' time. the first minister is using this parliamentary platform for a party platform. and in that, she's devaluing the office which she holds.

but the uk government would need to agree to the referendum being held — and deputy prime minister david lidington was quick to dismiss the idea. this was supposed to be settled for a generation in 2014, and we should stick to that stop no evidence since then that the appetite of the scottish people to go through a referendum once again has sort of surged up. david lidington, so, where does all that leave us? who better to ask than bbc scotland's brian taylor, at holyrood. the issue of independence is the fault line in scottish politics, to be frank, it's never far from the surface. this week it came back to full prominence, as the first minister, nicola sturgeon, made a statement here in the scottish parliament, at holyrood on the scotland's future, she was arguing that she would press for a referendum on scottish independence, at some point during the next two years, up to may 2021, when the next scottish parliamentary elections are due.

now her opponents, with the exception of the greens, condemned this. the tories indeed said it was divisive and absurd. now this statement this week actually has a rather lengthy genesis, it's all tied up with brexit. in 2014, we had the first scottish independence referendum, at that time, the people of scotland were advised by supporters of the union if they wanted scotland to stay in the european union, then scotland had to stay in the union that is the united kingdom. if they wanted the eu, they had to have the uk. and of course that hasn't proved to be the case. the people of scotland in the 2016 european referendum voted to remain by 62% to 38%, but of course the uk as a whole voted to leave. nicola sturgeon says that means the people of scotland have been taken out of the european union against their willful she says that gives her mandate, that was mentioned in the manifesto they put forward in the 2016 elections to this parliament, she says that gives her a mandate to hold a further referendum. now she has one rather large snag in the way, the power to hold a referendum resides with westminster,

it is reserved in westminster under the 1998 scotland act, which established devolution. uk ministers are saying no. they say now is not the time, indeed this week david liddington, the prime minister's effective deputy said that they would not be a referendum conceded to scotland up to those elections for stops scottish elections in may 2021. nicola sturgeon dismissed that. she said she wouldn't take lessons on this from a government that she didn't expect to last in office very long, and she believed it was the position of the uk government would be unsustainable. so you have that battle ground going on if you like between two governments, perhaps potentially two parliaments, but you also have, as ever, the battle going on here in scotland for the hearts and minds of the scottish people. is independence the best way for scotland economically and socially as nicola sturgeon would argue, or is it best to remain in the united kingdom as the tories, labour, the liberal democrats, those who support the union more generally would argue. that battle has been taking place

here in holyrood all this week, it's been taking place in scotland for decades. it is after all, the fault line in scottish politics. brian taylor. now, what's been happening in the wider world of politics? here's duncan smith with our countdown. at five, it's not unusual for trains to not quite be in the right place at the right time. and that was the case this week for north korean leader kim jong—un whose carriage over hit the mark on arrival in russia. but there was no moving the red carpet. the train itself was shunted back into the perfect position. at four, plans are already being put in place for the us president to touch down on british soil for a state visit injune. but it is still not known if the divisive president trump will have a chance to address parliament. at three, tuesday was st george's day. or was it? in a twitter gaffe, labour marked

the day 2a hours early, while the church of england will mark the patron saint‘s day on monday the 29th of april, owing to the late easter. truly a movable feast. at two, now, dates at the diary for all collectors of prime ministerial paraphernalia. coming up next month, auctions of items from the estates of harold wilson and margaret thatcher, and, yes, lots include pipes and handbags. and at one, could the commons see the return of a long lost custom, the speaker's long—bottomed wig? well, it could, if conservative mp edward leigh gets his way. he wants to be the next speaker and has told twitter followers he will, like a judge, submerge himself into the office. duncan smith. now, let's take a look at some other westminster news in brief. teenage environmental activist greta thunberg urged uk politicians

to listen to the scientists on climate change. the swedish teenager who inspired the schools climate change movement met mps and party leaders but not theresa may. meanwhile, extinction rebellion continued its climate change demonstrations in london. as well as gluing themselves to buildings in the city, activates took over part of the natural history museum with around 100 of them lying under the blue whale skeleton. the former labour leader ed miliband demanded more be done. greta thunberg, who is with us today in the public gallery, said this: "i want you to act as you would in a crisis. "i want you to act as if our house is on fire because it is." mr speaker, she is right. if we do not act, people will say in the future, you knew the facts but you did not care enough. we will be known as the generation with the knowledge of what was to come but without the will or imagination to prevent it. we will be condemned and rightly so.

the right response to rebellion in our streets is to produce a revolution with climate leadership and the time for action is now. he asked me about declaring a climate emergency. the thing is, mr speaker, i don't know what that would entail. i could stand here and say, i believe there is a climate emergency. he could say that. many of our local councils have done so, including my own council in wiltshire. the question is, what are you going to do about it? it's the easiest thing in the world for a politician to stand up and say, i'm going to do this, i'm going to set these targets knowing that i will be dead and buried before those targets have to be met. the minister says that she doesn't know what a climate emergency looks like. can i start by saying that it looks like doing what is scientifically necessary, notjust what is deemed to be politically possible at the time. many of those businesses, citizens and workers who have had their lives disrupted over the last week, as a result of protest, some of whom flew thousands of miles, in aeroplanes

to cause roadblocks which led to more c02 emissions and in an arrogant way threatened to disrupt the easter holidays of many hard—working families will be amazed at some of the attitudes in the house today. a foreign office minister has told mps the government deplores the execution of 37 prisoners in saudi arabia. a statement by the saudi state media said the men had been charged with adopting extremist ideology, forming terrorist cells and harming the peace and security of society. the liberal democrat leader, sir vince cable, asked an urgent question about the executions. does he not accept that britain's moral position on this is somewhat compromised by the continued supply of arms, fuelling atrocities in the civil war in yemen and that we are in urgent need of a reappraisal of our relationship with saudi arabia, given the fact that the continued medieval barbarism of this regime does not constitute the basis

for a friendly alliance? in terms of our arms exports, i fully appreciate what the right honourable gentleman is saying. the kingdom of saudi arabia faces a number of threats. this issue of arms is notjust about using arms in yemen but in respect of any arms exports, we do ensure that those exports fully comply with the consolidated criteria which govern any such sales. prince william met survivors of the christchurch mosque attack in new zealand. the duke of cambridge called the attack an unspeakable act of hate. 50 people died in the shootings in march. back at westminster, the home affairs committee wanted to know why it took social media firms so long to take down video of the attacks. there are reports in the new zealand media this morning that some of those videos are still available and have been found on facebook

and youtube and instagram. given that you have all told us many times before about the systems you have in place to take down terrorist material, why have your systems failed so badly in this case? we were able to remove the content of videos ten minutes after the video was flagged to us by law enforcement. but what we saw was over 800 variants of that video appear on the platform. within the first 24 hours, we were able to remove 1.5 million different copies. it's a first person shooter video, one where we have someone using a gopro helmet with a camera focused from their perspective, of shooting. now, if we had different angles where this was a third party video that shows it, perhaps our systems would have been faster because we have seen that type of content before. we have not seen the content from the actual, the actual angle of the shooter at the attacker in this situation. the conservative mp chris davies

will face a recall petition following his conviction for submitting false expense claims. mr davies was ordered to complete 50 hours of community service and fined £1,500 after he pleaded guilty at westminster magistrates court last month. i will accordingly be writing to the relevant petition officer to inform that person that chris davies is therefore subject to a recall petition process. it will be for that officer to make the arrangements for the petition. after the devastating fire at notre dame cathedral in paris, fears have been raised for another iconic building closer to home. the houses of parliament mostly date from the 19th century, but some parts go back as far as 1099. much of the building's mechanical and electrical systems, such as heating, lighting and power, were installed after world war two and are due to be replaced in a major restoration and renewal

programme, with the two chambers decanting to another location for work to be carried out. i'm sure where all glad that in the roofing section, there are smoke alarms. i have to say, i'm surprised and shocked that in such a vulnerable area there is no sprinkler system. i am rather sceptical about the argument that compartmentalisation is the answer to their vulnerability. that was the case in the titanic. thank goodness the fire at notre dame led to no loss of life but if we were to have a fire in this building, parts of which are considerably older than notre dame, we might not be so lucky because there are 9,000 people who work here every day. isn't it time that we used this as a wake—up call? and i know the leader of the house of lords with me but will she really put on her hobnailed boots, storm over to downing street and force the prime minister — stamp her feet — and force the prime minister to bring forward the parliamentary buildings bill as fast as possible?

we can't have the french rebuild notre dame in five years and asked still be thinking about it ten years later? the leader of the house. well, i am extremely sympathetic to the honourable gentleman's request and actually he might find traces of my hobnailed boots on their way over to number ten over the last week or so. that wasn't lost on me either, that prospect, and i was so sorry to see the terrible fire and notre dame, it was an absolute tragedy for the world. and of course he's absolutely right, we have to ensure that we do everything possible to bring forward our own restoration and renewal bill as soon as possible. watch this space. andrea leadsom. and those comments led to speculation that the restoration and renewal bill which will kickstart the restoration of the houses of parliament could be tabled as soon as thursday. now, britain's top civil servant is demanding ministers co—operate with his inquiry into the leaking of discussions at the national security council. sir mark sedwill has written

to ministers on the council and their special advisers after the daily telegraph reported details of a meeting about chinese telecoms firm huawei. following tuesday's meeting, the daily telegraph reported that it had agreed to allow huawei limited access to help build britain's new 5g network, amid warnings about possible risks to national security. labour raised the leak in the commons. let me be clear. from this side of the house, if the minister did leak the information, they are not fit to serve in the cabinet. and they are certainly not fit to be prime minister. ultimately, the chronic lack of investment by this government has meant that we are without thriving digital or manufacturing industries capable of producing this equipment, leaving us reliant on foreign suppliers. jeremy wright said no final decision had been made on 5g. but he did agree with her about the leaking of information from the national security council. officials, including the security

and intelligence agents she has referred to in her remarks which i will come back to, need to feel that they can give advice to ministers which ministers will treat seriously and keep private. and if they do not feel that, they will not give us that advice and government will be worse as a result. that is why this is serious and that is why the government intends to treat it seriously. there is the threat of espionage, obviously denied by china, but rumours persist since 2012 of an elite cyber warfare unit, either using huawei's software or utilising flaws in it. why they should go to such lengths is beyond me. but if we don't know, how can we possibly take that risk? there have also been reports, including in the daily telegraph, that chinese technology companies have been complacent in the internal repression of ethnic muslims in western china.

this involves the internment of hundreds of thousands of people. it's possible that this includes huawei. as the secretary of state aware that there are allegations specifically involving huawei? and if so, should we be doing business with a company that engages in that sort of activity? concerns that we have about huawei are at least in part due to the potential interlocking nature of what they do and what the chinese state does. that is at the heart of our concerns. jeremey wright. and that's it from me for now but do join us on bbc parliament on monday night at 11pm for another round up of the day here at westminster. but for now from me, alicia mccarthy, goodbye.

fairly quiet compare to what we had yesterday and tomorrow it is also looking pretty good. a bright day with some sunshine. tuesday and wednesday it will be gradually warming up, temperatures up to 20 degrees. this afternoon will be fresher than that, typically up to 13 to 15 but notice across western parts there is a bit more cloud, bits and pieces of light rain, mist and murk overnight around the south—west, the welsh hills, but many central and eastern areas tonight should have plenty of clear weather and it will be nippy, particularly out of town, temperatures down to low single figures. a lot of bright weather around tomorrow but not necessarily clear blue skies for many of us. some central areas may be cloudy, also cloud across the west of the country, but temperatures in some

spots around 17 degrees. goodbye. the headlines at 5. this is bbc news. britain's fracking tsar quits after six months in thejob — blaming ministers for paying too much attention to the environmental lobby. you cannot really do much, but when you have government in such paralysis, you have to do something to make yourself heard. a woman is shot dead and three people injured at a calinfornina synagogue. a man — believed to have used an assault rifle — has been arrested. nicola sturgeon says no westminster government can ever stand in the way of scotland choosing indpendence. i'm setting out today our strategy to win our country's independence. still hoping britain won't have to take part in next month's european elections — the conservative party chairman, brandon lewis. security fears in sri lanka sees

church services cancelled —