covering the cost of cladding — the government now says it will foot the multi—million bill for privately owned tower blocks in england. residential blocks with the kind of cladding used on grenfell tower will have it removed and replaced at a cost of £200 million. the government acknowledges the long wait for a safer alternative to be fitted has caused stress and anxiety for residents. also this lunchtime... the bbc broadcaster danny baker is sacked after tweeting a joke about the new royal baby showing a couple holding hands with a chimpanzee. labour launches its european elections campaign. jeremy corbyn criticises the government's handling of brexit and the cross—party talks. it's actually quite difficult negotiating with a disintegrating government, with cabinet ministers jockeying for succession rather than working for an agreement.

trying to protect from the effects of climate change — more than £1 billion a year will have to be spent to protect communities in england from flooding. hears dele ali, here's lucas moura! a miracle in the 96th minute takes tottenham through to the champions league final. they'll face liverpool in madrid next month. jubilation in the changing room as the team celebrate their extraordinary win against ajax. coming up on bbc news... two more premier league sides could make another all—english european final, as both chelsea and arsenal aim for a spot in the europa league showpiece.

good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. the government now says it will cover the cost of replacing flammable cladding on 166 privately—owned tower blocks in england. much of the work has been delayed by disputes between leaseholders and freeholders about who should pay to replace cladding on theirflats — similar to that which was used on grenfell tower. ministers acknowledged it was causing stress and worry for residents. sarah campbell reports. expert after expert told the inquiry into the grenfell fire that the aluminium composite cladding which covered the tower block was why the fire spread so quickly and lead to such devastating loss of life. in the aftermath, work was carried out on some buildings, such as these in north london, to remove similar cladding, but the government insisted owners would have to pay the bill for the replacement cladding, and so many didn't. now, that's changed.

the pace of change hasn't been fast enough. many developers have done the right thing and stepped in, and we expect them to maintain those commitments and how they've done so, but ultimately what's been driving me is that sense of public safety and, indeed, the interests of those living in those buildings. after the grenfell fire in 2017, 176 privately owned tower blocks in england were identified as having similar aluminium cladding. since then, replacement work has been carried out on just ten of those buildings. the government has now pledged £200 million to cover the replacement costs on the remaining 166 buildings which still have the grenfell type cladding. it will come as a relief for leaseholders, who in some cases have been told they would have to bear the costs of replacing cladding.

it's been stressful and it's taken it's toll on myself and a number of other leaseholders. we are living in an unsafe building and we had huge costs placed upon our heads as well. to be quite honest with you, like i say, the stress is insurmountable at the moment. while the government's change of heart has been welcomed, questions are being asked as to whether £200 million will be enough. of course we welcome this funding. it's one step in the right direction. there's a lot more that needs to be done, and why on earth did we have to leave 40,000 people in private blocks, not knowing what with their lives, turning downjob opportunities, delay in getting married, for two years, why on earth did the government do that? it's morally reprehensible that they didn't act sooner. building owners have three months to apply for the government money. until the cladding is replaced, thousands of people will continue to live in fear that their tower

block could suffer a catastrophic fire. sarah campbell, bbc news. the bbc presenter danny baker has been fired from his radio five live show, after being accused of mocking the racial heritage of the duchess of sussex by tweeting about the new royal baby using a photograph of a baby chimpanzee. he captioned the image — which showed a couple holding hands with the chimp — "royal baby leaves hospital". he deleted the image and apologised for what he called a "stupid unthinking gag". but the bbc said it was a serious error ofjudgement. jon donnison reports. where are you from? danny baker done in —— michael danny baker under siege at his home. hejust in —— michael danny baker under siege at his home. he just got the call from the bbc telling him he had been fired over his offensive tweet. bbc, he meant... it seems the conversation with his bbc bosses ended badly. (bleep). by mutual

agreement, terminated. and this is the tweet in question. it shows a vintage photo of a wealthy looking couple. we have decided not to show the image in full but they are holding hands with a baby chimpanzee wearing a jacket and a bowler hat. the caption... the writer and broadcaster said not only had danny baker compared a baby with african heritage to an ape, but a later twitter apology when he suggested to find the photo racist, he would have to have a diseased mind, was a classic example she said of blaming those who call out racism. danny baker has had several stints presenting at the bbc. this is the second time he has been fired from bbc radio five live. in 1997 he was sacked after encouraging football fa ns to sacked after encouraging football fans to make the life of a referee

help. in a statement today in a bbc spokesperson said this was a serious error ofjudgment. the posh chimp in the thing. but danny baker continues to insist he had been stupid, not racist. jon donnison, bbc news. 0ur entertainment correspondent lizo mzimba is here. he did delete —— he deleted the tweet and apologised but the bbc we re tweet and apologised but the bbc were swept in its action. this has been complicated for everybody following two real areas, should he have done this in the first place and his reaction after it happened. in terms of the original tweet he said there was no racist intent and it didn't cross his mind that it could be interpreted that way when he tweeted that, some have been happy to take that at face value but

others have said someone of his experience, a broadcaster and journalist especially as the issue of racism in football has been particularly at the forefront, he really should have realised it without being told and then it is the reaction after. some people have been happy to take it at face value, the fact that he said they were stupid and thinking tweets and then deleting the original, but others have said by adding phrases like a piece of this you must have a diseased mind and saying it was his turn in the barrel hinting he was the victim of a twitter mob and that he was somehow a victim in all this, that should be taken into account as well. from the bbc‘s point of view they have taken the view that somebody of his experience over so many decades in broadcasting should never have tweeted in any circumstances in the first place and thatis circumstances in the first place and that is why they said he had to go. thank you. the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, has promised to unite the country as he launched his party's campaign for the european elections today. speaking in kent, he said

the prime minister had yet to make "a big offer" in cross—party brexit talks, and that it was "difficult" to negotiate with a disintegrating government. he said that labour would back a public vote if no "sensible" deal was agreed and there was no general election. jessica parker reports. it's going ahead. everyone admits that now. elections to the european parliament will be held two weeks today. in kent labour launched its campaign with jeremy corbyn today. in kent labour launched its campaign withjeremy corbyn stepping onto the stage. a vote for labour is a vote to bring our divided country back together. labour is the only party with a plan to unite our country and make it work for the many, not the few. and what of cross— party many, not the few. and what of cross—party talks on a possible brexit deal with the government? labour has been trudging this path for a while now. in those talks there has been no big offer. and the red lines remain in place. it's

actually quite difficult negotiating with a disintegrating government, with a disintegrating government, with cabinet ministers jockeying for succession rather than working for an agreement. it is in the country's interests to try to get this sorted one way 01’ interests to try to get this sorted one way or the other. and coming into view, a government hoped to try and get the ball rolling by introducing brexit legislation ahead of the european elections. it is the government's intention to seek cross—party agreement to get a bill that the whole house can support. it is absolutely essential that we leave the european union and three years on it is utterly unacceptable that we haven't done so yet. those hopes of progress pinned on this man, but he has to keep his party on board as well. labour's had some pretty public wranglings on its position over brexit particularly how full throated support should be pretty for the referendum. for this election the party has renewed its

compromise plan, but after labour suffered losses in last week's cosmic local elections and some have questioned whether the party needs a simpler message. so all eyes are now onjeremy corbyn, as westminster waits to see if will play a major pa rt waits to see if will play a major part in waving through the brexit deal. jessica parker, bbc news. 0ur assistant political editor norman smith is at westminster. he wasn't exactly positive about these brexit talks. now and he wasn't exactly clear i thought about what labour are's position is, because there was a moment in the press c0 nfe re nce because there was a moment in the press conference where mr corbyn said to reporters, look, i don't think our position is confusing at all, but i think to many voters it probably is because the labour leader is still trying to appeal to leavers by saying labour respects the result of the referendum but not alienating remainer by leaving open the option of another referendum. he says this is the way to bring the country together, to respect views on all sides and not to divide

people up into the remain or the brexit camp. the fear of some of his mps as labour ends up as the proverbial political hedgehog snuffling along the centre of the road with the traffic whizzing past on both sides and the danger of getting flattened. 0n the talks though i think there was clarity and it seems pretty clear mr corbyn poured large buckets of cold water over the idea of any deal sewn with mrs may on brexit, saying the talks had been difficult and there had been no big offerfrom the government. why does this matter? it matters because mrs may seems to wa nt to matters because mrs may seems to want to bring her deal back for a fourth time before the european elections. that is a no—no if mr corbyn won't help her out. so where are we? mr corbyn continues with a great corbynista balancing act while mrs may struggles to find some sort of majority for her deal. in short, we remain deadlocked. norman's smith

in westminster, thank you. an eu summit is taking place in romania. theresa may is not attending. damian grammaticas is there. this was supposed to be the eu summit with the uk government, the eu summit for the uk government, the eu summit for the 27. it's not quite worked out like that. you are right. this was planned long ago to be the moment when the uk would have gone at the end of march. the eu 27 would meet here to plot the way forward. they are meeting to plot the way forward but the uk is still in. the reason i wasn't invited. it is a summit of 27 so wasn't invited. it is a summit of 27 so she isn't here and you get the sense i have to say that the 27 today are looking to a future without the uk. those leaders came out here a little earlier and were here for their group photographs, there was a cheer from the crowd in there was a cheer from the crowd in the square. what they have just issued is a declaration looking to the future. they are talking about an eu that has a position in the

world between the america and china and the other big polls and the eu that acts on climate change and global trade rules, defence democracy and the rule of law, but what they are also talking about interestingly some of the finer mechanics of the eu, with those european elections that you are just hearing about just a european elections that you are just hearing aboutjust a few european elections that you are just hearing about just a few weeks european elections that you are just hearing aboutjust a few weeks away, what happens in those elections, the balance of forces that comes out in the european parliament between right and left, liberals and greens and eurosceptics, will determine who gets the topjobs and eurosceptics, will determine who gets the top jobs in the eu later this year, so president of the commission replacing jean—claude juncker, the european central bank, the european parliament, the leaders are starting some of those horse trading. what was absolutely clear is that they are looking to a future without the uk, the danish prime minister said to me he is going to miss the uk because they were always there defending and talking about deepening the single market, the luxembourg prime minister said he was glad this was a summit when

brexit wasn't finally going to be discussed. thank you. the church of england has been strongly criticised for the way it handled allegations of child abuse in the diocese of chichester and the former bishop peter ball. 18 members of the clergy in the area were convicted of offences during a 50—year period. a report by the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse said the church's response had been marked by "secrecy", and its apology "remained unconvincing". 0ur religion editor martin bashir is at the inquiry in central london. tell us more about it. this is a damning report that describes the diocese of chichester‘s response to allegations of child abuse is marked by arrogance, clericalism and tribalism. it is the focus on bishop peter ball that is most damning. bishop peter ball set up a young people's movement called give god a year. but this was just a ruse for

him to sexually abuse children. in 1992 when allegations began to emerge the then archbishop of canterbury george carey wrote has supported him, letters of compassion, but offered nothing like that to the victims of peter ball. the church of england even released and published at press release when he stood down, when peter ball stood down. the report said it inappropriately placed him, presented his rigours as much resignation as an act of self—sacrifice and offered no apology to his victims. additionally, the prince of wales made contact with the archbishop of canterbury and the duchy of cornwall also purchased a property specifically for peter ball to live in. it's that contrast between support for a predatory priest and a lack of compassion for his victims that are the keynotes this report. thank you. the time is... our top story this lunchtime... the government says it will now foot the £200 million bill covering

the cost of replacing cladding, similar to the type used on the grenfell tower, on privately—owned tower blocks in england. and still to come... found between a supermarket and a pub in essex — the uk's equivalent of tutankhamun's tomb. coming up on bbc news... gloucester fly—half danny cipriani sets his sights on the premiership title and a world cup place after being named the rugby players‘ association player of the year. what an extraordinary couple of days for english football — incredible comebacks from not one, but two sides. tottenham will face liverpool in madrid next month after they beat ajax in amsterdam last night — scoring the winning goal in the 96th minute. liverpool of course had their own thrilling comeback against barcelona on tuesday. it's the first time two english teams have reached the final since 2008. david 0rnstein is at

the tottenham hotspur stadium now. there comes a point where you run out of superlatives. it's impossible to overstate the scale of what liverpool and now tottenham have done this week, just when you thought you'd seen it all and failed, arguably something even more spectacular took place in amsterdam. goodness knows what will happen when the two clubs meet in madrid. andy swiss reports. commentator: its glory glory tottenham hotspur. 0n the backs of all, almost unthinkable, yes, it really did happen again. first liverpool, now totte n ha m , happen again. first liverpool, now tottenham, another champions league miracle. the parallels were almost uncanny. before long ajax led 3—0 on aggregate, surely there was no way back for tottenham but just as 2a hours earlier remarkably there was, two goals from lucas moura one more

and they'd be through on away goals. and as the clock ticked into the sixth minute of stoppage time, guess what! commentator: they've got a axe i cannot believe it! as ajax slumped to the turf spurs wheeled away and wonder and on a night of the rawest emotion their manager paid tribute to his team's remarkable resilience. manager paid tribute to his team's remarkable resiliencelj manager paid tribute to his team's remarkable resilience. i think they are superheroes now. to both the club, to the final of the champions league, i think is very close to a miracle. and fair to say others were just as excited. cheering among those celebrating at the tv studio, tottenham legend glenn hoddle, after undergoing heart surgery hoddle, after undergoing heart surgery last year he said he was glad to be around to see it and his delight was shared by thousands of fans. i don't think i've ever cried ata fans. i don't think i've ever cried at a football match tonight and i

did tonight. unreal.|j at a football match tonight and i did tonight. unreal. itold my daughter, i said we'll be back in, what time will we score? 90th minute, we need a goal in the 90th minute. and what did we do, the 96th minute. and what did we do, the 96th minute. they said we wouldn't get out of the group, we weren't going to beat dortmund, ajax, we've done it and now we are going to do liverpool! and so once again a football dressing room was transformed into a party. spurs are celebrating just as liverpool had done on tuesday. indeed, their comeback at anfield had proved an inspiration. a lot of respect for what liverpool did yesterday. probably they show us the way. and it's football, never give up, always give your best. and so on the 1st of june stadium in madrid will host an all english final. it should be special, but after two nights of nerve shredding logic defying drama

it has some act to follow. andy swiss, bbc news. the glitch involvement in european football doesn't end there for this week. tonight it's the turn of the europa league, arsenal travelled to valencia leading 3—1 from the first leg, chelsea host eintracht frankfurt with it evenly poised at 1-1 frankfurt with it evenly poised at 1—1 from the first leg, so we could have an all english line—up in the two major european finals. sophie. imagine that, david, thank you. more than £1 billion a year will have to be invested in flood defences in england, and in some cases entire communities will have to move to protect homes and infrastructure from the effects of climate change. that's according to the environment agency, which says more than five million people could be affected. 0ur environment analyst roger harrabin explains. floods have wreaked havoc in the uk in recent years. 17,500 properties were flooded and several bridges collapsed in storms desmond and eva. the collapse of tadcaster bridge sent locals on a ten—mile round—trip to get from one side of town

to the other. the environment agency forecasts more intense bursts of rain and continuing coastal erosion with climate change. it says currently two—thirds of properties in england are served by infrastructure that is at risk of flooding, and it calculates that, for every home flooded, around 16 more suffer problems with power, transport or telecommunications. we should invest heavily to protect properties, it says. we can't continue to wage a war against water by building ever higherflood defences and barriers. so we are preparing for resilience measures, bringing in a range of different methods for better protecting communities against flooding and climate change. some whole communities may have to be abandoned to get them out of harm's way, the agency says. meanwhile, house building on flood plains to cope with the uk's growing population will mean properties

built on a flood plain will double over the next 50 years. and that in turn will mean more spending on protection. green groups say the uk should be trying harder to prevent climate change in the first place. we believe resilience is undeniably important to protect communities up and down the country who are at risk of flooding. but, if the government really wants to protect those communities, we need to tackle the climate crisis at its heart, and to do that we've got to urgently invest in greener transport, cleaner energy and doubling the uk's tree cover. but extreme weather looks here to stay, however quickly the uk cuts its own emissions. the government said it was taking flood risks very seriously and would be seeking evidence for its own flood policy in the autumn. roger harrabin, bbc news. greenhouse gases released during air travel contribute to climate change, but a tiny proportion of passengers choose to offset the impact of their flight.

new research has found thatjust one percent of passengers pay for carbon offsetting. jet fuel is one of the biggest causes of carbon dioxide pollution, and now scientists warn we have just 12 years to stop a "climate catastrophe". here's our environment reporter, laura foster. over 4 billion passengers fly every year. at bristol airport this lot are pretty excited for their trips. but have any of them ever heard about carbon offsetting? no, never, no, never. i have. i don't know where you go to buy that. it sounds like a really good idea. i suppose people will be able to feel less guilty about flying. so what is carbon offsetting exactly? well, it's where you attempt to balance out your share of emissions from your flight. you pay extra. that money goes to environmental projects which reduce carbon dioxide. for each passenger on a return flight between london and south africa, the co2 emissions are roughly the same as those produced from heating

your home for a year. balancing out these emissions would add around $26 to your fare. that money is spent on things like solar panels, planting trees and capturing methane gas. bbc research shows only half the world's biggest airlines offer customers the chance to pay to offset their carbon footprints. professor neil harris believes both governments and airlines need to do more. all opt—in schemes tend to have low take—up, whether it's for kidney donation or whatever, so having it as opt—in does not help. secondly, i think there's a lack of clarity what the scheme is, so you want to know that your money is being well spent. and thirdly, some people willjust be trying to save costs. but it's not the only thing that can help reduce the impact of your flight on the environment. choosing a direct flight rather than one with a stopover, because a lot of the emissions are produced during take—off and landing. even small things like taking less baggage, because the higher weight the more fuel used.

some say carbon offsetting doesn't go far enough and that people need to fly less. others feel offsetting is better than doing nothing. laura foster, bbc news, bristol airport. three men and a teenage boy have been arrested in connection with the violence that took place on the night of the murder of the journalist lyra mckee. the 29—year—old was shot while observing rioting in londonderry last month. the four people were detained under terrorism legislation and are being questioned at a police station in belfast. nearly one in five police officers across the uk have symptoms of post—traumatic stress disorder, according to a major study by the university of cambridge. the research found that many try to continue working with the condition, and only a minority of staff have been clinically diagnosed. attending murder scenes and viewing online terrorism material were among the suspected causes of the illness. the duke of sussex is in the netherlands this afternoon for the official launch of the countdown to next yea r‘s invictus games

for wounded military veterans. three days after becoming a father for the first time, prince harry is in the hague where the games — founded by the prince — will take place. 0ur royal correspondent jonny dymond is there now. jonny. as you say, three days after the birth, one day after the name, and archie's dad has come to the hague to pay a little bit of love do what you might call his first great passion, the invictus games. the crowds that have greeted him here have come with gifts and presents of all shapes and sizes, stuffed dolls, teddy bears, you name it. but the prince has remained pretty firmly focused on the invictus games, the games that he set up to help those injured mentally and physically in the line of military duty. there have been worn or two kiddie gifts that have slipped through the ring of steel but behind me the cars are starting up because the prince will

be out any moment to do now to do what many a dad in his position would no doubt like to do, and get back to his newborn child. thank you. the ancient burial site of an anglo—saxon prince has been discovered between a supermarket and a pub in essex. it's being hailed as the uk's equivalent of tutankhamun's tomb — and this is what experts believe the burial chamber would've looked like. and it was found under this mound, on a roadside in southend—on—sea. and our correspondent debbie tubby has been checking out some of the artefacts that have been uncovered. sophie, most of the artefacts have been brought here to southend museum. they were only found during roadworks 16 years ago. since then, 50 experts have been working on the project. liz is one of them, she is from the museum of london archaeology stop liz, explained to me, how can you compare this to the tomb of tutankhamun? this burial is

packed full of wonderful things, as carter said as he peered into the tomb. it's got gold items, it's got many exotic, imported items, and also it's got some very personal items that were buried with him. you found gold crosses on him and the only thing left of him were fragments of his teeth. who was he? he was clearly a very rich man, a very influential man from the saxons. this is all that remains of him sadly because the body has rotted away, but we have these crosses that were placed on him, it shows he was a really early christian, of the royal house possibly or a very rich man from the higher echelons of society. we'll probably never know exactly who he is. he could be the prince of the royal house seaxa, he may be his father, but it's unknown and there will be mystery and debates about this for many years to come. lovely, thank you very much indeed. the actual site has been completely excavated because of the concern of thieves in the area. all the items

have been brought here. from saturday, the public can see it for the very first time. back to you, sophie. time for a look at the weather. here's tomasz schafernaker. it's surely going to warm up soon? you line it is, we still have dark clouds on the horizon. yesterday we had it all, gusts of wind, hail, sunshine, torrential rain, back to sunshine, torrential rain, back to sunshine again, still some showers around today but not to the extent of yesterday. today, if showers around and it we've had a few cracks of thunder. so far in the south—east of thunder. so far in the south—east of the country. elsewhere across the uk it's just a of the country. elsewhere across the uk it'sjust a pretty of the country. elsewhere across the uk it's just a pretty cloudy early afternoon with a few spots of light rain here and there. you can see a lot of cloud on the satellite image. this is the leftovers of the low pressure that was over as yesterday. you can see the low pressure spinning around, not doing much in the north sea. it's left a legacy of cloud and a few showers across some parts of the country, but some others are also enjoying the

sunshine, in the south—west