the us and china, are trying to salvage a trade deal, just hours before fresh american tariffs are due to come into force on $200 billion dollars worth of china's goods. talks will continue into friday. the anc is on course to retain power in south africa's general election, but after years of corruption scandals, the party looks to be heading for its worst performance in its 25 years in government. full results will be announced on saturday. in argentina, a congressman‘s aide has been shot dead outside parliament — the politician himself was seriously injured. the motive for the mafia—style hit, which was captured on camera, isn't yet clear.

now on bbc news, thursday in parliament. hello again and welcome to thursday in parliament. two years after the grenfell fire, the government will pay for safer cladding in private blocks where owners have failed to act. this government believes this to be completely unacceptable. leaseholders find themselves in this position through no fault of their own, and this is not morally defensible. how a brain injury can lead to addiction. at one point, he gambled and lost — this is breathtaking — £67,000 injust 40 minutes. and waiting for brexit, mps‘ patience is wearing thin.

this purgatoryjust cannot go on any longer! nothing is being done. important bills need brought back to this house, and we need to get back to work! all that to come and more. but first, the government is to cover the £200 million bill of replacing grenfell tower—type cladding on about 150 private blocks in england. the housing secretary james brokenshire had previously said the bill should be footed by the owners, not the taxpayer. 72 people died when a fire destroyed grenfell tower in west london injune 2017, in one of the uk's worst modern disasters. a public inquiry heard evidence to support the theory that the highly combustible material in the cladding made from aluminium composite material — or acm — was the primary cause of the fire's spread. too many building owners have failed to take responsibility. many building orders have been slow to co—operate, to enable prompt identification

of buildings with unsafe acm cladding, and have since dragged theirfeet in planning for remediation. the result is, almost two years on from the grenfell tragedy, there is still an unacceptable number of residents living in buildings that, whilst benefiting from additional safety measures in the interim, will not be remediated fully within an acceptable timescale. moreover, many face unfair and often substantial costs. mr speaker, this government believes this to be completely unacceptable. leaseholders find themselves in this position through no fault of their own, and this is not morally defensible. he said many residents feared for the safety of their home, and of having to find tens of thousands of pounds to make it safe. and he set out what the new fund would do. first and foremost, this fund is about public safety. it will allow remediation to happen quickly, it will restore peace of mind and it will allow residents living in these blocks to get on with their lives. it will also protect leaseholders from bearing the cost. building owners, or those responsible for fire safety, should prioritise getting

on with the work necessary to make their buildings permanently safe. but why on earth have they had to wait for nearly two years? for two years, they've had their lives on hold. and how long will the thousands more living in tower blocks with suspect, non—acm cladding have to wait for government action? now, like the secretary of state, mr speaker, i pay tribute to those who, with labour, have campaigned hard for the government to act — grenfell united, the uk cladding action group, manchester cladiators, inside housing and, indeed, members on both sides of the house. but, mr speaker, who would have thought, after the solemn pledges made by the prime minister and other ministers in the aftermath of that terrible grenfell tower fire, that nearly two years on, still, there are grenfell residents in hotels and temporary accommodation, not in permanent homes? still, almost eight in ten blocks with grenfell—type cladding have not had it replaced. but, mr speaker, who would have thought, after the solemn pledges made by the prime minister and other ministers in the aftermath of that terrible grenfell tower fire, that nearly two years on, still, there are grenfell residents in hotels and temporary accommodation,

not in permanent homes? still, almost eight in ten blocks with grenfell—type cladding have not had it replaced. the hackitt review of building regulations and fire safety found that too many people who should be accou nta ble for fire safety failed in their duties. a former minister called for action. many residents living in these buildings have the same issues day in, day out, on a range of issues with the people who own the building that they live in. and that therefore needs to be reflected in the response to the hackitt review. and, frankly, we all need to reflect on the fact that these building owners are quite happy to take the gains that come with owning a building, but if they do that, they must take the responsibilities it brings as well.

i agree entirely with the points that my right honourable friend has made, and i think she gets a sense of my real frustration and, indeed, anger at some of the practise that i have seen. this government has looked all the time for scapegoats — blame these people, blame the construction industry, blame local authorities, blame the freeholders. he's been doing it this morning. all these people thought they were working to the proper building regulations. they thought they were complying with the law as it stood. then we had the dreadful disaster of grenfell, and of course the door opens to dispute over this. lawyers come in, and that's always bad news. well, ordinary working people have suffered for two years, and he doesn't get much credit from me this morning. well, i absolutely understand the pressure, the strain that so many people have felt under. the steps that, actually,

we have taken, working with fire authorities, with local authorities as well in this regard. and the minister said those who wrongly put up the material had to take responsibility. now, "what's happening on brexit?", i hear you cry. no? mps have been trying to find out when they'll get a fourth meaningful vote, or finally get to see the withdrawal agreement bill to enact britain's departure from the european union. is the government going to bring back the withdrawal agreement bill next week? we need that certainty, because she will have seen the research from the incorporated society of musicians — the ism — which shows that the uncertainty over brexit is continuing to cause real damage to a very important part of the music industry. they have concerns about future work, mobility and visas, transportation of instruments and equipment and health and social security. she asks when the withdrawal agreement bill will be introduced. obviously it's subject to the talks with the opposition benches, so i'm sure she will be able to get an update from her own side. 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's utterly unacceptable that we haven't done so yet. and what i can say to all honourable members who are concerned about the impact on businesses and on people going about their everyday lives, is that if they would support the withdrawal agreement bill, then we can put these issues to rest and get on with the very important matters that our constituents are concerned about. mr speaker, we didn't get an answer to the meaningful vote withdrawal agreement. i think the house deserves one. the rumour is that the government are going to bring it back, with thursday being the suggested date. so, what are the government's plans for the meaningful vote? when are they going to bring it back? in what form will it be? because this purgatoryjust cannot go on any longer. nothing is being done. important bills need brought back to this house, and we need to get back to work! we rose early on two days this week,

and this place is quickly becoming an international laughing stock. the problem, the fundamental problem we have is that his party don't believe in abiding by the results of referenda, whereas this party does. we had a referendum in 2016 and are determined to deliver on the result of the referendum — to leave the eu. they had a referendum in 2014. and regardless of whether they have another referendum, the only time they'll abide by that is if they get the result they want. andrea leadsom — not exactly ruling out next thursday there. you're watching thursday in parliament with me, david cornock. still to come, new ways to get children interested in where their food comes from. the environment agency has launched a consultation on what we all need to do to protect against flooding. the environment agency has launched a consultation on what we all need to do to protect against flooding. according to its chair, "we can't win against water." the agency said at least £1 billion needs to be spent on flood and coastal defences in england every year because of the threat posed by climate change. it's also warned that some

communities living in vulnerable areas may even need to move. the issue was raised during environment questions. today, the environment agency announced it's preparing for a catastrophic four—degree rise in global temperatures and huge sea level rises. the ea say need £1 billion a year for coastal defences, but the government's only allocated £2.6 billion over six years — less than half of what is needed. when should we expect the necessary increase in funding and a plan to protect our vulnerable coastal communities? the honourable gentleman raises a very important issue. and can i first of all record my thanks to emma howard boyd, the chair of the environment agency, and sirjames bevan, the chief executive, for the leadership they've shown on this issue? under this government, record amounts have been spent on flood defences, as, indeed, underthis government, record efforts have been made in order to combat climate change.

but in both cases, more requires to be done, and a national policy statement will be forthcoming shortly. mps have expressed concern about the lack of progress in implementing a report on the bullying and harassment of house of commons staff. the report by the former high court judge dame laura cox was published last october. it said the culture and management must change, and suggested past claims could be re—opened. the house of commons commission, which is responsible for the administration of the commons, says it hopes to put a final proposal to mps before the summer recess. i think it's very important that the house is seen to be acting swiftly on this. let's not forget, it's over seven months now since the report first came out, and i think it's frankly damning that we are still talking about things happening in the future. now, can i urge the honourable member to really get on with this and get the justice that some of these victims deserve? well, i think he makes a very valid point, and i can reassure him at least that the house of commons commission is considering these important recommendations at every meeting. but we haven't made, ithink, the progress that we should have done so far.

they're complex issues, and we do hope that the working group will be established soon to process how to deal with complaints against mps independently of members of parliament. thank you, mr speaker, and i'm grateful to the honourable member for that response, but i want to push him a bit further in relation to sexual harassment. underlying attitudes — sometimes misogynistic or deeply sexist attitudes — are frequently behind sexual harassment, and i wondered what plans the commission has to implement training or awareness—raising, or something which will actually target people who are unlikely to take it up if they are not required to. again, she has made a very valid point, and she may be aware that there is training that's being made available to staff. but i understand there's also a trial that's going to be run that's going to be made available for members. and clearly, although i and the commission are not in a position to require members of parliament to attend those sessions, i think it would be essential that they did.

tom brake. now, it's been described as a hidden epidemic. every 90 seconds, someone in the uk is taken to hospital with a injury to the brain. these injuries could be caused by a road accident, a fall, an assault or a tumour, an infectious disease or a stroke. brain injury is a leading cause of death and disability in the uk. a report into acquired brain injury found that while immediate care was invariably excellent, the rehabilitation process was often less satisfactory. despite the fact that we have these major trauma centres which have saved so many lives and i pay tribute to the government for that brave decision to take those forward, in a quarter of those trauma centres, there still is no rehabilitation consultant and that means that sometimes, people fall between two stools. when they are leaving the acute setting and going back to their home to their community. most people, particularly those who that cannot afford private health care, will receive insufficient

support or rehabilitation after leaving hospital. unless action is taken to enable people to access the vital support needed to ensure these services survive, more and more people will be cut out of society and taxpayers will be left footing the bill for the longer—term care of those without the means to care for themselves. on average, 81% of patients had record of a rehabilitation prescription. the audit recommended mtcs take action to improve compliance. and this audit appears to have had a significant impact. and the latest data which was from the last quarter of 2018 from the trauma and audit research network, shows that the national average has now risen to 95% completion rate for rehabilitation prescriptions. this is good news. a conservative mp described the process a victim of brain injury went through.

initially of course shock, sense of disbelief, the "why me" which i think is the question that most people pose in these circumstances. a gradual realisation of the depth and scale of the effects of a brain injury. an unhappy initial concentration on what you can no longer do. and eventually, a reconcentration on what you can do. a labour mp described the gambling addiction her constituent, george, developed after suffering a serious brain injury. the result is that george has lost all of his compensation as well as money he obtained by taking out additional loans and credit cards. at one point, he gambled and lost — this is breathtaking — £67,000 injust 40 minutes. he is now at least £15,000 in debt and with no income has no hope of meeting these liabilities.

but george is not alone. researchers identify that brain injury survivors are 27% more likely to develop problem gambling or addiction than the general population. another area of concern was sporting injuries. football is failing its players. it is giving a terrible message to youngsters, to parents, and to amateur coaches. they're putting players lives at risk and if they don't get their house in order, they will face massive class actions in the courts, and we will have to legislate to protect players from what is, frankly, an industrial injury. a final word came from an snp mp. i can't help but think myself about the fortunes that this could happen to any of us at any time. i myself have suffered two head injuries in my lifetime. thankfully fairly minor. once being hit by a golf ball, i wasn't even on a golf course at the time proving it can happen anywhere. and the other as a child being hit by a swing.

i did listen to my mother not to go in front of swings, but let me just state for the record that it is equally as dangerous to run behind them. and that might save someone else getting hit. important playground safety advice there from the snp. mps have urged the government to do more to help members of an islamic sect and other refugees who have faced violence following the easter sunday bombings in sri lanka. more than 1,000 people including ahmadi muslims most of whom had already fled persecution in pakistan have had to leave their homes and are being held in temporary camps. tensions have risen in sri lanka following the bombings which targeted christians and western tourists and killed more than 250 people. the plight of the ahmadis was raised by a labour mp. hostility towards muslims following the attacks has led to growing violence leading the refugees and asylum—seekers to seek urgent safety. the conditions of these camps are worryingly inhumane. there is a severe lack of food and water, minimal toilet

facilities, no medicalfacilities, or basic sanitary facilities. no walls or beds and not enough space to lay down. she said the ahmadi refugees were not considered to be muslims in their home country of pakistan. now in sri lanka, they face an imminent threat to their safety because they are considered to be muslims. the welfare of those in these makeshift camps is an immediate and serious concern as is the possibility that these people will be re—forced to return to where they fled from. would the minister use all in his power to expedite the resettlement of these unhcr refugees to safe third countries? the high commission in colombo led by our outstanding high commissioner james dauris is in contact with the government and un agencies to work towards a more sustainable solution, and of course the uk along with other partners is monitoring that situation carefully.

but he said it was important not to "overstate" the tensions in sri lanka. it is i think remarkable given the history of intercommunal conflict within sri lanka that over these past three weeks, there has been relatively little that has led to direct concern. despite the surge of national unity led by the sri lankan government in the wake of the easter sunday attacks, groups of mindless individuals have instead responded to these attacks with reprisals against the refugee communities from pakistan, afghanistan, and iran. they have responded to an act of sectarian hatred with further acts of sectarian hatred and that is ultimately what the terrorists want. so, the sri lankan government has a duty to crack down on this violence and to protect those refugee communities.

this situation is a tragedy heaped on tragedy, mr speaker. many of those caught up in the horrific terror attacks were already themselves refugees. ahmadis, and christians from pakistan, shias from afghanistan, and refugees from around who fled religious and ethnic and political persecution in their countries. so i would urge the minister to suggest what further help he can provide in assisting unhcr to assist and expediting asylum claims and also offer the sri lankan government assistance. it's easy to find compassion for people that were persecuted, left there — pakistan — came to sri lanka and are now facing further persecution. will the minister confirm that he will stand up for the ahmadis who have been through so much? and is there something practical that the international community can do to help the sri lankan

authorities on the ground? i hope that i have gone into some detail as to what we are doing on the ground to my honourable friend from stirling. but it is also the case that he is absolutely right. we will do all that we can. the plight of the ahmadi, which is a global plight, is one that is close to our hearts as my honourable friend is probably aware — lord ahmad himself is an ahmadi muslim. lord ahmad is also a foreign office minister. peers have called on the government to change recruitment practises to help disabled people and candidates from minority backgrounds applying for jobs in the civil service. a lib dem peer said traditional recruitment methods requiring cvs and formal structured interviews meant talented people were missing out. hs2 have succeeded in recruiting a workforce which exactly reflects the population. so, will the government look at their methods, blind online applications that reflect the needs of the job not what is written down on a piece of paper? and that would be at least a first step towards an inclusive civil service that actually looks

like the people that it represents. the minister quoted from a report by a conservative peer lord holmes into opening up public appointments to disabled people. currently, talent is everywhere but opportunity is not. and he is absolutely right. and one of his recommendations is about cvs and the recommendation we should take non—standard cvs into account and i quote again from his report, "lived experience is a talent. and the standard cvs and the standard application process sometimes doesn't reflect the life history of those who have a disability". and i hope when the noble lady sees our response to my honourable friend's document, that she will recognise that we have taken on board some of the unconscious discrimination against those with a disability when it comes to public appointments. he just said talent is everywhere. it is indeed everywhere. but unfortunately, the appointments are largely concentrated

on the south eastern england area. will the government make an effort to try and see how the spread is in the other counties throughout the united kingdom? the noble lord is quite right. discrimination is notjust about gender, race, or disability. it's about age, it's about the diversity of experience, and it's about the regional balance. and my noble friend's recommendations although focused on disability, have wide implications for other under—represented groups. not just in the public sector, but in the private sector as well. will my right honourable friend agree that a consistent, rigorous focus on the action needed to overcome the barriers for appointments is more important than another grand strategy? this was our approach during the coalition government when increasing appointments to women with very impressive results. is it not sensible to learn from what works successfully then? my noble friend is quite right that some of the lessons that

were learned from the cabinet office at that time have been taken on board by my noble friend lord holmes and he has built on them and applied them where it is necessary to adjust for issues connected with disability. and that's what i said in my initial response that we will refresh the public appointments diversity action plan building on the one which i think she was closely involved with. lord young. now, how to get children interested in where their food comes from? a conservative is excited about a possible way of getting them to engage with farming issues via technology you might associate with your mobile phone. one of my constituents tom martin set up a fantastic initiative called facetime a farmer which enables pupils to engage with both agricultural and rural issues in the classroom via video link with farmers out in their fields. would hejoin me in congratulating tom for spearheading this brilliant initiative and would he be interested to meet him and learn more about it?

well, i would certainly like to thank mr martin and farmers like him for all the hard work that's put into initiatives like this. facetime a farmer is an exciting initiative to help children engage with farming and get a better understanding of where their food comes from and i would be delighted to meet with my honourable friend and mrmartin. will he welcome and add whatever support he can give to open farm sunday which is a golden opportunity for young people to see agriculture in tooth and call? well, having attended a number of open farm sunday events in my own constituency, i can commend open farm sunday. i hope more families will contribute and young people, particularly from urban areas who don't understand about agriculture, and don't understand all the hard work that goes into producing the food they consume, can attend that. maybe not so much food will be wasted if people understand more how much hard work is put into producing it. the small village of inver in my constituency has a primary school which has a polytunnel in which i do not know if they grow asparagus but they certainly do grow

very good carrots and vegetables to make delicious soup for the pupils. and the pupils also sell these vegetables to the parents to make money for the school. does the secretary of state or one of the ministers agree with me that this would be very helpful if this would be replicated throughout all schools in the uk and perhaps mr speaker we could have a polytunnel for honourable members and right honourable members to grow vegetables here on the estate? oh, sounds very exciting i must say, very entrepreneurial. it's time i visit caithness i think. all i can say is i associate my self with the words uttered by the speaker. laughter. michael gove unusually lost for words there. perhaps he should facetime a farmer. that was thursday in parliament. i'll be back on friday night on bbc parliament at 11pm, with the week in parliament. and i'd hate you to miss it. until then, from me, goodbye.

hello there. we've got a couple more showery days in the forecast, before things start to settle down during the weekend, as high pressure begins to build in. we should start to see temperatures rising, as well. in the short term, though, we've got this low pressure which is still influencing the weather across the country, and the weather fronts through central parts still generating some showers. so it does look like it's going to be a showery start through more central portions of the country this morning. a little bit of wintriness over the higher ground too, but for the rest of scotland, the north—east of england, it's going to be actually a cold start. out of town, could see a little bit of frost again, but less cold across southern areas. so through today, we will have some sunshine to start the day across the south and across the north—east. more cloud through central areas, with some showers from the word go, and then showers are likely to develop elsewhere as the temperatures begin to rise in the afternoon. and some of these could be heavy, maybe thundery and slow—moving showers, ‘cause the winds

will be lighter as well. but in the sunshine we could make 16 or 17 degrees in the south—east, and double—figure values elsewhere too. this area of low pressure moving into france could bring some wet weather to the channel islands, southern england through friday night. and then, into the weekend, high—pressure begins to establish itself. now, it will be quite a chilly start to the weekend, with the blue colours still lingering, but slowly we'll begin to import some warmer air from the near—continent from sunday onwards. so we could have a few showers around at the start of the weekend, before it starts to turn drier and starts to turn a little bit warmer. so let's have a look in a bit more detail, then, with saturday. it's a chilly start in light northerly winds. there will be plenty of sunshine around, but then showers will develop, most of them through central and eastern areas, and there will be the odd heavier one too. better chance of staying dry further west, closer to the area of high pressure, and in sunny spots we could make 17 celsius, but a milder day elsewhere. on into sunday, i think high—pressure is slap bang on top of us, so it looks like it's going to be a largely dry day. could see a little bit of cloud bubbling up into the afternoon,

with the odd isolated shower, but most places will be dry, and temperatures responding as well. 18 degrees across some of the warmest spots. high—pressure still with us again as we head on to the start of next week. moving a little bit further eastwards, so we'll be drawing some of this warmer airfrom france and from spain. so it's going to be a fairly cool start, going to have a little bit of mist and fog through the morning. that should fade away, and into the afternoon, widespread sunshine, as you can see here. and it's going to be warmer — temperatures 18 maybe 19 celsius, central scotland, and in towards the south and the south—west. and it stays fine throughout the week, but there are signs we start to pick up a north—easterly. it could turn a little bit cooler by the end of the week.

go to you welcome to bbc news — broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: last—ditch talks — american and chinese negotiators try to salvage a trade deal — just hours before the us imposes new tariffs on china's goods. on course for a win — but after years of corruption scandals, has the anc done enough to shore up its support in south africa's general election. lives caught in conflict as syrian government forces attack idlib, northern hama and western aleppo — the last rebel—held areas in the country. a mafia—style shooting leaves an argentine politician seriously