protesting against a controversial bill that would allow extradition to china. the list of cancel is very pro— beijing, it is likely to pass the bell, it is not. —— passed the bill. many of the protesters are blocking main roads and hundreds of businesses have gone on strike as the controversial proposal has a second reading in parliament. president trump and joe biden have traded barbs as they hosted campaign events ahead of the 2020 us election. donald trump labeled the front—runner for the democratic candidacy a "dummy", while mr biden said donald trump damaged the reputation of the us. in a rare move, a prominent russian journalist, ivan golunov, has been freed just days after being arrested on drugs charges. mr golunov said he would continue looking into corruption, which many russians think was the real reason for his detention.

it is about half past two in the morning, you are up—to—date on the headlines. it's time for tuesday in parliament. hello there, and welcome to tuesday in parliament, where there is a mixed reaction to the bbc‘s decision to scrap free tv licences for most over 75s. labour blames the government. forget the crocodile tears. the truth is his government is supporting taking away £150 from pensioners who are on around £10,000 a year. but some conservatives think the bbc should find the money elsewhere. it seems to me that the elderly and vulnerable people have been asked to contribute to the £1.75 million salary of gary linacre. also on this programme... what can be done to stop drones

disrupting airports, and sir lenny henry calls on uk broadcasters to match us tv makers when it comes to diversity. my hope one day is to be able to hold up a picture like this for bbc, itv, channels four and five and i think that would be a real step forward. but first, there was anger in the commons following the news that free tv licenses for more than 3.5 million pensioners are to be scrapped. under the new rules, only low—income households where one person receives the pension credit benefit will still be eligible. in 2015, the government announced the bbc would take over the cost of providing free licences to over 75s as part of the licence fee settlement. but that would have cost 745 million, a fifth of the bbc‘s budget by 2021—22. the broadcaster said that bbc two, bbc four, bbc news channel, bbc scotland channel, radio five live and a number

of local radio stations would all have been at risk. labour asked a minister to come to the house and explain the change. in 2017—18, the bbc received over £3.8 billion in licence fee income, more than ever before. and the bbc has also making over £1 million a yearfrom commercial work like selling content abroad which can be reinvested. so we are very disappointed that the bbc will not protect free television licenses for all viewers aged 75 and over. the mp who asked the question pointed to the conservative manifesto of 2017. mr speaker, yesterday, we found out just how little a tory manifesto promise is worth. i have read these words in the chamber before, but i will read them again. we will maintain all pensioner benefits, including free bus passes,

eye tests, prescriptions and tv licenses for the duration of this parliament. no ifs, no buts, no wavering, a promise. and today, 3.7 million over 755 find that promise in tatters. they have been betrayed. and it is shameful. and the government had the breathtaking gall to blame the bbc for this mess. but passing the buck won't work. mr speaker, the bbc is not the dwp. public broadcasters should never be responsible for social policy. "you cannot" means test for loneliness. "you cannot" means test for social inclusion. and what about the very poorest in our nation? who are eligible for pensioner credit but don't claim it? how will the minister protect them?

well, mr speaker, two of the tory leadership candidates, the former leader of the house and the current home secretary, have committed to overturn this decision because perhaps they know how it will look to the rest of the world when we start jailing pensioners who cannot or will not pay the licence fee. i do think it is important that we stick to the facts and that we do not scare people unnecessarily. it is important to understand that this is not a change that will happen immediately, it is a change that will happen next year, it is important... it is important to understand that if you are entitled to pension credit, you will still be able to have your free tv licence, and it is important to understand that evasion of the licence fee is not an imprisonable offence. if the honourable gentleman wants to come here and express his outrage about the transfer of this

responsibility to the bbc and away from the taxpayer, will he accept that it should be transferred back? if he does, where will the money come from? i was in the dc mess in this policy was imposed on the bbc by the treasury to be a £12 million welfare target, a target which i doubt we have met and has long been forgotten. the government should either take back this policy or support the bbc changes. the question that must be answered now by every single tory leadership candidate is this, will you bring the bbc licence fee concession back to the government? that is the only way that pensioners will avoid losing out. to maintain the existing concession would cost the bbc nearly £1 billion by the end of the charter period, which would mean either huge programme cuts or increasing licence fees for the under 75s to nearly £200. would he accept that by restricting the concession to those over

75s on pension credit, this will provide help to elderly people on low incomes and if it is publicised properly, it should actually significantly increase the ta ke—up of pension credit. at the time, the bbc said that they would be able to keep this concession in exchange for increases in the licence fee, and they do have £5 billion of income. i am really disappointed the bbc are doing this to some of their core listeners. bbc is not responsible for pension credits, the government and the dwp are. and then criticising the bbc for that decision, does the minister accept that you have undermined the independence of the bbc in a completely unsuitable way? no, i accepted entirely that bbc are not responsible for pension credit. they are however responsible in making a judgement as to continue

whether or not to continue with licence fee concessions. forget the crocodile tears, the truth is his government is supporting taking away £150 from pensioners who are on around £10,000 a year. at the same time as government ministers and backbenchers are careering around the country promising £3000 in tax cuts for people who are on ten times more than that pensioner. on what planet is that fair? it seems to me the elderly, vulnerable people are being asked to contribute to the £1.75 million salary of gary linacre, which does not seem particularly fair. 20 years ago, i played a character called trisha armstrong on coronation street, who was imprisoned for not paying her tv licence and caused quite a furore. in fact it was mentioned in this place at the time. i know you do not go directly to prison any more for not paying

but i know of the 6000 constituents of mine who will be affected by this. there are many who are so proud they will never claim a benefit like pension credit and they will never claim support for their tv licence. so what is the minister going to do for those who will not claim, they don't want to be criminalised and are prepared to let their tv licence go? will the minister for loneliness be doing an audit on this? well, of course we want to make sure in conjunction with the bbc that everything that can possibly be done to make sure people don't find themselves in that position is done. jeremy wright. staying with the media, sir lenny henry said uk broadcasters need a safe space for minorities to vent their feelings without fearing the noose. the actor, producer and comedian was giving evidence to the house of lords communications committee, which is looking into the place of public service broadcasters in the age of online platforms like netflix.

he said a lack of diversity was undermining public broadcasters and driving people to seek better representation elsewhere. i'm, as i said, the ceo of a company and it is very difficult for us. we don't get the support that you would expect. which is why marcus and i did the broadcast magazine, we conducted the first survey of bame led indies and the headline results were one, broadcasters are commissioning more diverse work but from predominately white privilege companies, who then cherry pick talent from bame led indies. two, bame led indies asked for but do not get the all—important seat at the table they need with commissioners and therefore suffer in comparison to their white counterparts. and three, the bame stories that are commissioned often lack authenticity or conform to cliched storylines. so it is very tricky. on that other thing about whether there is institutional racism, the only thing i have got is i gave a speech at the bbc and a black guy came out and stopped me

in the carport and said something like "it is all right for you, you don't to work here." and the feeling was that there was no safe space to be able to say stuff that you were unhappy with, without feeling that you were going to get oppressed or fired because of it. i think all of these institutions need somewhere where employees can feel safe in giving vent to their feelings without fearing the noose. and he had a picture to illustrate who was making programmes. these are all the people who make the programmes for a lot of netflix output and it is extraordinary. a lot of women, a lot of black and brown people, a lot of hispanic people. and once again, that is why i think the fact that they are being, the idea of reach, of going to that audience and saying you want this programme, we are going to make this

programme about the exonerated five or this programme called blackish or this programme about whatever, the fact that they can absolutely direct that programme directly at you means you will subscribe and change your viewing habits. it means people are absolutely deserting terrestrial fair because it is not serving them. so with this representative photograph of everybody involved in making stuff behind the scenes at netflix, my hope one day is to be able to hold up a picture like this for bbc, itv, channels four and 5 and i think that would be a real step forward. sir lenny henry. now, labour has expressed concern about the future of car manufacturing in the uk under a new conservative prime minister. the party's shadow business secretary, rebecca long bailey, claimed after the eu referendum, ford said it would consider closing plants. the firm announced last week that it

would be shutting its factory at bridgend in south wales. but she was worried that that was not the end of it. ford had warned that leaving the eu would add hundreds of millions to their costs and after the vote said they would consider closing plants. this warning has come to pass. now ford is saying another 6000 jobs could be at risk in the event of no deal, which is particularly concerning. now it looks likely the next pm will actively pursue it. what direct support has the secretary offered ford to reverse their decision and has he considered the impact of a no deal on manufactoring when deciding who to back for the next pm? she is quite right that companies in the sector have been crystal clear that we need to leave the european union with a deal that allows us to continue to trade without frictions to be able to grasp these opportunities that we have in the future, and all my efforts are directed to secure that deal. thank you.

i actually asked about what support has been offered to ford, and last night, i spoke to a councillor who said we don't need task forces, commissions or working groups, we need investment in bridgend now. sadly, it is not looking like any of the candidates will support our car industry going forward. is it not the truth that whoever takes over as pm will drive manufacturing into the ground with their reckless approach to brexit and the secretary of state's legacy will sadly be decimating industries across our country? if the honourable lady talks to people in the sector, she will know that the work that we do with all companies in the sector has been well respected and well regarded, whether it is the faraday challenge or whether it is support for individual companies such as we have seen in recent years and that is available to ford as any other company that is working in the sector. we will attract a new investor to make use of those facilities and to keepjobs for the future.

in terms of the relationship with the european union, it is true that most if not all automotive suppliers want to see us reach a deal. that is my view and i hope it is her view, but they will also say that in fairness the deal the prime minister negotiated should have been approved and so it is a regret to me that that advice was not followed. now, mps have been questioning aviation experts on how terrorists can be prevented from using drones or unmanned aircraft to stage a terror attack. the rules on drones have been under scrutiny following the incident at gatwick airport before christmas when drone sightings prompted a major shutdown. the civil aviation authority will introduce a registration scheme for drone operators in the autumn. those who are already going to be using them in a sane and suitable way are going to be paying the registration fee and those potentially misusing or have other aims they want to achieve through the use of drones may

or may not register, but it will not stop them doing that. what else can be done to stop the misuse of drones? so, with registration in place, i think that is backed up by use and enforcement measures and government is proposing to give the police new enforcement powers to help in that regard. ultimately, it is very difficult indeed with unlawful use. cars and drivers on the road today, we have a registration scheme and drivers need licences and the majority of people comply. but there is a small proportion of people that consciously choose not to. the scheme includes a fee of £16.50 and an online test. it will also apply to people who fly model aircraft. i have a model aircraft group in my constituency right next door to george best belfast city airport. i was wondering if you could give some clarity as to why you think it is important that they are included given the issues that have arisen previously from their hobby and pursuit. are you aware of previous issues? history of incidents? difficulty surrounding model aircraft?

we know model aircraft have been for a long time in the aviation community and regard themselves as aviation and aviators. and are professionals, like anything that flies, it is not an absolutely risk—free activity. the chair of the defence committee raised with the next set of witnesses his concerns about terrorists using unauthorised drones. how many times would airliners have to be brought down over populated

areas and thousands of people be killed by terrorists or psychopaths using unauthorised drones before draconian restrictions were demanded by society? so, it seems to me that we can go either one way or the other, either we're going to let individuals be able to commit mass murder with these things until eventually the whole system has to be shut down or we are going to develop some complex system which has a means of presenting unauthorised people entering the airspace? is the latter conceivable, is it practical or otherwise what is to prevent this becoming our equivalent to mass school shootings that disfigure american society. and mps were told the key was being able to detect unmanned aircraft. the technology is there to actually understand and then you can take action. for instance, you could tell aircraft to divert very quickly... an unmanned drone,

how would you do that? if you are managing an airspace and you're detecting intruder drones, that is an alarm situation. in which case... you would alert the aircraft. and tell it to avoid the airspace. detection is key and there is technology there to integrate a sort of radar which is much more precise than standard air—traffic radar and optical sensors so you can actually cue an optical sensor onto a drone, identify and then track it and also some electronic support measures. that is the system that was deployed at gatwick and was subsequently deployed at heathrow after christmas. going back to the earlier question, he said that it would only take one incident of an airline being brought down by a drone for the public

to demand draconian restrictions. you are watching tuesday and parliament with me, alicia mccarthy. the government has been urged to put hate crimes against gay and disabled people on the same footing as those against racial or religious groups. the call came from a lib dem and former senior met police officer. racially and religiously aggravated offences carry a maximum penalty that is one step higher on the sentencing ladder than the same offences motivated by homophobia, transphobia or disability. this is something that the conservative party in both its 2015 and 2017 manifestos said that it was going to review. why is the government presiding over a situation where homophobic, transphobic and disability hate crime are treated as being less serious than race or religious hate crime? that is precisely why we asked the law commission to conduct a full review of hate crime legislation and where there might be gaps,

and i know that they will be consulting widely later this year and will make recommendations to government on this next year. a labour peer turned to the protests going on outside a primary school in birmingham. parents started to gather at the gates over concerns children were too young to learn about lg bt relationships. they also said the lessons contradicted islam. will she join me and express from the government despatch box our support for sarah hewitt clarkson, the headteacher at this primary school in birmingham, who has bravely resisted a homophobic... what would one call it? a mob who are protesting against some teaching in school. as i understand it, the students are being taught about relationships

that some children have two mothers and some have two fathers and that is all it is and if people do not like it, that is the way the modern world is. i have the utmost admiration for sarah clark hewittson and every sympathy for some of the abuse that she has had to face. children of four years of age are not taught about gay sex, children of four years of age are taught about relationships and that relationships can look different in different households. a leading muslim organisation has said comments made last summer by the former foreign secretary and conservative leadership candidate, boris johnson, about women wearing face veils led to a rise in reports of islamophobic abuse. in august 2018, mrjohnson wrote in the daily telegraph that women in full face veils should not be banned, but it was absolutely ridiculous that women chose to go around looking like letterboxes. he also compared them to looking like bank robbers.

he was later cleared of breaking the conservatives‘ code of conduct. the home affairs committee was told the comments had had an effect. because the words "letterboxes" and the words "bank robbers" were used on the streets on women wearing head scarves and notjust face veils and this work comes with a huge responsibility. because people look at that political arena and look at the words used by the leaders and people eventually reuse these words on the ground and on the streets. and we do ask every single candidate that is coming out now in the leadership election to work with communities and on addressing issues in communities, but also on being responsible in the language they use. iman atta. now, the uk willjoin 50 other countries next month when it reports to the united nations on its progress towards the sustainable development goals. these are 17 different measures,

from tackling extreme poverty and inequality to climate change health and education. taking time out from his role as an acclaimed screenwriter, richard curtis updated the international development committee in his guise as a un sustainable development goals advocate. what one message would you want us to give to the government? i would say show leadership, as britain has shown astonishing leadership in this area before, and make as many extra commitments on these areas. we are a great country that is doing many and most of the things the sdgs requires, but the sdgs make you look internally at how you are doing on energy and jobs and gender equality, but also in terms of international behaviour. britain are at 0.7, the home of band—aid, live aid, save the children, all these extraordinary initiatives. the jubilee debt campaign, the make poverty history campaign,

we have been there to show leadership in this area, and i think that that will be incredibly important. 0urjob should be to try and find ways in which it is more compelling for governments, countries, businesses, everyone to feel they need to show what they are doing, and so i think in 2020, after we have seen, because we don't know, it will be the first time a report has been written since they were conceived in 2015, in september, we suspect it won't be good enough. we know we are behind, so we need to annually look at, through a global goals day, an annual summit at the un, this is where we can help by sort of making some noise about that. my daughter is a campaigner and just says everybody is always asking, "what can i do to make the world

a better place ? " it's a huge question now, which is why i'm interested in this investment thing, and we are trying to think of a sort of plan where, and this is a bit glib, where as you were saying, make meatless meat free monday, giving tuesday, what you wear — where does it come from wednesday, how is your bank account going on thursday, for people who actually think through recycling friday, to think through how the public themselves can affect and feel involved in these issues, and that is another thing the government should be thinking about is the desire of the public to be part of how we deal with these huge issues. richard curtis. and that is it from me for now. do join me at the same time tomorrow for the highlights of the day here at westminster, including prime minister's questions. for now, from me, alicia mccarthy, goodbye.

some really miserable weather out there at the moment, pouring with rain across the north, but it's notjust here in the uk where we're getting the really unsettled weather. in fact, much of western europe, all the way down to spain and portugal are experiencing below average temperatures and quite changeable weather. now there's a big low pressure which is stuck across northern france, just around the channel here, and as long as there is low pressure here things aren't going to change. it will remain very, very unsettled. winds coming in across the north of europe but the winds will have to swing back around again. and they are blowing out of the south across central and eastern parts of the continent. there's a heatwave there, temperatures in the mid— 30s. that's the yin and yang of weather. one side of europe is hot and sunny,

the other side is paying for it and it is cool and very, very wet. so here's the rain, early hours of wednesday morning. the low pressure, we've already established that, it's parked across this part of europe. so you can see spells of unsettled weather there across parts of germany as well. also we'll see thunderstorms drifting out of the south and they will affect southern portions of the uk. notice a bit of a lull in the intensity in the rain over in the north, but that will get heavier later on wednesday. now these blobs here, these are showers. we'll see thunderstorms developing almost anywhere across the southern portion of the uk. there could be some really nasty downpours. now notice how this rain gets heavier as we go into the afternoon, quite menacing, threatening rain clouds. all of that is going to come in and bring a real deluge to parts of northern england, reaching parts of scotland and north—eastern england as well. a wet wednesday on the way. here's a look at thursday. the winds are blowing around

like so, that low pressure‘s parked itself across the uk. the south, a few sunny spells, yes, but some thunderstorms. the temperatures 14—16 degrees, that's closer to the end of april, sort of may temperatures, really. so the low will wobble around the uk, bringing us again spells of rain and showers as we head towards the end of the week. improving a little bit acorss europe. on balance, unsettled, as we head into the weekend. later there is a sign of things warming up, but not just yet.

welcome to bbc news. i'm mike embley. our top stories: hong kong heads into a day of disturbance. thousands take to the streets over plans to allow extradition to china. trump and biden trade barbs, as they host campaign events for the 2020 election. a rare move by moscow, as mounting pressure from the media sees a reporter released. the tariff war with china leaves a sour taste for california winemakers as business dries up.