hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm simon mccoy. today at two... doing it our way... the uk decides to let huawei continue to be used in its 56 networks, but with restrictions. the decision comes despite pressure from the us and some conservative mps on the grounds of national security — washington says it's disappointed. the salary threshold for skilled migrants coming to britain should be lowered to just over £25,500 a year says a government—commissioned report. welcome to just a welcome tojust a minute. nicholas parsons, who chaired radio 4'sjust a minute for more than 50 years, has died at the age of 96. coming up on afternoon live all the sport.

israel live all the sport. palau makes a shock return after israel palau makes a shock return after being sacked by rugby australia for making homophobic comments. thanks, olly — and susan powell with the weather. and we will be trying to catch up with what is going on here, one day chile and one day milder. thanks, susan. also coming up — a glacier the size of britain is melting increasingly rapidly in antarctica. we report from a remote and complex scientific investigation. hello, everyone. this is afternoon live. i'm simon mccoy. the government has approved plans

to allow huawei to play a limited role in the uk's sg network, despite security concerns from the us around the firm's links to the chinese state. prime minister borisjohnson has defied advice from donald trump in making the decision, but admitted the firm is a "high risk vendor" — it will be excluded from safety—critical or sensitive locations such as nuclear sites and military bases. in the last hour, washington has said it is disappointed' by the decision. richard galpin has this report. how are you going to keep your data safe? government ministers and other senior officials went into the meeting of the national security council this morning to make what is a huge decision for the country. and they've decided to allow huawei to help build the uk ‘s new 56 network. but in a statement, the government said... due to concerns about security, while it would be excluded from all sensitive parts of the network. and in all other areas, they'd be limited to providing just over a third of the infrastructure. it's claimed the 56 mobile technology will change our lives, transforming how we use

the internet. downloads will be far faster. an hour—long tv programme could be downloaded in just seven seconds, leaving 4g way behind. and our devices could not only proactively contact us, but could also be in contact with the machines. but could also be in contact with other machines. for example, a patient‘s medical history could be downloaded to ambulance crews on the journey to hospital, helping ensure the patient gets the right treatment. this is a hugely important emerging technology and it's very important that the uk leads on it. so every country will be making this difficultjudgment and it is a difficultjudgment but i think a sensible compromise, whereby you use what is notjust cheaper equipment from huawei but generally acknowledged to be good quality equipment as well, is in the network but only where it's safe to do so.

despite all this, many are convinced that allowing huawei to be part of the 5g development is a massive mistake, compromising security. the united states is particularly worried and now threatening the much—vaunted post—brexit trade deal with the uk. i think it would make it very difficult if not impossible for us to achieve that gold—standard trade agreement which we all want, and i think the conservative mp that you have, tom tugendhat, said it best — at a time when you've gone through this brutal effort in order to sovereignty from brussels, why surrender it to beijing? one reason is one reason is some one reason is some of their equipment is already the uk network, leaving uk with little room for manoeuvre. it was going to be very challenging to rip out huawei from existing networks and cut ties with the company given how deeply embedded it already is in our existing infrastructure, and the

fa ct existing infrastructure, and the fact that 5g roll—outs have already occurred using huawei among other companies. there are certainly risks involved in the decision on huawei. but the uk's intelligence agencies seem confident they can prevent china from using its involvement in the network to collect sensitive information. richard galpin, bbc news. well, our security correspondent gordon correra has been explaining the importance of this decision. it is one of the most consequential national security decisions, one of the most long—term decisions that any government has had to take in recent times because this determines the security of our data, our telecoms networks, which will become increasingly important to our lives for the decades to come. more and more personal data will be carried around these networks, more of the infrastructure of our lives will depend on telecommunications so whether there is the potential for

espionage or sabotage as some fear isa espionage or sabotage as some fear is a significant security risk. officials believe they can manage the risk, not eliminate it, but manage it. in other words they can reduce the risk and spot if something is happening, they can deal with it if something happens. but even if you believe the long—term risk can be managed, there are short—term risks, particularly the relationship with the us, a close ally which has expressed its angen close ally which has expressed its anger. it's talked about restricting intelligence sharing. some in the uk thought that was a bluff but we are about to find out how angry washington is. was this posturing pa rt washington is. was this posturing part of donald trump's trade dispute with china or was there a deeper concern about how the uk is positioning itself with china, and what will washington do? this tweet from the congresswoman

liz cheney... so that is the reaction from liz cheney. as i say, the united states saying they are disappointed with that decision. let's talk to our chief political correspondent vicki young. this was always the gamble boris johnson was going to take. he knew this would be seen as a defiance of donald trump. politically that isn't necessarily a bad thing for him. lots of people have talked about his friendship with donald trump, and some say he is a poodle of the american administration. they can turn around and say this shows he's not. what the government has been weighing up is the future technology for this country. the truth is that

huawei are already deeply involved in telecoms here and elsewhere. a lot of people including republican congress women we have heard from today seem to be suggesting for the first time that huawei are being let into the telecommunications of this country. that's not the case, they are already involved with 4g so if you want to strip them out completely, that would put the whole thing back several years and cost billions of pounds. this is about minimising the risk and clearly the security services here have been saying to the government we think we can do that. it's about keeping them out of the car if you like of the infrastructure, the stuff that looks at personal material and data, and keeping them on the periphery, on the edge. it's talking about things like infrastructure, masts and aerials. they think they can keep them separate, some people don't think they can, and i think boris johnson's promise during the general

election when he dogged about the future of broadband and superfast fibre, really making a difference to lots of parts of the country, he is looking at the cost that would entail if you didn't have this company involved and thinking probably, well actually it's worth going ahead with that even if it risks this diplomatic tension with america. at a time of course when crucial trade talks are set to get under way at some point. yes, it will be interesting tomorrow because mike pompeo the secretary of state is coming to town so the timing of this is interesting. it will be discussed. there are people, particularly mps in the house of commons on the opposition side who have talked about how much a trade deal in the end could be worth to the uk, given that it is likely to be pretty restricted. so it could be that if you are looking at it in terms of numbers and the future infrastructure of this country, actually the it side of this could be more valuable to the uk, to

consumers, than some kind of trade deal with america. we don't know the scope of what the trade deal would be. i think more worrying will be talked about in some way rowing back america from the so—called five eyes, the security cooperation that there is between the five countries. will they really do that? the question is whether washington is bluffing or if this is more to do with donald trump and the trade while he is waging with the chinese. is that what is behind this rather than him taking action and punishing the uk for this decision? thank you very much. vicki young in westminster. the government's immigration advisers have urged ministers to reduce the minimum salary level which is proposed for skilled migrants as part of a new system after brexit. currently, skilled migrants must have a job offer with a minimum annual salary of £30,000. but the report says that figure should be reduced by more than £4,000 to help recruit teachers and nhs staff. more details from our home affairs correspondent dominic casciani.

in an era of mass migration, foreign workers are now everywhere in the uk, from schools to hospitals, restaurants and building sites. workers from across the eu and the rest of the world, filling gaps in the labour force. but major change is coming thanks to brexit, and the end to eu freedom of movement. ministers promising a new points—based system favouring skilled workers for the sectors most in need. the construction sector alone is short of more than 40,000 skilled builders. citb‘s research on migration shows the construction industry is heavily reliant on a workforce who were not born in the uk. the government has got huge ambitions for home—building, for infrastructure, and we need every engineer, every bricklayer, every carpenter we can get our hands on, and that includes those who come in as migrants. the independent migration advisory committee says there is a way for ministers to make the most

of the post—brexit world. the salary threshold for skilled workers to come to the uk is £30,000. it says 25,600 should be the new minimum salary. it predicts with a favourite skilled workers like teachers and nhs staff. the government's top advisers say eu migration has been heavily concentrated in low skilled jobs, that's something that would fall under these proposals. some sectors would lose out, such as hospitality, and agriculture. just one of the difficult trade—offs in devising a new post—brexit system. any changes to who is allowed and not allowed to come to the uk is inevitably going to be to the advantage of some sectors and some areas, but to the disadvantage of others. and there's no way to come up with a system that pleases absolutely everyone. business leaders hope for more flexibility for medium and low—skilled workers, but critics say the recommendations won't control the numbers or protect british workers.

a significant loosening of the main route for work immigration to the uk from around the world. that would have the impact, if the salary threshold is reduced to £25,000 a year and the skills threshold is die looted as has been suggested of exposing over 7 million ukjobs to new or increased global competition. the report won't satisfy others either. the scottish government wants to set its own criteria to attract skilled migrants, now rejected by the report. the committee once it can't solve a uk crisis in social care, wages too low to attract workers from home or abroad. dominic casciani, bbc news. nicholas parsons,

the host of radio 4's comedy panel showjust a minute, has died at the age of 96. he chaired the show for more than 50 years. one of its regular panellists, gyles brandreth, described him as a ‘consummate professional‘ who never stopped working. our media correspondent david sillito looks back at a long life and career. welcome tojust a minute. he was the chairman ofjust a minute on radio 4 for more than 50 years. and now, from norwich... and he was the quizmaster on sale of the century for 12 years. hello, and welcome to the sale of the century. it's the quiz of the week... i'm proud of the fact that i helped create a huge success. you don't buck success. i'm proud of that fact. but i don't want to be remembered just for sale of the century. i want to see your passport, please. indeed, there was a lot more to nicholas parsons. what is the purpose of your visit to england? he'd appeared in more than 20 films. i have come to find a husband. and in the ‘60s he'd become a household name as the straight man to the comedian arthur haynes.

laughter. i'm sorry, vicar, i thought it was those carol singers. merry christmas. he'd turned to acting after training as an engineer in a clyde shipyard. one early role was the voice of a puppet cowboy. now get out of town and don't you ever come back. now, do you think you could try and keep quiet? on camera, he was a master of smooth—talking charm. a mask for his struggles growing up with dyslexia and a pronounced stammer. and then, in 1967, he was made presenter ofjust a minute. he'd wanted to be a panellist but the producers knew his skill. the good—natured straight man enduring a daily comic assault. as a straight man you know how to throw out the lines so the comic will have a good springboard to come back and make some facetious or humorous or witty response. and also you know how to take the joke at your expense because the comedian, the straight man in the relationship, is always the one that is put down.

he was an absolute bbc and a bbc radio legend. he was wonderful to meet, warm, generous, amusing, clever, and to host a show like that with all the contestants taking part in it, the skill in that was amazing. and you know, to my view, to do that into your 905, with such success, skill, such charm, i mean, well do you deserve the title 'legend'. and as the minute waltz fades away, once more it is my pleasure to welcome our many listeners... more than 50 years later, he was still in charge. never regretting that day more than 70 years ago when he'd swapped engineering for show business. nicholas parsons who has died at the age of 96. the comedian and writer barry cryer is on the line now. barry, very rarely in the newsroom

you can hear a gasp when there is a breaking story but his death caused just that. what is it about him? you mentioned him as a straight month comedians, he was a consummate straight man and still the straight man on just a straight man and still the straight man onjust a minute. and the speed of his brain. if you are doing chairman of just of his brain. if you are doing chairman ofjust a minute you have got to be on the ball all the time and nick never lost it. i was interviewed by him several times on the edinburgh fringe and he would interview you without any notice whatsoever. talking to you, prompting you and going along with it. i have to mention in terms of radio, way back we did a show called listen to this space which was a precursor of the topical comedy shows that came later. nick always liked reminding people, we did

listen to this space, we did it first and he was quite right. and you have got to be kind, and he was certainly that. yes, when your own daughter speak so warmly and lovingly about you, when she spoke about how much she loved him and how kind he was, he was a popular man with people because he was great with people because he was great with people. he was always immaculate too. yes, always well turned out, the appearance, the cravat, endlessly. he used to make fun of himself. what was it about him particularly that madejust a minute work? because everyone says no one else could really carry that off. you have just answered your own question i think, it was him that made it last all that time because he steered it. he was in command.

the show was him basically, and the co ntesta nts. .. the show was him basically, and the contestants... he was the captain, they were his crew. and the longevity is something obviously many people would be surprised that he was 96. he kept going. he enjoyed the work. he never stopped. he loved his work. his daughter actually said he loved his work but his family we re he loved his work but his family were his first priority. he was obsessed with his own family, the basis of his life, followed by his work. those two factors drove him on all the time. and the fact it was never scripted, he was always brilliant, and that just never scripted, he was always brilliant, and thatjust showed the intellect that was involved. yes indeed. he never needed a script, you could just turn him on and he was on. do you have a particular memory of him? i mean, there are so many memories of him. laughter is

the main... one memory and i hope his wife won't mind me telling you. he did happy hour and there was a very brilliant act called four poofs and a piano. he used to do the warm up and a piano. he used to do the warm up himself, and he said to the audience, i'm terribly sorry, i should have introduced ourfirst guests, here they are... four poofs and a funeral. typically making fun of himself. and for many people he was sale of the century and he was able to switch and do it with success. yes, he was a game show host and a quiz show host, and a straight man for a comedian. he did acting, he appeared on the stage.

when you think of his background in the shipyards, it is an amazing life story, what he encompassed in his own life. barry, it is very good of you to share your thoughts with us. commiserations. i'm happy to do it. thank you very much. 0k. the coronavirus has now killed more than 100 people in china and officials have confirmed cases around the world — including today the first in germany. the foreign office says it's working on plans to bring home uk citizens home from hubei province, the heart of the outbreak. caroline hawley has the latest. battling the virus with disinfectant. at bangkok airport today, all flights returning from china were being liberally sprayed. thailand will screen everyone arriving back for symptoms of the disease. coronavirus has now spread to 16 countries and the world is stepping up its response. in hong kong, the railway station was practically deserted.

the authorities have announced that from thursday, ferries, as well as high—speed trains that cross the border, will be suspended. the hong kong leader, carrie lam, making a point to protect herself, urged citizens to return from the mainland as soon as possible and quarantine themselves at home for a fortnight. in germany, at this firm that sells car parts, a 33—year—old man has been infected by a woman from china who'd come to bavaria on a training course. it's the first known case of the virus being caught in europe. wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, is now effectively on lockdown. there are severe restrictions on people entering and leaving the city. in countries around the world, they are working on plans to evacuate their citizens. japan has chartered a special plane to bring its people home today. there are thought to be around 300 british nationals in the province. they are being urged to contact the consulate so that arrangements can be made for their return. but some are critical of the uk government's response.

i think they need to get a little faster in working something out. i mean, i believe it's not easy to do, i know the chinese government is very hard to work with on this, because they are locking down everything. but i think if the us can manage to do it then i think the british government should at least be able to do the same thing for the people out here. in beijing, the head of the world health organization met the chinese president, who has described the virus as a devil, but one, he said, he was confident china could defeat. he promised increased international cooperation to fight it. coronavirus has now silenced a city, killed more than 100 people and, with modern travel, caused alarm right around the world. thousands of miles away from wuhan, governments are scrambling to try to contain it. caroline hawley, bbc news. the public inquiry into the grenfell tower fire has been shown emails suggesting that companies directly involved in the building's refurbishment knew the cladding they'd specified would fail in the event of a fire.

the evidence was highlighted by the firm which manufactured the insulation panels used in the work, as it defended suggestions it had not made clear the product would burn. our correspondent dan johnson gave us the latest from the inquiry in west london. well, we were warned yesterday to expect a merry go round of passing the buck between different companies and you could be forgiven for having got dizzy already. even as we just start getting into this second phase of the inquiry, trying to understand who knew exactly what about the refurbishment of grenfell tower and how it could have ended up being so flammable and so deadly. now you need to understand the work to refurbish the tower included putting cladding panels on the outside. that is essentially plastic coated with aluminium on top of insulation. and the two companies that manufactured those products have acknowledged that they could be combustible if they weren't fitted in a certain way with

specific measures taken to stop fire spreading. but the architects, the contractors, the suppliers and fire safety consultants say the true danger of those products was concealed. well, this morning, the hearing heard e—mails read out that showed that the companies involved in designing, carrying out and inspecting that refurbishment work knew there was a fire risk. one technical manager wrote that the cladding would be gone rather quickly in a fire, and one of the architects had replied that metal cladding always burns and falls off. and there was an e—mail from the fire safety advisers acknowledging that the cladding that was proposed at that time would fail in a fire. now, the manufacturers are arguing that fire safety has to be taken in totality, looking at the way the products are used together, not just the individual items. the entire system. and there was a fire resistant version of the cladding that could have been used, but that would have added

half a million pounds to the cost of the refurbishment work. now, the inquiry hearing has finished for the afternoon, but there is months more evidence to be heard. it will take a long time to get into all the detail and to understand the contribution of all the different companies involved at different stages in this project and how such a deadly combination could have got through the design, safety testing standards and inspection regime. that was dan johnson that was danjohnson at that was dan johnson at the that was danjohnson at the inquiry. coming up on afternoon live — the 'doomsday‘ glacier. it's the size of britain and is melting increasingly rapidly in antarctica — we'll bring you never—seen—before footage from beneath almost half a mile of ice.

social media, she is a kindest person i have ever worked with, and inspiration to us all, should one fan will bring a tribute later.

that is not here, that is brazil, an epic amount of rain poll rainfall and bella horizontally, and 204i was and bella horizontally, and 2041 was 100 and 71 monitors of rainfall, nearly seven engines of rain, they have had a foot of rain and some areas. are you a coffee drinker? a big coffee growing region so the impact for growers and harvesters, wider problems going forward but the

main river running through breast its banks, flooding into homes, the bridge here you can make out com pletely bridge here you can make out completely submerged, what an the homes, a rod under the somewhere and you can see a flyover going straight down into the water. an epic amount of rainfall, one of the rainiest months of the year but none of its 300 millimetres and the whole of january and we also have some other footage potentially in the next of an underground canal, which may be a sewer that took on some much rainfall the whole thing ruptured the concrete. devastating sincere. devastating scenes here. they get a

lot of rainfall but last week a subtropical storm forming and i believe that is exceptionally unusual because the winds in this pa rt unusual because the winds in this part of the south atlantic, unlike the first time and january we have had a storm here, be pulled and moisture from the north—east and we kept the rainfall coming. on a positive note next few days it should start to thin out but it is not just the should start to thin out but it is notjust the interior but closer to the cost as well and 40 people have lost their lives due to the severity of the weather but it looks like things will start to improve and it cannot get any worse. an improving outlook for this part of the world. i was looking closer to home. what a

great day it has been for this little fellow, showers across the uk but for some it has been rain and quite a grey picture, snow for others but i think the snow problematic through this evening and onto tomorrow morning across northern regions, showers crowding m, northern regions, showers crowding in, perhaps across the southwest islands, up to ten centimetres of snow and with showers around and to push temperatures coming down that could be ice around especially where we have the showers through the small hours. to the south getting cleaner overnight and sunshine and further north snow showers and a weather front arrives with milder air, persistent rain for northern ireland and parts of northern england, rainfall could be problematic, the front lines to a halt. to the south of the uk this is

a bit ofa halt. to the south of the uk this is a bit of a forecasting headache, could be angled in wales escapes with a fine day with thicker cloud, could be rain for southern counties and gusts of wind, the system could skimp to the continent, more persistent rain for scotland but mild, temperatures rising, snow one day rain the next stuff on the end of the week looks like things will turn mild for all of us but still the threat through the end of the week and weekend of heavy rain in the forecast for scotland to keep a close eye following disruption traditionalfor close eye following disruption traditional for problems potentially with flooding.

this is bbc news — our latest headlines. doing it our way.. the uk decides to let huawei continue to be used in its 5g networks — but with restrictions the decision comes despite pressure from the us — and some conservative mps — on the grounds of national security the salary threshold for skilled migrants coming to britain should be lowered to just over £25,500 a year — says a government commissioned report. nicholas parsons, who chaired radio 4'sjust a minute for more than 50 years, has died at the age of 96. also coming up — a glacier the size of britain is melting increasingly rapidly in antarctica — we report from a remote and complex

scientific investigation. sport now on afternoon live with chetan... and israel folau is back in rugby league — he's a pretty controversial character, isn't he? originally a lobby rig player, sacked by rugby australia for making homophobic comments, he sued rugby australia for sacking him on grounds folau was orginially a rugby league player, switched codes to union but he was sacked by rugby australia for making homophobic comments on social media... saying stuff like "hell awaits gay people." folau then sued rugby australia for sacking him on the grounds of religious discrimation. he was widely supported by christian lobby groups in australia and it sparked national debate there about free speech and hate. a financial settlement was then agreed last month. and today it's been confirmed folau is making a switch back to rugby league... and is moving to french club catalans dragons. the rugby football league says it deplored his comments and that it was a difficult decision

to allow folau to play but they can't stop him because he hasn't been found guilty of any criminal offence. super league boss robert elstone did add that he's disppointed that one of their clubs has signed him and that folau's contract will be terminated if he makes homophobic comments again. catalan dragons say they want to give the player a new opportunity to shine. folau says he will keep his beliefs private. in response to the signing, wigan warriors say that their match against dragons will be a pride day in support of lgbt groups. keegan hirst, who plays for championship side halifax, the first openly gay rugby league player, posted this on social media i'd expect plenty more reaction

in the coming hours and days simon. margaret court holds the record for the most grand slam singles titles — she's won 24 — but she's also been criticised for expressing homophobic views. one of the main courts at melbourne park — where the australian open is being played — is named after her but two of the game's greats, martina navratilova and john mcenroe, staged a protest there today, calling for its name to be changed. tennis australia say they have breached tournament protocols but navratilova says margaret court's views are hurtful to the lgbt commuinity. i felt the conversation had stopped but government isjust i felt the conversation had stopped but government is just failure and the ones to make the sessions and nothing has happened but margaret

keeps doubling down. roger federer says he believes in miracles after he saved seven match points against the unseeded john watson is in melbourne for us an incredible comeback for roger federer, arguably the greatest male player of all—time, he saved seven match points in the fourth set and wrapped up the much over five sets just as he did and the third round. uncharacteristic at times from roger federer, he was wonder what has bad language, he took a medical timeout, clearly struggling with tightness in his leg and an incident involving his leg and an incident involving his opponent who was run into by a ball girl during his opponent who was run into by a ballgirl during a his opponent who was run into by a ball girl during a change of ends

and the fourth set tie—break. it is roger federer who progresses and will face novak djokovic in the semifinals of the austrian open. a great performance from ash party into her first sterling great performance from ash party into herfirst sterling open semifinal, hoping to become the first australian to win the singles title year and 42 years. some huge matches to come as the quarterfinals concludes tomorrow, that an adult in but no doubt the big talking point today, the incredible performance from roger federer. england bowler stuart broad has been fined 15 per cent of his match fee, for swearing at the south africa captain faf du plessis

during the fourth test injohannesburg. the pair were involved in a tetchy exchange yesterday, with england on their way to victory to seal the serreis 3—1 broad has also been given a demerit point for the incident, deemed to be a breach of the icc‘s code of conduct. that's all the sport for now. in antarctica, scientists have confirmed fears that a glacier the size of great britain is melting increasingly rapidly. if thwaites glacier disappears it could lead to a huge rise in global sea levels — so understanding what's happening there is essential if water level rises are to be accurately predicted. until now, no—one has attempted a large—scale scientific survey on the remote glacier, which is more than 1,000 miles from the nearest research station. our chief environment correspondent justin rowlatt travelled across west antarctica, to witness the huge and complex project. until this year, only four people had ever been here. the front of what they call the doomsday glacier. but understanding what is happening here is crucial for us all. this ice here is very accessible to change.

and so if we're thinking about what is sea level going to be like in ten years, this glacier is the place to be and this is the location to be asking these questions at. we're standing right on it. the chaos of broken ice at the front of thwaites is almost 100 miles wide and it's collapsing into the sea at two miles a year. it sits at the heart of a vast basin of ice in west antarctica. the glacier is the size of britain and contains more than half a metre of sea level rise. but if thwaites goes, much of the west antarctic ice sheet will too and there is three metres more locked up in that. it's enough to swamp many of the great cities of the world and drive hundreds of millions of people from their homes. getting here is not easy, it takes five weeks just to get the science teams and their equipment to the front of the glacier. this is a historic moment, the first time anyone has tried

to drill down through this glacier. beneath the 600 metres of ice below me is the most important point of all, the point at which the ice meets the ocean water. it is difficult work, but deploying instruments under the ice is the only way to begin to understand the processes at work here and to make accurate predictions of how sea level will rise in the future. this is a world first, the first time anyone has seen the place where this glacier goes afloat, the point where it begins to melt. i was yelling and screaming, like, "oh my god, we're there, "we're there, we're there!" you can kind of see the water, the water column narrowing and the ice coming down at you and this sea floor coming out at you and just this huge rush of energy. the bed of a glazier is a place we've just really never been and in particularly right here where it starts to go afloat. and thwaites really matters because it's so vulnerable. strip away the ice from west antarctica and look, most of this part of the continent

is below sea level, that means the glacier, indeed the whole region, could begin to retreat increasingly rapidly. this year's work has already confirmed the scientist's worst fears. the deep, warm ocean water that circles antarctica is flowing into the coast here and because the sea bed slopes downwards, as the ice melts it willjust expose more and more ice to that water. it will take decades, may be more than a century for thwaites to melt, but it is melting and we need to know how quickly if we'ree going to protect ourselves to know how quickly if we're going to protect ourselves as the world's oceans rise. justin rowlatt, bbc news, west antarctica. and justinjoins me in the studio now along with camerawoman jemma cox. having done what we have just seen are you more worried than you were?

i think are you more worried than you were? ithinki are you more worried than you were? i think i am. i was excited to go to one of the most remote places on earth to the last wilderness which is what antarctica is and i was shocked, i was quite emotional, gemma interviewed me and i was surprised how emotional i was because the things we do in our society are affecting some sort of mutton such a profound way, ed stood me up anyway i had not anticipated. how do about is it? it felt like we we re how do about is it? it felt like we were on a completely different planet, you are you could not contact people, i embraced it, lived in this tiny little tent but it is like being in a completely different world, 204i was of daylight, you cannot shovel everyday shower every

day. had just cannot shovel everyday shower every day. hadjust been cannot shovel everyday shower every day. had just been christmas day? how did you spend christmas day?|j ended how did you spend christmas day?” ended up stuck with a few strangers and a camp but i got lucky because instead of having my normal mountain tent i got a heated indoor tent with a bed to sleep in sol tent i got a heated indoor tent with a bed to sleep in so i had a little antarctic mini break. it was a christmas i will never forget. antarctic mini break. it was a christmas i will never forgetm was so far away we had to fly these big us air force planes to the middle of west antarctica then an intermediary camp to fuel the planes to get us to the front of the glacier and on the way back we had to fuel up glacier and on the way back we had to fuelup again glacier and on the way back we had to fuel up again so really remote, only four people have been to the front of the glacier before. how

cold? -26 was the coldest i recorded but you kind of get used to it. the clothing is so good and you have these layers on, you just kind of get used to it. justin was fine but your camera equipment, the must have been some issues. it was mostly cables and batteries, you had to keep batteries on your body but for me it was fingers because it was really ha rd me it was fingers because it was really hard to operate the camera. he had it easy. we had this raging storm so i went out to try and film it and took my gloves off as gemma does and i got the precursor to frostbite. did you ever fall out? to

be working so closely in such a bleak area. there were other people but we got on fairly well. a couple of times but we are good mates now. it was eight weeks of really extreme loving and being with each other virtually at the whole time, we had separate tents and very good to us. it is hard to explain what is going on to anyone else but is good to have someone there. you were trying to get great pictures and a study, the scientist has serious work to do. absolutely and you come along and watch what they are doing, do not get and the way. unbelievable resources it takes to do that kind of work so they spent in what money

getting out there. the window of opportunity to do science and antarctica is very short, a short summer. antarctica is very short, a short summer. we had terrible storms that last for three days that would shut everything down, nobody could do anything, huddled and your tent playing cards. as it starts to get later in the season storms get worse so there was a sense of urgency that has to happen. that you get a sense from the scientists at how shocked they were? they are fascinated and excited by what they were doing so the woman who created the somewhat in the film, she was piloting it under the ice and was so excited to see these amazing processes and the scientists gathered round and excited to see what they were seeing was the glacier melting but that is

what you study and you see it for real and that is really exciting so there was a paradox because on the one hand they are documenting the beginning of the end perhaps of this huge future that many of the older scientists they assumed the ice in the antarctic would stay firm whatever because it is so cold. beginning to see the end of it but you are iglesia scientist this is an exciting process and science is about discovering and you got the sense of excitement from scientist. cani sense of excitement from scientist. can i ask a question? you did ask. we these pictures we look at, what are your memories, some of them look incredible difficult to have got? when we got to the camps the challenge was it was just flat white everywhere and one of the best parts

of filming was flying over the glaciers because that is when it hit home what is happening and how it is affecting it and seeing the ice and it melting and crushed up was incredible. i was really shocked. it is kind of sad to see but it is trying to describe infinity because itjust goes on trying to describe infinity because it just goes on for another and trying to describe infinity because itjust goes on for another and in the camps you get used to this little world and how do you show that to people when it isjust miles and miles of flat white and nothing there. seeing all the different landscapes and building and building an igloo. we got stuck in the middle of the ice sheet for nine days with no internet or phone so you have to do something so with the director of

science. good to see you, thank you. and you can find out more about the ground—breaking science taking place at thwaites glacier at the website or app. donald trump will set out his plan in the next few hours, for what he's called the "deal of the century", to end decades of conflict between the israelis and palestinians. leaks suggest the deal favours israel and the palestinians have already said they'll reject it. this lunchtime, thousands of palestinians in gaza demonstrated their opposition to the plan and more protests are expected after the announcement which is due at around 5pm. our correspondent barbara plett usher is in the west bank town of ramallah with the latest. the palestinians have rejected the plan already, they believe it is based on the trump administration's alignment with previous positions

together with israel and the even if it does come up with some sort of version of a palestinian state it would not meet palestinian demands so there will be an emergency meeting of palestinian leadership tonight including representatives of the is a must organisations have mass and islamic jihad the is a must organisations have mass and islamicjihad to get some unified response. what the leadership wants is for arab and european countries to come out and say this plan isjust european countries to come out and say this plan is just an american intervention that it does not meet international standards and terms for a peace deal so they want that kind of statement. also be protests that have been called later, we were told president abbas wants to limit the escalation, things not to get out of control but at the same time the party is under pressure to have a robust response because it knows that the administration has been accused of failing to have a

strategy to deal with this turn of events because of corruption and also because it cooperates with israel in terms of a security arrangement. we will see how big the turnout is but we are expecting that meeting later and then president abbas will speak after that. in a moment ben is going to bring us the latest business news. first a look at the headlines on afternoon live the government decides to allow the chinese telecoms company, huawei, to have a limited role in the development of the uk's 5g mobile network. the government says it will "carefully consider" a report calling for a cut to the salary threshold for skilled workers coming to the uk to just over 25 and a half thousand pounds a year. broadcaster and host of radio 4'sjust a minute, nicholas parsons has died aged 96 after a short illness. here's your business headlines on afternoon live

the uk's financial regulator has asked banks to explain how they set their new overdraft rates. the financial conduct authority is suspicious that most high street banks have set "very similar prices", after it demanded changes to the system. several big brands including santander, lloyds banking group and hsbc are set to bring in a 39.9% rate this year. ryanair has warned pilots of possible base closures and job cuts after further delays to delivery of boeing's grounded 737 max aircraft. in a memo, the low—cost airline said boeing would not deliver the first aircraft until september or october at the earliest. ryanair was due to take delivery of ten of the aircraft this year. sainsbury‘s has promised to reduce its net carbon emissions to zero over the next 20 years. the supermarket chain — the second largest in the uk — says it will spend £1bn to reach the target. it's pledged to reduce emissions from areas like refrigeration and transport.

a smart door bell — designed to keep an eye on who's calling at your house — could actually be snooping on you. ben's here to explain. this is amazon's ring door bell — it's got a camera, motion sensor, microphone, speaker and other sensors, all integrated with an app. the idea is that it lets you see what's going on at your front door in real—time and communicate with visitors no matter where in the world you are. according to digital rights campaign group, the eff the ring door bell app is sending data to four major marketing companies. they say the data includes full names, ip addresses and sensor data from the door bells.

samira hussain is at new york stock exchange. it is digital data, things that show people online m for the information given to these third parties is not super—sensitive in and of itself but anyone who is looking to do something nefarious with this information, if you collect that and combine it with information available elsewhere you can really get a pretty clear online digital picture of what people are doing on the internet. these particular devices what you want publicity during the holiday period, people sharing videos of packages being delivered and these packages being stolen by people are trying to take

them so a lot of people that use them so a lot of people that use them and have found them useful but it is clear that there are privacy concerns. is that any suggestion this was in the terms and conditions? we are all guilty of not scrolling through pages of information, we do not know what we are signing up for but was this done by the back door on had been upfront about it? it has not been any comment from amazon about this that would suggest they should not be doing this with our personal information. in addition to this study by this nonprofit b also saw there was a blog post put on to a website by someone who works at amazon criticising this particular device saying at plays fast and loose with personal information and that regulation is not going to be

enough to put down this information sharing that they need to start from scratch. amazon is the owner of this product ring, their employees are very much not one to openly criticise the products so the fact we are seeing that and that they're saying we need to get rid of this as a pretty telling. thank you. a quick look at the markets. sainsbury‘s are seeing the ad going to reduce their carbon footprint,.

the nikkei actually doing pretty well. the ftse down. that's all the business news. now it's time for a look at the weather. some beautiful pictures sent in by weather watchers, this from the highlands. pretty hefty snowfall and scotla nd highlands. pretty hefty snowfall and scotland and the last 24 hours, beautiful if you can get outside, more disruptive if you need to travel and that could be the issue through this evening and into tomorrow monica, anticipating more snow showers. i am interrupting it we are going to the house of commons. we looked at the issue of how to maintain network security in the technical detail, we would never ta ke the technical detail, we would never take decisions that threaten our

national security of the security of our partners. the technical and security analysis undertaken by gchq is central to the conclusions of the review. thanks to their analysis we have the most detailed study of what is needed to protect 5g anywhere in the world and it is also because of the world and it is also because of the work of the huawei cybersecurity evaluation are set to oversight board established that we know more about huawei and the risks it poses than any other country in the world. we now take forward the recommendations and three areas, first world leading regulation, establishing one of the strongest regimes for telecom security in the world, that will raise security standards across all the uk's telecom operators that supply to them. at the heart of the new regime

them. at the heart of the new regime the new telecom security requirements guidance will provide clarity to industry on what is expected in terms of network security. the tsrs well set out tough new standards. the government intends to legislate at the earliest opportunity to introduce a new comprehensive telecoms security regime to be overseen by the regulator ofcom and government. second, the review also underlined the need for the uk to improve its diversity and the supply of equipment to telecoms networks. currently the uk faces a choice of only three major players to supply key parts of our telecom networks and this has implications for the security and resilience of those networks as well as for future innovation and market capacity. mr

speaker, it is a market failure that must be addressed. the government is developing an ambitious strategy to help diversify the supply chain and this will entail the deployment of all the tools at the government's disposal, including funding. we will do three things simultaneously. we will seek to attract established vendors who are not present in the uk to our country, we will support the emergence of new disruptive entrance to the supply chain, and we will promote the adoption of open, interoperable standards that will reduce barriers to entry. reduce the barrier to entry for the uk operators are leading the world in terms of new innovative plans to expand the supply chain and the government will work in industry to seize these opportunities. we will also partner with a like—minded countries to diversify the telecoms market because it is essential that we are never again in a position of having such limited choices when

deploying such important new technologies. the third area covered by the review was how to treat those lenders which pose greater security and resilient risks to uk telecoms, and resilient risks to uk telecoms, andi and resilient risks to uk telecoms, and i know the house has a particular interest in this area so i will cover the recommendation in detail. there is risks identified may identify that might rise from technical difficulties or subjects relating to the ownership of the vendor. as members may recall, the government informed the house in july that it was not in a position to go to this latest aspect of the review. we have now completed this information analysis from the security centre industry and from our international partners. today i am able to announce the final conclusions of the supply chain review in order of high risk lenders. in order to assess a vendor

is high risk, the review recommends a set of objective factors are taken into account. these include a strategic positional scale of the vendor in the uk network, the strategic positional scale of the vendor and other telecoms networks, particularly in the uk market. and of cyber security controls. the event of resilience both in technical terms but also in relation to the continuity of supply uk operators. the vendor pot domestic security laws in the jurisdiction where the vendor is based, and the risk of external direction that conflicts with uk law. the relationship between the vendor and event that was like the basic state apparatus, and finally the availability of offensive cyber capability with that apparatus or associated actors that might be used to target uk interests. to ensure

the security of 5g and for fibre networks, it is both necessary and proportionate to place tight restrictions on the presence of any companies identified as high risk. is rate is notjust about the edge of networks, nor about the trusted and un—trusted vendors. the threats to networks are and varied, whether from are state—sponsored malicious cyber activity. the most serious recent attack on uk telecoms has come from russia and there is no russian equipment in our networks. the reality is these are highly complicated networks relying on global supply chains where some limited measure of vulnerability is almost inevitable. the critical question is how to mitigate such vulnerabilities and stop them damaging the british people in our economy. ‘— damaging the british people in our economy. —— track and our economy. for full economy. —— track and our economy. forfull g and economy. —— track and our economy. for full g and fibre networks, the review concluded that based on the

current position of the uk market, high risk lenders should be first was excluded from all safety—related and safety critical networks in critical national infrastructure, secondly excluded from security critical network functions and thirdly limited to a minority presence and the network functions up presence and the network functions up to presence and the network functions uptoa presence and the network functions up to a cap of 35%. and be subjected to tight restrictions including exclusions from sensitive geographic locations. these new controls are also contingent on an ntsc approved risk mitigation strategy for any operator who uses such a vendor. we will legislate at the earliest opportunity to limit and control the presence of high risk offenders in the uk network and to allow us to respond as technology changes. over time, our intention is for the market share high risk offenders to reduce as market diversification ta kes reduce as market diversification

takes place. they want to say that nothing in this review will share highly secure data over a highly secure networks over the uk and with our partners including five eyes. gchq has categorically confirmed how we will use the 5g network has nothing to do with how we share classified data. the uk's technical security experts have agreed that the new controls on high—risk offenders are completely consistent with the uk's security needs. in response to the reviews, conclusions on high—risk offenders, the government has asked ntsc to provide guidance for industry which was published early today on their website. ncsc has helped operate a against a greater national security

risk for many years. this new guidance will include how it determines whether a vendor as high the precise restrictions that should be applied to high—risk offenders in the sg be applied to high—risk offenders in the 5g and for fibre networks, and what mitigation measures operators should take if using high risk lenders. as with other advice from the ncsc, on cybersecurity matters, this device will be in the of guidance. the uk expects uk telecoms operators to give you advice as they do with all their interactions. i hope the whole house will agree that if we are to achieve our digital connectivity ambitions, it is absolutely imperative that we can trust and the safety and security of our telecoms networks. risks cannot be eliminated in telecoms but it is thejob of government be eliminated in telecoms but it is the job of government to work together to ensure we work to reduce

our vulnerabilities and reduce those risks. it marks a major change in the uk's approach when taken together with the tough new security standards that will apply to operators, this approach will substantially improve the resilience of the networks which are of critical part of our infrastructure. it reflects the security of the uk market and the world leading cyber security expertise, and follows a rigorous and evidence—based review. it is the right decision and the uk specific circumstances, the future of our digital economy depends on having that trust and safety, and security. if we are going to encourage them to transform our lives for the better, we need to have the right measures in place. that is what this new framework will deliver and i commend the statement of the house. i am grateful to the

foreign secretary for this statement and for giving me advance sight of it. i'm pleased the government has finally set out illusions of telecom supply chain review in relation to high—risk offenders after far too long a period of dither and delay. as the intelligence and security committee made clear injuly of last year, this debate has been unnecessarily protracted and damaging, a decision was required urgently so everyone concerned could move forward. our telecoms sector, businesses and households need that clarity and certainty to move forward. lea ks, clarity and certainty to move forward. leaks, confusion and rumour on this cannot continue. the safety and security of our critical national infrastructure is crucial. robert hannigan, the head of gchq, has said that decisions about provider should be made on technical expertise and rational assessment of risk, and i agree. it is for the government to consider the best and

expert security advice that is given and act upon it. ministers should have robustly investigated the risk posed to our critical national infrastructure and whilst i appreciate the confidentiality of meetings, i hope the assurances can be given that this is the case of the guarantees about the safety and security of the network going forward a re security of the network going forward are absolutely crucial if huawei is to be involved in building the sg huawei is to be involved in building the 5g network. it is for ministers to make decisions in our national interest. now and going forward. never to be held hostage by shifting transatlantic due politics. a rush by the government to throw itself into the arms of president trump to secure a trade deal must not govern everything that it does. there is a wider point here. as we assess

potential risk to our critical national infrastructure, whether from huawei or indeed anywhere else, we should be ensuring that the uk network is constructed in such a way that it network is constructed in such a way thatitis network is constructed in such a way that it is in the best possible condition to withstand attacks wherever they come from. resilience in the network is essential, irrespective of this decision or indeed any other 5g provider, and i hope they will provide assurance on that. huawei is already embedded in the 4g network and there is a wider question that after a decade of successive governments, we do not have our own capacity to secure our national infrastructure and security rather than relying on other countries. as the foreign secretary conceded, the uk has been left to choose between just three 5g vendors. what is the government going to do to support local

manufacturing in our own tech sector, in growing businesses that can secure our critical national infrastructure? i've heard his words today about market diversification but those words are not enough to act. 5g will have an extraordinary impact on our day—to—day lives. it is transformational with faster data speeds, high—capacity and faster responsiveness. the majority of our constituents will now have access to devices which is growing every year. the 56 devices which is growing every year. the 5g network will have the advantage of being able to cope with this growing capacity. 5g will shape the economy of the future. innovative technologies of the future rely on its development and it must progress speedily. the government's original announcement that they will be a global leader in sg that they will be a global leader in 5g will be backed in 2017 and the government has also set a target

that the majority of the population being covered by a 5g signal by 2027. in a statement, they committed to securing national coverage of gigabyte capable by 2025. these targets have to be met for the uk is already way to behind in terms of its digital infrastructure and we need to act fast. in september 2019, 10%, 3 million premises in the uk, had 10%, 3 million premises in the uk, ha d a ccess 10%, 3 million premises in the uk, had access to full fibre. in france, 38% of households have access. in spain, 77%. in portugal, 70%. this is simply not good enough and has led all our constituents and businesses down and the government has to do more. moving forward, i would be grateful for the has to do more. moving forward, i would be gratefulfor the foreign secretary to answer the following points. given the expression by our

partners, if it is to be deemed a high—risk vendor, candy foreign secretary make clear again and be transparent as he can as to how that decision will not bring about risk from munication channels that are used for sharing. can the foreign secretary explain how the controls will work for high—risk offenders being deployed? how durable is the barrier between core and periphery in the 5g network? how will that be overseen? he mentioned the huawei cyber security evacuation centre oversight board what more detail as to how that will work with the appreciated. the intelligence and security committee injuly last appreciated. the intelligence and security committee in july last year set out that the government must assume all worst—case scenarios and protect the network accordingly. can you foreign secretary confirm that such contingency planning has taken

place. can he also confirm when the world leading regulations he has talked about will be brought before the house of commons. the public deserve a durable, secure and reliable 5g network for the future to ensure our economy moves forward. the government is a small step in a very long process but they can be sure we will hold them to account on the delivery of a secure world—class service for all our constituents. i think he is right to raise this list. we look to this carefully. he did express concern about the late but i think it was absolutely right on such a sensitive decision —— did express concern about the delay, but i think it was right to take the time to get it right. he called on

his remarks for objective and rigorous analysis, that has what has gone into this decision through the telecoms supply chain review, through the analysis of a national cyber security centre and through the other work that has been done, including the huawei cyber security centre oversight board. as a result of this, we have a greater level of insight into the challenges and the opportunity relating to 5g than any jurisdiction in the world and especially the challenges in relation to... yes about intelligence considerations and he referred to those in his remarks, gchq have confirmed categorically that how we construct our 5g and full fibre public telecoms networks has nothing to do with how we will share classified data. intelligence sharing will not be put at risk, will never be put at risk by this government, and it is worth saying does never have or will be in a

sensitive networks. he will have heard the public remarks of the head of mi5 heard the public remarks of the head of m15 he said he has no reason to think that the uk's intelligence sharing relationship with the os will be impacted and the five eyes intelligence relationship was the strongest they have ever seen —— with the us. he asked a range of other questions. the reality is, the decision we are taking today allows us decision we are taking today allows us to build on what will be the toughest regime, one of the toughest regimes, in the world, protecting and providing the right balance on protection of our 5g infrastructure. asi protection of our 5g infrastructure. as i set out in the statement, the government recognises the imperative to diversify the supply, and that will involve uk operators making sure my challenges can come onto the marketplace. it could involve... something we want to look at is the international co—operation with

other like—minded and close partners, in order that we avoid ever having that shortfall of competition and diversity of supply in this country in the future. the honourable gentleman referred to the ambitious delivery of the 5g network and full fibre broadband. that is precisely why, first of all, we have to ta ke precisely why, first of all, we have to take the rigorous analysis and ta ke to take the rigorous analysis and take the time to get the decision right and secondly why it is so important to take the right decision which is what this government is doing today. finally he asked about enforcement, the initial approach will be through guidance but we are committed to bringing forward legislation as soon as possible. we will make sure we have got the robust enforcement to go with the rigorous regime i set out.” robust enforcement to go with the rigorous regime i set out. i commend the government for taking the decision which protects our national security but also recognises the interests of our economy, that is right for the uk because it recognises the construction of our

networks and capabilities and gives us networks and capabilities and gives us the toughest regime in the world. my us the toughest regime in the world. my right honourable friend has already referenced the fact that we never have had or will have high—risk offenders in a most sensitive networks and this decision has no effect on our ability to share intelligence with our allies —— benders. he also scratch —— vendors. will he agree it is essential all the partners are willing to work with us and other like—minded countries to ensure the very market diversification that is in all of our interests in the long term? can i thank my right honourable friend and pay tribute to the assiduous and rigorous work that was done under her leadership and under her government which has made possible the decision that we are able to make today. i can confirm in

her words there will be no impact on intelligence not only do we seek to work with the five eyes on intelligence and want to strengthen that relationship, as we depart from the eu, but also in relation with dealing with shortfall and they need to improve diversity of supplies in the telecom network, cooperation to expand in the area too. the conservative party likes to brand itself as the party of security but many will think that this decision is borne out of weakness. it has come about as a result of short—term is and decades of underinvestment. the prime minister has gone for the cheapest, least secure option but it doesn't take a genius to work out why huawei is so competitive in cost. it is the tiniest communist party branded as a company and the conservative government has chosen

low cost of a security —— chinese communist party. 5g has been described as a central nervous system of a modern society and every citizen wants to know whether this state can be undermined by the decision this government has made, but let us be no doubt, 5g infrastructure from china is not safe. under chinese law, every chinese company is mandated to give ever help it is asked to give to the chinese intelligence services and in secret. that alone should have been enough for the prime minister to decide against allowing this company access. the secretary of state has said the company is to be limited to 35% market share in the periphery of the sg 35% market share in the periphery of the 5g network will be banned from co re the 5g network will be banned from core functions. anyone who understands 5g will know that is not how it works. installing masks may seem how it works. installing masks may seem innocuous but each antenna has

softwa re seem innocuous but each antenna has software which is remotely updatable and a so—called peripheral access network can communicate, it can contain malware which is tiny and ha rd to contain malware which is tiny and hard to detect. there is a very good reason why countries such as australia and new zealand have chosen not to let the company into bear market. i suspect history would judge that their governments show more wisdom at a critical time. the government here has also made a choice. low cost versus security, it is the wrong choice and surely he must realise that future generations may come tojudge must realise that future generations may come to judge his decision harshly. well, i think the honourable gentleman for his statements. he questioned the rigour of the decision but as i set out in my statement, this follows her death andi my statement, this follows her death and i think in fairness to the honourable gentleman opposite, what

has been a extended assessment through the supply chain review and the analysis on the security side by the analysis on the security side by the national cyber security centre. iam afraid the national cyber security centre. i am afraid he is at odds with all of that analysis, including those provided by the intelligence agencies into the government. he mentions some countries that have taken a different decision, as far asiam taken a different decision, as far as i am aware new zealand has not taken the decision he has described soiam taken the decision he has described so i am afraid he is wrong on that account. if he is calling for an outright ban than he should say so. he should also address square on that that would, and the analysis we received, not be an effective way any targeted, forensically, of addressing the security concerns, rightly identified by the review we have conducted. it would not remove chinese production from uk telecom supply, chinese production from uk telecom supply, it would reduce competition, which he alluded to earlier, is part

of the problem. that would make it worse. it was significantly increased the cost for industry and will delay the roll—out of the 5g. i think on all counts, i am afraid, i have to respectfully say i think he has got his analysis wrong. does the government accept something i had difficulty getting it's predecessor to accept, that huawei should not be regarded as a private company because it is intimately linked with the chinese communist state and it is deeply hostile intelligence agencies, and if it does accept that, is it confident that the safeguards that would be put in place will be sufficient to guide us against a deeply hostile intelligence agency such as he implied in his own statement, we needed to in relation to russia.”

think, as i set out in my statement, we have been very clear the relationship in a very private business and in any government or state is something which has been at the very centre of the analysis we have conducted in which the national cyber security centre has conducted and that based on the dissension between the centre and the core, and the periphery and edge and the restrictions that can be made on access but the 35% cap on accessing the periphery, i am confident we can provide him as scratch at precisely the reassurance he has asked for. as a member of the ise in the last parliament can i say there's nothing i have seen which means this will compromise ourfive i have seen which means this will compromise our five eyes relationship or the potential risk

in terms of including huawei in the sg in terms of including huawei in the 5g network cannot be mitigated. the foreign secretary refers to market failure, this is not market failure, the chinese government have contain liberal policy to dominate this market by billions of pounds of investment and the acquisition of related activities. pity foreign secretary outline —— at the foreign secretary outline —— at the foreign secretary outline —— at the foreign secretary outline how much the government is proposing to put into the sector and whether there be a ban on chinese companies acquiring uk companies that are developing technology in the sector? the eye making sure that we produce legislation as soon as possible which will be able to deal with the various enforcement mechanisms and requirements he is referring to. the critical question for us and he referred to chinese mac and the chinese investment, the critical question is what we do. we are

taking the measures now in relation to guidance and are soon as is practical in relation to the legislation. there is a medium—term piece of work that we need to look at the health of the telecoms market and make sure, both in terms of domestic measures we take, but also the international partnerships that we nurture, that we do not see ourselves, find ourselves, in that situation again with any other critical piece of telecoms, let alone wider national infrastructure. i will answer his question to the scottish nationalist spokesman and say yes, i do think huawei should be banned from our networks. it was founded by a member of the pla, even if that was not an arm of the chinese government, the 2017 law requires it takes instruction from the chinese intelligence agency. in the chinese intelligence agency. in the future the size and complexity of problem we are trying to protect against is enormous. even huawei alone, forget the rest of china, has

tens of thousands of researchers working on this. i am afraid the only way to protect their safety is to ban them. i welcome my right honourable friend's scrutiny as ever. i am afraid i disagree, first of all, because i do not believe in critically the analysis and range of analysis that we have had leading into this decision does not back up, the suggestion that an outright ban would even be a targeted way of dealing with the legitimate security concerns across this house that we share and want to address. no, in fairness, has the right honourable gentleman or anyone else who has called for an outright ban addressed the wider cost delays and impact that it would have, both on the telecom sector and the roll—out of sg. telecom sector and the roll—out of 5g. this statement is a mess but it is perhaps an inevitable mess given the government's lack of investment

in our infrastructure, strategic engineering capability and the short—term hands of cost on approach to our digitalfuture. short—term hands of cost on approach to our digital future. every generation of telecoms technology has a platform for the next, will he guarantee specifically that every huawei box will meet standards so it can be swapped out for another vendor when one comes along and watch specifically, not generalisations, is he doing to enable a british—based manufacture of telecoms equipment so we are not disposition again? on enforcement side, the first thing the government will come up with is guidance and requirements for the industry which they will want to comply with. that will be followed swiftly with legislation to make sure we have got legally binding thorough consistent and rigorous enforcement of all the different requirements that are

made. she is right to talk about my bradley about building up, notjust defending against high risk vendors but building up a wider and more diverse supply of uk operators. that requires physical measures, international corporations with their partners and range of other revelatory considerations. they will all be i understand the distractions but would he agree that excluding high—risk vendors from any provision is one way he can encourage companies and states that do not operate under international law and business standards. that is why the decision is regrettable and witty agree this country must never find itself in this position again.

honourable friend. i agree with the second part of her point and i lay down what she might be doing in order to combat that. i don't know if that would address, and a targeted way, the legitimate security concerns that people have around high—risk offenders. it would bea around high—risk offenders. it would be a very blunt tool for addressing a very specific problem. you'll like the government makes a distinction between the core and periphery but many people have made the point that has the continues to integrate, that will disappear. what we assurances can you provide on that? the periphery and includes radio masts that are mu used for emergency services, search distress signals and by other organisations. what assurances can be provided oh those two points? the core of the network is the nerve centre for

international adjudications for the network. it is the most sensitive of functions. they relate to things like protecting sensitive data and thatis like protecting sensitive data and that is how we identify the specific requirements needed to protect them. there are the infrastructure, the connecting devices and transport and transmission network so that there isa transmission network so that there is a clear distinction. your right is a clear distinction. your right isa is a clear distinction. your right is a technology is fluid over time. you're very clear on the functions that you identified in the way we will protect them. can i say i am deeply disappointed that this decision now? i have spoken at length in the past four security officials and they will always tell you that defending any cyber security is a game of catch up. always catch up against an x algorithm change. we can never guarantee that you spot it sometimes until too late. the reality of the sg until too late. the reality of the 5g network is that it is fundamentally different. there will be less and less centralised function and more and more goes to

the periphery which is exactly where huawei will be. i asked my honourable friend, given that he didn't mention china because of his statement as being a threat to us in cybersecurity russia, does he now believe it is a threat to us and will guarantee that, as he takes on those threats to us, does he think he will now drive huawei out of our future systems progressively as quickly as he can? i thank my honourable friend. i think the government and the various state m e nts government and the various statements that have been made in relation to the security risk have consistently caught out china for that might call out china for cyber attacks and other nefarious ways in which they risk... i'm doing it now so hopefully my honourable friend will be reassured. we are squarely focused on that. in relation to 5g, it is important to assess in a specific and targeted way, nature of the risk of nature we have the tools to deal with that risk, and as i

said my answer earlier, the risk of an outright ban is a very blunt tool to deal with a very specific problem but he is right to say we need to be vying for the technology develops in the future. right back in the discussions with the united states over the huawei decision, that the united states administration make any linkage between our decision on this issue and the potential future trade deal between the united kingdom and the united states?” never had any conversation about that linkage has been made nor am i aware of one. i welcome the statement which bounces the advanced —— balances the advantages of world —class —— balances the advantages of world—class telecoms technology with the need to manage complex challenges from high—risk offenders andi challenges from high—risk offenders and i think the government's a cce pta nce and i think the government's acceptance of the restrictions and regulations proposed by the national cyber security centre should give us all confidence. does my honourable friend agree that, contrary to what

some media reporting, rather than setting us on a collision course with the us, in fact the uk will be working very closely with the us and other partners to develop all technologies over the next few years. ? is technologies over the next few years.? is right technologies over the next few years. ? is right about the challenges we face that there is also an opportunity specifically, not limited to, but specifically for five eyes partners to look at this and the challenges that we face in the future, not just and the challenges that we face in the future, notjust now, work together collaboratively with business but also within government to make sure that we never find ourselves in this position again?m was probably inevitable given the government public desire to rule out sg government public desire to rule out 5g and broadband across the uk that the decision would be made but the minister has given assurances today that he is going to try to make sure that he is going to try to make sure that in the future we are not as determinant that my dependent on foreign technology. the three areas

open to first of all to reduce barriers to entry. does he create greater barriers to entry? will it have a greater grip on the market? we will have a cognitive scale in the market. will keep competitors away from the market? if you looked at the range of restrictions from exclusion at the call through to the 35% cap at the periphery and also the specific locations from which they will not be allowed access, not only have we done the right thing and struck the right balance in terms of the diversity of the market but also to protect and provide the resilience for the telecoms infrastructure. notwithstanding the fa ct infrastructure. notwithstanding the fact that all of our iphones are manufactured in china by a company associated with huawei, can i ask my honourable friend, there are already four five g networks under

construction in the united kingdom. what action has taken regarding these existing networks? also will these existing networks? also will the data being transferred and where is it being transferred to be secure in the future? finally, will the resilience of our five g networks be maintained? what mackie makes a good point not just about maintained? what mackie makes a good point notjust about new entrants to the market but those with existing sta kes the market but those with existing stakes in infrastructure, new guidance will apply to all of them, the legislation will apply to all of them. there will be transitional arrangements to make sure those already in the marketplace will make sure we have the security we need. dominic raab outlining the decision to let huawei continue to be used in its 56 to let huawei continue to be used in its 5g networks but with

restrictions despite pressure from the united states to block the firm. let's talk to our chief political correspondent vicki young. quite a lot of unhappiness on the conservative benches about this decision despite the reassurances from dominic raab saying that ultimately the government does want to encourage other vendors into the system about and the meantime they will restrict the access huawei will have, this has not pleased everyone including david davis who is with me now. why are you not reassured by what dominic raab says? he says huawei will not be involved in the sensitive parts of the network. says who? first off huawei are founded by in member ex member of the pla, the outbound bylaws telling them to take orders from intelligence agencies, the chinese politburo said they want to dominate the cyber markets of the

world and therefore drive out other players, ericsson and nokia so that is the first problem, you are facing an aggressive player who wants to get inside our network. they have never been found to do anything wrong in this country and they have been here for a long time. nothing proven but bt wrote last year to remove huawei from the networks because they were not sure the information was going. of course thatis information was going. of course that is no proof but this is international espionage, you will very rarely get proof and you cannot exclude them. we are talking about true networks, there is no centre to a true network. we can probably keep them out of the mod and gchq but there are rogue aunties but we can probably keep them out and bed in mind huawei has tens of thousands of researchers, more than we have soldiers let alone gchq analysts so

it isa soldiers let alone gchq analysts so it is a huge operation and a very complex exercise to stop them and they are specialists, they spend their entire time the chinese government spying on their own population, not just government spying on their own population, notjust sophisticated things about what you go online and look at. i first security services are saying to ministers rethink we can make sure they will not do this, you would be reassured by that? all the stories in the last couple of days have been that the home secretary and defence secretary have been antagonistic to this, what that tells me is the advice they are getting is antagonistic to it and previously in public head of m16 has complained about letting huawei anywhere near it and we also know and the past the west, america and us and the past the west, america and us have broken through to stop

iranian nuclear centrifuges with no access to the systems using technology. if they can do that what on earth can be expected chinese to be able to do if they choose to fa a inside the system? what is the a nswer inside the system? what is the answer given that huawei are already pretty much embedded here, are you suggesting we should be stripped out of 4g and put back the development of 4g and put back the development of this technology? yes, i would ta ke of this technology? yes, i would take them out but we are talking about 5g and they were not put them into that at all. nokia and ericsson are both very good, with kept out of this by the fact the chinese are massively subsidising their beds for this, around 40% discount, aug cut rate dealfor 5g this, around 40% discount, aug cut rate deal for 5g supply so it is no surprise they tickets i would exclude them and in the longer run i would remove them. i think it was a

great mistake to what the men in the first place. to put it in silly terms, in 1937 at the germans made good somebody‘s but we did not buy them. in 1977 the russians made good radar but we did not buy that for a very good radar but we did not buy that for a very good reason, radar but we did not buy that for a very good reason, they are strategic assets. this is a central strategic assets. this is a central strategic asset to the uk. thank you. penny the former defence also suggesting her concerns, all eyes on the united states and what direction would be from president trump who has urged the uk not to make this decision. mike butcher is the editor—at—large of technology website, techcrunch and joins me now... a lot of concern still from conservatives as well, do you share their lack of trust and huawei? the switch from 4g which a lot of us are

familiar with to 5g which is not just one a better, it is a totally different technology and it is all about next generation of technology that we will be using day—to—day, running things like autonomous cars, drones, manufacturing so it is a very big step and what you are seeing their is the concerns of politicians around the idea of taking our national infrastructure into this brand—new world and having a potentially bad actor involved in that. why should i be worried for chinese arab zest about what is in my fridge on my journeys chinese arab zest about what is in my fridge on myjourneys to work? and we overreact in? we became familiar with french and german countries running our trains and what about the do not own particles

into our bodies. the issue is with telecom occasions at is everywhere, controlling everything and this is very fundamental to how we live our lives today. the other thing is although they did point out during that debate that the biggest cyber attacks have been from russia in recent times, the chinese do not really do that, they are much more interested in industrial s panache, spying and stealing secrets and this is the research that british universities and innovators slave over and this is the future of our country. what is it they can find out? cathy chinese state ring huawei and ask for that information, what sort of stuff on the find out about you or me or anybody? you can find

out about anything, someone's vocation, their habits their movements, profile them and that becomes a very problematic for critical assets the uk has such as intelligence agents, defence forces. if it is in the civilian networks which are often used by military networks now and again then that is a huge national issue. dominic raab singh they will seek to attract new vendors but where are they? are they anywhere near huawei ? vendors but where are they? are they anywhere near huawei? they have been subsidised by the chinese government to $20 billion a year on research and development of this new technology 5g. the closest ericsson can get is about 4 billion, it is

very cost intensive in terms of developing technology, not to say that nokia, ericsson, samsung cannot compete, they are already installing sg compete, they are already installing 5g and the us and other european countries not using huawei technology or kit. there are alternatives. it has come down to some extent i believe a political decision, it is cheaper and faster and gets it out of the way and the government can move on. it is a critical national issue. how will historyjudge today on this decision? i believe it is a little bit like the trojan horse story, once the trojan horse is inside the city gates and the gates are shut, you cannot of the horse. once this huawei kit is on the edge of the network even if it is up to 35%, onceit network even if it is up to 35%, once it is installed and

transmission stations around the country, breaking those contracts will be extremely difficult and it is going to be a very long product process to try and stop that from happening. the belief in government clearly as security agencies are on top of this, gchq leader, any perceived threat we can deal with. do you share that optimism? gchq and the national cybersecurity centre have said they do not want any of this huawei kit anywhere near nuclear weapons sites, power stations, military bases but the government appears to be quite happy for it to be sitting next to your house. how do you feel about that? thank you. the coronavirus has now killed more than 100 people in china — and officials have confirmed cases around the world — including today the first in germany. the foreign office says it's working

on plans to bring home uk citizens home from hubei province, the heart of the outbreak. caroline hawley has the latest. battling the virus with disinfectant. at bangkok airport today, all flights returning from china were being liberally sprayed. thailand will screen everyone arriving back for symptoms of the disease. coronavirus has now spread to 16 countries and the world is stepping up its response. in hong kong, the railway station was practically deserted. the authorities have announced that from thursday, ferries, as well as high—speed trains that cross the border, will be suspended. the hong kong leader, carrie lam, making a point to protect herself, urged citizens to return from the mainland as soon as possible and quarantine themselves at home for a fortnight. in germany, at this firm that sells car parts, a 33—year—old man has been infected by a woman from china who'd come to bavaria on a training course. it's the first known case

of the virus being caught in europe. wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, is now effectively on lockdown. there are severe restrictions on people entering and leaving the city. in countries around the world, they are working on plans to evacuate their citizens. japan has chartered a special plane to bring its people home today. there are thought to be around 300 british nationals in the province. they are being urged to contact the consulate so that arrangements can be made for their return. but some are critical of the uk government's response. i think they need to get a little faster in working something out. i mean, i believe it's not easy to do, i know the chinese government is very hard to work with on this, because they are locking down everything. but i think if the us can manage to do it then i think the british government should at least be able to do the same thing for the people out here. in beijing, the head of the world health organization met the chinese president, who has described the virus as a devil, but one, he said, he was confident china could defeat.

he promised increased international cooperation to fight it. coronavirus has now silenced a city, killed more than 100 people and, with modern travel, caused alarm right around the world. thousands of miles away from wuhan, governments are scrambling to try to contain it. caroline hawley, bbc news. in a moment ben is going to bring us the latest business news.first a look at the headlines on afternoon live the government decides to allow the chinese telecoms company, huawei, to have a limited role in the development of the uk's 5g mobile network. the government says it will "carefully consider" a report calling for a cut to the salary threshold for skilled workers coming to the uk to just over 25 and a half thousand pounds a year. broadcaster and host of radio 4'sjust a minute, nicholas parsons has died aged 96 after a short illness. here's your business

headlines on afternoon live the uk's financial regulator has asked banks to explain how they set their new overdraft rates. the financial conduct authority is suspicious that most high street banks have set "very similar prices", after it demanded changes to the system. several big brands including santander, lloyds banking group and hsbc are set to bring in a 39.9% rate this year. historic railway lines closed more than 50 years ago under the so—called beeching cuts could be restored under new plans. transport secretary grant shapps says a new fund will investigate the viability of reviving the lines. the rmt union has dismissed the pledge as "pr spin way out of control". sainsbury‘s has promised to reduce its net carbon emissions to zero over the next 20 years. the supermarket chain — the second largest in the uk — says it will spend £1bn to reach the target. it's pledged to reduce emissions from areas like refrigeration and transport.

a smart doorbell — designed to keep an eye on who's calling at your house — could actually be snooping on you. this is amazon's ring doorbell — it's got a camera, motion sensor, microphone, speaker and other sensors, all integrated with an app. the idea is that it lets you see what's going on at your front door in real—time and communicate with visitors no matter where in the world you are. this is it in action, you can keep andi this is it in action, you can keep and i who was at the front door. according to digital rights campaign group, the eff (electronic frontier foundation) the ring doorbell app is sending data to four major marketing companies. they are not suggesting it is credit ca rd they are not suggesting it is credit card data are personal information. they say the data includes full names, ip addresses and sensor data from the doorbells.

we spoke to the new york stock exchange said it was nothing particular to worry about but some of the state is been sent to marketing companies. it is digital data, things that show people online for the information given to these third parties is not super—sensitive in and of itself but anyone who is looking to do something nefarious with this information, if you collect that and combine it with information available elsewhere you can really get a pretty clear online digital picture of what people are doing on the internet. these particular devices got publicity during the holiday period, people sharing videos of packages being delivered and these packages being stolen by people are trying to take them so a lot of people that use them and have found them useful but it is clear that there

are privacy concerns. let's talk about railways, some of the beeching cats are being reversed. maybe. a £500 million fund is not enough to get these railways up is not enough to get these railways up and running but could be enough to work and which are viable and which would be of most benefit so they are looking provisionally at where might want. if you look back at the catch, 50,000 miles of track, 2000 stations closed, but left many little commuters cut off to the palace to see which of those lines could be put back into use. labour say it is meaningless money, enough to open 25 miles of railway and the

rmt union saying it is a drop in the ocean. a little early spoke to robert nisbet who said it is not about throwing good money after bad by working out whether you can get a good return on the line by putting it back in service. you have to look at the business case but we consider rail travel to be the greenest form of getting people around the country to be would support any initiative that even looks at the possibility of reversing some of these cuts. the train is gone. you have missed it.

it was delayed. we are trying to get these lines back—up and service, it is about working which would be most useful and viable back in service and find out whether people would use them. we know some of the newly popular lines are being used but it is expensive for an used enough, the tick taxpayer subsidies a theatre quite. that's all the business news. now it's time for a look at the weather with louise lear hello. plenty of showers across the uk today, for many, that's meant rain, for some scenes like these and certainly this little chap looks like he's been having a great time in argyle and bute. not such good news, though, for those trying to travel across scotland, potentially with more snowfall to come this evening. showers further south across england and wales, i think will ease off through the evening as this little

ridge of high pressure tries to build in scotland, though, in particular the southwest highlands. the showers could mean another five to ten centimeters of snow across the highest ground. certainly not great conditions through the central belt for the evening commute. and a pretty windy story still across the border, though, the wind will ease a little overnight. ice a possibilityjust about anywhere, but particularly, of course, where we keep any showers going through the course of the night. and then for first thing wednesday, a lot of sunshine for england and wales thanks to the high pressure further north. still some showers affecting scotland by lunchtime, though, more general cloud coming into the west as a weather front starts to approach. it will bring some persistent rain to the north of northern ireland and then into scotland and parts of northern england. still some snow across the higher ground to the north, but generally milder air coming into the south of that weather front so up to ten degrees in london. milder for aberdeen at seven degrees. here's that warm weather front and that milder air makes its way right the way across the uk by the time we get to thursday. just a question mark about what this is doing down here to the south. this little system could just clip southern britain.

so there's a possibility of some heavier, more persistent rain for southernmost counties on thursday. could be some gusty winds as well. but there is also the chance that it willjust drift off across the channel in to the north of france. further north unfortunately, more of a certainty, i think, of further showers and perhaps more persistent rain for scotland and parts of northern ireland. but mild temperatures of 11 and 12 degrees. friday offers up another mild day across the uk too, some cloud around but quite a bit of fine weather. but again, for scotland, it does look like we'll see a weather system pushing in some heavy and persistent rain that will also work its way into the northwest of england. scotland and northern ireland potentially a little drier on saturday, but the temperatures come down somewhat, increasingly mild in the south, up to 14 in london by sunday.

revelatory considerations. they will all be

hello, you're watching afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. today at four: doing it our way... the uk decides to let huawei continue to be used in its 5g networks but with restrictions. the foreign secretary says it won't affect the government's ability to share highly sensitive intelligence data with other countries. we would never take decisions that threaten our national security or the security of our five eyes partners. the decision comes despite pressure from the us and some conservative mps. washington says its disappointed. washington says it's disappointed. the salary threshold for skilled migrants coming to britain should be lowered to just over 25,500 pounds a year — says a government commissioned report. nicholas parsons, who chaired radio 4'sjust a minute for more than 50 years,

has died at the age of 96. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport with chetan. israel folau makes a shock return to by israel folau makes a shock return to rugby league eight months after being sacked by rugby australia for homophobic comments he made on social media. thanks chetan, and we'll be joining you for a full update just after half—past. susan has all the weather. there is a threat of ice overnight tonight, and tomorrow something milder. let's try to keep up with what's going on in the uk weather in half an hour. thanks, susan. also coming up — we'll be in salford where a government fund is being proposed to help restore historic railway lines closed more than 50 years ago. that's in news nationwide, just after 4:30pm. hello, everyone.

this is afternoon live — i'm simon mccoy. the foreign secretary has defended the government's decision to continue to allow huawei to play a limited role in the uk's 5g network. the united states says it's disappointed by the move, which it believes will allow china to use the tech firm for spying. 5g will make mobile internet connections across the uk faster and allow more devices access at the same time. so what has the government agreed to? due to concerns about security huawei will be excluded from all sensitive parts of the network. and in all other areas, they will be limited to providing just over a third of the network infrastructure. speaking in the commons in the past hour, dominic raab has insisted the decision will not affect the government's ability to share highly sensitive intelligence data with allies. and he said that after such a lengthy review of huawei, the uk now knows more about the risks posed by the company than any other country in the world. we would never take decisions that

threaten our national security or the security of our five eyes partners. as a result, the technical and security analysis undertaken by gchq's national cyber security centre is central to the conclusions of the review. thanks to their analysis, we have the most detailed study of what is needed to protect sg study of what is needed to protect 5g anywhere in the world, and it's also because of the work of the huawei cyber security evaluation centre oversight board, established by the ncsc that we know more about huawei and the risks it poses than any other country in the world. he also announced that the government will aim to support new companies to develop the 5g technology, stating this situation should never arise again... the government is developing an ambitious strategy to help diversify the supply chain which will entail the supply chain which will entail the deployment of all the tools at the deployment of all the tools at the government is disposal including funding. we will do three things

simultaneously. we will seek to attract established vendors who are not present in the uk to our country, we will support the emergence of new disruptive entrance to the supply chain, and we will promote the adoption of open interoperable standards that will reduce barriers to entry. the uk's operators are leading the world in the adoption of new, innovative approaches to expand the supply chain and the government will work with industry to seize these opportunities. we will also partner with like—minded countries to die —— diversify the telecoms market because it is essential that we are never again in because it is essential that we are neveragain ina because it is essential that we are never again in a position of having such limited choices when deploying such limited choices when deploying such important new technologies. shadow minister nick thomas—symonds replied to the foreign secretary saying the need for "guarantees about safety and security" is crucial if huawei is to be involved in the uk's 5g system. i'm pleased the government has finally set out the conclusions of

the telecom supply chain review in relation to offenders after far too long a period of dither and delay. as the intelligence and security committee made clear injuly last year, this debate has been unnecessarily protracted and damaging. the decision was required urgently so everyone concerned could move forward. our telecoms sector, business and households need that clarity and certainty to move forward. leaks, room and confusion on this simply cannot continue. our chief political correspondent vicki young is in westminster. dominic raab keen to insist there was no threat to the network and wa nted was no threat to the network and wanted to encourage other companies over time to replace huawei but it hasn't reassured many in the house of commons, including iain duncan smith, the former conservative leader. why are you still concern despite those reassurances? because

in 2003 the wrong decision was made to allow huawei subsidised to make their prices cheaper and in part of their prices cheaper and in part of the chinese government's repression regime in china to be in the 4g system, that was the mistake we made. now another chance, all the other allies we have in intelligence, the five eyes, new zealand, australia, canada, america, all say they won't do the same. therefore i think we should have drawn breath and said we need to ta ke drawn breath and said we need to take the opportunity to take the chinese out of our system. after all they are in cyber warfare with us on a daily basis, so why would we hand it toa a daily basis, so why would we hand it to a chinese company? why do you think the government has done it? is it purely the cost because they are cheaper than rivals and also rivals are not cheaper than rivals and also rivals a re not really cheaper than rivals and also rivals are not really there yet, are they? i have some sympathy with the government because of course the decision was made in 2003, therefore

huawei is embedded in 4g decision was made in 2003, therefore huawei is embedded in 46 right now so huawei is embedded in 46 right now so building from that you would have to take them out. i recognise that. i don't expect it to be done overnight but i'm asking that we have a programme to pull them out and replace them with other companies that provide a similar technology as good, and there are many companies that do that. if we do that we will restore balance and security, but i didn't get that reassurance from the government today. in fact they didn't even mention china at one point as a threat so it's important we seek that reassurance that they will look to get huawei out of the system even as they give them this contract which i was against. what do you think the impact might be on diplomatic relations with the united states and america? they made it clear they didn't want the uk to make this decision. i think the overall importance of the american british alliance and the five eyes alliance will mean they will figure out a way around this and try to work with the uk. there is no point

in having a diplomatic war over this, none whatsoever. it is in the british interest to remove the chinese influence from within the system, and also against potential threat to them in intelligence terms. i do think we need now to plan seriously to get huawei out. they are a threat, i believe, as with other threatening organisations, and we need to take them out. there needs to be a plan ata time them out. there needs to be a plan at a time scale to have a point when the 56 system will be without huawei. iain duncan smith, thank you, and that view was shared by many in the house of commons today. other mps very worried about the impact it will have on our relations with the americans. gary o'donoghue joins me now from washington. they said they are disappointed, one suspects they are feeling stronger than that. i think they will be

furious, quite frankly. there has been a lot of very public pressure, particularly in the last week with people like mike pompeo, the secretary of state, the treasury secretary of state, the treasury secretary and the president all coming out publicly and in a sense briton flying in the face of that kind of pressure is a bit of a rebuke, a slap in the face for the americans. i think there will be a reaction. we will see what the president says later today. bear in mind there are two key potential consequences. one is this threat the intelligence sharing will be compromised, but also the question ofa compromised, but also the question of a trade deal, a post brexit trade deal. it is a huge factor in all of this, and the americans will not ta ke this, and the americans will not take kindly to giving good terms to the uk if they ignore them on this one. so i think there will be a lot of annoyance here. i have been on

calls, background briefing calls the white house has done in the past on 56 white house has done in the past on 5g and they are absolutely adamant about huawei, they really are. they think the various laws in china mean that huawei have to hand over all sorts of secrets. 5g is a transformational technology and they believe it is notjust a question of eavesdropping, but you can with 5g turn devices into other things. theirfunction turn devices into other things. their function can be changed at the flick of a switch almost, and it is that kind of existential threat they believe that a foreign power having access to your networks is the threat they see. they don't believe, the british government or m15 or gchq, who say actually the risks we can cope with and by restricting their access to the uk network they are avoiding those very problems.

yes, that has been the debate. they haven't really seen eye to eye on this ever since the debate started. the americans have banned huawei from all parts of the network. even people like the pentagon are preventing soldiers from using huawei and zte phones on military bases, not allowing them to buy cell phones, so you can see there is a gulf of difference in the approach here. the difficulty of course is that the americans don't really have an answer when you ask them the question, well who is going to build this infrastructure because there aren't many countries in the world with the capacity and the know—how to do it. huawei have been doing it for a long time and they do it pretty well. gary, thank you very much. the government's immigration advisers have urged ministers to reduce the minimum salary level which is proposed for skilled migrants as part of a new system after brexit.

currently, skilled migrants must have a job offer with a minimum annual salary of £30,000. but the report says that figure should be reduced by more than £4,000 to help recruit teachers and nhs staff. more details from our home affairs correspondent dominic casciani. in an era of mass migration, foreign workers are now everywhere in the uk, from schools to hospitals, restaurants and building sites. workers from across the eu and the rest of the world, filling gaps in the labour force. but major change is coming thanks to brexit, and the end to eu freedom of movement. ministers promising a new points—based system favouring skilled workers for the sectors most in need. the construction sector alone is short of more than 40,000 skilled builders. citb's research on migration shows the construction industry is heavily reliant on a workforce who were not born in the uk. the government has got huge ambitions for home—building, for infrastructure, and we need every engineer, every bricklayer, every carpenter we can get our hands

on, and that includes those who come in as migrants. the independent migration advisory committee says there is a way for ministers to make the most of the post—brexit world. the salary threshold for skilled workers to come to the uk is £30,000. it says 25,600 should be the new minimum salary. it predicts that would favour skilled workers like teachers and nhs staff. the government's top advisers say eu migration has been heavily concentrated in low skilled jobs, that's something that would fall under these proposals. some sectors would lose out, such as hospitality, and agriculture. just one of the difficult trade—offs in devising a new post—brexit system. any changes to who is allowed and not allowed to come to the uk is inevitably going to be to the advantage of some sectors and some areas, but to the disadvantage of others. and there's no way to come up with a system that pleases absolutely everyone.

business leaders hope for more flexibility for medium and low—skilled workers, but critics say the recommendations won't control the numbers or protect british workers. a significant loosening of the current to2, the main route for work immigration to the uk from around the world. that would have the impact if the salary threshold is reduced to £25,000 a year and the skills threshold is diluted, as has been suggested of exposing over 7 million uk jobs to new or increased global competition. the report won't satisfy others either. the scottish government wants to set its own criteria to attract skilled migrants, now rejected by the report. the committee also warns it can't solve a uk crisis in social care, wages too low to attract workers

from home or abroad. dominic casciani, bbc news. you're watching afternoon live, these are our headlines: the government decides to allow the chinese telecoms company, huawei, to have a limited role in the development of the uk's 5g mobile network. the government says it will "carefully consider" a report calling for a cut to the salary threshold for skilled workers coming to the uk to just over 25 and a half thousand pounds a year. broadcaster and host of radio 4'sjust a minute, nicholas parsons has died aged 96 after a short illness. and in sport, israel folau makes a shock return to rugby league eight months after being sacked by rugby australia after making homophobic comments on social media. roger federer saves a seven match points against the american, there he is happy man. he sets up a meeting now with novak djokovic in the semifinals of the australia

open. and inter milan have completed the signing of christian eriksen from totte n ha m signing of christian eriksen from tottenham for a fee of £17 million. i will be back with more on those stories at 4:30pm. nicholas parsons, the host of radio 4's comedy panel showjust a minute, has died at the age of 96. he chaired the show for more than 50 years. one of its regular panellists, gyles brandreth, described him as a ‘consummate professional‘ who never stopped working. our media correspondent david sillito looks back at a long life and career: welcome tojust a minute. he was the chairman ofjust a minute on radio 4 for more than 50 years. and now, from norwich... and he was the quizmaster on sale of the century for 12 years. hello, and welcome to the sale of the century. it's the quiz of the week... i‘m proud of the fact that i helped create a huge success. you don‘t buck success. i‘m proud of that fact. but i don‘t want to be remembered just for sale of the century.

i want to see your passport, please. indeed, there was a lot more to nicholas parsons. what is the purpose of your visit to england? he‘d appeared in more than 20 films. i have come to find a husband. and in the ‘60s he‘d become a household name as the straight man to the comedian arthur haynes. laughter. i'm sorry, vicar, i thought it was those carol singers. merry christmas. he‘d turned to acting after training as an engineer in a clyde shipyard. one early role was the voice of a puppet cowboy. now get out of town and don‘t you ever come back. now, do you think you could try and keep quiet? on camera, he was a master of smooth—talking charm. a mask for his struggles growing up with dyslexia and a pronounced stammer. and then, in 1967, he was made presenter ofjust a minute. he‘d wanted to be a panellist but the producers knew his skill. the good—natured straight man enduring a daily comic assault.

as a straight man you know how to throw out the lines so the comic will have a good springboard to come back and make some facetious or humorous or witty response. and also you know how to take the joke at your expense because the comedian, the straight man in the relationship, is always the one that is put down. he was an absolute bbc and a bbc radio legend. he was wonderful to meet, warm, generous, amusing, clever, and to host a show like that with all the contestants taking part in it, the skill in that was amazing. and you know, to my view, to do that into your 905, with such success, skill, such charm, i mean, well do you deserve the title 'legend'. and as the minute waltz fades away, once more it is my pleasure to welcome our many listeners... more than 50 years later, he was still in charge. never regretting that day more than 70 years ago when he‘d swapped

engineering for show business. nicholas parsons who has died at the age of 96. on the line now is lyricist and author sir tim rice — a friend of nicholas parsons for 40 years. there was an awful lot more to him than just a minute. yes, he was a fine actor but found real fame by being himself, which sometimes is not very interesting, but nick had all of the aspects of intelligence, charm and weight and just by being nicholas parsons he became the legend who was and still is of course. that straight man act of his required incredible intelligence, and an act of kindness too. yes, and

it must have been annoying at times if you felt some of the other people you were being straight to were not as funny as they could have been, but by and large he brought the best out of other people. i knew him best when he was a dynamo for the taverners for many years and helped many causes. it was close to his ha rd many causes. it was close to his hard and you could always rely on him turning up to things, pulling his weight, doing his stuff, entertaining. he was a really good charitable man. and always immaculately turned out. tony hall was using the word legend, and with him it‘s appropriate, isn‘t it? was using the word legend, and with him it's appropriate, isn't it? yes, it‘s disgraceful he was never knighted. he should have been knighted. he should have been knighted 15 years ago. he was well deserving of it and i‘m sure it would have brought him great pleasure, but he didn‘t go on about it. he was a modest man as well. and the word kindness keeps featuring.

yes, and i‘m not surprised. it is not an attribute that is always there with extremely well—known famous entertainers, but nicholas was a kind man. he was also quite happy to be the butt of the jokes, wasn‘t he? happy to be the butt of the jokes, wasn't he? yes, but i don't think anybody felt that in any way he was being insulted. it was all in such good humour, and nobody really took it seriously but that is perhaps why it seriously but that is perhaps why it worked so well, because people were on his side. i think in any exchange they would identify with nicholas rather than the comedian. you mentioned the lord taverns and thatis you mentioned the lord taverns and that is a side of him the public didn‘t see, but he worked tirelessly. the lord taverns is a huge organisation and has grown from very small beginnings, almost in parallel with nicholas‘ career.

nicholas was a stalwart of the charity for well over half a century. a lot of people would have seen century. a lot of people would have seen him there because he was always going to the functions and cricket matches, and he was a delight to play with or against. it wasn‘t an enormously gifted cricketer, and i can say that knowing i fall into that category as well. he has had a hell of an innings. what do you think was his favourite?” hell of an innings. what do you think was his favourite? i think it might have been just think was his favourite? i think it might have beenjust a minute on the entertaining side. to be honest i don‘t know, but if you do something with such skill for over half a century and you don‘t in any way get worse at it, if anything he got better, then he must have loved that. it must have been his number one achievement outside of his family. and a lot of show business. yes, ina family. and a lot of show business. yes, in a way i often feel looking at some of his early films which crop up occasionally on television,

and he was a good actor, but possibly he just turned up at the wrong time because it was full of the angry young men and the kitchen sink stuff, but he was much more conventional and would probably have fitted even better into films ten yea rs before fitted even better into films ten years before he became an actor. but by being himself he emerged in the end as being a great star. to be able to do what he did off script, very rarely scripted, requires huge intelligence. obviously, yes, he was just very good at his job. when you were with him, people won‘t know what he was light because very few people will have spent time in the way you did, but was he as he appeared on the radio? yes, i think he was. when one had the good fortune to be onjust a minute he was just the same just before you go on stage once we was just the same just before you go on stage once we were on was just the same just before you go on stage once we were on stage. afterwards having a glass of wine,

talking about the show, he was just the same. he was himself, that‘s the key to success. stephen fry says unrivalled continuity, professionalism and commitment. he's right, isn‘t he? yes, iwould professionalism and commitment. he's right, isn‘t he? yes, i would agree with that. do you have any memory of nicholas parsons in particular? they all merge into one. onjust a minute and again at lord‘s taverners dos it was a stroke of luck if you are sitting at his table because he was a lwa ys sitting at his table because he was always friendly and outspoken in a charming way, he was just a joy to be with. sir tim rice, thank you very much for sharing your memories. good to talk to you, thank you. thank you.

you are watching afternoon live. president trump will unveil his long—awaited plan in the next hour to try to end the conflict between israel and the palestinians. he‘s called it "the deal of the century". israel‘s prime minister, benjamin netanyahu will be alongside him for the announcement, but the palestinians have already said they‘ll reject the proposals and it‘s not a plan for peace. protests are planned in the palestinian territories, while the israeli military has reinforced its presence in thejordan valley. our correspondent barbara plett usher is in ramallah for us. on that basis, this is dead in the water before it‘s even announced, isn‘t it? water before it‘s even announced, isn't it? that is what the palestinians have said all along. they have boycotted the process because they have felt mr trump has administration was aligning itself too closely with israel‘s position and have rejected the deal long before it came to this point of being finally released. the question is what happens now so the palestinian leadership will hold an emergency meeting at the time when the press conference that mr trump and benjamin netanyahu will be holding at the white house within the next hour. then they will talk

about what to do next. this is not just the official palestinian leadership but also representatives of how mass and the islamicjihad factions —— hamas. one of the things the palestinians have said they will do with priority is to try to get arab do with priority is to try to get ara b states do with priority is to try to get arab states and european states to come out and say mr trump‘s plan is illegitimate because it does not adhere to internationally accepted terms for the peace process, and by all accounts it has shifted those goal posts. another thing is the palestinian factions have called for what they say is a day of rage, in other words protests that are supposed to begin as soon as the deal has been announced. so this is where we are in ramallah, we are expecting protests here within the hour. what is the sense about the timing of this, given that we are talking about a prime minister and president with domestic problems?

that is certainly taking up much of the oxygen in terms of discussing why this is happening right now. you have prime minister benjamin netanyahu have prime minister benjamin neta nyahu facing corruption have prime minister benjamin netanyahu facing corruption charges as he heads into an election, and president trump facing impeachment process as well, as he is also heading into an election, so the general analysis of many is that putting this forward right now might help to change the conversation for both of them. i think the trump administration would argue they have been working on this plan for a long time, wanting to release it for the past year, and the political chaos and stalemate here in israel means there has only been a caretaker government has made it difficult to do so, and they want to release it now. as a road map, not to be implemented immediately but they wa nt to implemented immediately but they want to get it out there because they weren‘t sure there would be another full they weren‘t sure there would be anotherfull government they weren‘t sure there would be another full government after the next election. the fact they decided to put it out today, the day when the parliament is supposed to take

out a process regarding immunity request by benjamin netanyahu related to his indictment charges did cause everyone to say if you really wa nted did cause everyone to say if you really wanted to release a serious plan, why would you choose this day to do it. and in fact benjamin netanyahu to do it. and in fact benjamin neta nyahu has since to do it. and in fact benjamin netanyahu has since said he would not be asking for immunity anyway. this political framework is not be asking for immunity anyway. this politicalframework is hanging over the release of this plan, no matter how serious the people who drafted it might be. thank you very much. now it‘s time for a look at the weather with susan powell. hello. plenty of showers across the uk today, for many, that‘s meant rain, for some scenes like these and certainly this little chap looks like he‘s been having a great time in argyle and bute. not such good news, though, for those trying to travel across scotland, potentially with more snowfall to come this evening.

temperatures falling through the evening and overnight. for wednesday, quieter prospects across the southern half of the uk. should bea the southern half of the uk. should be a largely dry story to start the day with a lot of sunshine, a few showers possible in the west through the morning. showers will ease for a time but in the afternoon more persistent rain comes into the north of northern ireland and into scotland, with snow for the higher ground, turning increasingly to reign as milder air pushes in from the south. —— rain.

this is bbc news — our latest headlines. doing it our way. the uk decides to let huawei continue to be used in its 5g networks — but with restrictions. the foreign secretary says it won‘t affect the government‘s ability to share highly sensitive intelligence data with other countries. we would never take decisions that threaten our national security of the security of our partners. the decision comes despite pressure from the us — and some conservative mps. washington says its disappointed. the salary threshold for skilled migrants coming to britain should be lowered to just over £25,500 a year — says a government commissioned report. nicholas parsons, who chaired radio 4‘sjust a minute

for more than 50 years, has died at the age of 96. coronavirus has now killed more than 100 people in china — the foreign office says it‘s working on plans to bring home british citizens. and coming up, we‘ll be in salford where a government fund is being proposed, to help restore historic railway lines closed more than fifty years ago. that‘s in news nationwide, in just a few minutes. sport now on afternoon live with xx sport now on afternoon live. and israel folau is back in rugby league but not everyone‘s happy about it... he‘s a controversial character? he is... folau was orginially a rugby league player, switched codes to union but he was sacked by rugby australia for making homophobic comments on social media... saying stuff like "hell awaits gay people." folau then sued rugby australia for sacking him on the grounds of religious discrimation. he was widely supported by christian

lobby groups in australia and it sparked national debate there about free speech and hate. a financial settlement was then agreed last month. and today it‘s been confirmed folau is making a switch back to rugby league... and is moving to french club catalans dragons. the rugby football league says it deplored his comments and that it was a difficult decision to allow folau to play but they can‘t stop him because he hasn‘t been found guilty of any criminal offence. super league boss robert elstone did add that he‘s disppointed that one of their clubs has signed him and that folau‘s contract will be terminated if he makes homophobic comments again. catalan dragons say they want to give the player "a new opportunity to shine." folau says he will keep his beliefs private from now on. in response to the signing, wigan warriors say that their match against dragons in march will be a pride day in support of lgbt groups. keegan hirst, who plays for championship side halifax, is the first openly gay rugby league player, and he posted this

on social media... i‘d expect plenty more reaction in the coming hours and days simon. the issue of homophobia also raised at the australian tennis open. margaret court holds the record for the most grand slam singles titles — she‘s won 24 — but she‘s also been criticised for expressing homophobic views. one of the main courts at melbourne park — where the australian open is being played — is named after her but two of the game‘s greats, martina navratilova and john mcenroe, staged a protest there today,

calling for its name to be changed. tennis australia say they have breached tournament protocols but navratilova says margaret court‘s views are hurtful to the lgbt commuinity. i felt the conversation had stopped andi i felt the conversation had stopped and i thought we got it going a couple of years ago and tennis australia would do something on victoria, the ones that make the decision but nothing has happened and market keeps doubling down. to the tennis itself — and roger federer says he believes in miracles after he saved seven match points against the unseeded american tennys sandgren to reach the semi finals. john watson was watching in melbourne an incredible comeback from roger

federer who just underlined why she is arguably the greatest male tennis player of all—time. who would have predicted the outcome this one, 2—1 sets down, he saved seven match points, levelled the match at 2—2, took it on a tie—break before wrapping up the much overfive took it on a tie—break before wrapping up the much over five sets just as he did in the third round. uncharacteristic from roger federer and at times, he was wonder what has bad language on court, he took a medical timeout, clearly struggling with tightness in his leg and an incident involving his opponent to was run into by a ball girl during a change of ends. roger federer progresses and will face novak djokovic in the semifinal of the australian open. a great performance from ashleigh barty into herfirst

australian open semifinal, hoping to become the first australian to win the singles title here in 42 years. somejamie the singles title here in 42 years. some jamie dornan to the singles title here in 42 years. somejamie dornan to come as the quarterfinals concludes tomorrow, raphael and the dow in action but no doubt the big talking point, roger federer. inter milan have completed the signing of christian eriksen from tottenham for a fee of around 17 million pounds. the danish midfielder had already agreed personal terms with the italian club, who are second in serie a. eriksen was all smiles in italy earlier after signing a contract until 2024. he told spurs in the summer he wanted a fresh challenge with his contract set to expire at the end of the season. this was him leaving after his medical earlier. meanwhile, tottenham have made midfielder giovani lo celso‘s loan move from real betis permanent,

completing a 27 point 2 million pound transfer. that‘s all the sport for now. now on afternoon live — let‘s go nationwide — and see what‘s happening around the country — in our daily visit to the bbc newsrooms around the uk. let‘s go to donna traynor in belfast — where defective lifts at mot centres across northern ireland means that drivers could have to wait months for their cars to have their mot. rogerjohnson is in salford — where a government fund is being proposed to help restore historic railway lines closed more than fifty years ago. but first to donna in belfast. how has this happened? mot tests in northern ireland are only carried out at 15 dedicated centres and the defective lifts and those that are used to check

underneath the cars and vans. we are told in the first signs of cracking on these vehicle lifts were discovered during an inspection of an mot centre in larne in november but the problem was not made public until our newsroom was phoned by whistle—blowers claiming the problem was extensive. we have now been told by the driver and vehicle agency that 48 of its 55 lifts have cracks of evading sizes. at first the agency said was carrying out repairs and suspended some tests but now says an insurance inspector is not satisfied with the repair work and for safety reasons it has suspended all mot tests for cars and light vehicles like vans. how long could it take before drivers can get their vehicles tested again? yesterday already with some of the test suspended we had 7000 mot tests

cancelled. with this latest decision many more unaffected but we do not know at this stage how long they will have to wait, that depends on the agency, when it is repairs or replaces these 40 lifts we have been talking to the agencies chief executive paul duffy. we will be considering whether left can be repaired or replaced, the timeframe for doing each and what is the best value for money. replacing would cost around £40,000 but we need to go into commercial conversations. we are exploring all options with suppliers but we need to find out the timescales, it is certainly weeks and it could be months. in the meantime motorist protest had been cancelled at a gate for four month exemption certificate, an extension of that cabinet certificate but with more drivers affected we do not know when this will return to normal but

thatis when this will return to normal but that is our big and main story on bbc news line this evening. fantastic journalism. thank you. and now to roger in salford. what are the railway lines that could be reopened? you will remember, i do, the beeching cats which came in the 19605 beeching cats which came in the 1960s to railways across the country, between 1964 and 75,000 miles of railway lines were closed, 1500 stations cut, many have been re—versioned and do not exist any more but today the transport secretary has been talking about reversing the cuts the beeching report made in some areas, particularly in the north—east and blyth valley, quite symbolic on election night it was the one the conservatives won as the results came in and they made that was commitment to the northward invest

in infrastructure, one of the wines looking at the feasibility of reopening adhered in the north—west is the line to fleetwood which is an area that had its line cut, volunteer someone area that had its line cut, volunteer someone cleared seven miles of it and grant has been the today talking about the possibility of reopening that as a branch line linking it may network to help to reinvigorate the economy in that pa rt reinvigorate the economy in that part of the country, boost tourism as well and for those volunteers already started to cleaning the lines to get it back to usable shape, it is wonderful news and he this what one of them had to say to us. the railway corridor is here and we are very us. the railway corridor is here and we are very passionate of getting it reopened, if it reopened to fleetwood at would make the joined up fleetwood at would make the joined up transport we need in this area. and the government are proposing

£500 million — will this be enough to make a difference? the transport secretary says it is, but a few years ago they reopened a 30 mile stretch of line outside edinburgh which cost £294 million, but had been closed by beeching on the cuts so that produce a path the budget is on theory, no it is not but the government says it is a first step along the way, this reversing of the beeching cuts this to happen quickly within this parliament, whether about that is visible remains to be seen but many people will be pleased that some of these old lines well know be relayed and perhaps reopened but whether the money is enough is probably a moot point given a rail services in this pa rt point given a rail services in this part of the country are understanding the oscars and the enemy, the northern franchise may be taken back into public ownership and

then there‘s the debate continuing over hs two. now you have your new sofa the camera can move around. there is no hole and it any more. we cannot laugh at it any more. you will find something. thank you. if you would like to see any more of the studies you can access them on the studies you can access them on the iplayer and it mind that regal nationwide everyday at 4:30pm. the coronavirus has now killed more than 100 people in china — and officials have confirmed cases around the world — including today the first in germany. the foreign office says it‘s working on plans to bring home uk citizens

home from hubei province, the heart of the outbreak. caroline hawley has the latest. battling the virus with disinfectant. at bangkok airport today, all flights returning from china were being liberally sprayed. thailand will screen everyone arriving back for symptoms of the disease. coronavirus has now spread to 16 countries and the world is stepping up its response. in hong kong, the railway station was practically deserted. the authorities have announced that from thursday, ferries, as well as high—speed trains that cross the border, will be suspended. the hong kong leader, carrie lam, making a point to protect herself, urged citizens to return from the mainland as soon as possible and quarantine themselves at home for a fortnight. in germany, at this firm that sells car parts, a 33—year—old man has been infected by a woman from china who‘d come to bavaria on a training course. it‘s the first known case

of the virus being caught in europe. wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, is now effectively on lockdown. there are severe restrictions on people entering and leaving the city. in countries around the world, they are working on plans to evacuate their citizens. japan has chartered a special plane to bring its people home today. there are thought to be around 300 british nationals in the province. they are being urged to contact the consulate so that arrangements can be made for their return. but some are critical of the uk government‘s response. i think they need to get a little faster in working something out. i mean, i believe it‘s not easy to do, i know the chinese government is very hard to work with on this, because they are locking down everything. but i think if the us can manage to do it then i think the british government should at least be able to do the same thing for the people out here. in beijing, the head of the world health organization met the chinese president, who has described the virus as a devil, but one, he said, he was confident china could defeat. he promised increased international cooperation to fight it.

coronavirus has now silenced a city, killed more than 100 people and, with modern travel, caused alarm right around the world. thousands of miles away from wuhan, governments are scrambling to try to contain it. caroline hawley, bbc news. the public inquiry into the grenfell tower fire has been shown emails suggesting that companies directly involved in the building‘s refurbishment knew the cladding they‘d specified would fail in the event of a fire. the evidence was highlighted by the firm which manufactured the insulation panels used in the work, as it defended suggestions it had not made clear the product would burn. our correspondent dan johnson gave us the latest from the inquiry in west london. well, we were warned yesterday to expect a merry go round of passing the buck between different companies and you could be forgiven for having got dizzy already. even as we just start getting into this second phase of the inquiry, trying to understand who knew exactly what about the refurbishment

of grenfell tower and how it could have ended up being so flammable and so deadly. now you need to understand the work to refurbish the tower included putting cladding panels on the outside. that is essentially plastic coated with aluminium on top of insulation. and the two companies that manufactured those products have acknowledged that they could be combustible if they weren‘t fitted in a certain way with specific measures taken to stop fire spreading. more now on the huawei 5g story — and the foreign secretary has defended the government‘s decision to allow huawei to play a limited role in the uk‘s 5g network. the united states says it‘s disappointed by the move, which it believes will allow china to use the tech firm for spying.... joining me now is ed brewster, head of marketing and communications for huawei in the uk and australia. your reaction to this decision. we are reassured, the government said

they would make an evidence—based decisions, look at the facts and the foreign secretary said they have done so on that basis and that means we can continue to supply our customers in the uk, telecoms networks with the 5g equipment because that is what we do, we provide equipment to operators. the us says we cannot trust you. our focus is to talk to people in the uk and within europe, we have been in the uk since 2001, coming to our 20th year here, working with uk telecoms operators for 15 years, working with every major operator and europe‘s our customers trust us, we deliver the network equipment that powers the 4g and fibre networks. but this is a different, and gives huawei access to networks which will benefit the chinese

government should want that sort of information and under the national intelligence more organisations must support and cooperate and collaborate and national intelligence work, you will have to do that. no, that would be in breach of our contract with our customers and uk and european law, we sell telecoms network equipment, the kit that goes on the network. our customers be it btr vodafone, they own and operate the networks, we do not access them unless we are working. but the point is that you could. we have never been asked to do that by any government, we have made it clear we would deny that request. would you have the choice? a chinese company, of the government says we need the information you are not ina says we need the information you are not in a position to say no. huawei

isa not in a position to say no. huawei is a private company, china‘s first global technology business, 180,000 employees,. how much government money does a chinese government put into huawei question guy? nothing. only such developed has given us the lead, there are a lot of false arguments around huawei, links to low understanding about network technology as well as frankly low understanding around china. the debate has not been particularly well informed. you think china is not involved or interested in espionage of what is going on around the world in terms of technology and other people technology? you‘re saying no. i am not here to represent china. you are saying that

as this perception that china wanted to get information that would want to. ourjob is to provide the kit to the networks, they own and operate the networks, they own and operate the networks, the point about that as we would be in breach of our terms of contract, in breach of local laws and restate very clearly asa local laws and restate very clearly as a business like most businesses we comply with all the laws and regulations whenever we operate. our business would cease to operate if we did what we are being accused of doing. the company has been operating for 30 years and has never been any evidence and that 30 year period that there has been any breach of our data and network in that way so it is a series of false arguments, you cannot prove the

negative. as a business we are focused on delivering one of leading communications network technology to the operators. the decision today, the operators. the decision today, the arguments we have been hearing, it is important we talk about them, we do not want to not talk about them, unpack them but the uk government has spent months looking at this issue and have said very clearly we will take an evidence—based approach, look at the fa cts evidence—based approach, look at the facts and the facts are that what we do is provide telecoms network equipment, amongst the best in the world, that is why customers and telecoms networks like to buy it and thatis telecoms networks like to buy it and that is our priority and that is why we are reassured by the decision today. do you feel stuck between a rock and a hard place? people might say i can trust you and trust huawei, i do not trusty chinese and if they change the rules and say to huawei need some information, and really going to say no? we have

stated categorically and publicly we will say no but technology is becoming more important, everyday the network becomes more important it is part of what the government said today, resilience is important in the future, we live and the information age using technology everyday, it is important to have this debate, no one in our sector and telecoms technology is saying we should not be talking about this. we should not be talking about this. we should be, these are important issues but we have to have an evidence and fact —based debate, we cannot have one by focused on supposition and groundless allegations. donald trump isjust wrong? i would prefer to put at the uk government has got it correct. that is our view, a decision on the interest of the uk. it is a

qualified decision, restricting to the outskirts, not trusted enough for military or nuclear, the and up com pletely for military or nuclear, the and up completely trusting of huawei. we do not sell to government, they are not our customer. customer is the telecoms networks so yes that has been information published today, we have not got through it all yet, we have not got through it all yet, we have to look at the detail but the key thing here is telecoms networks are looking to rule out 5g, they wa nt to are looking to rule out 5g, they want to keep offering services and choose us as one of the suppliers. we have competitors we compete against in terms of the technology and what the government is saying is you can keep choosing huawei, they are one of the vendors you can keep working with and we are reassured by that. thank you. we‘ve heard many tributes being paid

to nicholas parsons this afternoon — the host of radio 4‘s ‘just a minute‘ and the tv quiz show ‘sale of the century‘ — who has died at the age of 96. but one suggestion stood out. comedian, actor and broadcaster robin ince wrote: "instead of a minute‘s silence, you must now talk about nicholas parsons for one minute and you know the rules." and funnily enough — back in 2016 sue perkins, marcus bridgstock, ruthjones and paul merton were asked to do just that. the subject is nicholas parsons. applause sue perkins, it is your tumble to. 60 seconds starting now. nicholas parsons was born before records began, we know he was friends with methuselah. aged 24 he struck a deal with mephistopheles so that he would never age. did you say

mephistopheles? i think you said method. you could have had tougher deviation. your challenge was incorrect so sue has another point. nicholas parsons invented show business in 1847 and pioneered the use of the cravat which she still sports, who compares it sometimes with a lovely polka—dot tie. there is nothing so allotted as the site of nicholas parsons buzzer applause there are limits.

i have to admit, i don‘t think i‘m erotic. you have a correct challenge and 31 seconds. his career began in the 19405 on radio and i heard one of those particular episodes on radio four. repetition of radio. a correct challenge. i am at something ofa correct challenge. i am at something of a disadvantage because i have never heard of this nicholas parsons character, he sounds delightful. deviation from sense, everybody has heard of nicholas parsons. i'm not

going to give it to you out of conceit and see you deserve that the fa ct i conceit and see you deserve that the fact i am on the show and you are appearing on a show with him, you know him. you're nicholas parsons? the nicholas parsons. we enjoyed your interruption, you get a bonus point. i was speaking, your interruption, you get a bonus point. iwas speaking, sue interrupted me. i enjoyed her interruption. sue gets a point because she was interrupted but you get a bonus point for humour. who get5 get a bonus point for humour. who gets the subject? there is nothing greater than nicholas parsons, he is the show leader. then we have show

business before question what is that one word? i will assume it is true once and say paul has the benefit of the doubt and if i get lots of letters do thing i will bother to reply to them. still ten seconds. nicholas parsons is someone i have known since roughly 1987 and one aiming device and the creature he is, we first met on a television programme being made in liverpool. four minutes of television magic and the best tribute we could find to nicholas parsons. but is it from afternoon live.

today at 5, the chinese technology firm huawei is to be given a restricted role in building the uk‘s 5g mobile network. the firm won‘t be given access to sensitive areas, such as military bases and nuclear sites, and ministers claim that national security will not be compromised. gchq have categorically confirmed that how we construct our 5g and full fibre public telecoms network has nothing to do with how we share classified data. it is the chinese communist party branded as a company and the conservative government has chosen low— cost conservative government has chosen low—cost over security. but speaking to the bbc, huawei defends itself, and says the company has never been a risk to security

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