the top stories: the head of the world health organization has said that the outbreak of the new coronavirus has entered uncharted territory but can still be contained because of the number of people killed worldwide is now more than 3000. italy has seen a dominance death toll from 3a to 52. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu israel's prime minister benjamin neta nyahu has declared israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu has declared victory in the country's bird election in a year but exit polls suggest he could still fall short of forming a coalition government. he's been seeking re—election while facing a corruption trial which begins later this month. democratic presidential hopefuljoe biden has been endorsed by pete buttigieg and amy klobuchar just a day before the crucial super tuesday primary vote. 14 states will decide who they want as the democratic party ‘s nominee. bernie sanders is still the front runner in the race.

it's about 2:30am in the morning, you up—to—date on the headlines and time for monday in parliament. hello and welcome to monday in parliament. the home secretary's accused of bullying. ministers order an inquiry but rally round priti patel. the home secretary absolutely rejects these allegations. the prime minister has full confidence in her. labour say she should be sacked. a minister in breach of ministerial code cannot remain in office and should be dismissed. also in this programme: a direct appeal to iran to free nazanin zaghari ratcliffe amid fears she has coronavirus.

you today have it in your gift to save her. she does not deserve this fresh suffering. she only deserves to come home today. but first, bullying allegations against the home secretary, priti patel, are to be investigated. the cabinet office minister, michael gove, told mps that the prime minister has asked his department to "establish the facts". on saturday, the senior civil servant at the home office, sir philip rutman, resigned, citing a "vicious and orchestrated campaign" against him. he said he had received allegations that priti patel‘s conduct towards employees included: "swearing, belittling people, making unreasonable and repeated demands". sir philip may sue for unfair dismissal. answering an urgent question from the labour leader, jeremy corbyn, michael gove said she rejected the claims. allegations have been made that the home secretary has breached

the ministerial code. the home secretary absolutely rejects these allegations. the prime minister has expressed his full confidence in her and having worked closely with the home secretary over a number of years, i have the highest regard for her. she is a superb minister doing a greatjob. mr speaker, this government takes all complaints regarding the ministerial code seriously and set out in the ministerial code, the prime minister has asked the cabinet office to establish the facts. jeremy corbyn wanted to know why michael gove and not borisjohnson was answering his question. if the serious allegations raised by the home secretary about the home secretary's conduct are true and including and i quote shouting and swearing, belittling people and making unreasonable and repeated demands, that would clearly constitute a breach of the ministerial code. a minister in breach of the ministerial code cannot remain in office and

should be dismissed. he saw her alleged behaviour as part of a wider pattern. isn't the truth mr speaker that this is a government led by bullies, presided over by a part—time prime minister, who not only cannot be bothered to turn up but simply will not take the vital action required when the very integrity and credibility of the government is on the line. i am grateful to the leader of the opposition for all the questions, the prime minister is in downing street leading our response to the coronavirus, implementing that people' spriorities and making sure promises at the general election are delivered, he is delivering for that british people. there is a world of difference between robust management

and bullying, however only an independent investigation can establish which of the two has gone on here. that is what the fda union has called for so why want the government agreed to an independent investigation, what are they afraid of? it is important any investigation is thorough, rapid, independent and authoritative and it will be the case of the secretary leading the work with access to the independent adviser and ensuring there is a proper and fair inquiry. conservative mps lined up to support priti patel. how does my right honourable friend think margaret thatcher would have gotten on if she had been subjected to the same smears and sexism as been used against the present iron lady in the home office? my right honourable friend makes a very important point and all of us

are aware that progress and that costs are about strong prime minister is an exacting terms but also having a stable civil service able to act with advice and both of those two pillars of our constitution are at the heart of the operation. civil are at the heart of the operation. servants give ad\ ministers, civil servants give advice, ministers, secretaries of state and act government policy and the two should not get mixed up. so can he give our support to the present home secretary please. opposition mps saw things differently. i do not think i have ever seen such a resignation announcement from a permanent secretary actively calling his secretary of state a liar, accusing her of bullying in the most gross terms and feeling he had no option but to do so publicly, clearly something here has gone extremely wrong and it threatens madam deputy speaker, surely, the independence of the civil service if this rot is allowed to continue.

michael gove agreed it was important to protect the independence of the civil service. however, i think it is also important to acknowledge sir philip, a distinguished public service, will may take legal proceedings and it is inappropriate for me to make a statement stop well to make. there was a hit list and that clearly is incompatible with that duty, can the secretary of state confirm whether or not such a list exists? that's number 10 is seeking to replace for political reasons. no such list exists and it is the case having worked with a variety of secretaries and senior servants across government departments, i have personally benefited from a robust and sometimes very robust advice and have been happy to come to acknowledge

when i have been wrong and others right. isn't this the honeymoon period and in less than three months they lost the chancellor and now they lost the head of their home office so i wonder if the minister for the cabinet office thinks things are going for the government? different people enjoy different types of honeymoon and i think is probably fair to say. michael gove. labour's emily thornberry has made a plea to the government of iran to put politics aside and release nazanin zaghari ratcliffe, who may have contracted coronavirus. mrs zaghari ratcliffe who has british—iranian dual citizenship has been in prison for nearly four years. her family says she has symptoms of coronavirus, which is spreading rapidly in iran. mrs zaghari ratcliffe‘s plight was raised by her local mp. i have raised concerns about my constituent, zaghari ratcliffe,

health the chamber. but today, this is potentially fatal. the conditions that she is being held captive has reported a case of coronavirus and she is displaying symptoms associated with the virus. her family are desperately worried about her and madam deputy speaker, i do not blame them. she said iran had pulled some prisoners out ofjail. yet the iranian authorities are refusing pointblank to test her for coronavirus or any other british citizens in theirjails. the human rights commitee made it clear under iranian law and international law, they must provide medical treatment for her and british citizens like her. she said the government should be doing everything possible to secure her release. her life hangs in the balance and i would urge the government

to act and act now. thank you madam deputy speaker, the honourable lady is right to raise this case, i think things may have moved on a little bit today and terms of the testing with zaghari ratcliffe, we are clearly unable to comment on any medical assessments, without permission of zaghari ratcliffe. we are in touch and have been today with her husband, but i can assure her we are in close contact with the iranian authorities to urge them to secure a temporary release on medical grounds for her. we clearly don't think she should be imprisoned in the first place in iran. doesn't what is happening now highlight the moral bankruptcy of iran's position where they take a british citizen hostage

and put her injail, completely wrongly where she is been subject to having catching potentially a very dangerous disease. my simple question is has the prime minister called the president of iran to make representations that she should be tested alongside the other dual nationals in prison or has the foreign secretary called his counterpart and iran to insist on that happening? because it is absolutely essential, it is essential they start to do that. we have been engaging in fact today with the deputy foreign minister and i can assure him that our ambassador is working on behalf of all our dual nationals in my country. emily thornberry said she wanted to make a heartfelt plea to the iranian government. we all have long memories in this house and if i was to mention certain iranian place names, they would conjure up images of people diligently digging through rubble, searching for surviving earthquake victims, among them british

firefighters, doctors and aid workers supported by donations from the british people, all desperate to do their bit and moved by nothing but mercy and love for their iranian brothers and sisters. those british people weren't thinking about politics, they were acting out of kindness and compassion. for once do not see her as a political football ora bargaining chip, and instead see her the way the rest of the world does, particularly facing this new and terrifying threat to her health. see her as a loving mother, desperate to get back to gabrielle. see her as the devoted wife. see her as we have seen those innocent people lying helpless in the rubble of a humanitarian crisis. you today have it in your gift to save her. the snp was curious to know what boris johnson was doing to help. can i give the minister another opportunity to hear about and can

you reassure it that he will urge the prime minister if he has not already, to intervene in her case directly to make up for his earlier interventions? the minister insisted that the government was intervening. not only are we speaking to mr zaghari ratcliffe and the foreign office keeps regular in contact with the family, we have made representations on behalf of mrs zaghari ratcliffe, said that she does get the right treatment and is released from that prison. nigel adams. and on tuesday the prime minister and the health secretary matt hancock will outline their plans to deal with the spread of coronavirus here in the uk. you're watching monday in parliament with me, david cornock. the arguments over the rights and wrongs of a proposed third runway at heathrow continued in the commons, with mps mulling

over the fallout of last weeks court of appealjudgement which ruled that current plans were unlawful because they did not take climate commitments into account. the government says it won't appeal against the decision but a minister told mps that airport expansion was a key part of boosting britain's global connectivity and driving the uk economy. this government had taken the decision not to appeal the court judgement, we take this seriously to reduce carbon emissions, it's a complex and important judgement which government needs time to consider carefully. at this stage the government will not be able to make any further comment beyond what was set out in the written statement of the 27th of february from the secretary of state for transport. following the judgement, scheme promoters have applied for permission to the supreme court to appeal this decision. the government will not comment on an ongoing legal case. madam deputy speaker,

aviation will play a key role in leading our economic growth and driving forward the uk's status as an outward facing trading nation attracting investment and growing our trade links with new, overseas markets. madam deputy speaker, airport expansion is at the core part of our commitment to global connectivity, but we are also a government that is committed to a greener future. as the first major economy in the world to legislate from net zero emissions by 2050. labour welcomed last week's decision but said the government should stop hiding behind the court. i would like to thank those that fought the case, not least of whom was the london mayor. we must rely on environmental campaigners in the courts to protect us from illegal and environmentally destructive policies is clear evidence of the government's lack of real concern about the climate crisis. the court ruling was the right one. at the time of the national policy statement labour warns the plans

will cause the uk to miss its climate targets. we said the government was failing to take to account its commitments and that this would result in legal challenges. we were dismissed but we were right. why did the transport secretary fail to consider the paris climate agreement in its plans for airport expansion? what legal advice did he receive? was the advice flawed or simply ignored? the government said it will not appeal the decision but will focus on overall airport expansion. what does this mean? if the government accepts the ruling, it should rule out airport expansion. she has rightly said this is a legal matter for the determination of the court in a commercial matter for heathrow. in the event that he is her or successful at the supreme court —— in the event that heathrow is successful at the supreme court

was the minister confirm that the government will not intervene to stop the expansion occurring? i can assure the honourable gentlemen that, or my honourable friend, that any of a supreme court ruling will be respected. and an angry conservative said the government had deserted heathrow and its own national policy statement nps on airport expansion. handwashing is now de rigueur, but that should hardly extend that approach to its own nps, approved by a large majority in his house where they addressed the report that the mps had not been assessed by the government in paris. the government's desertion of heathrow at this point is a very bad news for early delivery of britain in reality and the whole of the government commitment to the whole national infrastructure plan. crispin blunt. in the lords, ministers were pressed to take firm action against china over human rights violations.

peers called for the use of sanctions, such as a travel ban or asset freezing, against individuals after an independent tribunal concluded last year that the killing of detainees in china for organ transplants was continuing, with the victims including followers of the falun gong movement. i have recently been sent a report from the world organisation to investigate the persecution of falun gong that shows over 7000 doctors in china are involved in the systematic killing of prisoners through the horrific and forced body harvesting trade in that country. my lords, could he assure me that notwithstanding what he hasjust said, that the government will nonetheless look sympathetically at taking action under these new provisions? in order that these doctors are brought to book?

and i note and indeed pay tribute to the noble lord's work in this respect, let me assure all of the blowers of the whole purpose behind the scope of the sanctions regime is to ensure that anyone who abuses human rights, whatever the basis of that human rights and indeed every member that many a debate in his house and spread legislation that all elements whatever the abuses that we hold individuals to account for their actions. in his reply he said he would not make a preliminary decision and yet my lords, a letter to him on the 25th the government said that having consulted the world health organisation and beijing that china is implementing and i quote, come in ethical voluntary organ transplant system, how does that square, my lords with the chatter of inquiries monies that organised butchery of living people compares, and i quote too much of the worst atrocities committed and conflicts of the 20th century including the gassing of dues by the nazis

and the massacres in cambodia? —— jews. the noble rightly raises the issue of the detail on that report and other reports that have been issued, what issue today also on the plates of human rights issues including that of the uighurs in china. and did the uighurs issue was mentioned in my contribution at the human rights council last tuesday. long—awaited trade talks between the uk and the eu got under way in brussels on monday. david frost, the uk's chief negotiator, arrived in the belgian capital, armed with 100 advisers and civil servants, preparing to spread themselves across ten working groups focusing on everything from fishing to financial services. in the commons, the focus was on the prospect of a trade deal with the united states. the government has published a 180 page document setting out the uk's negotiating position for talks which are expected to begin later this month. the uk stands at a historic moment. building is independent trade policy for the first time in almost

half a century. this government will see the opportunity to be an independent, free trading nation with a simple message. that free trade is good for all nations, and will deliver benefits for businesses, households and consumers across the uk. we aim to have 80% of uk trade covered by free agreements within three years starting with the eu, the us, japan, australia and new zealand. but labour were concerned about food quality standards. the government says it won't allow chlorine or acid—washed chicken. process is only used because of unsanitary conditions in the united states. but it also says such produce is safe. which of these is the government position? we will not be diminishing or lower our standards as part of a us trade deal, and we will also not be paying more for drugs prices in the nhs.

that is clearly laid out in our objectives for everyone to read. and if, which i don't believe the case, but if the us were to demand that, we will simply walk away. because the honourable gentlemen pointed out that we are trading well with the us already, if we don't get what we want from this agreement we will walk away. but the snp accused ministers of seeking a "wild west" trade solution. and why are they prepared to sacrifice so much in terms of global uk trade and a gdp growth in order to secure what, by their own admission, are very, very modest gains indeed? i have news for the honourable gentlemen, we have already left the european union. the news might not have reached him. scotland is one of the largest potential beneficiaries from the us, uk free—trade agreement. liz truss.

and liz truss accused stewart hosie of sniffing at economic growth. staying with brexit, why not? is it going to be harder to transfer criminals or suspects between the uk and the eu at the end of december? the uk is set to withdraw from the european arrest warrant and a couple of other european justice arrangements. the government insists it's ready to discuss a new agreement covering data, enforcement and judicial co operation. but a lib dem peer and former senior police officer reckoned it was bad news for the uk. the government says it wants a similar agreement to that reached by norway and iceland to replace the european arrest warrant, but that agreement took 13 years to negotiate and implement. and does not allow extradition of an eu member state's own nationals. is it not inevitable that the uk will be less safe, and less secure if we withdraw from these arrangements?

the first thing i would say, my lords, is that the norway iceland agreement might have taken 13 years, but actually the initial agreement took very little time at all. it was the commencement that seems to take so long. could the noble lady set out for the house who she believes are the beneficiaries of this decision other than criminals seeking to evade justice and we should ensure that we do not get fugitives sitting in europe just laughing at us and rather bring them tojustice. the beneficiaries of this should be the people of the uk. because what is seeks to do more what this is seeks to do is replicate many of the operational capabilities in the european arrest warrant, but containing safeguards. a case that not all european arrest warrants are the same. a european arrest warrant from france or germany with whom we share

the same spec for the rule of law is one thing, but a european arrest warrant coming from many other countries, are mentioned romania is not the same were often political interference has taken place in the judicial system. my noble friend makes a very, very good point about political interference. in fact, that's one of the safeguards within what we are seeking. it does seem the most bizarre decision, and i'm wondering, perhaps the they can tell me, is actually that the prime minister and his hard right colleagues in the cabinets actually don't like anything with the word euro in it? well, no, but not that i've asked them, but i think the agreement that we are negotiating should provide for that cooperation. my lords, we will have left the eu. isn't it the case that the european arrest warrant has one enormous advantage among many, that countries that normally do not extradite their people do so under the ea w?

what assurance have with that in future this will hold good? many signals have come for european countries saying they will not do so in the future and doesn't that make us come as a country weaker and more vulnerable to criminality? i think what it will mean, my lords, is that those states will try in their own countries, and i don't think that that, and we've talked about the enhanced safeguards, i don't think that make this country less safe. lady williams. that's it for monday in parliament. thank you for watching. mandy baker will be here for the rest of the week with the highlights from the commons and the lords. but from me, david cornock, bye for now. hello. i know there's still significant flooding around but isn't it nice to get away

from february's relentless grey and of course wet and something brighter, bluer in the skies, many of us did during monday. there were still some big showers around, no—one is suggesting this week is dry, but there is some texture in the sky for the time being. things are a bit quieter than they have been and we'll get a bit of sunshine again in the day ahead but there will also be some showers around. the big picture showing a few disturbances moving around the uk with showers on tuesday but we're eyeing up another area of low pressure in the atlantic and this looks like bringing another spell of rain to many of us during wednesday into thursday, as we'll see in a moment. tuesday's start, cold, frosty for some of us, icy patches where we have had a few showers. one area of showers clearing away from north—east england, eastern scotland first thing and another pulling away from northern ireland and wales during the morning

but then this has to feed around scotland through england. a shower could be heavy and wintry on hills, some hail possible too. behind it, the sun comes back and a lot of it for northern ireland in the afternoon and increasingly so for wales and western parts of england. some of us have temperatures in double figures and most of us will not. it is breezy, quite blustery out there but nowhere near as windy as it has been and actually, with mainly light winds and clear skies on tuesday night, that means there will be a widespread frost around but then look at these cloud and some rain heading into a south—west england, southwest wells. the temperature not going down to far and actually recovering late in the night. —— south—west wales. the rain is from the area of low pressure and some uncertainty as to how far north it will get the new forecast unfortunately takes it further north so that means a spell of rain heading towards northern ireland and perhaps even southern scotland as well stop not necessarily just rain. some hill snow into the pennines is overnight and into thursday the outbreaks of rain continue through parts of england and wales and then on thursday will slowly start to clear from the east and

south—east of england. behind that, yes, dryer on thursday and it will get a bit righter as well. —— brighter. and then there is another area of wet weather aiming at us for friday. this weather front has to move through and then low pressure looks to be coming in for the weekend so what does that mean over the weekend? it means that there will be another spell of rain heading our way. u nfortu nately. and then the winds will start to become as well. although with that, the temperatures will recover few degrees but it does mean not as much of that sunshine.

health chiefs as the number of coronavirus passes 3,000. benjamin netanyahu claims victory in israel's third election in a year, can he finally formed government? a boost forjoe biden‘s presidential bid as pete buttigieg and amy klobuchar endorsed him had a super tuesday. the bbc has uncovered evidence that police stood by as religious violence swept the indian capital of delhi last week. and we talk to the british author hilary mantel about the final long—awaited bookin about the final long—awaited book in the blockbuster trilogy on the court of king henry