this is bbc news. i'm rebecca jones. the headlines... 20 fines are to be issued, as part of the police inquiry into parties held in downing street that breached coronavirus lockdown rules. russia says it will "drastically reduce combat operations" around ukraine's capital, kyiv, and northern city, chernihiv, more than a month after moscow invaded the country. choral singing. the queen and members of the royalfamily have attended the memorial service for the duke of edinburgh, at westminster abbey. the head of p&0 ferries says he won't re—employ the 800 workers sacked earlier this month — and that doing so would cause the company to collapse the actor will smith

apologises to chris rock — after slapping him on stage at the oscars. he calls his behaviour "unacceptable and inexcusable." hello and welcome to bbc news. 20 fines are being issued to people who attended gatherings in government buildings during the coronavirus lockdown. the metropolitan police has been investigating dozens of events which may have breached covid regulations, including some attended by the prime minister. more fines are possible as police say there's still a significant amount of material to be assessed. our political correspondent, nick eardley reports

behind these doors, rules that changed lives were drawn up. christmases were cancelled, we were all told to avoid mixing with friends, even family. but now the metropolitan police has decided lockdown laws were broken by people working in government buildings at the time. in a statement this morning, the force said... and here could be more to come. the met added... it is important thatjustice is done without fear or favour in cases of this nature, and we all want to see people held to account if they've done wrong. morning. is the pm going to get a fine, sir? boris johnson hasn't received a fine yet.

we don't know exactly who has, but a lot has changed since the prime minister said this in december. what i will tell you is that all the guidelines were observed and continue to be observed. since then there have been apologies and calls for the prime minister to go. i don't think that the man who set the rules and asked the british people to make unimaginable sacrifices and then has been found to have repeatedly flouted them can remain in post. we think he should resign. but some conservative mps have been more reluctant as a result of the conflict in ukraine. some of the intense pressure may have died down in recent weeks, but many conservative mps were deeply uncomfortable with allegations of parties at the same time that everybody was being told to stay—at—home. those mps will be waiting to see who is find and how to see who is fined and how the prime minister reacts. whatever happens next,

one fact has been established, the police think that covid laws were broken in some of the very buildings where they were being set. that means difficult questions for the prime minister in the coming days, about whether he oversaw a culture which allowed lockdown rules to be broken. nick eardley, bbc news, westminster. and we can speak to nick, who's in westminster. what has been the reaction to this morning's developments? opposition arties at morning's developments? opposition parties at saying _ morning's developments? opposition parties at saying what _ morning's developments? opposition parties at saying what they _ morning's developments? opposition parties at saying what they said - parties at saying what they said early in this crisis which is that they think the prime minister needs to go. ultimately, he's the one responsible for setting the culture in downing street, for making sure that staff aren't flouting the rules that staff aren't flouting the rules that were being set by government and they think he has failed in that duty. we haven't had the clamour of tory mps coming out yet to say that they think that things have changed in either the prime minister should go all that it is now time to move on and i think there were a couple of reasons for that. one is we just don't know who has been fined yet. the police aren't going to tell us.

downing street has said that the prime minister hasn't received notice of a fixed penalty so far but that potentially could change in some point. it was quite clear from the metropolitan police statement this morning that more fines could come down the line so this process is far from over and come down the line so this process is farfrom over and until we get a bit more clarity on who exactly has been fined and, ultimately, whether that's going to include politicians like the prime minister, i don't think tory mps are preparing to say yet what they think should happen, but it is really important to point out that back in january and february, when this story was dominating the headlines, there was a different backdrop. some of the tory mps who at that time the same very publicly that they thought boris johnson's very publicly that they thought borisjohnson�*s time was up, that he had lost the public trust, but people were so angry that he never had to go have nerves said the opposite. they don't think that now is the time for a change of leader.

they have pointed to, for example, the war in ukraine and the need for steady leadership, as they see it, here. so this is a complicated picture. the politics of this has changed over the last couple of months. i think the pressure on the prime minister is less than it was but it would increase again if he were to be fine himself. what makes interesting isn't it, nick, because before the war in ukraine this was the story that was dominating the headlines, it, and borisjohnson, i think it fairto headlines, it, and borisjohnson, i think it fair to say was at times in great political danger. x�*t�*aur think it fair to say was at times in great political danger.— great political danger. your view seems to be _ great political danger. your view seems to be at _ great political danger. your view seems to be at the _ great political danger. your view seems to be at the moment - great political danger. your viewj seems to be at the moment that great political danger. your view i seems to be at the moment that he great political danger. your view - seems to be at the moment that he is safe and though? i seems to be at the moment that he is safe and though?— safe and though? i think sending the next few hours _ safe and though? i think sending the next few hours and _ safe and though? i think sending the next few hours and potentially - safe and though? i think sending the next few hours and potentially the i next few hours and potentially the next few hours and potentially the next few hours and potentially the next few days that is the case but does it change if we find that the prime minister himself has been fined? quite possibly it does lead to more tory mps saying they have got a problem with the prime minister and they think he should stand aside. whether that leads to be big enough clamour that you need to remove borisjohnson from office,

i'm not so sure we in that place at the moment but this has been a which change significantly over time so we can not make any firm conclusions. it is worth taking the stand back picture from this and remembering that in december borisjohnson was telling us and the media was telling parliament that he didn't think the rules had been broken and he had been, as he put it, repeatedly assured that the guidance had been followed in downing street and whitehall in these parties and he said at the time the parties hadn't happened. the metropolitan police today has made a differentjudgment. it believes that some rules were broken. that is why it issued these 20 fines and has left open the door to issuing more. that is really significant because it means that in the very buildings that covid—i9 rules were being set in the police now think some of those covid—i9 rules were being broken and, at the very least, it is a deeply embarrassing moment for the prime

minister. ., ., ~ ., minister. good to talk to you, nick eardle . minister. good to talk to you, nick eardley- many _ minister. good to talk to you, nick eardley. many thanks. _ daniel sandford is our home affairs correspondent. 20 fixed penalty notices today — but there's more to come? how do the police decide the order in which these issued? if how do the police decide the order in which these issued?— in which these issued? if back to what peeple _ in which these issued? if back to what people are _ in which these issued? if back to what people are being _ in which these issued? if back to what people are being given - in which these issued? if back to | what people are being given fixed penalty notices for the rule said you mustn't leave home except to go to work if that work cannot be done from home or to take exercise once a day. and so what the police have decided is the insofar 20 of the cases they've looked at someone has done something which wasn't, essentially, work. they've done something which, in layman stems of the party —— was a party rather than work. those are the ones which were easy conclusions to get you from the initial round of questionnaires. they looked at the initial round of

questioners got back a load of the mentor these ones just latently appear to be breaking the laws. there is a lot more to go through anything what they are trying to do now is look at slightly more difficultjudgments about now is look at slightly more difficult judgments about whether on, whether or not for the people have broken the rules and that is going to take time. they talk about whether the threshold gets met and so it is possible that they think all of the ones now are in question but that it does just more likely that it but that it does just more likely thatitis but that it does just more likely that it is working through the material. they have always said that they would do this in tranches and this is the first tranche. hose they would do this in tranches and this is the first tranche.— this is the first tranche. how long could this take? _ this is the first tranche. how long could this take? they _ this is the first tranche. how long could this take? they have - this is the first tranche. how long | could this take? they have always said weeks _ could this take? they have always said weeks not _ could this take? they have always said weeks not months _ could this take? they have always said weeks not months and - could this take? they have always said weeks not months and we - could this take? they have always| said weeks not months and we are towards the end of a small number of weeks now so it is getting into the month. i don't think it will take a huge amount more time. they were starting to do interviews last week and so that's cases where they felt they had to talk to somebody about what had happened or what their view is of what happened so that might mean that we are getting into

slightly more complicated territory and there are people who are definitely taking some legal advice and when lawyers get involved things can also get complicated but it shouldn't mean two or three months more. it shouldn't be a couple of weeks more and then of course that then opens up the possibility for sue gray to publish her report but it won't have that before the police investigation is concluded? we it won't have that before the police investigation is concluded?- investigation is concluded? we will not aet investigation is concluded? we will not get sue — investigation is concluded? we will not get sue gray's _ investigation is concluded? we will not get sue gray's the _ investigation is concluded? we will not get sue gray's the pot - investigation is concluded? we will not get sue gray's the pot until - investigation is concluded? we willj not get sue gray's the pot until the police say they have concluded their investigation —— sue gray's report. i think that will be a few weeks down the line.— journalist tom bower is the author of the prime minister's biography, the gambler. good to have you with us. it appears at the moment borisjohnson has not been issued with a fixed penalty notice so will he be breathing a little easier of our political correspondent nick eardley was suggesting?— correspondent nick eardley was

suggesting? yes, obviously. he believes that _ suggesting? yes, obviously. he believes that he _ suggesting? yes, obviously. he believes that he will _ suggesting? yes, obviously. he believes that he will be - suggesting? yes, obviously. he believes that he will be able - suggesting? yes, obviously. he believes that he will be able to | believes that he will be able to worm his way out of it with the exclusives comic excuses which give the police no option to issue a penalty notice. he is the great escapologist and he firmly believes that he can talk is way out of any unfortunate situation. he probably thinks the same today. he unfortunate situation. he probably thinks the same today.— unfortunate situation. he probably thinks the same today. he has been roved thinks the same today. he has been proved right — thinks the same today. he has been proved right in _ thinks the same today. he has been proved right in the _ thinks the same today. he has been proved right in the past, _ thinks the same today. he has been proved right in the past, hasn't - thinks the same today. he has been proved right in the past, hasn't he? | proved right in the past, hasn't he? he has managed to sometimes extricate himself in what appeared to be tricky situations. why should this be any different? you to be tricky situations. why should this be any different?— this be any different? you have alwa s this be any different? you have always been — this be any different? you have always been able _ this be any different? you have always been able to _ this be any different? you have always been able to escape. i this be any different? you have i always been able to escape. often this be any different? you have - always been able to escape. often he has had to resign one way of another or except he has been wrong but what is remarkable about him is that he has this determination always to bounce back and his enemies and rivals can keep on down and i think on this occasion circumstances have changed so much. the labour party demands that he resign. emily thornberry says that he has lied, to use those words, that he should

resign as a matter of honour, and a few months back i thought many tory mps would have agreed with her. the problem really is for tory mps that opposed him that they don't have a rival now to take its place. there is no obvious tory who'd be the candidate for prime minister and that gives borisjohnson and that gives borisjohnson an enormous strength. and, on the other side, people like emily thornberry supported tony blair despite his alleged lies over the iraq war and the iraq war caused hundreds of thousands of debts in terrible turmoil and the party gate isn't in it are completely different scale so i think the labour attack on boris johnson will become diluted because of the comparison between tony blair and borisjohnson's dishonesty doesn't bear much comparison. lets stick to the — doesn't bear much comparison. lets stick to the matter _ doesn't bear much comparison. lets stick to the matter in hand. we are here to talk about party gate and

tony blair is not here to defend himself. what i would like to do was move the conversation on, if you don't mind, and ask if you accept that borisjohnson was in particular political danger a few weeks ago but the war in ukraine has relieved some of that? the war in ukraine has relieved some ofthat? ~ , , the war in ukraine has relieved some of that? ~ , , , ., of that? absolutely. there is no doubt. i firmly _ of that? absolutely. there is no doubt. i firmly believed - of that? absolutely. there is no doubt. i firmly believed he - of that? absolutely. there is no | doubt. i firmly believed he would of that? absolutely. there is no - doubt. i firmly believed he would be doubt. ifirmly believed he would be gone. i thought somebody who didn't tell the truth at the dispatch box couldn't remain and that was a view widely held in the tory backbenches too. people were generally disgusted, mps were, with the prime minister's behaviour, but times have changed. and, as i say, the problem is for those who believe that if you don't tell the truth at the dispatch box you got to resign that president putin up by mr putin has made it possible for borisjohnson to find a way out. and the labour party and those tories who opposed boris and

had been demanding his resignation now face a huge problem, that boris johnson, as it seems, played a good hand through this war and he has got... he has pushed party gate to the back. in the end, what is going to determine this sort of thing is what tory mps feel their constituents and their voters believe. if the tory mps fear that party gate is going to undermine their chances to be re—elected in 2024 then they will move to remove borisjohnson. and if they 2024 then they will move to remove boris johnson. and if they feel he can borisjohnson. and if they feel he can get over boris johnson. and if they feel he can get over the next two years and there is no great alternative you can secure their seats then boris johnson is ok. it can secure their seats then boris johnson is 0k-— johnson is ok. it is interesting, lookin: johnson is ok. it is interesting, looking at _ johnson is ok. it is interesting, looking at the _ johnson is ok. it is interesting, looking at the latest _ johnson is ok. it is interesting, looking at the latest polls, - johnson is ok. it is interesting, j looking at the latest polls, isn't it? , but at the height of partygate the conservatives were eight points behind labour but then are now only three points behind labour which at

a moment would suggest this is not an issue preoccupying the public any more. .. , an issue preoccupying the public any more. . . , . an issue preoccupying the public any more. ,~ �* ., ., more. exactly and you've got to remember _ more. exactly and you've got to remember that _ more. exactly and you've got to remember that as _ more. exactly and you've got to remember that as a _ more. exactly and you've got to remember that as a boundary l remember that as a boundary commission coming in next year which will give the tories 20 more seats in the redistribution constituencies. and the red wall voters are not flocking to labour at the moment. as they say, it is still very few bile. it is still uncertain. but borisjohnson is an extraordinary fighter and man of extraordinary fighter and man of extraordinary resilience and courage for his own security and own fame. he is not going to give up. he is not going to move without a huge fight and i don't think in the tory party at the moment there is the appetite for a big leadership competition. we appetite for a big leadership competition.— appetite for a big leadership competition. appetite for a big leadership cometition. ~ , ., competition. we must leave it there but the biographer _ competition. we must leave it there but the biographer of _ competition. we must leave it there but the biographer of boris - competition. we must leave it there but the biographer of boris johnson | but the biographer of borisjohnson with his book the gambler. really good to talk to. thank you so much.

russia says it will "drastically reduce combat operations" around the ukrainian capital kyiv and the northern city of chernihiv. that is according to russia's deputy defence minister, who was among officials in turkey for face—to—face talks with a delegation from ukraine. let's hear from what the delegation had to say. translation: the ministry of defence ofthe translation: the ministry of defence of the russian — translation: the ministry of defence of the russian federation _ translation: the ministry of defence of the russian federation in _ translation: the ministry of defence of the russian federation in order- of the russian federation in order to increase mutual trust and create the necessary conditions for further negotiations and achieving the final goal agreeing and sighing the above—mentioned agreement has decided to add an early, drastically, reduce the military activity in the kyiv and chernihiv directions. in see if there will be the main decisions adopted. that will create conditions for further work. also, the general command of

the military of the russian federation said that our delegation will return to moscow. let's get the latest from moscow with our correspondentjenny hill. peace talks between the russian and ukrainian negotiating teams, held in istanbul will not continue for a second day, acording to the turkish foreign ministry. we can start these comments from the russian defence ministry that they will radically reduce their activity around to see if and chernihiv. how significant is this announcement? what should we set by —— activity around kyiv. they say they want to do that increase mutual trust and set negotiations continue. the second one is that as many western expert pointed out this

invasion has not gone as fast or as well is perhaps the ultimate putin would have liked and in some of the areas he has been struggling to achieve his aims in. does this move us forward? this is the really difficult question because just a few hours before the announcement from the delegation of those peace talks was made the russian defence minister here in moscow says that the plan now for the so—called special military operation was to move into the phase where troops well, in his words, liberate donbas. this is eastern ukraine, the area where vladimir putin has focused on. when he talks to russian people about what he's doing in ukraine he doesn't talk about the war, he talks about going in to defend the interests of russian speaking populations in that particular region. he wants the world to recognise that independent and independent control of those territories. that now seems to be

the focus of what he is doing in ukraine and let's also not forget that kyiv and chernihivjust ukraine and let's also not forget that kyiv and chernihiv just two cities. there is a lot going on in other parts of the country, too. very interesting to say that what we do know from those two delegations is that vladimir putin will have to take a look at the proposals made by the ukrainian side. we know that the kremlin has made all sorts of demands. it wants the ukrainian government, in effect, to cede territories to russia, including crimea, which russia annexed in 2014. it doesn't want ukraine to join nato. that may be something that the ukrainian government is prepared to agree on. but vladimir putin has had all sorts of narratives going around his invasion. he has made all sorts of demands and particular certainly portrayed ukraine as a country but also nato and the west as enemies of russia, as entities which are prepared to perhaps even do wish to

harm so it is difficult, really, for any of us to predict what is likely to make of his proposals but also because it does, at this stage, by the come down to what he decides. i the come down to what he decides. i think it is so interesting, isn't it, jenny, because this idea of scaling back operations in kyiv and kearney have seem to me to echo statements from the kremlin at the end of last week that the first phase of the operation was over and they are going to focus on the situation in these —— kyiv and chernihiv. these are not the areas that have been the focus of the russian attack, that is mariupol and the donbas region so i suppose my question to you is why would the russians make this announcement now? what are they hoping to achieve by suggesting this?— suggesting this? again, it's really difficult to say. _ suggesting this? again, it's really difficult to say. as _ suggesting this? again, it's really difficult to say. as you _ suggesting this? again, it's really difficult to say. as you know, - suggesting this? again, it's really difficult to say. as you know, the | difficult to say. as you know, the kremlin has been at pains to tell russian citizens that it special military operation is going absolutely according to plan and we

had the defence minister a little earlier saying that actually the first place, it phase is complete and they have significantly reduced ukraine cosmic military capabilities. they are painting this is a success but we know that officially the defence ministry doesn't really give a great deal of details about the number of russian soldiers lost, for example, but western experts to suggest that perhaps things haven't gone as well as they could have done. vladimir putin is going to have to at some point presumably tell russian people that his special operation is going to come to an end. he is going to have to persuade this is a victory. he is going to want to go back to the russian people and say, you know, i have achieved this, this is what we did. and it is difficult to know what is going to be satisfactory to him in that respect. there is an argument, of course, which says if he can go to the russian people and say can you know what, i went on to make sure that those areas of eastern ukraine which really are motion have now been given independence. you know, the

government in kyiv have handed them over, they are going to be independent states, ie under our control, that might be enough. all we can go on is what vladimir putin has said and written in recent months and years and from what he has said and written it is quite difficult to see how broad the scope of his game plan in ukraine really is and that is why we are going to have to wait and see what he has to say about this proposal is and what happens next. say about this proposal is and what happens next-— say about this proposal is and what ha ens next. , , ., . happens next. jenny, thanks so much fort in: happens next. jenny, thanks so much for trying to — happens next. jenny, thanks so much for trying to make _ happens next. jenny, thanks so much for trying to make sense _ happens next. jenny, thanks so much for trying to make sense of— happens next. jenny, thanks so much for trying to make sense of it - happens next. jenny, thanks so much for trying to make sense of it all. - for trying to make sense of it all. jenny hill, our correspondent in moscow. thank you. the ukraine delegation held a news conference about what proposals they have laid out to the russians. translation: we will not join any military and political unions. - military training on our territory will take place, if the other country agrees.

what's very important, nothing in the future will not stop ukrainians' right tojoin the european union, and other guarantor countries will take obligations, so these are key. our correspondent anna foster is in lviv in western ukraine. anna, good to have you with us. what is the reaction there to what the russians have been saying in the past hour or so that they would dramatically reduce combat activity around kyiv and this northern city of chernihiv. i think if you talk to ukrainian people in the street here in lviv there is always a healthy dose of scepticism when it comes these talks. this dose of scepticism when it comes these talks-— these talks. as we have seen 'ust last week or�* these talks. as we have seen 'ust last week or so i these talks. as we have seen 'ust last week or so what i these talks. as we have seen 'ust last week or so what russia h these talks. as we have seen just last week or so what russia says| these talks. as we have seen just i last week or so what russia says and what russia does a often two very

different things. when you are talking tojenny refer to the fact that russia said just on friday that it was going to move its focus to eastern ukraine and get on saturday afternoon just behind eastern ukraine and get on saturday afternoonjust behind in eastern ukraine and get on saturday afternoon just behind in you eastern ukraine and get on saturday afternoonjust behind in you had eastern ukraine and get on saturday afternoon just behind in you had a mission, the missile strikejust in the afternoon targeting oil storage depot and you often see and hear different things and you might think that having to give concessions fighting event kyiv and kenny have we know the operation has not gone very well at all and perhaps if they offered something like a general humanitarian corridors to allow people to leave my view pull the mayor of mariupol once a complete evacuation of that city in the south and says they are on a verge of a humanitarian catastrophe but it is proving difficult to get people out because russian attacks are continuing serve russia to make a real humanitarian concession maybe that would be something they would be offering rather than suggesting it would pull back military action

in areas where they are not really succeeding at the moment. what in areas where they are not really succeeding at the moment. what are ou caettin succeeding at the moment. what are you getting a — succeeding at the moment. what are you getting a sense _ succeeding at the moment. what are you getting a sense of— succeeding at the moment. what are you getting a sense of on _ succeeding at the moment. what are you getting a sense of on the - succeeding at the moment. what are you getting a sense of on the ground j you getting a sense of on the ground there of what the chances of face—to—face talks between president zelensky and president putin? we are hearing now that those talks have been going on between representatives between the two sides in turkey are not going to go into second day. it is hard to know, isn't it? i into second day. it is hard to know, isn't it? ~ , ., ., , isn't it? i think you have summed it u . isn't it? i think you have summed it u- reall isn't it? i think you have summed it up really nicely _ isn't it? i think you have summed it up really nicely so _ isn't it? i think you have summed it up really nicely so far— isn't it? i think you have summed it up really nicely so far by _ isn't it? i think you have summed it up really nicely so far by talking i up really nicely so far by talking about what the different sites have had to say in russia have one narrative from these talks, the ukrainians have another. turkey, in fact, have another because remember turkey have set themselves up as a potential mediator, a potential hippo in this conflict. they say these talks have gone very well but as you say they're not going into a second day. if the two leaders were to meet that would be an incredibly significant moment. we haven't come close to that happening just yet but certainly when you talk to people here i was out yesterday with members of the territorial defence. ordinary people who are learning to

fire weapons. expectant one man who was a businessman he was in his 50s and hasn't picked up a gun since he was in school, because that is talks in schools here, and he told me he is preparing for a long conflict that would last a long time in fame the only answer would be for the ukraine to keep going, keep pushing, not concede any ground of any territory but to try and win this conflict and if you look at how ukrainians have reacted so far with that swelling sense of national pride that they had, whether ukrainians have managed to push back the russians in some areas, you wonder whether president zelensky might find a perhaps a little difficult in the future to sell concessions to the people when they see, when they believe that ukraine have done quite well in this conflict so far. it might be hard to meet and accept something which they may perhaps consider to be somewhat of a defeat. may perhaps consider to be somewhat ofa defeat. �* ., may perhaps consider to be somewhat of a defeat. �* ., .,, , ., ., of a defeat. anna foster, very good to talk to. our _ of a defeat. anna foster, very good to talk to. our correspondent i of a defeat. anna foster, very good to talk to. our correspondent anna | to talk to. our correspondent anna foster in lviv in western ukraine. thank you.

joining me now is doctor olexander scherba — ukraine's former ambassador to austria — who's in kyiv. it is very good to have you with us. thank you forjoining us. i wonder festival what do you make of this statement from the russian defence ministry that it would radically reduce military activity around kyiv and the northern city of chernihiv. 7 and the northern city of chernihiv. ? , , ., and the northern city of chernihiv. ? russia was losing around chief clearl , ? russia was losing around chief clearly. so _ ? russia was losing around chief clearly. so it _ ? russia was losing around chief clearly, so it can _ ? russia was losing around chief clearly, so it can beat _ ? russia was losing around chief clearly, so it can beat -- - ? russia was losing around chief clearly, so it can beat -- losingl clearly, so it can beat —— losing around kyiv. we are very cautious about any assessments coming from the side that started this barbaric war. but, in general, i have very low expectations from this, you know? negotiations and what they hear. it sounds like some common

sense starting to get through to russians, at least they are not talking any more about all these ridiculous... that they started the war with. maybe they are not realising that they are not winning this war and won't ever win. interesting. isn't there for your instinct that the strategic objective of the russians now is to just concentrate on the east? putin said very clearly — just concentrate on the east? putin said very clearly what _ just concentrate on the east? putin said very clearly what his _ just concentrate on the east? plii “i said very clearly what his strategic objective was for this war, to bring the slavic nations together that were separated by historic accident. russians, ukrainians and belarusians. and it didn't work so he might try to invent a new

strategic target as low as he go realising that he is failing also in done mass. not a single big town or city in kearney, chernihiv, donbas, that was under control when the war began is now under russia's control. so i hope they are realising they are on the losing ground. is it so i hope they are realising they are on the losing ground. is it your view that ukraine _ are on the losing ground. is it your view that ukraine can _ are on the losing ground. is it your view that ukraine can win - are on the losing ground. is it your view that ukraine can win this i are on the losing ground. is it your| view that ukraine can win this war? absolutely. i think anybody who understands and sees ukraine understands and sees ukraine understand that putin cannot win this war. this war is, for him unwinnable.— this war. this war is, for him unwinnable. , ., , , unwinnable. sorry to interrupt, but desite his unwinnable. sorry to interrupt, but despite his clearly _ unwinnable. sorry to interrupt, but despite his clearly superior- despite his clearly superior military firepower?-

despite his clearly superior milita fireower? , ., , , military firepower? yes, absolutely. yes, as military firepower? yes, absolutely. yes. as you — military firepower? yes, absolutely. yes. as you see. — military firepower? yes, absolutely. yes, as you see, despite _ military firepower? yes, absolutely. yes, as you see, despite his - military firepower? yes, absolutely. yes, as you see, despite his single. yes, as you see, despite his single atomic superiority in every single aspect of this war he failed to occupy any of 21 big cities and population centres in ukraine with the major exception of kherson in the major exception of kherson in the south but even there he failed to conduct the so—called referendum and to create yet another so—called breakaway republic. so he is losing. it is not about military superiority, it is about the determination. we know what we're fighting russians don't. and so, including civilians, because with their cities burning under their feet no matter whether it is east or south or centre.— south or centre. ukraine, nonetheless, _ south or centre. ukraine, nonetheless, has - south or centre. ukraine, nonetheless, has called l south or centre. ukraine, i nonetheless, has called for south or centre. ukraine, - nonetheless, has called for tanks and aircraft from western nations which president zelensky says are gathering dust in stockpiled

locations. should he get them? in your view, locations. should he get them? in yourview, is locations. should he get them? in your view, is the western enough to help? —— is the west doing enough to help? —— is the west doing enough to help? if help? -- is the west doing enough to hel ? , ., . help? -- is the west doing enough to hel? i. ., . ., help? -- is the west doing enough to hel? ., . ., ., help? if you want civilian and ukrainian _ help? if you want civilian and ukrainian troops _ help? if you want civilian and ukrainian troops to _ help? if you want civilian and ukrainian troops to stop i help? if you want civilian and i ukrainian troops to stop drying in ukraine and if you want this war to be over given is anything but, aside from, you know, guns and machine guns, automatic weapons, tanks, and thai air defence, cruise missiles. if we had a small part of what the west have left in afghanistan, of what the west provided to afghanistan? this war would have been already over. we just want our friends to give us something to fight with, not to fight our war. welcome of course, the west is providing an munitions and other

perhaps more defensive military hardware, ratherthan perhaps more defensive military hardware, rather than offensive perhaps, but in terms of the peace talks that we know have broken up in turkey today, they are not going into a second day, we understand. what you think the prospects of reaching a settlement through negotiation? a expectations were very low, and i am still very sceptical about... i don't trust russia. i don't trust putin, who started this barbaric war. that reminds us so much of what we went through eight years ago, with —— we went through eight years ago, with -- 80 we went through eight years ago, with —— 80 years ago with nazi germany. i do not trust him. i hope i am wrong but right now, it's too early to be at ease.—

early to be at ease. very good to hear your — early to be at ease. very good to hear your thoughts _ early to be at ease. very good to hear your thoughts and - early to be at ease. very good to hear your thoughts and insights l early to be at ease. very good to i hear your thoughts and insights on bbc news, thank you forjoining us. thank you. sport now, and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre, here's louisa. good afternoon. it's a busy night of international football coming up, with all of the home nations involved in international friendlies this evening. england are up against ivory coast at wembley, the first non—european country that gareth southgate's side have faced since november 2018, when they were comfortable winners over the usa. defender tyrone mings is relishing the challenge. i'm really excited by it. it will be a different test. like you said, there are a number of players who i would have played against individually in terms of playing against them at club level, but international games are still things that i am learning and this will be another test for me, another challenge to overcome. for sure, i am looking forward to getting out there and testing myself against a different style

of opposition, different ways of playing. i think it will be a really good battle. northern ireland play hungary in belfast. elsewhere, scotland could have been playing for a spot at the world cup later. instead they're facing austria in a friendly, with their world cup play off semifinal with ukraine pushed back because of the conflict. so, for steve clarke's side, a chance to prepare for the bigger challenges ahead.. it doesn't have much riding on it, except that you're playing for your country and you want to win. we want to continue the run that we're on, and obviously the key games are still in front of us. the competitive matches injune are going to be massive for the country and everybody wants to be involved, which is great. wales will face either scotland or ukraine in the play—off final when that game goes ahead. but tonight, wales take on the czech republic in a friendly. the likes of gareth bale and aaron ramsey are expected to be rested. goalkeeper wayne hennessey will captain the side as he wins his 100th cap.

my hero growing up was neville southall. i know nev reached 92, and i absolutely adore nev. i thought he was one of the best goalkeepers in the world at the time. but for myself, a massive achievement for myself and my family. a lot of hard work, ups and downs, injuries. so, yeah, for me, it's going to be a huge occasion and i can't wait. north macedonia have been making big waves in international football. they shocked european champions italy a few days ago to put them within 90 minutes of the world cup. only established as a country in 1991, they've been on a brilliantjourney, knocking out the european champions, a team ranked 61 places above them. signs have been there — beating germany last year, they qualified for the euros as well, their first major tournament. now they need to get past portugal, who are ranked 8th in the world, if they're to take a place at their first world cup.

translation: obviously, - this is one of the most important matches in the history of our football. maybe many didn't believe that we would be present at this press conference, but here we are. all i have to say is that this is not a coincidence. this team have something that maybe others don't have. i'm very proud of the feats that we have achieved and we are ready for this final. oleksandr usyk�*s promoter has confirmed the ukrainian fighter is in discussions for a rematch with anthonyjoshua set to take place in saudi arabia in latejune. joshua was beaten by usyk last year to be crowned unified heavyweight champion. the ukrainian has spent the past few weeks in ukraine helping to defend his home country. that's all the sport for now. thank you.

the queen hasjoined other members of the royal family at a service commemorating the life of the duke of edinburgh, who died last year at the age of 99. the event was far larger than prince philip's funeral, which was held during tight coronavirus restrictions. there had been uncertainty about about whether the queen would be able to attend, because of mobility issues. here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. trumpet fanfare. she has arrived at westminster abbey on so many occasions for state and national events. this, though, was different, something very much more personal. discomforts and mobility issues were set aside. the queen was there to lead the thanksgiving for a beloved husband, the man who'd been a constant presence in her life for their 73 years of marriage. the queen had made her way to her seat by the shortest route, accompanied by the duke of york. she joined virtually the entire british royalfamily, four generations including some of the youngest, great grandchildren, including prince george and

princess charlotte. the sussexes were the only notable family absentees, who chose to remain in california. we give thanks for his royal highness the prince philip, duke of edinburgh. a man of rare ability and distinction, rightly honoured and celebrated, he ever directed our attention away from himself. the duke was a champion of young people through his awards scheme. one of its gold medallists spoke about its importance. the world has been through so much turmoil and in these times it is so important to show our support to young people. in his address, the dean of windsor recalled that the duke could sometimes be sharp but nobody could ever doubt his loyalty to his queen and country. as we give thanks for the life of a remarkable man, perhaps our greatest tribute to him, most especially in these far too troubled times,

will be for us to accept the challenge implicit in his life to rekindle in our hearts something of that call, and to pray, as i think he did, for the inspiration and the guidance to play our part, however small, in working for a kinder future. # god save our gracious queen...# the service had been a chance denied by the pandemic at the duke's funeralforfamily and so many more to come together in tribute. a long life of service was honoured. for the person who knew that life best it will surely have stirred many memories

and moments of reflection. the service was a short one. at its end the queen left, walking with care, escorted again by the duke of york. nicholas witchell, bbc news. the chief executive of p&0 ferries has told the transport secretary that he won't reverse the decision to sack 800 staff. peter hebblethwaite has written to grant shapps to say that re—employing the workers on their original wages would cause the company to collapse. speaking this morning mr hebblewaite said he would remain in post. i have no plans to resign. i need to see this through. i need to get this business back up on its feet. i need to make it competitive, viable and give us an opportunity to grow in the future. our transport correspondent

katy austin is with me. peter hebblethwaite sanding pretty robust and pushing back against his critics. there doesn't seem to me to be much of a suggestion that p&0 will go back on its decision to sack these staff and rehire them, as the pressure is on him to do so. is that your reading of the situation? further signs today, we now have this war of words between the boss of p indo ferries in the transport secretaries who just yesterday wrote to him to urge him to offer all 800 staff back theirjobs on the old paint terms. aspect of the boss of p80 paint terms. aspect of the boss of p&0 ferries. he today said that that would cause the company to collapse, and also said this morning that 500 workers had already signed the agreements, their redundancy settlement agreements, so he was saying, i can't get rid of the thursday deadline that has been set for seafarers to respond to their redundancy office, because the agreements in many cases have

already been signed. we know the transport secretary, though, is planning to come to parliament this week with some measures which he says will force p indo ferries to backtrack on some of what they're doing but we will wait on the detail of that committee rather that can force any substantial change, and yes, speaking at the scottish parliament this morning to msps, peter hebblethwaite defended his decision, saying there was regret about the impact it had on seafarers but stood firm on his position that it was the only thing to do to save the company. it was the only thing to do to save the company-— it was the only thing to do to save the company. and he maintains its osition the company. and he maintains its position that _ the company. and he maintains its position that if _ the company. and he maintains its position that if these _ the company. and he maintains its position that if these workers i the company. and he maintains its position that if these workers were rehired, the firm would go bust. is that really write? it’s rehired, the firm would go bust. is that really write?— that really write? it's hard to be sure. he that really write? it's hard to be sure- he did _ that really write? it's hard to be sure. he did actually _ that really write? it's hard to be sure. he did actually shed i that really write? it's hard to be sure. he did actually shed a i that really write? it's hard to be sure. he did actually shed a bit| that really write? it's hard to be i sure. he did actually shed a bit of light on this in that session before msps this morning, where he was askedif msps this morning, where he was asked if the company was signed off by the board as a going concern three months ago, what has changed? and he made reference indirectly to

p&0's owner, and said that the shareholder in the company had been very supportive but it was no longer appropriate to ask for unconditional support of that changes to make the business viable. so that is where he left things there. he also was saying this very, very different crewing model that p&0 ferries is now adopted, he was saying was pretty on a par with others in international shipping. pretty on a par with others in internationalshipping. so pretty on a par with others in international shipping. so no sign really of him changing course as things stand. it doesn't mean the political criticism will go away and i think we are nowhere near the end of the political row over this. what of the political row over this. what about passengers _ of the political row over this. what about passengers who _ of the political row over this. what about passengers who perhaps have got places booked on p&0 ferries coming up over the easter holidays? where does this leave them? the easter where does this leave them? tie: easter holidays are coming up soon, which you would expect to be a busy

time, all we know is that p&0 is making alternative arrangements where it can and informing passengers of them. as for its own services, the ferries are still not running in most cases apart from a couple of roots which were not affected by the sackings. but most ferries are still sitting there waiting to pass inspections by the maritime coastguard agency before they can get back into service command last night, a second family was actually detained following such inspection. —— a second ferry was detained. when the mc outside it found issues including equipment not working properly. so it doesn't look like p&0 ferry routes will be able to resume quickly as they have to serve those issues out and undergo further inspection. we did get a statement this lunchtime and they sat in their own words, it's clear that following interventions by ministers and mps, the inspections have reached an unprecedented level of rigour, they said, and the

additional scrutiny was welcomed but insisted that any suggestion that safety was being compromised was false. ., safety was being compromised was false. . ., ., the government has put forward proposals for children with special educational needs or disabilities to receive early help from schools in england. it's part of a long—awaited government review, which was launched in 2019. £70 million of additional funding is being made available for the measures, which aim to put an end to the postcode lottery affecting levels of support. our education correspondent elaine dunkley reports. funny ears... there's no pins in the ears. harrison is nine years old and has autism. getting him the support he needs in a mainstream school has been difficult. in one term alone, he was excluded 14 times. school were terrible, they were sending him home on a daily basis. i was called out of work to go to support in school. he wasn't doing any teacher led activities at all, he was just going in,

sitting in a room with two teachers on his own. for too many children like harrison, there are delays and disruption, with varying support depending on where you live in england. years of trying to get diagnosis, a lack of funding and navigating a complicated system are all part of the problem. the government is promising early intervention and a national scheme that brings education and health services together. we propose to establish a new, single national special educational needs and disabilities and alternative provision system across education, health and care, setting clear standards for how children and young people's needs are identified and met. proposals also include changing the culture in mainstream schools to be more inclusive, with additional training and staff. schools like this one in bradford are at the forefront of change. lilycroft primary has been part of a trial, bringing together health and local education teams for

early intervention. it would take you between five and six years to get a diagnosis of autism for children in the centre of bradford. you would be waiting and waiting and waiting. and sometimes parents would then give up, if you like, because it was such a stressful process. we don't wait any more, we get the child the help they need, so the gap between the children and their peers is minimised. labour and teaching unions agree that change is needed, but say the plans are not ambitious enough to transform a system in crisis. for this family, things are looking up. after battling for six years, harrison has now been placed in a special school in huddersfield. the first time i spoke to his new head teacher, he had me in tears. i mean, you feel so emotional because year after year after year you have been told that your child is the problem. and within a couple of weeks of being at a new special education school, he's got everything he needs. you can see a future for him,

you can see, you know, potential that wasn't there before, and it's brilliant. elaine dunkley, bbc news. anoosheh ashoori, the british iranian man who was freed from prison in tehran earlier this month, says he's pleased to finally be back with his family in the uk, but cannot understand why it didn't happen sooner. he'd been held in iran since 2017 on spying charges, and was released alongside nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, after the uk settled a military debt with iran. he's been speaking to our diplomatic correspondent, caroline hawley. well done, well done. i still can't believe sometimes that i am back. like when i was in my cell, i used to pinch myself, but then i would wake up to the reality of being in my cell. here, it is the other way round. i am trying to pinch myself that this is the reality and i don't want to wake up.

it's quite challenging. it is going to need a lot of effort from me to get back to my normal life. so these are them? yes, my diaries. nearly 3000 pages. wow. and some were not returned. well, they were returned. i had to tear them up. because i was worried in case they are being taken... this starts from day one, which i wrote when i was actually taken to the prison. because it was fresh in my mind, i could write from day one. this is all through my time at the interrogation centre. 13th august 2017, my arrest, how

i was arrested, and my first day. he drew a sketch of one of the cells. this is where he was held after he attempted several times to take his own life. there are people there who are like zombies. theyjust go back and forth. they are in their own world. because of what they have been through? yes. but i know that i am innocent. i have ended up in that hell. so i reason with myself that the others, also, they could be innocent. and when you get to know them, and you get to know about their lives, with their families, you will see that many of them are innocent. and unfortunately, they are stuck there. can you describe that hell for us? i know in your cell you had bedbugs, cockroaches, there were rats. what was it like? these are all the physical things you are confronting every day and night.

but the more painful side of it is when you see the suffering of the people in the cells. what you cannot see, the invisible part of it, are the shrapnels that have hit the members of the families, their wives, their children. and sherry, your life, the children's lives, were completely hijacked by what happened? absolutely, absolutely. i think we, for almost five years, we have been so focused on continuing this fight, and trying to get his name out there, fighting on so many fronts at the same time, and also, trying to earn a living. it was hell. it's been a living hell, really. what did you learn about yourself? resilience. you really learn how to be resilient, because

you have so many challenges from the time that you get up. the actor will smith has apologised to the comedian chris rock for slapping him during the oscars ceremony on sunday night. smith also swore at rock, who'd made a joke about his wife. smith's statement, on instagram, came after the academy awards organisers said they'd be reviewing what happened to decide whether any action should be taken. our correspondent in los angeles, david willis, has more. to do what we do, you've got to be able to take abuse, you've got to be able to have people talk crazy about you. will smith issued a tearful apology both to the academy and his fellow nominees on sunday night. but of one man, there was no mention. jada, i love you. gi jane 2, can't wait to see it. all right? chris rock's joke about smith's wife's hair loss led to her husband

storming the stage and this slap across the face. oh, wow! as a stunned, star—studded audience looked on, the actor proceeded to hurl profanity—laden abuse from his seat. keep my wife's name out of your... sound dips. ..mouth. i'm going to. nearly 24 hours after the academy awards got under way here, came a direct apology to chris rock. posting on instagram, will smith said he was wrong and out of line. "violence in all its forms is poisonous and destructive," he wrote. "my behaviour at last night's academy awards was unacceptable and inexcusable." now at this point, i can only laugh. as you all know, i've been struggling with alopecia. i smith also mentioned his wife's highly public battle with hair loss, saying a joke about her medical condition proved too much for him to bear. his behaviour on what should have been one of the best nights

of his life has been condemned by the academy and an inquiry is under way which could lead to him being censured or expelled. now the party is over, he'll have to confront the growing sense of shock and disbelief over what happened on sunday night. the slap that was seen around the world is unlikely to cost him his oscar, but there's a growing feeling that such a highly public act of violence cannot go unpublished. ——cannot go unpunished. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. the burrell collection in glasgow, home to an internationally—renowned collection of 9,000 artefacts, has reopened to the public today — after a five year renovation programme costing more than £68 million. our scotland correspondent, lorna gordon, has been to look round. welcome to the burrell collection! welcome back! cheering and applause. the first visitors back at one

of glasgow's best—loved museums, opening its doors for the first time in nearly six years. it looks fabulous. really fabulous. delighted to be here and see everything they've done. gorgeous. i actually really like how you can see the outside as well. like, when you're in, it is so pretty. it's fantastic! and what do you think of the burrell? excellent. this long renovation has vastly increased the gallery space, ensuring more of the collection can be seen than ever before. i initially had a list of 800 objects for me to look at and start thinking about conservation treatment, and this is definitely one of my favourite objects. i think it is their facial expressions and the hand gestures, and you canjust imagine any kind of group of people, even today, coming together, maybe listening to someone, and the two there in the background look a bit like they're starting to whisper or they have a bit of a gossip. the museum's walls of glass, a virtue which had also

become a challenge. the building had been suffering from the wet west coast weather. it's now more watertight, less vulnerable to changes in heat. the hope is the collection will once again make culture and history more accessible to all, as the country emerges from covid. a place like this gives that communal, coming together, you know, that we didn't have during lockdown, but the collections themselves, they are the real glory here. the burrell is a stunning space in a unique location, with its persian carpets, egyptian antiquities, pottery and sculptures, this huge personal collection, gifted to the city many decades ago, offers a unique window on the world. lorna gordon, bbc news, at the burrell collection in glasgow. looks magnificent. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren.

hello there. it's a colder day today, the highest temperatures where we're seeing the best of the sunshine across more western parts of the uk, but things are going to get much colder. the really cold air at the moment is sitting to the north of scotland, but that will sweep down across the whole of the country as we get these northerly winds bringing down arctic air. and that means some sleet and snow quite widely, although no great amounts. these are the temperatures towards the end of the afternoon, and it's particularly chilly across northern parts of scotland, where we've got that weather front, cold air coming in behind that. that weather front is bringing this band of thicker cloud and rain, some sleet and snow in there as well. and that continues to push its way down across scotland into northern parts of england, perhaps northern ireland. following on from that, some snow and some ice in northern areas of scotland. certainly frosty conditions here later on in the night, a little bit chilly across some parts of england and wales, where we have some breaks in the cloud that lead to some mist and fog, which will slowly lift tomorrow morning, looks quite cloudy for many, perhaps some sunshine in the southwest and a few showers. there's our main band of wet weather on the weather front

that should cheer up. in northern ireland, wet weather pushes down through wales, the midlands, northern england, some sleet and snow in the pennines, the peak district and some sunshine and wintry showers following into scotland, perhaps the north east of england later, only five degrees here last of any mild areas in the south. but that wet weather continues southwards overnight, turns to sleet and snow could be a dusting of snow even across some southern parts of england. a wintry start to thursday morning with a widespread frost and some icy patches. this is the last of the sleet and snow to clear the south east corner on thursday. and then we've got sunshine and wintry showers, hail, sleet and snow. they'll get driven towards the west on these rather strong and gusty winds as well. and this is the day where it's going to feel particularly chilly in the wind as well. temperatures, perhaps in the eastern side of the uk, only six or seven degrees. but when you factor in the stronger winds that we'll have here, probably feel more like two or three degrees, quite a contrast from what we've seen over the last couple of weeks. things start to calm down a bit. i think by the end of the week, this high pressure tending to push in from the atlantic, reducing the strength of the wind.

won't be as windy, but we'll start with a widespread frost on friday. some icy patches, still a few more wintry showers coming in, especially to eastern areas. then we'll see the cloud thickening in scotland, some rain, sleet and some snow over the hills as well. not quite so cold, i think, on friday, nor indeed over the weekend.

this is bbc news. i'm rebecca jones. the headlines... 20 fines are to be issued, as part of the police inquiry into parties held in downing street that breached coronavirus lockdown rules. russia says it will drastically reduce combat operations around ukraine's capital and northern city, more than a month after moscow invaded the country. translation: in order to increase | mutual trust and create necessary| conditions for further negotiations. choral singing. the queen and members of the royal family have attended the memorial service for the duke of edinburgh, at westminster abbey. the head of p&0 ferries says he won't re—employ the 800 workers sacked earlier this month — and that doing so would cause the company to collapse.

the actor will smith apologises to chris rock after slapping him on stage at the oscars. he calls his behaviour "unacceptable and inexcusable". hello and welcome to bbc news. 20 fines are being issued to people who attended gatherings in government buildings during the coronavirus lockdown. the metropolitan police has been investigating dozens of events which may have breached covid regulations, including some attended by the prime minister. more fines are possible as police say there's still a significant amount of material to be assessed. our political correspondent, nick eardley reports behind these doors, rules that changed lives were drawn up — christmases were cancelled,

we were all told to avoid mixing with friends, even family. but now the metropolitan police has decided lockdown laws were broken by people working in government buildings at the time. in a statement this morning, the force said... and here could be more to come. the met added... it is important thatjustice is done without fear or favour in cases of this nature, and we all want to see people held to account if they've done wrong. morning. is the pm going to get a fine, sir? boris johnson hasn't received a fine yet. we don't know exactly who has, but a lot has changed since the prime minister

said this in december. what i will tell you is that all the guidelines were observed and continue to be observed. since then there have been apologies and calls for the prime minister to go. i don't think that the man who set the rules and asked the british people to make unimaginable sacrifices and then has been found to have repeatedly flouted them can remain in post. we think he should resign. but some conservative mps have been more reluctant as a result of the conflict in ukraine. some of the intense pressure may have died down in recent weeks, but many conservative mps were deeply uncomfortable with allegations of parties at the same time that everybody was being told to stay at home. those mps will be waiting to see who is fined and how the prime minister reacts. whatever happens next, one fact has been established — the police think that covid laws were broken in some of the very buildings where they were being set. were broken in some of the very

that means difficult questions for the prime minister in the coming days, about whether he oversaw a culture which allowed lockdown rules to be broken. nick eardley, bbc news, westminster. earlier i spoke to nick and asked him what the reaction had been to today's developments. well, rebecca, opposition parties are saying what they said earlier in this crisis, which is that they think the prime minister needs to go, that, ultimately, he's the one responsible for setting the culture in downing street, for making sure that staff aren't flouting the rules that were being set by government, and they think he's failed in that duty. we haven't had the clamour of tory mps coming out yet to say that they think that things have changed, that they think either that the prime minister should go or that it's now time to move on, and i think there are a couple of reasons for that.

one is that we just don't know who has been fined yet. the police aren't going to tell us. downing street has said that the prime minister hasn't received notice of a fixed penalty so far, but that potentially could change in some point. it was quite clear from the metropolitan police statement this morning that more fines could come down the line, so this process is farfrom over, and until we get a bit more clarity on who exactly has been fined, and, ultimately, whether that's going to include politicians like the prime minister, i don't think tory mps are prepared to say yet what they think should happen. but it is really important to point out that, you know, back injanuary and february, when this story was dominating the headlines, there was a different backdrop. some of the tory mps who at that time were saying very publicly that they thought boris johnson's time was up, that he'd lost the public trust, that people were so angry that he now had to go, some of them have now said the opposite — that they don't think that now

is the time for a change of leader. they have pointed to, for example, the war in ukraine and the need for steady leadership, as they see it, here. so, this is a complicated picture. the politics of this has changed over the last couple of months. i think the pressure on the prime minister is less than it was, but it would increase again if he were to be fined himself. so interesting, isn't it, nick, because before the war in ukraine this was the story that was dominating the headlines, wasn't it? and borisjohnson, i think it's fair to say, was at times in a place of great political danger. your view seems to be, at the moment, that he's safe for now, though? i think certainly in the next few hours and potentially the next few days that is the case. does it change if we find out that the prime minister himself has been fined? quite possibly it does lead to more tory mps saying that they've got a problem with the prime minister and they think he should stand aside. whether that leads to the big enough

clamour that you'd need to remove borisjohnson from office, i'm not so sure we're in that place at the moment, but this has been a story that's changed significantly over time, so, look, we can't make any firm conclusions. rebecca, it is worth, though, just taking the stand—back picture from this and remembering that, in december, borisjohnson was telling us and the media, was telling parliament, that he didn't think rules had been broken, that he had been, as he put it, "repeatedly assured" that the guidance had been followed in downing street and in whitehall in these parties. he said at the time the parties hadn't happened. the metropolitan police today has made a differentjudgment. it believes that some rules were broken. that's why it issued these 20 fines and has left open the door to issuing more. that is really significant because it means that, in the very buildings that covid rules were being set, the police now think some of those covid rules were being broken, and, at the very least, that's a deeply embarrassing moment

for the prime minister. nick eardley there. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford has more on how the police will decide the order in which the fixed penalties are issued. to look back at what people are being given fixed penalty notices for, the rules said you mustn't leave home except to go to work if that work cannot be done from home or to take exercise once a day. 20 of the cases they've looked at someone has done something which wasn't, essentially, work. they've done something which, in layman terms, was a party rather than work. those are the ones which were easy conclusions to get from the initial round of questionnaires.

they looked at the initial round of questionnaires, got back a load of them and said, well, these ones just patently appear to be breaking the rules. there is a lot more to go through and what they are trying to do now is look at slightly more difficult judgments about whether or not for the people have broken the rules and that is going to take time. they talk about whether the threshold gets met and so it is possible that they think all of the ones now are in question but that it does just more likely that it is working through the material. they have always said that they would do this in tranches and this is the first tranche. how long could this take? they have always said weeks not months and we are towards the end of a small number of weeks now so it is getting into the month. i don't think it will take a huge amount more time. they were starting to do interviews last week and so that's cases where they felt they had to talk to somebody about what had

happened or what their view is of what happened so that might mean that we are getting into slightly more complicated territory and there are people who have definitely been taking some legal advice and when lawyers get involved things can also get complicated so, it shouldn't mean two or three months more. it should be a couple of weeks more and then of course that then opens up the possibility for sue gray to publish her report. but we won't have that before the police investigation is concluded? we will not get sue gray's report until the police say they have concluded their investigation. i think that will be a few weeks down the line. thank you. i'm joined now by the leader of the liberal democrats, sir ed davey. very good afternoons to you. these 20 fines confirmed that the first time that the rules were broken. what, in your view, to the consequences need to be? the prime minister should _ consequences need to be? the prime minister should resign. _ consequences need to be? the prime minister should resign. he _ consequences need to be? the prime minister should resign. he told i minister should resign. he told parliament on the british people but over guidelines and rules have been followed. the met police concluded

that they weren't followed. the book should stop with the prime minister for what happened in the number ten, his office, if you like, and he clearly wasn't in control. it is quite long for him to hire expensive lawyers and try to hide behind them and then throwjunior staff to the wolves —— quite wrong. sue gray's interim report concluded it was a failure of leadership and judgment, a damning indictment. it is clear to me that if the police say levels of the premise should go. but me that if the police say levels of the premise should go.— the premise should go. but boris johnson himself, _ the premise should go. but boris johnson himself, as _ the premise should go. but boris johnson himself, as far— the premise should go. but boris johnson himself, as far as i the premise should go. but boris johnson himself, as far as far i the premise should go. but boris johnson himself, as far as far as | the premise should go. but boris i johnson himself, as far as far as we understand, hasn't been issued with a fixed penalty notice. i suppose i'm not entirely clear by what we've learnt to date means he should resign. learnt to date means he should resin. ~ ., ., ., resign. well, he told parliament the new rules had _ resign. well, he told parliament the new rules had been _ resign. well, he told parliament the new rules had been broken - resign. well, he told parliament the new rules had been broken and i resign. well, he told parliament the i new rules had been broken and police concluded they were so he clearly lied to parliament. people have got the evidence of at least three parties that he attended. i think it

is cut and dry in for the prime minister to try to vehicle out is very unseemly. junior members of staff are being thrown to the wolves. it is really clear. by the prime minister. that is not leadership and i go back to what sue gray said the senior people, the prime minister, failed in leadership and that is why he should go. nonetheless, this isn't the time to change leaders, is it? in the middle of a war and the moment of international crisis i of a war and the moment of international crisis— international crisis i think it strengthens _ international crisis i think it strengthens the _ international crisis i think it strengthens the case i international crisis i think it strengthens the case of i international crisis i think itj strengthens the case of the international crisis i think it - strengthens the case of the premises to go, actually. in the moment of crisis whether it is an international one with a whopping ukraine of domestic one with the cost of living emergency people need to have a prime minister that they can i'm afraid it's notjust the opposition parties that no longer trust the prime minister, if they ever did. i think the british people have lost trust in the british prime minister and i think a new leader would mean our country was stronger at these moments of crisis and,

actually, it would be a good thing for the country and evolving need to play in ukraine and tackling the cost of living crisis plate facing families and pensioners across the country would be a good thing if the prime minister went. hang country would be a good thing if the prime minister went.— country would be a good thing if the prime minister went. hang on, boris johnson has — prime minister went. hang on, boris johnson has been _ prime minister went. hang on, boris johnson has been publicly _ prime minister went. hang on, boris johnson has been publicly praised i prime minister went. hang on, boris johnson has been publicly praised by president zelensky and this has been praised for being a staunch ally during ukraine war. doesn't what is in ukraine really to both parties at downing street?— downing street? well, i am proud that this in — downing street? well, i am proud that this in played _ downing street? well, i am proud that this in played an _ downing street? well, i am proud that this in played an important i that this in played an important part in supporting the ukrainian army and it is notjust the prime minister, farfrom it, actually, it has been cross—party support for those actions and ben wallace, the secretary of state for defence, i freely admit has done a very good job. he was preparing for when the prime minister was distracted by partygate, that was not the problem. the prime minister will be distracted by all this will mean a prime minister who is fully on it and i would like to see a new prime minister working with the secretary of state ben wallace to make sure we

are supporting president zelensky and ukrainian effort to defeat putin was back army. d0 and ukrainian effort to defeat putin was back army-— was back army. do you accept, thou~h, was back army. do you accept, though. that — was back army. do you accept, though, that maybe _ was back army. do you accept, though, that maybe the i was back army. do you accept, though, that maybe the heat i was back army. do you accept, i though, that maybe the heat has gone out of this with the public, with probably other conservative mps as well? the latest poll showed the conservatives three points behind labour. they have close the gap. the height of partygate it was eight points. people aren't really much. at this any more, add a? it is points. people aren't really much. at this any more, add a?- at this any more, add a? it is not about the — at this any more, add a? it is not about the poll— at this any more, add a? it is not about the poll or _ at this any more, add a? it is not about the poll or whether - at this any more, add a? it is not about the poll or whether people | at this any more, add a? it is not i about the poll or whether people are forced, it is about what is right. it is just not right for the finest who sets the rules, failing to have one rule and the rest of us to face another one. i'm particularly taken with what representatives of the bereaved families, families bereaved due to clover the same today. they are saying that the prime minister should go because it is wrong to have one rule for him and his friends and another rule for the rest of us and it is also run that the banister has misled parliament, like the parliament and the british public on numerous occasions and it

doesn't really matter what the polls say, that is just wrong, and doesn't really matter what the polls say, that isjust wrong, and if conservative mps can't say that, if conservative mps can't say that, if conservative mps can't actually stand up and be counted and make sure that the right thing happens in parliament i'm afraid the conservative mps are guilty by association with this indecent prime minister. �* ., , association with this indecent prime minister. _ ., association with this indecent prime minister. ., minister. boris johnson has, of course, insisted _ minister. boris johnson has, of course, insisted the _ minister. boris johnson has, of course, insisted the guidelinesj minister. boris johnson has, of- course, insisted the guidelines were followed at all times. i suppose a final question, he has said he will reveal, if he is issued with a fixed penalty notice. if he isn't issued with warm, will you withdraw your call for him to resign? tia. with warm, will you withdraw your call for him to resign? no, because he is the prime _ call for him to resign? no, because he is the prime minister. _ call for him to resign? no, because he is the prime minister. he i call for him to resign? no, because he is the prime minister. he is i call for him to resign? no, because he is the prime minister. he is the | he is the prime minister. he is the head of downing street. rules were not followed. he said they were followed, they were not followed. it will be surprised to know i've never thought he was fit to be prime minister but what has happened during his tenure, particularly over partygate, i think is confirmed in the eyes of millions of people that he is not fit to be prime minister.

and, frankly, i think people will be very sceptical if he doesn't get a fine this. they've seen the pictures. he may be hiding expensive lawyers to try and wriggle out on a technicality but i think the pictures show he was guilty of breaking the law.— pictures show he was guilty of breakin: the law. ~ . ., , breaking the law. well, that remains to be seen- — breaking the law. well, that remains to be seen. sir— breaking the law. well, that remains to be seen. sir ed _ breaking the law. well, that remains to be seen. sir ed davey, _ breaking the law. well, that remains to be seen. sir ed davey, we - breaking the law. well, that remains to be seen. sir ed davey, we must i to be seen. sir ed davey, we must leave it there. many thanks. russia says it will "drastically reduce combat operations" around the ukrainian capital kyiv and the northern city of chernihiv. that's according to russia's deputy defence minister who was among officials in turkey for face—to—face talks with a delegation from ukraine. tim muffett reports. in istanbul, the security is high and so are the stakes. talks between ukraine and russia have been taking place, turkey hopeful it could succeed

where others have failed and negotiate a ceasefire. translation: it would be| to the benefit of everybody to achieve a ceasefire and establish peace as soon as possible. the whole world is waiting for good news from you. the announcements that followed would certainly seem to be positive developments. the first commitment from russia to scale back military operations. translation: the ministry of defence of the russian federation, _ in order to increase mutual trust and create the necessary conditions for further negotiations, and achieving the final goal, agreeing and signing the above—mentioned agreement, has decided to cardinally, drastically reduce the military activities in the kyiv and chernihiv directions.

ukrainian negotiators have said they would accept neutral status, one of russia's key demands, in return for security guarantees. translation: we will not... join any military- and political unions. military training on our| territory will take place if the other country agree. but in ukraine, preparations for a long conflict continue. members of the territorial defence have been in training, volunteers with ordinary lives being taught from scratch how to use weapons. russia has said it will be focusing its efforts on territory claimed by russian—backed separatists in the eastern region of donbas. translation: the first stage - of the operation has been completed. the combat potential of the ukrainian armed forces

has been reduced and we can focus efforts on achieving the main goal, the liberation of donbas. but in mykolaiv, a russian strike hit a regional government building. seven people were killed. 22 were injured. and thousands are still trapped in the besieged city of mariupol. stark reminders of the devastation still felt across ukraine. tim muffett, bbc news. let's get some reaction from moscow and our correspondentjenny hill. i wonder how significant is this announcement that russia will drastically reduce combat operations amount you can hit in the north? in many respects, it is quite hard at a stage. we could take them at their word and say that they have said they want to do this in order to increase mutual trust and make sure

negotiations can continue but i think it is also important to bear in mind, of course, these arejust two cities in the entire country. they are not the only places where russian troops have been active and, secondly, we have to look at the fact that as you saw in ten's report that moscow has said it will now focus on what it says is liberating the donbas region which is significant, of course, because we know that one of the kremlin's demands that it once ukrainian government who, in effect, hand over control of that passive ukraine. make it independent is what they savour what they really mean is to make sure it comes under russian control that is you have to look at where this sits within russia's aims. we know that the moment they are saying that ukrainian proposals need to be put to vladimir putin and it is he who will decide whether they are acceptable to him before any kind of full withdrawal could even be considered. so i think these are very early stages and i think

there is a great deal of scepticism about what is going on, not least, of course, because most western military experts have been pointing out for some time now but perhaps this special military operation of mr putin hasn't been going as well as he would have liked, particularly in places like seve and around seve and perhaps this is actually quite opportune for him to move back from there, possibly, to regroup, we don't know. it is likely, of course, that at some point mr putin would like to say to the russian people my special military operation is going to come to an input in orderfor that he is going to have to present them with some kind of victory and so i think we're simply going to have to wait and see what those proposals are in detail but also the reaction from the kremlin to those proposals. reaction from the kremlin to those ro osals. , , reaction from the kremlin to those --roosals., , ., reaction from the kremlin to those --roosals. , ., ., ~ ., proposals. jenny, good to talk our correspondent _ proposals. jenny, good to talk our correspondent in _ proposals. jenny, good to talk our correspondent in moscow. - proposals. jenny, good to talk our correspondent in moscow. thanki proposals. jenny, good to talk our i

correspondent in moscow. thank you. the government has put forward proposals for children with special educational needs or disabilities to receive early help from schools in england. it's part of a long—awaited government review, which was launched in 2019. £70 million of additional funding is being made available for the measures, which aim to put an end to the postcode lottery affecting levels of support. our education correspondent elaine dunkley reports. funny ears... there's no pins in the ears. harrison is nine years old and has autism. getting him the support he needs in a mainstream school has been difficult. in one term alone, he was excluded 14 times. school were terrible. they were sending him home on a daily basis. i was called out of work to go support in school. he wasn't doing any teacher—led activities at all, he was just going in, sitting in a room with two teachers on his own. for too many children like harrison, there are delays and disruption, with varying support depending

on where you live in england. years of trying to get diagnosis, a lack of funding, and navigating a complicated system are all part of the problem. the government is promising early intervention and a national scheme that brings education and health services together. we propose to establish a new, single national special educational needs and disabilities and alternative provision system across education, health and care, setting clear standards for how children and young people's needs are identified and met. proposals also include changing the culture in mainstream schools to be more inclusive, with additional training and staff. schools like this one in bradford are at the forefront of change. lilycroft primary has been part of a trial, bringing together health and local education teams for early intervention. it would take you between five

and six years to get a diagnosis of autism for children in the centre of bradford. you would be waiting and waiting and waiting. and waiting and waiting, and sometimes parents would then give up, if you like, because it was such a stressful process. we don't wait any more — we get the child the help they need, so the gap between the children and their peers is minimised. labour and teaching unions agree that change is needed, but say the plans are not ambitious enough to transform a system in crisis. for this family, things are looking up. after battling for six years, harrison has now been placed in a special school in huddersfield. the first time i spoke to his new head teacher, he had me in tears. i mean, you feel so emotional because year after year after year of being told that your child is the problem, and within a couple of weeks of being at a new special education school, he's got everything he needs.

you can see a future for him, you can see, you know, potential that wasn't there before, and it's brilliant. elaine dunkley, bbc news. let's speak to former health secetary and dyslexia sufferer, matt hancock good to have your business, mr hancock. thanks forjoining us on bbc news. we have a few things to talk to about but i would like to start with this if i may. there seems to be one word which keeps cropping up every time i read about the current system as it stands to support children with special needs and that word is spoken. is that you agree with? i and that word is spoken. is that you agree with?— agree with? i suddenly think there are hue agree with? i suddenly think there are huge changes _ agree with? i suddenly think there are huge changes that _ agree with? i suddenly think there are huge changes that need i agree with? i suddenly think there are huge changes that need to i agree with? i suddenly think there are huge changes that need to be | are huge changes that need to be made. i don't want to criticise people who are in the system and really trying to do their best but, you know, people do their best despite the system, not because of it, and so i really welcome this government move today and the work that nadhim zahawi has put in to in to try to transform the system for the better, you know, with the standards especially about early intervention. i mean, that was a really... it is a heart—warming story in the end but had a sin that

you've just played but it is repeated over and over again across the country that people have to wait too long, whether it is for dyslexia identification, which is something obviously very close to my heart or other neuro disability is a more broadly for those children who need support. figs broadly for those children who need su ort. a ,, broadly for those children who need su--ort. a , ., broadly for those children who need sun-oft. , . ., support. as you say, people have to wait too long- _ support. as you say, people have to wait too long. i'm _ support. as you say, people have to wait too long. i'm a _ support. as you say, people have to wait too long. i'm a bit— support. as you say, people have to wait too long. i'm a bit puzzled, i wait too long. i'm a bit puzzled, this review was launched in 2019 and this review was launched in 2019 and this is only a green paper which in many ways is the least firm set of proposals that can be put forward. why has it taken long. i proposals that can be put forward. why has it taken long.— why has it taken long. i think it has been a _ why has it taken long. i think it has been a bit _ why has it taken long. i think it has been a bit unfair _ why has it taken long. i think it has been a bit unfair to - why has it taken long. i think it has been a bit unfair to criticise the secretary of state because he is in place for six months and he has got this paper out. it is important that it got this paper out. it is important thatitis got this paper out. it is important that it is a consultation document. you know, the green paper means, as you say, in government terms, putting out proposals for feedback rather than a white paper which is this is definitely what we are going to do. i actually think that is

really important, especially in this area, because we have to now responds, the campaigners and i will responds, the campaigners and i will respond to this paper to say that we think this is where you have got it right, for instance i think they are very good on most teacher training because every teacher is a teacher of a child with a special educational needs because there is such a spectrum of those needs but there are other areas where they need to go further. you know, making sure you have universal assessment, meaning that you can get the data to do the identification will speed up that identification enormously and i think that that was not a very important part of what the interview. so, you know, you can always say why didn't we do things faster. that was a pandemic, of course, but i'm not blaming that. what i'm saying is that i think the government and the new educational secretary has really picked this one up secretary has really picked this one up and the consultation part of it is an important part of getting this one right. is an important part of getting this one riuht. ~ ., ~' ., is an important part of getting this one riuht. ~ ., ~ ., ., ., .,

one right. would like to move on to the news we've _ one right. would like to move on to the news we've had _ one right. would like to move on to the news we've had today _ one right. would like to move on to the news we've had today that i one right. would like to move on to the news we've had today that 20 i the news we've had today that 20 fines have been issued to people for attending gatherings in government buildings showing the coronavirus lockdown. i wondered first of all whether you had received a fixed penalty whether you had received a fixed enal j ., . ., whether you had received a fixed -jenal ., . ., ., �* ., penalty noticeno, i haven't had an hint penalty noticeno, i haven't had anything to _ penalty noticeno, i haven't had anything to do _ penalty noticeno, i haven't had anything to do with _ penalty noticeno, i haven't had anything to do with it. - penalty noticeno, i haven't had anything to do with it. i - penalty noticeno, i haven't had anything to do with it. i have i penalty noticeno, i haven't had i anything to do with it. i have been sent a questionnaire, i wasn't at any of the parties that the police are investigating, so no. gatherings in downin: are investigating, so no. gatherings in downing street _ are investigating, so no. gatherings in downing street at _ are investigating, so no. gatherings in downing street at this _ are investigating, so no. gatherings in downing street at this time. i are investigating, so no. gatherings in downing street at this time. of i in downing street at this time. of course i in downing street at this time. (zjt course i went to meetings and i was straight at the time because i was the health secretary but i didn't attend any of the meeting have been investigating. just attend any of the meeting have been investigating-— investigating. just to clarify you didn't even _ investigating. just to clarify you didn't even receive _ investigating. just to clarify you didn't even receive an - didn't even receive an questionnaire? nonetheless, questionnaire? correct. nonetheless, we know that — questionnaire? correct. nonetheless, we know that the _ questionnaire? correct. nonetheless, we know that the prime _ questionnaire? correct. nonetheless, we know that the prime and _ questionnaire? correct. nonetheless, we know that the prime and studied i we know that the prime and studied in the first time these 20 fines confirmed that the rules were broken and i would imply the prime minister has misled parliament. can he stay in hisjob? has misled parliament. can he stay in his “ob? , ., in his job? yes, he can and he should. in his job? yes, he can and he should- he — in his job? yes, he can and he should. he has— in his job? yes, he can and he should. he has apologised i in his job? yes, he can and he|

should. he has apologised and acknowledged that there were problems and major changes in downing street but i think we need to look at this within a context of what is going on in the world. we know, the report before last on your programme was about the war in ukraine where the prime minister has been, frankly, playing a leading role globally, let alone here at home. there were obviously very significant economic challenges we need to face as a country which we have been addressing in the last couple of weeks and, you know, on covid—19 the prime minister got the call is right. if you think about it, most countries in the world are still in covid restrictions, certainly in the developed world, and we were one of the first countries out because of getting the big calls right like on the vaccine and on lifting the lockdown in the summer when lots of people were saying don't. you know, you've got to take these things in the round.

now is not the moment at all, and i think the apology should stand. nonetheless, he resigned after you admitted to breaking the rules after the jump at the height of the pandemic. it may not have been the right time of the best time of the health secretary to go but you had to go. the end of the day, the buck stops with the man at the top, doesn't it? in stops with the man at the top, doesn't it?— stops with the man at the top, doesn't it? . , , ., ~ , doesn't it? in a sense, it makes it all the more _ doesn't it? in a sense, it makes it all the more powerful _ doesn't it? in a sense, it makes it all the more powerful that - doesn't it? in a sense, it makes it all the more powerful that i i doesn't it? in a sense, it makes it all the more powerful that i don't| all the more powerful that i don't think she should go. i think that you've got to think about who should be leading the country and especially with vladimir putin doing what he is doing in ukraine whether prime minister's personal relationship you can see with vladimir zelensky is very strong. we are corralling the global response to russia and making sure that russia is being pushed back and therefore the global liberal order, what has kept us safe, essentially, since 1945, that is being protected

by, of course, first and foremost, the unbelievable bravery of the ukrainians but also by the international support from sanctions and provision of weaponry that has been led by borisjohnson. so you've got to look at all the things that are going on and i think the prime minister has apologised on this matter but you've absolutely got to take it in the round. x�*t�*ou matter but you've absolutely got to take it in the round.— take it in the round. you may have apologised — take it in the round. you may have apologised but _ take it in the round. you may have apologised but he _ take it in the round. you may have apologised but he hasn't _ take it in the round. you may have apologised but he hasn't really i apologised but he hasn't really accepted that the rules were broken and you noted that he may changes in downing street and ijust and you noted that he may changes in downing street and i just wonder and you noted that he may changes in downing street and ijust wonder how acceptability is perhaps the more junior members of staff and tend to lose theirjobs or be reprimanded or be fined if the man in charge stays. that was met not fair, isn't it? we haven't seen _ that was met not fair, isn't it? - haven't seen any of the details behind that but we have seen the number ten operation be strengthened. that's is undoubtedly true and as a backbench mp having seen how that operation is working

we have seen it really effective in the since those changes have been made which is a good thing. serra; the since those changes have been made which is a good thing. sorry to interru t. made which is a good thing. sorry to interrupt- i — made which is a good thing. sorry to interrupt. i suppose _ made which is a good thing. sorry to interrupt. i suppose what _ made which is a good thing. sorry to interrupt. i suppose what concerns i interrupt. i suppose what concerns you made it the time of the prime minister and officials about the nature of gatherings at number ten? when i went to number ten as health secretary i would meet the prime minister and others to have meetings about how to handle the prime comic pandemic, whether that was inside the building or outside because it is safer obviously to have meetings outside. all of that is immaterial. what i was doing was delivering on thejob of being what i was doing was delivering on the job of being health secretary in a pandemic, making sure that we got the vaccine and got that rolled out fastest in the world, you know, that was one of the things we have been doing, tackling some of the other really big issues that we all know about the pandemic era. and that's, you know, that was my totalfocus.

during this period. as i say, i wasn't aware of these gatherings that have been looked into because i wasn't, you know, iwasn't that have been looked into because i wasn't, you know, i wasn't invited and i didn't go. can you understand that this is about trust, isn't it? trust that those people who are making the rules are following the rules and that this has damaged the public perception of that trust? flit that this has damaged the public perception of that trust? of course i perception of that trust? of course i understand _ perception of that trust? of course i understand that. _ perception of that trust? of course i understand that. of— perception of that trust? of course i understand that. of course i i perception of that trust? of course i understand that. of course i do. | perception of that trust? of course i understand that. of course i do. i understand that perhaps more than anyone. i also, understand that perhaps more than anyone. ialso, as understand that perhaps more than anyone. i also, as a representative, of my constituents, i have to make a judgment about who is the best person to lead the country and my judgment without a shadow of the doubt is that the best person to lead the country is borisjohnson, who is delivering the sort of leadership that we need to keep us safe in very difficult times. and thatis safe in very difficult times. and that is absolutely clear to anybody

who watches the news every night, not only that we are facing this enormous geopolitical challenge and threat from vladimir putin, frankly, in a way that i thought those threats had... i thought those threats had... i thought those threats belonged to the 20th century, not the 21st.- threats belonged to the 20th century, not the 21st. would you still say this _ century, not the 21st. would you still say this if _ century, not the 21st. would you still say this if boris _ century, not the 21st. would you still say this if boris johnson i century, not the 21st. would you still say this if boris johnson was still say this if borisjohnson was issued with a fine? yes, i think the olice of issued with a fine? yes, i think the police of course _ issued with a fine? yes, i think the police of course i _ police of course i got to look into it and the broaderjudgment of who should be prime minister is based on the future and who is best placed to lead this country now, not only because of the record on getting things right that i mention, but also because of the situation the country finds itself in with an adversary undertaking an aggressive, illegal war in europe, where we are the ones, and boris is very

personally leading the charge to support ukraine, to defend its borders, and the defence of its borders, and the defence of its borders is notjust about ukraine, it's about making sure that big countries can't bully small countries. and that has been the basis of the stability of the global orderfor almost a century, and it's an incredibly important principle, and it's one that primarily the ukrainians but with the very strong support of the uk, and that support, the western alliance being led by, you know, boris being one of the leading players in making that happen. leading players in making that ha en. ., . ~' leading players in making that hauen. ., . ~' . leading players in making that ha en, ., ., o’ ., o’ ., happen. you talk about ukraine. i riaht happen. you talk about ukraine. i right you've _ happen. you talk about ukraine. i right you've offered _ happen. you talk about ukraine. i right you've offered take - happen. you talk about ukraine. i right you've offered take in i happen. you talk about ukraine. i right you've offered take in a i right you've offered take in a ukrainian family?— right you've offered take in a ukrainian family? how ukrainian family? yes, i have. how is that going? _ ukrainian family? yes, i have. how is that going? i _ ukrainian family? yes, i have. how is that going? i was _ ukrainian family? yes, i have. how is that going? i was reading - ukrainian family? yes, i have. how is that going? i was reading in i ukrainian family? yes, i have. how is that going? i was reading in the l is that going? i was reading in the times today that there are enormous delays in matching refugees with families, and i wondered why that was and what your experience was. i am connected to a family who i am

looking forward to welcoming to my home in the suffolk. they are currently in poland, and obviously, i've applied for the scheme and i am working with them to bring them here safely as soon as possible. we working with them to bring them here safely as soon as possible.— safely as soon as possible. we must leave it there. _ safely as soon as possible. we must leave it there, we're _ safely as soon as possible. we must leave it there, we're really - leave it there, we're really grateful for your leave it there, we're really gratefulfor your time, thanks leave it there, we're really grateful for your time, thanks so much. ., . ., sport and a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, good afternoon. hello and welcome, we have a busy evening of international football ahead for the home nations but we start with boxing and oleksandr usyk�*s promoter has confirmed the ukrainian fighter is in discussions for a rematch with anthonyjoshua set to take place in saudi arabia in latejune. joshua was beaten by usyk last year to be crowned unified heavyweight champion. the ukrainian has spent the past few weeks helping to defend his home country. usyk�*s promoter alexander krassyuk told bbc sport: "saudi is the place we are in discussions with at the moment. latejune is the date we are looking at. nothing has been

confirmed on paper." it's a busy night of international football coming up, with all of the home nations involved in internationalfriendlies this evening. england are up against ivory coast at wembley, the first non—european country that gareth southgate's side have faced since november 2018. manager southgate is expected to make changes to his team but gave his backing to defender harry maguire who has been criticised for recent performances at his club manchester united. he has got us to a world cup semifinal and the european championship final, so there's no doubt he is more than capable of playing at the highest level. he was very good for us in the autumn. and sometimes it depends on competition for positions. scotland could have been playing for a spot at the world cup later. instead they're facing austria in a friendly, with their world cup play off semi

final with ukraine pushed back because of the conflict. captain andy robertson is delighted to be back in the side after missing scotland's match last week with covid. look, i love playing games. you know, i don't want to be sitting in my house if i don't have to be. i am fit, i am well, and my house if i don't have to be. i am fit, iam well, and i my house if i don't have to be. i am fit, i am well, and i look forward to the games, i love coming away to hear, and i love playing games for scotland, meeting up with the boys and obviously being kept on and everything like that. so i am looking forward to hopefully another cap tomorrow and we'll go back to liverpool fresh and good to go for the run—in. so i wanted to come, as soon as i could feel better, i was ready to come up and luckily i done that, and luckily i've made this game. wales will face either scotland or ukraine in the play—off final when that game goes ahead. but tonight, they take on the czech republic in a friendly. the likes of gareth bale and aaron ramsey are expected to be rested. goalkeeper wayne hennessey will captain the side as he wins his 100th cap.

northern ireland captain steven davis will continue his journey back to full fitness in the match against hungary later. davis is expected to win his 134th cap in the game. the 37—year—old rangers midfielder came off the bench to score in friday's 3—1win over luxembourg. he played just under half an hour in only his second appearance for club or country since 12th january due to injury. i only started back training on monday, that was my first session with the team, so it's good to get a weak�*s training behind me, 30 minutes on the pitch the other night, and hopefully build it up again tomorrow night and go back to my club with a better place, ready for a big my club with a better place, ready fora big run—infor us, as my club with a better place, ready for a big run—in for us, as well. north macedonia have been making big waves in international football. they shocked european champions italy a few days ago to put them within 90 minutes of the world cup. only established as a country in 1991, they've been on a brilliantjourney, knocking out the european champions,

a team ranked 61 places above them. they also beat germany last year and qualified for the euros as well, their first major tournament. now north macedonia need to get past portugal if they're to take a place at their first world cup. cristiano ronaldo has called on the portuguese fans to cheer his country to victory. translation: i would like all in the stadium to sing the i national anthem without music being played, just to see the grab, the energy, the positivism. i appeal that we can do this, because i'm sure if the portuguese people support us as they did against turkey last week, i'm sure we'll win the match. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more for you in the next hour. i look forward to it. thank you. i want to bring you some news which has been sent in to us by our home affairs correspondent, our social affairs correspondent, our social affairs correspondent, our social

affairs correspondent, i beg your pardon. this is important. more than 200 babies might have survived had better maternity care than provided by an nhs trust. dozens of other children sustained life changing injuries as a result of the failure to provide adequate treatment. mothers also died or sustained injuries as a result of failures by the shrewsbury and telford nhs trust. just put this in context, there has been a five year inquiry into the scale of failures uncovered into the scale of failures uncovered in maternity care at the shrewsbury and telford nhs trust. the full report into maternity care that the trust provided is published tomorrow morning, but as i say, the bbc has understood and learnt already that more than 200 babies might have survived had better maternity care been provided by this particular

trust. and obviously there will be much more on that tomorrow, when that full report is published. let's get more on those 20 fines which are being issued to people who attended gatherings in government buildings during the coronavirus lockdown. the metropolitan police has been investigating dozens of events which may have breached covid regulations, including some attended by the prime minister. now let's speak with sonia sodha, columnist for the observer. really good to have you with us. in your view, really good to have you with us. in yourview, how really good to have you with us. in your view, how serious are these finds? only 20.” your view, how serious are these finds? only 20.— finds? only 20. i think it's very serious. these _ finds? only 20. i think it's very serious. these are _ finds? only 20. i think it's very serious. these are fixed - finds? only 20. i think it's very | serious. these are fixed penalty notices issued by the police. what they mean is that the police believe that people attending these parties in downing street and other government departments, potentially, broke the law. they broke covid regulations during the pandemic. that is really serious and these are only the first 20 fines, a police

source said they believe that these first tranche of fines are the sort of low hanging fruit, the less competitive cases the police are dealing with. one might assume they are for morejunior dealing with. one might assume they are for more junior attendees of the party, ratherthan are for more junior attendees of the party, rather than bringing in perhaps the prime minister and senior ministers into their orbit. so it's only the first stage, that's something to remember. but i think we have got to take a step back from this and remember that even with everything else going on in the world, the prime minister asked the country to make huge sacrifices during the pandemic lockdowns. lots of people did not even see their loved ones before they died. people died alone because of these laws to protect people and keep the nhs is safe. now we find out that parties were going on in downing street and the police believe the law was broken, and yet we have the prime minister last december misleading parliament, telling mps that no

guidance, that the guidance was followed. 50... guidance, that the guidance was followed. so...— followed. so... what should the consequences _ followed. so... what should the consequences be? _ followed. so... what should the consequences be? sorry - followed. so... what should the consequences be? sorry to - followed. so... what should the - consequences be? sorry to interrupt. what should the consequences be in your view? in what should the consequences be in our view? , , , your view? in my view this is serious enough _ your view? in my view this is serious enough to _ your view? in my view this is serious enough to prompt i serious enough to prompt resignations. how can a prime minister who has misled parliament, who said that all the guidance was followed, who now faces at least some staff in number ten being fined for breaking the law in downing street on his watch, he may yet be find himself, we are yet to go with that, that is surely a resigning offence. i don't think it's something he will resign over but ten years ago, say, if this happened, i think that's what people would have expected from the prime minister. , �* . ~ . minister. doesn't the war in ukraine make a difference _ minister. doesn't the war in ukraine make a difference to _ minister. doesn't the war in ukraine make a difference to the _ minister. doesn't the war in ukraine make a difference to the politics - make a difference to the politics here? here we have got borisjohnson being publicly praised by president zelensky, britain is a staunch ally of ukraine, it's not the time to change leaders, is it, in the middle of a moment of international crisis? i mean, i do think that the politics of this matters and the fact that

there is so much going on on the international, the dreadful invasion of ukraine we've all watched on our screens, i think it does mean that this is not the story that it would have been, had things been quieter internationally. so i think that means that actually, public anger has dissipated a bit. i think that the prime minister is unlikely to see the same level of consequences as he might have done if the news agenda was quieter. but i do think that we need to be able to separate things. so, you know, there has been lots of praise heaped on certain aspects of the uk's response to the crisis in ukraine, and also a lot of criticism, for example, on our dreadful response to refugees. but we need to hold that separately from the fact that there was lawbreaking in the police believe there was lawbreaking in number ten during a time of national crisis. there needs

to be political accountability for that. ~ , . that. we must leave it there. good to talk to yom _ that. we must leave it there. good to talk to you. thank _ that. we must leave it there. good to talk to you. thank you. - the chief executive of p&0 ferries has told the transport secretary that he won't reverse the decision to sack 800 staff. peter hebblethwaite has written to grant shapps to say that re—employing the workers on their original wages would cause the company to collapse. speaking this morning, mr hebblewaite said he would mr hebblethwaite said he would remain in post. i have no plans to resign. i need to see this through. i need to get this business back up on its feet. i need to make it competitive, viable and give us an opportunity to grow in the future. hackney stop police officer says he's "mortified" by the strip—search of a black girl at her school. a safeguarding review earlier this month revealed the 15—year—old was wrongly suspected by teachers of carrying cannabis. in a message to the teenager and herfamily, borough commander marcus barnett said he was genuinely sorry it happened.

children's charities have signed an open letter calling for better safeguarding training in schools. let's get some more on this story with our news correspondent, celestina olulode. and tell us what the police have been saying?— been saying? this was part of a ress been saying? this was part of a press briefing _ been saying? this was part of a press briefing that _ been saying? this was part of a press briefing that took - been saying? this was part of a press briefing that took place i been saying? this was part of a | press briefing that took place for localjournalists by hackney police, and as you said, borough commander marcus barnett again apologised today. there were also really strong words from dan rathlin, the superintendent in charge for public protection, who said that as a parent, if this had happened to him, he would be kicking this code are down. —— from dan rutland. and that widespread anger, as we have seen, people rallying and calling for justice from child 0 -- for people rallying and calling for justice from child 0 -— for child people rallying and calling for justice from child 0 -- for child 0. there are questions about how and

when the officers were removed from front—line duties. we know they were removed on the 17th of march, just a few days after that safeguarding review. now, today in the guardian newspaper, there has been 17 signatories from charities calling for more work to be done on this case. they are referring to the case is a damning failure of our society and asking the government to ajer safeguarding training that includes a specific element of racial bias as well. —— to ensure safeguarding training. well. -- to ensure safeguarding trainina. ., ~ well. -- to ensure safeguarding trainina. . ~ well. -- to ensure safeguarding trainina. ., ~' ., . , . the queen hasjoined other members of the royal family at a service commemorating the life of the duke of edinburgh, who died last year at the age of 99. the event was far larger than prince philip's funeral, which was held during tight coronavirus restrictions. there had been uncertainty about about whether the queen would be able to attend, because of mobility issues.

here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. trumpet fanfare. she has arrived at westminster abbey on so many occasions for state and national events. this, though, was different, something very much more personal. discomforts and mobility issues were set aside. the queen was there to lead the thanksgiving for a beloved husband, the man who'd been a constant presence in her life for their 73 years of marriage. the queen had made her way to her seat by the shortest route, accompanied by the duke of york. she joined virtually the entire british royalfamily, four generations including some of the youngest, great grandchildren, including prince george and princess charlotte. the sussexes were the only notable family absentees, who chose to remain in california. we give thanks for his royal highness the prince philip, duke of edinburgh. a man of rare ability and distinction, rightly honoured and celebrated, he ever directed our attention away from himself.

the duke was a champion of young people through his awards scheme. one of its gold medallists spoke about its importance. the world has been through so much turmoil and in these times it is so important to show our support to young people. in his address, the dean of windsor recalled that the duke could sometimes be sharp but nobody could ever doubt his loyalty to his queen and country. as we give thanks for the life of a remarkable man, perhaps our greatest tribute to him, most especially in these far too troubled times, will be for us to accept the challenge implicit in his life to rekindle in our hearts something of that call, and to pray, as i think he did,

for the inspiration and the guidance to play our part, however small, in working for a kinder future. # god save our gracious queen...# the service had been a chance denied by the pandemic at the duke's funeralforfamily and so many more to come together in tribute. a long life of service was honoured. for the person who knew that life best it will surely have stirred many memories and moments of reflection. the service had been a short one. at its end the queen left, walking with care, escorted again by the duke of york. nicholas witchell, bbc news.

let's get some more reflections on the memorial service for the duke of edinburgh with charles anson who is the former press secrteary to the queen. good to have you with us, thank you forjoining us. we all remember those pictures of the queen sat alone at prince philip's funeral. today was very different, wasn't it? i think today's service was very much a tribute to the outstanding contribution that prince philip has made in public life and to the lives of young people all over the world, and i think that was brought out in this service, as well as sort of sense ofjoy and real thanksgiving for all that he has done with the queen over 70 years to make the world a slightly better place. forgive me. am i right that some of the service had actually been planned to be part of the duke of edinburgh's funeral? i

planned to be part of the duke of edinburgh's funeral?— planned to be part of the duke of edinburgh's funeral? i think there is alwa s edinburgh's funeral? i think there is always a _ edinburgh's funeral? i think there is always a mixture _ edinburgh's funeral? i think there is always a mixture of _ edinburgh's funeral? i think there is always a mixture of the - edinburgh's funeral? i think there | is always a mixture of the tributes made at a funeral and at a thanksgiving service, but i think the sort of reflective nature of the day's service, looking at his life, his contribution, his marvellous sort of sense of team of the queen and prince philip on public occasions over so many decades, in such a troubled world, and the sight of that great institution, the monarchy, spread over a thousand years, you've got a sense of that public service in each of those generations and also of course the presence of the young children and grandchildren. 50 it was as much a tribute, i think, grandchildren. 50 it was as much a tribute, ithink, to grandchildren. 50 it was as much a tribute, i think, to prince philip's role in the family, as well as his extraordinary contributions in public life, and he really is one of this generation's great polymaths, and all that he did for young

people, the environment, for business, for the arts, and also as a man of reflections, indeed, i think it was marvellous to have a moment in this very troubled world to spend an hour to pay tribute to a man who had given so much to public service. and seeing the queen there as well was a tremendously encouraging, it wasn't clear whether she might be able to come to the service but she was both there and very much present.— service but she was both there and very much present. prince andrew let her in, he very much present. prince andrew let her in. he had — very much present. prince andrew let her in. he had a _ very much present. prince andrew let her in, he had a front— very much present. prince andrew let her in, he had a front row— very much present. prince andrew let her in, he had a front row seat. - very much present. prince andrew let her in, he had a front row seat. in - her in, he had a front row seat. in the light of what has happened in his life in these past months, how surprised are you by that? i his life in these past months, how surprised are you by that? i wasn't all that surprised. _ surprised are you by that? i wasn't all that surprised. i— surprised are you by that? i wasn't all that surprised. i worked - surprised are you by that? i wasn't all that surprised. i worked for- surprised are you by that? i wasn't all that surprised. i worked for the queen and prince philip for seven years. i know there is a very strong thread of faith in prince philip, as we all know there is in the queen, and both the archbishop and the dean of windsor brought that out, and i

think for a thanksgiving service, family always come together, no matter what problems they have been dealing with during the day. they come together. and there was a sense of the family united, and also a sense of the range of public services, service, rather, public services, service, rather, public service that services, service, rather, public service —— at services, service, rather, public service —— rather welcome. you world. -- rather welcome. thank you so much for— world. -- rather welcome. thank you so much forjoining _ world. -- rather welcome. thank you so much forjoining us. _ let's go back to government plans to improve help for school pupils with special educational needs. here with me now is liberal democrat councillor lucy nethsingha, who is the deputy chair of the local government association s children and young people board. very good to have you with us, thank you forjoining us. a lot of people i have been speaking to about this say that the current system is broken. is that something you would agree with?

broken. is that something you would aaree with? , ~ , agree with? yes, i think there is widespread _ agree with? yes, i think there is widespread acceptance - agree with? yes, i think there is widespread acceptance that - agree with? yes, i think there is widespread acceptance that the | widespread acceptance that the current system is not working in the way it was intended and it's not working for peoples or children who are not in mainstream school or for theirfamilies orfor are not in mainstream school or for their families or for councils. it's not really working well for anybody. given what the government has announced today in this green paper, what difference will it make? i what difference will it make? i think there are some things on here which will help. i think there are some... the proposals for some national guidelines and national guidance, and for a single form and a single application process for eh cp, education health and care plans, i think that will be helpful for both councils and families to try to get a more structured approach across the whole system. but there are some other things in there that we desperately need that it's not so clear, and one of those is around funding. clear, and one of those is around fundinu. ., . ., ., f clear, and one of those is around fundinu. ., . ., ., g well, funding. you want more money? well, the s stem funding. you want more money? well, the system is — funding. you want more money? well, the system is hugely _ funding. you want more money? well, the system is hugely underfunded, - funding. you want more money? well, the system is hugely underfunded, at i the system is hugely underfunded, at the system is hugely underfunded, at the moment, that part of the problem. that's one of the reasons

why so many families are having to go to tribunal to get additional support for their children is because of councils are incredibly stretched and tried to provide support for those children and many cancers have huge overspends and deficits in this areas, especially in the high needs category for children who have very high needs that can be extremely expensive. —— many councils have huge overspends and deficits. i many councils have huge overspends and deficits. . ~ many councils have huge overspends and deficits-— and deficits. i take your point that councils are _ and deficits. i take your point that councils are hard _ and deficits. i take your point that councils are hard pressed - and deficits. i take your point that councils are hard pressed and - and deficits. i take your point thatj councils are hard pressed and that this is why a lot of parents are having to fight them, because councils don't have the money. but will you accept that parents do face terrible battles to get the help they need and that can't be right? yes, i think we all accept that. and it is really important to try and make sure that they are getting help as soon as they possibly can. and one of the problems that has been highlighted in the research in the pastis highlighted in the research in the past is that actually, there aren't enough incentives for schools to identify special educational needs

early and try and make sure that at least some support is going to children as early as possible, because there is a lot of evidence to show that the earlier you identify the needs that children have, the more likely they are to be able to cope in mainstream school and not need specialist support, or only... not kind of different school, which is when it becomes enormously expensive. and children who manage in mainstream school usually do much better, actually, i mean, there are all sorts of reasons for that, mean, there are all sorts of reasons forthat, but mean, there are all sorts of reasons for that, but it's better if possible for children to stay on a mainstream school. but there aren't many incentives for schools to support that at the moment. we are cominu u- support that at the moment. we are coming up to — support that at the moment. we are coming up to the — support that at the moment. we are coming up to the top _ support that at the moment. we are coming up to the top of— support that at the moment. we are coming up to the top of the - support that at the moment. we are coming up to the top of the hour - support that at the moment. we are coming up to the top of the hour so | coming up to the top of the hour so we must leave it there, good to talk to you, thanks. we must leave it there, good to talk to you. thanks-— it's only going to get colder of the next few days, highest temperature day in western areas where we are seeing the best of the sun, particularly cold across northern parts of scotland, cold air coming

in behind the weather front which is bringing this band of cloud, bringing this band of cloud, bringing some rain, sleet and snow over the hills. that continues to push them southwards over the night. followed by some snow and ice across northern parts of scotland. certainly have some frosty conditions here and it could be chilly across parts of southern england and wales, clear spells leading to some fog for men, that will slowly lift. for many it looks quite cloudy on wednesday. some sunshine and a few showers towards the south—west. this is our main band of wet weather, continuing to move down towards wales, east anglia and the midlands. some sleet and snow in the peaks of the pennines, sun and wintry showers in the dow had rocked scotland, temperatures only 5 degrees, the last of the mount ayr across southern parts of england. —— michael lasst of the mild air.

this is bbc news. the headlines... russia says it will drastically reduce combat operations around ukraine's capital and northern city, more than a month after moscow invaded the country. translation: in order to increase | mutual trust and create necessary| conditions for further negotiations. number 10 has insisted that borisjohnson did not mislead mps when he told them no lockdown rules had been broken in downing street. matt hancock says the prime minister should stay on if he's fined. he has apologised and he's acknowledged that there were problems and made changes in downing street. choral singing.

the queen and members of the royalfamily have attended the memorial service for the duke of edinburgh, at westminster abbey. the bbc has learned that more than 200 babies might have survived had better maternity care been provided by shrewsbury and telford nhs trust. the trust has previously offered its apologies. the head of p&0 ferries says he won't re—employ the 800 workers sacked earlier this month — and that doing so would cause the company to collapse. welcome to bbc news. we can cross great to lviv and my colleague ben

brown. yes, people here in ukraine we've been talking to are wondering what the russians mean when they say they are going to drastically reduce their military activity around chernihiv and the p if it is well and also wondering whether perhaps the russians are making a virtue of necessity because their advance in the capital in particular has stalled in recent days. . they have even captured the important town of irpin near the q. us secretary of states says lately he hasn't seen any sign of real seriousness from russia. here is tim moffat. in istanbul, the security is high and so are the stakes. talks between ukraine and

russia have been taking place. turkey hopeful it could succeed where others have failed, and negotiate a ceasefire. translation: it would be| to the benefit of everybody to achieve a ceasefire and establish peace as soon as possible. the whole world is waiting for good news from you. the announcements that followed would certainly seem to be positive developments, the first commitment from russia to scale back military operations. translation: the ministry of defence and the russian | federation, in order to increase mutual trust and create the necessary conditions for further negotiations, and achieving the final goal, agree and sign the above—mentioned agreement, has decided to drastically reduce the military activities in the kyiv and chernihiv directions. ukrainian negotiators have said they would accept neutral status, one of russia's key demands, in return for security guarantees.

translation: we will not join any military i and political unions. military training on our territory will take place if the other country agrees. but in ukraine, preparations for a long conflict continue. members of the territorial defence have been in training, volunteers with ordinary lives being taught from scratch how to use weapons. russia has said it will be focusing its efforts on territory claimed by russian backed separatists in the eastern region of donbas. translation: the first stage of the operation l has been completed. the combat potential of the ukrainian armed

forces has been reduced, and we can focus efforts on achieving the main goal, the liberation of donbas. but in mykolaiv, a russian strike hit a regional government building. seven people were killed, 22 were injured. and thousands are still trapped in the besieged city of mariupol, stark reminders of the devastation still felt across ukraine. we have just had a few lines from uk prime minister borisjohnson's prime minister boris johnson's spokesman prime minister borisjohnson's spokesman saying there hasn't appeared to be production —— to has appeared to be production —— to has appeared to be a reduction in the bombardment around kyiv perhaps because of russians reducing their military activity there but the british government are also saying they would see anything less than they would see anything less than the complete withdrawal of russian forces from ukraine. our correspondent torn bateman has been in a stumble following those ukraine bush talks. let's get the latest

from him. turkey is a really crucial country because it shares a maritime border with both ukraine and russia, has historic cultural ties to both the countries and crucially, it's a member of nato. now president erdogan has managed to sort of fend off the west's pressure it has been putting around the world to try and join the sanctions against russia. and that's one of the key reasons, ithink, that the russians have been prepared to engage here, that vladimir putin, after that phone call with president erdogan on sunday, was prepared to send the delegation here for those face to face talks. so turkey, a really important country. as for president erdogan, well, i think it's been a diplomatic coup for him to be able to say to his own people that, you know, he is a peacemaker. and he was certainly greeted by applause from both of the delegations inside here when he stood up at the very beginning and said to them that both sides, both sides, had a historic responsibility to try to come to a truce. now has you been

here from jenny? nowhere near that kind of thing. expectations are always extremely low, but it has been interesting to see as the talks have broken up, at least for the time being, we don't know if they'll continue tonight, the slight change of tone as the ukrainian delegation came out, the very sort of notional framework, perhaps of something that might potentially lead to an agreement in the future. we didn't have that kind of tone, that kind of messaging after the talks two and a half weeks ago between the country's foreign ministers in southern turkey, in antalya. that was a pretty bitter event with recriminations from both sides. it hasn't been like that at all here. and as you've been hearing, we have the ukrainians saying, yeah, maybe they'll be prepared to move towards some kind of neutrality if they can get security guarantees from the west and then the russians talking about this idea of drastically reducing military operations in some areas and also describing the talks today as constructive.

i'm joined now by jenny hill in moscow.

changed. they don't want ukraine to join nato i'm joined now by jenny hill in moscow. as tom was saying there,

a slight change of tone from the russians in terms of their military strategy in ukraine. i am not sure i would go so far as to say a change of tone. we have just had a little bit more from the leader of the russian delegation at those talks and he has been saying this at some point the kremlin will give a kind of timetable for the de—escalation of military involvement around kyiv and the other city. but he has also been very quick to emphasise that this is not a ceasefire. he has also said that the kremlin will be coming out with some kind of response to the cranium proposals which are now on the table. as you know, vladimir putin has to take a good look at those and decide what you want to do next. but my sense here is that particularly as we have also heard from the leader of delegation that he said that, again, the positions aren't particularly close so i'm starting to wonder whether, actually, the kremlin is holding back on any kind of sense of optimism and one of the reasons i say that is that we heard earlier from the spokesperson of the foreign ministry here after it had been announced that russia was going to pull back a little bit on its military activities around kyiv and ken heath and she was still coming out with the same kind of narrative

that we've heard all along, that the aim still from comic for the kremlin is to denazify ukraine. we hearing the same belligerent language again and again here and i think it is very important to remember that the kremlin's aims in ukraine changed. they don't want ukraine to join they want those territories come under russian control, they were in crimea is russian and vladimir putin was not broader aims. . we have to bearin was not broader aims. . we have to bear in mind however optimistic one can be about the fact that we are talking on the has been a little bit of movement i think it is really important to remember where the kremlin still stands on this, although western experts are very quick to point out that perhaps western experts don't think this has gone as well as perhaps the kremlin would have liked it too but the rhetoric he just doesn't support at the time being.— rhetoric he just doesn't support at the time being. jenny, the sobering reali of the time being. jenny, the sobering reality of what _ the time being. jenny, the sobering reality of what is _ the time being. jenny, the sobering reality of what is being _ the time being. jenny, the sobering reality of what is being said - the time being. jenny, the sobering reality of what is being said there . reality of what is being said there in moscow and the reality on the ground here in ukraine is that on day 3a of this war people are still dying every hour of every day it was terrible and tragic war. that is it from here in live these. active in the studio. ben brown there in live eve in western ukraine. here, the bbc has learnt that more than 200 babies might have survived had better maternity care being provided by shrewsbury and telford nhs trust. the trust has previously said it takes full responsibility and offered its sincere apologies. these are shocking figures that more than 200 babies might have survived. what more can you tell us about what is in this report?—

in this report? this report was published _ in this report? this report was published here _ in this report? this report was published here in _ in this report? this report was published here in dewsbury i in this report? this report was. published here in dewsbury and in this report? this report was - published here in dewsbury and was the culmination of a five year inquiry into allegations of poor maternity care. what we have heard ahead of tomorrow's full—blown cheese that, as you say, 201 babies, it is understood 201 babies may well have survived had they been provided with better maternity care. we understand that is 131 stillbirths and sudden neonatal deaths. that desire, as you said yourself is a shocking total of evidence and failures at one nhs trust. this was obviously always suspected and may be not these numbers by a number of families here in shropshire who campaigned for years to get an independent review into maternity failures across the county. as i say, a full report will be published tomorrow but it will have many, many more details onjust tomorrow but it will have many, many more details on just one headline tomorrow but it will have many, many more details onjust one headline in the scale of some of the tragedy

families around here have had to cope with. families around here have had to co -e with. , families around here have had to coe with. , ., families around here have had to coewith. , , ., _ cope with. the trust has previously said they take _ cope with. the trust has previously said they take full _ cope with. the trust has previously said they take full responsibility . said they take full responsibility and they have offered their sincere apologies but will there be any further repercussions or penalties? the short answer is we don't know yet. we will have to wait for full report to be published tomorrow. the trust, as you say, have offered their apologies in the past few weeks for what has happened for a number of years and they also point out that they are making some improvements and there is investment into maternity care. nhs england has invested well over £200 million in the past 15, 16 months or so in maternity care across england. it is a police, a criminal investigation taking place by west mersey police into what happened at the trust, as well. that, ithink, has got into what happened at the trust, as well. that, i think, has got some way to go so there is a possibility they could be some criminal charges even against an individual is of against the trust at a corporate

level but whether there will be any further repercussions i think will only become apparent in the coming days. i only become apparent in the coming da s. ~' ., only become apparent in the coming da s. ~ ., , ., only become apparent in the coming da s. ~ ., ~' , only become apparent in the coming das. w, ~' ,, days. i know you will keep us u dated days. i know you will keep us updated for— days. i know you will keep us updated for now. _ days. i know you will keep us updated for now. thank - days. i know you will keep us updated for now. thank you. | 20 fines are being issued to people who attended gatherings in government buildings during the coronavirus lockdown. the metropolitan police has been investigating dozens of events which may have breached covid regulations, including some attended by the prime minister. more fines are possible as police say there's still a significant amount of material to be assessed. our political correspondent, nick eardley reports behind these doors, rules that changed lives were drawn up — christmases were cancelled, we were all told to avoid mixing with friends, even family. but now the metropolitan police has decided lockdown laws were broken by people working in government buildings at the time. in a statement this morning, the force said...

and here could be more to come. the met added... it is important thatjustice is done without fear or favour in cases of this nature, and we all want to see people held to account if they've done wrong. morning. is the pm going to get a fine, sir? boris johnson hasn't received a fine yet. we don't know exactly who has, but a lot has changed since the prime minister said this in december. what i will tell you is that all the guidelines were observed and continue to be observed. since then there have been apologies and calls for the prime minister to go. i don't think that the man who set the rules and asked the british people to make unimaginable sacrifices and then has been found to have repeatedly flouted them can remain in post. we think he should resign. but some conservative mps have been

more reluctant as a result of the conflict in ukraine. some of the intense pressure may have died down in recent weeks, but many conservative mps were deeply uncomfortable with allegations of parties at the same time that everybody was being told to stay at home. those mps will be waiting to see who is fined and how the prime minister reacts. whatever happens next, one fact has been established — the police think that covid laws were broken in some of the very buildings where they were being set. that means difficult questions for the prime minister in the coming days, about whether he oversaw a culture which allowed lockdown rules to be broken. nick eardley, bbc news, westminster. let's go to the houses of parliament and our correspondent alex forsyth.

alex, what has been the response there? 1ng alex, what has been the response there? �* , , . ., n, there? as she heard from nick's re ort there? as she heard from nick's report there _ there? as she heard from nick's report there there _ there? as she heard from nick's report there there are _ there? as she heard from nick's report there there are a - there? as she heard from nick's report there there are a lot - there? as she heard from nick's report there there are a lot of. report there there are a lot of conservative mps, at least, who are waiting to see who exactly those fines will apply to and i think a lot of them are holding their judgment until that moment, deciding then what they might do, but the opposition parties already said, again, but the prime minister should resign and we can talk now to angela rayner who is the deputy leader of the labour party. angela vena, thank you for being with us. you've asked for the prime minister to resign because these fines now are being issued but we still don't even know if he's going to get one.— if he's going to get one. well, finds have _ if he's going to get one. well, finds have been _ if he's going to get one. well, finds have been issued - if he's going to get one. well, finds have been issued so - if he's going to get one. well, i finds have been issued so clearly lockdown — finds have been issued so clearly lockdown rules were preached on the banister— lockdown rules were preached on the banister was in attendance at these parties _ banister was in attendance at these parties. first of all, he said there werent— parties. first of all, he said there weren't any— parties. first of all, he said there weren't any then he said it was outrageous there had been some parties and then out he was out there and he said i didn't know there were a party. i mean, _ didn't know there were a party. i mean. the — didn't know there were a party. i mean, the prime minister has completely lied about the situation. the police _ completely lied about the situation. the police have issued fines so therefore — the police have issued fines so therefore lockdown rules have been

reached _ therefore lockdown rules have been reached in — therefore lockdown rules have been reached in the primers to has to go. there _ reached in the primers to has to go. there are _ reached in the primers to has to go. there are some people in the payments to's party, the conservative party, among them the former health minister matt hancock who himself did this i mean, the prime minister has completely lied about the situation. the police have issued fines so therefore lockdown rules have been reached on the primers to has to go. there are some people in the payments to's party, the conservative party, among them the conservative party, among them the former health minister matt hancock who himself did design of undermined his own role as prime minister. we saw nato at the weekend he was looking at comic as a lost soul when other leaders when speaking to him sol soul when other leaders when speaking to him so i think he has undermined himself by lying to the british public, trying to get away with the most absurd of excuses as to why he didn't know he was at a party when he clearly was and therefore i do think it bleeds into everything that the prime minister is doing at the moment. the debate we're having this afternoon unload led to the death's appointment is exactly another issue —— lot left

the death —— —— lord lebvedev. when i enable accurate moment about lord lebvedev. if we find most senior civil servants were the subjects of these fines should they be the signing? i these fines should they be the si . ninu ? ~ these fines should they be the siuunin? ~ these fines should they be the sirrnin? ~' , signing? i think scapegoating genius civil servants — signing? i think scapegoating genius civil servants and _ signing? i think scapegoating genius civil servants and the _ signing? i think scapegoating genius civil servants and the man _ signing? i think scapegoating genius civil servants and the man at - signing? i think scapegoating genius civil servants and the man at the - civil servants and the man at the top was — civil servants and the man at the top was literally at the party is in line to _ top was literally at the party is in line to the — top was literally at the party is in line to the british public, he set the standard in number ten, line to the british public, he set the standard in numberten, was actually— the standard in numberten, was actually at — the standard in numberten, was actually at attendance in these parties — actually at attendance in these parties that he should resign. he is the one _ parties that he should resign. he is the one who allowed that culture to be endemic within number ten during that period _ be endemic within number ten during that period so i don't think it is acceptable to blame junior members of staff— acceptable to blame junior members of staff when the prime minister himself— of staff when the prime minister himself was the one he was caught out lying _ himself was the one he was caught out lying and the state party when he shouldn't have been. you mention lord lebvedev. _ he shouldn't have been. you mention lord lebvedev. that _ he shouldn't have been. you mention lord lebvedev. that is _ he shouldn't have been. you mention lord lebvedev. that is a _ he shouldn't have been. you mention lord lebvedev. that is a debate - he shouldn't have been. you mention lord lebvedev. that is a debate this | lord lebvedev. that is a debate this afternoon that labour has initiated about trying to get documents published surrounding the awarding of a peerage. he has been critical of a peerage. he has been critical of labourfor of a peerage. he has been critical of labour for focusing of a peerage. he has been critical of labourforfocusing on of a peerage. he has been critical of labour for focusing on that debate right now. $5 of labour for focusing on that debate right now.— of labour for focusing on that debate right now. as the deputy of this beak of _ debate right now. as the deputy of this beak of the _ debate right now. as the deputy of this beak of the house _ debate right now. as the deputy of this beak of the house says -

debate right now. as the deputy of this beak of the house says it - debate right now. as the deputy of this beak of the house says it is . this beak of the house says it is quite _ this beak of the house says it is quite right— this beak of the house says it is quite right we are able to debate these _ quite right we are able to debate theseissues quite right we are able to debate these issues and seniors do make serious _ these issues and seniors do make serious allegations we have got by a senior— serious allegations we have got by a senior adviser to the finest at that time _ senior adviser to the finest at that time that— senior adviser to the finest at that time that the prime minister had executed — time that the prime minister had executed vice that was very clear that he _ executed vice that was very clear that he shouldn't be given a peerage and there _ that he shouldn't be given a peerage and there were issues of national security— and there were issues of national security at— and there were issues of national security at the prime minster disregarded that. therefore we need to know— disregarded that. therefore we need to know and get to the bottom of why that was _ to know and get to the bottom of why that was a _ to know and get to the bottom of why that was a case because there are serious _ that was a case because there are serious issues of our national security _ serious issues of our national security. did the prime minister chooses — security. did the prime minister chooses friendship and his connections with partygate despite his father— connections with partygate despite his father being a former kgb spy, despite _ his father being a former kgb spy, despite his— his father being a former kgb spy, despite his connections with lord lebedew — despite his connections with lord lebedev. you need to decide that that is— lebedev. you need to decide that that is in— lebedev. you need to decide that that is in the public interest or not _ that is in the public interest or not. ., , g . , , that is in the public interest or not. ., , g . not. lord lebedev jena says he is a roud not. lord lebedev jena says he is a proud british _ not. lord lebedev jena says he is a proud british citizen _ not. lord lebedev jena says he is a proud british citizen with _ not. lord lebedev jena says he is a proud british citizen with nothing . proud british citizen with nothing to hide but he is also tweeted what he says is a text message from sir keir starmer congratulating him on getting that peerage. bud keir starmer congratulating him on getting that peerage.— getting that peerage. and cher, caettin a getting that peerage. and cher, getting a peerage _ getting that peerage. and cher, getting a peerage is _ getting that peerage. and cher, getting a peerage is something| getting that peerage. and cher, - getting a peerage is something where people _ getting a peerage is something where people will be congratulated but keir starmer wasn't party to the

security— keir starmer wasn't party to the security advice which led to the prime — security advice which led to the prime minister giving the peerage, disregarding that security advice. the central issue is the payments was won— the central issue is the payments was won by— the central issue is the payments was won by our security services around _ was won by our security services around that— was won by our security services around that period. the commission warned _ around that period. the commission warned against giving a peerage of the prime — warned against giving a peerage of the prime minister decided to give any weight so that he has to be held accountable for why he wanted a peerage — accountable for why he wanted a peerage the first place. if labour does _ peerage the first place. if labour does win— peerage the first place. if labour does win this vote, what is it you actually— does win this vote, what is it you actually want publish? what are the exchanges that happen? italk— exchanges that happen? i talk today about the time of the commission and the prime minister was having — commission and the prime minister was having meetings where he didn't take a _ was having meetings where he didn't take a security services with him, having _ take a security services with him, having meetings with lord lebedev and we _ having meetings with lord lebedev and we want to know the details of how the _ and we want to know the details of how the peerage came about and why he disregarded that national security— he disregarded that national security advice, because the security— security advice, because the security advice, because the security advice was given, the prime minister— security advice was given, the prime minister met with lord lebedev and

all of— minister met with lord lebedev and all of a _ minister met with lord lebedev and all of a sudden the security advice was disregarded and i think the british— was disregarded and i think the british public need a answer to that _ british public need a answer to that. �* . , british public need a answer to that. ~ . ._ , , british public need a answer to that. ~ . , , . that. angela rayner, deputy leader ofthe that. angela rayner, deputy leader of the labour _ that. angela rayner, deputy leader of the labour party. _ that. angela rayner, deputy leader of the labour party. thank - that. angela rayner, deputy leader of the labour party. thank you - that. angela rayner, deputy leaderj of the labour party. thank you very much. in that debate of course deputy prime is michael ellis has been responding to the government and he was saying that to publish that advice would damage the process by which such appointments are made. we can take a listen to michael ellis. i we can take a listen to michael ellis. . ., _ . we can take a listen to michael ellis. . ., . ., , ellis. i want to say in all of this to be careful _ ellis. i want to say in all of this to be careful of _ ellis. i want to say in all of this to be careful of intolerant - to be careful of intolerant messaging. not all russians are our enemy. any british citizens of russian extraction came to this country with a view to an opposition of president putin. people cancelling tchaikovsky concerts is not appropriate and labour seeking to whip up anti—russian feeling or casting all portions of russian extraction in a negative light is

wrong and it is wrong in principle and, furthermore, it is the case that the disclosure of the information sought here today would undermine the very role of the house of lords appointments commission. they are asking, madam deputy speaker, for something that would break the appointments process in the house of lords. it would chip away at the careful vetting procedures and the exchange of information that necessarily has to be discreet. information that necessarily has to be discreet-— be discreet. that was michael ellis the paymaster— be discreet. that was michael ellis the paymaster general— be discreet. that was michael ellis the paymaster general speaking . be discreet. that was michael ellis j the paymaster general speaking in that debate in the house of commons on behalf of the government. we understand that conservative mps will abstain from that debate which means the labour vote is likely to pass suggesting this will be published. what exactly that means we will have to wait and see. many thanks. in line to beanie from westminster

and the primers to's spokesman has said that if the cabinet secretary simon case receives a fixed penalty notice, and we know of because the 20 have been issued today, that fact would be made public. number ten has already committed to doing the same if the prime minister receives a fine. so thatjust intervals from our political, respondent then right. rape convictions are at an all—time low in england and wales, despite more people reporting than ever before. only 1% of reported rapes result in a conviction. bbc panorama has been on the front line with derbyshire police to investigate why. the programme includes the story of sisters, alex and shy—ann. they reported allegations of abuse by their father three times before he was finally prosecuted. the cps said it is working with police nationwide to transform the way these cases are handled. rebecca coxon reports.

you've made a report of sexual offending to derbyshire police. sisters alex and shayan were raped by their father as children. for the past 11 years, they have been trying to get him charged. this letter is to explain to you why i reluctantly decided that the case should not be charged. their case has been rejected three times. a significant weakness is that when your sister alleged abuse in 2011, you denied that you'd been abused yourself and indeed said that your sister was lying. i didn't really get a chance to be a kid like i've had to grow up quite quickly. when alex was 11 years old, in 2011, she did not back up her sister's allegations when questioned by the police. now 22, she says she lied because she thought the abuse was normal. but the denial created a rift between the sisters. it does make having a relationship with each other quite difficult because there's just always...

it's always in the back of my mind that that happened. i think you think i think worse of you than i actually do. i think it's because i have a lot of guilt. myself, what i did when i was younger. i just want to say i'm sorry. it was not the police that rejected their case. it was the crown prosecution service which said a jury would struggle to convict. campaigners say this is part of a worrying trend. but alex and chyann did not give up hope of getting justice. they requested a legal review and their father was finally charged. however, they then faced further delays, partly due to the pandemic. it was supposed to be in court last october. then march. then now, january, as well as all of the appeals we had to go through, it's just it couldn't take

it any longer. in early 2022, the jury reached a verdict after deliberating for an hour and a half. police detective brett turner called alex with the outcome. ijust spoke to the barrister, . and she says it will be 25 years plus, she would have thought so a good sentence _ and what he deserves. yeah, yeah. i know it's took a long time, - but you've been believed at last. yeah, we're really happy to hear it. obviously, we believed you all along, but he'sl gone straight to prison, so that's that. - in england and wales, just 1% of reported rapes result in a conviction. so i wasn't expecting it. i wasn't. when you do all the research on how many cases actually get convicted, it doesn't seem hopeful, but all 1a charges, all 12jury members.

she laughs through tears. i'm part of the 1%. i've not got that court case looming any more. i'll never get over it. i'll never get over it, but i can start moving on now, definitely. alex and chyann's father was sentenced to a0 years, four years after theirjoint statement and 11 years after chyann first reported him. it was a long wait forjustice. rebecca coxon, bbc news. details of organisations offering information and support with child sexual abuse and sexual violence are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline, we can catch up with all the weather in devon bet is ableist. that is not a pretty sight! i had to dig my winter coat out again this morning.

you are talking about this, and she? just thought i'd check. yes, we've had some snow falling over north and west parts of scotland in this cold air we have got here is going to push its way southwards across the whole of the country in the next day or two. whole of the country in the next day ortwo. it whole of the country in the next day or two. it has been a messy day today with a loss of cloud around. this rain in the south has not been very well focus but will tend to ease away this evening. this moving into scotland and northern england overnight is where we draw down the cold air behind snow and ice in other parts of scotland together with a sharp frost as well. milder elsewhere but it could turn chilly across parts of england and wales where the cloud breaks in mist and fog forming will take a while to clear away but we should see some sunshine in the south—west. here is our main band of wet weather, mostly rain, bit of sleet and snow over the hill is continuing very slowly southwards and following on from that some sunshine but also some wintry showers and the temperatures in the afternoon only 5 degrees in newcastle, seven in birmingham and

knowledge, knowledge, the last of anything remotely mild in the far south of england and wales by the time we get to thursday there will be a cold wind that will bring a mixture of sunshine but wintry showers. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines: russia says it will drastically reduce combat operations around ukraine's capital and northern city more than a month after moscow invaded the country.

translation: in order to increase | mutual trust and create necessary| conditions for further negotiations. 20 fines are to be issued as part of the police inquiry into parties held in downing street that breached coronavirus lockdown rules. the bbc has learned that more than two hundred babies might have survived had better maternity care been provided by shrewsbury and telford nhs trust. the trust has previously offered its apologies. choral singing. the queen and members of the royalfamily, have attended the memorial service for the duke of edinburgh, at westminster abbey. the head of p&0 ferries says he won't re—employ the 800 workers sacked earlier this month — and that doing so would cause the company to collapse.

sport, and a full round up from the bbc sport centre. hello and welcome, we have a busy evening of international football ahead for the home nations but we start with boxing and oleksandr usyk�*s promoter has confirmed the ukrainian fighter is in discussions for a rematch with anthonyjoshua set to take place in saudi arabia in latejune. joshua was beaten by usyk last year to be crowned unified heavyweight champion. the ukrainian has spent the past few weeks helping to defend his home country. usyk�*s promoter alexander krassyuk told bbc sport: "saudi is the place we are in discussions with at the moment. latejune is the date we are looking at. nothing has been confirmed on paper." all the home nations have international friendlies this evening. england are up against ivory coast at wembley, the first non—european country that gareth southgate's side have faced since november 2018. manager southgate is expected to make changes to his team. defender tyrone mings is one

of those who could benefit from that, he's looking forward to the challenge. i'm really excited by it. lam. it will be a different test. like you said, there are a number of players who i would have played against individually in terms of playing against them at club level, but international games are still things that i am learning and this will be another test for me, another challenge to overcome. for sure, i am looking forward to getting out there and testing myself against a different style of opposition, different ways of playing. i think it will be a really good battle. scotland could have been playing for a spot at the world cup later. instead they're facing austria in a friendly, with their world cup play off semi final with ukraine pushed back because of the conflict. captain andy robertson is back in the side after missing scotland's last game with covid. wales will face either scotland or ukraine in the play—off final when that game goes ahead. but tonight, they take

on the czech republic in a friendly. the likes of gareth bale and aaron ramsey are expected to be rested. goalkeeper wayne hennessey will captain the side as he wins his 100th cap. my hero growing up was neville southall. i know nev reached 92, and i absolutely adore nev. i thought he was one of the best goalkeepers in the world at the time. but for myself, a massive achievement for myself and my family. a lot of hard work, ups and downs, injuries. so, yeah, for me, it's going to be a huge occasion and i can't wait. northern ireland captain steven davis will continue his journey back to full fitness in the match against hungary later. davis is expected to win his 134th cap in the game. the 37—year—old rangers midfielder came off the bench to score in friday's 3—1win over luxembourg. he played just under half an hour in only his second appearance for club or country

since january due to injury. north macedonia shocked european champions italy a few days ago to put them within 90 minutes of the world cup. they face portugal later this evening. only established as a country in 1991, they've been on a brilliantjourney, knocking out the european champions, a team ranked 61 places above them. they also beat germany last year and qualified for the euros as well, their first major tournament. now north macedonia need to get past cristiano ronaldo if they're to take a place at their first world cup. former england captain michael vaughan says he would tell joe root to step down as skipper. root is under pressure after england's dismal batting performance in the test series defeat to west indies. under his captaincy, england have won just once in seventeen test matches. vaughan told the bbc root had taken the team as far as he can. barcelona will host the next americas cup race, it has been announced.

the yacht race will be held in the spanish city in autumn 202a. sir ben ainslie's ineos britannia team have confirmed they will be taking part in the competition as they aim to win sport's oldest trophy from current holders new zealand. that's all the sport for now. i'll see you in our. —— in an hour. the queen hasjoined other members of the royal family at a service commemorating the life of the duke of edinburgh, who died last year at the age of 99. the event was far larger than prince philip's funeral, which was held during tight coronavirus restrictions. there had been uncertainty about about whether the queen would be able to attend because of mobility issues. here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. trumpet fanfare. she's arrived at westminster abbey on so many occasions for state and national events. this, though, was different — something very much more personal. discomforts and mobility

issues were set aside. the queen was there to lead the thanksgiving for a beloved husband, the man who'd been a constant presence in her life for their 73 years of marriage. the queen had made her way to her seat by the shortest route, accompanied by the duke of york. she joined virtually the entire british royalfamily, four generations including some of the youngest — great grandchildren including prince george and princess charlotte. the only notable family absentees, the sussexes, who chose to remain in california. we give thanks for his royal highness the prince philip, duke of edinburgh. a man of rare ability and distinction, rightly honoured and celebrated, he ever directed our attention away from himself. the duke was a champion of young people through his awards scheme. one of its gold medallists spoke about its importance. the world has been

through so much turmoil, and in these times it is so important to show our support to young people. in his address, the dean of windsor recalled that the duke could sometimes be sharp, but no—one could ever doubt his loyalty to his queen and country. as we give thanks for the life of a remarkable man, perhaps our greatest tribute to him, most especially in these far too troubled times, will be for us to accept the challenge implicit in his life, to rekindle in our hearts something of that call, and to pray, as i think he did, for the inspiration and the guidance to play our part — however small — in working for a kinder future.

# god save our gracious queen...# the service had been a chance, denied by the pandemic at the duke's funeral, for family and so many more to come together in tribute. a long life of service had been honoured. for the person who knew that life best, it will surely have stirred many memories and moments of reflection. the service had been a short one. at its end the queen left, walking with care, escorted once again by the duke of york. nicholas witchell, bbc news. the government has put forward proposals for children with special educational needs or disabilities to receive early help from schools in england. it's part of a long—awaited government review, which was launched in 2019.

£70 million of additional funding is being made available for the measures, which aim to put an end to the postcode lottery affecting levels of support. our education correspondent elaine dunkley reports. funny ears... there's no pins in the ears. harrison is nine years old and has autism. getting him the support he needs in a mainstream school has been difficult. in one term alone, he was excluded 1a times. school were terrible. they were sending him home on a daily basis. i was called out of work to go support in school. he wasn't doing any teacher—led activities at all, he was just going in, sitting in a room with two teachers on his own. for too many children like harrison, there are delays and disruption, with varying support depending on where you live in england. years of trying to get diagnosis, a lack of funding, and navigating a complicated system are all part of the problem. the government is promising early intervention and a national scheme

that brings education and health services together. we propose to establish a new, single national special educational needs and disabilities and alternative provision system across education, health and care, setting clear standards for how children and young people's needs are identified and met. proposals also include changing the culture in mainstream schools to be more inclusive, with additional training and staff. schools like this one in bradford are at the forefront of change. lilycroft primary has been part of a trial, bringing together health and local education teams for early intervention. it would take you between five and six years to get a diagnosis of autism for children in the centre of bradford. you would be waiting and waiting and waiting, and sometimes parents would then give up, if you like, because it was such a stressful process. we don't wait any more — we get the child the help they need,

so the gap between the children and their peers is minimised. labour and teaching unions agree that change is needed, but say the plans are not ambitious enough to transform a system in crisis. for this family, things are looking up. after battling for six years, harrison has now been placed in a special school in huddersfield. the first time i spoke to his new head teacher, he had me in tears. i mean, you feel so emotional because year after year after year of being told that your child is the problem, and within a couple of weeks of being at a new special education school, he's got everything he needs. you can see a future for him, you can see, you know, potential that wasn't there before, and it's brilliant. elaine dunkley, bbc news. more on ukraine now, and the humanitarian crisis that's deepening by the day. the united nations estimates 3.9 million refugees

have now left ukraine. each one has their own story — the lives they've left behind, how they escaped and where they are now taking shelter. more than 600,000 ukrainians have crossed the border into romania alone. our central europe correspondent, nick thorpe, sent this report from the north—east of the country where he met iryna and heard about herfamily, and the monastery which has taken them in. sihastria. the name of the monastery means a place of retreat — of prayer and meditation — away from the turmoil of the world. and that's what it means now for iryna, her mother—in—law, natalia, her best friend, ira, and theirfive children. iryna drove them all here in her old ford transit from kharkiv in eastern ukraine. my lovely car, my lovely van.

i'm so glad that here i have a part of home, a part of my husband. sometimes i... i want to sit in there just to smell... just to smell my husband, just to smell my house. her husband, like ira's husband, stayed behind in kharkiv, a city under russian siege, delivering fuel. here at the monastery, the families have been given a house and told they can stay as long as they wish. last sunday, when i was praying at the church, i even prayed for putin. i wished him to become wiser. i wished him stop killing our

children in ukraine. only here at the monastery, i began to feel some sympathy to russian troops. and i stop hating them. only yesterday i saw some flowers in the yard. and i was so surprised because i didn't see them before. it's impossible even to breathe this beautiful mountain air. when they fled ukraine, they thought they might be home for easter. now their best hope is by summer. nick thorpe, bbc news, sihastria monastery, romania. the chief executive of p&0 ferries has told the transport secretary that he won't reverse the decision to sack 800 staff. peter hebblethwaite has written

to grant shapps to say that re—employing the workers on their original wages would cause the company to collapse. speaking this morning, mr hebblethwaite said he would remain in post. i have no plans to resign. i need to see this through. i need to get this business back up on its feet. i need to make it competitive, viable and give us an opportunity to grow in the future. earlier i spoke to transport correspondent katy austin who gave me the latest on today's developments. we now have this war of words between the boss of p&0 ferries and the transport secretary, who just yesterday wrote to him urging him to offer all 800 sacked seafarers theirjobs back on the old pay and terms. and then today, peter hebblethwaite saying that would mean the company went bust and even morejobs would go. and he also pointed out in that letter this morning that, he said, 500 workers had already signed the agreements, their redundancy settlement agreements, if you like.

so he was saying, "well, i can't get rid of the thursday deadline "that has been set for seafarers to respond to their redundancy offers, "because, you know, the agreements in many cases "have already been signed." we know that the transport secretary, though, is planning to come to parliament this week with some measures which he says will force p&0 ferries to backtrack on some of what they're doing, but we'll await the detail of that, to really hear whether that can force any substantial change here. and, yes, speaking at the scottish parliament this morning to msps, peter hebblethwaite was defending the decision, saying, you know, there was regret about the impact it had on seafarers but standing firm on his position that it was the only thing to do to save the company. well, indeed, and he maintains his position that if these workers were rehired, the firm would go bust. is that really right? hard to be sure. he did, actually, shed a little bit of light on this in that session before msps this morning,

where he was asked, you know, if the company was signed off by the board as a going concern just three months ago, what's changed? and he made reference indirectly to p&0 ferries�* owner, dp world. he said that the shareholder in the company had been very supportive but it was no longer appropriate to ask for unconditional support without changes to make the business viable, so that's where he left things there. he also was saying this very, very different crewing model that p&0 ferries has now adopted, he was saying was pretty on a par with others in international shipping, he was saying. so, again, no sign, really, of him, kind of, changing course, as things stand. it doesn't mean that the political criticisms will go away, and i think we're nowhere near the end of the political row over this, certainly. and what about passengers who perhaps have got places booked on p&0 ferries coming up

over the easter holidays? where does this leave them? yeah, we do have the easter holidays coming up soon, which you'd expect to be a busy time for passenger traffic, particularly. all we know is p&0 ferries is making alternative arrangements where it can and informing passengers of them. as for its own services, the ferries are still not running in most cases, apart from a couple of routes which were not affected by the sackings. but most of the ferries are still sitting there waiting to pass inspections by the maritime and coastguard agency before they can get back into service. and last night, a second ferry was actually detained following such an inspection, and the mca has today said the failures that it found included emergency equipment not functioning properly. so i think, with those kind of developments, it doesn't look like the ferries' routes will be able to resume particularly quickly as they've got to sort those issues out and undergo further inspections. we did get a statement

from p&0 ferries this lunchtime, actually, and they said, in their own words, "it's clear that following interventions by ministers and mps, the mca inspections have reached an unprecedented level of rigour." they said that the additional scrutiny was welcome but insisted that any suggestion that safety was being compromised was false. anoosheh ashoori, the british iranian man who was freed from prison in tehran earlier this month, says he's pleased to finally be back with his family in the uk, but cannot understand why it didn't happen sooner. he'd been held in iran since 2017 on spying charges, and was released alongside nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, after the uk settled a military debt with iran. he's been speaking to our diplomatic correspondent, caroline hawley. well done, well done. i still can't believe sometimes that i am back. like when i was in my cell, and i used to pinch myself, but then i would

wake up to the reality of being in my cell. here, it is the other way round. i am trying to pinch myself to see that this is the reality, and i don't want to wake up to my cell. it's quite challenging. it is going to need a lot of effort from me to get back to normal... to my normal life. so these are them? yes, my diaries. quite a pile. yes. nearly 3000 pages. wow. and some were not returned... well, returned and they were read to sherry and she taped them, and i had to tear them up. because i was worried in case they are being taken... yes, this starts from day one, which i wrote when i was actually taken to the prison, but i started... because it was fresh in my mind, i could write from day one. this is all through my time at the interrogation centre.

11th. . .13th august 2017, my arrest. how i was arrested, entering a parallel universe, and my first day in cell number 52. he drew a sketch of one of the cells. this is where he was held after he attempted several times to take his own life. there are people there who are like zombies. theyjust go back and forth. they are in their own world. because of what they have been through? yes. i know that i am innocent and i have ended up in that hell. so i reason with myself that the others, also, they could be innocent and they have ended up there. and when you get to know them, and you get to know about their lives, with their families, you will see that many of them are innocent. and unfortunately, they are stuck there. can you describe that hell for us? i know in your cell you had bedbugs,

cockroaches, there were rats. but what was it like? these are all the physical things that you are confronting every day and night. but the more painful side of it is when you see the suffering of you inmate, of the people in the cells and in your hall. what you cannot see, the invisible part of it, are the shrapnels that have hit the members of theirfamilies, their wives, their children. and, sherry, your life, the children's lives, were completely hijacked by what happened? absolutely, absolutely. i think we, for almost five years, we have been so focused on continuing this fight, and trying to get his name out there, fighting on so many fronts at the same time, and also, trying to earn a living. it was hell.

it's been a living hell, really. what did you learn about yourself? resilience. you really learn how to be resilient, because you have so many challenges from the time that you get up. the actor will smith has apologised to the comedian chris rock for slapping him during the oscars ceremony on sunday night. smith also swore at rock, who'd made a joke about his wife. smith's statement, on instagram, came after the academy awards organisers said they'd be reviewing what happened to decide whether any action should be taken. our correspondent in los angeles, david willis, has more. to do what we do, you've got to be able to take abuse, you've got to be able to have people talk crazy about you. will smith issued a tearful apology both to the academy and his fellow nominees on sunday night.

but of one man, there was no mention. jada, i love you. gi jane 2, can't wait to see it. all right? chris rock's joke about smith's wife's hair loss led to her husband storming the stage and this slap across the face. oh, wow! as a stunned, star—studded audience looked on, the actor proceeded to hurl profanity—laden abuse from his seat. keep my wife's name out of your... sound dips. ..mouth. i'm going to. nearly 2a hours after the academy awards got under way here, came a direct apology to chris rock. posting on instagram, will smith said he was wrong and out of line. "violence in all its forms is poisonous and destructive," he wrote. "my behaviour at last night's academy awards was unacceptable and inexcusable." now at this point, i can only laugh. as you all know, i've been struggling with alopecia. i smith also mentioned his wife's highly public battle with hair loss,

saying a joke about her medical condition proved too much for him to bear. his behaviour on what should have been one of the best nights of his life has been condemned by the academy and an inquiry is under way which could lead to him being censured or expelled. now the party is over, he'll have to confront the growing sense of shock and disbelief over what happened on sunday night. the slap that was seen around the world is unlikely to cost him his oscar, but there's a growing feeling that such a highly public act of violence cannot go unpunished. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. jane will be here from five. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren. and lovely to see you.

especially with the sun shining! we will get some sun over the next few days but it will feel cold as well. it did feel chillier out there, even where we had the sunshine, temperatures were typically 1a, but the really cold air is waiting in the really cold air is waiting in the wings, just to the north of scotland, and as we develop a northerly wind in the next few days, that cold air will come flooding southwards, bringing some sleet and snow. but given the time of year there should not be too much of that. today has been a messy day, certainly. we've had a lot of cloud, a bit more rain than expected in the south, that should tend to move away overnight. then we'll focus on this rain moving southwards across scotland over northern england, from that, this is where we get the colder air arriving and overnight we will have snow and ice across northern parts of scotland and frost as well. not quite so cold elsewhere, could have some mist and fog patches forming ahead of that rain banned in england and wales, that will lift slowly, and we should eventually see some sunshine in the south—west, perhaps showers. this is

a band of cloud, mostly rain, some sleet and snow over the peaks and pennines, and following that, colder air moves down, bringing sunshine and wintry showers. but look what it does to temperatures. 5 degrees in newcastle and hull, a cold day for the time of year. the last of any mild weather in the far south of england. that wet weather moves south overnight, could be a dusting of snow here and there across southern parts of england by early thursday, wintry look to the weather on thursday, widespread frost and icy patches. this is the last of any sleet and snow to clear away from the south of england, and then it will be a day of sunshine and showers, wintry showers, hail, sleet and snow, and heavy ones, too. particularly in northern areas. at those winds will blow showers towards the south—west as well. temperatures look like this on thursday afternoon. six, seven across the eastern side of the uk, and here we will probably have the strongest winds, and when you factor in that wind, it will feel quite a

bit colder than that, two or three, so quite a shock to the system compared with how warm it has been of late. things do come down a bit for friday as high—pressure nudges in from the atlantic. winds would be a strong and we will start off with frost widely, with some icy patches on friday. some more wintry showers, not as many, some sunshine, and it clouds over in northern ireland and scotland, and here we will find a mixture of rain but also some sleet and snow over the hills. it's still and snow over the hills. it's still a chilly day on friday, not quite as chilly, and we will keep those sorts of temperatures probably into the weekend. goodbye for now.

this is bbc news. the headlines. russia says it will drastically reduce combat operations around ukraine s capital and northern city — more than a month after moscow invaded the country. the bbc has learned more than 200 babies could have survived had better care being provided to royal shrewsbury trust. 20 fines are to be issued, as part of the police inquiry into parties held in downing street that breached coronavirus lockdown rules. labour's deputy leader angela rayner says the prime minister should resign. the prime minister has completely lied about this situation. the police have issued fines, so therefore lockdown rules have