this is bbc news. the headlines: israeli police have beaten mourners carrying the coffin of the aljazeera reporter shireen abu aqla, whose killing in the occupied west bank has

caused a surge of anger. the russian and us defence secretaries have spoken for the first time since moscow's invasion of ukraine in february. lloyd austin, the pentagon chief, told the kremlin during the call that it must implement an immediate ceasefire in ukraine. the east african regional body, igad, has warned that the number of people in dire need of aid due to drought has risen sharply over the last month, with more than a0 million facing high levels of food insecurity. sri lanka's new prime minister has told the bbc an economic crisis is going to get worse before it gets better. the country is facing fuel shortages and soaring food prices. at 10pm, reeta chakrabarti will be here with a full round—up of the day's news. first, newscast. newscast. newscast, from the bbc. hello.

it's adam in the studio. hello. it's alex in the studio. and it's chris in the studio. and we will be joined in the studio by some people shortly. but first of all, partygate. are we calling it partygate officially now? ijust think it is kind of broad... so—called? so—called partygate, but i think most people know what we are talking about when we say partygate. yes, anyway, we have got a new number now, 100, because the met police did an update today, saying that is the total number of fines that have been sent to people in whitehall or downing street for lockdown—busting parties during the lockdowns. chris, do we know which event this is now that they have got to? we think it is the event that took place just before christmas of 2020. so, this was a bit of a christmas bash. it was the one that was referred to by allegra stratton, the former spokeswoman in downing street, in that video that was leaked. although she wasn't there. she referred to it, but she didn't attend. she crucially wasn't there, as she said in that video. so we think most of the fines this time, in this tranche, have come from then. it is exactly a month, you know, since the prime minister and the chancellor were fined — or at least, we were told that they were fined.

there has been this rolling on process since then and this is kind of a collation of the details from the met. we think that four or so of the 12 events the cops are looking at have led to fines so far, which could mean, i guess, it probably does mean there are quite a few more fines to come, maybe. and on this occasion, so of this latest tranche, we are told that the prime minister has not received a second fine. neither has his wife — mrsjohnson has not received a second fine — nor has the cabinet secretary received a fine in this tranche. but i think what is obviously striking about this is you are now talking about 100—plus fines, so itjust speaks to the scale of what was happening in downing street while an awful lot of people were sticking to the rules and that is why this is so significant. totally. i think the curious thing is, though, is politically, how much does it change? if people collectively, in the electorate, and conservative mps, have kind of thought, "you know what? "there was quite a lot of partying going on in lockdown..." mmm. ..and they have come to a view on it, does this change anything? i'm not sure today necessarily does. but then, maybe it does if the pm

gets a load more fines. i think what the politically pivotal points are going to be is if the prime minister gets a load more fines, like you say, and of course, when we get the sue gray report into all of this and if it is particularly damaging about the prime minister, that feels like the point that might shift the political dial. but i do come back to the point — i still think, when you think 100 — well, not 100 people, 100 fines were issued for activities in downing street while the country at large was sticking to the rules, that is a very uncomfortable place to be. a quick word about keir starmer as well because that is the kind of twist, isn't it, with the whole business of beergate, to add an additional gate, that do in a labour mp's office in durham with angela rayner, the deputy leader, and various party workers. quite striking today, yes, labour say the prime minister should resign and we know that keir starmer has said that he will if he is fined, but labour were not racing to twitter, i noticed, this morning, to instantly condemn in the way that they kind of did in the past, given that they are in a bit more of an awkward situation themselves, aren't they, now? right, let's talk about that and some of the week's other political news with the labour mp for walthamstow, stella creasy.

hello! hello. welcome. i notice keir starmer was maybe a little bit muted about the whole party thing today. normally, we get a big statement, "the prime minister must resign!" why ever could that be? exhales i think everybody has said - what they wanted to say about it. the next thing is, i what are the police going to do about it — on all sides, isn't it? | so until the police make any action, what more is there to say? - do you think looking back, maybe he made too much of a thing about it, not thinking it could ever apply to him? no, because i keep. saying this to people. like, i was being stopped . in the street, i was stopped at the football by a bunch of people who said, "look, i am a natural- conservative, but this . is disgraceful," and that still remains abouti the prime minister. i genuinely have not had people stop me and talk to me - about the labour party in the same way. - like, it has seeped through into the public consciousness, - so people do recognise it. i think the challenge for all of us is that people think, _ "well, you probably all lie — you are all the same," - and so showing that you are not is really, really important. - because if people don't trust you, it doesn't matter how— brilliant your policies are, i

they think, well, you are not going to do it anyway, _ so what is the point of listening? and do we know if the beer that keir had was a stella? oh, my god... have you been waiting... as you potentially... is that literally you and the boys in the playground at school, - is that all you have been thinking about, is that...? _ go on, go through the whole lot. yes, my parents, great bid, have | i got a brother called carlsberg?| dated reference. am i married to- rene artois from a...? 0k, 0k. i've got a whole sleet of them, mate, years and years of it. i hey, look, i could have carried on sort of slagging off keir starmer, there, so you have got off lightly. well, i actuallyjust wanted to ask you about something else that you've been talking about this week, which is something that is obviously quite personal... yeah. ..and it was your experience at cambridge university. some really — some of the stuff you said, i mean, itjust... itjust made me think how horrific that situation must have been. partly because i was talking - about it in the context of, look, frankly, people don't turn up - in westminster and suddenly start being sexual abusersl and sexual harassers.

there is a challenge - in all of our privileged... audio loss

what is it that did happen to you and why is it, do you think, that this seems so embedded? that this kind of cultural shift that is so needed doesn't seem to happen? so, it is about power. so, look, i was, as a young adult, as people do, - i was having a casual relationship - with somebody and one of his friends decided that he thought i should now shift my affections to him. _ and when i was like, "well, that's not how i feel," - was affronted by that and then whipped up the group of them| to target me with harassment, and it included a whole range i of things, whether it was physical — the thing i have spoken _ about is the night i found myself... i was playing pool in one _ of the college rooms and then found myself alone with them - and they all started joking about

how they were going to gang rape me. and i did what women are trained i to do, is that you find yourself i trying to manage the situation. i sobered up very quickly and found myself trying to work out how - i could get out of that room _ without antagonising them even more. they would change my name, so my name is creasy, - they would change it to take off. the cr so it read "easy" on things. they put up posters telling people not to vote for me when i wantedl to stand for a minor position in the college, because of. who i had slept with. it was that level of, like, constant, repetitive - abuse about who i was, about my sex life, - about what i looked like. and then the fear of being on your own with them and the fear - that they might do something. and this is pre—facebook and social media days, . so the tools they had to do this were fairly rudimentary. - so it was literally, like, - i would leave my door open to go to the loo and come back and find that somebody had emptied - all their rubbish into my room or they had started spitting, i or things had been moved in my room. if i left the room — i because i was living in the same places as them — - they would scream and shout abuse about the size of my chest . or who had been to visit me. they were young men, -

and so they were responsible for their behaviour because they were over the age of 18. and, yeah, now, partly— because of the institution we went to, they will be people . of positions of influence. i want to be clear — i it is nobody who is in westminster at this moment. i haven't seen them around. so, i am not saying it is other mp5. but i am saying, as i say, . that culture of entitlement, that culture where you think it is ok to behave like that. because of who you are - and what you are capable of... and, you know, the college were very i clear with me that these are bright i young men with a great future, did i really want to _ cause trouble for them, . when i went to try and say, "this is happening, . could you stop this?" is that what they said? yeah, and as i say, it . wasn't until they put up posters and suddenly, - that was when the college kind of believed me that maybe there was something elsel going on here. when i talk to other young women and some young men who have i experienced these sorts - of behaviours in those places, the echoes are very clear to me - about that sense that somebodyjust could do it because it was entertaining to them, - because you were their plaything. and that kind of privilege i and entitlement that infuses some of the behaviour, - frankly, that you have seen in the place where i work now,

that is inventing our laws- and cutting people's. voices out as a result. and behaving in ways that actually, yes, now people| would say were criminal. it is 25 years on, so i don'ti want to name them, i don't want to go back there. i had a terrible moment about seven i or eight years later when i walked i into a bar one night- and they were all sat there. and you could imagine, my stomach just went. i what did you do? well, interestingly, one of them came to try to talk to me. - and i was standing there... i remember standing there and i was sort of shaking, i and, you know, he was trying actually to say, "we probablyj weren't the kindest to you," and i sort of thought, - "you have misunderstood". so i thought, even at that point, you had started to realise - what you had done but actually, one of the things that really- strikes me about it — _ and i was thinking about this today, and it is a bit, again, - like the stuff in westminster — it was a small college. lots of people knew what was going on, lots of people saw it. _ people told me not to react, not to give them a reaction, | not to get wound up by it, not to react to it. - i mean, to the point where - i was thinking, "do you know what? "i am going to leave. "i don't need to be here.

"i don't need to puti myself through this. "no—one is doing anything about it." and it made me think- about the bystander effect. and i say that again - about parliament — great, we have an independent complaints process. - but actually, a lot of the stuff where people don't even feel| ready to come forward, - other people will have seen, other people would've spotted it. yeah, so i was going to ask you that in a second, but we should just say, the university of cambridge has put out a statement about this and they just say, "we are extremely sorry to hear of the horrific ordeal "which stella creasy experienced. "sexual harassment of any sort has absolutely no place "at the university." and then they talk about the steps that they have taken and the policies they have put in place and they say they are going to reach out to you. yeah, they haven't yet. not yet. nobody from my former college — i i mean, i use to get lots of e—mails from them about alumni and would i give, - but not about this. not about this, 0k. what i would say, though, - is that the subsequent master of the college was rowan williams was a very dear man, _ and he has been very kind to me. so i know there is a "not all men"| thing about it but actually, as yet, cambridge has not come to me.

and for me, it is not. just about cambridge. like, this today, since i started i talking about this, i have had a lot of messages from other people - who are now experiencing or recently experienced some of these things. i mean, this is the impossible question... yeah. ..but what do you do about that culture of entitlement? what do we do about it? well, look, this is why i think the independent stuff - is so important but also why i think the bystander- stuff is so important. like, stop leaving it to women to sort out these cultures - because it is women's voices that l get cut out, and start asking men — because, as i say, what struck me| about that conversation in that bar that night, about some - of the messages i've had since, i is that other people will have seen i this and probably were uncomfortable about what they saw. have you had to be the supportive, intervening bystander for another woman or maybe a man in westminster who has been going through this? yes, yes. i and as i say, i started talking. about this because i was saying, i look, i first started experiencing i sexual harassment on a widespread scale at university. it did not stop when i left - university and i have experienced it, both when i have been- into westminster before i became an mp, i have had people say and do things since i became an mp. - and i am not unique in that -

experience and that is the thing that really winds me up about this. i got elected 12 years ago. i've been here for ages. we've been talking about this stuff for ages. - every so often, there is a moment where people's interest _ is piqued and someone says, | "something should be done". like i say, great. we have an independent process. it is taking ages. there are concerns about _ the outcomes of some of the cases. loopholes and, frankly, do i think it is having the change in culture? some of the stories i was hearing. today about some of the things that are circulating on whatsapp groups, for example, some of the things- being said about women mps, no, i don't think it's really leading - to the cultural change. and i don't think the cultural. change is just about the power imbalance between mps and mp5' staff. - it's also about peers, _ and that includes other mp5 to each other and it includes our staff. we have a long way to go to unpick quite what is so obvious in that - culture that people don't challenge it because they think it's _ just part of human life. stella, let me ask you about something else you've been campaigning on, and this is the issue of having babies in the chamber. this came up because, of course, you were in the chamber with your baby and there is now an inquiry looking at this

and what might happen. where are you at on this? so, i want to be really clear — ididn't actually want to take i my baby into the chamber. i didn't have any maternity cover. i have a constituency with a lot of issues, i a lot of challenges, . and i wasn't prepared to say to them, "sorry, . for six months you get no representation because i don't have what in any other workplace - i would have as a standard, _ which is somebody who would be able to cover what i do," which is why. less than 24 hours after i had given birth to my son whilst i was still on quite a lot of morphine, - i was on the phone with the defence minister because i had a lot- of constituents affected _ by what was going on in afghanistan and i couldn't say to them, literally a life or death scenario, sorry. we asked if a member of my staff could be part of that _ conversation and they said no. i want to clear up what now the trolls will be writing. i yes, there is a creche in parliament — it is one that you pay for, - it's not free, it is not subsidised. it's a brilliant creche — - i use it for my older child. but when you are breast—feeding a baby and breast—feeding - is a protected right, - there isn't really anybody else who can do that _ unless you have a wet nurse and i'm not a character in blackadder.

i so, i faced a choice between either. bringing my baby with me and making sure that he was nicely fed i and quiet because otherwise, you wouldn't have heard what i was going to say, or not representing my constituents. nobody should be in that position. i don't know when that committee will report. j i don't know when there will be any change anytime soon. _ that is why i have been working - with women to fund women to stand for parliament for the labour party because the labour party - is just about to start i the selection process, and we are talking to other political parties about it. as well who are mums. because the reality about all- of this is the evidence shows mums are put off from being part i of politics, not because they don't have the skills, - the interests or the energy. because basically, combining this job with being a good parent - is pretty impossible. what did you make of the response to what you did at the time, or wanted to do at the time? we had the speaker in your chair, in fact, it was adam's chair, he came in and he acknowledged... shall we just remind ourselves what he said? i wasn't here for it, so i would like to remind myself. i have been heavily lobbied not to change the rules. by who? by other mothers. and it's been very clear, they have made their voice —

i have got texts on my phone saying, "do not give in!" well, i think it's not about giving in. i think it's about doing the right thing and that is why the procedures committee has been asked to look into it, report back and it will allow both sides of the argument to give the evidence and let us make the right decision. what do you make of that? well, actually, when i saw that footage, the thing that - broke my heart was the speaker chose to make a comment on my family- and my partner, who is a brilliant. dad but he can't breast—feed a baby, so he is not an answer to these suggestions. | what i would say more generally about this is asking westminster to think about how it needs to change is like asking - turkeys whether they think christmas is a good idea, i because you are dealing with people who have already dealt _ with the existing status quo i and who feel very strongly that if you want to get ahead somehow |you don't rock the boat too much. j i have been asking for the women who are not here to be _ spoken to, to be asked - about what they want to do. it is not actually about bringing your baby into the chamber, i nobody really wants to do that. having proper maternity cover... now i am back, i don't - have a proxy vote any more, but i can't really plan for things because i can't really be sure .

about whether the whips might give me some time off. - i know the whips work really hard to try and accommodate people, i but there is no formal policies, - there aren't things you would have in any other workplace. and, frankly, asking the people who are already here, - some of whom on all political sides have said to me, yes, _ we need to sort this, _ and on the other sides have said, i struggled through it, - i managed, why can't you? don't make a fuss. it's kind of what is wrong here. it's the people who are missing. we need to be talking to, and i've said that to the procedures committee, and as yet, - as far as i am aware, _ nobody who is perhaps a prospective candidate, somebody who might be thinking, is this a place i can be - a good mum and a good mp, has been spoken to. - and if the point is those voices are missing maybe those - are the voices we need to be talking to as welt _ stella, thank you so much, it's been great to hear all your stories, even if some of them are actually quite harrowing to hear. thanks for coming on. nice to see you. let's do a bit of nostalgia brexit chat on newscast about our old friend the protocol, or not a friend, depending on your view of this in the debate that rages,

because a bit of noise again as far as this arrangement that was arrived at in the brexit deal, to get a brexit deal over the line and putting northern ireland in a different economic relationship with the eu than the rest of the uk. and noise and concern and an attempt to sort something out given the results of the northern ireland election, but we just don't quite know what is going to happen. but before that, adam, because i feel like i don't often get this opportunity to really put you on the spot the way you so frequently do to the rest of us, so i mightjust take this chance. you are the brexit expert. former. i still like to think of you as the brexpert whenever i can, so just do this for me. you are about to go live on the ten o'clock news right now, and in one minute tell us what the northern ireland protocol is. in one minute. can i get my notes out? it's like a just a minute challenge. but no repetition, deviation or hesitation. i've just started, i've wasted two seconds already. go. so in the brexit deal, there is a bit of the brexit deal that applies specifically to northern ireland which is designed to avoid a hard border or any kind of infrastructure

between northern ireland and ireland, to preserve the peace process. the way this protocol was designed is that lots of the rules of the eu single market applied to the trade in goods between great britain and northern ireland, lots of eu laws still apply. that means you have checks on goods crossing the irish sea, which the uk government says, "hang on, that is like carving up the internal market of the uk." so all along, the uk have been saying, "we have got to change this, we have got to change it, we don't like it." then they started negotiating with the eu to get some tweaks, the eu put forward a big package of proposals last october, which were still very much within the rules of the protocol butjust applying it in a lighter touch way. still not enough for the uk, so those negotiations continued. it is absolutely not enough for the dup, who are refusing to go into the power—sharing government in northern ireland unless the protocol is entirely scrapped, so that is why it is an issue now, and it's in the news today because the foreign secretary had a virtual meeting with her opposite number in brussels. well done. 1.05. another contribution to the noise about the protocol.

but let's talk about it for a few more minutes, and we better not put a stop watch on him now because he is actually a government minister in the irish government. it's thomas byrne, who is the irish europe minister. hello, thomas byrne. good evening, how are you? good, thanks. so liz truss, the foreign secretary, had her virtual conversation with maros sefcovic from the european commission today. where do you think things have got to? what is your assessment? well, it's very hard to know. we have heard this on a numberl of occasions from the british side that the protocol was going to be i amended, article 16 was going to be invoked, there were going to be - changes taking place, and we've been been consistent from the start that |this is an international agreementl that needs both sides to work- together and it is simply not open to any one side to change - the agreement, but it is open when the two sides are sitting down together and to - see what flexibilities _ are available within the protocol. could those flexibilities include the idea that the uk is pushing now of a green lane and a red lane, and goods that are going to stay

in northern ireland go in the green lane when they move over from gb and goods going into the rest of the eu potentially go in a red lane? is that the flexibility that could exist within the existing protocol as it is written now? i think there is great prospects for really good flexibilities, - but it does require - governments to sit down. i'm not going to get into - the details of the negotiations, which i hope will take place, but i do know that there - is a really open approach _ in the european union, but at times, to be quite honest, that open- approach has not been reciprocated by the british government and we see that this week — we had said after the change - of personnel, when liz truss came on board, that there was a change of atmosphere, that was true, - but it does seem over- the last few months that, really, discussion has- slowed down, there has been very little movement, - particularly on the british side, and all the while, - the european union has been working to show that it is very seriousi about flexibilities, _ and indeed in the last month, almost unheralded, the issue of medicines—

into northern ireland was completely resolved by the european union. - there wasn't a word really in much of the media. - au contraire. us connoisseurs reported it, don't worry. i'm very glad to hear it. but it certainly wasn't reported anywhere near as strongly - or heralded indeed by the political classes as strongly _ as what we are hearing this week. and it was a very important step| and a real sign of good faith, not just from the european commission, but from the member states - in the parliament who had | to push it through as well, because that is the way - the european union works. it sounds, minister, like what you are saying is that the sabre rattling, the language, the concern from the british foreign secretary that things are dragging on, the threat of unilaterally acting with legislation here in the uk is actively working against some sort of agreement that all sides can live with. look, that is why we try to maintain a calm approach and a structured i approach but a firm approach - on first principles, and those first principles are that international - agreements need to be complied with. but there is lots -

we can do together. let's never forget that a majority, 60% almost in northern ireland, i supported the protocol- in the elections and that is reflected in the assembly. the voice of business is fully behind the protocol as well. | they all want flexibilities, they all want movement, | but i think they want to get that from discussions. - just to be clear, minister, are you saying that the language from liz truss is a problem here, is making it worse, is making it harder to get to an agreement? well, look, i don't really. want to get into individual criticisms, but i don't think the newspaper briefing is l very helpful, quite frankly. and we saw it today where there - was a word which appear to be some kind of a legal term, _ primordial, and literally no lawyer has ever heard of that word before in a legal context, and itjust- caused confusion and wonder, what is exactly going on? - it didn't seem to come _ from the legal people, even though it was purported to. there was a lot of confusion being caused with some of the briefing i that is going on to the media and that is not helpful. - what is helpful is the two sides i get together to discuss the issue.

isn't this part of the problem, that if you are in northern ireland right now and you haven't effectively had a functioning government for however long and now the prospect of a functioning government is receding, and what is the problem with that is the northern ireland protocol? doesn't it come to the point that just to get the basic public services back on track in northern ireland, that the eu is going to have to make some concessions on this as well? well, the eu has shown enormous flexibility, i but quite frankly, i don't think we've been given the chance i to demonstrate that. i make that case with the medicines issue, which unionist politicians - were rightly pointing out last year was an issue _ it has been solved. there is an opportunity there to solve the real| issues for them which, - i have to say, don't include the issue of the ec], - which unionist politicians themselves have said to me, - but do include issues like customs declarations and some issues around plants and animal products. - that is what the european union wants to discuss. _ we haven't been given the chance at all. - but i'm confident that if both - governments were to work together, i and that's it's britain and ireland | or britain and the european union,

and come together and someone says, "look, we have _ listened to everybody, - nobody in northern ireland gets everything that they want, but here is the best that - we can come up with" — - that was the protocol, really — i've no doubt if bothj sides came together that the political leadership - in northern ireland would follow. before you go, let's step back to the bigger picture. you nodded to it there, the election result in northern ireland last week, and we see the rise of sinn fein and the rise of sinn fein in the republic as well. do you ponder a moment, a future perhaps several or more years down the track where there is a very live conversation about a united ireland? the border poll, as it is known? well, first of all, obviously sinn fein have come first. in a number of seats _ and we congratulate them for that, but it is not the first time - a nationalist party has come first in terms of votes. the sdlp did that. as far back as 1998. they didn't match it with seats, but they got more votes - than any other party. so this has happened before. john hume regularly topped the poll in mep elections as well— on the nationalist side. so this happened before, -

there is no doubt there is a lot more discussion about a united ireland. - the irish government, though, is really focused on the sorts l of relationships that i am talking about here that are crucial - to stability in northern ireland. i don't think there is a majority there in northern ireland - for a united ireland at the moment. i certainly wish for it as an irish person, but it is a matter- for the people of northern ireland and, quite frankly, there - is a lot of conversation - going on about a united ireland at the moment. i don't see that conversation - including the unionist community. thomas byrne, thank you very much, and i am going to say for the one—millionth time, i think we are going to be talking about the protocol for a while yet. i suspect you might be right, adam. although i do also secretly think you might be a little pleased... only in one—minute chunks. alex, thanks forjoining us again. thank you for having me. it is a pleasure, as ever. and newscast will be back on bbc sounds every weekday. bye! bye. newscast, from the bbc.

hello. pretty quiet on the weather front out there right now. and i think most of us are in for a fine saturday. not much happening on the weather front over the coming hours. clear spells, a bit of mist and murk forming outside of town, maybe a few showers in the western isles. that is pretty much it. and the morning temperatures will range from around 6 in newcastle to ii in cardiff. so, sunshine for most of us right from the word go, then scattered fair weather clouds through the course of the afternoon, lighter winds in the north or so, and the temperatures will range from, say, 18 in aberdeen and belfast up to around 22 in birmingham and london. but saturday night into sunday, we think thundery showers will sweep into the south of the uk, but the risk of thunder and lightning is actually higher the further east you are. and those showers could rumble into the morning on sunday as well. but i think eventually, the sun should come out.