was heard in secret, of the inquiry was heard in secret, effectively, only heard by the witnesses, sirjohn saunders, and the legal representatives. no public allowed in, nojournalists out the legal representatives. no public allowed in, no journalists out to watch, no families allowed in to hear the evidence taking place, effectively to protect the official secrets of how the mis, british security services, how they operate and who works for them, and that evidence, although heard by the chairman of the inquiry, he will be restricted in some ways about what he can now say beyond that. so he will give his report, knowing what has said in the past, chapters inquiry, you will be relatively forthright and... i’m inquiry, you will be relatively forthright and. . ._ inquiry, you will be relatively forthright and... i'm afraid i'm “ust forthright and... i'm afraid i'm just going _ forthright and... i'm afraid i'm just going to — forthright and... i'm afraid i'm just going to interrupt - forthright and... i'm afraid i'm just going to interrupt you - forthright and... i'm afraid i'm| just going to interrupt you they are, thank you very much. we will just listen into these life pictures in manchester.

—— we willjust listen in to these live pictures in manchester. so, that marks one minute, will everyone now please sit? in

so, that marks one minute, will everyone now please sit? in this, the final open _ everyone now please sit? in this, the final open volume _ everyone now please sit? in this, the final open volume of- everyone now please sit? in this, the final open volume of my - everyone now please sit? in this, i the final open volume of my report, i the three topics. the radicalisation of salman abedi, the planning and preparation for the attack by salman abedi and hashim abedi, and whether it could have been prevented by counterterrorism policing. —— by hashem abedi. the role of the security service and the significance of the other two topics should not be underestimated. it is important that we understand as much as we can about the radicalisation of salman abedi so that similar signs can be recognised and appropriate action taken. it is also

important that we know in detail about the preparation for the attack so that measures can be brought in which would have prevented the killers acquiring the knowledge and materials they needed to carry out the attack. radicalisation. the inquiry heard evidence from doctor wilkinson, his evidence detailed the differences between followers of mainstream islam who are the overwhelming majority and are accepting of and exist peacefully alongside people of different faiths and those he identified as a violent islamist extremists, who believe in a narrow in group, who believe they are the only ones with the correct worldview. they are prepared to use violence against members of out groups which includes anyone who is not part of the in group, including

mainstream muslims. it is important that i emphasise, as did doctor wilkinson, that the violent islamist extremists are a tiny group who have adopted a distorted view of islam based on an incorrect interpretation of the koran. doctor wilkinson outlined what he believed were the various influences that had contributed to salman abedi's radicalisation, including that by 2017, every conceivable radicalising maligned presence and obnoxious absence existed in salman abedi's life. he said i have never seen such a complete picture of the petri dish absolutely brimming with germs. i consider that doctor wilkinson's

evidence was important. his perspective of the behaviours exhibited was on occasions different from that of the security service and counterterrorism policing. i would hope that his evidence will be considered with care by the relative authorities to see what knowledge can be gained to assist in the correct identification of individuals who are at risk of being radicalised. i have concluded that there were a number of contributing factors to salman abedi's radicalisation. his family background and his parents' extremist views along with their participation in the struggle in libya paid a significant part. that struggle involved people who were radical violent extremists. during the time salman abedi and hashem abedi spent in libya, during which

they were probably involved in fighting, they are likely to have come into contact with a number of violent extremists. it is likely that those extremists, including members of the islamic state, who would be in a position to provide the brothers with expertise in making a bomb —— might making of bombs and carrying out surveillance measures, as leading counsel said during one of the hearings, how was someone of salman abedi's limited intelligence and abilities able to succeed in committing this atrocity despite any safeguards which were in place? the likely answer is he was provided with help. i have not been able to obtain a complete picture of the part salman abedi an hashem abedi's family played in their

radicalisation nor of their time in libya because other members of their family, namely their parents and brother, were not willing to give evidence to the inquiry. the parents are salman abedi and hashem abedi were invited to provide statements but declined to do so. as they are currently out of the jurisdiction, there were no further steps that i could take. ismail abedi who was in the united kingdom at the time was able to leave so he did not have to give a statement. i have some suggestions which i hope will make this more difficult for important witnesses in the future. whether if i had succeeded in getting ismail abedi into the witness box, he would have assisted the inquiry, is very

doubtful. what i was not prepared to doubtful. what i was not prepared to do in the circumstances of this case was to invite the attorney general to grant him immunity from prosecution in relation to any evidence he gave to me. in order to encourage him to speak. if he was involved in the plot, it would be quite wrong for him to have any protection from prosecution and punishment. there were other extremists, most of whom came from the same area of manchester as salman abedi and probably played a part in salman abedi's radicalisation and or confirming him in his views once he had committed to violent extremism. 0ne

of those abdal raouf abdallah with whom there were a number of messages sent between the two which was recovered as a counterterrorism policing investigation which resulted in the prosecution and conviction of the abdal raouf abdallah for terrorist offences. those messages talk of martyrdom. they were highly significant view of doctor wilkinson for demonstrating the influence over salman abedi and the influence over salman abedi and the development of his violent extremist mindset. salman abedi was not identified as one of the participants in this exchange of messages until after the attack and i have concluded on the balance of probabilities the messages were not passed to the security services by counterterrorism policing as they should have been. my investigation however have demonstrated that even if salman abedi had been identified

and the messages had been sent to the security service, it would not have affected their view of salman abedi. i have not criticised that view taken by the security service but there is a learning point which could usefully be pursued which is that the attitude of the security service to those sort of messages might be informed by the considerations which doctor wilkinson applied. we know that salman abedi visited abdal raouf abdallah in prison and also that they communicated by phone, including an illegal phone which abdal raouf abdallah had in prison. it was apparent by the evidence that while they were known to the way of prisoners radicalising other prisoners, they paid little if any attention to the risk that such

prisoners who may have had a steer that my hero status to some we take the opportunity to radicalise visitors or encourage those who are already radicalised in your beliefs. there is no evidence that abdalraouf abdallah played any part in plotting the attack but it is likely, in my view, that he provided support for salman abedi's ideological beliefs and increased salman abedi's resolved to carry out the attack. it is important that the prison authorities do take notice of the risk that those in prison for terrorist offences such as encouraging others to go and fight abroad, may seek to radicalise visitors as well as other prisoners or at least support their radical views. the government's response to the risk of radicalisation is the prevent programme. a review of that programme by william shawcross has

just been published in the government has responded to it. because of that report, i did not carry out an assessment of the effectiveness of the prevent programme during my inquiry because it would have been beyond my terms of reference to do so. the shawcross report does deal with the issues of the abedis and confirms neither were looked at by prevent. i have looked at the various situations where salman abedi could have been referred to prevent and i have concluded he should have been. i heard evidence that his referral was considered at one stage but he was not considerable... considered suitable. there can be no guarantees that salman abedi or hashem abedi

would have engaged in the programme because their elder brother refused to engage with counterterrorism policing officers when they went to speak with him in 2015. i have concluded that there was at least a period during salman abedi'sjourney to violent extremism when he should have been referred to the programme. it is very hard to say what then might have happened. i have looked at whether the various educational establishments and mosques that salman abedi attended should have appreciated that he was moving towards violent extremism and notify the relevant authorities. i consider that it would have been very difficult for any of the educational establishments to become aware of his developing extremism. 0ne establishments to become aware of his developing extremism. one of the problem is that i have identified is that while over the period of his education at different

establishments, salman abedi showed worrying signs which could have been related to extremist views, there is no record which goes with the student which would have allowed anybody to consider all of those signs together. having a record which passes from school with student to college or university may well be contentious and deciding what material to include would also be difficult, nevertheless i do consider that it is something we should —— which should be looked at to see if a solution could be found. another very contentious part of the evidence concerned the manchester islamic centre, also known as the didsbury mosque, which salman abedi attended on some occasions. i consider it unlikely having considered all the evidence, that salman abedi was radicalised at the didsbury mosque, but some of the evidence given in behalf of the mosque about the association of the

abedi family with the mosque was unsatisfactory and it looks as if the didsbury mosque is trying to distance itself from the abedi family in a way which i did not accept was accurate. the reality in my view was that the didsbury mosque did have a significant number of attendees who were connected to libya but were attached to opposite sides in the conflict. didsbury mosque tried and largely succeeded in providing a broad church where both sides of the conflict could worship together. although conflicts were generally avoided, listed on occasion lead to tensions between the two sides. the evidence given on behalf of the didsbury mosque could have been more helpful in enabling me to get to the truth. the charity commission has already prescribed a programme that the didsbury mosque

must put in place. i hope they will read my report and consider whether anything more needs to be done. for reasons that i have already given, i have not commented on the effectiveness of prevent as a programme. it should be noted that the inquiry however, several police officers spoke highly of it as a programme and how successful it can be in some cases. william shawcross did speak of the radicalisation of salman abedi in his report. he did not have the benefit, as i did, of an intensive investigation into salman abedi's case i know that he have the benefit of hearing from witnesses in closed session in order to resolve contentious issues. insofar as william shawcross's short passage in his report, dealing with salman abedi does not agree entirely with the conclusions that i have reached. i would suggest that this

is because of the much greater opportunity that i have had to listen to and test the evidence. planning and preparation. while this part of my report is largely a narrative of events, it is nevertheless important. it is important that what was done by salman abedi and hashem abedi in preparation for the attack is done so in detailand preparation for the attack is done so in detail and only by doing that is it possible to understand where the weaknesses are in the provisions that try to prevent people acquiring the necessary ingredients for a bomb and information about how to construct it. it is important that the opportunities for obtaining precursor chemicals are... without effect to members of the public conducting their life without undue difficulty. i'm very grateful to the

team. this investigation into the attack conducted by greater manchester police was, as far as i am concerned, of a very high quality. it resulted in the conviction of hashem abedi for the murder of the 22 people who died and the attempted murder of many more who attended that night. i am satisfied as i can be that the brothers made use of an instructional video placed on the internet by the so—called islamic state to create their bomb. as much as possible needs to be done by the authorities to ensure that instructions from murder such as these are not put on the internet and if they are, they remain there for the and if they are, they remain there forthe minimum amount and if they are, they remain there for the minimum amount of time. further, it is important that the regulations requiring the reporting of unusual sales of precursor chemicals are continually kept under

review and are as stringent as possible. and need to be reported promptly. much like the —— none of the purchase chemicals were reported to authorities which is a situation which reduction not —— should not have arisen. had they been reported, it might have been possible that salman abedi could have been stopped. i've considered the parts played by others in the obtaining of those precursor chemicals and other acts which assisted the brothers and their preparation. all of this was carefully investigated by the police as part of the operation on the evidence was reviewed by the crown prosecution service to consider whether prosecution could be brought. some of the people are still under police investigation but

so far no further prosecutions have been brought. the issue in almost every case is whether the person who in fact provided help to the brothers and the preparations can be proved to have known what they were providing helpful. there will inevitably be suspicion and in some cases there will be more suspicion than another�*s. it is not myjob to review the charging decisions of the police or the crown prosecution service but for what it is worth, i agree with the decisions they have made. i do not consider it is appropriate for me to accuse individuals of serious criminal offence where they cannot be proved to the appropriate criminal standard. so i have not gone further than setting out the way in which various individuals assisted the brothers. i am confident that if evidence is found which justifies the prosecution, then the police and

the prosecution, then the police and the crown prosecution service will take the appropriate action. prevent ability. finally, in my report, i dealwith ability. finally, in my report, i deal with the issue of whether the attack should or could have been prevented by the security service and counterterrorism policing. i have reported fully on those matters in the closed part of volume three of my report which will be seen by those who are best placed to ensure that mistakes which were made are not repeated. in the open part of volume three, i have included all matters which i can safely include withoutjeopardising national security and making our community less safe. i have set out how i have approached the issue of national security and i shall not repeat it now, except to say that where it has been possible, without risking

national security, to make public the evidence that i heard in closed, i have done so. what i have been able to set out in the open part of volume three, is that i have found a significant missed opportunity to take action that might have prevented the attack. it is not possible to reach any conclusion on the matter of probabilities or to any other evidential standard as to whether the attack would have been prevented however there was a realistic possibility that actionable intelligence could have been at obtained which might have led to action preventing the attack. the reason for this missed opportunity included a failure by the security service in my view to act swiftly enough. i am aware that revealing what i have revealed in part 2a of my report will leave many

people and particularly the bereaved families, wanting to know more. all i can say is i have done my best to reveal what i can. had we not had closed hearings, i would not have been able to make the findings i have been able to make. closed hearings i am convinced were entirely necessary as part of this inquiry if it was going to achieve its aims. the consequence of that, however, is that i have not been able to reveal some of the evidence of which my findings are based as to do so would have risked a breach of national security. while i have been critical of some of the ways the security service and counterterrorism police recognise the very difficultjob they have to do and i acknowledge their success in and covering a large number of plots against people in this country. i will make a

number of closed recommendations to try and ensure that improvements made in the way that the security service and counterterrorist policing deal with the intelligence that they get. while i intend to monitor the recommendations in the open volume three, i the intelligence & security committee of parliament are the most suitable body to monitor any closed recommendations the time make. they have already investigated the attack and made recommendations. they are in the best position to take an overall view and ensure that steps are taken to make improvements. they also have the important benefit that they will be in a position to carry on their monitoring over a long period of time. because this is my final open report, i have set out my

gratitude to all the people who have worked so hard on this report, the lawyers, the organisations who have responded to an endless request for information, those behind the scenes who have enabled the inquiry to keep going even in difficult situations, and i include in that the providers of the technology which have made it so much easier to conduct this inquiry and of course i thank the many, many witnesses who have given evidence to me. all have worked very hard. i am evidence to me. all have worked very hard. iam personally evidence to me. all have worked very hard. i am personally especially grateful to counsel and solicitors to the inquiry without whose expertise i could not have completed what has been a very owner a task. generally in conducting this inquiry, i have been greatly impressed and grateful for the genuine intention and aspiration held by so many to make a difference. and to try and ensure

that nothing like the manchester arena attack ever happens again. some of the evidence has been inspirational, showing humanity at its best. some of it, when recounting the activities of salman and hashem abedi, has shown humanity at its worst. a significant part of the evidence heard by this inquiry has been ruling and distressing to listen to. for example, the evidence of people who were there, did their best to help, who will be affected by the —— affected for the rest of their lives by what they witnessed. the families of the bereaved and the effect on their lives, and who could fail but be moved by the tributes of the families to those who died. those who are younger so full of promise. those who are older were achieving that promise and all of

them were the cornerstones of the families. what an appalling loss which was so unnecessary. amongst all that grief, we should try and remember the positives as well, along with the terrible events. the courage and members of the public, and many members of the rescue services who did their best to help in appalling circumstances. the response of manchester as it came together after the attack to support all those who had been affected. and the efforts of the bereaved families and survivors. to try and make something good come out of tragedy in their varied and different ways. i am especially grateful to the bereaved families for their continuous support throughout the inquiry. it is impossible to imagine how difficult it must have been for them to listen to some of the evidence that we have heard. i have

not been able to answer all of the questions that they wanted answered. and i am aware that in my open report and volume three, i have raised more questions in their mind. i am sorry, but that was inevitable. i am sorry, but that was inevitable. i did ask the questions, i did get answers, but for the reasons i have given, i have not been able to report publicly what those answers were. it has been an enormous responsibility as well as a privilege to conduct this inquiry. i can only hope that we achieve something by our efforts. that will only happen if those away from this inquiry can share in the desires of those who have taken part in it to make things better. inevitably, some of the changes that are needed will require money which is in short

supply. in protecting the lives of the people of this country, they must be a high priority for any government. thank you. so, that is sirjohn saunders they are leaving the room, giving his final update as that inquiry draws to a close and a couple of striking lines that he delivered there, the first one being in his view, a significant missed opportunity that might have prevented the attack. again, that line, a significant missed opportunity that might have prevented the attack. let's cross to correspond it again, danny savage, who were talking to life just before that in manchester. ijust read that line now that i think is the one that will stick out too many people, the idea that there were significant

missed opportunity that might have prevented this attack. can you put any context around that? yes. prevented this attack. can you put any context around that?- any context around that? yes, i think the chairman's _ any context around that? yes, i think the chairman's inclusions | any context around that? yes, i l think the chairman's inclusions in relation to mi5 are devastating, i think. they've always had the corporate overview that it was only the two brothers who were involved in this and that was the formal conclusion that they have reached but now that sirjohn saunders has heard evidence from these mi5 officers in front of him in the court, albeit in secret, if you like, that this was evidence that details of which cannot be reported, he has drawn a very different conclusion suggesting that they were out of step with the officers, secret hearings credited with allowing him to individually question mi5 staff directly and sir john saunders said it became apparent that mi5�*s corporate

position did not reflect what the relevant officers did, thought or would have done at the time but rather the corporate position was more of a retrospective justification for the actions taken or not taken. we heard from him saying there that there were two pieces of information that mi5 officers were in possession of that perhaps if they had taken a slightly different plan of action, things would have been different. they had some information which we don't know what it is because that is a secret but they had two pieces of information that they failed to act upon effectively. and what sirjohn saunders has said today is if salman abedi had been questioned on arrival backin abedi had been questioned on arrival back in manchester shortly before the attack when he returned from libya it is believed he received bomb—making instructions, if he had been questioned then following to the vehicle where he was stirringly explode break explosive in, officers would have seen how he reacted around the vehicle and that may have led to them taking further action

and perhaps averaging we manchester are in a bombing. this will make very uncomfortable reading for mi5 after the public stance that they have taken up until now to the reality that sirjohn saunders said was actually going on at the time. and it will be difficult for them. it will be interesting to see what they say in response to this. could you explain to everyone the difference between this open and closed, that was being referred to about something is coming out and something is not coming out and the justification for that. yes. something is not coming out and the justification for that.— justification for that. yes, of course, justification for that. yes, of course. 0k- _ justification for that. yes, of course, ok. this _ justification for that. yes, of course, ok. this inquiry - justification for that. yes, of course, ok. this inquiry has| justification for that. yes, of - course, ok. this inquiry has been heard in three stages. the first stage was the planning, policing and preparation of what happened at the arena that night, of which various parties were criticised. then there is the response of the emergency services which is part two. part three was basically looking at what did the national security services

here in the uk know about salman abedi and the plot? and to get to the nub of that, it was agreed that some of the evidence, as part of this stage of the inquiry, would be heard in secret, if you like, because to get to the truth, mi5, the home security service here in the home security service here in the uk, would effectively have to reveal some of their operatives and what its tactics and information was and where it had come from. that is subject to great sensitivities in regards to national security and the official secrets act, so some of that evidence had to be heard purely by sirjohn saunders and the lawyers involved. no journalists were allowed to listen, no families were allowed to listen, no families were allowed in there and no public. it was held in secret, if you like. what sirjohn saunders has done is digested all that information and reached his conclusions based on everything that he heard but of course when he then makes public what his conclusions are, he has to be careful not to reveal anything

that breaks national security. so that breaks national security. so thatis that breaks national security. so that is why we don't know exactly what those two key pieces of information that mi5 had are in any detail because that is subject to official secrets. so he can talk about what mi5 broadly knew that he can't go into the detail because of the secrecy surrounding national security. the secrecy surrounding national securi . ., , the secrecy surrounding national securi . . , ., ,~ ., security. that is really clear, dann . security. that is really clear, danny- then _ security. that is really clear, danny. then you _ security. that is really clear, danny. then you for- security. that is really clear, danny. then you for talking l security. that is really clear, i danny. then you for talking us through that. at the heart of all of this has been the families of those impacted and we got a hint there at the end, as he closed his remarks, saying, unfortunately, the nature of this inquiry has meant he won't be able to answer all of those questions that have been raised and even that some more questions have been raised in this final and third stage. what are we expected now in terms of reaction from families? so outside of here, this is the magistrates' court in manchester, where the hearing has been taking

place and where we had sirjohn saunders talking from. journalists and to some extent some other people involved, interested parties, have been allowed at that report today from this morning but it was embargoed that anything could be said until two o'clock this afternoon. we will now hear this afternoon. we will now hear this afternoon reactions from some of the families involved in this and some of the legal representatives as well. i think the first one will be in about ten minutes' time, when we are expecting some representatives of the families involved. remember, 22 people died in the arena bombing, hundreds injured and thousands of their lives affected. we expect a statement in the next ten minutes and we will hear more coming forward throughout the afternoon. i am sure we will hear a statement at some point from the security services as well and also from the police, too, and then a reaction to where they were mentioned in the report and counterterrorism officers, where they were tied into the report today. so there will be reaction as

we go through the afternoon. we will be hearing from families. i was looking at my e—mails, we haven't got any we can talk about yet but we know at least one family will be talking in the next ten minutes. thank you. and because i know people will be joining this halfway through, could you just to remind us of the details of what happened that night and of course, should one people some of those details are distressing. it people some of those details are distressing-— people some of those details are distressinu. . , . �* . . , . distressing. it was an ariana grande concert at the _ distressing. it was an ariana grande concert at the manchester _ distressing. it was an ariana grande concert at the manchester arena. it| concert at the manchester arena. it is one of the biggest indoor concert arenas at northern england. it is right next to manchester victoria railway station in the city centre here. i got off my train here this morning here in manchester and walked past and you cannot walk through that railway station now if you are broadly aware of what's going on without looking up onto that walkway and knowing what horrors took place in made 2017 on the night of the attack. the terrible scenes that were there that

are sort of notjust etched on everybody�*s mind that was there but everyone who subsequently had to report on it. it was an ariana grande concept. it had just finished, people were leaving and salman abedi walked into the foyer area and as people were pouring out, he detonated the bomb in his rucksack in a suicide attack. it killed 22 people and injured many, many more and affected thousands of people's lives with the all awful knock—on effect of being left with the psychological effects are being met night or losing a loved one or being injured. there was a huge report on how the emergency responders responded. there was some criticism they didn't get in there quick enough because there were fears of a secondary attack and other restrictions. so a lot of people were simply treated by other concertgoers for some time after the bomb went off before sufficient medical aid got in there and there

was a suggestion from some families that some people died of injuries that some people died of injuries that they should have survived from when they were injured that night. it was a terrible, terrible event, one of the worst atrocities we have ever had here in the uk and it was carried out by a young man who had been radicalised in libya. we know today had been taught how to build a bomb by is and he had been part of a family who had helped him get radicalised. he was not a very intelligent person when he was at school. we have talked to his head teacher about dottie maggie wasn't very academically gifted, could hardly switch on a bunsen burner the words of his head teacher at the time. he was radicalised, taught how to build a bomb, he made that bomb in manchester after picking up how to do it abroad, he went to libya to be radicalised. he came back to the uk a few days before the attack, finished building the bomb and walked into that arena is that

concert was finishing. a terrible atrocity which has had reverberating effects for years and will do for many years yet but now we have the final chapter into the public inquiry into what happened. although a public inquiry, the irony is, what the findings are today, a lot of them are not public because they have to be kept secret. 0k, have to be kept secret. ok, danny, thank you very much for that. we will be back with you as we get more reaction throughout the afternoon, of course. ijust afternoon, of course. i just want to take you straightaway live to brighton, where we are expecting any moment now an update from the police there. this is in relation to the case of constance marten and mark gordon and the discovery, of course, sadly, of the discovery, of course, sadly, of the remains of a body. good afternoon. my name is detective superintendent lewis base bed. i am here to update you on our ongoing investigation. my team i have been

working on this investigation for the past eight weeks and we have travelled across the country as part of our search for this baby. we are truly devastated by the outcome and we know this emotion is being felt here in brighton and across the country today. we know there are still many unanswered questions and it is important that we give the investigation team at the time and space they need to establish more details about the circumstances of this tragic death. at this stage, we have not yet been able to confirm their baby's gender and a postmortem examination has not yet taken place. despite this, based on our inquiries, we have carried out so far, we believe, sadly, the baby may have been dead for some time before they were found. it is too early for us to provide a more specific date. because we believe the death occurred during the course of their

missing person investigation, we have made a mandatory referral to the independent office of police conduct. this is a standard protocol for such circumstances. i can also confirm that constance marten and mark gordon remain in custody at this time and the warrant for further detention that was granted yesterday will take us through to late evening. officers from the met will remain in this area for the coming days and i will now hand over to my colleague from sussex police. good afternoon. we have seen an outpouring — good afternoon. we have seen an outpouring of public sorrow following yesterday's heartbreaking discovery and have been overwhelmed by kind _ discovery and have been overwhelmed by kind messages and support to those _ by kind messages and support to those involved in this challenging search _ those involved in this challenging search and investigation. the latest developments mean that the investigation is moving into a new phase _ investigation is moving into a new phase and — investigation is moving into a new phase and while the metropolitan police _ phase and while the metropolitan police will remain in the area, the large _ police will remain in the area, the large police presence for the search will be _ large police presence for the search will be scaled back. our

neighbourhood officers will continue to be in_ neighbourhood officers will continue to be in the local community to offer— to be in the local community to offer support and address any concerns _ offer support and address any concerns. i would once again like to thank_ concerns. i would once again like to thank the _ concerns. i would once again like to thank the public for their patients and support this operation and express— and support this operation and express my gratitude to the huge number— express my gratitude to the huge number of people who have helped or offered _ number of people who have helped or offered to _ number of people who have helped or offered to help in any way that they can. offered to help in any way that they can it _ offered to help in any way that they can it is _ offered to help in any way that they can. it is truly appreciated. we will continue to support the metropolitan police's inquiries and ask that _ metropolitan police's inquiries and ask that the investigation is given space _ ask that the investigation is given space to — ask that the investigation is given space to proceed as we establish the full facts _ space to proceed as we establish the full facts of what has happened. thank_ full facts of what has happened. thank you — full facts of what has happened. thank you very much everyone. thank ou ve thank you very much everyone. thank you very much- _ just a very brief update there on that case down in brighton. you heard them referring to a couple of new details. just a warning, as you will have just heard, they are quite difficult to listen to. but the main

detail, they updated there from yesterday, was that they postmortem has not taken place yet on the remains but they do believe that the baby may have been dead for some time before discovery. so pretty difficult detail to try and digester. we can go live now to our correspondent frankie mikami. just talk us through what we heard there. there we were just getting a few more details on the remains that we understand police found yesterday. we are coming up to around 24—hour since those remains were found but police really appealing to the media and public to avoid speculation and give the investigation team time to find out exactly what happened to the infant they have found. they say they i know there are many unanswered questions and it seems there are many unanswered questions

for the team is working on this case. they said they don't yet know the baby's gender. they had —— modesto needs to be a postmortem investigation carried out to find out who this baby was on exactly what happened to the infant they found. they said there's been a mandatory referral to the ipcc and they say that is standard because when they believe this baby died was during a a missing persons investigation. some really horrific details that they believe the baby had been in this place that they found it for some time. they said that the public, there has been this real outpouring of sorrow. they talked about the challenging search as well. we know we have seen hundreds of officers up and down here. we have seen a huge operation taking place. the operation today is about five minutes walk from here, around an allotment and a wooded area. that whole area has been cordoned off. it has been made

bigger today to allow more police vehicles and police personnel. we have seen forensics going in and out all morning. and of course 90 square miles, 200 officers searching along with police dogs, sniffer dogs, police helicopters, drones but police helicopters, drones but police there saying they are still waiting for this postmortem examination to be carried out to find out what happened to the infant they found. both constance marten and mark gordon remain in police custody. they will be questioned until late this evening. police have been... yesterday they said they'd been... yesterday they said they'd been given extra time to question them. we will bring you any more updates as soon as we get them on bbc news. . ~ updates as soon as we get them on bbc news. ., ~ , ., updates as soon as we get them on bbc news. ., ~ i., ., ., bbc news. thank you for that, frankie. the former health secretary, matt hancock, has described the leaking of thousands of his whatsapp messages written during the height of the covid pandemic, as a "massive betrayal and breach of trust". he says they were released in a "biased account, to suit an anti—lockdown agenda".

but the journalist, isabel oakeshott, who revealed the messages, insists she's acted, in the public interest. they suggest mr hancock pushed to close schools during the pandemic, while the education secretary at the time, sir gavin williamson, wanted them to stay open. our political correspondent, jonathan blake, has more from westminster. the impact of the pandemic on education. we are keeping masks on at all times during the day. pupils and teachers wearing masks, schools closed to limit the spread of covid — big decisions under new scrutiny. thejournalist, isabel oakeshott, a critic of lockdown measures, was given access to matt hancock's whatsapp messages to help him write his book. she's since passed them to the daily telegraph, breaking a legal agreement. this is about the millions of people, every one of us in this country, that were adversely affected by the catastrophic

decisions to lock down this country repeatedly, often on the flimsiest of evidence, for political reasons. and yet you help to matt hancock write a bookjustifying all those very decisions.... why? _ because i wanted to get to the truth of it. matt hancock accused her of betrayal. in a statement, he said... he added.... in late 2020, sir gavin williamson, then education secretary, argued for schools in england to stay open. mr hancock had wanted them closed. an exchange appears to show him pursuing that approach

weeks later, the prime minister announced that schools in england would close as part of a lockdown. day by day, new evidence was emerging as the scientists were learning about this virus. and from that new experience and those lessons, we were then taking decisions about what to do in schools, where 8 million children were in very close quarters. but we did always want to do everything we could to keep schools open. right from the start for me, it became clear that children's well—being just wasn't one of the high priority considerations here. but there hadn't been the remedial action put into schools to be able to mitigate any problem coming down the track. other messages appear to show matt hancock and gavin williamson discussing teachers' access to ppe. we can interact that report go to manchester because we can see is

movement there. this is the manchester arena inquiry that is wrapped up and we are getting a bit of reaction to that now. let's listen in. can we begin by thanking sirjohn saunders for his determination to find the truth. to the legal team for the countless hours gone into this inquiry. can't write qc for her many kind and kind gestures. sue curran for making sure the families at the back of court were looked after and kept safe and the staff from the resilience hub for always being there to talk to. we would also like to thank mr warner qc for the respect shown to us from that very first day, when he immediately acknowledged the failures and apologised, unlike all the other services. all we as families have asked for from day one is the truth, acknowledgement of failures. and a

determination to make sure that those dahlias are fixed, so that next time, because there will be a next time, because there will be a next time, because there will be a next time, but hopefully next time there will not be as many families going through the outer heartbreak we have had to endure for the last five years, nine months, one week and one day. we didn't get that acknowledgement from anyone from gm frs until the report was published. shame on you all. in this volume of the report, the chair has recognised that there was significant missed opportunity by mi5 which had they taken action could ultimately have changed the course of what happened that night. he also identified a lack of information sharing between the police and security services. we hope lessons really will be learned

this time. however, there were some heroes that night and to name a few, sergeant hay, inspector mark smith, chief inspector dexter and civilians bethany, ronald and darren custer. this is where the medal should have gone. we have sat through eight weeks in the old bailey and over two years here at the inquiry. we have read countless statements, listened to hours of evidence and we can only hope that one day the whole truth will come out and others, including the fugitive brother and parents, face justice, the fugitive brother and parents, facejustice, because we the fugitive brother and parents, face justice, because we will never believe they were in this alone. forgiveness will never be an option for such evil intentions and those that played any part in the murder of our children will never, ever get forgiveness, from top to bottom. mi5 to the associates of the attacker, we will always believe that you all played a part in the murder of our

children. we will spend the rest of our lives trying to protect our boys. because as we found out through this process, once you leave the safety of your home, you are on your own. so many people being paid that night to protect our kids and yet so many failed in their duties, professionals that had responsibility but clearly had other priorities. security staff that even when told of the danger failed to act appropriately. once again, we will never forgive you. nothing can bring liam and chloe back, nothing. but we won't let them be forgotten. we have set up a charity in their names as a lasting legacy, to show that from such absolute heartbreak something positive can rise. we will continue to campaign to be allowed

to register their personal detail on their death certificates and we won't rest until all those who played a role in their deaths are brought to justice. can we finally thank duncan atkinson qc for being a voice throughout this ordeal. and our amazing team, scott, voice throughout this ordeal. and ouramazing team, scott, hayley voice throughout this ordeal. and our amazing team, scott, hayley and helen, for their constant support even on the darkest days. you will never know how much this meant to us, the families of chloe and liam. we're just we'rejust going to we're just going to a moment there. a clearly powerful and impactful statement there. lots of ground covered and lots of emotion and for so many people watching that, that

would have been a very difficult thing to watch. our correspondent danny savage is there. we can go back to manchester now. we are expecting more reaction from more families involved. let's now listening again. —— listen in again. iam i am richard from slater and gordon and delivering this on behalf of ii and delivering this on behalf of 11 families. the report today has been deeply painful to read but also eye—opening. on the issue of the prevent ability of this attack, inevitably the report provides less information than we would have

wanted but it is now very clear that there was a failure to properly assess key intelligence about salman abedi. a failure to put it into proper context and, most catastrophic of all, a delay in acting on it. as a result of these failures, at the very least, a real possibility of preventing this attack was lost. this is a devastating conclusion for us. the failures exposed in this report are unacceptable. the public are entitled to expect information of national security in intelligence will be acted on speedily and crucially that the system will ensure this happens. it must do so in the future. we know that sirjohn will be making recommendations and his close report. we trust these recommendations will be acted on and

parliament will be vigilant in monitoring their implementation. we welcome the other conclusions and recommendations in this report. it is clear that salman abedi should have been referred to prevent. it is clear that the education system needs to be more vigilant in picking up needs to be more vigilant in picking up signs of radicalisation. it is clear that didsbury mask turned a blind eye to extremism in its midst. sirjohn's report today contains many lessons. we must heed every one of them and make the necessary changes urgently. on the 22nd and 20 17,000 of people left homes to attend a concert at manchester arena. 22 of those would never return home. those killed and injured in this murderous attack had every right to feel safe and protected but as this inquiry has demonstrated, they were failed at

every level, before, during and after this horrific attack. even now, some families feel let down by the government's refusal to allow them to register their a loved 1's death, which for some is a key part of the grieving process and is now wrongly being denied them. finally, we want to pay tribute to sirjohn saunders and the legal team for their unwavering determination to uncover the truth. we thank the inquiry support staff and the resilience hub for their support throughout. as this process now ends, we pay tribute to those who lost their lives. we also ask that our privacy is respected as we process the inquiry�*s findings. thank you. so they were the words of a lawyer representing 11 of the families and we can listen again. this

representing 11 of the families and we can listen again.— representing 11 of the families and we can listen again. as we come to the end of— we can listen again. as we come to the end of the _ we can listen again. as we come to the end of the manchester- we can listen again. as we come to the end of the manchester arena . the end of the manchester arena inquiry— the end of the manchester arena inquiry we — the end of the manchester arena inquiry we would like first of all to thank— inquiry we would like first of all to thank sirjohn saunders, who has diligently— to thank sirjohn saunders, who has diligently chaired this inquiry. to our legal— diligently chaired this inquiry. to our legal team and the public for the incredible support we have been given _ the incredible support we have been given. thank you also to our barristers _ given. thank you also to our barristers. i hope i haven't forgotten anybody. today is not the day for _ forgotten anybody. today is not the day for looking back. today is about moving _ day for looking back. today is about moving forward and for everyone concerned — moving forward and for everyone concerned to learn from their mistake — concerned to learn from their mistake and take heed of the recommendations. terrorism continues to plague _ recommendations. terrorism continues to plague our— recommendations. terrorism continues to plague our society and as a nation, — to plague our society and as a nation, we _ to plague our society and as a nation, we need to be better prepared _ nation, we need to be better prepared to deal with it. it seems terrorists— prepared to deal with it. it seems terrorists are always a step or two ahead _ terrorists are always a step or two ahead of— terrorists are always a step or two ahead of us— terrorists are always a step or two ahead of us and we need to catch up fast. ahead of us and we need to catch up fast all_ ahead of us and we need to catch up fast. all three volumes point to an abundance — fast. all three volumes point to an abundance of mistakes and failures by a raft— abundance of mistakes and failures by a raft of— abundance of mistakes and failures by a raft of different organisations, services and people. we need _ organisations, services and people. we need more cohesion and more communication between our services. we need _ communication between our services. we need a _

communication between our services. we need a more efficient system in place _ we need a more efficient system in place to— we need a more efficient system in place to ensure the different pieces of the _ place to ensure the different pieces of the jigsaw come together. we are not here _ of the jigsaw come together. we are not here to — of the jigsaw come together. we are not here to point fingers. the bottom — not here to point fingers. the bottom line is everyone who made mistakes, — bottom line is everyone who made mistakes, every service that was lacking _ mistakes, every service that was lacking on— mistakes, every service that was lacking on the night, every organisation who missed something in the lead _ organisation who missed something in the lead up _ organisation who missed something in the lead up to the attack is now aware _ the lead up to the attack is now aware of— the lead up to the attack is now aware of their failings. this brings about— aware of their failings. this brings about the — aware of their failings. this brings about the opportunity to make those necessary _ about the opportunity to make those necessary changes and improvements to avoid _ necessary changes and improvements to avoid another atrocity. to fail doing _ to avoid another atrocity. to fail doing so— to avoid another atrocity. to fail doing so again will prove to be another— doing so again will prove to be another catastrophic mistake. over recent— another catastrophic mistake. over recent years, i have been working with the _ recent years, i have been working with the security industry, the police — with the security industry, the police and counterterrorism. from this work. — police and counterterrorism. from this work. i— police and counterterrorism. from this work, i have seen that, like the emergency services, these organisations are now beginning to work in _ organisations are now beginning to work in unison to make the crucial improvements based on the previous recommendations made by sirjohn saunders — recommendations made by sirjohn saunders. now that the inquiry has reached _ saunders. now that the inquiry has reached its — saunders. now that the inquiry has reached its conclusion, i will continue _ reached its conclusion, i will continue to work with the government and martins— continue to work with the government and martin's law. i alongside with

my husband will continue to work with survivors against terror to ensure — with survivors against terror to ensure a — with survivors against terror to ensure a victim's charter is established to support future victims — established to support future victims of terrorism. this is where our focus — victims of terrorism. this is where our focus will now be. thank you very— our focus will now be. thank you very much — just to echo those words, this is the end of chapter one but there are still a lot of work to do. the first chapter of the journey, but we are from manchester, city of the bees and there is something buzzing around in my head for the past few days. shortly after the attack, the streets were full, saint and's square was full of people from all over the country singing and oasis song, don't look back in anger, i heard them say. thank you.

so, that we have some of the reaction from some of the families involved and some also of the lawyers of the families involved. our correspondent danny savage was just next to them as they gave those words, and if you can hear me again now, some pretty damning words there. , , ., . ., there. yes, some strong criticism for the security _ there. yes, some strong criticism for the security services - there. yes, some strong criticism for the security services as - there. yes, some strong criticism for the security services as you i for the security services as you would expect from the families, they'd been waiting for this for six years, they knew roughly what was coming but of course because much of the stage of the inquiry was heard in secret, they were not allowed to sit through it, so you heard the family of liam curry, the first people you heard from their worthy north—eastern accents from south shields, that is caroline currie, the mother of liam curry, who was there with the parents of chloe

rutherford, —— caroline curry. those were the parents of a young couple, liam curry and chloe rutherford, and they sat through the testimony of they sat through the testimony of the brother of salman abedi but that what they were not allowed to sit through a none of them were was the evidence from the security services which was heard here in secret, if you like. but they have drawn their conclusions from what has been said today by sirjohn saunders saying m15 today by sirjohn saunders saying mis did today by sirjohn saunders saying mi5 did have information that may have led to the attack being averted had they acted upon the information received, so of course there is anger and emotion from the family. you heard from the families of liam and chloe, a gentleman there representing 11 of the other families and then you

heard from figen murray, who has been quite high profile, the mother of martyn hett. they are mentioning that they want to be able to move on with their lives in any meaningful sense after what has happened but what happened then was life changing and this has come to a final stage, the final inquiry but for lots of those families there are still lots of bits of information they want and they will still keep asking those questions but they pay tribute to everybody who took part in the inquiry and i think there is a feeling that sirjohn saunders has carried out a very thorough review of what has happened and they are very grateful to him for doing that. just stay there for ten seconds, i will come straight back to you but i want to bring a line in from our security correspondent frank gardner who said the director—general of mi5 is due to make a public statement at 4pm today. he is responding to the

findings. that was into the manchester arena bombing published today so we are across that statement, it responds it seems from m15 in statement, it responds it seems from mi5 in just statement, it responds it seems from mi5 injust under one hour. let's go back to you. i don't know if you have any response to that, if it was expected or not. do carry on. shifter expected or not. do carry on. after sirjohn saunders' _ expected or not. do carry on. after sirjohn saunders' strong _ expected or not. do carry on. fire sirjohn saunders' strong words today, the effective overview of what he said this afternoon is that the security service, mi5, missed a significant chance to take action that might have prevented the attack. he said the reason for the missed opportunities include a failure by an enemy five officer —— and mi5 officer to act swiftly enough and that is damning for mi5 after we arrived today with

effectively a corporate conclusion, the two brothers were in it together and although they had been on their radar, there was not much more that could have been done. that is quite different to what the conclusion that sirjohn saunders has reached here today so we should absolutely be not surprised at all that the director—general of mi5 will be making a statement within the next hour. . ~ making a statement within the next hour. . ,, , ., making a statement within the next hour. . ~' , ., , making a statement within the next hour. . ,, y., , . making a statement within the next hour. . ,, , . ., ., hour. thank you very much for that, we will come _ hour. thank you very much for that, we will come back— hour. thank you very much for that, we will come back to _ hour. thank you very much for that, we will come back to later— hour. thank you very much for that, we will come back to later for - hour. thank you very much for that, we will come back to later for some | we will come back to later for some reaction, nowjust to run through what we have because we have been rolling through the story from just over an hour or so now sojust rolling through the story from just over an hour or so now so just a quick recap of the central findings and we can actually hear more from the chairman giving some of that final review, so first of all the quick recap, a review into the manchester arena attack has found security service mi5, missed a significant chance to take action that might have prevented the bombing. german sirjohn saunders says reasons for the missed opportunities include a failure by an mi5 officer to act swiftly enough

and he's been speaking at the publication of the third and final report into the deaths of the 22 victims of the 2017 attack carried out by suicide bomber salman abedi and today's report considers how salman abedi was radicalised and any security services had to stop him. let your now from sirjohn saunders. what i have been able to set out from volume three is that a significant opportunity was missed to take preventative action it may have stopped the attack. that to take preventative action it may have stopped the attack.- to take preventative action it may have stopped the attack. that is not a conclusion — have stopped the attack. that is not a conclusion on _ have stopped the attack. that is not a conclusion on the _ have stopped the attack. that is not a conclusion on the balance - have stopped the attack. that is not a conclusion on the balance of - a conclusion on the balance of probabilities or to any other standard that whether the attack may have been prevented but there was a realistic possibility that actionable intelligence could have been obtained which might have led to action to preventing the attack.

the reason for this missed opportunity include a failure by the security service in my view to act swiftly enough. as that potential missed opportunity we prepare to be hearing a response from from mi5 a bit later and that missed opportunity again referenced by many of the families afterwards. sirjohn also highlighted that salman abedi's background was a significant contributing factor to his radicalisation. i have concluded that there were a number of contributing factors to salman abedi's radicalisation. his family background, and his parents' extremist views, along with their participation in the struggle in libya, played a significant part. that struggle involved people who were radical violent extremists. salman abedi and hashem abedi's time

in libya during which there are probably involved in fighting, they are likely to have come into contact with a number of violent extremists. it is likely that those extremists, including members of the islamic state, who would be in a position to provide the brothers with expertise in making of bombs and in carrying out counter surveillance measures. let's go back to danny savage life for us in manchester. hi again. we had a quick run through of the main findings from today and we should be clear of course that today's report, the third and final report, was not about the events on the night itself, not about the response there and then, this is about beforehand and then, this is about beforehand and any potential opportunities that are missed in the days, weeks, months, years beforehand. this was about couldn't _ months, years beforehand. this was about couldn't have _ months, years beforehand. this was about couldn't have been _ months, years beforehand. this was| about couldn't have been prevented? was there any intelligence around

that could be reflected on and thought that salman abedi could have been stopped from carrying out this atrocity. i think what comes out from this afternoon is there was no golden nugget of information that somebody missed that was so obvious, which was inexcusable. that is not what sirjohn saunders has concluded in his report. what he has concluded as there were two pieces of information about salman abedi which, if they had been acted upon and looked at differently, and followed up more, may have led to the atrocity being avoided. should he have been apprehended, perhaps, as he came back in from libya because he had been on the mis watchlist before and then had been effectively relegated down the league table as they form a person subject of interest but he had been in libya in the days before the attack happened and he has come back into the country and what sirjohn

saunders has said in his report todayis saunders has said in his report today is perhaps if salman abedi had been stopped and questioned at the airport, it may have deterred him from going any further and alerted him to the fact security services were marking his card, he was being watched again and perhaps if they had watched him and followed him, and saw how he behaved around the vehicle in which he was storing the explosives here in manchester, then again they would have thought, had their suspicions raised and carried out some further action and investigation which again could have stopped him but we do not know for sure. what we do know is the pieces of information that mi5 had, sir john saunders believes they should have perhaps done something different with them and what they did but because of the official secrets act, we don't exactly know what those two pieces of information are, neither do the families and as you have heard in the last half hour here, they are still asking questions though some have been answered, they are grateful they

found this inquiry but they are still left wondering about some things and what could have been different. just want to bring a quick bit of breaking news coming into is here. our transport correspondent with a new in the bass drivers are going to go on strike in the west midlands, some details. go on strike in the west midlands, some details-— go on strike in the west midlands, some details. g; :: :: :: , , , some details. over 3000 bus drivers workin: for some details. over 3000 bus drivers working for national— some details. over 3000 bus drivers working for national express - some details. over 3000 bus drivers working for national express in - some details. over 3000 bus drivers working for national express in the l working for national express in the west midlands will not continue strike action from the 16th of march, this coming from the unite union, so continue strike action from the 16th of march and unite union claims this will effectively shut the bus network in the west midlands because the company runs most of the services there. the dispute is over pay, like many of the disputes at the moment. police say the baby found during the investigation into constance marten

and mark gordon �*may have been dead for some time'. officers have been giving an update into the search, and say the case has now been refered to the police watchdog my team have been working on this investigation for the past eight weeks and we have traveled across the country as part of our searches for this baby. we are truly devastated by the outcome and we know this emotion is being felt here in brighton and across the country today. we know there are still many unanswered questions and it is important that we give the investigation team the time and space they need to establish more details about the circumstances of this tragic death. at this stage, we have not yet been able to confirm the baby's gender, and a postmortem examination has not yet taken place. despite this, based on our inquiries we've carried out so far, we believe sadly the baby may have been dead for some time before they were found. it's too early for us to provide a more specific date. we can speak to our

correspondent frankie mccamley. some distressing details there in that update from the police. hello, could you just give us a bit of context there about those police words which were just delivered in a brief statement just words which were just delivered in a brief statementjust in the last hour? brief statement “ust in the last hour? , . , brief statement “ust in the last hour? , ., , ., brief statement “ust in the last hour? , ., , ., , , ., hour? yes, it was a brief statement, lease hour? yes, it was a brief statement, please clearly _ hour? yes, it was a brief statement, please clearly not _ hour? yes, it was a brief statement, please clearly not taking _ hour? yes, it was a brief statement, please clearly not taking any - please clearly not taking any questions, they have not on many occasions throughout this huge search operation that has been taking place and just before that police conference, we saw both detectives, superintendents that came to give the conference and they just came behind me and laid flowers from each force, from the met police, they can't read sympathies from staff at the metropolitan police in a very similar one from sussex police so clearly a case that has affected a lot of people here and we've heard a lot of times in the statements they've given that

this is not the outcome they wanted, it is something they really did not want to see. really the police there saying this was such a huge, complex investigation that they've been working on for two months now and they really ask the media and the public not to speculate and some really disturbing information there as you mentioned, and hejust saw the police say that the infant had been there for some time and they still have not managed to find out the gender of this baby, so this postmortem still needs to take place, they still need to confirm the identity of this infant and find out so many more details, how did they end up he? what happened to them? still so many unanswered questions and the police officers also talked about this outcry of public support and just to give you an idea of where i am, i'm in the middle ofa an idea of where i am, i'm in the middle of a residential area, the area is cordoned off for allotments

of people trying to get you every day, walk through the woods were people trying to take their dogs and they simply cannot do that at the moment, an area where police have been going door—to—door asking people to check their gardens for something suspicious, so this is a community, a real area residential area that has been really affected by this and one thing of the side to do is light a candle on the porches in a show of unity around what has been that it might happened here. might make you spots on all this on the people there, not least the scale of the search, the 48—hour search. now we know the number of officers that will be reduced but what is the impact there? there is a real impact there. we have seen lots of schoolchildren going to school, coming back, questioning what is going on and just five minutes walk

from here, the allotment has been cordoned off and that according getting larger and larger as more police forensics arrive on the scene with more police vans, forensics just passing us now, but coming through an area that is generally quite quiet and people just trying to come to terms with what has happened here and like i said, this evening they really want to show this sense of love and light for this sense of love and light for this awful tragedy that has happened here and rocked an area that is usually rather quiet. brute here and rocked an area that is usually rather quiet.— here and rocked an area that is usually rather quiet. we will leave it there, thank _ usually rather quiet. we will leave it there, thank you _ usually rather quiet. we will leave it there, thank you very _ usually rather quiet. we will leave it there, thank you very much. - we will take a bit of a pause and look at some breaking news in the world of politics, the deputy first minister of scotland, john swinney, has confirmed that he will step down from the government when nicola sturgeon leaves office. you will remember of course that nicola sturgeon announced her resignation

in a... well, it was a shock and a surprise announcement in the last few days or so and there was some speculation when she did that potentiallyjohn swinney was one of those named as a potential successor, someone to take over but that was quickly ruled out and now we have news that he has decided that he will leave office when nicola sturgeon does. this coming from natalie higgins and we know interestingly that nicola sturgeon will not choose a successor, will not express a preference but she said she will stay in post until the successor is found and then she will step down and it looks like now that also stepping down alongside her will bejohn swinney. the former health secretary, matt hancock, has described the leaking of thousands of his whatsapp messages written during the height of the covid pandemic, as a "massive betrayal and breach of trust". he says they were released in a "biased account, to suit an anti—lockdown agenda".

but the journalist, isabel oakeshott, who revealed the messages, insists she's acted in the public interest. they suggest mr hancock pushed to close schools during the pandemic, while the education secretary at the time, sir gavin williamson, wanted them to stay open. our political correspondent, jonathan blake, has more from westminster. the impact of the pandemic on education. we are keeping masks on at all times during the day. pupils and teachers wearing masks, schools closed to limit the spread of covid — big decisions under new scrutiny. thejournalist, isabel oakeshott, a critic of lockdown measures, was given access to matt hancock's whatsapp messages to help him write his book. she's since passed them to the daily telegraph, breaking a legal agreement. this is about the millions of people, every one of us in this country, that were adversely affected by the catastrophic decisions to lock down this country repeatedly — often on the flimsiest of evidence, for political reasons.

and yet you helped matt hancock write a bookjustifying all those very decisions... why? because i wanted to get to the truth of it. matt hancock accused her of betrayal. in a statement, he said, there is absolutely no public interest for this huge breach. all the materials for the book have already been made available to the inquiry, he said, which is the only place for everything to be considered properly and the right lessons to be learned. he added.... in late 2020, sir gavin williamson, then education secretary, argued for schools in england to stay open. mr hancock had wanted them closed. an exchange appears to show him pursuing that approach and wanting to find a way, gavin having won the day, of acutally preventing a policy car crash, he said, when the kid spread the disease injanuary, adding, "for that, we must now fight a rearguard action for a rational policy". weeks later, the prime minister

announced that schools in england would close as part of a lockdown. day by day, new evidence was emerging as the scientists were learning about this virus. and from that new experience and those lessons, we were then taking decisions about what to do in schools, where 8 million children were in very close quarters. but we did always want to do everything we could to keep schools open. right from the start for me, it became clear that children's well—being just wasn't one of the high priority considerations here. but there hadn't been the remedial action put into schools to be able to mitigate any problem coming down the track. other messages appear to show matt hancock and gavin williamson discussing teachers' access to ppe. sir gavin said, "some willjust want to say they can't so they have an excuse to avoid having to teach." later, matt hancock congratulated him on a cracking announcement on exams, adding....

sir gavin williamson has said in the earlier exchange, he was responding regarding unions, and has the utmost respect for teachers who work tirelessly to support students. private discussions — now public — casting new light on decisions with huge consequences. jonathan blake, bbc news. sticking with politics but a different story. borisjohnson has raised concerns about rishi sunak�*s new brexit deal for northern ireland, saying "this is not about the uk taking back control". the former prime minister was speaking publicly for the first time about the windsor framework, mr sunak�*s new deal with the eu. i'm going to find it very difficult to vote for something like this myself, because i believed that we should have done something different, no matter how much plaster came off the ceiling in brussels, and i hope that it will work. and i also hope that if it doesn't work, we will have the guts to deploy that bill again.

our chief political correspondent, nick eardley, explains more. since rishi sunak unveiled that windsor framework on monday, there hasn't been much explicit opposition. most people who may have been critical have been withholding their council well. —— most people who may have been critical have been withholding their council. borisjohnson has broken that today by calling the deal a drag anchor, which would make it hard for the uk to diverge from european rules. it's pretty clear that he doesn't want to vote for it. he said that he'll find it very, very hard. is it a game changer, though? i'm not so sure, actually, because a lot of brexiteers who have made trouble for prime ministers in the past have actually signed up to this deal

and think it's a good thing. the dup seems to be pretty split on whether to accept it, but it's taking its time to look over it. this may give some other tory brexiteers the impetus they needed to come out and say they won't vote for it as well. but i still don't get the sense that there's a massive rebellion that would cause rishi sunak significant distress on this. i'm told the prime minister is currently back in windsor. he's at an away day for conservative mps. one of his aides says very pointedly it's focused on party unity. he hasn't seen the speech. protesters have clashed with police in athens, during demonstrations against the operator of the passenger train, that crashed on tuesday. officers used tear gas to disperse the crowds, who'd lit fires in the streets. at least 43 people died after the collision with a freight train, near the town of larissa. with the latest, here's our europe correspondent, nick beake. the aftermath of greece's worst ever rail disaster. a stationmaster in a nearby city

has now been charged with manslaughter by negligence and already, the country's prime minister says tragic human error was to blame. but that has sparked anger overnight, including in the capital athens, because for years, there have been warnings that the rail network was not safe. this surgeon, who came out of retirement to help the injured, says the many young lives lost were the victims of systemic failings. it's a disaster, it's catastrophic. families are crying tonight. unfortunately, the majority of the lost people are young students. they left home happy after the long weekend to go for their studies or to see their relatives, and never reached there. this is one of the hospital where survivors and the injured have been treated.

it's also where some family members have been coming to give their dna, in the hope that maybe any sort of samples that are recovered from the scene today will be matched to their loved ones who are still missing. the force of the explosions were captured on camera, two fireballs ripping through the carriages. visiting the wreckage, greece's transport minister became emotional as he talked about the country's failing train network, and later resigned. it's not known exactly how many passengers are missing, but many families now face an agonising wait. the government plans to build additionalfree schools in england, for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. the long—awaited department for education proposals, aim to improve what it calls a "postcode lottery," where the quality of services avries region by region. charities say the system is in crisis, with children who need support facing long delays before getting help. here's our education correspondent, elaine dunkley.

across the country, there are mainstream schools struggling to support children with special educational needs and disabilities. what's the difference? this is layton primary in blackpool. here there are more than 90 pupils with special educational needs. recruiting for specialist support assistants is incredibly difficult and incredibly challenging. schools are struggling for resources. local authorities are certainly struggling for resources. the capacity in the system just isn't there. this head is transforming an area within the school, where children with special educational needs can be assessed and given individual support. all the local specialist school provision is under huge amounts of pressure to accept increasing numbers of children. what we are planning to do is create a provision whereby we can support them and their learning in a separate environment, but integrate them over time back into classroom. and then you're on another journey, then, aren't you? for these parents, long waiting lists to get children diagnosed

with special educational needs and finding the right support has pushed them to crisis. i go to different services. i see different professionals and every single time i have to explain and explain and explain. i don't know where my children will be in years to come. i don't know what will be out there for them. we can fight as much as we can fight. but if there's nothing there to help, what are we fighting for? see if you can get it - on from the same place. 14—year—old maisie is autistic, has adhd and has struggled to cope in mainstream schools. she's been excluded numerous times and now attends school part—time. i've never liked school. ijust didn't fit in. i was out of school for months. so then when i've gone into a school, it's a bit like so many people just everywhere, like, crowding me. on the first day i went there, it was a lot. one foot in the stirrup. beautifully done.

when macey�*s not at school, she comes here to heroes, an educational therapy centre in oxfordshire. it's helped hundreds of children with special educational needs who are struggling in school. the school pay for me to come here, so they are helping. i think i've learnt a lot more being here. we're still doing work. from mainstream to specialist schools, there are calls for urgent funding and intervention to help support an increasing number of pupils. the government is promising more investment and specialist staff and admits that for too many of the system is broken. almost ended up in the worst of all worlds with a lot more money being spent but the provision not being right, so a big part of the investment is building the capacity and with £2.6 billion into building more places. good. making the right changes are crucial in transforming the lives of thousands of children and young people. for too many, it's been a fight to get the right support. elaine dunkley, bbc news.

now it's time for a look at the weather with ben. hello. it's mostly quiet on the weather front right now, but sunshine amounts have varied out there so far today. some of the best of the sunshine actually in southern england, parts of wales and the midlands, further north, more cloud and indeed some showers across northern ireland, northern england and scotland, northwest scotland seeing a bit more in the way of brightness. temperatures between seven and ten degrees. now, as we head through tonight, we'll see more cloud rolling in across england, into east wales, some clear spells to the west, northern ireland, quite cloudy as well. clear skies in northwest scotland will allow for a touch of frost. so a chilly start to friday. for many of us, we will have quite large amounts of cloud, a cloudier day than today across the south, best of the sunshine across central and northern parts of scotland. although for the northern isles there'll be some showers and it will be quite breezy temperatures seven, eight or nine degrees. but as we head through the weekend and more especially into next week, it is going to turn colder. and for some of us, it's likely to be cold enough for snow. but we'll keep you up

to date on the details. hello this is bbc news with vaughanjones. the headlines: the inquiry into manchester bombings has determined mi5 missed a significant opportunity to take action that might have stopped the attack. iamas i am as satisfied as i can be that the brothers made use of an instructional video placed on the internet by these so—called islamic state to create their bomb. police who found the body of a baby

in the brighton area yesterday say they believe the child may have been dead for some time. newly released whatsapp messages suggest former health secretary, matt hancock, tried to bypass another minister to get schools closed during the coronavirus pandemic. borisjohnson says he'll find it hard to vote for rishi sunak�*s brexit deal in his first comments since mr sunak unveiled the windsor agreement on monday. a new plan to improve learning for children with special educational needs and disabilities in england is set out by the government. sport and time now for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. hello, laura. good afternoon. former england captain michael vaughan is appearing at the hearing into racist behaviour at yorkshire county cricket club. the independent cricket discipline commission are hearing charges brought against seven individuals and yorkshire county cricket club relating to azeem rafiq's allegations which were first made

public in august 2020. matt graveling is at the hearing and a warning that some viewers may find the language referenced in this case upsetting. today we have had michael vaughan, one of seven men, along with yorkshire county cricket club, charged with bringing the game into disrepute. the former england captain is accused of using racist language against the former yorkshire spinner azeem rafiq and three other asian players. he is accused of saying there are too many of you lot, we need to have a word about that. he categorically denies the allegations and his lawyer said he couldn't believe the claim was are made against him. his lawyer added this happen before a t20 match injune 2009 and given the passage of time, mrvaughan injune 2009 and given the passage of time, mr vaughan cannot remember exactly what he said but he is adamant he did not use those words. one of the players who also claims to have heard the comments in 2009 is the current england bowler adil

rashid. he is currently on tour in bangladesh with england but he has dialled into the hearing today a video link and told the panel he was not offended by what he heard. he does not think michael vaughan is a racist but that this was bad humour. great britain's charlotte banks and huw nightingale have won world championship gold in the mixed team snowboard cross final, out in georgia. bankes became britain's first—ever snowboard world champion when she won individual, gold back in 2021, but she crashed out of this year's event yesterday. she was much improved today though and after nightingale put in an impressive first run, just 0.07 seconds off the lead, banks brought it home in what turned out to be a clear victory. it's the nation's first—ever title in the mixed team discipline. it follows mia brookes' historic snowboard slopestyle victory earlier in the week. head coach simon middleton has named a 42—player england training squad for the women's six nations and revealed that saracens' marlie packer will co—captain

the team with sarah hunter. middleton, who will step down at the end of this year's six nations, says that since hunter has indicated she will not be involved with the national side as a player come the 2025 world cup, that england need to �*grow their leadership quality and depth' which is why packer will co—captain the side. the squad is made up of 23 forwards and 19 backs and will see gloucester—hartpury duo natasha hunt and sarah beckett return after missing out on world cup selection. the european indoor athletics championships get underway in istanbul later. it's the first major sporting event to be held in turkey since the devastating earthquake hit the country last month. the british team contains several medal prospects including keely hodgkinson. her form, in the women's eight hundred metres, has been outstanding over the past 12 months, her latest win coming in birmingham at the world indoor tour finals last weekend. now she's hoping to maintain her consistency, ahead of next year's olympics.

there is definitely a different atmosphere around olympic year. i think everyone brings their a—game and i saw that in tokyo and i was one of those people. it will definitely be competitive and i think everyone gives the training around paris, everyone will be fighting for that. i think it's exciting and it's nice and it is so close to home and hopefully we will have family there this time, like we did in last year. i think it will be a proper olympic experience. both zhao xintong and yan bingtao will miss the 2023 world snooker championship, as they await the outcome of a match—fixing investigation. a total of 10 players will remain suspended for the rest of the season — with a disciplinary hearing to be held in april during the championships. that's all the sport for now. i'll be back in an hour. lewis. thank you, laura. let's go back now to the story around the release of messages sent by the former health secretary matt hancock. he has accused a journalist of a "massive betrayal and breach of trust" after she the messages

sent during covid. isabel oakeshott defended releasing whatsapps she obtained when working on mr hancock's book, arguing it was in the "overwhelming national interest". we'rejoined now by conservative writer and commentatorjo—anne nadler. thank you for coming on the programme. mr; thank you for coming on the programme-— thank you for coming on the - programme._ what do thank you for coming on the _ programme._ what do you programme. my pleasure. what do you make of the latest _ programme. my pleasure. what do you make of the latest whatsapp _ programme. my pleasure. what do you | make of the latest whatsapp messages to be released? in a make of the latest whatsapp messages to be released?— to be released? in a sense, i think that the bigger _ to be released? in a sense, i think that the bigger issue _ to be released? in a sense, i think that the bigger issue here - to be released? in a sense, i think that the bigger issue here is - to be released? in a sense, i think that the bigger issue here is not i that the bigger issue here is not individual messages and of course we are going to see a number of revelations now coming out over the next few days if not weeks. but the real issue here i think is that overall, what these messages seem to be telling us and what many of us unfortunately feared, is government during that period, and probably in general, is done in a rather haphazard way and that when politicians appear to be absolutely definite about, for instance during

the epidemic what was referred to as the epidemic what was referred to as the science, it's often actually something that is very much in flux and moving. what we really i think are learning from these messages is we all have to hold government to scrutiny all the time. sadly, that wasn't sufficiently done during the period of the epidemic. is wasn't sufficiently done during the period of the epidemic.— wasn't sufficiently done during the period of the epidemic. is there any wa ou period of the epidemic. is there any way you can — period of the epidemic. is there any way you can give — period of the epidemic. is there any way you can give a _ period of the epidemic. is there any way you can give a little _ period of the epidemic. is there any way you can give a little more - way you can give a little more charitable reading and that this was an unprecedented time. as you say, the science wasn't settled and doing things on the hoof perhaps was the only real way of doing it? ifi only real way of doing it? if i miaht only real way of doing it? if i mightjust — only real way of doing it? ifi mightjust say, i am rather putting in quotes the expression the science. i think we have to get away from referring to things as the this or the that and accept science particularly is constantly in motion, that is the whole point of it. but i think in a way my interpretation was quite charitable because what i was getting at is these things happen often by

accident and in a haphazard way rather than as a result is a specific conspiracy. that seems to be very much evident from what we are learning from these messages. fin are learning from these messages. on the specifics, you have two ministers here, matt hancock and gavin williamson, taking different opinions which i suppose one could understand, that happens in cabinet. but having it expose like this and then effectively a battle between them, does that reflect well? welcome to the extent policy should be discussed and the extent they were both apparently fighting for their individual departments. i think in a sense there is nothing to see, nothing unusual about that. obviously both of them will feel slightly embarrassed by some of the content of these messages. but i think that is a bit of a sideshow, really. what they ought to be examining in terms of their consciences is whether overall the

government was guided by empirical evidence and common sense or whether it got itself sucked into... for good reason, as you said, when the epidemic first hit, i think everybody, we didn't know what we were dealing with, they didn't know what they were dealing with. unfortunately, and this is what i hope these messages will go on to show us, as more information became available, the government was very reluctant to correct its increasingly... it's very pro—lockdown approach to things and actually, if we look across the world and the way in which the epidemic was handled, there seems to be increasing evidence now that a degree of scepticism, as per the swedish model, would have suited us pretty well. we swedish model, would have suited us re well. ~ , ., pretty well. we must leave it there. jo-anne nadler. _ pretty well. we must leave it there. jo-anne nadler, thank _ pretty well. we must leave it there. jo-anne nadler, thank you - pretty well. we must leave it there. jo-anne nadler, thank you for - pretty well. we must leave it there. i jo-anne nadler, thank you for coming jo—anne nadler, thank you for coming on the programme. mr; jo-anne nadler, thank you for coming on the programme._ us secretary of state antony blinken has

told a press conference at the g20 foreign ministers' meeting in india that there have already been angry exchanges between russia and the us over moscow's invasion of ukraine. russia says there will be no joint declaration at the end of the summit. the us secretary of state said the talks have been marred by the unprovoked and unjustified invasion of ukraine. russian officials meanwhile, said moscow and beijing had agreed to oppose what they called western blackmail and threats — but this hasn't been confirmed by china. antony blinken had this warning for beijing. with regard to china and its support for russia's aggression in ukraine, as we have said from the start and as we have said from the start and as president biden made very clear to president xi going back to the beginning of the russian aggression, we are trying not to engage in material, lethal support for russia's aggression or the systematic engagement of sanctions to help russia. that would be a

serious problem for our countries. when i saw the senior policy official a week or so ago, i raised with him our very real concern that based on information we have china is considering supplying lethal military assistance to russia. we have not seen it do that yet but we have not seen it do that yet but we have seen it considering that proposition and what i shared with him again was that this would be a serious problem for us and our relationship with china. india's prime minister, narendra modi, called on foreign ministers to put their differences aside, and find common ground — as the ukraine war continues to dominate discussions. translation: affected by the positions of the day. we all have our positions and

perspective on how this tension should be resolved. however, the leading economies of the world, we also have a responsibility. there are those who are not in this room. a french government minister is one in the country could be on the verge of a water crisis as a result of an ongoing winter drought. part of france has had little or no rain in the last few weeks and water levels dropped alarmingly. spain has also suffered from drought. this is, or perhaps was, the loire, france's longest river, which seems to be disappearing before our eyes. for week after week, no rain has come. the driest period since records began almost 60 years ago. and for the people who live here, these are worrying times.

translation: i'm scared. i feel like we will lack water. i have never seen this. often at this time of year as the snow melts, there is a lot of water. but right now, it's shocking to see the water so low. translation: there is no fishing left. - back in the day, the water levels were high and we caught fish. right now, we can't fish any more, at least for now. winter is normally a crucial period in restoring water levels. but not this year. and 2022 was the second hottest year europe has ever experienced. lack of rain can have a effect, reduce crops, greater risk of wildfires and potentially rationing. translation: we are in a particular situation because we are _ on the verge of a water crisis in our country for next summer. so we are in the process of acting upon it. it's notjust france that's suffering. this is the catalonia

region of spain. more dry riverbeds, more concerns about the future, and the problems climate change can cause. restrictions have already been imposed. people won't be able to wash their cars or fill their swimming pools. rain is forecast for the coming days, but long term, water, or a lack of it, is still a major concern. the headlines on bbc news... the inquiry into the manchester bombing says mi5 missed a significant opportunity to take action that might have stopped the attack. police who found the body of attack. police who found the body of a baby in the brighton area yesterday say they believe the child may have been dead for some time. newly released whatsapp messages suggest former health secretary matt hancock tried to bypass another minister to get schools closed during the coronavirus pandemic.

the duke and duchess of sussex have been asked to vacate their british home, frogmore cottage in windsor. the couple's spokesperson confirmed the request, but buckingham palace hasn't commented. they were reportedly told to leave the property injanuary, days after harry published his memoir. our royal correspondent sarah campbell reports. since leaving the uk for a new life in the states, prince harry and his wife meghan have returned just a handful of times. and when they have done so, such as lastjune for thejubilee, they have stayed in frogmore cottage, the house gifted to them by the late queen. the five bedroom property is situated within the grounds of windsor castle. the duke and duchess spent more than £2 million on rent and refurbishments according to royal accounts. but their spokesperson has confirmed the sussexes have now been asked to vacate the property. once again, it has put royal relations back on the front pages, with the king reported to have sanctioned the move

and prince andrew allegedly being lined up to move in once the sussexes are out. buckingham palace has offered no comment on what are considered private family matters. this all comes in the wake of prince harry's memoir spare, the publicity campaign that accompanied it and the six part television series putting the couple's grievances with the royal family in front of a global audience. in just two months' time, harry's father prince charles will be crowned. it is still unclear whether harry, his youngest son, and meghan, will be there to witness it. sarah campbell, bbc news. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell is here now. what does this tell us, if anything, about the relationship? i what does this tell us, if anything, about the relationship?— about the relationship? i think it tells us it is— about the relationship? i think it tells us it is absolutely - about the relationship? i think it tells us it is absolutely no - about the relationship? i think itj tells us it is absolutely no better and i think it is clear that it is in bad shape, the relationship between harry and his father and his family. i think that this is an

attempt by the king, king charles, to kind of reconcile the accommodation issues and as much as he loves his son, i think that he has broader responsibilities as king and he will be very mindful of how this all looks. i think it is just rather the palace would say implausible that you have a five bedroomed house sitting there near windsor castle which is unoccupied and not being put to any use. there is also the accommodation issue, as we understand it, of prince andrew, the duke of york, who as we understand it is being encouraged to move out of the very large house that he occupies in windsor great park, with about 30 rooms. it is suggested he is being encouraged, shall we say, to move to frogmore cottage which is now to be vacated by the suffixes, which would then leave royal lodge, possibly, possibly, this is me speculating

now, as a future for the prince and princess of wales. i think the king is mindful of his love and consideration for his son but these are issues which i think he feels that he has to confront and deal with in a sensitive but responsible way. with in a sensitive but responsible wa . , ., , , with in a sensitive but responsible wa . , , ., with in a sensitive but responsible wa. , , , way. this may be a slightly impossible _ way. this may be a slightly impossible question - way. this may be a slightly impossible question but. way. this may be a slightly| impossible question but we way. this may be a slightly - impossible question but we will be continuing to cover issues like this when they come up about the relationship. are there other issues down the road, we have accommodation as one, is this the end of it or... all of these questions quite frankly are pretty near impossible. this is are pretty near impossible. this is a family, i hesitate to say drama, but family strains and acute difficulties being played out on the very public stage. it is the windsor stroke sussex soap opera continuing. but as i say, there is no question but the relations are bad and they have been inflamed and exacerbated

by the publication of his book. i have read his book and one comes away from it with a greater understanding, ifelt, of the pressures harry has encountered in his life. the death of his mother, the ptsd, panic attacks and so on that he has felt after his military service. clearly he wanted out, as we said before and meghan kind of wanted out as well. i think they were square pegs in round holes in their royal roles, so off they went. and they have made it clear that they see their future in the united states, so i think that is another reason why the palace, the king, feel it is just irresponsible in a sense to leave a large house just sitting empty when there are other uses that it could be put to. what else will we be talking about? i suspect quite a bit over the next couple of months as to whether he or they will be attending the coronation and to that, there is no clear answer at this stage. brute coronation and to that, there is no clear answer at this stage.- clear answer at this stage. we will wait and see- _ clear answer at this stage. we will wait and see. thank _ clear answer at this stage. we will wait and see. thank you _ clear answer at this stage. we will wait and see. thank you very - clear answer at this stage. we will| wait and see. thank you very much for that.

it's �*world book day�* and the uk's biggest story—writing competition for children, is returning to the bbc. camilla, the queen consort, who's hosted past grand finals of the 500 words contest, described its return as a "joy". the search begins for volunteer judges, asjon kay explains. on my first day at school, do you know what i did? i kicked a nun. 0k. so what i want to think about... as stories go, it's quite an opening. but that's hardly surprising. you made a mate — that's a really happy thing! because today's supply teacher is top children's author and 500 words judge, frank cottrell—boyce. everyone's got a story, everyone can tell a story. we just talked today about important days in your life and every single one of them had a different story. he tells the kids to let their imaginations run wild for 500 words. i'm thinking of making, like, a story about an astronaut who, like, really likes spaceships. we are live at hampton court for the 500 words final!

with a brilliant cover of crazy in love... it was the brainchild of chris evans, and more than a million stories were submitted in the first decade of the competition. as duchess of cornwall, camilla was an honoraryjudge on 500 words, and now, as queen consort, she's supporting the competition again as it returns to the bbc. the joy is that it's about to be relaunched and you have this wonderful moment when you took them, you know, to the venue, the sort of surprise venue for the finals. the pride in those children's faces and the families and schools. the gold—winning story, snow blood window frame by eve molloy. - i couldn't believe it. i thought they were joking. four years on, eve tells me she's still in shock. her fairytale won hundreds of books for herself and for her school.

but there was an even greater prize. my confidence, itjust went through the roof. being in 500 words was the best thing that i've ever done. before any stories are written, 4,000 volunteerjudges have to be recruited. teachers, teaching assistants and librarians, like sarah, who did it last time, and who's signing up again. it's an amazing opportunity to really get insight into the minds of children, to have some really brilliant reading to do, and and to feel that they're playing a part in something that's a really powerful project that really makes a difference to children's lives. this time, the competition isjust for primary school children, and stories don't have to be submitted until the autumn, with the winners announced on world book day next march. words can be magic. if you choose the right word, you can make people laugh,

you can make people cry, you can start a fight, you can finish a fight. you can make people think, if you just choose the right word. thank you so much. jon kay, bbc news. he didn't speak until he was 11, and only learnt to read when he was 18, but now aged just 37, jason arday is about to begin work as cambridge university's youngest black professor. celestina olulode, has been to meet jason, to hear his extraordinary story, and how his success may help others, overcome barriers in education. i always felt it was a privilege to have a period of 11 years

where maybe i couldn't speak and i couldn't converse while everyone else could, because it allowed me to see things in a different way. professorjason arday was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at the age of three. he couldn't speak until he was 11 and read or write until he was 18. throughout his early years, his parents continued to believe in him. at 18, my mum had got to a point where there was only so much she could do, and she was brilliant. even though she had this belief that, you know, he will do something ok, but she decided i need someone else to believe in him as much as i believe in him. therapists predicted he would need full—time assistance throughout his life. how wrong they were. you ok? it was this man, college tutor sandro sandri, who helped teach jason to read and write at 18. i'm just so happy for him, you know? i'm speechless, to be honest. but i never doubted for a moment that he would achieve what he has. sandro would spend hours of his free time teaching jason. there's one thing you said to me which i neverforgot, and it was when i was 22 and i said to you i was thinking about doing a phd. and you said to me that it would be the greatest story in the world if the kid who didn't know how to read or write

managed to get a phd. and now jason is days away from achieving another ambition. nice to see you. good to see you. here's his new boss at cambridge. part of his research will look at new ways to make higher education more accessible for everyone. what can we do to ensure that this isn't a marked appointment in five years' time? how can this become the norm? we've listened to the voices of our black scholars and our black students, and some of it has not been easy to hear, to be honest, but we're able to face up to some of the structural issues that people face. there will be those who think this is a tokenistic appointment. what are your thoughts on this? the board of electors on your interview day were absolutely unanimous. we are so lucky to have you. you are the best in the world in terms of the research that you do. an extraordinaryjourney, but forjason, this is not an end, it's a beginning. celestina olulode, bbc news, cambridge.

eurovision tickets will go on sale next week, for six preview and three televisied shows, in liverpool. ticket prices start at £30 and will cost up to £380 for the grand final on 13th may. the event's being hosted in liverpool, after the uk was chosen for the competition on behalf of the 2022 winner, ukraine. fans will need to register for a ticketmaster account, ahead of the sale going live from noon on tuesday. now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich. hello there. moving into march means that technically, meteorologically speaking, we have left the winter behind us. but it may not feel that way as we head into next week, with some colder weather on the way. cold enough for snow in some places. but right now it is not particularly cold out there. it is fairly cloudy in many spots. this is the earlier satellite picture. we have seen some sunshine, though, across southern areas.

we'll continue to see some of that across southern england, parts of wales and the midlands as we head through the rest of the day. further north, there will be more cloud. and for northern england, northern ireland and scotland, that cloud will produce some showers at times. a little bit brighter in the north west of scotland and temperatures of 6 to 10 degrees. that's about where they have been throughout this week. now through tonight, we will see more cloud rolling its way back in across england and wales. northern ireland quite cloudy as well. clearer skies likely to be in northwest scotland and perhaps for a time in west wales and the south west of england and where there are any clear skies overhead, a touch of frost to take us into tomorrow morning. tomorrow there'll be more cloud in the south england, wales, northern ireland seeing a fair amount of cloud, maybe the odd spot of rain. across the northern half of scotland, that's where we'll see some of the best of the sunshine, although the northern isles will see the odd shower, and it will be quite breezy. temperatures between seven and nine degrees. now into the weekend, we start the change to something colder. this cold front works its way into the picture on saturday. quite a weak affair, a band of clouds, some patchy rain

moving its way into eastern parts of the uk. but even further west we'll tend to see increasing amounts of clouds. temperatures again around seven, eight or nine degrees. but it is going to feel just a little bit colder as we head into sunday. and if you look at the charts, the showers that will be quite well scattered across the country will start to turn wintry in places, particularly over high ground at this stage. some slightly more persistent rain into northern scotland, and those temperatures just starting to drop back a little. but it says as we head into next week that we see this surge of cold air from the north, and at times it will be quite windy. that will only accentuate the chilly feel and it will be cold enough for snow to fall. but the exact detail about where that snow might fall is still somewhat uncertain. we will keep you posted.

this is bbc news, i'm lewis vaughanjones. the headlines... the inquiry into manchester bombings has determined mi5 missed a significant opportunity to take action that might have stopped the attack. i am as satisfied as i can be that the brothers made use of an instructional video placed on the internet by the so—called islamic state, to create their bomb. police who found the body of a baby in the brighton area yesterday have said they believe the child may have been dead for some time. newly—released whatsapp messages suggest former health secretary matt hancock tried to bypass another minister to get schools closed during the coronavirus pandemic. borisjohnson says he'll find it hard to vote for rishi sunak�*s brexit deal in his first comments since mr sunak unveiled the windsor

agreement on monday. a new plan to improve learning for children with special educational needs and disabilities in england is set out by the government. hello, welcome to the programme. a review into the manchester arena attack has found security service mi5 missed a significant chance to take action that might have prevented the bombing. chairman sirjohn saunders says the reasons for the missed opportunity include a "failure" by an mi5 officer to act swiftly enough. he's been speaking at the publication of the third and final report into the deaths of the 22 victims of the 2017 attack, carried out by suicide bomber salman abedi. today's report considers how abedi

was radicalised and any chances security services missed to stop him. let's hearfrom sirjohn saunders. the chairman of the manchester arena inquiry. he said there was a missed opportunity. what i have been able to set out in the open part of volume three is that i have found a significant missed opportunity to take action that might have prevented the attack. it is not possible to reach any conclusion on the balance of probabilities or to any other evidential standard as to whether the attack would have been prevented. however, there was a realistic possibility that actionable intelligence could have been obtained, which might have led to actions preventing the attack. the reason for this missed opportunity included a failure by the security service, in my view, to act swiftly enough. well, sirjohn also highlighted that

salman abedi's background was a contributing factor to his radicalisation. i have concluded that there were a number of contributing factors to salman abedi's radicalisation. his family background, and his parents' extremist views, along with their participation in the struggle in libya, played a significant part. that struggle involved people who were radical violent extremists. during the time salman abedi and hashem abedi's spent in libya, during which there are probably involved in fighting, they are likely to have come into contact with a number of violent extremists. it is likely that those extremists, including members of the islamic state, who would be in a position to provide the brothers with expertise in making of bombs and in carrying out counter surveillance measures.

they were some of the main findings at the end of this inquiry. richard scorer, lawyer to 11 of the victims' families had this to say. today's report has been deeply painful to read but also eye—opening. on the issue of the prevent ability of this attack, inevitably, the report provides less information than we would have wanted. but it is now very clear that there was a failure to properly assess key intelligence about salman abedi. a failure, assess key intelligence about salman abedi. afailure, to assess key intelligence about salman abedi. a failure, to put into proper context and most catastrophic of all a delay in acting on it. as a result of these failures, at the least a real possibility of preventing this attack was lost. speaking outside court, caroline curry, the mother of victim liam curry, said forgiveness will never be an option. we will spend the rest of our lives

trying _ we will spend the rest of our lives trying to— we will spend the rest of our lives trying to protect our boys because as we _ trying to protect our boys because as we found out through this process, _ as we found out through this process, once you leave the safety of your— process, once you leave the safety of your home you are on your own. so many— of your home you are on your own. so many people — of your home you are on your own. so many people being paid that night to protect— many people being paid that night to protect our kids and yet so many failed _ protect our kids and yet so many failed in — protect our kids and yet so many failed in their duties. professionals that had responsibility but clearly had other priorities — responsibility but clearly had other priorities. security staff that even when _ priorities. security staff that even when told — priorities. security staff that even when told of the danger failed to act appropriately. once again, we will never— act appropriately. once again, we will never forgive you. nothing can bring _ will never forgive you. nothing can bring liam — will never forgive you. nothing can bring liam and chloe back, nothing. our correspondent danny savage was listening to the reaction from the families to the report. he said they were likely to be satisfied with the thoroughness of the inquiry. yeah, some strong criticism for the security services as you would expect from the families. they had been waiting for this for six years. they knew roughly what was coming but of course because much of this stage of the inquiry was heard

in secret, they weren't allowed to sit through it. so you heard the family of liam curry... so the first people you heard from there with the north—eastern accents from south shields, that was caroline curry, who was the mum of liam curry. and she was there with the parents of chloe rutherford. now liam and chloe were a couple, a young couple, who were at the concert that night. liam was 19, chloe was 17. and you heard the parents there saying that they sat through the trial at the old bailey of salman abedi's brother. and they have also sat through all of this inquiry as well. but what they weren't allowed to sit through, and none of them were allowed to sit through, was the evidence from the security services, which was heard here in secret, if you like. but they have drawn their conclusions from what has been said today by sirjohn saunders, saying that mi5 did have information that may have led to the attack being averted if they had acted

upon that information that they had received. so, yes, of course there is anger from the family, of course there is emotion from the family. you heard from liam and chloe's family, you heard from the gentleman there representing 11 of the other families. and then you heard from figen murray, who has been quite a high profile relative throughout this whole time. she's the mother of martyn hett. and all talking about their deeply personal experiences and where they think this leaves them now and if they can sort of, you know, move on with their lives in any meaningful sense since it happened. but of course, you know, what happened then was life changing. this has come to a final stage now, the final part of the inquiry. but for lots of those families there are still questions unanswered. there is still more information they want and they will still keep asking those questions, lewis. but, yeah, ithink, you know, you noticed that they pay tribute to everybody who took part in the inquiry and i think there is a feeling that sirjohn saunders has carried out

a very thorough review of what happened and they are very grateful to him for doing that. our thanks to danny for that. police say the baby found during the investigation into constance marten and mark gordon �*may have been dead for some time'. officers have been giving an update into the search, and say the case has now been referred to the police watchdog. my team have been working on this investigation for the past eight weeks and we have travelled across the country as part of our searches for this baby. we are truly devastated by the outcome and we know this emotion is being felt here in brighton and across the country today. we know there are still many unanswered questions and it is important that we give the investigation team the time and space they need to establish more details about the circumstances of this tragic death. at this stage, we have not yet been able to confirm the baby's gender and a postmortem examination has not

yet taken place. despite this, based on our inquiries we have carried out so far, we believe, sadly, the baby may have been dead for some time before they were found. it is too early for us to provide a more specific date. that was the update in a brief press conference there from the police. they didn't take any questions. that was in the last couple of hours or so. i want to return briefly to our main story that we have been covering, that is the ending of the inquiry into the manchester arena bombing. we have a response from m15, bombing. we have a response from mi5, who were criticised in that review. frank gardner our security correspondent says the head of mi5 says he deeply regrets that such intelligence was not obtained that could have led to actions preventing the manchester arena attack. and

quote i am profoundly sorry that mi5 did not prevent the attack. so a response from mi5 in the last few minutes. i am response from mi5 in the last few minutes. iam profoundly response from mi5 in the last few minutes. i am profoundly sorry that m15 minutes. i am profoundly sorry that mi5 did not prevent the attack. as we get any more lines and details of course we will bring them to you. an hour or so ago we were given a heads up, a warning, that mi5 would be responding to the outcome of the inquiry. at about lipm. as you can tell, it is about four to 10pm and so there's lines are starting to come out. when we get a full description of what exactly was said of course we will bring that to you. the reason it seems that mi5 have come out and made this public statement is because they were directly criticised by the review into the manchester arena bombing. the line from the review was that significant missed opportunity that

might have prevented the attack. so there was a significant missed opportunity that might have prevented the attack. and that therefore is why we are seeing this response from mi5. well, we can speak now to former met police commander richard walton, who was head of counterterror between 2011 and 2016. thanks for much for coming on the programme._ so - and 2016. thanks for much for coming on the programme._ so we| on the programme. thank you. so we have had now — on the programme. thank you. so we have had now the _ on the programme. thank you. so we have had now the closing _ on the programme. thank you. so we have had now the closing of— on the programme. thank you. so we have had now the closing of that's - have had now the closing of that's review into what happened and this third and final stage of the inquiry into the manchester arena bombing, focused on chances potentially missed and the radicalisation process of salman abedi. what do you make of the direct criticism is that opportunities were missed that might have prevented this? well. opportunities were missed that might have prevented this?— have prevented this? well, sirjohn has one have prevented this? well, sirjohn has gone further _ have prevented this? well, sirjohn has gone further than _ have prevented this? well, sirjohn has gone further than the _ have prevented this? well, sirjohn has gone further than the previousl

has gone further than the previous reviews, reviews undertaken in 2017 and one by counterterrorism policing and one by counterterrorism policing and several by mi5 and those reviews were then assured by david anderson who is now lord anderson. and sir john has gone further in his criticism of mi5 specifically but he hasn't of course said that the attack was preventable. he has gone quite a long way further by talking about significant missed opportunities, a realistic possibility that additional action and evidence could have been obtained that might have prevented the attack. and he has also obviously criticised the failure of one mi5 intelligence officer not to act swiftly enough. bud one mi5 intelligence officer not to act swiftly enough.— act swiftly enough. and what you make of that _ act swiftly enough. and what you make of that given _ act swiftly enough. and what you make of that given that - act swiftly enough. and what you make of that given that he - act swiftly enough. and what you make of that given that he has? | act swiftly enough. and what you - make of that given that he has? what is your reaction to that? well. make of that given that he has? what is your reaction to that?— is your reaction to that? well, mi5 themselves _

is your reaction to that? well, mi5 themselves admitted _ is your reaction to that? well, mi5 themselves admitted mistakes - is your reaction to that? well, mi5 i themselves admitted mistakes back is your reaction to that? well, mi5 - themselves admitted mistakes back in 2017. they made reference, in fact david anderson made reference to the decision not to reopen the investigation which mi5 described as finer the remap finely balanced and understandable decision but sirjohn seems to have gone even further than that and more critical. it is obviously, i mean, ishould say that and more critical. it is obviously, i mean, i should say to every intelligence officer and every counter terrorism police officer, the events of that day are shocking. and something that you live and work to avoid at all costs. there will be no, a lot of reflection at mi5 today and across the police service in terms of what may or may not have done that could possibly have prevented this attack. but some would say that you can always prevent an attack with hindsight. the intelligence assessment is a

very difficult skill in the thick of, you know, a whole stream of active intelligence that was coming forward at that time. and at a time when the threat was the highest it has been probably in our history in 2017. so there is some context to thatis 2017. so there is some context to that is important. bud 2017. so there is some context to that is important.— 2017. so there is some context to that is important. and sirjohn did oint out that is important. and sirjohn did point out some — that is important. and sirjohn did point out some that _ that is important. and sirjohn did point out some that context. - that is important. and sirjohn did point out some that context. he l that is important. and sirjohn did i point out some that context. he did say there are plot being foiled constantly. there is lots and lots of very good and hard work being done, of course, which i think everyone will acknowledge. so when things like this do occur people do ask things like about resources and if there are enough and if the service is too stretched. there was a lot of pressure _ service is too stretched. there was a lot of pressure this _ service is too stretched. there was a lot of pressure this time - service is too stretched. there was a lot of pressure this time on - service is too stretched. there was a lot of pressure this time on both | a lot of pressure this time on both m15 a lot of pressure this time on both mi5 and counterterrorism policing. the demands with the highest they had been for decades. the islamic

state was fermenting more terrorist attacks and encouraging terrorist attacks and encouraging terrorist attacks around the world at this time and being successful in encouraging people around the world to conduct attacks where they were. so it was an unprecedentedly difficult time to operate in. i personally don't think resources were an issue, the government at the end of 2015 have substantially increased the funding for cross government counterterrorism by a factor of something like 30%. so the government was aware at this time of the increased threat and was responding to it.— the increased threat and was responding to it. well, that is interesting — responding to it. well, that is interesting because _ responding to it. well, that is interesting because if - responding to it. well, that is interesting because if the - responding to it. well, that is - interesting because if the resources were in place stop we had one of the criticisms from some of the families outside the inquiryjust in the last couple of hours that actually the communication between different agencies and the processes weren't good enough and that is what needs to change. good enough and that is what needs to chance. ~ , good enough and that is what needs tochanue.~ , to change. well, the reviews back in 2017 acknowledged _ to change. well, the reviews back in 2017 acknowledged that _ to change. well, the reviews back in 2017 acknowledged that there - to change. well, the reviews back in 2017 acknowledged that there were l 2017 acknowledged that there were gaps between the intelligence flow

between mi5 and counterterrorism policing units. and measures have been put in place since. this is now five years ago, so those measures have already been put in place. they didn't wait until the findings of this public inquiry. but personally i left in 2016 but personally there were not issues of resources when i left then and i don't believe that resources was a factor here. the harsh truth is that dealing with high—volume intelligence in fast time against a very, very rapidly changing threat is a very difficult skill to get right. and counterterrorism policing and mi5 are made up of humans and people that will make errors and will make mistakes and make errors ofjudgment occasionally. it is important to recognise that i think there was something like 20 islamist terror

plots thwarted in the four years prior to this and there have been many thwarted since. in the vast majority of times, attacks are prevented but sadly some get through. it is not inevitable that terrorism will occur and all those involved in this field do their utmost to try and prevent attacks from happening and believe that they can prevent everyone. but they are human and humans make mistakes and there has been an error, and error ofjudgment here in terms of the assessment of some of the intelligence and actions have not been taken speedily enough and therefore this attack, there was no opportunity to prevent this attack from naturally occurring. ok. from naturally occurring. ok, richard walton, _ from naturally occurring. ok, richard walton, thank - from naturally occurring. 0k, richard walton, thank you very much for your time. we have got a bit more reaction to this. the security minister has been giving a government response to today's response by the manchester arena

bombing inquiry chair. first response by the manchester arena bombing inquiry chair.— bombing inquiry chair. first of all toda we bombing inquiry chair. first of all today we remember _ bombing inquiry chair. first of all today we remember the - bombing inquiry chair. first of all today we remember the 22 - bombing inquiry chair. first of all. today we remember the 22 people bombing inquiry chair. first of all- today we remember the 22 people who were brutally murdered in manchester and all those who suffered life changing events that they will have to live with forever. in particular we remember theirfamilies, who have lost more than many of us can ever imagine. my thanks go to all those who have contributed so much in making sure this inquiry is complete. and especially to the work of sirjohn saunders, who has done so much to expose areas that needed addressing. now i share the sorrow that m15 addressing. now i share the sorrow that mi5 have expressed that this wasn't prevented. and i know that all of us are working to make sure that the improvements that need to be made are made. already more than 100 changes have been done and no doubt this report will highlight others. the home secretary and i support mi5 in making those changes and we are going to be looking through this report very carefully to make sure that any further

changes are done. this has been a very, very difficult time for many and i paid a huge tribute to the families, their courage, for all that they have done to make sure that they have done to make sure that their families, that their loved ones are represented in this process. loved ones are represented in this rocess. . , process. that is the government res - onse process. that is the government response to _ process. that is the government response to the _ process. that is the government response to the coming - process. that is the government response to the coming to - process. that is the government response to the coming to an . process. that is the government | response to the coming to an end process. that is the government - response to the coming to an end of the inquiry there. we are going to leave our coverage of events in manchester for the time being. leave our coverage of events in manchesterfor the time being. we will of course be back there a little later. the former health secretary, matt hancock, has described the leaking of thousands of his whatsapp messages written during the height of the covid pandemic, as a "massive betrayal and breach of trust". he says they were released in a "biased account, to suit an anti—lockdown agenda". but the journalist, isabel oakeshott, who revealed the messages, insists she's acted in the public interest. they suggest mr hancock pushed to close schools during the pandemic, while the education secretary at the time, sir gavin williamson, wanted them to stay open. our political correspondent,

jonathan blake, has more from westminster. the impact of the pandemic on education. we are keeping masks on at all times during the day. pupils and teachers wearing masks, schools closed to limit the spread of covid — big decisions under new scrutiny. thejournalist, isabel oakeshott, a critic of lockdown measures, was given access to matt hancock's whatsapp messages to help him write his book. she's since passed them to the daily telegraph, breaking a legal agreement. this is about the millions of people, every one of us in this country, that were adversely affected by the catastrophic decisions to lock down this country repeatedly — often on the flimsiest of evidence, for political reasons. and yet you helped matt hancock write a bookjustifying all those very decisions... why? because i wanted to get to the truth of it. matt hancock accused her of betrayal. in a statement, he said, there is absolutely no public

interest for this huge breach. all the materials for the book have already been made available to the inquiry, he said, which is the right and only place for everything to be considered properly and the right lessons in late 2020, sir gavin williamson, then education secretary, argued for schools in england to stay open. mr hancock had wanted them closed. an exchange appears to show him pursuing that approach weeks later, the prime minister announced that schools in england would close as part of a lockdown. day by day, new evidence was emerging as the scientists were learning about this virus. and from that new experience

and those lessons, we were then taking decisions about what to do in schools, where 8 million children were in very close quarters. but we did always want to do everything we could to keep schools open. right from the start for me, it became clear that children's well—being just wasn't one of the high priority considerations here. but there hadn't been the remedial action put into schools to be able to mitigate any problem coming down the track. other messages appear to show matt hancock and gavin williamson discussing teachers' access to ppe. sir gavin said, "some willjust want to say they can't so they have an excuse to avoid having to teach." later, matt hancock congratulated him on a cracking announcement on exams, adding... sir gavin williamson has said in the earlier exchange, he was responding regarding unions, and has the utmost respect for teachers who work tirelessly to support students.

private discussions — now public — casting new light on decisions with huge consequences. jonathan blake, bbc news. borisjohnson has raised concerns about rishi sunak�*s new brexit deal for northern ireland, saying "this is not about the uk taking back control". the former prime minister was speaking publicly for the first time about the windsor framework, mr sunak�*s new deal with the eu. i'm going to find it very difficult to vote for something like this myself, because i believed that we should have done something different, no matter how much plaster came off the ceiling in brussels, and i hope that it will work. and i also hope that if it doesn't work, we will have the guts to deploy that bill again. our chief political correspondent, nick eardley, has more.

since rishi sunak unveiled that windsor framework on monday, there hasn't been much explicit opposition. most people who may have been critical have been withholding their counsel. well, borisjohnson has broken that today by calling the deal "a drag anchor" which would make it hard for the uk to diverge from european rules. it's pretty clear that he doesn't want to vote for it. he said that he'll find it very, very hard. is it a game changer, though? i'm not so sure, actually, because a lot of brexiteers who've made trouble for prime ministers in the past have actually signed up to this deal and think it's a good thing. the dup seems to be pretty split on whether to accept it, but it's taking its time to look over it. this may give some other tory brexiteers the impetus they needed to come out and say they won't vote for it as well, but i still don't get the sense that there's a massive rebellion that

would cause rishi sunak significant distress on this. i'm told the prime minister is currently back in windsor. he's at an away day for conservative mps. one of his aides says, very pointedly, he's focused on party unity. he hasn't seen the speech. we are going to stay with politics but head to scotland. scotland's deputy first minister john swinney has confirmed that he will step down when nicola sturgeon leaves office. mr swinney has served as both finance and education secretary over a 16—year career in government. but in a letter to sturgeon he said he had decided to stand down when her successor is sworn in later this month. he said he would continue at holyrood as the msp for perthshire north, telling nicola sturgeon he looked forward to sitting on the back benches with her. our scotland correspondent lorna gordon is in glasgow. what more do we know about this impending resignation? just

what more do we know about this impending resignation?— what more do we know about this impending resignation? just over two weeks auo impending resignation? just over two weeks ago john _ impending resignation? just over two weeks ago john swinney _ impending resignation? just over two weeks ago john swinney was - impending resignation? just over two weeks ago john swinney was been i weeks agojohn swinney was been talked about as a possible successor to nicola sturgeon. he is widely seen as a safe pair of hands. he ruled himself out very early in the race to lead her as leader of the snp. many people might have been taken by surprise by his announcement today that not only is he not standing to become the next leader of his party, he is also deciding to step down from front line politics at the same time as nicola sturgeon. in his resignation letter, he talked about the demanding commitments he has had over his 16 years in government and he has been in government for a long time and in key positions throughout that time. deputy first minister for almost nine years, he has been education secretary as well, the secretary for covid recovery. twice

he has been finance secretary. remember also prior to that back in 2000 to 2004 leader of the snp but in this more recent period he has had top, top positions in the scottish government. he talked in his resignation letter of the demanding commitments. he thanked the civil servants he has worked alongside, he acknowledged what he called the kindness of people in scotland, their understanding of the many challenges that those in government have to face. and he said he was indebted to nicola sturgeon for her leadership, constancy, friendship and loyalty. she in turn in her letter accepting his decision to resign said she could not have wished for a better partner in government thanjohn swinney. she thanked him for his friendship and wise counsel, for his support and wisdom as well. so he will step down at the same point as nicola sturgeon, at the point where her successor takes over towards the end of march. he will remain as a

backbench mp. but i certainly think you can see this as a changing of the guard at the top level of scottish politics. the generational shift in those who lead the snp and because the snp is the largest party in scotland, those who will lead the government here as well. ok. in scotland, those who will lead the government here as well. ok, lorna, thanks for that. _ protesters have clashed with police in athens, during demonstrations against the operator of the passenger train, that crashed on tuesday. officers used tear gas to disperse the crowds, who'd lit fires in the streets. at least 43 people died after the collision with a freight train, near the town of larissa. with the latest, here's our europe correspondent, nick beake. the aftermath of greece's worst ever rail disaster. a stationmaster in a nearby city has now been charged with manslaughter by negligence and already, the country's prime minister says tragic human error was to blame. but that has sparked anger

overnight, including in the capital athens, because for years, there have been warnings that the rail network was not safe. this surgeon, who came out of retirement to help the injured, says the many young lives lost were the victims of systemic failings. it's a disaster, it's catastrophic. families are crying tonight. unfortunately, the majority of the lost people are young students. they left home happy after the long weekend to go for their studies or to see their relatives, and never reached there. this is one of the hospitals where survivors and the injured have been treated. it's also where some family members have been coming to give their dna, in the hope that maybe any sort of samples that are recovered from the scene today will be matched to their loved ones who are still missing. the force of the explosions were captured on camera, two fireballs ripping

through the carriages. visiting the wreckage, greece's transport minister became emotional as he talked about the country's failing train network, and later resigned. it's not known exactly how many passengers are missing, but many families now face an agonising wait. that was nick beek there with that update there. now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich. at times there has been a bit of sunshine but other spots have had a few showers at times. let's have a look at the earlier satellite and radar picture. sunnier skies down towards the south, further north areas of cloud and these tiny bits and pieces of rain here, some showers that have been working through across parts of scotland, northern ireland and england. overnight more cloud rolling westward across england into east wales, cloud for northern ireland, the southern scotland as well. clear breaks in north—west scotland, for a

time in west wales we will have a touch of frost to take us into tomorrow morning. tomorrow, quite a lot of cloud, the potential for the odd shower across england, wales, northern ireland, southern scotland. northern ireland, southern scotland. northern scotland will see sunny spells. temperatures of seven to 9 degrees. through the weekend and into next week quite a big change in the feel of things, it is going to turn much colder. cold enough for snow in places into next week. that is all the weather from me for now. hello this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. the headlines: the inquiry into manchester bombings has determined mi5 missed a significant opportunity to take action that might have stopped the attack. i am as satisfied as i can be that the brothers made use of an instructional video placed on the internet by the so—called islamic state, to create their bomb.

police who found the body of a baby in the brighton area yesterday, have said they believe the child may have been dead for some time. newly released whatsapp messages suggest former health secretary, matt hancock, tried to bypass another minister to get schools closed during the coronavirus pandemic. borisjohnson says he'll find it hard to vote for rishi sunak�*s brexit deal in his first comments since mr sunak unveiled the windsor agreement on monday. a new plan to improve learning for children with special educational needs and disabilities in england is set out by the government. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's laura. good afternoon. the independent cricket discipline commission are hearing charges brought against seven individuals and yorkshire county cricket club

relating to azeem rafiq's continues today. matt graveling is at the hearing and a warning that some viewers may find the language referenced in this case upsetting. afternoon, coming to day two 0f afternoon, coming to day two of this hearing. michael vaughan is charged with bringing the game into disrepute. the former england captain is accused of using a racist comment towards the former yorkshire spinner azeem rafiq and three other players. vaughan is accused of saying, there is too many of you lot, we need to have a word about that. a little bit earlier we heard from michael vaughan's lawyer, who says vaughan kartik categorically denies the allegation and his lawyer said he couldn't believe the claims had been made against him. we haven't actually heard from the former england captain himself today but we have heard from his legal

representative, who in the building behind me is currently cross—examining the former yorkshire spinner, azeem rafiq. azeem rafiq alleges that term was used all the way back in 2009 and mr stoner asked out vividly and clearly he remembered that the comments as he had originally said vaughan had said there are too many of you, we need to do something about it. azeem rafiq said he apologised for the difference in the statement, that he was dealing with a lot when he first made them and that he is clear the racist element of the comment is what vaughan said. we are unsure whether we are going to be hearing evidence directly from vaughan himself is that we only have about an hour left of the hearing behind me. we will be back here tomorrow for bbc sport and bbc news to bring you the latest. ok. for bbc sport and bbc news to bring you the latest-— you the latest. ok, thank you for that update- _ great britain's charlotte banks and huw nightingale have won world championship gold in the mixed team snowboard cross final, out in georgia. bankes became britain's first—ever

snowboard world champion when she won individual, gold back in 2021, but she crashed out of this year's event yesterday. she was much improved today though and after nightingale put in an impressive first run, just 0.07 seconds off the lead, banks brought it home in what turned out to be a clear victory. it's the nation's first—ever title in the mixed team discipline. it follows mia brookes' historic snowboard slopestyle victory earlier in the week. both zhao shintong and yan bingtao will miss the 2023 world snooker championship(oov) as they await the outcome of a match—fixing investigation. a total of 10 players will remain suspended for the rest of the season — with a disciplinary hearing to be held in april during the championships. head coach simon middleton has named a 42—player england training squad for the women's six nations and revealed that saracens' marlie packer will co—captain the team with sarah hunter. middleton, who will step down at the end of this year's six nations, says that since hunter

has indicated she will not be involved with the national side as a player come the 2025 world cup, that england need to �*grow their leadership quality and depth' which is why packer will co—captain the side. the squad is made up of 23 forwards and 19 backs and will see gloucester—hartpury duo natasha hunt and sarah beckett return after missing out on world cup selection. the european indoor athletics championships are taking place in istanbul is the first major sporting event to be held in turkey since the devastating earthquake hit the country last month. plenty of medal hopes for the british team including keely hodgkinson who will be competing in the women's 800 metre heats. the championships are live on bbc two now. we can see the shot putt qualification on your screens. the men's 1500 putt qualification on your screens. the men's1500 metres, the women's 3000 heats on today. guy learmonth was just in action a minute ago in

his heat of the 800 metres and came third. keely hodgkinson hopes to retain her 800 metre medal. that should timing —— star in five to ten minutes' time. that's all the sport for now. thank you, laura. the government plans to build additionalfree schools in england, for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. the long—awaited department for education proposals, aim to improve what it calls a "postcode lottery," where the quality of services avries region by region. charities say the system is in crisis, with children who need support facing long delays before getting help. here's our education correspondent, elaine dunkley. across the country, there are mainstream schools struggling to support children with special educational needs and disabilities. what's the difference? this is layton primary in blackpool. here, there are more than 90 pupils

with special educational needs. recruiting for specialist support assistants is incredibly difficult and incredibly challenging. schools are struggling for resources. local authorities are certainly struggling for resources. the capacity in the system just isn't there. this head is transforming an area within the school, where children with special educational needs can be assessed and given individual support. all the local specialist school provision is under huge amounts of pressure to accept increasing numbers of children. what we are planning to do is create a provision whereby we can support them and their learning in a separate environment, but integrate them over time back into classroom. and then you're on another journey, then, aren't you? for these parents, long waiting lists to get children diagnosed with special educational needs and finding the right support has pushed them to crisis. i go to different services. i see different professionals and every single time i have to explain and explain and explain. i don't know where my children will be in years to come.

i don't know what will be out there for them. we can fight as much as we can fight. but if there's nothing there to help, what are we fighting for? see if you can get it - on from the same place. 14—year—old maisie is autistic, has adhd and has struggled to cope in mainstream schools. she's been excluded numerous times and now attends school part—time. i've never liked school. ijust didn't fit in. i was out of school for months. so then when i've gone into a school, it's a bit like so many people just everywhere, like, crowding me. on the first day i went there, it was a lot. one foot in the stirrup. beautifully done. when maisie's not at school, she comes here to heroes, an educational therapy centre in oxfordshire. it's helped hundreds of children with special educational needs who are struggling in school. the school pay for me to come here, so they are helping. i think i've learnt a lot more being here. we're still doing work.

from mainstream to specialist schools, there are calls for urgent funding and intervention to help support an increasing number of pupils. the government is promising more investment and specialist staff and admits that for too many of the system is broken. almost ended up in the worst of all worlds with a lot more money being spent but the provision not being right, so a big part of the investment is building the capacity and with £2.6 billion into building more places. good. making the right changes are crucial in transforming the lives of thousands of children and young people. for too many, it's been a fight to get the right support. elaine dunkley, bbc news. some teachers in wales and the south of england are on strike today in a long—running dispute over pay. it's the third day of walkouts by neu members. there was industrial

action in northern england on tuesday, and the midlands and eastern regions, yesterday. 1,000 charities have written to the chancellor asking for cash in the upcoming budget to help with redistributing waste and surplus food from farms. the charities say 3—million tonnes of food is going to waste on farms alone, and have asked jeremy hunt to invest £25 million to make it easier to take produce that would otherwise be wasted and distribute it to those experiencing food poverty. high street retailer wh smith says it has been the target of a cyber security incident. it said the attack had led to illegal access to some of its data, including that concerning current and former employees. wh smith said it had launched an investigation and told the relevant authorities of the incident. the firm said its website, customer accounts and customer databases are not affected. us secretary of state antony blinken has told a press conference at the g20 foreign ministers' meeting in india that there have already been angry exchanges between russia and the us over moscow's invasion of ukraine.

russia says there will be no joint declaration at the end of the summit. the us secretary of state said the talks have been marred by the unprovoked and unjustified invasion of ukraine. russian officials meanwhile said moscow and beijing had agreed to oppose what they called western blackmail and threats — but this hasn't been confirmed by china. antony blinken had this warning for beijing. with regard to china and its support for russia's aggression in ukraine, as we've said from the start and as president biden made very clear to president xi, going back to the beginning of the russian aggression, were china to engage in material, lethal support for russia's aggression or to engage in the systematic evasion of sanctions to help russia, that would be a serious problem for our countries. when i saw the senior policy

official wang yi on the margins of the munich meetings just a week or so ago, i raised with him our very real concern that, based on information we have, china is considering supplying lethal military assistance to russia. we've not seen it do that yet but we've seen it considering that proposition and what i shared with him again was that this would be a serious problem for us in our relationship with china. india's prime minister, narendra modi, called on foreign ministers to put their differences aside, and find common ground — as the ukraine war continues to dominate discussions. it is but natural that your discussions are affected by the geopolitical tensions of the day. we all have our positions and our perspectives on how these tensions should be resolved.

however, as the leading economies of the world, we also have a responsibility to those who are not in this room. a french government minister is warning the country could be on the verge of a water crisis — as a result of an ongoing winter drought. parts of france has had little or no rain in the last few weeks — and water levels have dropped alarmingly. spain has also suffered from the drought — as tim allman explains. this is, or perhaps was, the loire, france's longest river, which seems to be disappearing before our eyes. for week after week, no rain has come. the driest period since records began almost 60 years ago. and for the people who live here, these are worrying times. translation: i'm scared. i feel like we will lack water.

i have never seen this. often at this time of year as the snow melts, there is a lot of water. but right now, it's shocking to see the water so low. translation: there is no fishing left. - back in the day, the water levels were high and we caught fish. right now, we can't fish any more, at least for now. winter is normally a crucial period in restoring water levels. but not this year. and 2022 was the second hottest year europe has ever experienced. lack of rain can have a effect, reduce crops, greater risk of wildfires and potentially rationing. translation: we are in a particular situation because we are _ on the verge of a water crisis in our country for next summer. so we are in the process of acting upon it. it's notjust france that's suffering. this is the catalonia region of spain. more dry riverbeds, more concerns about the future, and the problems climate

change can cause. restrictions have already been imposed. people won't be able to wash their cars or fill their swimming pools. rain is forecast for the coming days, but long term, water, or a lack of it, is still a major concern. the headlines on bbc news... the inquiry into the manchester arena bombing has determined mi5 missed a significant opportunity to take action that might have stopped the attack. police who found the body of a baby in the brighton area yesterday had said they believe the child may have been dead for some time. newly released whatsapp messages suggest former health secretary matt hancock tried to bypass another minister to get schools close during the coronavirus pandemic.

it's �*world book day�* and the uk's biggest story—writing competition for children, is returning to the bbc. camilla, the queen consort, who's hosted past grand finals of the 500 words contest, described its return as a "joy". the search begins for volunteer judges, asjon kay explains. on my first day at school, do you know what i did? i kicked a nun. 0k. so what i want to think about... as stories go, it's quite an opening. but that's hardly surprising. you made a mate — that's a really happy thing! because today's supply teacher is top children's author and 500 words judge, frank cottrell—boyce. everyone's got a story, everyone can tell a story. we just talked today about important days in your life and every single one of them had a different story. he tells the kids to let their imaginations run wild for 500 words. i'm thinking of making, like, a story about an astronaut who, like, really likes spaceships.

we are live at hampton court for the 500 words final! with a brilliant cover of crazy in love... it was the brainchild of chris evans, and more than a million stories were submitted in the first decade of the competition. as duchess of cornwall, camilla was an honoraryjudge on 500 words, and now, as queen consort, she's supporting the competition again as it returns to the bbc. the joy is that it's about to be relaunched and you have this wonderful moment when you took them, you know, to the venue, the sort of surprise venue for the finals. the pride in those children's faces and the families and schools. the gold—winning story, snow blood window frame by eve molloy. - i couldn't believe it. i thought they were joking. four years on, eve tells me she's still in shock.

her fairytale won hundreds of books for herself and for her school. but there was an even greater prize. my confidence, itjust went through the roof. being in 500 words was the best thing that i've ever done. before any stories are written, 4,000 volunteerjudges have to be recruited. teachers, teaching assistants and librarians, like sarah, who did it last time, and who's signing up again. it's an amazing opportunity to really get insight into the minds of children, to have some really brilliant reading to do, and and to feel that they're playing a part in something that's a really powerful project that really makes a difference to children's lives. this time, the competition isjust for primary school children, and stories don't have to be submitted until the autumn, with the winners announced on world book day next march.

words can be magic. if you choose the right word, you can make people laugh, you can make people cry, you can start a fight, you can finish a fight. you can make people think, if you just choose the right word. thank you so much. jon kay, bbc news. the duke and duchess of sussex have been asked to vacate their british home, frogmore cottage in windsor. the couple's spokesperson confirmed the request, but buckingham palace hasn't commented. they were reportedly told to leave the property injanuary, days after harry published his memoir. our royal correspondent sarah campbell reports. since leaving the uk for a new life in the states, prince harry and his wife meghan have returned just a handful of times. and when they have done so, such as lastjune for thejubilee, they have stayed in frogmore cottage, the house gifted to them by the late queen. the five bedroom property is situated within the grounds of windsor castle.

the duke and duchess spent more than £2 million on rent and refurbishments according to royal accounts. but their spokesperson has confirmed the sussexes have now been asked to vacate the property. once again, it has put royal relations back on the front pages, with the king reported to have sanctioned the move and prince andrew allegedly being lined up to move in once the sussexes are out. buckingham palace has offered no comment on what are considered private family matters. this all comes in the wake of prince harry's memoir spare, the publicity campaign that accompanied it and the six part television series putting the couple's grievances with the royal family in front of a global audience. in just two months' time, harry's father prince charles will be crowned. it is still unclear whether harry, his youngest son, and meghan, will be there to witness it. sarah campbell, bbc news.

he didn't speak until he was 11, and only learnt to read when he was 18, but now aged just 37, jason arday is about to begin work as cambridge university's youngest black professor. celestina olulode reports. i always felt it was a privilege to have a period of 11 years where maybe i couldn't speak and i couldn't converse while everyone else could, because it allowed me to see things in a different way. professorjason arday was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at the age of three. he couldn't speak until he was 11 and read or write until he was 18. throughout his early years, his parents continued to believe in him. at 18, my mum had got to a point where there was only so much she could do, and she was brilliant. even though she had this belief that, you know, he will do something ok, but she decided i need someone else to believe in him as much as i believe in him. therapists predicted he would need full—time assistance throughout his life. how wrong they were. you ok? it was this man, college

tutor sandro sandri, who helped teach jason to read and write at 18. i'm just so happy for him, you know? i'm speechless, to be honest. but i never doubted for a moment that he would achieve what he has. sandro would spend hours of his free time teaching jason. there's one thing you said to me which i neverforgot, and it was when i was 22 and i said to you i was thinking about doing a phd. and you said to me that it would be the greatest story in the world if the kid who didn't know how to read or write managed to get a phd. and now jason is days away from achieving another ambition. nice to see you. good to see you. here's his new boss at cambridge. part of his research will look at new ways to make higher education more accessible for everyone. what can we do to ensure that this isn't a marked appointment in five years' time? how can this become the norm? we've listened to the voices

of our black scholars and our black students, and some of it has not been easy to hear, to be honest, but we're able to face up to some of the structural issues that people face. there will be those who think this is a tokenistic appointment. what are your thoughts on this? the board of electors on your interview day were absolutely unanimous. we are so lucky to have you. you are the best in the world in terms of the research that you do. an extraordinaryjourney, but forjason, this is not an end, it's a beginning. celestina olulode, bbc news, cambridge. congratulations to him. eurovision tickets will go on sale next week, for six preview and three televisied shows, in liverpool. ticket prices start at £30 and will cost up to £380 for the grand final on 13th may.

the event's being hosted in liverpool, after the uk was chosen for the competition on behalf of the 2022 winner, ukraine. fans will need to register for a ticketmaster account, ahead of the sale going live from noon on tuesday. now it's time for a look at the weather with ben rich. hello, thank you. good afternoon. a pretty quiet day. some places with more sunshine than others, the best of the sunshine in the south of the uk. i want to draw your attention to something that is on the way next week. something colder. in fact, something cold enough for snow to fall. more details on that in just a moment. let's start with a look back at the earlier satellite picture, it shows where we have had quite a lot of cloud in the northern half of the uk. it has been producing some showers. the best of the sunshine in the south, where the brightest end of the day will be. these are the

temperatures you will find if you are just about to step outside. this evening and overnight, more cloud rolling its way westwards across england towards east wales. northern ireland and southern scotland likely to stay quite cloudy, north—west scotland will see clear skies and a touch of frost. also perhaps some frost in the far south—west of wales and england. those frosty areas are likely to be the brightest areas tomorrow morning with some spells of sunshine. scotland generally seeing some decent sunny spells although the northern isles will be breezy and a little showery. northern isles and a little showery. northern isles and the west of the uk, temperatures seven to nine. as we head into the weekend, the first hint of a change. this frontal system pushing in from the north. this is a cold front. it will start to introduce them slightly colder air. with that, a band of cloud. some patchy rain getting into north—east scotland on

saturday, some eventually grazing the east coast of england. further west, some sunny spells, generally quite large amounts of cloud. temperatures seven, eight or nine but low which only getting up to three degrees. that is a sign of things to come. by sunday, some slightly colder air will be working its way southwards and some of the showers will start to turn wintry, particularly over high ground. more likely rain at low levels at this stage. northern scotland seeing some persistent rain and it will feel just a little more chilly. into next week, the cold air really is set to surge its way southwards. these blue colours spreading down right across the uk. this air will be plenty cold enough for snow to fall and it will be windy, just adding to the chilly feel. in terms of exactly where and when the snow will fall, there is still a little bit of uncertainty and we will keep you posted as next week draws closer. that is all from me, bye—bye for now.

this is bbc news i'm clive myrie. the headlines at 5. the inquiry into manchester arena bombings has determined mi5 missed a significant opportunity to take action that might have stopped the attack. iam i am satisfied as i can be that the brother made use of an instructional video placed on the internet by those so—called islamic state to create their bomb. police who found the body of a baby in the brighton area yesterday, have said they believe the child may have been dead for some time. newly released whatsapp messages suggest former health secretary, matt hancock, tried to bypass another minister to get schools closed during the coronavirus pandemic. borisjohnson says he'll find it hard to vote