ministry of health, the ministry of social development, acc, and the ministry of education, who are here with me today. police, the intelligence community, department of prime minister and cabinet, the ministry of civil defence and emergency management, the ministry of foreign affairs and trade, the department of internal affairs, the ministry of business, innovation, and employment. the defence force, new zealand customs, and our transport agencies. this is the first of what will be a series of regular stand—ups with relevant agencies who are involved in the response. i will provide you with a brief operational overview and then hand over to my colleagues, who will provide overviews of their activities. please note i will not be providing or covering any police matters, because this is best addressed by them. central government agencies with a focus on supporting communities are working together to understand and assess community complexities and needs.

the daily mirror leads on a picture story of an aide from the ministry of defence placing flowers on the graves of mr skripal‘s wife and son. that was the spire and his daughter who were targeted with that novichok attack last year. the paper says they feel they cannot visit the cemetery in salisbury, as they fear they are still targets. thousands of crime suspects are carrying out further offences despite being under police investigation, according to the daily mail. the paper details one case in which a thief was accused of carrying out 107 offences within three months of his initial arrest. there is also a photo of the duchess of cambridge wearing the british clothing brand lk bennett. the company is expected to file for administration today. and if you are thinking about whether to go away in the springtime, how about this on the front page of the times. "holiday prices plunge," says the times, as it reports on record discounts on easter breaks. the paper says tour operators

the mirror reports that a ministry of defence aide has been tending to the graves on his behalf. . let's take a closer look at some of those headlines. we will start with the guardian, and chris grayling. people have been adding up the numbers, they have been tossing

the ministry of defence has confirmed that it has set up an operations room to deal with the effects of a potential no—deal brexit. the ministry said it was part of preparations already announced. and, separately, there's been considerable alarm within the business community, that the uk could leave the eu without a formal deal. the confederation of british industry, along with the trades union congress, have both said that leaving without a deal would be a "national emergency". our business correspondent emma simpson has been to cardiff to find out what small businesses there make of the options facing the uk. radio: this is bbc radio five live. theresa may will ask eu leaders to postpone brexit for three months... this small catering company is following every brexit twist and turn. we decided, instead of buying sandwiches, we would actually... the boss told me an awful lot is riding on what the politicians finally deliver. if we have a no deal, i really wouldn't like to say where we will be in three months' time. 0rfour months' time, orfive months' time. i think we need to have sta

the mirror reports that a ministry of defence aide has been tending to the graves on his behalf. is. let's take a closer look at some of those headlines. we will start with the guardian, and chris grayling. people have been adding up the numbers, they have been tossing them up. the headline is calls for chris grayling to quit after £30 million ferry fiasco, but that figure is a lot higher. it is worse than that. in the space of 2a hours we learned that chris grayling had cost the taxpayer £200 million because of some of his judgement. the probation reforms he oversaw as minister ofjustice and the £33 million to eurotunnel to make up for the ferry fiasco when he was giving contracts the ferry fiasco when he was giving co ntra cts to the ferry fiasco when he was giving contracts to ferry company which didn't have any ferries because he should have let eurotunnel know it and didn't. but it is worse than that, if £200 million isn't enough,

at the same time the army and the ministry of defence, individual soldiers that serve there would be very unhappy that any soldier has been prosecuted at all. part of the good friday agreement was that a lot of those who were known to have been involved in killings on the other side were effectively told that they are free to go. somewhere post-good friday agreement... those aren't applying across the board. 0ne friday agreement... those aren't applying across the board. one of them was being tried for the hyde park bombing and that trial had two ends because he had basically a pardon, his extradition hasjust been granted from the republic of ireland to northern ireland and that is currently under appeal. itjust shows you the authorities here are still pursuing people that went soldiers. yes, part of the good friday agreement were that all the

just a line breaking news this evening, the ministry of defence saying that they have a bunker in thehe mod in london thatis the basement of the mod in london that is now making preparations not only for military services, armed services overseas, but also contingency planning within the uk. 3500 troops we are told by our defence correspondent are now readied for any contingency planning, and those troops and others would be available if other departments need them. and we've also seen over the course of the last week or so the foreign and commonwealth office making similar plans, all of it under the banner of operation yellowhammer, which we we re operation yellowhammer, which we were told, and it is rumoured, will be triggered on monday as that voting gets under way in the house of commons. right, let's take a pause and a step back and get some detailfrom our pause and a step back and get some detail from our reality check correspondent, chris morris. let's remind ourselves what is the uk side actually asking for and what has the eu side said in response? theresa may has basically r

a plan from our defence correspondent who talks of a plan within the ministry of defence saying that ond to the no deal scenario. no deal preparations, we are told, could be triggered on monday. i don‘t know if that has yet been confirmed by the government but ifjonathan‘s reporting stacks up, the ministry of defence is making preparations it would need to do to support mod installations and services overseas, and forces overseas. they also said they have put in place three 3500 troops overseas to support contingency planning and some troops would be available to other departments. notjust in the defence ministry but you will also start to see that across all other government departments over the course of the next week as they step up those no deal contingency plans. let‘s talk now to professor of european law at the university of cambridge, kenneth armstrong. there is a lot to look through, isn‘t there, legally? professor armstrong, good to have you with us. we talk first of all about the extension itself, because of course the date the 29th of march is set down in law and to change

the mirror reports that a ministry of defence aide has been tending to the graves on his behalf.let's start off with our chats. we are going to go to broad street, so the times. this could be good news. could be, if the world doesn't end on march the 29th. yes. if it doesn't stop on march 29.“ on march the 29th. yes. if it doesn't stop on march 29. if our passports work and our european medical cards are accepted. if the fairies aren't all bringing in medicine and whatever. if you can get a cheap holiday, on 24%, the mainly looking at the april eight to the april the 27th. when the schools are off, the prices skyrocket. so instead they've looked at these and they decided by 24%, this is because they decided by 24%, this is because they are spooked, because apparently we are spooked. people are not booking holidays, they are a bit scared about brexit chaos, so prices are coming down. some operators, £108 per person for seven nights for a five star place. i've been to some great 5—star hotels. a five star place. i've been to some great 5-star hotels. 0h, a five star place. i've bee

in it, a number of recommendations, including three calling on the ministry of defence to change the little bit about alice. what was she like? alice was strong, independent, funny, she had the biggest personality, hundreds of friends. she was just a really bubbly, outgoing person. everything to live for. she was at a really good point in her life. clive, i know you have brought in the review which was published yesterday which iam sure which was published yesterday which i am sure you have read cover to cover. what have you made of some of the recommendations made in it? well, there a range of recommendations, some are national, some are local, some are national about better training, and so on, which we hope will be brought in everywhere. but it is the national ones which really concern us. there are ones for the police and there are ones for the police and there are ones for the police and there are ones about the army, and as far as the police are concerned, we have been pleased with the fact that a lot has been done since this happened, two years ago. things have been moving forw

of sergei and yulia skripal, the daily mirror leads on a picture story of an aide from the ministry of defence placing flowers on the graves of mr skripal‘s wife and son. the paper says they feel they cannot visit the cemetery in salisbury as they fear they are still targets. that cemetery is just behind their home. thousands of crime suspects are carrying out further offences despite being under police investigation, according to the daily mail. the paper details one case in which a thief was accused of carrying out 107 offences within three months of his initial arrest. there is also a photo of the duchess of cambridge wearing the british clothing brand, l.k. bennett. we will talk about that with caroline right now. that is the first story you've chosen here, the daily mail version. 0ne first story you've chosen here, the daily mail version. one of kate's favourite outlets. we've heard for yea rs favourite outlets. we've heard for years about the kate effect, it is seen years about the kate effect, it is seen that that, while there was some theory that it contributes to the demise of some of

bringing in a statement from the defence secretary, he has confirmed the ministry of defence will support soldier f and pay the legal costs of the trial. he has said, we are indebted to those soldiers who served with courage and distinctions to bring peace to northern ireland. the welfare of our former personnel is important and we will offer full support to the individual affected by today's decision, including all his legal course and welfare support. the mod is working across government to deliver a new package of safeguards to ensure our armed forces are of safeguards to ensure our armed forces a re not of safeguards to ensure our armed forces are not unfairly treated and the government will reform the system for dealing with legacy issues our service personnel cannot live in constant fear of prosecution. will this open old wounds... i was there, we are now hearing from the families. we have had one soldier, soldier f, and he was had one soldier, soldier f, and he was responsible for the murder of five individuals that day. he has

we already have taken civil cases against the ministry of defence. r been concluded successfully. significant damages have been paid, which underscore the innocence, the total innocence, of all the persons short dead and wounded. there are a handful of those cases still to be resolved and we anticipate that all the civil cases will be concluded by the civil cases will be concluded by the end of the summer term, by the end ofjune. question is asked. no, i question is asked. no, lam question is asked. no, i am not. applause i'm no hero, even this gentleman sitting beside me, he was a first aider, helping people to get back to life. applause i would like to ask, at this present time, legislation is trying to get pushed through westminster, the holy grail of... saying that they are going to try and push back the time back to' 68, whereas from' 73 on that people who don't have anything to do with the troubles got sentences. i'm afraid these boys are going to push it through so these murderers are going to get away. how do you feel about that? the position

we got some interesting details yesterday from the ministry of defence that they are planning for no re being unfolded, and there are rumours that the whole operation, codenamed operation yellowhammer, is good to go on monday. it's been well documented that the uk site is well behind preparations of the netherlands. they've invested a lot of money and no deal preparations, and we are joined of money and no deal preparations, and we arejoined by our correspondent in rotterdam who has been taking a look. what have you seen?” been taking a look. what have you seen? i am in rotterdam, europe is like a biggest port. they are busy preparing, this will be the new front line. so after the uk leaves the eu this will be a ha rd the uk leaves the eu this will be a hard border. dutch officials are taking us out to see their preparations, because their policy since the start has been hoped for the best and prepare for the worst. there are ships from all over the world transporting goods to and from the uk, in fact, there are 3000 lorries making this journey across the channel every single day. aft

of venezuela. a foreign ministry spokeswoman said russia‘s presence in venezuela is in line with a defence agreementect millions of venezuelan people. the bbc‘s state department correspondent barbara plett usher has spoken to the trump administration‘s point person on venezuela and joins me now. they have any idea how to break this stalemate? actually, mr abrams denied there even was a stalemate. essentially, he said that the cards are so heavily stacked against mr maduro, everything in the country is collapsing. you said you can never predict when a leader will fall, it may look from the outside that he is in control but from the inside he is losing is grip. i did point out that president maduro does seem to think he can wait out this us administration despite its threat of all options being on the table. mr abrams responded with a warning. i think you're right that he is convinced of that. and just thinks, "i'lljust stay, the americans will get bored, they will go away." they will go away. " i remember a guy named manuel noriega who thought the same thing, the americans would just go away, there i