so he got a call from jeremy corbyn and was relieved of his duties as shadow northern ireland secretarya good number of labourfigures. lord response from a good number of labour figures. lord home, response from a good number of labourfigures. lord home, the former northern ireland secretary, said it was a terrible, stalinist purge. mr smith this morning has said he disagrees with those remarks and says he was merely standing up for his principles, something that jeremy corbyn has been lauded for by many who support him. so mr smith is disappointed, but perhaps not that surprised to be back on the backbenches. thanks very much. hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take part in marches across america today, calling for tighter gun controls. the main rally — in washington — will include survivors of last month's school shooting in florida. our correspondent chris buckler reports. parkland students have travelled hundreds of miles from florida from the school where their classmates and teachers were killed, a shooting that many of them survived. in washington, they've already be

last night he was dismissed as the shadow northern ireland secretary byjeremy corbyn, after calling forum. several labour mps, including chuka umunna, have questioned their leader's decision. 0wen has been a superb northern ireland shadow secretary of state, his views on the european union, he is advocacy of a people's vote on the breakfast deal is, his advocacy of us think —— staying in the single market and customs union were vocal positions he held before his appointment in june of last positions he held before his appointment injune of last year. so it's quite bizarre that he should be sacked from his post. hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take part in marches around the world today calling for tighter gun controls in america. the main rally in washington will include survivors of last month's school shooting in florida. last night the usjustice department confirmed it will propose a ban on bump stocks — devices which can turn ordinary assault rifles into machine guns. conservation officials in australia have confirmed more than 140 pilot whales which became stranded

labour mps react angrily to the sacking of the shadow northern ireland secretary for saying he wants a second brexit referendum. nick dinham, she is eight, and she has just given nick dinham, she is eight, and she hasjust given her entire pocket money. i mean, you cannot argue with that, can you 7 money. i mean, you cannot argue with that, can you? —— meeting. celebrity boat races and boxing matches — the sport relief live show raises more than 38 million pounds for charity. in sport, england fly high in amsterdam as their world cup preparations continue with victory over the netherlands. jesse lingard scored his first international goal to win 1—0 during last night's friendly and extend their unbeaten run to seven matches. and alina jenkins has the weather. good morning, a north— south split across the country, sunshine and showers in the north but a lot of cloud with patchy rain further south. i will tell you all about it in around 15 minutes. the then! —— see you then! good morning. first, our main story: a french police officer who helped bring a terror attack to an end yesterday

last night he was dismissed as the shadow northern ireland secretary byjeremy corbyn, after calling fornorthern ireland shadow secretary of state. his views on the european union, his advocacy of a people'svote on the brexit deal, his advocacy of our staying in the single market and customs union were vocal positions he held before his appointment in june last year, so it is quite bizarre he should be sacked from his post. hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take part in marches around the world today calling for tighter gun controls in america. the main rally — in washington — will include survivors of last month's school shooting in florida. last night the usjustice department confirmed it will propose a ban on bump stocks — devices which can turn ordinary assault rifles into machine guns. conservation officials in australia have confirmed that more than 140 pilot whales that became stranded off the western coast have died. fishermen made the discovery at hamelin bay just south of perth yesterday, prompting a large—scale rescue effort to return the animals to deeper waters

i was the shadow northern ireland secretary.rivileged and thanks jeremy have been very proud and i was privileged and thanksjeremy corbyn yesterday for allowing me to serve on the front bench on northern ireland. it is one of the greatest legacies of the last labour government that we helped to deliver peace to northern ireland. but there is now a risk to the still fragile political process in northern ireland, and that is the prospect of brexit bringing back a hard border between the irish republic and northern ireland. and that would be incredibly damaging and destabilising, potentially risking the security of people living along the security of people living along the border and asked the chief co nsta ble of the border and asked the chief constable of northern ireland said, risking the security of his police officers. we can‘t countenance that, which is why we need a strong brexit position. at the moment, our position, in my view, is not strong enough on the single market or the risks that brexit poses to our country. let‘s

the shadow northern ireland secretary broke ranks with labour party policy by also making the case forter brexit. he's been replaced by tony lloyd. owen smith reacted to the news on twitter. he said: the shadow home secretary diane abbott said that mr smith should not have spoken out in the way he did.|j would smith was a valued colleague, he wanted to make a contribution to the debate, and he will be able to do so, what he can't do is sit on our front bench and advance a position which is simply not labour party policy. but no one is saying he can't have his own opinion, but we are clear, we want a meaningful vote on defining the deal —— the final bill in parliament because after a ll final bill in parliament because after all we are a parliamentary democracy. we are not calling for a second referendum. european union leaders in brussels today said they were preparing coordinated measures against russia following the salisbury attack. separately, they approved guidelines for the negotiation of future relations with the uk — in what's being seen as a key step in the brexit process. pla

not a huge surprise that jeremy corbyn has got rid of 0wen smith as shadow northern ireland secretaryr corbyn has a strong enough and to play to be able to do this, because mrsmith is play to be able to do this, because mr smith is not alone in holding these views on brexit. he had recently publicly disagreed with the leadership of the party over their policy on russia as well. his views on brexit have been known for a long time, but the difference now is that he was speaking, up until this evening, as a member of the shadow cabinet, jeremy corbyn‘s top team. there is only so much dissent and disagreement that the party leadership feel they can put up with. i think we saw in the statement put out byjeremy corbyn this evening, mentioning that 0wen smith had been asked to stand down, no mention of his record in the post 01’ no mention of his record in the post orany kind of no mention of his record in the post or any kind of good luck wishes. just a mention of tony lloyd, the greater manchester mp that will be taking over from 0wen greater manchester mp that will be taking overfrom 0wen

labour mps react angrily to the sacking of the shadow northern ireland secretary for saying he wants

the former shadow northern ireland secretary 0wen smith says he'll continue to oppose labour's positioneen sacked byjeremy corbyn from the front bench for saying there should be a referendum on the terms of any final deal. mr smith believes the party leadership should be speaking out more forcefully about what he sees as the economic risks of leaving the eu. 0ur political correspondent iain watson reports. the show of unity was relatively short lived. 0wen smith failed to topple jeremy corbyn as labour leader in 2016 butjoined his shadow cabinet lastjune. he was sacked for being out of step on the eu when he called for a second referendum on the final deal. it was a bit of a surprise, not least when other members of the shadow cabinet said similar things and haven't been sacked. we need, at the end of this process, to trust the british people once more to make a final decision on whether they are content with the real terms of brexit. curiously, last november the shadow cabinet member diane abbott told her constituents she'd argue for the right of the electorate to vote on a final deal.

the shadow northern ireland secretary broke ranks with labour party policy by also making the case for single market after brexit. he's been replaced by tony lloyd. owen smith has reacted to the news on twitter. he says... "i've just been sacked byjeremy corbyn for my long held views on the damage brexit will do to the good friday agreement and the economy of the entire uk. those views are shared by labour members and supporters and i will continue to speak up for them, and in the interest of our country." our political correspondent jonathan blake is in westminster. how much support has owen smith had from other mps? plenty. you can see by the reaction among some labour mps tonight, just how many people, if not agree with what he was saying on brexit policy, certainly support his right to be able to say it. chuka umunna, the shadow business secretary saying that this was an outrage, and extraordinary that a shadow cabinet minister doing an excellent job should be shadow cabinet minister doing an excellentjob should be sacked. ending upfor our excellentjob should be sacked. ending up f

the former shadow northern ireland secretary, owen smith, has said he will continue to oppose labour'ser he was sacked for calling for a second referendum on the terms of the final leave deal. mr smith said he believed jeremy corbyn wanted to adopt a more eurosceptic approach which he believed would damage the country's economy. he told bbc breakfast that mr corbyn was not speaking up for the majority of labour party members on the issue of brexit. labour members have been speaking out strongly and members across the country have contacted me before and after my sacking to say that this is what they believe in the vast majority of labour members support is taking a much tougher stance against brexit and that is what i thinkjeremy corbyn and the leadership of the labour party need to do. earlier chris mason came into the studio and i asked him why he had sacked owen smith. firstly he wrote an article, he cannot blame this on encountering a pesky reporter like you or me being asked devilish questions and blurting something out that he later regrets, oi’ something out that he later regret

here, the former shadow northern ireland secretary, owen smith, has said he will continue to oppose labour'sr he was sacked for calling for a second referendum on the terms of the final leave deal. mr smith said he believed jeremy corbyn wanted to adopt a more euro sceptic approach, which he believed would damage the country's economy. he said he was speaking up for the majority of labour party members on the issue of brexit. labour members have been speaking out strongly. we passed a resolution at conference last year that was, frankly, exactly the same as what i said in my article. and members across the country have been contacting me before and after my sacking to say that this is what they believe. the vast majority of labour members support us taking a much tougher stance against brexit, and that's what i think jeremy corbyn and the leadership of the labour party need to do. the information commissioner's office says it will assess material gathered after its staff searched the headquarters of cambridge analytica — the company accused of taking data from facebook users without their co

gentleman who, when the shadow secretary backed a rerun of that referendum, when the then shadow northern irelanderun of the referendum, he was sacked. so i say to the right honourable gentleman, it is this conservative party in government that is getting on and on delivering on the wishes of the british people and delivering a brexit that works for everyone. why is the prime minister so attached to the reckless strategy taking the uk past exit date without settling a treaty on the future relationship that we would have with the eu? she could call that 21—month period an additional negotiation period or a limbo period, but she really shouldn't call it an implementation period because there may be nothing to implement. given that her government and unfortunately the official opposition have had more positions on brexit than the kama sutra, isn't it time that we had this nonsense stop and that she and her governments about how our constituents be protected from the disastrous economic impact of brexit? can i say to the honourable lady that the picture she paints is not one that i recognise. indeed,

the former shadow northern ireland secretary, owen smith, has said he will continue to oppose labour‘rendum on the terms of the final leave deal. of the final leave deal. mr smith said he believed jeremy corbyn wanted to adopt a more euro sceptic approach — which he believed would damage the country‘s economy. he said he was speaking up for the majority of labour party members on the issue of brexit. labour members have been speaking strongly. we passed a resolution last year that was frankly exactly the same as what i said. members across the country have been contacting me before and after my sacking to say that this is what they believe. the vast majority of members seek —— backers seeking a much better deal on brexit. earlier labour mpjohn mann — who backed brexit — said owen smith had a responsibility to publicly support labour policy. owen smith needs to or needed to stick to collective responsibility. it isa stick to collective responsibility. it is a team if you are in the shadow cabinet. that has been the case ever since the labour party was formed. it was under clement attle

the former shadow northern ireland secretary, owen smith, says he'll continue to oppose labour's position from the front bench, for saying there should be a referendum on the terms of any final deal. mr smith believes the party leadership should be speaking out more forcefully about what he sees as the economic risks of leaving the eu. our political correspondent iain watson reports. the show of unity was relatively short lived. owen smith failed to topple jeremy corbyn as labour leader in 2016 butjoined his shadow cabinet lastjune. he was sacked for being out of step on the eu, when he called for a second referendum on the final deal. it was a bit of a surprise, not least when other members of the shadow cabinet have said similar things and haven't been sacked. we need, at the end of this process, to trust the british people once more to make a final decision on whether they're content with the real terms of brexit. curiously, last november, the shadow cabinet member diane abbott told her constituents she'd argue for the right of the electorate to vote on a final deal. but she stayed at

the former shadow northern ireland secretary, owen smith, has said he will continue to oppose labour'sd for calling for a second referendum on the terms of the final leave deal. mr smith said he believed jeremy corbyn wanted to adopt a more eurosceptic approach, which he believed would damage the country's economy. he said he was speaking up for the majority of labour party members on the issue of brexit. (tx sor next) labour members have been speaking out strongly. we passed a resolution at conference last year that was frankly exactly the same as what i said in my article. members across the country had been contacting me before and after my sacking to say that this is what they believe and the vast majority of labour members support is taking a much tougher sta nce support is taking a much tougher stance against brexit and that is what i thinkjeremy corbyn in the leadership of the labour party need to do. let's talk to the labour mp for derby north, chris williamson. thank you for being with us this lunchtime. do you understand why owen smith is saying something that diane abbott ha

the shadow northern ireland secretary broke ranks with labour party policy by also making the case for after brexit. he's been replaced by tony lloyd. owen smith has reacted to the news on twitter. he says: i've just been sacked byjeremy corbyn for my long held views on the damage brexit will do to the good friday agreement and the economy of the entire uk. those views are shared by labour members and supporters and i will continue to speak up for them, and in the interest of our country. our political correspondent jonathan blake is in westminster. for how many labour mps is he actually is in? many mps would agree with him on that policy. in terms of wider party membership, labour voters were largely in favour of remaining in the european union. so it is clear that owen smith is not speaking purely for himself and he is reflecting to an extent the views of some of the party membership and a good deal of labour party mps as well. but the problem was was that he was saying that from his position as one ofjeremy corbyn‘s shadow cabinet and from there, it is generally expected, although n

the parties shadow northern ireland minister tony lloyd warned that the his party will hold the governmenthe jobs and for our economy and what we can't see at the moment... 0ne and for our economy and what we can't see at the moment... one year on, but not a year to go, the vote in parliament by which time we have got to know what this government is doing, will take place in a lot less than a year. we are nowhere near there yet. actually that should worry the public, but they should know that labour won't let this simply drift into a no deal brexit, through incompetence or inertia, we will hold their feet to the fire and we will do the six tests we have put forward which are in the national interest. so with one year to go — how far have we got, and what still needs to be done? chris morris from reality check reports. so just one year to go until the united kingdom is due to part company with the rest of the european union. it's also one year since theresa may triggered article 50 of the lisbon treaty, marking the formal start of the brexit process. and in accordance with the wishes of the

the former shadow northern ireland secretary, owen smith, has said he will continue to oppose labour'sacked for calling for a second referendum on the terms of the final leave deal. mr smith said he believed jeremy corbyn wanted to adopt a more euro sceptic approach — which he believed would damage the country's economy. he said he was speaking up for the majority of labour party members on the issue of brexit. labour members have been speaking out strongly. we passed a measure oui’ out strongly. we passed a measure our conference last year which was the same as what i said. members across the country have been contacting me before and after my sacking to say that this is what they believe and the vast majority of labour member support us taking a much tougher stance against brexit and that is what i thinkjeremy corbyn and the leadership of the labour party need to do. we'rejoined now byjohn mann, labour mp for bassetlaw. you are a remainers supporter but you back the sacking of owen smith. iama you back the sacking of owen smith. i am a leave supporter but owen smith needed to stick t

owen has been a superb northern ireland shadow secretary of state.his advocacy of a people's vote on the brexit deal, his advocacy of us staying in the single market and the customs union were vocal positions he held before his appointment injune of last year. so, it's quite bizarre that he should be sacked from his post, not only for expressing views which were well known about before his appointment, but also for expressing views which the overwhelming majority of our members and also our voters support. but you know the rules. he may have said that before he joined the shadow cabinet, but he can't be just freelancing policy on a second referendum, can he? i mean, jeremy corbyn had to dismiss him, surely? but if that was an issue, i don't understand why he was appointed in the first place. and it's not as if once you're appointed that you can pretend away views that you've had in the past. and jeremy has always prided himself on, you know, being consistent and true to his principles. it would be bizarre if he was to ask owen to adopt a different ap

the shadow home secretary backed a rerun of the referendum, kept her in her job, when the shadow northern irelandrable friend that obviously it is very important that obviously it is very important that we are very clear—sighted when we deal with states like russia, and recognise the threat that they pose. the subject of the pipeline of nord strea m the subject of the pipeline of nord stream america to was not raised. we have asked about further measures that might be taken by the european union. we have asked the foreign ministers to look at issues that might need to be addressed injune. the eu council will be looking again at this in june. thank you, i thank the prime minister for thank you, i thank the prime ministerfor advance thank you, i thank the prime minister for advance sight of her statement. i would like to wish mick bailey and his family the very best following his discharge from hospital, and pay tribute to the nhs staff that cared for him in such difficult circumstances. and our thoughts remain with sergei skripal and yulia. i also want to associate myself with her comments on the

to raise them a as prime minister of britain joining me now is a member of the northern ireland affairs committee and shadow devi spokesperson on human rights and health jim chairman jim thanks for coming on and going to be here underground any concerns that information has more leverage in brussels and when it comes to these border issues. are not the largest party in northern ireland we are we have a relationship. with that are much the government here westminster were so tight and had a candidate in the northern ireland that lies at westminster and i'm just well the at what stage the republicans aren't will have a dose of reality they want a soft border we want a soft border where you know some let's do it well that's a sign of any irish deputy prime minister has already cost down to resume his plan for you know hardboard what they hope to achieve out of this because most of their trade for the proportion of the kid for the public arm is with the medicaid and on the mainland we depend on each other northern ireland inside of our and i didn't understand myself maybe you can explain it to each resume answe

to raise them a as prime minister of britain joining me now is a member of the northern ireland affairs committee and shadow devi spokesperson on human rights and health jim shannon jim thanks for coming on and going to be here underground any concerns there's more leverage in brussels and when it comes to these border issues. are not the largest party in north we are we have a relationship. with that are much the government here westminster. and on the north it lies at westminster and i just want to know what stage the. republicans aren't well. we want a soft border. let's do it well that's a sign of any irish deputy prime minister has already cost down to resume his plan for you know hardboard what they hope to achieve out of this because most of their trade for the. for the puppy farm is with the medicaid and on the. we depend on each other inside the barn and i didn't understand myself maybe you can explain it to me answering a question on the border to. canada an example to countries that have no customs union but there is a border between the us and canada yeah i mean what. well i think with be honest

so, straight after pmqs, the shadow foreign secretar,y emily thornbury, asked what's known as an urgent question about northern ireland'sed to borisjohnson. but as you might be able to see on the very left of the picture, the foreign secretary stood up to leave, prompting quite a reaction. and when borisjohnson was gone and the cabinet office minister david liddington stood up to respond for the government, there was more shouting from the labour side. where is he, where is he? where is he? mr speaker, i have been asked to reply. this government has been consistent in its commitments to northern ireland as the united kingdom leaves the european union. first, we will never accept any solutions that threaten the economic or constitutional integrity of the united kingdom. second, we will not accept a hard border between northern ireland and ireland, which would reverse the considerable progress made through the political process over recent decades. that position has been consistent from the prime minister's article 50 letter, through to our position paper published last summer. and the prime minister's florence speech las

shadow chancellorjohn mcdonnell called for more clarity from the uk government. i can't see where theresa may has compromised. she set out a series of vague statements, we got no further on the northern ireland same statement as she did earlier. she has not let up any detail. we are 20 months on, this should have been settled months ago. we are expecting a speech from the chancellor philip hammond a little bit later on this afternoon. continuing coverage of that story as well of course. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour but first , the headlines on bbc news: the home secretary says more is now known about the substance used in the suspected poisoning of a russian spy. the president of the eu says a free trade agreement will have to be put into place after brexit — and says the uk's position will have "negative economic consequences." saudi arabia's crown prince is starting a three—day visit to the uk — protests are planned against his country's role in the war in yemen. in the business news... chancellor philip hammond will tell eu leaders it's in the "mutual interest" of the uk and the eu to include financial services in a free trade agreement. he's due to speak later tod

shadows here and there on wednesday across england and wales. probably going to be a little better at times concerned stigma compared to tuesday. breaks in the loud with murky cloud in scotland and northern irelander by wednesday saw more chance of frost into thursday morning with fog patches expected. the breeze in the south could see some heavy rain coming to this channel islands and the southern counties of england. still the chance of rain and snow pushing back into the highlands and islands. lost on thursday will be dry and right, even if it feels a cooler again for england and wales. a full update coming up in afternoon live next. hello, you're watching afternoon live. i'm simon mccoy. today at two: emergency hand—outs of bottled water as millions are told to limit their water use while thawing temperatures cause burst pipes. coming up on afternoon live, all the sport olly foster is with us.

northern ireland >> a confidante of benjamin netanyahu agreeing to testify against him in a growing corruption case against the israeli prime minister he's the third former aide to do that the new casting a shadowtanyahu and president trump in washington today. >>> strong winds from the recent nor'easter has knocked down a 227-year-old tree believed to have been planted by george washington on his mt. vernon estate the canadian hemlock tree stood watch over washington's tomb you're up to date. that's the news update i'll send it back to you >> thank you very much >>> let's get a check on the markets again. the major indexes staging a big turnaround today the dow had been down about 150 points at the low before it started rallying you can see the dow up by about 280 points that's near the highs of the session. up by 1.1% you also see gained of almost 1% for the s&p and nasdaq by the way, all of the s&p 500 sectors are in the green at this hour real estate and utilities are leading the way. >>> all right, the oil market is closing for the day. crude ending higher by more than 2% to $62.57 a barrel. analysts say prices were being propped up by bullish comments from oil ministers from the opeccount