Transcripts For BBCNEWS Afternoon Live 20171113

Hour. Thanks, phil. Also coming up bob geldof returns his freedom of the city of dublin in protest against Aung San Suu Kyi, who also holds the award. This meant a lot to me, but it doesnt mean much to anybody else, but i do want to do it, but it is the least i can do. I dont want to do it, but it is the least i can do. Hello everyone this is afternoon live. A powerful earthquake in western iran has killed nearly 350 people, and injured, its thought, more than 5,000. Rescue workers have been digging through the rubble in a hunt for survivors. Irans Emergency Services say theyre having trouble getting rescue teams to the affected areas, as roads have been cut off by landslides. The epicentre of the quake which measured 7. 3 hit the border between iran and iraq, just under 20 miles south of halabja and was felt as far away as lebanon and turkey. Richard galpin reports. Ata at a big dam ata big dam in the at a big dam in the region last night, suddenly the duty officer iu ns night, suddenly the duty officer runs for his life as the earthquake hits. Sending huge boulders smashing into the complex. In the aftermath, this morning it seems the dam has survived. But in the western provinces of iran there has been significant damage, with entire buildings collapsing. Leaving many people trapped underneath. Injust one district at least 200 people are now known to have been killed. And the hospitals in this region are trying to cope with thousands of injured. Many lucky to still be alive. Translation injured. Many lucky to still be alive. Translationzlj injured. Many lucky to still be alive. Translation i fell from the balcony down, the earthquake was very strong. The earthquake shattered the window which fell on me and wounded my hand and face. The moments the earthquake hit was also caught live on tv. These studio guest on the left trying to keep calm the studio guest. As the building shakes violently. This is across the border in northern iraq, where houses have also been brought down and a hospital is seriously damaged in the kurdish province. Further south, this mask was badly damaged, and in the light of day, people try to clear away deep trouble this mask. This man said there had not been any tragedies here, and overwrought in iraq, the number of those killed is apparently low, with six people now known to have died over here in iraq. Low, with six people now known to have died over here in iraq. Also there are some damages in the houses, ten houses completely damaged. In one b districts in one of the districts. Theres also partial damage at the hospital. The earthquake with a manager would of 7. 3 was felt across much of the middle east with a measure of. But it is iran and iraq that have suffered the most, and the percent between them, and thousands of people in the region are now in need of shelter the epicentre between them. It is cold in the night and there have been more than 600 after shocks since sunday. Scientists at a United Nations Climate Conference in germany say global emissions of Carbon Dioxide are projected to rise in 2017 for the first time in four years. They say the main cause for the expected 2 increase is the greater use of coal in china, as its economy expands. Our environment correspondent matt mcgrath is at the conference in bonn. According to scientists, 2017 will be one of the three warmest years on record, with the impacts of increasing heat felt right across the world. The key task for the 20,000 delegates and negotiators in bonn is tackling the root causes of these rising temperatures emissions of Carbon Dioxide. For decades, these rose strongly on the back of chinas rapid economic expansion, but in 2014, and for the next two years, these emissions stalled. Scientists wondered if a global peak had been reached. However, todays figures show that levels of carbon are back on the rise. Its so urgent that the emissions decrease rapidly. Its absolutely urgent. People dont realise emissions need to disappear, essentially, for the warming to stop. And theres only one way to do that, and that is to develop the policies, the actions and technologies and use them so that our emissions decrease everywhere. Many delegates here have been surprised by the reported rise in co2 emissions in 2017, partly attributed to the greater use of coal around the world. While there is no clear science on the subject, many negotiators are linking that rise to the growth of extreme weather events all over the planet this year. For small island states from the caribbean and elsewhere who have experienced what they see as climate related devastation this year, the latest co2 figures translate into a very real threat. What we do here is no cerebral. We need to minimise the effect of Climate Change on islands such as ours, which are at the front line of the fury of Climate Change. That wont cut much ice with us president donald trump, who wants to leave the paris climate pact. His advisers are in bonn to promote what they call clean coal, but whether anyone here is prepared to listen to that message is doubtful. Business leaders from across europe have met theresa may at downing street to discuss arrangements for trade after brexit. They want clarity on the future relationship with the eu and a transitional deal that maintains Current Trading arrangements. It comes during a tumultuous month for theresa may, in which two members of her cabinet sir Michael Fallon and priti patel resigned. Businesses care about the outcome in a sense, and what we have here is a negotiation that needs to pick up pace, it needs to recognise how urgent this is, we have a survey showing 60 of businesses will have triggered their contingency plans by march of next year, and we are hearing similar stories from European Businesses, so i think this isa European Businesses, so i think this is a message to both sides, that there is such a strong mutual interest about jobs and there is such a strong mutual interest aboutjobs and the performance and success of businesses, we need to get on with it and pick up the pace. Our Political Correspondent ben wright is at westminster. The pressure is now mounting for some sort of transition deal to be made. This feels like a critical couple of weeks, and be strong message that the Prime Minister will have been given, notjust by British Business group, but European Business group, but European Business groups, they need to know 110w business groups, they need to know now what sort of transition deal the government are hoping for and what terms it will include, and how the government will get there, they know the government are looking for what theresa may likes to call the Implementation Phase but we note the eu are withholding talks about that until the uks more candid about the money they are prepared to give. This will come to a head at the december meeting of the European Council injust december meeting of the European Council in just a few weeks. As Caroline Fairbank said, businesses 110w Caroline Fairbank said, businesses now have these contingency plans in front of them, the levers they need to pull if they think this is not going to be in their business interests, leaving the eu, and so they are looking for clarity from they are looking for clarity from the uk government. Where are we in terms of progress in the talks but not this has been raised in the commons. The talks . Not this has been raised in the commons. The talks . Yes, it was for the david davis is going to report back on the talks with Michel Barnier last week, maybe that will tell a lot about how he envisages the next few weeks going ahead of the next few weeks going ahead of the European Council meeting, and im sure will come under pressure to explain how he sees that timetable on folding and maybe he will be punished again on how the government are going to meet its financial obligations that it has promised to do so, notjust to make sure the eu budget is met for the uk contribution, during the two years after we have left, but the long term liabilities, that is where the conversations are stuck, we are talking about tens of billions, the government has given no detailed information about what it imagines those liabilities adding up to and whether it is prepared to pay them 01 whether it is prepared to pay them or not. And the situation of Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe is also a big thing. Yes, the government is under pressure, especially borisjohnson, regarding her imprisonment, the Prime Ministers spokesperson said there were discussions going on about whether she should receive diplomatic protection which would be a significant escalation in sums of how this dispute was unfolding between the uk and around, it would ta ke between the uk and around, it would take it from being a consular matter to one with more serious legal implications between the uk and iran. The primers has raised it twice with the iranian president and she says they are doing anything they can to guarantee her release they can to guarantee her release the Prime Minister. However, some people have served borisjohnson should consider his position because of the way he has fumbled this in the last two weeks some people have said. The government trying to show they are on the front foot but they have got to respond to the questions in the house of commons. Thanks forjoining us. We will talk to our Diplomatic Correspondent on this case later. Dont forget you can let us know what you think tweet us using the hashtag afternoonlive. All the ways to contact us on screen right now. You may have a question for stonewall who have released a statement on children being able to wear what they want, like a tutu or a tiara. Mps are due to begin debating a budget for Northern Ireland its usually a power reserved for the stormont assembly, but ministers in westminster say they have no alternative because of the failure to restore the power sharing executive. It collapsed injanuary and since then the dup and sinn fein have failed to agree a deal to restore devolution. Our ireland correspondent Chris Buckler has more. Northern ireland has been in a weird limbo, between devolution, where the politicians at stormont magazines, and direct rule from westminster, but that is starting to have a practical impact, because without a power sharing executive legislation cannot go ahead and that includes very practical things like budgets, and without a budget, Public Services are starting to run out of money, and the likes of schools and hospitals, they all need certainty to keep on going, and as a result westminster is having to step in, and theresa may has been very clear, this is a one off decision and it is not direct rule, the Prime Minister has been at pains to explain this to sinn fein and the dup. She told them they still want them to do a deal, they still want them to do a deal, they still want power sharing back up they still want power sharing back up and running here at stormont, but it is not looking likely at the moment, and the dup have only made clear they expect direct rule ministers to be in place even within weeks, and that is because without ministers you cant have decisions being taken, and that will mean westminster politicians will be making decisions for what happens here in Northern Ireland. That is not something sinn fein want, but they have given a News Conference at stormont, making clear that they dont see government returning any time soon, and they said the current phase of talks with the dup is over and they want something different, they want the british and irish governments to step in with a partnership agreement, but the parties are completely at odds on a range of issues, and that includes theissue range of issues, and that includes the issue of legislation for official status for the irish language, they cant seem to bridge that gap, and at the moment the two parties agree only on one thing, thatis parties agree only on one thing, that is government will not return to stormont any time soon. Bob geldof has returned his freedom of the city of dublin in protest against the burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been given the same honour. The musician described the treatment by myanmars military of the Rohingya Muslim Minority Community as mass ethnic cleansing. The live aid organiser said his home city had honoured Aung San Suu Kyi you know, i dont want to give this up. I dont want to. Im really proud of it, you know, and i get handed things by states and cities around the world, but im a dub, and this meant very much to me. As i say, it doesnt mean much to anybody else, but to me, i dont want to do it. But its the most i can do, and the least. Youre watching afternoon live, these are our headlines. More than 350 people have died and thousands more are injured after an earthquake hits the border region of iran and iraq. Global emissions of co2 are projected to rise for the first time in four years mostly because china is using more coal. Business leaders from across europe have met the Prime Minister, to call for progress in the brexit talks and clarity on future trading arrangements. And these are the headlines in the sport. Gareth southgate says a mock mot shoot out at wembley could be the way to get over the nerves ahead of next yea rs world cup the way to get over the nerves ahead of next years world cup a mock penalty shoot out. People in england and wales who have guns, firearms and ammunition can hand them into police over the next fortnight without automatically facing punishment. The National Ballistics intelligence service, which is co ordinating the surrender, says many firearms are held without people realising theyre illegal. Those handing in guns wont be prosecuted for illegal possession but if the weapon is later linked to a crime, they could be questioned. Sima kotecha reports. Hand in your guns and no questions will be asked. That is what Police Forces across england and wales are saying today to try and get as many firearms off the streets. Yusuf sonko was shot dead in liverpool in june. He wasjust 18. His mum had this to say. I have a broken heart. Somebody killed my son. And the killer is still walking around. An innocent boy. Ijust ask people, if they have a gun in their house, they have to hand it to the police. A gun, a knife, is very dangerous. This is a selection of firearms that we have seen. Officers say when a fire arm is surrendered, nobody will be interrogated. However if the weapon is traced back to a crime, they could be questioned. We offer an amnesty at the point of surrender. So if you are in possession of a firearm and you give it to the local authority or police officer, then we will offer an amnesty at that moment in time. That does not mean that we will not Pay Attention to what the weapon has done in the past so we will look to examine that forensically and ballistically to see if the weapon has been involved in a crime in the past. It was here on this road that a 36 year old man was recently killed in a drive by shooting. Five men have been charged with the murder of mikael stirling. Police hope that the surrender will make an impact in areas like this one where gun crime is nothing out of the ordinary. Latest figures show there were almost 7000 Crimes Involving firearms in england and wales last year. Thats an increase of 27 on the year before. But the number of crimes is still far less than a decade ago when it was 31 higher. Police say the surrender is part of a strategy to reduce gun crime. We are realistic enough to realise that we are not going to get hardened gang members who are in possession of weapons they intend to use, hand in a gun. But this is part of our response to try and make it as difficult as possible for those people to come into possession of any type of weapon at all. Critics say those who want a gun will always find one. The surrender begins today and lasts for two weeks. Sima kotecha, bbc news, birmingham. The church of england has issued guidelines to its Primary Schools, suggesting that any child should be free to wear a tutu, tiara or superhero cloak when playing, without expectation or comment. The archbishop of canterbury, justin welby whos written a foreword to the new advice said Sexual Orientation should never be grounds for bullying or prejudice. Heres our religious Affairs Correspondent martin bashir. The church of england educates a million pupils in almost 5000 schools and first issued guidance on homophobic bullying three years ago. Todays announcement updates the advice to help children considering transition from one gender to another. The new guidelines say that children should be able to try out many cloaks of identity without being labelled or abused. That nursery and Primary School in particular is a time of creative exploration. And that a child may choose the tutu, princesss tiara, or a firemans helmet, without expectation or comment. The church and christians have different views on sexuality. This is not a document about human sexuality. It is a document about how we counter any form of bullying. So we are simply saying that the advice that we are giving and the documents and the resources that we are providing help children to know that they can have that kind of safe experience of a school which enables them to flourish. But the issue of human sexuality is at the centre of conflict within the church and some evangelical christians say these guidelines are another attempt to erode the authority of the bible and embrace popular culture. A kind society, a Compassionate Society says to children that are confused in their gender identity, we can help you live in the gender that you were born in, the biological sex that you were born in. As parents, as teachers and indeed as the church, the kindest and most compassionate thing we can do is to help a child who is confused about their gender. That is what is kind and good. The archbishop of canterbury, who supports the new guidance, said today that every single one of us is made in the image of god and that no child should be described as a stereotype or a problem. Martin bashir, bbc news. Joining me now is rachel stein, executive director of campaigns at the lgbt Rights Charity stonewall. The point we heard in a report, many pa rents the point we heard in a report, many parents have expressed concern saying that lets just about children to be children and we should not be getting issues of gender and other more adult themes into Primary Schools. That is exactly what this guidance is doing, it is letting children be themselves, enabling schools to create inclusive environments where every child can being sacked three who they are, whether that means they want to wear a princess costume or dress up as robin hood, this guidance says as schools we can create that kind of environment for them where every child can be exactly who they are. It is about anti bullying . child can be exactly who they are. It is about antibullying . I think so. Today is the start of anti bullying week, we want to create an environment where everyone can be accepted for who they are. The headlines, inevitably, the issue of boys being able to turn up in tutus, do you get why some people are not comfortable with issues like that at that sort of age . This guidance is not just that at that sort of age . This guidance is notjust aimed at children, this is for primary and secondary school children, and the point is to make sure all young people can express themselves in the way they choose and if young people wa nt to way they choose and if young people want to wear a tutu, whats the harm . It is letting them be themselves and wear what they want when they are in a playful environment which is what the guidance is referring to in that context. How important is it that this coming the church of england . Very important, there are a million young people at their schools across the country, and in all of them people will encounter difference and diversity as they go through life, so the kind of message that we accept that we accept that kind of difference and people for who they are, this is incredibly important. What more could be done . In the guidance, the church sets out a 12 point plan, 12 different recommendations that schools can ta ke recommendations that schools can take on, from creating an inclusive environment to supporting teachers to combat homophobic bullying, and all of those things will help to create a better environment for our young people. What do you say to pa rents young people. What do you say to parents who say their children come home quite distressed when issues of transgender and home quite distressed when issues of tra nsgender and homosexuality are raised because of the behaviour of a minority of children in that school . Some parents feel very uncomfortable addressing this issue. As the church of england has said very clearly, promoting inclusion and acceptance is in line with their values, and in line with society, we need to be able to create a place where eve ryo ne able to create a place where everyone is able to be themselves, where people can be accepting of different types of people. Are there any other organisations that should follow suit . It would be great to see guidance like this across all different religions, stonewall works with all different faiths, jewish schools and muslim schools and catholic schools, and there is stuff we can do together to make sure our children can be themselves wherever they are. Thanks forjoining us. The worlds first bridge made of iron was built across the river severn in shropshire in 1779. Called the iron bridge, it is considered one of the wonders of the modern world. But now the bridge is in urgent need of repair, and a crowdfunding appeals has been launched to secure its future. Our correspondent David Gregory is at the iron bridge in shropshire. We are here, work is underway on the first day of repairs and conservation efforts towards the iron bridge, built in 1779. Morgan from invision heritage is here, why is this such an important structure . So important, the first spanning structure anywhere in the world to be made of iron and if we think about in terms of the context of railways, high rise buildings, the other metal framed structures that followed, this is effectively the great grandparent of all of those buildings and structures. What is going wrong question of what problems . Primeira liga the primarily the repairs are about addressing cracks to the iron and that has been caused by Ground Movement in the gorge which has compressed the arch by over a foot since it was first constructed and that has caused the cracking we can see here today. They are big cracks, ican get see here today. They are big cracks, i can get my hands through some of them. Yes, some of them are quite pronounced and we have done a lot of survey work in terms of establishing the repairs for the project. Do you repair them, replace bits . This is a conservation project, not a restoration project, so we would only replace a component where it was absolutely necessary, so we seek to retain as much of the regional historic material as possible and to preserve that in place. Simon mentioned crowdfunding, how are you going to pay for this . It is our largest conservation project since we became a charity and the project is {3. 6 million and we are launching a Crowdfunding Campaign to ask the public for their help to support us to help us to complete this project, to help us to complete this project, to secure and safeguard the iron bridge for generations to come. This isa bridge for generations to come. This is a huge tourist attraction, now covered in scaffolding, visitors are going to be disappointed . We are doing everything we can to minimise the disruption, but we will be. The scaffolding design has been carefully designed so we will be working on one side of the bridge, completing the works, and then re erecting it on the other side and this will mean the bridge will remain open to the public and visitors throughout the duration of the project, and in the springtime we are erecting a special walkway under the arches which will help to give visitors an unrivalled view of the underside of this magnificent structure, whilst the work is going on. Morgan, thanks forjoining us. The work will be carrying on for just over a year and if you do come along and are disappointed to see the iron bridge covered in scaffolding, you can get up to the walkway. David, thanks forjoining us. We have a tweet from the Prime Minister. Their riches. With a photograph there it is. Shes referring to the meeting with Business Leaders at downing street for and their concerns regarding brexit and the trade talks which have still not got underway. And now it is rather distressing and rheumatic pictures from norway. This happened back in june. Rheumatic pictures from norway. This happened back injune. The quick witted lorry driver managed to break in time to prevent disaster. The matic images. And now to rather distressing and dramatic pictures. Time for a look at the weather. We have really had to focus of a late on this major area of low pressure which had been sitting around in the western mediterranean for quite some time, and that is the meteorology, the number of isobars, andi meteorology, the number of isobars, and i want to show you the pitches of what this has actually meant on the ground. Pictures. It looks fairly dramatic. These are pictures from croatia and it isntjust a problem there, there are warnings at the very highest level from the croatian authorities for the disruption that will because by all of this. Thats not the end of the story, because if i take you further away towards the west, we have a combination of weather here, there isa combination of weather here, there is a drought across parts of iberia, there are concerns about the strength of the wind in the balearic islands. There are flooding rains in parts of italy, across the adriatic sea in two parts of the balkans, and anywhere over the high ground theres the possibility that we will some disruptive snow. If you like skiing, there is. You have been known occasionally . Yes, as long as there are a few hospitals nearby. Laughter plenty of snow storms to be had over the alps and indeed southern germany andi the alps and indeed southern germany and i think we will we back here during the week. Closer to home, it was a cold weekend, and we have this incursion of milder air from was a cold weekend, and we have this incursion of milder airfrom the atlantic, trying to come towards us, the leading edge, no great surprise, some of the rain turned to snow and even at lower levels for time, although it hasnt settled. In the course of the evening and overnight we have the belt of whether moving towards the south, and some spots in the south got down to 5 last night, so quite a contrast, no more scraping for the greater part of the British Isles, but there will be clearer skies to the north of the weather front across scotland. Sunshine and also the chance of spotting jupiter and venus together in the skies. I dont fancy your chances as you come further south, anywhere, from southern scotland to the north of england, and pretty much all points south. Until we get along the southern shores, the odd hint of brightness, where the duvet of cloud has not in overnight. There might bea of cloud has not in overnight. There might be a difference in temperatures and they will start to recover, and it helps that we have breeze from the west. It will take a time to get any of these breaks going across wales and the east of the pennines, and the best of the sunshine is in much of scotland. Temperatures well up, tomorrow it could be closer to 11 in manchester, where it is five today. There is a price to pay, because to start off wednesday there could be a bit of mist and fog, some of it quite dense, we will bring you up to date on that tomorrow, but we are keeping a close eye on that. After the dull start, things may brighten across england and wales and the temperature will respond to around 1112, temperature will respond to around 11 12, plenty going on. This is bbc news our latest headlines. Some breaking news, we are hearing that Arthur Collins has been found guilty of all charges in connection with an acid attack at a london nightclub. He was found guilty of cou nts nightclub. He was found guilty of counts of previous bodily harm and to of actually bodily harm. Earlier he insisted he had no idea anybody was carrying acid in an attack at this particular nightclub. He has been found guilty by a majority verdict at the crown court. We will bring you more on that when the correspondent who has been covering nutcase joints are shortly. More than 380 people have died, and thousands more are injured after an earthquake in the border region between iran and iraq. Most of the dead are in irans western kermanshah province. Business leaders from the uk and europe have met the Prime Minister, pressing for clarity on the future relationship between britain and the eu after brexit. Co2 levels have risen for the first time in four years the rise has been linked to chinas increased use of coal. Labour will be raising an urgent question in the commons later on the fate of Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe the british womanjailed in iran. Downing street is considering whether she can be given diplomatic protection. Sport now on afternoon live. The rugby in a moment, but some sightseeing going on in australia for some. Its all part of the fun of the tour, getting up to see the country. The english cricketers have been feeding a koala and crocodiles. You dont want anything to go wrong, like when the ospreys player got his hand bitten by a lion he was betting before a match in south africa. In this case they were feeding the crocodile with a very long pole. Those pictures in a moment. And injury worries for the scottish by injury worries for the Scottish Rugby team . We will start with wales. Centre Jamie Roberts has been recalled to the wales squad for the rest of the Autumn Internationals. He was a surprise omission from the origianl 36 man party, after captaining wales to victories against tonga and samoa on their summer tour. He comes in amid concerns over the fitness ofJonathan Davies, following his ankle injury in their defeat by australia on saturday. Roberts has won 93 caps for his country. Scotland prop wp nel will miss the remaining autumn tests after breaking his arm against samoa. Hes set to be replaced by zander ferguson. And with lock tim swinson and flanker rob harley also out, newcastle propjon welsh has been called into the squad as cover. 10 days to go now until the battle for the ashes begins and england will be fine tuning their preparations with a final warm up match against a cricket australia xi, starting on wednesday in townsville. Alastair cook and moeen ali have been exploring the area and they took a trip to a local wildlife centre, where they met some of the residents. Ali hasnt played so far on tour but hes now fit and ready for whatever australia have to throw at him both on, and off the pitch some of great britains leading gymnasts have yet to sign a new contract to be part of the world Class Performance programme. Double olympic champion max whitlock is among those still waiting for a final version from british gymnastics and athletes are said to be seriously unhappy. There appears to be a power struggle among some leading management figures, with several coaches apparently calling for chief executive jane allen to resign. No andy murray at the atp world tour finals this year as he continues his recovery from back surgery, but his brother jamie has been in doubles action this afternoon. He and his partner bruno soares were beaten in their opening match by the bryan brothers from the usa 10 8 in the deciding tie break. England manager Gareth Southgate is thinking of putting his team through a mock penalty shootout in front of a wembley crowd before next summers world cup, in an attempt get them over the nerves that have blighted them at major competitions. England have been knocked out on penalties six times most recently by italy in the quarter finals of euro 2012. Southgate famously missed from the spot himself against germany at euro 96. He said they were considering a few options to overcome the problem. To be honest, we need everything to get over those penalty nerves. Thats all the sport for now. Ill have more for you in the next hour. Lets return to our main story. An earthquake has killed more than 380 people in iran more than 2,500 have been injured. Several people were also killed in neighbouring iraq. The quake hit the border area between the two countries, around 30 kilometres south of hala bja, with a magnitude of 7. 3. It was so powerful, it was felt as far away as lebanon and turkey. Siavash ardalan from the bbc Persian Service is here. You have some you have some more you have some more up to date figures. The death toll has risen to 400. The injured is up to 6000 so far. The epicentre of the earthquake itself was a western city, the worst hit, where we understand two thirds of the casualties have come from that area. The earthquake emerged after 9 20pm local time last night. A hospital collapsed and buried hospital staff underneath. Other cities have been hit, many remote villages where it is harder to get access to. There seems to have been access to. There seems to have been a division of labour between the emergency forces. Getting to remote areas, as we have been hearing, is difficult, partly because of mudslides as a result of the earthquake. Thats right, there have been mudslides and some roads have been mudslides and some roads have been damaged. They are trying to deploy helicopters, cutting through the bureaucracy and red tape to deploy those resources is sometimes an issue. Earthquakes are not unknown in this region but this one seems to have caused a lot of damage, particularly to smaller housing. I wonder what sort of regulations there are in terms of building, particularly for Affordable Housing in this area. You would have thought they would learn after a ll would have thought they would learn after all these earthquakes, iran is prone to earthquakes, the standards governing the building regulations is very weak, as is the oversight. A lot of government buildings themselves collapse. On social media we are seeing residential units that we re we are seeing residential units that were built as part of Affordable Housing by the previous government we re housing by the previous government were the worst hit and many casualties came from those particular units. Even the fact the hospital is damaged and collapse, and other places that were meant to shelter people, it might be a wake up call. Shelter people, it might be a wakeup call. Sheltering people will bea wakeup call. Sheltering people will be a huge issue in the coming days because thousands of people are without homes. Its estimated 70,000 have been made homeless so far. We need to get aid to them as soon as possible. Distributing tents and restoring power to the area. The government is promising that within 24 hours power were restored to most areas, but on social media now we areas, but on social media now we are seeing many users still anecdotally uploading videos and pleading for help saying they havent seen any rescue or power being restored. Its difficult to get a clear perspective when you dont have a presence there. Given where this has happened, on the border between iran and iraq, what is the chance of one country helping another if they can traveljust is the chance of one country helping another if they can travel just a few miles to offer help . This has never happened. Usually earthquakes inside iran are very localised, and this one is unique in covering such a wide area and going across the border. Iran has borne the brunt of the earthquake and most of the casualties from iran. The infrastructure is there. Iranians rescue workers have dealt with this before so i dont think they will need any help as such from iraq. They will need power and water and other infrastructure to sort it out in the next few hours. They say they have tried to distribute tens of thousands of bottles of water for people. But water hasnt been restored yet, electricity and gas. Luckily communication is all right. People can upload videos and make calls. Many providers are providing free calls for people to stay in touch in those areas. Its good for you to talk to us about it, thank you. Donald trump says he has a great relationship with the controversial philippines president rodrigo duterte. He was speaking after the two men met in the capital manila. President trump had been urged by campaigners to raise human rights issues with his counterpart and a white house spokesperson said the subject was briefly discussed. A gang of thieves has targeted apples Flagship Store on Regent Street in Central London. They stole tens of thousands of pounds worth of iphones, ipads and apple watches in the robbery that took place in the early hours this morning. Ten suspects on mopeds are reported to have smashed their way into the store, threatening a Security Guard with a hammer as he tried to stop them. Traffic lights are to be installed to ease congestion on one of the busiest motorwayjunctions in the england. Of the busiest motorway junctions in england. Testing of the lights on the link road of the m6 and m62, near warrington in cheshire has begun, and its hoped the system will be switched on fully in december. If successful, highways england hopes to roll out the project across the country. Nick lyes is roads policy spokesperson for the rac. Hes in our Central London studio. Is this a good idea . We are cautiously welcoming this proposal. It has to be remembered this is being done as part of two different things. There will be a smart motorway on each section of the motorway. With that you will have variable speed limits in addition. With the traffic lights being installed , with the traffic lights being installed, we are slightly nervous that installing traffic lights on the link roads back up the traffic back onto the m6 motorway, which could potentially cause a lot more congestion on the roads approaching thejunction. Congestion on the roads approaching the junction. Its important congestion on the roads approaching thejunction. Its important that when highway singlets this, the traffic sequencing is done in a way which is staggering traffic rather than backing it up. Presumably highways in gwent share your concern. Some think the lights will make it better. You see this on some slip roads. Its done where the red light is on red only for a few seconds, then it alternates to green and goes to red very quickly. Its something that should probably be used in this particular scenario. But we cant have a scenario whereby we are actually making congestion worse on the approaching roads. We should stress were not talking about traffic lights on the motorways themselves, the link roads which do get easily blocked. Over the years, we all used to these various ways, different lanes being able tojoin various ways, different lanes being able to join the motorway at different points of thatjourney. How big a problem is this at intersections like this . Congestion isa intersections like this . Congestion is a really. We are in a pretty bad situation at the moment. Its a massive concern for drivers. Certainly when we have surveyed drivers, congestion on our motorways is really going up the league table of concerns. And actually when we survey drivers specifically on motorways, some 61 told us congestion was getting worse on motorways over the last 12 months. A lot of this is done at a particular pinch points where, for example in this situation where you have the m6 motorway and m 62 motorway, two very congested roads meeting, its important highways england takes into account those concerns. Thank you forjoining us. More on the breaking news that Arthur Collins has been found guilty at Wood Green Crown Court of an acid attack in an east end nightclub. Arthur collins has just been convicted of all the charges, 14 charges in all, gbh and actual bodily harm, following an acid attack that took place in a dalston nightclub in east london on the 17th of april. As you say, he is the former boyfriend of reality tv star ferne mccann. After the acid attack on the 17th of april, mr collins went missing for a number of days before making himself available to police some three days later. A few moments ago, thejudge police some three days later. A few moments ago, the judge said police some three days later. A few moments ago, thejudge said he wa nted moments ago, thejudge said he wanted to have probationary reports carried out on mr Arthur Collins, because he wanted to make it clear that under no circumstances was this particular criminal act. It deserved a very substantial custodial sentence and he wants probation reports to be made out to find out whether or not mr collins remains a danger or not to the public. It was made clear to the court after he was found guilty that mr collins actually has a previous conviction of actual bodily harm, which he also carried out inside a nightclub. Ian palmer reporting from Wood Green Crown Court. Well have the Business News shortly, but first, the headlines. More than 380 people have died and thousands more are injured, after an earthquake hits the border region of iran and iraq. Arthur collins, former boyfriend of reality tv star ferne mccann, has been found guilty of an acid attack ina been found guilty of an acid attack in a london nightclub. Global emissions of co2 are projected to rise for the first time in four years mostly because china is using more coal. Your business headlines. Brexit summit at downing street the uk Prime Minister meets European Business leaders to hear their views on how to make a smooth separation from the European Union. Representatives from groups including the cbi and business europe pressed for a transitional deal that preserves the status quo after brexit. Shareholders in the nisa Convenience Store group have approved the chains £137m takeover by the co op group. It was a narrow win just over 75 of shareholders voted in favour the minimum requirement. Nisa has more than 3000 stores and operates a wholesale business. German energy giant innogy has cut the value of its uk Energy Business npower by £427 million partly in response to tightening regulations. And its merger with former competitor sse. It said competition in the uk Retail Business remained very tough and pressure on margins is very high. A new report out today from the National Housing federation young people fleeing to the cities is the quest for more Affordable Housing and jobs . Living in the countryside is costly . The National Housing federation has said children leave university, leave the countryside, and dont come back because of poor facilities. Its partly to do with broadband, thats something we talk about a lot in rural areas where it isa about a lot in rural areas where it is a real issue. It doesntjust affect the workplace but schools and education as well. Therefore they are finding it hard to retain talent. Also housing costs are very high and this report says the actual average First Time Buyer can expect to spend up to 8. 3 times their income, quite considerable. It also projects a decline in population in working areas of working age households by 1 whereas urban areas will expect an increase. Joining us now is henry gregg of the National Housing federation. Thank you forjoining us. 1 , is that a significant drop and a cause for concern . Be cause for concern is that some rural areas are dying out because people are just moving away and we are seeing one post office per month shutting down, seven pubs per month shutting down, seven pubs perweek per month shutting down, seven pubs per week shutting down in rural areas because people cant afford to stay in those areas and support those services. In terms of retaining talent, what can happen to change this and try to retain those businesses and also the people that leave the countryside, how do we attract them back . Housing associations are building homes in Rural Communities, they build 3000 this year, it plans to build 3700 next year. Thats really important. It only takes a few homes in small villages to keep those communities driving. Poor basic services can actually survive and local people can afford to live there. Broadband is highlighted as a key problem. Can you explain how this affects young people coming to live in the countryside . Young people are using broadband all the time. They want to work at home etc. Its really difficult in areas where there isnt that connectivity. Thats across the board in all sorts of different infrastructure that needs to support people to live in Rural Communities and make sure local communities and services drive. We will have to leave it there, thank you for joining us. Services thrive. Onto the markets, the pound is down over speculation of the Prime Ministers future, but the ftse 100 speculation of the Prime Ministers future, but the ftse100 generally does quite well out of that, but currently in negative territory. Astrazeneca and unilever both earn reve nu es astrazeneca and unilever both earn revenues abroad, and they are both benefiting from that weaker pound. But the ftse100 remains in the red. Six months ago we brought you the story of Matthew Bryce, who was stranded at sea for two days after his surfing trip went disastrously wrong. Matthew almost died, and was rescued 13 miles off the coast of Northern Ireland, vowing never to surf again. Well, time is a great healer, and matthew has decided hes ready to get back in the water. A moment Matthew Bryce thought would never happen again. I knew i was going to die. It wasnt a question, its. It was a fact. Lucky to be alive thats how belfast coastguards have described a surfer who was rescued from the irish sea last night. Matthew bryce was picked up 13 miles off the argyll coast. I was thinking i was going to die. I was almost convinced. I didnt think id see the sunrise. Id totally given up. Id resigned myself to the fact i was going to die. Im sitting here in the dark i cant describe how cold. Its not as if you went out for a snowball fight and your hands are a bit cold. Its like life is just being sapped out of your core. Six months on, Matthew Bryce is ready to get back into the water. But any fear or apprehension he had has been replaced by pure excitement. How are you feeling . Im excited. Im going to go in now. Im going tojump in right now. Yeah, im buzzing. And with the support of his friends, he was back where he once said he would never venture again on a surfboard. How cool was that, seeing him back out there . Its awesome. Keeping his passion going, and everything. This is perfect. Eventually, he even found his feet. Not bad for six months away. There were a couple of points where i was getting tossed a bit in the water, and youre thinking, whoa hang on, its fine. And reunited on water with the surfboard that saved his life. This board, matthew, must mean a lot to you . Its a special board for me. I could never get rid of this. If id lost the board, if i hadnt been able to get back to it, if the leash had snapped, if id decided to throw it away, i would have died. It was the only thing that was keeping me safe. Even if i stop surfing, itll go on the wall. Yeah, ill always keep it. But there are no plans to hang it up just yet. In fact, the ocean is calling. Matthew and his friends will be back in the sea this weekend, determined not to give up on his passion. I want to go and, you know, live as much as i possibly can. I hope to god im never going to experience anything that horrific again, and id never wish it on anyone, either. But, if i can take some positives out of it and if i can try and get a message out to people to be safe, go out with friends, dont go surfing alone, dont be reckless like me, i think some good can come from it. Alex gulrajani, bbc news. The voice of the football results on grandstand and final score, tim gudgin has died at the age of 87. He worked at the bbc for more than sixty years on everything from question time to hancocks half hour. He hung up his microphone in 2011. Now a treat for stargazers today the two brightest planets, jupiter and venus, have appeared very close together in the morning sky. Theyre actually hundreds of millions of miles apart, but those up early enough were able to see them appear next to each other with the naked eye. The best viewing time was 40 minutes before sunrise. If you missed it dont despair therell be a similar display tomorrow morning. Thats all weather permitting and philip avery has the forecast. Golden crisp weather is showing signs of disappearing, but thats not to say its gone altogether. In parts of scotland it has been a cloudy start to the day. You can see a plume of cloud moving in from the atlantic. Still cold air beneath them. Thats why we have seen the wintry nuts about proceedings, even to quite low levels in the first pa rt to quite low levels in the first part of the day. The wintry ness. Some low cloud, particularly over the hills. The night should be a good deal milder than was the case as we head out of the weekend and into monday. Heres how we shape up first thing on tuesday. Clear skies getting into the north of the weather front as it continues its journey down the country. Speculative showers in north and north west scotland. A band of cloud Still Producing hill fog and bits of rain in Northern Ireland and the pennines. Rather cloudy, murky and drizzly affair, mild, but thats often the way. You either have it cold and bright at this time of year or you get this. That prospect of dull conditions extending down into the southern counties. Perhaps some brightness on the south coast with a band of cloud easing its way further south so you will perhaps be robbed of that later in the afternoon. The rain is there or thereabouts across northern england, perhaps into the midlands. Behind that, fresher skies and may be brighter. The reason for the change from the weekend is that at the weekend we had northerly wind. As we head into the middle pa rt wind. As we head into the middle part of the week, the isobars run from west to east. Mild and moist aircoming from from west to east. Mild and moist air coming from the atlantic as we head into tuesday, wednesday and perhaps for a time in the south on thursday. They would otherwise about the start of wednesday, it could be really murky across a good part of england and wales with dense fog patches. To the north of the weather front, you get a brighter start but the rain eventually creeping up the western side of scotland. Hello, youre watching afternoon live im simon mccoy. Today at 3pm. 400 people are dead and thousands more injured after an earthquake hits the border region of iran and iraq. Cctv captures the moment it hits one Aid Agency Says 70,000 people need shelter. Arthur collins ex boyfriend of reality tv star ferne mccann is found guilty of an acid attack in a london nightclub. No peak yet climate experts say global emissions of Carbon Dioxide are set to rise in 2017 for the first time in four years. Coming up on afternoon live all the sport. Injury worries for scotland. A broken bone in the scotland camp and they are calling in back up after the opening round of Autumn International fixtures. We have after the opening round of Autumn Internationalfixtures. We have an update at half past. Also coming up bob geldof returns his freedom of the city of dublin in protest against Aung San Suu Kyi, who also holds the award. Hello everyone this is afternoon live. A powerful earthquake in western iran has killed at least 400 people, and injured, its thought, more than 5,000. Rescue workers have been digging through the rubble in a hunt for survivors. Irans Emergency Services say theyre having trouble getting rescue teams to the affected areas, as roads have been cut off by landslides. The epicentre of the quake which measured 7. 3 hit the border between iran and iraq, just under 20 miles south of halabja and was felt as far away as lebanon and turkey. Richard galpin reports. At a big dam in the region last night, suddenly the duty officer runs for his life as the earthquake hits. Sending huge boulders smashing into the complex. In the aftermath this morning it seems the dam has survived. But in the western provinces of iran there has been significant damage, with entire buildings collapsing. Leaving many people trapped underneath. In just one district at least 200 people are now known to have been killed. And the hospitals in this region are trying to cope with thousands of injured. Many lucky to still be alive. Translation i fell from the balcony down, the earthquake was very strong. The earthquake shattered the window which fell on me and wounded my hand and face. The moments the earthquake hit was also caught live on tv. The studio guest on the left trying to keep calm as the building shakes violently. This is across the border in northern iraq, where houses have also been brought down and a hospital is seriously damaged in a kurdish province. Further south, this mosque was badly damaged, and in the light of day people try to clear away the rubble. This man said there had not been any casualties here. And overall in iraq, the number of those killed is relatively low, with six people now known to have died. There are some cases at the hospitals. Also there are some damages in the houses, ten houses completely damaged, in one of the districts. Theres also partial damage at the hospital. The earthquake with a magnitude of 7. 3 was felt across much of the middle east. But it is iran and iraq that have suffered the most, with the epicentre on the border between them. Thousands of people in the region are now in need of shelter. It is cold in the night and there have been more than 100 after shocks since sunday. The ex boyfriend of the only way is essex star, ferne mccann, has been found guilty of carrying out an acid attack in a london nightclub. Arthur collins, whos 25, was convicted of 14 charges, including grievous bodily harm. Our reporter, iain palmer, is at Wood Green Crown Court. Majority verdict . Majority verdict and a verdict that led to Arthur Collins being in passive as it was, as each charge and verdict was read out, although there were aghast and tea rs out, although there were aghast and tears from his family in the public area. This started in april this year when mr collins went to a nightclub in dalston, east london, to celebrate his forthcoming fatherhood with the reality tv star ferne mccann who had his baby daughter a few days ago. He was in the nightclub and there was a scuffle on the dance floor. Mr collins said he always admitted throwing the liquid across the crowded dance floor at the nightclub, but said he did not realise that it had. That it was acid he thought it was a date rape drug and he wanted to throw it away before anybody could use it. Today thejury of before anybody could use it. Today the jury of seven women and five men did not believe him and they found him guilty of all the charges of which two people have been left blinded in one of eye and 12 others have been severely scarred. When will the sentencing the . Sentencing be . The judge wanted to make it very clear to mr collins and eve ryo ne make it very clear to mr collins and everyone at the court, that this was a very exceptional case and given the circus the number of people that we re the circus the number of people that were injured in this instant given the circumstances, and the number of people that were injured in this incident, a very serious sentence will follow, but he also made it there that mr collins did not made it clear that mr collins will not be a threat to the public in future. He will be sentenced next month. Thanks forjoining us. Scientists at a United Nations Climate Conference in germany say global emissions of Carbon Dioxide are projected to rise in 2017 for the first time in four years. They say the main cause for the expected 2 increase is the greater use of coal in china, as its economy expands. Our environment correspondent matt mcgrath is at the conference in bonn. According to scientists, 2017 will be one of the three warmest years on record, with the impacts of increasing heat felt right across the world. The key task for the 20,000 delegates and negotiators in bonn is tackling the root causes of these rising temperatures emissions of Carbon Dioxide. For decades, these rose strongly on the back of chinas rapid economic expansion, but in 2014, and for the next two years, these emissions stalled. Scientists wondered if a global peak had been reached. However, todays figures show that levels of carbon are back on the rise. Its so urgent that the emissions decrease rapidly. Its absolutely urgent. People dont realise emissions need to disappear, essentially, for the warming to stop. And theres only one way to do that, and that is to develop the policies, the actions and technologies and use them so that our emissions decrease everywhere. Many delegates here have been surprised by the reported rise in co2 emissions in 2017, partly attributed to the greater use of coal around the world. While there is no clear science on the subject, many negotiators are linking that rise to the growth of extreme weather events all over the planet this year. For small island states from the caribbean and elsewhere who have experienced what they see as climate related devastation this year, the latest co2 figures translate into a very real threat. What we do here is not cerebral or academic. We need to make sure that real lives are saved. We need to minimise the effect of Climate Change on islands such as ours, which are at the front line of the fury of Climate Change. That wont cut much ice with us president donald trump, who wants to leave the paris climate pact. His advisers are in bonn to promote what they call clean coal, but whether anyone here is prepared to listen to that message is doubtful. Dont forget you can let us know what you think tweet us using the hashtag afternoonlive. All the ways to contact us on screen right now. Business leaders from across europe have met theresa may at downing street to discuss arrangements for trade after brexit. And express their concerns about the pace of brexit negotiations. They want clarity on the future relationship with the eu and a transitional deal that maintains Current Trading arrangements. The director general of the institute of director, stephen martinjoins me from our Central London studio. What was the mood of the meeting . The mood was that there was concerns about the speed of progress and there was a real mood that people wa nted there was a real mood that people wanted more clarity on transitional arrangements and also the future Trading Partnership that will exist when we have left the eu. Did you get any more clarity . What we got was a recognition of where we are at present and clearly this is a negotiation and it is difficult to give a running commentary but we we re give a running commentary but we were given confidence that there was progress being made more than we did not get the exact details. Although we did not get. A powerful group of Business Leaders, underlining the concern out there. It was very powerful indeed the man very welcoming that the Prime Minister invited Business Leaders from the uk and across europe to come along because it is very important that the business voice is heard in the brexit debate, especially from our members which are predominantly smes because it is difficult for them to adjust to future trading relationships as we dont know what they are. The one thing you are keen to avoid is the cliff edge for. Yes, there was a mention of the cliff edge and a recognition from the government that they do not want a cliff edge either. What did the Prime Minister say when she was pushed about the transitional period and what you wa nt transitional period and what you want out of that . The Prime Minister was very want out of that . The Prime Minister was very clear and very articulate, she mentions the outstanding issues that needed to be resolved, she is confident as was david davis that progress is being made but we await the detail because there is the Citizens Rights and the Northern Ireland situation and the big stumbling block is the actual payment to the eu. And that means of course that trade discussions have not even started. This is what the business groups are pushing for, to get onto the next stage of discussing trade because that is what is vitally important for europe and the uk, that we continue trading with each other and we dont have a lot of barriers and tariffs which prevent that from happening. Was anybody angry at the meeting . M prevent that from happening. Was anybody angry at the meeting . It was anybody angry at the meeting . It was a meeting where we have to be convert confidential, of course, but the tone was, lets get on with it, lets move on to trading. Did you leave the beating happier than when you arrive . Meeting. You leave the beating happier than when you arrive . Meetinglj you leave the beating happier than when you arrive . Meeting. I had a good understanding of where we are beforehand and i think it is positive that the Prime Minister is engaging with business groups in the uk and across europe and she listened to the common messages that we re listened to the common messages that were presented. Thanks forjoining us. The husband of a british womanjailed in iran, Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe, has said the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, is now personally engaged in the case. Richard ratcliffe said mrjohnson had told him he was considering whether his wife would be eligible for diplomatic protection. Earlier, the foreign secretary gave a very brief response to reporters about how the case was being handled. Your thoughts on the, say hsinchu have had . On the conversations you have had . Let me say on consular cases generally, they are all very sensitive but the key thing to understand is that we are working very hard and intensively and impartially on those cases. Thank you very much. Mrs Zaghari Ratcliffes husband, richard, has spoken to the foreign secretary and hopes to travel with him to iran to see his wife. He also spoke to our correspondent, laura trant, about how his wife was feeling behind bars. I am hoping the foreign secretary will sit down with us in the next few days and there are two things i want to discuss with him. One is going with him to iran and how that can be achieved and the other one is i want him to personally consider whether she is eligible for diplomatic protection. What are the common stations like when you speak to her . What are the conversations. Conversations with her vary, she is very volatile in her moods, up and down so she is crying and angry, happy and laughing at different points and we had the full range of feelings. It is myjob to reassure her that it will be ok and it is all snowballing but i promise it will be ok. Our Diplomatic Correspondent James Landale joins me now. Her husband has written an open letter in the evening standard, he is still quite angry and quite angry at borisjohnson. Is still quite angry and quite angry at Boris Johnson. He doesnt pull his punches, one quote illustrates his punches, one quote illustrates his tone i want you to solve this mess created in your name. He also talks about the strange reluctance of borisjohnson to apologise for his original words to a select committee of mps recently where he suggested that Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe had been training journalists, when all along he has made it clear that she was there on holiday, and that is what is also be stated view of the government. Michael gove did not give clarity yesterday, though. When he was backing up Boris Johnson. Yes, when asked what she was doing there, he said, i dont know, but the primaries thes spokesperson has said it is the position of the government that she was there on holiday the Prime Ministers spokesperson. What about this idea that diplomatic protection can be given to her . This is a complex issue, first of all, this is not diplomatic immunity, that means diplomats can Wander Around the countries with safe passage and i wont be picked up by police and they are free from prosecution. They are free from prosecution. They wont. Diplomatic protection is not a concept used very often under international law, but essentially it says that we, the British Government, in this case, regarding Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe, if they we re Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe, if they were to do this, they would say, we no longer consider this to be a private concert the matter, in which we the British Government are there to make sure that the humanitarian issues are dealt with in terms of access to health and things like that. We now believe, they would say, that this individual requires greater protection, so instead of this being a consular matter, it is a formal issue of legal dispute between the British State and the Iranian State and therefore for the British State to assert this tip about it protection opens the way for legal action to assert this diplomatic protection. The other side, iran, they could say, we disagree with this, but they could at least pave the way. The bottom line, it would be a diplomatic escalation of the situation. These back channels, you know what is going on, i want to know what is really going on, are there other issues which are being linked into this . Is there money that has been talked about . Iran says britain owes it some money. Or is this about this one woman . No, it is not about this one woman . No, it is not about this one woman, and if i said ifully understand everything, i would be lying, because frankly we dont know, there are many undercurrent is going on between the different elements of the Iranian Regime. There are parts of the judicially which are very conservative which are driving this, and there is the revolutionary guard which play a big role in iranian society. Because borisjohnson has spoken to his counterpart in around, who has said he does not believe that his comments should have any impact on what is a separate legal case in his view, that is any one part of the regime that borisjohnson is talking to that is only one part. There are to that is only one part. There a re parts of to that is only one part. There are parts of the Iranian Regime that believe that the British Government owes them money from the deals done in times past, dating back to the revolution in the 19705. There in times pa5t, dating back to the revolution in the 19705. There are many undercurrents and there is also a debate about what is the best way of dealing with these issues, because the Foreign Office says usually to play it down and put the p ressu re usually to play it down and put the pressure under the water, so to speak, but you dont want to make it any more prominent than it is, there are some that fear the more prominence this case has, the more the bargaining chip Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe become5, the bargaining chip Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe becomes, that is an analysis which is not shared by her husband and the campaigners who believe that by making a big noise they have managed to get it to this state where it is a diplomatic incident. Before they were talking to consular officials, by now talking to bori5 to consular officials, by now talking to Boris Johnson, to consular officials, by now talking to borisjohnson, the foreign secretary, so they feel that i5a foreign secretary, so they feel that is a step forward. Whose own job, many believe, is on the line. There are questions here, what happens if are questions here, what happens if a court does actually make a decision about Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffes pjaca decide5 decision about Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffes pjaca decides to increa5e Zaghari Ratcliffes pjaca decides to increase the sentence 5he Zaghari Ratcliffes pjaca decides to increase the sentence she is all ready facing and what if the visit ta kes pla ce ready facing and what if the visit takes place and her husband doe5 ready facing and what if the visit takes place and her husband does not bring Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe home, so this is a huge minefield. Pads. Youre watching afternoon live, these are our headlines. More than 400 people have died and thousands more are injured after an earthquake hits the border region of iran and iraq. Arthur collins, the former boyfriend of reality tv star ferne mccann, has been found guilty of an acid attack ata been found guilty of an acid attack at a london nightclub. Global emissions of co2 are projected to rise for the first time in four years mostly because china is using more coal. Ina in a moment i prote5t in a moment i protest over what he has described as mass ethnic cleansing in halabja a protest. And these are the headlines in the sport. Wales have recalled centre Jamie Roberts to the squad for the rest of the Autumn Internationals there are concerns Jonathan Davies wont be fit following his ankle injury in their defeat by australia on saturday. Reports of unrest among britains top gymnasts with some still to sign a new contract, and several coaches apparently calling for chief executive jane allen to resign. And england manager Gareth Southgate says a mock penalty shootout in front of a crowd at wembley could be the way to beat englands penalty taking nerves before next summers world cup. Ill be back with more on those stores later. Mp5 are due to begin debating a budget for Northern Ireland its usually a power reserved for the stormont a55embly, but ministers in westminster say they have no alternative because of the failure to restore the power sharing executive. It collapsed injanuary and since then the dup and sinn fein have failed to agree a deal to restore devolution. Bob geldof has returned his freedom of the city of dublin in protest against the burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been given the same honour. The musician described the treatment by myanmars military of the rohingya mu5lim Minority Community as mass ethnic cleansing. The live aid organiser said his home city had honoured Aung San Suu Kyi but that now she had shamed dublin. You know, i dont want to give this up. I dont want to. Im really proud of it, you know. I get handed things by states and cities around the world, but im a dub, and this meant very much to me. As i say, it doesnt mean much to anybody else, but to me, i dont want to do it. But its the most i can do, and the least. The church of england has issued guidelines to its Primary Schools, suggesting that any child should be free to wear a tutu, tiara or superhero cloak when playing, without expectation or comment. The archbishop of canterbury, justin welby whos written a foreword to the new advice 5aid Sexual Orientation should never be grounds for bullying or prejudice. Earlier i spoke to rachel stein, executive director of campaigns at the lgbt right5 charity stonewall, who welcomed the guidance for allowing children to be them5elve5. It is letting children be them5elve5, enabling school5 to create inclusive environments where every child can be exactly who they are, whether that means they want to wear a princess costume or dress up a5 robin hood, this guidance says as schools we can create that kind of environment for them where every child can be exactly who they are. Joining me now is tim dieppe, head of Public Policy at chri5tian concern, an organisation which says it is aimed at introducing a christian voice into the law, media and government. What is wrong with the demand . According to the law you cant change or gender until you are 18, and according to biology you are born male orfemale and according to biology you are born male or female and that cant be changed and according to theology you are created everybody come in the image of god, male orfemale. One would have hoped the church of england would have wanted to uphold the law and the science and the theology but they have failed to do that, they have just pander to current contemporary confusion about gender, but this was an opportunity for them to speak with clarity and moral Authority Regarding what gender ready means. There are youngsters out there who struggle and to think they dont feel right and to think they dont feel right andi and to think they dont feel right and i dont feel happy in this role that they are expected to fulfil and they just want to be them5elve5, what is wrong with that . There are many youngsters who struggle with many youngsters who struggle with many issues regarding identity and there are those who struggle with anorexia, for example, and the way to help them is to talk about who they are. That is an illness, but we are talking here about youngsters and their identity, ju5t we are talking here about youngsters and their identity, just trying to work out what it is all about and who they are. It is a bit harsh to compare that with something which i5. Compare that with something which is. It is compare that with something which is. Itisa compare that with something which is. It is a similar level of unreality, people are male and female, but sometimes they can suffer confusion, and the best place i5 suffer confusion, and the best place is to have a firm sense of theres a difference between male and female, lets re5pect difference between male and female, lets respect that difference and help people to grow into that integral part of their identity as male orfemale integral part of their identity as male or female and grow into that and respect the differences between boys and girls and men and women. Isnt that the attitude that leads to bullying when one youngster 5tick5 to bullying when one youngster sticks out because they dont fulfil the norms as you suggest would not know excuses for bullying of any kind. But if you were in a classroom, and one child expre55ed this desire to wear a dress, a boy, what would you do question what would you do . I would say that is unhelpful, when you have Young Children as young as six in church of england school5 children as young as six in church of england schools who are cro55 dre55ing and the children are 5aying, cro55 dre55ing and the children are saying, you have got a call this boy girl, to contravene the law and the science, and the theology, you are confu5ing science, and the theology, you are confusing or the children, saying they might wake up tomorrow and feel like a they might wake up tomorrow and feel likea girl ora they might wake up tomorrow and feel like a girl or a boy, that is bad for the children in the classroom, the church of england should be taking a step. Why is it bad . It is confu5ing order them about the law and the science and theology, that people are male and female, that is a core part of your identity, and you should live according to that identity. The problem with that argument, if you take that to extremes, you will start forcing youngsters to be something they are not, which is bullying. Im trying to help people to live as they are, thatis to help people to live as they are, that is not bullying at all. Are you homophobic . Not at all. I dont understand why a youngster who ex presses a understand why a youngster who expresses a personal view, whojust wants. Kid5 expresses a personal view, whojust wants. Kids at that age are trying to work out in a very complex world, why they may be feel different, but you are saying nobody should be different. Not saying people dont have different experiences, is the reality of experience, i want people to have pa5toral ca re reality of experience, i want people to have pa5toral care for these people, but im saying, encouraging them. You would rather they were taken out of the classroom if they we re taken out of the classroom if they were to turn up to the classroom in addre55 were to turn up to the classroom in address which in a dress, how would you deal with that question not i would in a dress, how would you deal with that . I would try to discourage that. You would tell the parents you would not want them to dress like that . There are standard uniforms across the country, and people dont comply with that, by not following the bills. They are not following the bills. They are not following the rules. We all know that youngsters do develop much earlier and that children grow into adults and that children grow into adults and some are now different, why are you stifling them at this stage question im trying to help people recognise who they are. You are imposing your values on them. You are imposing values as well. We all do that to an extent. There is the imposition that is coming, which is contrary and upsetting children and causing teachers to lose theirjob5. What do you say to a parent who 5ay5, what do you say to a parent who says, i accept my child is different andi says, i accept my child is different and i want to embrace that difference and i want them to be them5elve5 difference and i want them to be themselves and im going to take themselves and im going to take them to school in what ever they wa nt to them to school in what ever they want to wear and if a teacher comes up want to wear and if a teacher comes up to me and tells me im wrong, thatis up to me and tells me im wrong, that is fine. But on the parent and i know best. Im the parent. |j would want to respect their views, but i would also want to respect the law and the signs about who that child is, and talk and discuss and reach a resolution the law and the science. Where is the law broken . The law is not broken, but the uniform law is broken if people come dressing in all sorts of different ways. Thanks forjoining u5. Dont forget you can let us know what you think tweet u5 using the hashtag afternoonlive. All the ways to contact us on screen right now. The worlds first bridge made of iron was built across the river severn in shropshire in 1779. Called the iron bridge, it is considered one of the wonders of the modern world. But now the bridge is in urgent need of repair, and a crowdfunding appeals has been launched to secure its future. Our correspondent David Gregory kumar is at the iron bridge. Work is well underway on the first day of repairs and conservation efforts towards the iron bridge, built in 1779. Morgan from English Heritage is here, why is this 5uch an important structure . Its so important, the first spanning structure anywhere in the world to be made of iron. And if we think about in terms of the context of railways, high rise buildings, the other metal framed structures that followed, this is effectively the great grandparent of all of those buildings and structures. What is going wrong, what are the problems . Primarily the repairs are about addressing cracks to the iron and that has been caused by Ground Movement in the gorge which has compressed the arch by over a foot since it was first constructed and that has caused the cracking we can see here today. They are big crack5, i can get my hands through some of them. Yes, some of them are quite pronounced. We have done a lot of survey work in terms of establishing the repairs for the project. Do you repair them, or replace bits . This is a conservation project, not a restoration project, so we would only replace a component where it was absolutely necessary, so we seek to retain as much of the original historic material as possible and to preserve that in place. Simon mentioned crowdfunding, how are you going to pay for this . It is our largest conservation project since we became a charity in 2015. The project is {3. 6 million and we are launching a Crowdfunding Campaign to ask the public for their help to support us to help us to complete this project, to secure and safeguard the iron bridge for generations to come. This is a huge tourist attraction, now covered in scaffolding for a year, vi5itors are going to be disappointed . We are doing everything we can to minimise the disruption, but we will be. The scaffolding design has been carefully designed so we will be working on one side of the bridge, completing the works, and then re erecting it on the other side and this will mean the bridge will remain open to the public and visitors throughout the duration of the project. And in the springtime we are erecting a special walkway under the arches which will help to give visitors an unrivalled view of the underside of this magnificent structure, whilst the work is going on. Morgan, thanks forjoining u5. The work will be carrying on forjust over a year. And if you do come along and are disappointed to see the iron bridge covered in scaffolding, you can get up to the walkway and get close to it. Time for a look at the weather. The cold and bright weather from recent days being elbowed a5ide. Through scotland, Northern Ireland, north of england and wales, enough clout to keep the temperature up after an early dip. The skies clearing a bit perhaps in the north of scotla nd clearing a bit perhaps in the north of scotland and a touch of frost if you are prone to hear. Tuesday, a mild and cloudy start to the day across a good part of the British Isles. In scotland, brighterskies and a bit fresher. Noticed double figure temperatures across the board. As we get through to wednesday morning, watch out for dense fog patches across england and wales. After the dull start, things will gradually improve with some brightness, temperatures boosted. Just a little bit wetter drifting further north in scotland. Lets cross now to the house of commons, where the shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry is asking an urgent question, about the british womanjailed in iran Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe. Miss Nazaneen Ghaffar re radcliffe. I should like to make a statement on behalf of Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe, and the honourable lady willjoin me in expressing our deep concern about the ordeal of this young mother who has spent the last 19 months in jail in iran. Every honourable member will urge the government to urge iranians authorities to release on humanitarian grounds. I spoke by phone to her husband, Richard Ratcliffe yesterday. We agreed to meet later this week. I told mr ratcliffe that the whole country is behind him. And we all want to see his wife home safely. In view of the understandable concern, i propose to describe the background to this case, and the efforts of Big Government is making to secure her release. In april last year she was visiting relations in iran along with her daughter, gabriella, who was then only 22 months old. When she was arrested at the airport in tehran while she was trying to board a flight back to the uk. The British Government has no doubt that she was in iran on holiday, and that was the sole purpose of her visit. As i said in the house last week, my remarks on the subject before the Foreign Affairs select committee could and should have been clearer. I acknowledge the words i used were open to being misinterpreted, and i apologise, i apologise to mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe and her family if i had inadvertently cause them any further anguish. The house should bearin further anguish. The house should bear in mind that irans regime, and no one else, has chosen to separate this mother from no one else, has chosen to separate this motherfrom her infant daughter for reasons that even they find it difficult to explain or describe. On the 9th of september 2016, mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe was brought before a secret trial and sentenced to five yea rs a secret trial and sentenced to five years in prison, supposedly for plotting to overthrow the islamic republic. The house will note that so far as we can tell, no further charges have been brought against her, and no further sentence has been imposed since that occasion since that occasion over a year ago. A letter days after mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe was sentenced, my right honourable friend the Prime Minister raised this case in new york. Two days later i raised the case with my iranians counterpart. For the sake of completeness the house should know the previous Prime Minister David Cameron raised mrs Zaghari Ratcliffes imprisonment as well. My predecessor as foreign secretary also wrote to the iranians foreign minister about her plight and other consular cases in august of 2016. My colleagues and i have taken of 2016. My colleagues and i have ta ke n every of 2016. My colleagues and i have taken every opportunity raise the cases of mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe and other nationals held in iranians jails. We have expressed our concerns at every level. Official, ministerial and Prime Ministerial, on every possible occasion during the 19 months she has been injail. In addition, mr ratcliffe has held regular meetings with my honourable friend, the member for regular meetings with my honourable friend, the memberfor bournemouth east, former minister for the middle east, former minister for the middle east, and currently the memberfor north east bedfordshire. But a situation where a british mother is held in these circumstances is bound to cast a shadow over britains relations with iran at a moment where, in the aftermath of the agreement of the nuclear deal in july of 2015, and the easing of sanctions, we had all hoped to witness a genuine improvement so i shall travel to iran myself later this year to review the full state of our bilateral relations and to drive home the strength of feeling in this house and in the country at large about the plight of mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe and other consular cases. In order to maximise the chances of achieving progress, i would venture to say that honourable members should place the focus of responsibility on those who are keeping mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe behind bars, and who have the power to release her whenever they so choose. And we should be united in our demand that the humanitarian reasons for releasing her are so overwhelming that if iran cares about its reputation in this country, then its leaders will do now what is manifestly right. And i commend this statement to the house. The shadow foreign secretary, for the avoidance of doubt, the foreign secretary has responded to an urgent question, in the course of which he has very properly made remarks. It is important, as others in the house can testify from past experience, took the sting was between a response to an urgent question on 1s hand and the proffering of an urgent statement on the other. Emily thornberry. Thank you for granting this urgent question. How unfortunate it is to ask this urgent question instead of getting a statement. Let me say at the outset that would have a strong feelings we have about irans actions in this case, im sure we will all be joined in sending our thoughts to those affected by yesterdays is quick on the iran and iraq border. Mr speaker, i the iran and iraq border. Mr speaker, lam the iran and iraq border. Mr speaker, i am grateful to the foreign secretary for returning from brussels to answer this question. Perhaps he reflected the last time a minister of state was asked to answer an urgent question from a shadow cabinet minister, they only lasted 24 hours. I only hope we can make progress today like we were able to last week. Lets clarify on the points where there is no difference between us. First and foremost, we all want to see mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe foremost, we all want to see mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe brought home foremost, we all want to see mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe brought home as soon as possible. Nobody who has listened in recent days to the heartbreaking testimony of Richard Ratcliffe can be in any doubt how urgent it is for mrs Zaghari Ratcliffes urgent it is for mrs Zaghari Ratcliffes physical urgent it is for mrs Zaghari Ratcliffes physical health that she is returned to her family immediately. Secondly, if it can be done, as has been suggested, through conferring diplomatic status on mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe, conferring diplomatic status on mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe, that would conferring diplomatic status on mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe, that would be welcomed, although i would be grateful if the foreign secretary can clarify how that will be achieved and how we can free this innocent british mother, and without opening upa innocent british mother, and without opening up a grace mugabe president weathered same tactic might be used in britain to help a Foreign National escape justice. And we can all agree that the responsibility for the incarceration and mistreatment lies entirely with iranian authorities and we all unite in urging for her freedom to be restored. In those points we are in full agreement. Let me turn to two keyissues full agreement. Let me turn to two key issues where we have so far differed, and frankly we continue to differ. First of all, the foreign secretary argued last week that his comments to the select committee had, no connection whatsoever with the latest threats by the iranians authorities to extend her sentence, and that it was simply untrue to suggest otherwise. That, mr speaker, is entirely contradicted by what has been said by the iranians courts la st been said by the iranians courts last weekend. And on iranians judiciary website, and on iranians state tv. All of them said explicitly that the foreign secretarys remarks were the basis of their renewed action against mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe. Of their renewed action against mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe. We of their renewed action against mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe. We know from the evidence of Richard Ratcliffe that when mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe evidence of Richard Ratcliffe that when mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe herself was told of the remarks and saw how the iranian authorities would exploit them, she became hugely upset and distressed. So will the foreign secretary today except the impact his words have had, except the distress that has been caused, and apologise properly for that, not apologise for upsetting people, but apologise for upsetting people, but apologise for upsetting people, but apologise for getting it wrong. Secondly, mr speaker, last week the foreign secretary was asked several times to do one very simple thing, and that was simply to admit he had made a mistake, not that his remarks had been taken out of context, or that they had been misconstrued, but that they had been misconstrued, but that they had been misconstrued, but that they were simply wrong. And he has so far refuse to make that clear, and that refusal was compounded yesterday by his good friend the environment secretary. And even after all the debate on this issue, the environment secretary still, incredibly, claimed we do not know why mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe we do not know why mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe was we do not know why mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe was in iran. We do. Mr speaker, its not good enough. If it was a matter of pride that the foreign secretary is refusing to admit that he has simply made a mistake, then i feel bound to say to him that his Pride Matters not one outs compared to mrs Zaghari Ratcliffes freedom. In conclusion, after a week of obfuscation and bluster, will you finally take the opportunity today to state simply and unequivocally, for the removal of any doubt, either here or in teheran, that he simply got it wrong. Mr speaker, i am more than happy to say again what i said to the right honourable lady last week, that yes, of course, i apologise for the distress and suffering that has been caused by the impression i gave that the government believed, that i believed, she was there in a professional capacity. She was there on holiday. That was the view of. And i do apologise. I do apologise. Of course i retract any suggestion that she was there in a professional capacity. You must have heard that, the honourable members opposite must have heard that from me about a dozen times. The right honourable lady astor unimportant question about diplomatic protection. Asked an important question. Thats asked an important question. Thats a question Richard Ratcliffe himself has raised with me. All i can say is that i will be answering mr ratcliffe. I cant give her an a nswer ratcliffe. I cant give her an answer today, i would rather answer mr ratcliffe in person. Im delighted to say i am seeing him tomorrow and i will explain the position on diplomatic protection. He has requested, as i said last week, he has requested to come to tehran. I dont know if that will be possible, but we will see what we can do. Mr speaker, regrettably more thana faint can do. Mr speaker, regrettably more than a faint whiff of opportunism hangs over this urgent question. Others might question the wisdom of having this discussion at all. Will my right honourable friend not agree with me that it is incumbent on each and every one of us in this house to pay very and every one of us in this house to pay very close attention to what we may or may not be about to say because the iranians will be watching these deliberations, and we do not want to exacerbate an already extremely difficult situation. My right honourable friend is, im afraid, absolutely right. It is one of the reasons why it is so important we remain very careful in what we say about the entire case. Important we remain very careful in what we say about the entire caselj hope today that the secretary of state is reflecting very seriously on his position, and the position he holds, notjust in this government, but in society. For mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe, but in society. For mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe, it would but in society. For mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe, it would be reasonable to assume that when the secretary of state got involved in her case, it secretary of state got involved in hercase, it might secretary of state got involved in her case, it might make things better. Unfortunately in this situation it has made things very much worse. And why was another cabinet member not briefed properly and said live on television, he did not know why she was there. What is going on in the heart of this government . As a direct result of these reckless comments, mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe these reckless comments, mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe is these reckless comments, mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe is in an increasingly perilous situation which has given iranians authorities adequate cause for keeping her locked up on false and arbitrary grounds. His apology is welcome, but he must reflect, as should the government, and how they do their business, how they protect our citizens. What guarantee will he give that mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe will be granted diplomatic protection and be granted diplomatic protection and be brought home . Because the foreign secretary and his colleagues must be very clear that they are able to do their jobs very clear that they are able to do theirjobs and very clear that they are able to do their jobs and able very clear that they are able to do theirjobs and able to protect our citizens. Mr speaker, our priority is to secure the safe return of mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe. All other considerations, all other Political Considerations, all other Political Considerations, are secondary. The only other thing to bear in mind is the safety and well being of the other consular cases in iran, which is very important. I said to the right honourable lady, i was seeing mr ratcliffe tomorrow, i am in fact seeing him on wednesday. As an ardent churchillian, does my right honourable friend accept that this has not been his finest hour . But before the opposition make too much of that, may i urge them to avoid headlines such as that in the independent online, where it says, borisjohnson should independent online, where it says, Boris Johnson should resign independent online, where it says, borisjohnson should resign if british mother stays in the iranians jail for even one more day. The iranians regime plays politics with hostages. Does my right honourable friend agree that if they believe that they can get rid of a British Foreign secretary by jailing that they can get rid of a British Foreign secretary byjailing a hostage for longer, they willjail that hostage for longer. So that link needs to be broken, not reinforced by the opposition today. Iranians the house will agree that there is nothing more important than the safe return of mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe, and, asi return of mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe, and, as i say, the protection of all other consular cases in iran. And that trumps all other Political Considerations in this country. Tulip sadik. Thank you mr speaker. My constituent, Richard Ratcliffe, wrote in the evening standard, my complaint is not that her imprisonment has become a diplomatic incident this past week. It is that it wasnt for the 19 months that came before. This shows the seer dignity with which my constituent has been campaigning for his wifes release for 19 months now. Richard shelby the family lawyer, working together with the ngo has written to the foreign and commonwealth of this two months ago with legal opinion about mrs Zaghari Ratcliffes two months ago with legal opinion about mrs Zaghari Ratcliffes right to diplomatic protection. I know the foreign secretary has already indicated that he will consider diplomatic protection, but will he urged that a meeting takes place between the fco and the lawyers, and will he give some indication on whether diplomatic protection will be given, as this could save my constituents life. As i said in a nswer to constituents life. As i said in answer to the right honourable lady early on, i will be talking directly to Richard Ratcliffe directly about that issue on wednesday. Mr speaker, on the issue of consular protection, everyday in some part of the world, auk everyday in some part of the world, a uk national or dual national is detained. I pay tribute to the consular work done by the Foreign Office across the world. In point of fa ct, office across the world. In point of fact, a huge amount of work has been done on behalf of your constituent by my honourable friends and right honourable friends on these benches who have met members of herfamily repeatedly and will continue to do so until we solve the problem. Repeatedly and will continue to do so until we solve the problemlj repeatedly and will continue to do so untilwe solve the problem. I am very glad to be foreign secretary has made his statement today. Will he agree with me, however, that this poor woman, separated from her child, is being used not only as a political football sadly here, but also in iran, where the iranians republic of guard is effectively fighting an authoritarian regime in its own way. Would he perhaps consider calling upon people in our own system who will be able to talk to the mothers mullahs, perhaps the archbishop of canterbury, who can talk about the release. My writer Robert Friend speaks a great insight about the situation in iran and i can assure him no stone will be left unturned in the efforts. My own experience and try to get to make British National is out ofjail in laos in 2009, what you need when youre dealing with a difficult country is you need to be persistent and committed. You need to go to bed every night worried about whats happening to that British National in another country. You need to be disciplined and make sure every memberof the disciplined and make sure every member of the government speaks with the same voice. The foreign secretary couldnt possibly argue thatis secretary couldnt possibly argue that is what has happened in this case. What i really dont understand is that when he made a complete mess of appearing before the Foreign Affairs committee, his office rang to correct other parts of the record, completely incidental parts of the record, but still refuses to correct the record about what he said to the Foreign Affairs committee. Will he do so now, because otherwise, frankly, you will have learned nothing from this. Mr speaker, i believe i have corrected the record several times already and explained the position. James duddridge. The foreign secretary has referred a number of times to the other cases in iran. Isnt there a real problem with dual nationals and specifically in iran and countries that dont recognise dual national status. Is it not time for a broader review of this issue alongside the urgency of this specific case . Review of this issue alongside the urgency of this specific case7m review of this issue alongside the urgency of this specific case . It is one of the features of british consular protection that we give it to dual nationals, irrespective of whether or not their nationality, british dual nationality, is recognised by the country in which they run into trouble. I think thats a mark of the dedication at our consular staff have to their job. Well continue to work for mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe and the other different consular cases in iran for as long as those cases are outstanding. Yvette cooper. The foreign secretary has rightfully and welcome lee said that the priority for everyone should be the return of a wrong fully and inhumanely imprisoned mother who is being separated from her child. He also knows that words matter. And every time he says things like, my words we re time he says things like, my words were simply open to misinterpretation, he provides a lack of clarity and it sounds like hes wriggling in a way other people exploit. Could he, for the sake of mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe, say unequivocally, for the record, i got it wrong . I hope, mr speaker, that the house will understand with crystal clarity, that mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe was there on holiday. She was not there in any professional capacity, insofar as people but a different impression from what i said, at the foreign affa i rs from what i said, at the Foreign Affairs committee, that was my mistake and i should have been clearer. With great respect, listen to what i am saying. I should have been clearer. It was my mistake. I should have been clearer. I apologise for the distress and anguish that has been caused to mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe and her family. And our priority now is to do everything we can to get her out of iran on humanitarian grounds. Crispin blunt. My right honourable friend should know he has the support of everyone on these benches in his efforts to secure the release of mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe. Understanding how difficult this is, having already been raised twice this case at head of government level, its difficult to see how the government could have done more. Does he agree with me that the prospects of her release are not being assisted by the rather unedifying spectacle of the pursuit of his scalp . As i say, mr speaker, i think the paramount concern of everybody in this house is not narrow Party Political concerns, is it . Its not, is the safe and secure return of Nazaneen Ghaffar e mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe. Return of Nazaneen Ghaffar e mrs zaghariratcliffe. We will leave foreign secretary Boris Johnson, publicly apologising. He had told mp5 that mrs Zaghari Ratcliffe cabin training journalists when she was imprisoned. The government now acknowledges she was simply on holiday. As you heard there, labour questioning him holding his position as foreign secretary. He has told the house of commons his comments should have been clearer and he is calling on the release of laos on humanitarian grounds. We are also waiting on a statement from brexit secretary david davis who will update the commons on the latest round of talks from the European Union. Now we can look at the weather with philip avery. Cold and crisp weather is showing signs of disappearing, but thats not to say its gone altogether. In parts of scotland it has been a cloudy start to the day. You can see a plume of cloud moving in from the atlantic. Still cold air beneath them. Thats why we have seen the wintriness about proceedings, even to quite low levels in the first part of the day. Some low cloud, particularly over the hills. The night should be a good deal milder than was the case as we head out of the weekend and into monday. Heres how we shape up first thing on tuesday. Clear skies getting into the north of the weather front as it continues its journey down the country. Speckling of showers in north and north west scotland. A band of cloud Still Producing hill fog and bits of rain in Northern Ireland and the pennines. Rather cloudy, murky and drizzly affair, mild, but thats often the way. You either have it cold and bright at this time of year or you get this. That prospect of dull conditions extending down into the southern counties. Perhaps some brightness on the south coast with a band of cloud easing its way further south so you will perhaps be robbed of that later in the afternoon. The rain is there or thereabouts across northern england, perhaps into the midlands and north wales. Behind that, fresher skies and may be brighter. The reason for the change from the weekend is that at the weekend we had northerly wind. As we head into the middle part of the week, the isobars run from west to east. The cold air isnt1 million miles away. Mild and moist air coming from the atlantic as we head into tuesday, wednesday and perhaps for a time in the south on thursday. A word to the wise about the start of wednesday, it could be really murky across a good part of england and wales with dense fog patches. To the north of the weather front, you get a brighter start but the rain eventually creeping up the western side of scotland. Hello, youre watching afternoon live im simon mccoy. Today at 4pm. 400 people are dead and thousands more injured after an earthquake hits the border region of iran and iraq. Cctv captures the moment it hits one Aid Agency Says 70,000 people need shelter. The foreign secretary says the government is doing all it can to free Nazanin Zaghari radcliffe saying hes sorry about his earlier comments id knowledge that the words are used were open to being misinterpreted and i apologise to querrey and her family, misinterpreted and i apologise to querrey and herfamily, if i inadvertently cause them any further anguish i inadvertently cause them any further anguish i apologise to Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe and her family. Business leaders from across europe meet theresa may at number ten to voice concerns about trade after brexit. Arthur collins ex boyfriend of reality tv star ferne mccann is found guilty of an acid attack in a london nightclub. Coming up on afternoon live all the sport. England playing brazil tomorrow. Yes, at wembley, after the draw with germany on friday night, manager Gareth Southgate has been speaking to the media, eric dier remains captain, and how do you stop neymar . We have more. The Weather Forecast . I have a connection between this very squirrel and all the way from scandinavia, that hawfinch. I will have all the details in half an hour. I cant wait. Also coming up bob geldof returns his freedom of the city of dublin in protest against Aung San Suu Kyi, who also holds the award. Hello everyone this is afternoon live. A powerful earthquake in western iran has killed at least 400 people, and injured thousands more. Rescue workers have been digging through the rubble in a hunt for survivors. Irans Emergency Services say theyre having trouble getting rescue teams to the affected areas, as roads have been cut off by landslides. The epicentre of the quake which measured 7. 3 hit the border between iran and iraq, just under 20 miles south of halabja and was felt as far away as lebanon and turkey. Richard galpin reports. At a big dam in the region last night, suddenly the duty officer runs for his life as the earthquake hits. Sending huge boulders smashing into the complex. In the aftermath this morning it seems the dam has survived. But in the western provinces of iran there has been significant damage, with entire buildings collapsing. Leaving many people trapped underneath. In just one district at least 200 people are now known to have been killed. And the hospitals in this region are trying to cope with thousands of injured. Many lucky to still be alive. Translation i fell from the balcony down, the earthquake was very strong. The earthquake shattered the window which fell on me and wounded my hand and face. The moments the earthquake hit was also caught live on tv. The studio guest on the left trying to keep calm as the building shakes violently. This is across the border in northern iraq, where houses have also been brought down and a hospital is seriously damaged in a kurdish province. Further south, this mosque was badly damaged, and in the light of day people try to clear away the rubble. This man said there had not been any casualties here. And overall in iraq, the number of those killed is relatively low, with six people now known to have died. There are some cases at the hospitals. Also there are some damages in the houses, ten houses completely damaged, in one of the districts of sulaimani. Theres also partial damage at the hospital. The earthquake with a magnitude of 7. 3 was felt across much of the middle east. But it is iran and iraq that have suffered the most, with the epicentre on the border between them. Its thousands of people in the region are now in need of shelter. It is cold in the night and there have been more than 100 after shocks since sunday. The husband of a british womanjailed in iran, Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe, has said the foreign secretary, borisjohnson, is now personally engaged in the case. Richard ratcliffe said mrjohnson had told him he was considering whether his wife would be eligible for diplomatic protection. In the last hour, the foreign secretary apologised for the comments he made last week. The British Government has no doubt that Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe was ina run that Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe was in a run on holiday and that was the sole purpose of her visit. In iran. Asi sole purpose of her visit. In iran. As i said last week, my remarks on the subject before the Foreign Affairs select committee should and could have been clearer, and id knowledge that the words are used were open to being misinterpreted and i apologise to Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe and her family ifi Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe and her family if i have inadvertently cause them any further anguish. The house should bear in mind that irans regime and no one else has chosen to separate this mother from regime and no one else has chosen to separate this motherfrom her regime and no one else has chosen to separate this mother from her infant daughter the reasons that even they find it difficult to explain or described. On the 9th of september 2016, Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe was brought before a secret trial and sentenced to five years in prison. Supposedly for plotting to overthrow the islamic republic. Mrs Zaghari Ratcliffes husband, richard, has spoken to the foreign secretary and hopes to travel with him to iran to see his wife. He spoke to our correspondent, laura trant, about how his wife was feeling behind bars. Im hoping the foreign secretary will sit down with us in the next few days and there are two things i want to discuss with him. One is going with him to iran and how that can be achieved. And the other one is i want him to personally consider whether she is eligible for diplomatic protection. What are the conversations like when you speak to her . Conversations with her vary, she is very volatile in her moods. Up and down so she is crying and angry, happy and laughing at different points and we had the full range of feelings. Its myjob to reassure her that it will be ok and i know its all snowballing but i promise it will be ok. Nazanin Zaghari Ratcliffes husband has written an open letter to Boris Johnson in the evening standard. The ex boyfriend of the only way is essex star, ferne mccann, has been found guilty of carrying out an acid attack in a london nightclub. Arthur collins, whos 25, was convicted of 14 charges, including grievous bodily harm. Our reporter, iain palmer, is at Wood Green Crown Court. Some harsh words from the judge for him. Very harsh. The defendant harpercollins remained impassive as the verdicts were read out in Court Defendant Arthur Collins. There we re defendant Arthur Collins. There were aghast and tears from his family in court. This started on the 17th of april when mr collins wanted to go toa 17th of april when mr collins wanted to go to a nightclub to celebrate his then girlfriends pregnancy. He went to a nightclub in hackney in east london and their inside the clu b east london and their inside the club and argument took place and there was a scuffle and mr collins admitted throwing a liquid across a very crowded dance floor but said he thought it was a date rape drug that he was trying to stop somebody from using. Two people were blinded in one eye as a result of the incident and 12 others were very badly scarred, one of them was very badly scarred, one of them was very badly scarred across her chest and she described what happened after the acid was thrown. Well, it hit me, and i thought, has a guyjust done this to me, thrown a drink at me, but as soon as it happened, it was like my skin was on fire, and when it hit you the smell, it was on my chest and arm, it flew up it was on my chest and arm, it flew up into my nose and my mouth and i could not breathe because it was so strong. The smell was so strong, it was a confined space, as well. And i thought, is this a terrorist attack, what is this . You dont expect this to happen to you, even though you hear about these things, you dont expect it to happen to you. It was complete shock, like, i did not know what happened, but im glad i acted quickly. Mr collins went into hiding after the incident, despite calls from his celebrity girlfriend to hand himself in. Mr collins did surrender himself to the police six days later. Today in court he was found guilty of all the charges against him. When will he be sentenced . This is the interesting part. Thejudge said normally he would sentence immediately, straightaway, but he said because of the severity and the seriousness of this attack but it is believed an acid attack on a crowded nightclub fight this has never taken place like this before and he said because of the seriousness of the attack and because he believes that mr collins could pose a danger to the public, he said he had been convicted of abh inside a nightclub on a separate occasion, and he wanted probation reports to be carried out on mr collins which will take three weeks which means mr collins will be sentenced on the 19th of december. Thanks forjoining us. Scientists at a United Nations Climate Conference in germany say global emissions of Carbon Dioxide are projected to rise in 2017 for the first time in four years. They say the main cause for the expected 2 increase is the greater use of coal in china, as its economy expands. Our environment correspondent matt mcgrath is at the conference in bonn. According to scientists, 2017 will be one of the three warmest years on record, with the impacts of increasing heat felt right across the world. The key task for the 20,000 delegates and negotiators in bonn is tackling the root causes of these rising temperatures emissions of Carbon Dioxide. For decades, these rose strongly on the back of chinas rapid economic expansion, but in 2014, and for the next two years, these emissions stalled. Scientists wondered if a global peak had been reached. However, todays figures show that levels of carbon are back on the rise. Its so urgent that the emissions decrease rapidly. Its absolutely urgent. People dont realise emissions need to disappear, essentially, for the warming to stop. And theres only one way to do that, and that is to develop the policies, the actions and technologies and use them so that our emissions decrease everywhere. Many delegates here have been surprised by the reported rise in co2 emissions in 2017, partly attributed to the greater use of coal around the world. While there is no clear science on the subject, many negotiators are linking that rise to the growth of extreme weather events all over the planet this year. For small island states from the caribbean and elsewhere who have experienced what they see as climate related devastation this year, the latest co2 figures translate into a very real threat. What we do here is not cerebral or academic. We need to make sure that real lives are saved. Livelihoods are maintained and sustained. We need to minimise the effect of Climate Change on islands such as ours, which are at the front line of the fury of Climate Change. That view wont cut much ice with us president donald trump, who wants to leave the paris climate pact. His advisers are in bonn to promote what they call clean coal, but whether anyone here is prepared to listen to that message is doubtful. Youre watching afternoon live, these are our headlines. More than 400 people have died and thousands more are injured after an earthquake hits the border region of iran and iraq. Borisjohnson Boris Johnson says borisjohnson says the government is doing all it can to free Nazanin Zaghari ratcliffe, saying he is sorry about his earlier comments. Arthur collins, the former boyfriend of reality tv star ferne mccann, has been found guilty of an acid attack at a london nightclub. In a moment a protest over what he has described as mass ethnic cleansing in myanmar. We hear from we hearfrom bob geldof. And these are the headlines in the sport. We preview the england friend in match against brazil, and Gareth Southgate also says that penalty shoot out practice is a must. Wales have recalled centre Jamie Roberts to the squad for the rest of the Autumn Internationals there are concerns Jonathan Davies wont be fit following his ankle injury in their defeat by australia on saturday. And jamie murray and his partner have lost their opening doubles match at the atp world tour finals in london. Ill be back with more on those stores later. Business leaders from across europe have met theresa may at downing street to discuss arrangements for trade after brexit. And express their concerns about the pace of brexit negotiations. They want clarity on the future relationship with the eu and a transitional deal that maintains Current Trading arrangements. One of the organisations represented at the meeting was business europe its director general Markus Beyrer joins me now from brussels. It is not just it is notjust the eu members you represent, you also represent businesses outside the eu . Of course, our core membership is the federations from the 28th but we go beyond is, we have switzerland and norway and we represent the wider europe. From the 28. Norway and we represent the wider europe. From the 28. How did the meeting go . The Business Community is grateful for this opportunity and it shows the concerns of the Business Community are taken seriously. From what i heard it was a very constructive meeting. At the same time and as you said the Business Community is very concerned about the slow pace of the negotiations, and we are only one month from the decisive Council Meeting in december and we know that the clock is ticking. We know Many Companies are getting closer to the line where they will have to think about contingency plans, therefore Business Community is very committed in avoiding a cliff edge but in order to get their we think we need a decent transitional arrangement and we would be very happy to support the negotiations about such arrangements, but in order to get to these we have got to get through phase one of the negotiations, with the questions necessary to be solved for the Withdrawal Agreement, Citizens Rights, the situation with ireland and the settlement. You have expressed frustration with the british Prime Minister, and he asked for similar meetings with anybody from European Union . Have you asked. We have permanent members with Member States at european level and the other side of a request is after the proposals are put on the table we very much urge the eu side to constructively receive them. Lets be clear, we need to get across phase one to be able to talk about this transition and in order to get there we need sufficient progress by december and in order to have a chance to have sufficient progress we need negotiating positions on all of these issues from the British Government and then of course the Business Community will ask the eu side to receive the proposals constructively. At the moment you are suggesting the frustration is at the british side . The frustration is with the slow pace of the negotiations overall, but what has been made clear, as well, we need to get through phase one to talk about the things which are one to talk about the things which a re really one to talk about the things which are really highly important the business which is transitional arrangements and the future relationship. Forgive me. The phrase one part of this, where we seem to be backlogged, the eu insisted that was discussed first, was that a mistake with hindsight . Do you think the trade agreement should have been discussed first . We have discussed this in our ranks and overall we support this sequencing, and this is why we would urge the British Government to come up with proposals on all three issues in order to allow us to get across phase one and to talk about the transitional arrangements because this is the best chance we have of avoiding the cliff edge. Pads. We are going to the house of commons thanks for joining us. David davis is updating the commons on the latest round of negotiations. The Council Conclusions also ask for work to continue and moved to the second phase of negotiations as soon as possible, and it is inevitable it is narrowing down to a few important issues that remain. Last week our focus was on finding solutions to those few remaining issues. As we move forward to the december council, we include the we have said we are ready to achieve the progress needed, and to this end our teams are in continuous contact even between formal rounds and i now turn to the three key ongoing areas of discussion. And progress made last week in each of these. We have made solid progress on our discussions regarding Northern Ireland and ireland, key areas of achievement, progress of technical positions, the common travel area and associated rights, and rafting furtherjoint principles on how best we Preserve North south co operation under the belfast agreement drafting. Both sides remain firmly committed to avoiding a hard border, a point we have remained clear on throughout. We also remain resolutely committed to upholding the belfast good friday agreement in all its parts and to finding a solution that works for the people of Northern Ireland and ireland. We continue to hold discussions with our commission cou nterpa rts discussions with our commission counterparts about these issues, but in this area we have had to be very clear with our commission counterparts, whilst we respect their desire to protect the legal order the Single Market and the customs union, that cannot come at the cost of a constitutional or economic integrity of the uk. As i have said, we cant create a new border within the uk, and this is an area where we believe we will only be able to conclude talks finally in the context of a future relationship. Until such time as we do so, we need to approach the issues that arise with a high degree of political sensitivity and with pragmatism and creativity. Discussions on these areas continue in the run up to the december council. We continue to make Good Progress on Citizens Rights, both sides are working hard towards a resolution of outstanding issues, and last week to respond to the request for assurances from the European Union we published a detailed discussion of our plans for european citizens seeking settled status in the uk, and as the paper demonstrates, the procedures will be streamlined and straightforward and low cost and they will be based on simple transparent criteria and these criteria will be laid out in these criteria will be laid out in the Withdrawal Agreement. While there remain differences on the fabric of the union and the benefits could we remain clear we are willing to consider what further reassurance we can provide to existing families of eu residency even if they are currently not living together in the uk, this paves the way to resolving the remaining issues in this area. This was acknowledged by the commission on friday. There remain some areas where we are still seeking further movement from the eu, issues such as Voting Rights, mutual recreation of qualifications and Onward Movement for british citizens living in the eu 27. In all these three areas the uks offer goes beyond that of the eu, and finally, the commission has not yet match the uks offer in the late studio match the uks offer in the late studio jose i have been disappointed they have not been able to include Voting Rights in the withdrawal bill so far, and we will pursue this issue bilaterally with Member States. This week we have sought further clarity on our agreement on Citizens Rights within uk lorca but this will make sure that European Union citizens uk law. Providing certainty and clarity for the long term. We have made it clear that over time the courts can take account of the rulings of European Court ofjustice in this area, to help consistent interpretation, but we remain clear that as we leave the eu it is a key priority for the uk to preserve the sovereignty of our courts and as such will bring to an end the direct jurisdiction of the European Court ofjustice. It jurisdiction of the European Court of justice. It is it is clear that we need to take further steps to provide clarity and certainty both in the negotiations and at home, regarding the increment station with the uk agreement. Implementation we will bring forward a specific piece of primary legislation to implement that agreement, and this confirms the major policy set out in the Withdrawal Agreement, will be directly implemented into uk law by primary legislation, not by secondary legislation, like the withdrawal bill. This means that parliament will be given time to debate, scrutinise and vote on the final agreement we strike with the European Union. This agreement will hold if Parliament Approves it, and we expect this bill to cover the contents we expect this bill to cover the co nte nts of we expect this bill to cover the contents of the Withdrawal Agreement, including issues like Citizens Rights, any financial settlement, and the details of the implementation period agreed by both sides, we do not yet know the details of this bill and are not likely to do so until the negotiations are near completion. This will be over and above the undertaking we have already made and will bring forward a motion on the final deal as soon as possible after the deal is agreed, and that we still intend and expect for such a vote on the final deal to happen before the European Parliament votes on it. There cannot be any doubt that parliament will be involved at every stage, and finally, on the financial settlement, and i laughter from the benches opposite, but this has been called for nonmembers by members from all sides of this out soi members from all sides of this out so i would hope that we would get labour Party Support for this for once. Finally, on financial settlement, the Prime Minister made clear in her foreign speech. Settlement, the Prime Minister made clear in herforeign speech. The uk will honour its commitment and this week we have made tentacle progress on the issues which underpins these commitments, tentative progress. It has been low key tentative progress. It has been low key progress, and is now about pinpointing further discussions and moving forward into the political discussions and political decisions, and we must also look ahead to our future relationship. This to happen both parties need to build confidence in the process and the shared out, and the uk will continue to engage constructively as we have done since the start, but we need to see flexibility and imagination and willingness to make progress on both sides of these negotiations are to succeed, and if we are able to realise our new partnership, and i commend this statement to the house. Sir keirstarmer. Commend this statement to the house. Sir keir starmer. Can i thank the secretary of state for advance notice of his statement for stop it is clearly a statement of two halves. First the usual groundhog day report back on the negotiations in brussels, a round of negotiations, a press conference at the end that leaves us wondering if the end that leaves us wondering if the parties were in the same negotiations, both sides briefing the press in the days afterwards, and thena the press in the days afterwards, and then a statement from the dispatch box that assures no one. Underlying this, a profound lack of progress. We want the next date to be different, we want the secretary of state to return and inform the house that we are progress has been made, a breakthrough even. Last time we we re made, a breakthrough even. Last time we were promised acceleration, what now and what is the plan if the december deadline is missed . I do recognise some of the difficulties and as the secretary of state knows i have sympathy with the position on Northern Ireland that he has set out. As we see from the legislation before this house today, the political situation in Northern Ireland is fragile and the Peace Process is too precious to be put at risk by rushing a deal that doesnt have the support of all communities. There must be no return to a hardboard there must be no return to a ha rdboa rd and there must be no return to a hardboard and mr speaker, Northern Ireland should not be used by either side in the negotiations for political point scoring and that is a important point to a hard border. The second part of the statement is not a report back at all, it is a recognition by the government that it is about to lose a series of votes on the withdrawal bill. Labour has repeatedly argued since the bill was First Published injuly, that the since the bill was First Published in july, that the article 50 since the bill was First Published injuly, that the article 50 deal required primary legislation including a vote by this house. A point that was made forcefully at a second reading, and now, on the eve of crucial amendments, we have this statement under the cloak of a report back from brussels, and i dont think that falls anyone. The devil will no doubt be in the detail. But can the secretary of state now confirm the government accepts labours argument that this should be struck from the withdrawal bill altogether, and then theres the question of transitional arrangements, it is blindingly obvious to anyone following these negotiations, that a final deal with the eu including a trade agreement will not be completed by march 2019, and that transitional agreements on the same terms as now are in the public interest, that is what businesses want and what communities wa nt businesses want and what communities want and what labour has been calling for the many months, so can be secretary of state confirm on the back of the statement he has made, that the government will not stand in the way of sensible transitional arrangements in the same basic terms we have now with the eu . On. Can the secretary of state confirm that the secretary of state confirm that the government will not now be pushing amendments inconsistent with transitional arrangements . Can the secretary of state confirm to this house that this house will get a boat in the event that there is no deal . A vote. These questions have been pressing for months and this last minute attempt to climb down brings them into very sharp focus and we are entitled to clear answers. Thank you. Yet more carping opposite from the right honourable gentleman. He complains that negotiations are not making as much progress as he would like, but he allowed his labour members of the European Parliament to vote against progress this time around. The question he needs to ask himself is what would he be prepared to sacrifice to buy the goodwill of the european people . Is he seriously proposing that we let them down in the interests of suddenly rushing ahead . We are standing up for british taxpayers, not wasting their money with a clear position we will meet financial commitments only when we know more about our financial relationship. Would he sell them out . We are using brexit to restore the sovereignty of the british courts. Would he let that go to . Yes he would, because he would give the European Court of justice he would, because he would give the European Court ofjustice the right to dictate our laws in perpetuity. Let me come back to his description, the second half does not arise from the second half does not arise from the negotiation. Yes it does. Actually, one of the reasons for this bill but i have announced today, is providing to european citizens a primary piece of legislation that will put into british law the Withdrawal Agreement in total, the nearest as we can come to direct effect. It comes directly from the negotiation today. I hope next time i come to report to this house will get a little bit more support from the labour party. Mystic mystic kenneth clarke. Cani can i get my right honourable friend to give the governments intentions on these final processes in the role of parliament . Can he give me a reassurance that parliament will have a legally binding meaningful vote in which it will approve or disapprove of any final agreement or lack of agreement before we leave the European Union . And that there will be time, in whatever circumstances, for the necessary legislation to be introduced and debated by us to implement in law smoothly and properly whatever it is parliament has approved once the government has made its proposals . thank my right honourable friend for that question. Firstly, yes we will have a meaningful vote. It has been said at this dispatch box any number of times. What i have said today is that we will add to that, over and above the meaningful vote on the outcome of the deal, well have legislation that puts it into effect so the house can go through it line by line and agree it line by line. Im grateful to the secretary of state for advance sighting of the statement. Turning festival to Northern Ireland s. Statement. Turning festival to Northern Ireland s. Studio we will pull away from the house of commons. Worth pointing out that david davis saying the parliament will be able to scrutinise and vote before any Brexit Agreement with the eu. Lots of tweets in response. We can see one from our Political Correspondent alex forsyth, saying there will be a new bill and a chance to vote on a brexit deal, thats a concession, as the government had faced lots of pressure to do this. Will someone else who has been commenting on this, the deputy Political Editor at the daily mail, who said its a major concession. David davis says it will come before parliament as primary legislation. That debate goes on. We heard david davis saying that there had been significant technical progress made at those talks last week. You are watching afternoon live. Its time for a look at the weather and with us in the studio is filled with more holiday snaps. I cant post this one. I posed a big question at the top of the hour, the connection between this squirrel, caught on camera, and ourfriend here, which is. Thats come from scandinavia. Its a hawfinch. Stop showing off. They have both been victims in one way or another of the recent outbreak of cold weather that we experienced at the weekend. Are you one for the cold . I quite like the cold. I will put you up there as well next time. All three of you enjoying the cold of late. That cold weather has forced the hawfinch, a rarity in many parts of the British Isles, out of its natural habitat in scandinavia, where it has been unseasonably cold, and food has been in short supply. It makes most of us move, when food is getting shot, and they have drifted down on the northerly breezes towards the yorkshire area. We do have our own indigenous colonies, but we have imported these simply because there has been a favourable wind and food has been a favourable wind and food has been a favourable wind and food has been so short. There is a change on the way. You have already experienced it across the northern parts of the British Isles in the way of these weather fronts. It has cut off the supply of northerly breezes and we are picking up something milder. At the same time it has brought that combination of cloud and rain and some hill fog into the British Isles and it will slump further south. Where we had 5 last night, it could be as high as seven or eight in some parts of the British Isles. One place that is almost guaranteed sunshine on tuesdayis almost guaranteed sunshine on tuesday is across scotland, a sprinkling of showers through northern and Western Isles and the northern and Western Isles and the north of the mainland. The further south to come, the more likely you will have cloud, but it will be at its thickest between Northern Ireland, northern england, wales, the midlands and east anglia. Some rain in the mix as well. Hints of brightness in some sheltered spots along the south coast. Particularly if you have high ground to the west, breaking up the crowd with a westerly breeze. Through the day, not a great deal changes quickly. Pulling the cloud a bit further south. Some breaks in the cloud shield, either side of the pennines and in the welsh hills. Temperatures kicking up to around 11 degrees tomorrow. The brighter skies to the north of the weather front. It has a lot of this warm and moist air to the south as we start the new day on wednesday. A word to the wise, i fear that fog patches could be dense for the commute on wednesday morning. We will give you more detail throughout the afternoon with simon tomorrow. After that rather murky start it will be a slow process , murky start it will be a slow process, but i think some cloud will start to break up during wednesday and we will see temperatures responding to that. 11 or 12 degrees, all the while pushing it weather front back to the western side of scotland and i think thats where we will see the bulk of the rain on wednesday. That weather front, a little bit into the future. Thursday and friday, pushing the weather front down across the British Isles with quite a lot of rain behind it. Behind that, well get rid of the mild air and move back to something a good deal fresher. This is bbc news our latest headlines. More than 400 people have died, and thousands more are injured after an earthquake in the border region between iran and iraq. Most of the dead are in irans western kermanshah province. David davis has said parliament will have the power to scrutinise and vote on any final Brexit Agreement. The foreign secretary has apologised for previous comments he made about Nazanin Zaghari radcliffe the british womanjailed in iran. Hes calling for her release on humanitarian grounds. Arthur collins the ex boyfriend of reality tv star ferne mccann has been found guilty of and acid attack in a london nightclub. A huge rescue effort has been launched after a powerful earthquake struck a mountainous region straddling irans border with iraq. More than 400 people are confirmed to have been killed making it the worlds deadliest quake so far in 2017. Nearly 7,000 people have been injured. Our correspondent rami ruhayem sent this report from darbandikhan, in the province of sulaymaniah in iraq. This area is one of the hardest hit in iraq by sundays earthquake. We are told seven people were inside this home when it collapsed. Two of them were killed and others were injured. Several other buildings suffered similar damage to this one. Fortu nately suffered similar damage to this one. Fortunately they seem to be the exception rather than the rule. Most of the other homes in the region managed to withstand the impact of the earthquake. Now on afternoon live lets go nationwide and see whats happening around the country in our daily visit to the bbc newsrooms around the uk. Nick owen is in birmingham and a majorfundraising campaign is underway in shropshire to save the worlds oldest iron bridge. This is really interesting, fascinating old bridge, in shropshire, ironbridge, where they need more than £3 million to restore it and conserve it. A really good start, a german trust has already pledged 1 Million Euros, which is getting on towards £1 million these days. Their chairman saw a clip of it on bbc television. Interesting that in these Interesting Times with the eu, germany still wants to build bridges i thought you would like that. In this heritage still has a budget of their own. They are still trying to raise £25,000. They are doing it by crowdfunding, the first time they have had to do that. Its an Historic Site and in a wonderful pa rt an Historic Site and in a wonderful part of the world. What sort of work needs to be done . A lot. Its a fascinating old bridge. My father was a shropshire lad and he took me to see it when i was a young boy. It has always intrigued me. In its day it was unique, the first ever cast iron bridge. It had its problems from the first day. People thought that it would collapse in no time. People came from all over the world to see it because they were so intrigued. Now there are real signs of wear and tear with the iron itself, some of the concrete, and the land each side slipping. Its quite a steep gorge. So much so, the land and bridge has slipped, and the bridge has also been pushed up like that in the middle because the framework has been distorted. Whereas once upon a time, if you walked to the crown of the bridge you could go across and see the whole of the house come you can only now see the top floor. They need to repair the iron, now see the top floor. They need to repairthe iron, paint now see the top floor. They need to repair the iron, paint if necessary, co nse rve repair the iron, paint if necessary, conserve it, anything they can do to bring it back to how it used to be. There was an earthquake in the 19th century which did not do it much good either. Its a unique site, they started the work today. People will still be able to cross it. They will still be able to cross it. They will keep some of it open. But what needs to be done to preserve a really important part of our uk heritage over the uks longest river. And 1 heritage over the uks longest river. And1 million heritage over the uks longest river. And 1 Million Euros from the germans brings you to say building bridges. Thank you to nick. Youre watching afternoon live. If youd like to catch up with more of those news nationwide stories, go to the bbc iplayer. Johnny mercer, the conservative mp for plymouth moor view, has said the party needs to step back and question itself, warning the Prime Minister that the integrity and credibility of the government is on the line. In an interview featured in todays daily telegraph, mr mercer said mrs mays premiership has reached a critical point over issues such as brexit and the westminster harassment allegations. And we can now speak tojohnny mercer, from our westminster studio. Why now . Why have you come out with these comments now . why now . Why have you come out with these comments now . I did the interview with the telegraph over the weekend. I gave my honest view. We had a week in the constituency last week, and i think its really important, as politicians we do represent people, and people want us to sort our shell out. Sort out our show. We are not a hard left country, and at the moment were giving Jeremy Corbyn an excuse. How would you describe the last two weeks for theresa may . Is not so much theresa may, but is as a cohort, it hasnt been good. The Sexual Harassment thing, and how it has been dealt with, trying to normalise frankly weird behaviour and say its a generational thing, when it isnt, i think it has always been offensive to grope women and so on. I think it demonstrates the out of touch aspect that people are not looking for from politics. Of touch aspect that people are not looking forfrom politics. People are looking for us to deliver on brexit. What comes after that . People want to know how we will fund the schools and nhs and things like that. I want to get on with that agenda so people vote for us and keep us in power so we do not end up with what i would think is a catastrophic result, Jeremy Corbyn in number ten. You say its not theresa may, but at the last election, you bucked the trend, adding to your votes in the area, but that was not the national picture. Was that a huge error of judgment on her part . picture. Was that a huge error of judgment on her part . I think calling the election was an error, yes. I was disappointed with it. I spoke to her in her leadership campaign. The media she was calling the general election. I am in a very marginal seat and i didnt want that. But that is done now, people dont want us to endlessly navel gaze about that. Ultimately its not about us as politicians, but what we can deliverfor about us as politicians, but what we can deliver for the people who vote for us. Thats where this has come from. We are not delivering very much at all. Weve had some movement on brexit at the moment, but there are peoples lives in places like plymouth that very difficult and they looking to us to provide them with answers. Well we get bogged down with things like the harassment scandal, and not dealing with that properly, ministers doing their own thing. People are getting pretty fed up. Thats the impression i get when igo up. Thats the impression i get when i go back to plymouth. Myjob is to represent that, and do what i can to steady the ship and keep us going in the right direction. Steady a ship you say is losing credibility. Harsh words. How do you regain credibility when it doesnt seem to be sign of that at the moment . Regain credibility by going over the front foot over some of the things we have done. Looking at somewhere like plymouth, the biggest singerfactor affecting the life chances of people in plymouth who are the most vulnerable, is having a job. We need to do that sort of thing and change lives in these cities where we have not traditionally had a conservative vote before. Well be continually navel gaze around brexit, perhaps not deliver on it and hold it up, we are not making steps in the right direction for the next generation, schools and the nhs, how will we close these things and close the productivity gap . People are looking for a nswers productivity gap . People are looking for answers on that and they are getting frustrated. Perhaps not delivering on brexit, are you pointing the finger at david davis . Are you saying negotiations have been slowed down because of our approach . Not by david davis, no. I think there are Something Like 400 amendments to the european legislation that has come before the house this week. I feel left out but i havent submitted one myself. They wa nt i havent submitted one myself. They want us to get on and deliver brexit and we are not helping ourselves by dealing with things. With a binary election, the thing is that so many people have translated what they thought the referendum was a bad for their own personal ends. It wasjust a referendum about leaving the European Union. Thats what people wa nt European Union. Thats what people want us to do and we need to deliver that so we can go beyond that and look at the challenges that everybody goes out and faces every day, whether it is health care, housing, minimum wage, social security. Is theresa may the person to get that through, or should she go . Theresa may can absolutely do this. The theresa may i know has a vision, looked at the things she did with modern slavery. She wants to deliver on her agenda. But its difficult at the moment. I would like to say all my colleagues are behaving in the most collegiate manner that i would like, but they are not. Shes absolutely the person to do it. I would like her to get on with it, she can do it and i would like to see that. If this is a major concession that david davis Just Announced in the house of commons, that there will be a vote on the primary legislation and parliament will vote on whatever deal we come to over brexit . I think its important. Parliament is the binding factor in this countrys legislation. But we need to deliver brexit. People voted to leave the European Union. I do not want to see what i have already seen over the last nine months, grandstanding over issues most people have not heard of, simply to hold up the government and get them over a barrel and make them look silly on brexit. Its a huge challenge for this country and the government will deliver. I understand we need to get it right, but i have seen too much grandstanding and personal ambition rather than delivering what the country rather than delivering what the cou ntry voted rather than delivering what the country voted for. I was going to ask if you wanted to be Prime Minister. No thanks really . Yes. Ever . No. Is that moustache for mo vember . Ever . No. Is that moustache for movember . It is, and im not really ina movember . It is, and im not really in a position to talk about it at the moment because its quite scarring for me and my family. Johnny mercer, thank you. In a moment the Business News. First a look at the headlines on afternoon live. David davis gives parliament to vote on the final brexit deal agreed with the eu. More than 400 people have died and thousands more are injured after an earthquake hits the border region of iran and iraq. Borisjohnson says the government is doing all it can to free Nazanin Zaghari radcliffe saying hes sorry about his earlier comments. European and uk Business Leaders have told Prime Minister theresa may of their brexit concerns. At a meeting in downing street representatives from groups including the cb and businesseurope pressed for a transitional deal that preserves the status quo after brexit. Shareholders in the nisa Convenience Store group have approved the chains £137 million takeover by the co op group. It was a narrow win just over 75 of shareholders voted in favour the minimum requirement. Nisa has more than 3000 stores and operates a wholesale business. German energy giant, innogy, has reduced the value of its uk Energy Business, npower, by £427 million partly in response to tightening regulations and its merger with a former competitor, sse. It said competition in the uk Retail Business remained very tough. And the pound is dropping . Thats a response over the future question of the Prime Minister. The times report at the weekend saying 40 mp5 had signed a no confidence letter. Pounds sterling dropped considerably against the dollar. And also against the euro. Not a great time to change your money if you are going on holiday. Almost 1 fall, quite considerable. We have reported today over the downing street meeting with lots of banks in business over brexit. They want a transitional arrangement to remain. Lots of angst. Many companies have orally activated contingency plans. They wa nt activated contingency plans. They want clarity over what it will mean for business in terms of the deal and the talks. Also a possible ta keover and the talks. Also a possible takeover involving the co op. There was a vote with the shareholders of nisa, it was a narrow win. This will be pretty good for them. They can fit under the co op group, which is rather large. Mike bell, Global Market strategist, jp morgan Asset Management thank you forjoining us. Lets start with the nisa and the co op deal. It shows how changeable the shopping market is these days. think its an extremely competitive market. Whats going on here is they wa nt market. Whats going on here is they want size and scale so they have more buying power and that makes them more able to compete in a very competitive market. Do you think this is going to impact the co op in the way that we have seen with lots of high street supermarkets having to change the way they sell these days because of the likes of aldi and lidl. Wilbur co op after change in the same way . Everybody will have to be put under pressure. We have seen the amazon purchase of whole foods. I think the whole industry at the moment is facing industry pressures from weaker Consumer Confidence as they feel the bite from high inflation eating into wages. Its a difficult outlook for the sector and this consolidation should happen. Moving on to businesses and brexit. They expressed concern today. That was at the progress of talks. We saw a fall in the pound earlier today. Is that correlated or more to do with the future of the Prime Minister . think what business and the markets in particular are focused on, is will we get a transitional deal or not . The risks of not getting a transitional deal are significant to the pound. You would expect it to fall quite significantly if we dont get a transitional deal. Anything with concerns around the Political Uncertainty at the moment, or anything else that suggests you are less likely to get a transitional deal, you are expected to weigh in on the pound. Thank you forjoining us. Lets have a quick look at the markets. The pound is down, but so is the ftse100. Its been a warm october, sales not as great as they should be. It is christmas in a month. They should be perky, but maybe we are saving our money for next month. Airline stocks not doing well. Including easyjet. Its not down by too much, but its kind of flat. It is odd to see that given the sterling is down and we usually see that correlates to a positive ftse100, but not today. But its still a pretty impressive figure, 7004 and 15. It is compared to a year and 7004 and 15. It is compared to a yearand a 7004 and 15. It is compared to a year and a half ago. 7004 and an 15. Bob geldof has returned his freedom of the city of dublin in protest against the burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been given the same honour. The musician described the treatment by myanmars military of the Rohingya Muslim Minority Community as mass ethnic cleansing. The live aid organiser said his home city had honoured Aung San Suu Kyi but that now she had shamed dublin. You know, i dont want to give this up. I dont want to. Im really proud of it, you know. I get handed things by states and cities around the world, but im a dub, and this meant very much to me. As i say, it doesnt mean much to anybody else, but to me, i dont want to do it. But its the most i can do, and the least. The voice of the football results on grandstand and final score, tim gudgin has died at the age of 87. He worked at the bbc for more than sixty years on everything from question time to hancocks half hour. He hung up his microphone in 2011. Next is the bbc news at 5pm. And we can catch up with the weather now with philip avery. Cold and crisp weather is showing signs of disappearing, but thats not to say its gone altogether. In parts of scotland it has been a cloudy start to the day. You can see a plume of cloud moving in from the atlantic. Still cold air beneath that. Thats why we have seen the wintriness about proceedings, even to quite low levels in the first part of the day. Some low cloud, particularly over the hills. The night should be a good deal milder than was the case as we head out of the weekend and into monday. Heres how we shape up first thing on tuesday. Clear skies getting into the north of the weather front as it continues its journey down the country. Speckling of showers in north and north west scotland. A band of cloud Still Producing hill fog and bits of rain in Northern Ireland and the pennines. Rather cloudy, murky and drizzly affair, mild, but thats often the way. You either have it cold and bright at this time of year or you get this. That prospect of dull conditions extending down into the southern counties. Perhaps some brightness on the south coast with a band of cloud easing its way further south so you will perhaps be robbed of that later in the afternoon. The rain is there or thereabouts across northern england, perhaps into the midlands and north wales. Behind that, fresher skies and may be brighter. The reason for the change from the weekend is that at the weekend we had northerly wind. As we head into the middle part of the week, the isobars run from west to east. The cold air isnt1 million miles away. Mild and moist air coming from the atlantic as we head into tuesday, wednesday and perhaps for a time in the south on thursday. A word to the wise about the start of wednesday, it could be really murky across a good part of england and wales with dense fog patches. To the north of the weather front, you get a brighter start but the rain eventually creeping up the western side of scotland. Today at 5, the brexit secretary tells parliament they will be able to examine any Brexit Agreement before britain leaves the eu. In whats being seen as a concession by some, the new piece of legislation will mean that mp5 will be able to debate and vote on the final deal. Parliament will be given time to debate, scrutinise and vote on the final deal. This agreement will only hold if Parliament Approves it. We will have the latest from westminster. The other main stories. At least 400 people have been killed and thousands injured following a powerful earthquake in iran, a huge rescue operation is underway. The foreign secretary apologises publicly to the family