And they ask us to help, as i say, i think it will be very difficult to say no. We dont need unilateral action, we need to work through the un but, above all, we need to bend ourselves totally to getting a political settlement in syria. The government loses a court bid to delay publication of its Air Pollution Strategy until after the general election. New figures show a big rise in Violent Crime in england and wales with knife crime at its highest level for six years. And how readers are turning off their e books and switching back to paper, as publishers enjoy a record year. Good evening, theres been a major Security Operation in whitehall as armed Police Arrested a man suspected of Planning Acts of terrorism. A rucksack and several knives have been recovered from the scene, but no one has been injured. Its understood officers from Scotland Yards Counter Terrorism command moved in on the suspect as part of an Intelligence Led Operation. The Prime Minister was not in Downing Street at the time, but is being kept informed. She said it showed that the, police and the Intelligence Services are a lwa ys and the Intelligence Services are always on the alert. It comes just over a month after the westminster attack, in which four pedestrians were killed and a Police Officer stabbed to death at the gates of parliament. In a moment, well be live at the scene with our correspondent, andy moore, but first this report from richard lister. Its mid afternoon in the heart of westminster the officers are in the midst ofan westminster the officers are in the midst of an urgent operation. A man dressed all in black with a backpack beside him. Witnesses said they had seen knives on the ground. The police said the man had been stopped and searched as part of an ongoing operation. He is arrested and led away. His right hand apparently bandaged. The man is driven off in a Police Convoy with hundreds of bysta nders Police Convoy with hundreds of bystanders looking on. In a statement the metropolitan police said despite the chilling echoes of last months attack on parliament, there we re months attack on parliament, there were no injuries reported in westminster today. The crowd seemed more curious than fearful. One lane of whitehall was cordoned off for an hour as officers in forensic suits examined the scene. Several knives could be seen on the ground as well as what appeared to be a mobile phone and the backpack. Each item was photographed and taken away as the investigation continues. Our police and our intelligence and Security Services are on the alert, as they always are, looking to keep us as they always are, looking to keep us safe and secure. I would say we owe a huge debt of gratitude to these people, many of whom are unseen, unheard, yet thejob these people, many of whom are unseen, unheard, yet the job they do, day in and day out, to emcoo us secure, is a really important one. Westminster was getting back to normal this afternoon. The incident was over comparatively quickly and police say there is no other known threat. Richard lister, bbc news. Dan, what is the latest the road has reopened and traffic is flowing again. Things have got back to normal quickly. The police dealt with this incident very soon indeed. We understand it was an ongoing operation. Rather than a random stop on this Traffic Island they had been following this man and decided to stop him as he got here to the centre of whitehall. You can see how close we are to parliament where the attack happened last month. We are the same distance from Downing Street. A sensitive area. I have spoke to one eyewitness who said as they stopped that man on that Traffic Island he thought he saw at least five knives on the ground. That is why that man is now being questioned on suspicion of preparing a cts questioned on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism. We have a little bit more detail about who he is. We believe that hes 27 years old and lives in london. He is said to hold a british passport, but is not believed to have been born in the uk. We understand there are now police searches going on at a number of addresses believed to be linked to this man. Dan for the moment thank you very much indeed. Dan johnson there. With me is chris phillips, the former head of the national Counter Terrorism security office. Thank you for being with us. You are welcome. This was, the police saying, an intelligence led information. As the information comes out it looks more likely this man is someone that perhaps was either some kind of a lone act terrorist or maybe had a group. The fa ct terrorist or maybe had a group. The fact he has four or five knives perhaps changes things slightly as well. Physical he is under surveillance and the police are watching him, he moves towards a police where an attack has happened. We know that often terrorists like to copy cat other offences, then i think the police have done a brilliantjob think the police have done a brilliant job jumping in on think the police have done a brilliantjobjumping in on him and taking him out before he could do any harm. The Prime Minister saying this underlines what a good job the police and the intelligence and the Security Services are doing. That will they are on the alert . Absolutely. We mustnt forget that they have stopped many Terrorist Attacks whether maybe smaller ones like this, but also some very big attacks have been planned across the uk. They have managed to keep us safe. Obviously, the odd attack will get through. We have to be aware this is a problem we will face for many years to come. After the westminster attack, a lot of questions about security around the westminster area, in particular around the houses of parliament, whether there is room for tightened it up . Two people with knives, one that attacked people and one that has got knives with him. Both have been effectively dealt with. We mustnt go over the top with this. The police are doing a greatjob. The police are doing a greatjob. The security has worked again today. We should be celebrating that. Yes. It is always a balance, isnt it, between people carrying out their normal day to day activities and the Security Situation in london . Absolutely. There are hundreds of thousands of people will have walked past that point over the last couple of weeks and this is one person that looks like he has shown mall intent and the police have dealt with that effectively. I will stress again, lets celebrate the police and the Security Services job and what theyve done here going back to today. The westminster attack, how ha rd today. The westminster attack, how hard it is for them to carry out surveillance potentially on, not just hundreds, but thousands of people who either are or have been on their radar . Yes. Also we have other people, as we have seen today in the news, coming back from syria in order to carry out Terrorist Attacks. We have two distinct groups. The lone actor type, a different nature, different threat than those people that are coming back from syria. But both of them are lethal and the police are doing so are lethal and the police are doing so fara are lethal and the police are doing so far a greatjob at keeping us safe. Thank you very much indeed. Chris phillips, former head of the national Counter Terrorism security office. The Foreign Secretary has suggested britain could take Military Action in syria without a vote in the house of commons. Borisjohnson said it would be very difficult to say no if President Trump asked for british help in punishing the Syrian Regime for another chemical weapons attack. Meanwhile, mrjohnson has also waded into the Election Campaign for the first time, with a highly personal attack on the Labour Leader, Jeremy Corbyn. Hes called him a Mutton Headed Old Mugwump. Heres our political correspondent, alex forsyth. Us missile strikes on a syrian airfield earlier this month, the first direct us action against Syrian Government forces, a response to a Chemical Attack which killed civilians. Today, the Foreign Secretary suggested, if asked, the uk would support such strikes in the future, possibly without the approval of parliament. If they come to us and ask for our support, whatever it happens to be, as was the case in 2013, in my view, and i know this is also the view of the Prime Minister, it would be very difficult for us to say no. She would have to go to the commons. I think that has to be tested. I think it would be very difficult for us to say no. Mps said no when asked to back air strikes in syria by David Cameron in 2013. Today, Opposition Parties said the process for making such decisions was vital. Unilateral, illegal intervention would be counter productive. It seems to me, Boris Johnson is following tony blair in that respect. If the government wants to have parliamentary authority, they should ask for parliamentary authority, not speculate wildly and jump to whatever President Trump does. Sources close to borisjohnson said the situation has not changed. He has not ruled out a parliamentary vote. This is one of the Dividing Lines between the parties. The tories think it is a strength, trying to portrayJeremy Corbyn as a threat to national security. Borisjohnson launched a personal attack on the Labour Leader today calling him a Mutton Headed Old Mugwump who would be calamitous in Downing Street. Campaigning in essex, Jeremy Corbyn said they were focused on serious debate, not name calling. Asked about the possibility of air strikes in syria, he said labour wanted a political solution. Above all, we need to bend ourselves totally to getting a political settlement in syria and allow the inspectors space to work, allow them to make sure we know who did that terrible chemical weapons attack and recognise that inspectors are there destroying any stocks of chemical weapons they find. This campaign will determine who sits in number ten. Who gets to make those decisions about policy abroad and at home. Politicians know their vision for the nations future is vital. Alex forsyth, bbc news. Our chief political correspondent, vicki young, is in westminsterfor us. Do you think by saying that maybe the government wont consult mps, do you think by saying that maybe the government wont consult mp5, is this a shift of Government Policy by borisjohnson . This a shift of Government Policy by Boris Johnson . They are insisting that it isnt. I think anything which talks about a close alliance with america, with Foreign Military action, is obviously going to be a Dividing Line between the government, betweenJeremy Corbyn and the Liberal Democrats. There is no legal requirement for governments to get parliamentary approval before taking Military Action, but that convention has grown up really, particularly since tony blair and the iraq invasion. Of course, people like David Cameron lost votes on syrian action. But today, the Prime Minister too, theresa may, out campaigning in derbyshire, she was asked about possible Military Action. Look, this is a hypothetical issue there is are no prosesals on the table for further strikes in syria. We need to look how to bring about a solution in syria that will leaded to a strong and stable syria. That means a political transition. It means a political transition away from President Assad. We have heard from President Assad. We have heard from borisjohnson from President Assad. We have heard from Boris Johnson on jeremy from President Assad. We have heard from borisjohnson onJeremy Corbyn, wading into the election. He hasnt been prominent in the Election Campaign so far. What do you make of what he said today . Boris johnson had people reaching for the dictionary with those comments. The role of borisjohnson in this campaign will be interesting. During the referendum he was out on the bus for the eu to leave the uk andrew large crowds. A lot of people talk about Boris Johnson as large crowds. A lot of people talk about borisjohnson as the conservative who can reach parts of the country that others cant. As we saw today his use of language can be controversial. There will be an issue of leadership here. The conservatives wants there to be one. They point out people are of course choosing the next Prime Minister. They will have to decide too how much they go for mr corbyn and whether, actually, by going in on a personal way for him it could end up backfiring. News that the ukip leader has confirmed he will stand for parliament . There was speculation about whether he would oi speculation about whether he would or wouldnt stand to be an mp this time round. He wont say yet which seat he is going for. He said he will be a seat where we think we can give it a good go. He did stand in the stoke by election. It didnt go well. He came second, labour held on and thes conservatives running him close. The key areas have been the east of england. Unlikely to stand there, maybe the north east, the midlands, hartlepool is one place talked about. Ukip are up against it here. Things have changed so much for them since the election two yea rs for them since the election two years ago. We had the referendum. We are leaving the european union. For many ukip voters its job done. They will have a challenge to carve out a role for themselves. Paul nuttall said he will stand. As leader of ukip it would have been difficult for him to do otherwise. Thank you. As weve been hearing, the Labour Leader has been out campaigning in harlow and has been talking about housing. Labour have pledged to build a million homes overfive years, half of which would be council houses. But the conservatives say they are the party with a clear plan for affordable housing. So how do the figures stack up . Chris morris, of reality check, has been looking at the numbers for us. We can expect all the Political Parties to come out with pledges and targets on how many houses they plan to build throughout the course of the next parliament. But its a notoriously difficult area of policy to get right. So, as we know, labours now pledged to build one million homes over the next five years, half of them affordable, council and Housing Association homes to rent or buy. Is that realistic . Well, since the 19705 there have been on average 160,000 new homes built each year in england. Last year, that figure fell to 140,000 in england and the figure for the whole of the uk was 168,000. But a government white paper, published if february, said the consensus is that we need to build from 225,000 to 275,000 or more homes per yearjust to keep up with Population Growth and to tackle years of under supply. So whos been doing the building . Well, according to official statistics, the last Labour Government built nearly 1. 2 million houses across the uk between march 2004 and march 2010. From april 2020 to march 2016, first the coalition and then the conservative government, built about 874,000 homes. You have to take account of course of the state of the economy at the time. But the biggest need is to make housing more affordable. 20 years ago, working people, on average, were paying around 3. 6 times their annual earnings to buy a home in england and wales. Last year though the average was more than double that, with people having to spend 7. 6 times their annual earnings to buy a property. That difference is down to house prices rising at a much higher rate than earnings. Between 1997 and last year house prices rose by 259 , but average earnings over the same period increased byjust 68 . So thats led to homeownership in england falling to its lowest level since 1985, its now 8 lower than in the peak in 2003. Of course, the people most affected by this are those who are just starting out. Nearly half of all 24 35 year olds in england are renting privately, a figure thats almost doubled over the past decade. Little wonder then that this years white paper referred to a broken Housing Market that is in urgent need of fixing. The former london mayoral candidate, zac goldsmith, has been chosen by the conservatives to stand for parliament in his old constituency of richmond park. Mr goldsmith was ousted as mp by the Liberal Democrats during a by election in december. He had previously left the Conservative Party in protest at the governments backing of a third heathrow runway. The Liberal Democrats have decided not to contest the Brighton Pavilion seat currently held by the only green party mp, caroline lucas. Last week, she called for a Progressive Alliance where parties did not put up candidates in some seats to avoid the vote against the conservatives being split. You can find out more about todays election pledges and the latest on the campaign on our website. Thats bbc. Co. Uk news. This is bbc news at five, the headlines armed police have arrested a man in whitehall suspected of Planning Acts of terrorism. A rucksack and several knives have been recovered from the scene, but no one was injured. The Foreign Secretary has hinted that britain could take Military Action against the Syrian Regime without a vote in parliament. The government has lost a court bid to delay publication of its Air Pollution Strategy until after the general election. Anthony joshua, says his heavyweight, unification fight, is a Stepping Stone to greatness, as he prepares to face Wladimir Klitschko, in front of 90,000 t wembley. Will it be one or maybe both of the manchester clubs who will qualify for next seasons Champions League . The picture could be a lot clearer after tonights derby at the etihad. Maria sharapova wins again she reaches the quarter finals in stuttgart on her return, after her Doping Suspension ill be back with more on those stories. Crime in england and wales has risen in almost every category, according to the latest statistics. Violent crime in particular is up sharply, by 19 . Its the final set of Crime Figures before the general election and our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford, has the details. A brutal attack outside a West Midlands pub last month by half a dozen men, who are still being sought by police. It appears to have been a targeted attack using a machete, at a time when there are signs claim is on the increase in england and wales, particularly Violent Crime and Crimes Involving knives and guns. The number of offences recorded by police was up 9 . Burglary was up 4 and vehicle crime up 8 , both crimes that had been falling for decades. The office for National Statistics says some of the increases can be explained by changes in Police Record keeping. Any rises that we are seeing are genuine because those improvements stabilised a long time ago. Its not good enough for ons to keep on saying they are to do with improved recording. I really think they must be genuine. One of the biggest concerns in Police Forces at the moment is what seems to be a clear rise in knife and gun crime. More people seem to be Carrying Knives and using them. More guns are being fired. Overall, Violent Crime was up 19 last year. Again, some of that increase can be explained by Record Keeping changes, but Firearms Offences were up 13 and Knife Offences were up 14 . Recent figures from hospitals suggested a dip in serious violent related injuries. A crime expert told me it is too early to know why violence is rising but there are some possible reasons. Speculations would focus around things that we think might be related to crime, like levels of police numbers, cutting services, Mental Health is becoming an important issue raised in Public Awareness during the Election Campaign and is important in relation to crime. The Police Recorded Crime Figures are contradicted by the official crime survey of peoples experiences of crime which appear to be stable , but statisticians believe the survey may be lagging slightly behind. Also out today were separate figures on violence in prison showing a big increase in assaults on staff, self harm, homicide and suicide. Daniel sandford, bbc news. The talks to restore devolved government in Northern Ireland have been formally paused until after the general election. The Power Sharing Executive collapsed in january after a financial scandal involving a Green Energy Scheme. Today the judge who is chairing a Public Inquiry into the Heating Scheme Set out his plans and pledged to investigate accountability for any failings in the setting up of the scheme which threatens to leave the taxpayer almost half a billion out of pocket. Our ireland correspondent, chris page, is in stormont. What is the significance of a pause . Notan what is the significance of a pause . Not an unexpected announcement. When you look at the situation around the general election, before it was called the official deadline here at stormont was early may. With the Election Campaign kicking in you cannot have parties knocking doors in the evening, arguing with each in tv debates and coming together the next day in negotiations here and trying to agree on a programme for government. Realistically, there was no prospect of an agreement here between the parties as long as the general Election Campaign was going on. So today the Northern Ireland secretary said that the government, along with the Irish Government and the five biggest parties here had agreed to pause the talks process until after the general election. They will come back to the Negotiating Table after the election on the 8th june Negotiating Table after the election on the 8thjune and they will have a period of three weeks to come to an agreement. The new deadline for agreement. The new deadline for agreement between the parties is the 2 th june. Agreement between the parties is the 2 thjune. Sources here this afternoon are saying there are big gaps between the parties. On the scandal, what have we learnt today about the inquiry into it and what went wrong with it . This is as complex as it was controversial. The Green Energy Scheme is called renewable heat incentive. It was to encourage companies to advance to fossil fuels to environmentally friendly fuels. The projected overspend was £500,000,000. It was known as the earn as you burn scandal. Ajudge known as the earn as you burn scandal. A judge is known as the earn as you burn scandal. Ajudge is looking has been set up to look into it. He expects public hearings to begin in the autumn. Before then it he will begin the process of gathering 100,000 documents. Its clear it will be a complicated and lengthy process. One of the significant points in that, sinn fein said they wont serve in a Stormont Executive led by the dup leader Arlene Foster as First Minister as her role will be investigated by the inquiry. She was involved in running the scheme. That suggests that particular red line is going to preclude a devolved government being formed here for quite some months yet. Many thanks. The governments been ordered to produce its plans to tackle Air Pollution before the general election. Ministers had applied to the high court to delay publication until after the poll on the 8thjune, arguing it would fall foul of election purdah rules. But the judge said it was a matter of Public Health and ruled that the draft plans must be released by the ninth of may. Rod goer a setback for the government . Yes. Not the first. The fourth time they have been pushed back in the court. They came here said that purdah rules should override any need to publish. They had been instructed to publish in the first case by the same judge that heard this case this afternoon. They were challenging his ruling on that. He gave them short shift. The government made their case that it would be too sensitive and particularly in local election areas where there might be some contentious issues over diesel vehicles. Judge said he had heard their case. He accepted the bit about local government elections. He agreed for the publication to be slipped back injust agreed for the publication to be slipped back in just after that. On the other issue he made it very clear, he said purdah rules are a convention. They are not the law, they do not override the law and you, dear government, are not going to override myjudgement that you have to publish as soon as possible. Another setback, as you say, james thornton, the chief executive that took the cases against the government was understandably delighted. The judge government was understandably delighted. Thejudge listened government was understandably delighted. The judge listened to the governments claims it needed to delay taking care of Public Health. He rejected them vigorously and is keeping the government to the deadline to release the final plan on 31stjuly. We deadline to release the final plan on 31st july. We are deadline to release the final plan on 31stjuly. We are going to see the Public Health taken care of. The government said it will appeal. We would urge the government knott to appeal, but to get on clean up the airand take care appeal, but to get on clean up the air and take care of the public. Appeal, but to get on clean up the air and take care of the publicm was said the government was going to appeal. We dont quite know wret yet whether the government will appeal. They sought leave today through their barrister to appeal. The judge gave them a limited time scale until which they could do that. We have yet to hear what the government will do. Today is certainly yet another setback for them. Rod goer, many thanks, indeed. Our environmental a nalyst thanks, indeed. Our environmental analyst there. This is bbc news at five, coming up anthonyjoshua and Wladimir Klitschko face up to each other before their heavyweight title fight on saturday. Getting stuck into a good book. Last year Saw Record Sales with readers turning back to paper as ebooks saw a fall in popularity. Time for a look at the weather, heres louise lear. A couple of days to go before the end of the month. Most of the showers today have been across the eastern half of the uk and there is a cluster around. You might get soggy on the way home from work. That could be a shock to the system in comparison to recent days and weeks. A few showers will drift their way south and west overnight tonight and act like a blanket really. It will prevent temperatures from falling too far. That is welcome news. It will not be as cool a start to friday morning as the morningsjust as cool a start to friday morning as the mornings just past. As cool a start to friday morning as the morningsjust past. There as cool a start to friday morning as the mornings just past. There will beafairamount the mornings just past. There will be a fair amount of cloud around. Most of the showers starting off in wales and the south west, one or two cropping up in the west. Isolated through the day. A quiet day with sunny spells and temperatures recovering, 8 13 degrees the high. Rain in the forecast for the bank holiday weekend. Not on saturday. It looks likely to be the better day of the long weekend with dry, sunny spells, getting increasingly breezy by the end of the day out to the south west with rain arriving overnight saturday into sunday. Some of it could be heavy. This is bbc news at 5pm. The headlines a 27 year old man is arrested in whitehall by armed officers after an Intelligence Led Operation. Several knives were discovered at the scene. The Prime Minister who wasnt in Downing Street at the time is being kept informed of developments. I think it shows that our police and Intelligence Security services are on the alert as they always are and are looking to keep us safe and secure. The Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, says britain could take Military Action against the Syrian Regime regime without a vote in the house of commons. The Labour LeaderJeremy Corbyn has insisted that uk must work through the United Nations to find a political settlement in syria. The government loses a court bid to delay publication of its Air Pollution Strategy until after the general election. New figures show a big rise in Violent Crime in england and wales, with knife crime at its highest level for six years. Now lets get the sport news with mike bushell. Good evening. It doesnt happen often, but theres a Manchester Derby on a thursday, this evening, as city and united meet at the etihad, with a Champions League spot, the best these sides can hope for now. Andy swiss is there for us. Andy Pep Guardiola and jose mourinho, will presumably, have had maybe higher expectations, than just reaching the top four, when they took charge last summer . Thats right, it seems a long time ago that these two teams met at old trafford in september. Both with 100 records going into that match. City won it 2 1 but we thought they would be competing for the title this stage of the season rather than for fourth place. With this stage of the season rather than forfourth place. With Champions League qualification at stake still so much for these two teams to play for. United one point behind city at the moment, they will leapfrog them with a victory tonight into fourth place. The first time they would have been in the top four since september. United in an impressive run of form, unbeaten in their last 23 league matches. They have won their last three league games but they have a number of injury problems. Zlatan ibrahimovic is out for the rest of the season, marcos rojo also out injured. And paul pogba. They will be hoping to bounce back, city, from their fa cup semifinal defeat. Anthony joshua says his heavyweight unification bout with Wladimir Klitschko is a Stepping Stone to greatness as he prepares to fight in front of 90,000 fan at wembley on saturday night. Hes been facing the two time World Champion today as well. At the pre fight press conference. Klitschko admits this is a rare occasion when hes not the favourite but has still predicted the fight. In a slightly unusual way. Iama i am a challenger again. Ifeel young, hungry, humble and totally obsessed. On this stick, i recorded a video last week and the outcome of the fight. This stick is going to be integrated in my robe which i am going to wear this saturday night, sealed. Do not ask me, after the fight, what is on this stick. Even though its such an amazing event, i always try to strip everything back down to reality and focus on it, itjust me and him coming to blows and the best man will win. Im still up very early in the morning and sleeping very late at night, working diligently with my coach to prepare myself and hopefully physically, but mentally to prepare for any battle. Thats why i enjoy the sport and take it seriously. April 29 isjust another Stepping Stone towards greatness. After her win in stuttgart yesterday in her first match since her Doping Suspension, Maria Sharapova has won again against another russian, ekaterina makarova. The former world number one won the first set 7 5, the third successive set she has won in her comeback and she went on to comfortably win the second, 6 1 to clinch her place in the next round. Andy murray is up against feliciano lopez. Finally the latest from the World Snooker championship, and ding junhui leads defending champion mark selby 5 3 after the first session. But it was selby who had the early momentum, playing shots like this, to take a 3 2 lead. Ding managed to re group, and ended strongly winning, the final three frames the last of which, was a century of 110. They will resume tomorrow at 10am. John higgins faces Barry Hawkins in the other semi this evening. Some news coming into us, french investigators have confirmed they have opened an investigation into the Bidding Process for the 2018 and 2022 world cups and also the former fifa president sepp blatter has been questioned. More on that in sportsday at 6 30pm. Lets return now to the incident in Central London this afternoon when armed Police Arrested a man on suspicion of planning an act of terrorism. Knives were found at the scene and a rucksack also. With me now to tell us more is our security correspondent frank gardner. Police said this was an Intelligence Led Operation. It was initially confusing because we were told it was a stop and search but this was not random. It was someone in the police and m15 were aware for some time. It was an Intelligence Led Operation and i think they had been following him and knew where he was going and probably suspected what he had in his rucksack. Although it was, drafted at the time, he was arrested and wrestled to the ground, right outside the door of the treasury, really yards, metres from the entrance to Downing Street. The Prime Minister is not in london but away campaigning. He didnt seemed off any great resistance and you see the pictures, he almost appears to be smiling. He is very calm and he wasnt shouting or anything like that. This could potentially have been very different given the fact he was carrying offensive weapons. The investigation carried out, he is being held at a south London Police station and investigated. Inevitably, because this is happening five weeks after the serious Terrorist Attack in whitehall in which five people plus the attacker were killed, its been taken very seriously. People are a little jittery. The police taken very seriously. People are a littlejittery. The police reacted quickly, no one was in injured. The suspect had a slight injury to his right hand. He is being held under suspicion of what is called the preparation, instigation of a Terrorist Attack. The Prime Minister has said it shows the Security Services, Intelligence Services, the police are on alert. We know after the westminster attack, we talked about how hard it is for them to keep everyone under surveillance. About how hard it is for them to keep everyone under surveillancem comes down to numbers. The last figure that has been made public by mis figure that has been made public by m15 was approximately 3000 people who they are aware of in this country who are known to have links or affiliations or sympathies with international terrorism. That doesnt mean to say that any of them have broken the law, these are just people that perhaps have been eavesdropped on or have perhaps said something on social media even. They cant follow them all, they dont have the resources. So they have to concentrate their resources along with the police, on the people they think are most likely of committing a violent act. Its not a precise science. The london bombings were the blackest day for them. They have got better since then but they have warned they will not be perfect every time. Thank you. Lets return now to comments earlier by the Foreign Secretary, borisjohnson, when he suggested that britain could take Military Action in syria without a vote in the house of commons. Lets hear what he said. I think it would be very difficult to the United States have a proposal to the United States have a proposal to have some sort of action in response to a chemical weapons attack. And if they come to us and ask for our support, whatever it happens to be, in my view, and i know this is the view of the Prime Minister, it would be very difficult for us to say no. It would have to go to the commons. I think that needs to be tested. I think it would be very difficult for us to say no. Joining me now from dorchester is henry hogger former uk ambassador to syria between 2000 and 2003. Thank you for being with us. Does this sound you Laetitia Beck dot british double policy, the idea floated by the Foreign Secretary that it might not be necessary to consult mps about an attack on the Syrian Regime . I must say that my first reaction is that its a bit of a storm in a teacup. I say that because first of all, i dont see the likelihood of any such request from the Us Administration at the moment. President trump seems to be entirely concentrating on the situation in north korea, briefing the entire senate and other activities and there hasnt been, thank goodness, another Chemical Attack by the Syrian Regime on its own people, not that they are not doing some otherfairly own people, not that they are not doing some other fairly horrible things like attacking hospitals and so on. Secondly, its a little bit difficult frankly to see how a country thats capable of reigning dozens country thats capable of reigning d oze ns of country thats capable of reigning dozens of Cruise Missiles down on an airbase in syria, what kind of help they would need from a country which at the moment seems to have Difficulty Mustering an Aircraft Carrier with aircraft on it. But i suppose, as is the past, the americans might want british help, diplomatically to show it is not just the us acting alone . I think just the us acting alone . Ithink im just the us acting alone . I think im correct in recording that the british government, when President Trump did order an attack on the syrian airbase, that the government broke up in support of that action, which i suppose you could count as diplomatic action. But at the moment, it seems a slightly hypothetical situation and of course, i noted this morning as well that parliament is actually adjourned for six weeks until the election so i guess the issue of consultation in parliament might be rather difficult. Whatever mr johnson says about speaking up on the half of the Prime Minister, im sure there will be a lot of consultation in the government. As a former ambassador to syria, do you think President Assad will take much notice of punitive air strikes . A lot of people say president obama let the assad regime get away with a lot of things. I think that second point is perhaps a little bit overlooking some of the facts, namely that what did turn out after that episode, you will remember it was the British Parliament initially that voted against such a reaction that voted against such a reaction that led president obama to drop the idea, but the threat of us Military Action did in fact lead to an agreement brokered by russia for the Syrian Regime to get rid of its chemical weapons. Unfortunately, as events have unfolded, they turned out to be being disingenuous about it and they obviously didnt scrap all of them. This time, you have a president who clearly is resolved to ta ke president who clearly is resolved to take action and as i said before, whether its Cause And Effect or not, we havent heard of another Chemical Attack by the Syrian Regime, within syria and of course its to be hoped that remains the situation. Many thanks forjoining us. Thejury at the jury at the inquest of the death of Antiques Road Show expert alex gibson what has confirmed she died from a Brain Injury Due to Cardiac Arrest. She died in November 2000 12, five weeks after giving birth. Our correspondent is in west london coroners chord with the latest. What has been said . It took the jury here five hours to come to their conclusions in what has been a three week inquest looking into the death of alex gibson watt. Her husband had described a deeply traumatic evening when his wife began wailing and crawling around on their Bedroom Floor before going to pick up their baby, shaking her and shouting that she was dead. He obviously phoned Emergency Services who took her away in an ambulance. Alice had to be restrained. She was then taken to the west london Mental Health trust, the lakeside unit, where it was confirmed she had postpa rtu m where it was confirmed she had postpartum psychosis. It is a very rare psychotic condition, affecting around one in 1000 new mothers. It needs immediate attention. While she was there, alice suffered from a Cardiac Arrest and later died. The jury Cardiac Arrest and later died. The jury today concluded that neglect and gross failures by the medical tea m and gross failures by the medical team about Mental Health unit contributed to alices death and in their conclusions, they said that staff were not fast enough in carrying out cpr on her and they didnt use the defibrillator available in the room. We have had a statement from alices Husband Anthony who has been sitting throughout this inquest every day and he has said, it will never bring alice back but it has given us a better understanding of how she came to die and in time, that may help us move forward. He has also said during the inquest, that he wants his own daughter up one day to be told how wonderful her mother is. Thank you. Some of the other stories making bbc news at 5pm. Royal marine alexander blackman, who shot dead an injured taliban fighter in afghanistan, will be released from prison tomorrow. His sentence was cut after his murder conviction was reduced to manslaughter. He has already served three and a half years in jail. A 19 year old man has pleaded guilty to planning to carry out a bomb attack in london. Haroon syed, from hounslow in west london, was caught chatting to undercover british agents online as he tried to get hold of weapons. Its thought an Eltonjohn Concert In Hyde Park may have been one of his targets. The online retailer, amazon, says it is creating 1,200 jobs at a new warehouse in cheshire. The company says it is recruiting for managers, engineers, Human Resources and It Specialists for the site, which will open in warrington this autumn. Its one of four new centres the us company will open in the uk this year. Researchers say a simple eye test could lead to much earlier detection of a condition that causes irreversible sight loss. The test involves injecting a special Fluorescent Marker into the patient. Diagnosing glaucoma sooner would mean patients could start treatment before their vision gets worse. Heres our Health Correspondent jane dreaper. Francescas eyesight is crucial for her work as an artist. Glaucoma develops slowly over many years. Theres no cure, but doctors in london believe this new injection will eventually help patients to get diagnosed and treated much sooner. To lose ones eyesight early or later is devastating, really, especially if you have an artistic background. But this sort of gave you hope that they could monitor the condition, and then, if need be, they could give you drops, which would slow it down slightly. Glaucoma is more common as you get older. It affects 600,000 people in the uk. If left untreated, nerve cells in the retina die, leading to sight loss. The new test uses a special Fluorescent Marker to highlight the failing cells, potentially revolutionising treatment. In glaucoma, we believe its ten years between a visual defect being identified and when the actual process starts. That ten year delay could mean that you have delayed starting treatment at the time when its most accessible to treatment, and when you could even prevent vision loss occurring in the first place. These white spots are where the glaucoma is showing up. The new test is cheap and exciting, notjust because it could help save peoples sight. The scientists believe that in the future it could also be used to detect when nerve cells are dying because of other illnesses, such as alzheimers or parkinsons. Francesca wants to save her sight from deteriorating, and shes hopeful the new test will help many other people too. Todays results are from a trial which involved just 16 people, but the researchers are already working with many more volunteers in the hope this work can fulfil its promise. Venezuela says its pulling out of the Organisation Of American States accusing it of interfering in its internal affairs. Its neighbours have expressed growing concern in the mounting u nrest growing concern in the mounting unrest in the country. They were more demonstrations yesterday calling for early elections. The us Carrier United Airlines has announced big changes in the way it deals with passengers. That is after there was International Outrage when they took a man off the plane. The Company Also Announced it would no longerforce Company Also Announced it would no longer force people off its flights when it sells too many tickets. This is bbc news at 5pm, our latest headlines armed police have arrested a man in whitehall, suspected of Planning Acts of terrorism. Several knives and a rucksack was recovered from the scene but no one was injured. The Foreign Secretary has said britain could take Military Action against the Syrian Regime without a vote in parliament. The government has lost a court bid to delay publication of its Air Pollution Strategy until after the general election. Update on the latest Market Numbers for you. Nasas Cassini Spacecraft is sending data back to earth after diving through the narrow gap between saturn and its spectacular rings. Its the first of 22 dives planned over the next five months and its aim is to gather ultra high quality data. The mission is not without risk though because cassini is travelling at over 70,000 miles an hour and if it hits even a tiny ice or Rock Particle it could do a considerable amount of damage. Our Science Correspondent Rebecca Morelle reports. A daring mission, deep in our solar system. Nasas Cassini Spacecraft travelling at 100,000 kilometres an hour has just plunged between saturn and its icy rings. Taking us closer to this giant world than ever before. At mission hq in california, Celebrations Scientists received the news that the manoeuvre had worked. And these are the ultra close up images the spacecraft has just sent back. A colossal storm raging on the planets surface and drifting clouds in its atmosphere. I was waiting with bated breath to make sure the spacecraft was ok and the data was coming back. This is the first time any spacecraft has been this close to saturn and youre crossing the rings essentially, but hopefully in a gap, where theres no ring material. But its never been done before. This is the first of 22 times were doing this. Our understanding of saturn has already been radically transformed by the cassini mission. Its been in space for 20 years taking countless stunning images and revealing dozens of saturns moons from hyperion to enceladus with its icy crust. But now its the beginning of the end for the spacecraft. After so long in space its running out of fuel. In the coming months it will perform more sweeps through the ring system, before a final death dive into saturns atmosphere to bring the mission to a close. It seems that when it comes to books, we like them to be nonfiction and made of paper. Figures from the Publishers Association show 2016 was a record year for book sales though fiction fell by 7 , and we seem to be falling out of love with ebooks, which showed continued decline. Instead, readers flocked to fitness and self help books. Andy moore has the details. The Publishing Industry says it has an exciting tale to tell of rising sales, both at home and abroad, with one interesting twist in the plot. So it seems the death of Old Fashioned books, printed on paper, has been overwritten. Sales of books like this are up by 8 . Sales of electronic books are down by 3 . For lovers of traditional books, there really is no competition. A physical book every time. Its the experience and its just an absolute joy to take yourself away from the world and just enjoy that book and the smell and feel of it. Its got to be a physical book, except if youre going on holiday and youre going to be over the luggage limit. Thats the only time, thats my only reason for not having a real book. The bestselling book of 2016 was harry potter and the cursed child. The vast majority of people bought the paper version. In every aspect of our lives we have screens in front of us, whether it be at work or home and people are choosing to spend time away from them. People are choosing to spend time actually in their leisure moments looking at a book, a printed version. But also really important, when parents want to spend time with their children, they also want to read to them themselves, or they want their children to spend time away from screen. Fiction sales are continuing their downward trend, but sales of childrens books generally are doing well. I think so many things are encouraging that now, grannies, grandads, aunties, uncles are buying books as presents for children to encourage them. Teachers are. The chris evans writing competition all those kinds of things are really promoting reading and literacy and the importance of books and a good story. Thats essentially what kids like a good story. Electronic books still play an important part in our reading experience. They make up about a third of the market. This report shows the traditional book is undergoing something of a revival. Andy moore, bbc news. Time for a look at the weather. Heres louise lear. It was cold this morning but that looks to be a thing of the past as we go through tonight. Plenty of april showers yet again today and most of them have been across the eastern part of the uk. As they drift down into the south east of england, you get perhaps a little bit wet on yourjourney home this evening, they will drift south and west through this evening and overnight. Quite a lot of clout in comparison to the last few nights so it would be quite so cold. Temperatures holding up quite nicely. We start tomorrow not quite so cold. Some cloud around that will clear steadily south and west. Continuing to take a few showers. Generally speaking, a relatively quiet friday, perhaps the best of the sunshine across eastern areas and away from the exposed sea coasts. Feeling pleasant in the sunshine. A scattering of showers tomorrow but in comparison to the last couple of days, hopefully fewer showers and ten bridges responding nicely as well, around eight to 13 degrees. The start of the bank holiday weekend, not quite straightforward. It does look as though saturday is likely to be the best day of the long weekend. Its not a wash out by any means. We start with the good sunshine, the wind picking up, an area of low pressure potentially forming in the south west. Enjoy saturdays weather, dry with some sunny spells coming through and the winds swinging through to a southerly said temperatures responding. It will feel better than it has done this week. By the end of saturday night, the breeze will pick up and the rain arrives in the south. Some of it potentially heavy and persistent. It will probably be welcome news for some desperate gardeners. That frontal system making pretty erratic progress so it will take its time to clear through. It will do so and bank holiday monday, some Showery Rain Clearing to the north and east and some sunshine behind it. A few showers into the south west by the end of the day. Tonight at six another terror alert in westminster. A man is arrested near Downing Street. Armed police moved into the area this afternoon following a Scotland Yard terror investigation. The raid followed intelligence on this man. A rucksack and knives were taken off him. Also on tonights programme a political backlash after Boris Johnsons first intervention in the Election Campaign. He says britain could join a us attack on syria. Even without the consent of parliament. If the americans choose to act again and they ask us to help, as i say, i think it would be very difficult to say no. A court defeat for the government after it tried to delay publishing its plans to tackle illegal Air Pollution. Online bullying. Felix alexander took his own life, now a Childrens Charity says social