coming up. the government loses a third court case over air pollution. this is a national health emergency. more grilling for carillion, this time it's those responsible for pensions and auditing. nobody understands, both staggering out onto the streets. what he comes out as a surprise. they're all paid to go after this. and one mp tells of her cancer tragedy. maybe they can join together across the house and make this vision a reality. and by 2050, no one need die of breast cancer. but first, ministers have been accused of overseeing a public health emergency after the high court ruled its current plan to tackle air pollution was unlawful. on wednesday, campaigners won a third victory over the government. the judge in the case said the current approach in 45 local authority areas wasn't sufficient. he said steps must be taken to comply with the law as soon as possible. the environment minister was asked an urgent question on the matter. while i welcome that the government can be held, and in parliament, the judgement may be too focused on compliance when what we need is a much more detailed, wide—ranging, and practical air—quality plan. clean air should be a right, not a privilege. and we need to hear much more from government now, and to speed up the whole operation of cleaning ourair. we are investing billions of pounds, the uptake of vehicles and specifically in regards to the quality plan, we set aside. nearly half a billion for air quality plans. some on the labour benches demanded urgent action. this is a national health emergency, millions of people could probably die by recent estimates, by 2040, this is not good enough. she must act now. here we find ourselves once again, sending them to the dispatch box, we know that air pollution is responsible for many deaths, each year with cardiovascular diseases within richard deaths. premature. get responsible for premature deaths. air pollution in the uk, resulting in over 20 million and economic costs of a year. the uk is soutinely exceeding legal limits of pollution, the ambient air quality directive. it poses a serious question, is whether this conservative government can be trusted with our environment and dealing with illegal air pollution after the uk he leaves the eu, if that is what we are witnessing here. frankly, we are a direct result of what has happened with the eu spelled an additional testing regime. the actions of certain irresponsible car manufacturers, they're also breaching the air—quality limits. and let us not forget, as i tried to take, i am fed up with the opposition simply not accepting their part of the responsibility. lastly, become it to incentivize business, 2010, 15% of the vehicle sold. i am not saying that the previous ministers do not do things in good faith, but as you found out, labour and ignored advice at diesel fumes were toxic. clean—air is an advantage, we do not want to fall behind, let's make sure that england is in the forefront, socially just, and globally competitive on this issue. if buk leaves the eu, —— if buk leaves the eu they lose their role in monitoring and forcing decent air pollution standards, back in november, the secretary told very early in the new year. when we see that consultation, will nobody be in place before brexit date? and will it have higher environmental standards? 0r full regulatory alignment with the eu, which is what the prime minister has promised her colleagues? we have put in place, the targets for 2020, for key pollutants. parliament, this government is already enacted legislation, and i am pleased that the endorsement approach. i'm saying to the consultation will be forthcoming soon. i am conscious that people are eager, in the meantime, we are not relying on the eu to help with our air quality. therese coffey. a few weeks ago it was the executives of the collapsed construction firm carillion who faced a joint committee of mps on thursday it was the turn of the pensions regulator and the auditors. carillion provided services for schools, hospitals and prisons. it went into liquidation at the beginning of the year, leaving suppliers unpaid. and a hole in the company's pension scheme amounts to nearly a billion pounds. more than a thousand people lost their jobs. and there was widespread disruption among sub—contractors and suppliers. the committee began by asking the pensions regulator what lessons had been learnt. i am looking backwards with the benefit of hindsight, to see what happened, what lessons we can learn from it. you told us you are doing that. we still are. we'll have to do it on the situation as well. the fact is why i'm saying to you, we clearly have to be clearer, quicker, and tougher. the regulators insisted that their work with carillion had resulted in a 16 year recovery plan being put together, and more money being put into the pension fund. negotiating a recovery plan that balances the interests of the members and also the ability of the organisation to address its other obligations, and to deal with its priorities is a key part of this. and it does result and difficult positions, sometimes... if you cannot answer the questions, how many are in this position? how many other schemes were coming before you, we need all this extra years, for paying dividends? how many in a position? i cannot answer that question. this is complicated, numbers over a period of times that change constantly. i'll be happy to send the committee of note, but how many schemes are present in that situation. every week, you should meet your and say, here is what is still being paid huge dividends, what action have you ta ken? been identified there but are very committed staff. i do not doubt that the staff is committed. we expect you to be freshly informed. i can only apologise if you feel that i have not gotten the information available. but a lot of it is complex. and i cannot hold it all in my head. the committee later heard from the big firms who'd audited carillion‘s accounts. there are a lot of people watching this. they are not conversant with how it works. it will be baffled how two major auditors, and the situation arise as it is. we are not the financial accountants, that is not my role as an auditor. we are not financial accountants, we're not pulling the together. he explained theirjob was to look across the business. reports we would look at would be as broad as a driver, driving in alberta has insurance. we would look at a very broad range of issues that carillion based, and i appreciate the conversations around the complex, they're very would you look at the numbers? we do not look at substantive amounts of the you are paid to look the numbers. you are paid to look after this. what single act did you do that you think might have helped save the company? perhaps if i could come back to this again. what single action? did i take it? that i think iam action? did i take it? that i think i am proud of that. if that had been followed it would have saved the company. i am not proud of where the company. i am not proud of where the company has ended up. all that people have lost theirjobs. as you can probably tell, a live in the area andl can probably tell, a live in the area and i see it live on the news every day. i know some of the employees. my role is to be the auditor... independence doesn't allow me to make decisions on behalf of the company. i think it is quite simple, and to me it comes down to this. i would not hire you, because when i read it, i would not know what is actually in my fridge or not. and that is the point of auditing, isn't it? to tell us what is here and what is not. we are telling you what was there though the company's records. 72.9%. if i want to do an audit of my fridge, i'm going to tell you my receipts in the supermarket. and that is not, yet to open and see what is in the fridge. but peter meehan insisted that was what they had done. you're watching thursday in parliament with me, mandy baker. as 11 senior cabinet ministers were arriving at the prime minister's country residence, chequers, to thrash out the government's approach to the uk's future relationship with the eu, the brexit minister was in the less convivial surroundings of committee room eight for a grilling by the european scrutiny committee. the government has already promised to pay a divorce bill of up to 39 billion pounds. on wednesday, ministers published proposals concerning a transition period after the uk leaves the eu, but they failed to say exactly how long that period would be. if the transition lasts beyond 2020, this could require payments to be made beyond then. therefore, from january 2021, they would then be paid into the eu's new long—term a budget. the net result of this is that the additional costs could run into billions of pounds and the estimate is between 4 billion and 5 billion. we have set out in the uk government views in a period around it to back years is the right period to make sure the right arrangements could be put into place. as you know, the commission currently is a period of 21 months leading up to december 2020. there was no sense on either side of any unlimited duration for this implementation period. indeed, the eu's on documents, i think in the council conclusions of the european town so and the negotiating directors very clear that these be specific, time limited duration. that's exactly what we understood, but it does begin to look, according to some of the noises off, that there is a suggestion that this could be as long as a piece of string and that we go on. you say, strictly... you're shaking your head. i'm glad to see you are shaking your head, but what i'm concerned about is that we get mixed messages. i don't think the public think there's much momentum. there seems to be an awful lot of dragging feet and implementation periods being discussed in great detail before he actually got anything to implement and i share my colleague's question about why we are not actually getting out there and think what we want in which we are going to do and let the eu make a decision whether or not they want to work with us. i think we are getting out there. we had a number of speeches in recent weeks and there will be more to come. i recognise, obviously, we want to get on with the process. concerns have been raised by some brexiteers that the government's document on the transition period cast doubt on whether the uk would be able to trade independently of the eu during that time. what we want to ensure is as per the text... the one published yesterday. we need agreements brought into force during the end of the documentation period. then we have the maximum benefit in the meantime, but we have the maximum benefit from having in independent trade policy. the committee also took issue with the idea that the uk would have to stick to eu laws during the transition period without having a say on them, especially if new laws were brought in. the minister claimed that the uk would've already considered most new laws. the ambassador said britain wouldn't lose its voice. we will continue to express our views. impact upon colleagues thinking without being a formal member of the eu. they bought want to hear our views as we are big and important. big and important security player. our views don't matter any more and that her voice fall silent is what we don't want. the uk's ambassador to the eu, sir tim barrow. one of the 11 members of the cabinet‘s brexit sub—committee is liam fox. but his departure for chequers was delayed by international trade questions which took place first thing in the commons. he told mps the government intended to keep the benefits of eu free trade deals after brexit. but labour wanted more details. the secretary of state has told us he plans to replicate all of the provisions of the trade agreement the uk has as a member of the eu with norway, switzerland and turkey. these provisions include free movement of people in the cases of norway and switzerland, and a customs union with turkey. can he confirm, is it the government's policy to replicate all of these provisions? in a deep transition arrangements we had, we made it clear that the key element discontinuity. until we create bespoke arrangements with these countries, then we will continue the provisions that existed today. the norwegians have a saying that, nothing is in as much of a hurry as a dead fish on the back of a lorry. like norway... take a minute. like norway, scotland exports most of the fish it catches to the european union. and that is why norway has chosen to be a member of the single market. in particular, to avoid nontariff barriers to beat fish can cross borders quickly. what assessment has he made of the impact of leaving the single market on the scottish fishing industry? first thing to point out is of course, the majority of scotland's exports go to the rest of the uk. not to the eu. before the honourable lady talks about the value of a single market, it isjust worth pointing out that despite our membership of the single market, we have had a growing trade deficit with the european union. we headed growing traits of a submersible. we want to establish conditions for all of the experts from all parts of the united kingdom can access the rest of the world. 90% of global growth in the next few years will be outside of europe. liam fox. the foreign office minister has called on the assad regime in syria to end what he called the "hell on earth" of eastern ghouta in syria. in recent days, renewed government airstrikes have killed and injured hundreds of people in the rebel enclave. the syrian military says it is trying to liberate the area from terrorists, but it has also been accused of targeting civilians. lord ahmad said the government was appalled at the siege and bombardment. people are dying from starvation or lack of medical treatment. the united kingdom government has continued to press the regime and its enablers to all international forums to and this unbreakable situation and we call on russia to agree a un security council resolution for humanitarian access later today. we are witnessing a crisis unfold in front of us with more than 300 people already killed in the last few hours. a much larger numbers of innocent civilians who have been injured and the mentor. hospitals taken deliberately bide targets. if the cease—fire is agreed and implemented, what plans does the government have to help with the evacuation of those who have been injured in the provision of humanitarian aid? if this cease fire is not agreed or implemented, what plans does the government have to put further pressure on the assad regime to stop this terrible suffering that has been going on? lord ahmad said un agencies were ready to evacuate people if a ceasefire were to be agreed, but if it were not. let me assure all noble lords we will continue to press and not just the syrian regime, abolishes. russia has a role in this. they are backers of the assad regime. we will continue to press russia for an early resolution. there is no doubt that some of the opposition are not democratic opposition parties. they're far from it. some of them worse than daesh. they are really bad, some of them. does that minister not agree you have to be very careful in making judgements? there are no good guys in this. there are victims, but there are no good guys. both sides are horrible and we need to be very careful about making judgements. we've got to try and get a balanced answer to help the victims. a former liberal democrat leader said syrian civilians were being subjected to war crimes. isn't it right now to remember that based on the nuremberg principle that those who preside over the commission of war crimes or are complicit in their being used are as guilty as those who actually commit them? i think the noble lord is right to raise the issue. history resets us many lessons. anyone who has responsibility in bringing about the end or cessation of the violence in syria or the civil war should make every effort to do so. i totally agree. there are good guys, it is the civilians of syria and we must bring peace for their sake. lord ahmad. last year, a new legal requirement was agreed to make companies with more than 250 employees publish data showing any gender pay gap they have. employers were given 12 months to get their ducks in a row, but with only a matter of weeks to go, it seems many firms are dragging their heels. the ministerfor women and equalities updated the commons on the progress that had been made. so far, more than 7,500 employers have registered their intention... 1,000 have published their data. the most recent of publicly available on the website. there is still over a month until the public and private sector deadlines and we expect reporting activity to increase significantly in the run—up to the dates. only 1,000 companies have published the data. what is the government going to do to up that figure and insure companies are fulfilling their obligations of this data so we get the full picture? as been introduced by conservative government. we will be contacting private sector companies and public sector organisations to make sure they do report. this is an important first step. only 1,000 so far, more to go to be deadly. i would urge the honourable gentleman not to make the perfect the enemy of the good. businesses have gotjust two businesses have got just two weeks to file their gender pay gap reports. it is due to some excellent investigative journalism from the financial times that some businesses have filed incorrect data. if this is done incorrectly, what would my right honourable friend her right honourable friend said she would be talking to the equality and human rights commission, which has the power to enforce rules around the reporting. but other mps were concerned about submissions. 0ne challenge that we face is employers sometimes deliberately conflating fair play with equal pay to avoid scrutiny of their conduct. a prime offender is the bbc. 70 mp5 wrote to the secretary of state for culture to ask him to use his power to ensure equal opportunity for both men and women at the corporation to be heard on this subject. given he has refused, will she exercise her freedom of speech and have a word? when the minister has a word with the bbc, will it be her contention that it is the men that are overpaid or that women are underpaid? with reference to the bbc and the gender pay gap, i have also been looking at the diversity and background of the senior management at the corporation and unfortunately, they won't play ball and give me the information. will the secretary of state have a word? i thank the honourable gentleman for his questions. it looks like i'm going to have a few things to take forward with them. i look forward to coming back and setting out what those conversations have revealed. amber rudd in her role as minister for women and equalities. and finally, there were moving scenes in the commons as mps discussed cancer strategy. as in all walks of life, many politicians have been affected by cancer. and one of them was labour's karen lee. my lindsay was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in april, 2010. she died just 13 months later. she was a very bright girl. she had a degree in politics. she worked with underprivileged children. she had a husband and three small children. they were two, four and seven when she died. she was treated at nottingham city hospital under dr chan. should chemotherapy, radiotherapy and a mastectomy. her treatment was just amazing. they couldn't have been better. as well as that she came home for the final three weeks of her die and the final three weeks of her die and the team that came in to support me and her husband, mike, werejust amazing too. i can never thank them enough. my daughter used to say to me because i used to say to her, i had so much of my life, more than you. i wish it could be me. she used to say, mum, i wish it could be no one. i think as parliamentarians we have the power to influence this and change it and maybe we canjoin together across this house and make breast cancer a thing of the past. by 2050, nobody need die from breast cancer. and as the next speaker rose, mps rushed over to comfort karen lee, sitting on the second row of the labour benches on the right of the picture. something the health minister noted. there's always one person that leaves not a dry eye in the house and that today was the honourable lady for lincoln. i knows she's not in her place now and i don't blame her, but i think the whole house wanted to run over and give her a hug and many of the labour members did. bless them for doing that. the house in its own individual way gave her a collective hug. and that touching note brings us to the ned of the programme. hello there. we've been talking about the fact colder weather is on the way. that colder weather is on the way. that cold feel is really going to start to bite over the next few days. for friday, cold, a frosty start, yes, but then we'll see some good spells on sunshine. a bit more cloud creeping in across eastern england perhaps producing the odd light rain showers. the wind is picking up in the south as well. that's going to acce ntu re the south as well. that's going to accenture wait a cold feel, 5—7 on the thermometer, add on the strength of the wind and it will feel a bit colder than that. saturday, a similar day, cold frosty start and then we see some spells of sunshine, some areas of cloud floating around but generally blue skies overhead for most. that wind increasingly biting so again quite a cold feel in date. temperatures will continue to dip away as we head on through sunday and monday. still a lot of dry weather around but as we get deeper into next week, there's the increasing risk of seeing some snow showers. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories: no progress on a ceasefire for syria, and the attacks in eastern ghouta continue. america's gun lobby hits back, accusing its critics of exploiting the florida school shooting for political gain. president trump's former campaign chair is charged with tax fraud and money laundering relating to his work in ukraine. and arrests in argentina after nearly 400 kilos of cocaine is found inside the russian embassy.