05/04/2017 Breakfast

This is Breakfast, with Charlie Stayt and Louise

International outrage over a suspected gas attack on rebels

in Syria, which killed more than 50 people.

Washington has accused the Assad regime of barbarism.

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency session later.

Good morning. It's Wednesday, 5th April.

Could diesel drivers be compensated for pollution charges planned

Prince Harry pledges to finish the job his mother began to rid

The UK still isn't as productive as other developed countries, so should

we be working smarter and not just harder to solve the productivity

puzzle? I'm in Devon this morning to find out.

In sport, the best of the night's Premier League action

Including Zlatan Ibrahimovic's injury time penalty which saves

50 years on from the Summer of Love and the release

of Sergeant Pepper's, we ask if, in the words of the Beatles,

It can't get no worse, as The Beatles said in 1967!

A chilly start with a touch of frost, but there is sunshine around.

More cloud building from the north-west, with the winds easing in

the far north-west of is Sunderland. The UN Security Council will hold

an emergency session later to discuss a suspected

chemical attack in Syria, which is reported to have

killed at least 58 people, Washington has accused the Assad

regime of "barbarism", but officials in Damascus have

denied using chemical weapons. The US, Britain and France have

called on the United Nations You may find images in

Sarah Corker's report distressing. Hundreds of innocent Syrians,

including many children, struggling to breathe after a suspected

chemical attack in Idlib province. Distressing images and evidence that

will no doubt dominate emergency talks held by the UN security

council later today. Global leaders have called for a rapid

investigation into what happened here. Some of the injured were

treated across the border in Turkey. Medics wore face masks to protect

themselves from the toxic gases. TRANSLATION: We were affected by the

gas. We couldn't stand up. I felt dizzy and sick. I suffered from

shortness of breath. I couldn't breathe. This apparent chemical

strike on a rebel held town has brought furious international

reaction. The US, Britain and France have all blamed the Syrian

government for the attack. I'm appalled by the reports that there's

been a chemical web and attack on a town south of Idlib, allegedly by

the Syrian regime. We condemn the use of chemical weapons in all

circumstances. If proven this will be further evidence of the barbarism

of the Syrian regime. Using chemical weapons is a war crime. President

Assad's regime denied launching Tuesday's attack, echoing denials it

has made over the course of Syria's six year civil war. And just as

doctors were treating those who survived, the hospital was hit by an

airstrike. The attack will overshadow an international

conference in Brussels later, discussing aid effort in Syria.

Thousands of civilians are still trapped by fighting. What effective

action can international community now take to prevent a repeat of

this? In just over one hour we will get

more information on this. We will speak to a professor of

environmental toxicology. The Prime Minister has indicated

that free movement of EU citizens across British borders may have

to continue in some form Theresa May was speaking

to reporters during the final leg Our political correspondent,

Eleanor Garnier, joins What's really interesting is the

time that we are getting from ministers as they are discussing

immigration policy. Suggestions of a sharp cut in EU migration after

Brexit, seemed to have I think given way to more caveat qualification. As

the Prime Minister goes into these negotiations of course the key

question is what Britain's immigration policy will look like.

That's why she was pressed on issue by journalists on her trip to the

Gulf. She said free movement or curbs on free movement would not

come into force straightaway, that there would need to be a phase of

implementation, so that businesses and the government too would have

time to adjust to the new rules. She did insist that what was good about

Brexit was that borders and immigration policy would come under

British control. Clearly she has left open the possibility that

freedom of movement might continue, at least temporarily. We know that

the talks now have two years to be completed. Many have said that the

talks are going to be tough, so I think what we are going to be seeing

now is the government and the Prime Minister if you like showing a bit

of give and take, a bit of compromise, that is probably going

to be needed if the government is going to succeed in its mission to

make Brexit a success. Thank you. Labour has failed the Jewish

community by not expelling Ken Livingstone from the party,

according to the Chief Rabbi The former Mayor of London

was yesterday given a further one-year suspension for claiming

Hitler supported Zionism The US military has confirmed that

North Korea fired a medium-range ballistic missile into the Sea

off Japan overnight. The launch comes on the eve

of a visit by China's President Xi Jinping to the United States

to meet President Trump. The two will discuss how

to curb North Korea's Drivers of diesel cars

who are facing new charges and restrictions in cities

across the UK could receive The government is expected to reveal

a new plan to improve air quality later this month and this morning

there are hints that motorists could receive support in switching

to cleaner vehicles. When buying a new card to you go

diesel or petrol? It can be confusing and is possibly a bit of a

gamble. A lower vehicle tax introduced by the then Chancellor

Gordon Brown has encouraged motorists to opt for diesel. It is

regarded as more economical and, in terms of carbon dioxide emissions,

less harmful. Here is a diesel car being tested. It meets the required

standard. But there is increasing concern that diesel cars have met

dangerous levels of nitrogen dioxide, thought to have caused

thousands of premature deaths in the UK. Air pollution limits have been

repeatedly exceeded in places, including Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow

and London. Tell me what this is! The London mayor described the

city's air as lethal. In proposals he says all but the newest diesel

cars will face a charge to drive in the city's emission zone. The Prime

Minister appeared to be offering help for diesel owners. She told

reporters: I am very conscious of the fact that past governments have

encouraged people to buy diesel cars and we need to take that into

account when we're looking at what we do in the future. The government

has required to produce a new air quality plant later this month. It

comes after the European Commission sent a final warning over breaches

of legal air pollution limits in the UK.

A child has suffered life-threatening injuries

The attack happened in Chatham yesterday afternoon.

Two people have been arrested over the incident and the dog was shot

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will attend what is called a

congregation of hope and reconciliation. About 200 people are

expected to attend the event at Westminster Valley. Families of the

victims, faith leaders and first responders will be amongst the

guests. Back to our main story now and news

of a chemical attack in Syria, which has claimed the lives

of at least 58 people. It came on the eve of a major

international summit in Brussels Let's speak now to our

correspondent Ben James, Let's talk a little bit about the

incident itself. There is some horrendous information coming out

about it. Awful pictures, awful footage that has emerged when this

is said to have happened, first thing yesterday morning in the town

of Khan Sheikhoun, an opposition held part of the north-west of

Syria. There are accounts of people suffocating, choking, lots of

pictures of children being treated for breathing difficulties, some

foaming at the mouth. Many around the world, including the White

House, talking about President Assad's government being responsible

for this. This is an area that has been under bombardment from Syrian

and Russian forces, but we are getting this statement in the last

few hours from the Russian defence ministry, saying that there was a

Syrian strike on this area, but it hit a workshop for the production of

lined minds filled with poisonous substances. -- landmines. The

Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons last year put

together a report that cited three incidents where there was evidence

of the Syrian government using chemical weapons, using chlorine in

the conflict. Also the so-called Islamic State using mustard gas, but

not the groups operating in this part of Syria. You will also

remember back in 2013 a big conversation around chemical weapons

that ended up with President Assad's government agreeing to a deal

brokered by the United States and Russia to decommission and declares

the piles of such weapons. -- declared stockpiles. That was said

to have been completed at the beginning of last year, but what

opposition forces will say is that some of those weapons were

potentially not declared and may have been used here. Later today the

UN Security Council will khamsin in a meeting to talk about what

happened and discuss a response to it. -- convene in a meeting. Thank

you. Prince Harry has pledged to help rid

the world of landmines by 2025. He's backing the world's

two leading charities, which were supported by his mother,

Diana, Princess of Wales. In a speech last night Harry

said he wanted to "finish the job and rid the planet of landmines",

as our royal correspondent It was one of the many images of her

that caught the world's attention. Diana, Princess of Wales, a matter

of months before her death, visiting a mine clearance operation in

Angola. She couldn't understand why the world was doing more and she

said so. I committed to supporting in whatever way I can... Her

intervention upset some politicians who called her ill informed. A few

months later Diana was dead. But the world had heard. The treaty was

passed, real progress was made. Forward now to 2017 and it is her

son Harry who is challenging the world to finish his mother's work.

In August, 1997, one month before her death, Diana went to Bosnia.

There she met two boys, both of whom had lost their legs to landmines.

The one of them, Harry said she had made a promise. When my mother said

goodbye to him that August, just weeks before her untimely death, she

told him that he would not be forgotten. Please, help me keep her

word and other people like them throughout the world. Harry Met the

man and his friend, both now grown men. Both struggling with the life

changing effects of weapons of war, which, as Diana pointed out 20 years

ago, kill and main without discrimination long after the wars

are over. A rare pink diamond has become

the most expensive gemstone ever The 60-carat Pink Star fetched more

than ?57 million at Sotheby's Look at that! Extraordinary.

It does nothing for me. At least you wouldn't lose it down

the plug hole. If you have that money you probably wouldn't be doing

the washing up... We are talking again about this man,

Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He has saved their skin on a number of occasions.

Manchester United left it late to earn a draw in last night's

Premier League match at home to Everton.

Everton scored in the first half, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored

It means United stay fifth in the table.

Sunderland's board gave their support to David Moyes

following comments made to a BBC reporter.

But they remain at the bottom of the Premier League table

after a 2-0 loss to champions Leicester.

Heather Watson wasted two match points before eventually winning in

three sets against her Serbian opponent.

And defending champion Danny Willett hopes a return to the Masters can

He's failed to win a tournament since donning the green

I will be talking more about Danny Willett and his buildup to the

Masters in a newspaper review, because I've got the menu for the

champions Neal. I know what it is at it sounds

great! -- meal. Before that, look at the weather forecast.

Good morning. A chilly started the day, especially in parts of England

and Wales where temperatures in some areas are around freezing, a touch

of frost around, some sunshine too under those clear skies and for most

of the country today it will remain mainly dry as high pressure remains

in charge. You can see the squeeze on the isobars in the far north of

Scotland and Northern Isles, very windy through the night here. Slowly

today we will start to see those winds easing. The other thing you

will notice on the chart is the cloud, that cloud thicken off to

produce showers in Western and Northern Scotland but equally some

breaks in McLeod where we will see sunshine. In northern England, the

north-east has the brakes -- that cloud. A fair bit of cloud towards

the Midlands. The odd spot coming out of that. East Anglia, Kent,

London, the south Midlands, the Isle of Wight, to the south-west, a

beautiful start. Nippy if you're heading out, a touch of frost in

rural areas. South Wales seeing sunshine but north Wales prone to a

bit more cloud first thing and as we go to the Irish Sea and Northern

Ireland, a similar story, more cloud with showers flirting with the north

and west. As we go through the course of the day, we see some of

the cloud filtering further south. Still some holes punched in it, not

a bad afternoon in north-east Scotland and parts of north-east

England and southern counties, including south Wales. Temperatures

today will be highest in the sunshine. In Cardiff we could see 15

or 16, 12 or 13 in north-east England, maybe even 14 around Fife.

Then tonight we will see some frost in parts of eastern Scotland, Wales

and the south-west but that leads us into tomorrow and Friday, similar

weather to what we will see today. Largely dry, sunny spells and

variable amounts of cloud. Heading into the weekend, high pressure is

in scones across much of the country, weather fronts flirting

with the north-west, bringing more cloud at times and also some

showers. -- ensconced. We will pull in our air from the south, turning

much warmer. The highest temperatures in the sunshine are

likely to be across southern, central and eastern parts of England

where we could see highs of 20, even locally 21 or 22. In old muggy that

is 72 Fahrenheit. Perhaps in Aberdeenshire by Sunday that is 17

likely. Out towards the west, more cloud and showers where we have the

weather fronts, and that will suppress temperatures. For most of

the UK on Saturday, largely dry and on Sunday, a similar story but with

higher temperatures and a bit more sunshine across southern, some

Western and some northern areas. If you like it warm it's coming your

way this weekend, especially Sunday, but it won't last.

So disappointing! One little bit of news, looking through the papers,

have you seen the story about your name, it is going out of fashion in

a big way! So upsetting! Thanks, Charlie! A list of names

disappearing fast, amongst them, Carol is one. Sally, Carol and

Nigel. Malcolm is in trouble, the name Clive. I just thought I would

let you know! Charming! Charlie isn't on the list either. There are

loads of Charlize, I know loads of them! -- Charlies. Let's look at the

front pages and what's going on in Syria. Some harrowing images on the

front pages and in some of the reports we will show you this

morning, this is about the chemical attack, many of the casualties we

know now our children and we will talk about that through the morning.

The Telegraph's main story is about diesel, diesel cars will be given

financial help by the government, Theresa May has hinted at this on a

plane journey she was on last night. Cities countrywide preparing to

introduce new taxes on diesel cars and the Duchess of Cambridge at the

opening night of a musical extravaganza last night, 42nd St.

The story about the toxic air is the headline on the Guardian, that is

linked to diesel fumes and emissions we will talk about as well, another

one of those images from Syria on the front page of the Guardian.

Diesel is the lead story for the Mail but they have this photograph,

which is quite extraordinary. This is a Spanish warship. A close pass

is the way we would describe it past Gibraltar yesterday. You can just

see it here, a tiny patrol boat which warned off the ship. It gives

you a sense of what might be going on and what sort of messages people

are trying to send. What have you got for us? I said in the sports

news, a look at Danny Willett's Champion's menu, before the Masters

kicks off tomorrow, they have a Champion's dinner and the reigning

champion from Yorkshire, Danny Willett, got to choose the menu. On

it was a cottage pie for starters followed by roast beef and Yorkshire

putting and then apple crumble to finish. Of course! He said if the

chef doesn't get the Yorkshire puddings right, he will be in the

kitchen, if they go flat then they won't be happy. My mum's Yorkshire

puddings are famously flat, she wouldn't be the one for him! I don't

cook them but having watched I know it is to do with the heat of the

oil! It is all in the timing! Danny Willett kicking off the Masters with

the best type of Yorkshire preparation. I think your OK at the

moment, your name. I've got Catherine Middleton you see. Is it

with a K or a C? With a C. I'm OK for now because it is so popular!

South Sudan is in the grip of a devastating famine,

with more than five million people in desperate need of food.

As civil war rages in the world's youngest country, the humanitarian

It's a place where people now endure a daily

And as Anna Foster reports, South Sudan's only children's

A blown up tank lies abandoned in a field. Children whose job it is to

watch over their family's herds of cows use it as a watchtower. From

conflict to crisis. In the capital city, Juba, the country's only

Children's Hospital is struggling with the numbers of malnourished

children. We admit over 200 everyday and for now it is quite alarming

because there's famine in the country and malnutrition rates are

rising every day and it is now overwhelming. In the north, famine

has been officially declared. Aid agencies are still able to provide

for villages by road at the moment until the rainy season later this

month. Then this for our drive to get aid deliveries brew will be

impossible. In the villages they survive on the bare minimum. This

pot of grain will feed a family of ten for two weeks. Guns are never

far away in South Sudan. We passed a pickup truck full of young children

with rifles, one even carried a rocket propelled grenade. Wherever

you go across Unity State you will find villages like this one,

deserted and abandoned after an attack. Here the soldiers pushed to

the villages out and took it over as a barracks but what it means is all

the crops the villagers might have grown in the field, all the food

they might have preserved and kept for cover times, is completely

wasted, and wherever the people here end up if they survive the attack

means lack of food is a real problem. In Liberty Stadium, this

town was attacked three years ago. 200 people tried to shelter in this

mosque and were killed. Now it's a shanty town. Many living here fled

to a United Nations camp set up to protect them. Built for 60,000, now

more than double that number call it home. UN soldiers patrol to keep the

peace. Aid agencies described this as a man-made famine, a claim

disputed by the government. But nobody disputes the scale of the

problem. Right now there's fighting continuing and we really do need a

unilateral ceasefire from the government, without that and without

the fighting stopping I can't see the situation getting any better.

More people will be displaced, there will be more problems in terms of us

being able to reach them. And the number of people who are at risk

will increase. At the maternity hospital in Bechu,

a baby boy is born into a life surrounded by fences and barbed

wire. Not to keep him but to keep the raging civil war out. And

Foster, BBC News, South Sudan. -- Anna Foster.

Anna Foster in South Sudan and she'll be presenting Drive

on BBC Radio 5Live from there from 4pm this afternoon.

Later we will have a go at driverless cars, looking at the

issue and we will see what progress has been made. I thought we would

have won in the studio the way we were selling it -- you were selling

it -- one in the studio. It's 50 years since the Beatles

recorded Sergeant Pepper's Lonely So all this week we're giving

the record a spin and looking at the legacy of

those iconic tracks. Today we're focusing

on Getting Better and have been to Liverpool to ask whether those

words ring true half a century on. The song itself... Paul McCartney

saying it's getting better but John saying it couldn't get much worse,

that's kind of reflective of the British attitude, stiff upper lip

and we needed more than ever. I think life has changed a lot since

the 60s and seventies. I think in the 60s and 70s people were a lot

more carefree. They weren't money orientated like people are now.

Crime was a lot less. Our children were safer. I think they were

definitely better days. I would have loved to see how life would have

been like in the sixties. But I do enjoy my life now. Things that are

happening around the world are kind of scary but I think that because

it's so awful it is bringing the human race together. It was better

for youngsters then, a lot better for youngsters. I think these days

youngsters are stressed, university, they're always in competition with

their friends, this that and the other. We had nothing to be in

competition with! A lot of people ask if I would want to live back in

the day when the Beatles were around and I say no, absolutely not,

because women's rights and rights for people of other races, what they

are today if anything I would like to live 30 or 40 years in the future

where hopefully things are more equal. Things were better then, if

you ask question in 40 years time, people won't remember 2017 but they

will still remember the sixties! He's probably right! Later we will

talk to Tweedy and also Lord Tebbit and you can tell us if you think

things are getting better or not. -- Twiggy.

Now, though, it's back to Charlie and Louise.

with Charlie Stayt and Louise Minchin.

We'll bring you all the latest news and sport in a moment.

We're in Devon this morning to discover how British businesses

Following on from the work of his mother, we'll find out how

Prince Harry wants to help rid the world of landmines by 2025.

And after 9am, the presenter and author Dawn O'Porter will be

here to talk about her new novel Cows and why

she believes women are under too much pressure to follow the herd.

But now a summary of this morning's main news.

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency session later

to discuss a suspected chemical attack in Syria,

which is reported to have killed at least 58 people -

Washington has accused the Assad regime of "barbarism",

but officials in Damascus have denied using chemical weapons.

The US, Britain and France have called on the United Nations

Officials in Damascus have denied using chemical weapons.

You may find images in Sarah Corker's report upsetting.

Hundreds of innocent Syrians, including many children,

struggling to breathe after a suspected chemical attack

Distressing images and evidence that will no doubt dominate emergency

talks held by the UN Security Council later today.

Global leaders have called for a rapid investigation

Some of the injured were treated across the border in Turkey.

Medics wore face masks to protect themselves from the toxic gases.

TRANSLATION: We were affected by the gas.

This apparent chemical strike on a rebel held town has brought

The US, Britain and France have all blamed the Syrian government

I'm appalled by the reports that there's been a chemical weapons

attack on a town south of Idlib, allegedly by the Syrian regime.

We condemn the use of chemical weapons in all circumstances.

If proven, this will be further evidence of the barbarism

Using chemical weapons is a war crime.

President Assad's regime denied launching Tuesday's attack,

echoing denials it's made over the course of Syria's six

And just as doctors were treating those who survived, the hospital

The attack will overshadow an international conference

in Brussels later, discussing aid efforts in Syria.

Thousands of civilians are still trapped by fighting.

What effective action can the international community now take

The Prime Minister has indicated that free movement of EU citizens

across British frontiers may need to continue in some

Theresa May explained that, while immigration would be under

British control from the moment the UK left the EU, there would need

The US military has confirmed that North Korea fired a medium-range

ballistic missile into the Sea off Japan overnight.

The launch comes on the eve of a visit by China's President Xi

Jinping to the United States to meet President Trump.

The two will discuss how to curb North Korea's

Drivers of diesel cars, who are facing new charges

and restrictions in cities across the UK, could receive compensation.

The government is expected to reveal a new plan to improve air quality

later this month and this morning there are hints the proposals

could include extra support for affected motorists.

A child has suffered life-threatening injuries

The attack happened in Chatham yesterday afternoon.

Two people have been arrested over the incident and the dog was shot

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will attend what's

being called "a service of hope" for the victims

Around 2,000 people are expected to attend the event at Westminster

Families of the victims, faith leaders and representatives

from the emergency services will be among the guests.

Prince Harry has pledged his support to help rid the world

His mother, Diana Princess of Wales, first shone a light on the issue

Since then, 27 countries have been declared as mine free,

but an estimated 60 million people still live in areas

Too many communities remain shackled in poverty and fear, but it doesn't

need to be this way. With the renewed focus this anniversary

demands, we should celebrate the joint commitment to finishing the

job and use there example to bring other organisations into this

collaboration. We will be talking more about the

campaign later this morning. And we are talking about goals.

A very late goal from Zlatan Ibrahimovic saved Manchester United.

They did get a goal last night, as did Everton. But it was apparently a

dog's dinner off again. -- of a game.

As so many times this season, Manchester United had to rely

His penalty in injury time secured a 1-1 draw at home to Everton.

The visitors took the lead when captain Phil Jagielka hooked

But United persisted, and when Ashley Williams

handled the ball in injury time he was sent off.

A penalty was awarded and Ibrahimovic converted.

It is an amazing run, 20 matches unbeaten, but too many draws at home

and because of that we are in a position that we are because we have

the spirit, the defensive organisation. Normally we build

well. Not today, we didn't create a lot today, but we don't score enough

goals. We don't have squads like Man United

and Chelsea. We had seven players of 18 tonight, 22 and younger. That's

the future of the club. Maybe that's a little bit more difficult now to

take the next step. Still, a point against Man United and we know we

are close to them. Maybe it's more for next season than this season.

Sunderland issued a statement ahead of their match against Leicester,

saying they fully supported their manager David Moyes

following his controversial comments to a female BBC reporter.

His side lost 2-0 at Leicester and so remain bottom of the Premier

Islam Slimani and Jamie Vardy scored the goals for Leicester

I thought we did more than enough to maybe being in front. I didn't think

Leicester had the form that I've seen them in recent weeks. I thought

we played well and made it difficult for them.

Burnley ended a run of seven games without a win by beating

George Boyd scored the game's only goal.

Elsewhere, Watford beat West Brom 2-0.

There are six Premier League matches as well this evening.

In Scotland, Celtic have already won the Premiership title

and Aberdeen are well placed to finish runners-up.

They beat Inverness 1-0 last night to move 13 points clear of Rangers

Elsewhere, Ross County have moved above Dundee to eighth after beating

The Republic of Ireland women's football team have threatened

to strike in a row over their treatment

by the Football Association of Ireland, which could see

their match with Slovakia next Monday called off.

A group of 13 players held a press conference yesterday

They want compensation for lost earnings while on international duty

The FAI says it's deeply disappointed because it has made

repeated offers to discuss payment and compensation.

Defending champion Heather Watson is into the second round of

the Monterray Open, following a three set win over Nina

Watson squandered two opportunities to wrap up

the match in the second set tie-break and she wasn't too pleased

A single break in the final set helped seal the match and setup

a second round meeting with sixth seed Ekaterina Makerova.

Finally, the Masters gets under way tomorrow and Danny Willett

will start the defence of his title alongside

and the Australian amateur Curtis Luck.

It's been a tough 12 months for Willett, who's struggled

for form after becoming the first Englishman in 20 years,

since Sir Nick Faldo's victory, to wear the Green Jacket.

To be the Masters champion for this tournament has been amazing. To be

able to take the green jacket to places and to where it with pride

and for people to see the expression on people's faces when they see one

in the flesh is something special to see.

It was a surprise victory. Danny Willett winning the title. Who

knows? Maybe Augusta will inspire more magic.

Thank you. New figures out this morning

are expected to show the productivity of British

businesses continues to lag behind that of other countries,

including Germany and the US. So should we be

working faster, harder and perhaps even smarter

to boost economic output? Good morning.

That's right, that is also known as the productivity puzzle and it is

something all businesses and economies are struggling with. This

is the table you mentioned. This is a real challenge. The UK still

lagging behind other developed countries like the US, Italy, France

and Germany when it comes to productivity stakes. That's a real

concern for the government, about how to improve productivity, but

also a concern for business, because weak productivity is bad news for

business, add news for profits and bad news to our living standards,

because rising productivity should mean we get a pay rise and it should

mean that living standards increase. Well, in Devon we've been looking at

exactly what they do and this place makes this. It might not look like

much but the fact that this run is on this track, it goes into all

things like machinery, and that means they are more productive and

efficient. The machines break down they soften. That means you aren't

spending money or time preparing them. Barry is the boss here. Good

morning. You make these things here. As I say, it doesn't look like much,

but it's a really important part of many machines that though in the

factories up and down the country. You've improved efficiency, what

have you done? We've invested record levels on machines and people, but

that's not the only answer because that takes time. We looked at how we

do things differently. New technologies, with robot loading,

you software for reducing cycle times. That's helped with

machinists. Decision-makers. And more added value. So it isn't just

the new machines, it means that staff can be more productive. So

they can do stuff that will add real value? That's right. Because they

have more time, the programme inside the job... They can make decisions

on when they make products. So we've got a new stocking system, so that

when we get orders for stocks change and the machinists can decide when

to make the product. We can see you need to make the red, the green

means it is in stock. That's taking away the job for some who it may

have been a tedious job. That's right, they can go and do something

more challenging. The machinists can decide when he makes the work, based

on colour coding on the large screen. Good to talk to you. Thanks.

I want to introduce you to Joe, who is an expert on this. We are hearing

about manufacturing because it is maybe easier to see how that works.

You just make machines more efficient. If you are headdress, or

a banker, how do you improve productivity? It is a different

phenomenon. I work at university. I can increase my productivity by

avoiding distractions when I'm marking and so on, but ultimately

the only way to increase my productivity is to have larger class

sizes or to mark more quickly, spend less time on each essay. So it isn't

even clear if you want higher productivity because when you are

paying for a service you are paying for somebody's time. So if you get

less time it may be measured as more productive but it might not be what

you need. On the other hand, you have the same issues in terms of

capital investment, needing machinery and training, education

and skills and so on, there are two sides. One is there's a different

type of process, but the other is similar in terms of capital

investment and skills. We talked about the league table, why the UK

is so behind many other countries. What are we doing wrong in this

country? The problem of productivity slowdown in growth and productivity

is something which is going to cross the G7 nations, but it is worse in

the UK. Apart from Japan, where we have the worst figures. Productivity

growth has been close to the row since the crash in 2008. One

possible answer is that it is to do with the austerity policies, which

have led to weak demand. Firms don't see demand and submitted have an

incentive to do what this company has done, installing new machinery,

training staff and raising productivity through those

mechanisms. As we much. There you have it. That's why this is such a

puzzle. -- thanks very much. Making businesses more productive, but it's

not about putting in more hours, it is about working smarter as well.

Join me after 7am when I will explain more and show you what this

does, because I don't get -- I did it much justice!

Thanks very much! We will look forward to that! Carol, can you work

smarter, please? I will do my best. Some high

temperatures by the weekend if that's any good? We don't have that

this morning, a chilly start to the day, especially in parts of England

and Wales with the temperature very close to freezing so in rural areas

we have some frost around but for most it will be a mainly dry day.

High pressure is still very much in charge of our web so not lot

happening. We have a squeeze on these isobars in the north of

Scotland and the Northern Isles, still windy for you for a while and

then easing through the day. Some sunshine on the cards first thing

where we have the lowest temperatures and the clearest skies

at some cloud around and that producing the showers in western and

Northern Scotland. Equally some sunshine here too but you can see in

western Scotland and much of northern England and away from the

north-east, a beautiful start to the day, and East Anglia, Essex and

Kent, under clear skies nippy. For the south Midlands, the Isle of

Wight and all points towards the south-west and the Isles of Scilly,

clear skies, temperature dipping, and the same for south Wales, but

sunshine from the word go. North Wales and Northern Ireland seeing

thicker cloud and in Northern Ireland a few showers, especially

across the north and north-west. Through the course of the day, all

this cloud will start to filter a bit further south. Some of it will

be thick enough for the odd shower if you're unlucky, depending on your

point of view, and even where we have the cloud we have holes

developing, the sunshine will prevail across southern counties

into the south-west, parts of north-east England and north-east

Scotland. In the sunshine temperatures could get up to 15 or

16 despite what you can see, more what you would expect under cloud.

Tonight a touch of frost in parts of eastern Scotland, south Wales and

south-west England leading us into tomorrow and Friday. A largely dry

day, sunny spells, variable amounts of cloud, sunny conditions compared

to today. Heading into the weekend, high pressure becomes ensconced

right across us so we still have weather fronts flirting with the

north-west producing more cloud and showers at times, but we start to

pull up this milder air from the Azores and the near continent.

Turning warmer on the weekend, especially Sunday. For parts of

central, southern and eastern England, we are looking at highs of

between 20 and 22, 20 272 Fahrenheit in old language, in the west where

we have a weather front, more cloud and at times showers, so

temperatures won't be at high. At all that sunshine, Carol! Thank

you very much indeed -- look at! The former Mayor of London,

Ken Livingstone, has been suspended from the Labour Party for a further

year after claiming Hitler supported Yesterday a committee found

he acted in a manner that was grossly

detrimental to his party. But some, including

the Labour MP Wes Streeting, say the punishment

doesn't go far enough. Let's speak to our

political correspondent, Eleanor Garnier, who joins

us from Westminster. Give us an assessment of the damage

done at this stage. Year. I don't think this is an easy thing for

Labour, this issue of anti-Semitism in the party. They tried to close it

down last year with that enquiry and hope that everything was all sorted

but this recent episode has opened it all up again. Remember Ken

Livingstone is a big Labour figure, the former Mayor of London, and a

key ally of Jeremy Corbyn and known to be a colourful character, no

stranger to controversy. This latest issue started last year when he was

interviewed by a BBC local radio station, he was defending a

colleague facing allegations of anti-Semitism, and it was in that

interview that Ken Livingstone said that Hitler had at one time

supported Zionism. That's the movement that advocates the creation

of a Jewish state. It was that comment that provoked a huge

backlash and he himself was accused of being anti-Semitic. Yesterday a

panel that was held behind closed doors, a secret panel if you like,

decided that mist Livingstone should be suspended from the party for two

years. He has in fact already served one year of that suspension -- Mr

Livingstone. The panel said he brought the party into disrepute

after acting in a manner grossly detrimental to the party. He remains

a Labour Party member, he is banned from holding office or representing

the party in any way, and last night, after the result of the

disciplinary hearing, Ken Livingstone remained unrepentant,

insisting he had been suspended for telling the truth. Here's a bit of

what he said afterwards. If anyone is upset by what I said

then of course I'm sorry but I'm not going to apologise for something I

didn't say. I did not say Hitler was a Zionist. You said he supported

Zionism in the 1930s, do you apologise for saying that? I got a

Jewish newspaper here with an article saying what I said was true,

if you would like me to read it out I will. You have offended portions

of the Jewish community, would you apologise to them? If I offended

them I would but get them to check what I said. There's this cure a

situation where he is unrepentant but for the party that just prolongs

the agony -- curious situation. The reaction last night was pretty

strong from some elements in the party. Some Labour MPs said the idea

of suspending him was pathetic and embarrassing. The Chief Rabbi itself

said the party had failed the Jewish community by not expelling Mr

Livingstone and the party yet again showed it isn't sufficiently serious

about tackling the scourge of anti-Semitism. Last year Jeremy

Corbyn commission an enquiry into anti-Semitism in the party after

being accused of not doing enough to stamp it out. Jeremy Corbyn has

consistently said he has done everything he can to stamp it out

and has always said there is no place for anti-Semitism in the

party. Eleanor, for the moment, thank you very much.

50 years ago, Paul McCartney first sang it's betting better

all the time, an optimistic message which soundtracked

All this week, we've been looking at the legacy

of The Beatles' record Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club band.

Today Breakfast's Graham Satchell has been looking at whether things

have continued to get better ever since those lyrics

Things were kind of far out in 1967. It was the year of the summer of

Love. Swinging London is being called... The Beatles song Getting

Better seemed to sum up the progressive optimism of the age.

We're listening the track with three people who remember the year well.

When you say the 60s, people immediately think the Beatles and

it's usually my face. Twiggy makes everyone look twice... Twiggy was

the face of the time, androgynous, optimistic, young. For me life was

getting better. I think amongst my friends, the young people, it was

getting better because we suddenly had a voice. Norman Tebbit was a

pilot in 1967 but already planning his political career. I took the

view at that time that a lot of things were getting worse, that the

industrial scene was getting worse and worse. A greater number of days

lost in strikes. Every international car company with a factory here was

intent on getting out. In 1967, things were so bad I

couldn't think that much ahead. Norwell Roberts was the first black

police officer in the Met. What was said to him by fellow officers in

1960s Evan was shocking and will still cause offence to date. I

remember my first day distinctly because when I met one of my

reporting sergeants, he said look, you, I'll see you never pass your

probation. I mean, today those words hurt, don't they? Did they hurt in

1967? Those words hurt in 1967 and they still hurt now. When he first

went on the beat, Norwell was stared at by white people and called Judas

by some in the black community. Progress has been slow but he says

of course race relations are getting better. I don't get stared at, put

it this way I don't get stared at too much walking down the road.

Thank God for small mercies! 9067 was the year homosexuality was

decriminalised and abortion allowed in some cases and while Getting

Better sounds like a simple, upbeat pop song, some of the lyrics are

routinely honest -- 1967. Are used to be cruel to my woman and

I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved -- I used

to be. I forgot that last verse is quite dark. It's much better for

women now and it's much better, you know, for gay people all around the

world and it's happening everywhere, which is as it should be. For

traditionalists the back end of the 60s is where the rot set in. I think

we were beginning to see the damage which was being done to the

institution of marriage for example. Of course some things are getting

better, and refrigerators work better, central heating is better,

clothes washers are better, all of those sorts of things which take

work off our hands. So fridges are better... Is that really it? We have

to be optimistic otherwise I don't know what we can do. It can't get

any worse? It can't get any worse, as the Beatles said in 1967.

Isn't it funny hearing those recollections! It's an interesting

discussion because on what measure do you judge it? Fridge based? With

bridges, things have got better! So much to discuss! -- fridges.

And after 8:30am we'll be speaking to the Creative Director

of Liverpool International Music Festival about the impact

the Beatles continue to have in their home city

Time now to get the news, travel and weather where you are.

This is Breakfast, with Charlie Stayt and Louise

International outrage over a suspected gas attack on rebels

in Syria, which killed more than 58 people.

Washington has accused the Assad regime of barbarism.

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency session later.

Good morning. It's Wednesday, 5th April.

Could diesel drivers be compensated for pollution charges planned

Prince Harry pledges to finish the job his mother began to rid

Good morning. The UK still isn't as productive as other European

countries. It is what is known as the productivity puzzle. Should we

all be working smarter as well as harder? I am in Devon to find out.

In sport, the best of the night's Premier League action,

including Zlatan Ibrahimovic's injury time penalty which saves

Driverless cars are available for the British public to try

Good morning. Clear skies across England and Wales. A chilly start,

with frost. A bit of cloud in the north-west. Through the day that

will sink southwards. Still some sunshine. Strong winds in the far

north of Scotland will ease. More detail in about 15 minutes.

The UN Security Council will sit in emergency session later

to discuss a suspected chemical attack in Syria.

At least 72 people, 20 of them children,

are said to have been killed but some estimates put the number

The US has accused President Assad's regime of "barbarism" and joined

Britain and France in calling on the United Nations to order

This morning, the Russian defence ministry claimed the incident

was caused by the bombing of a rebel-held chemical weapons depot.

You may find images in Sarah Corker's report upsetting.

Hundreds of innocent Syrians, including many children,

struggling to breathe after a suspected chemical attack

Distressing images and evidence that will no doubt dominate emergency

talks held by the UN Security Council later today.

Global leaders have called for a rapid investigation

Some of the injured were treated across the border in Turkey.

Medics wore face masks to protect themselves from the toxic gases.

TRANSLATION: We were affected by the gas.

This apparent chemical strike on a rebel-held town has brought

The US, Britain and France have all blamed the Syrian government

I'm appalled by the reports that there's been a chemical weapons

attack on a town south of Idlib, allegedly by the Syrian regime.

We condemn the use of chemical weapons in all circumstances.

If proven, this will be further evidence of the barbarism

Using chemical weapons is a war crime.

President Assad's regime denied launching Tuesday's attack,

echoing denials it's made over the course of Syria's six

And just as doctors were treating those who survived, the hospital

The attack will overshadow an international conference

in Brussels later, discussing aid efforts in Syria.

Thousands of civilians are still trapped by fighting.

What effective action can the international community now take

Earlier on Breakfast, our correspondent in

Beirut Ben James explained how Syria's ally Russia has blamed

Any around the world, including the White House, talking about President

Assad's of and being responsible for this. This area has been under

bombardment from Syrian and Russian forces, what we got this statement

in the last few hours from the Russian defence ministry, saying

that there was a Syrian strike on this area, but it hit a workshop for

the production of landmines filled with poisonous substances. Worth

saying that the United Nations and the Organisation for the Prohibition

of Chemical Weapons last year put together a report that cited three

incidents where there was evidence of the Syrian government using

chemical weapons, using chlorine, in the Syrian conflict. Later today the

UN Security Council will convene an emergency meeting to talk about what

happened, to discuss a response to it.

The Prime Minister has indicated that free movement of EU citizens

across British borders may have to continue in some form

Theresa May was speaking to reporters during the final leg

Our political correspondent, Eleanor Garnier, joins

How significant is this? Is it policy? I think what's interesting

is that as we hear ministers talking about immigration policy, the tone

of what they are saying is I think giving way to caveats and

qualification. As the Prime Minister goes into this Brexit negotiations,

of course our future immigration policy is going to be a key

question. That's why she was pressed by journalists on her visit to the

Gulf. Theresa May said freedom of movement, a curb on it, might not

come into force Treadaway and there might need to be a period of

implementation so that the government and businesses can get

used to the new rules. The Prime Minister did emphasise that because

of Rex app, Britain would take control of its borders and

immigration policy. -- because of Brexit. What she has left open the

possibility that freedom of movement will continue at least temporarily.

The two-year deadline for the talks has now started to get even closer.

The clock is ticking and many have said the talks are going to be

difficult. I think we are getting that the government is preparing the

ground and showing a bit of give and take, a bit of compromise that might

be needed if the government is going to succeed in its mission to make

Brexit a success. Labour has failed the Jewish

community by not expelling Ken Livingstone from the party,

according to the Chief Rabbi The former Mayor of London

was yesterday given a further one-year suspension for claiming

Hitler supported Zionism The US military has confirmed that

North Korea fired a medium-range ballistic missile into the Sea

off Japan overnight. The launch comes on the eve

of a visit by China's President Xi Jinping to the United States

to meet President Trump. The two will discuss how

to curb North Korea's Drivers of diesel cars,

who are facing new charges and restrictions in

cities across the UK, The government is expected to reveal

a new plan to improve air quality later this month and this

morning there are hints it could include extra support

for affected motorists. When buying a new car,

do you go diesel or petrol? It can be confusing,

and is possibly a bit of a gamble. A lower vehicle tax

introduced by the then Chancellor Gordon Brown has

encouraged motorists It is regarded as more economical

and, in terms of carbon dioxide But there is increasing

concern that diesel cars emit dangerous levels

of nitrogen dioxide, thought to have caused thousands

of premature deaths in the UK. Air pollution limits have been

repeatedly exceeded in places including Birmingham, Leeds,

Glasgow, and London. It's a poster

about air pollution. The London Mayor, Sadiq Khan,

described the city's air as lethal. In fresh proposals, he says

all but the newest diesel cars will face a charge to drive

in the city's ultra-low emissions Theresa May said: the government is

required to produce a new air policy plan later this month. This comes

after the European Commission sent a final warning over breaches of the

legal air pollution limits in the UK.

A child has suffered life-threatening injuries

The attack happened in Chatham yesterday afternoon.

Two people have been arrested over the incident and the dog was shot

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will attend what's being called

"a service of Hope and Reconciliation later",

for the victims of the Westminster attack.

Families of the victims, faith leaders and first responders

Our correspondent is at Westminster for us. Take us through what will be

happening today. This is the first time that the Abbey has held the

service. It will be broken down into two parts. The first will be the

more traditional part, the remembrance and prayers for the dead

and injured at the Westminster attacks. The second part will be an

emphasis on what was believed to be a positive response to those

attacks. It was that most people put out a hand of love, rather than that

of hate. I asked the Abbey to summarise what the service would be

about. They said while it was a vicious attack, there is no other

way to deal with it than a concrete wall of solidarity between

communities and as a result of faith leaders, from all across Britain. So

all of the Christian the nominations and also the main religions here in

written, Hindus, Jews. All of those people will be taking place. Some in

the service itself. What do we know about the order of service? It will

begin with an initial blessing and will run through two well-known

hymns. There will be a series of readings. The mayor has been invited

to make one. In terms of the guests, those who will be inside the Abbey,

there will be about 1800 people. The Prime Minister of course is abroad.

And as you mentioned earlier the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and

Prince Harry will be here representing the Royal family and it

is thought that they will be meeting that the terms and the families of

the victims of the attack which took place exactly two weeks ago.

The United States has accused the Syrian government of brutal,

unabashed barbarism, after a suspected gas attack

in north Syria in which at least 70 people were killed.

President Assad's regime has denied it launched the attack,

but, as one of the last rebel strongholds in Syria,

The last major chemical attack was in 2013, when more

The regime faced no punishment, despite threats from America.

Four years on and the Syrian regime is even stronger.

Joining us now is Alistair Hay, who's a professor of

environmental toxicology from Leeds University.

You've worked in previous war situations before and dealt with

chemical attack. What's the evidence you've seen that leads to any

conclusions about what happened? I think it is the symptom is that

people have and the numbers. There are very few external injuries on

people. You were looking at people who seem to have a problem with

breathing and asphyxia seems to be that primary cause of death. Some of

the other symptoms in individuals, some people appear to be frothing at

the mouth. We know that one of the chemical families, the nerve agent,

causes massive secretions of fluid in the lungs, so you get the

production of something that's a bit like a soapie film, so when you

breathe through but it is like breathing through soapy water. And

the other symptoms, the nerve agents, as we suspect, they paralyse

the muscles and so any voluntary or in voluntary activity is prevented.

So people feel weak, they lose co-ordination, their vision goes.

But of course the crucial thing is the muscles that control the

breathing and this causes is fixation. So it is something that's

very potent and it fits the pattern of what happened in Syria in 2013.

You say something that's very potent. Can you name it might be?

Some people have mentioned sarin or chlorine. It isn't chlorine.

Chlorine was used many times by the Syrian regime last year and it is

primarily an irritant. Could it be sarin? There a number of different

nerve agents. Sarin has been chosen for because it is volatile and

spreads more readily. Others are much less volatile. Until there's

some investigation will never know for certain force of Ita to fit the

picture. What likelihood is there of a

conclusive assessment of what's happened? At the moment we are in a

situation of claim and counterclaim about who is responsible and exactly

what it is. What will give it conclusive evidence of what it was

and who did this? It needs on the ground investigation, it needs

inspectors to be able to go in. They need a ceasefire so inspectors can

get in says the safely. Previously inspectors have been shot at when

they are trying to get evidence. They need munition samples and blood

and year in samples and talk to people. You said munition samples,

that's so they've can work out how this material ended up in that place

-- you're in. The suggestion was it was a depot that was hit, that was

storing something. -- Beau Ryan. There's no evidence that I have seen

that the rebels have access to chemical weapons. The Syrian regime

should have disarmed. It was required to do this under a treaty

it entered into in 2013 so it should have disarmed. But there are many

questions. What is the prominence of this weapon, who supplied it, where

did they get the material? Lots of unanswered questions but the

suggestion it is from a Rebel stockpile is really highly

improbable. -- rebel. The effects are devastating. Some of the

pictures are too horrendous to even look at or think about. This is

indiscriminate. You can't see it, there's nothing you can do?

Absolutely nothing. The only protection is if you have a gas mask

and a protective suit but of course civilians don't have that. This is

the problem with chemical weapons, they are indiscriminate. You can't

believe the Syrians are experiencing this yet again. We've seen people

trying to be treated in this desperate situation hosing people

down, is there a treatment? There is a treatment. They would look at the

situation of individuals and the doctors in Syria sadly are well

versed in what they need to do now. I and others have been involved in

training some of the doctors. They know what to do so they will clean

people, remove their clothing so the doctors are not at risk from

handling contaminated clothing. There are antidotes you can give to

block the action of these agents and of course people will need help in

some instances with their breathing because the breathing is what is

compromised in the main. So there are procedures, but you see the

pictures, they are working flat out really to save lives. We're hearing

a large number of children amongst those affected, many of them killed,

does it make any difference, adult to trial, to how you're affected?

Same symptoms really, no -- adult to child. We are all vulnerable, these

are very potent agents. Generally it is through inhalation but they also

penetrate through the skin as well. The symptoms are very similar

irrespective of age. Professor, thank you very much we time this

morning. You're very welcome. We can catch up with Carol who has

been talking about the cold and the sunshine.

Good morning. Where we have had clearer skies by night, temperatures

have dropped, a touch of frost in England and Wales this morning and

that's where we start with a good deal of sunshine. For many today it

will remain mainly dry, mainly because at the moment there are

showers. High pressure firmly in charge of the weather, the weather

not changing that much through the next few days but the one thing that

will is the wind in the far north of Scotland. Today it will ease, still

very gusty at the moment. You can see quite a bit of cloud in the

northern half of the country, producing showers in the north and

north-west of Northern Ireland this morning, also across western

Scotland and the Northern Isles, where it will be windy for the next

few hours, but in between the showers, bright and sunny skies, but

more cloud as we go towards Dumfries and Galloway. In northern England, a

fair bet of cloud producing some showers. North-east England off to a

bright start with sunshine. In East Anglia, Essex, Kent, London and the

Isle of Wight, a chilly start, especially in the countryside, but a

fair bit of sunshine, as we have in south-west England and the Isles of

Scilly. South Wales ensuing some sunshine. North Wales hanging onto a

bit more cloud. Through the day this cloud will tend to rotate around the

area of high pressure, so coming south. The best of the sunshine in

southern counties, south Wales, parts of north-east England and

eastern Scotland. In the sunshine we could easily sea temperatures up to

15 or 16, under the cloud temperatures will be suppressed so

why is of 11 -13. Tonight some frost in eastern Scotland and south-west

England -- highs of. On Friday the weather similar to today. Again,

largely dry, the odd shower, sunny spells and variable amounts of

cloud. As we head into the weekend, what will happen is we will still be

dominated by high pressure sitting right across us. We have weather

fronts flirting with the north-west of the country introducing more

cloud and the odd shower but by Sunday, look at this, the air coming

up from the Azores and the near continent, so pumping up warm air.

This doesn't represent sunshine, just the temperature we are talking

about here. So the central, Eastern and southern parts of the UK could

see temperatures between 20 and 22, 22 is 72 in old language, and 17 in

Aberdeenshire. Where we have the weather fronts nearby, a bit more

cloud, so a faint yellow, temperatures not quite as high.

Looking at Saturday, a chilly start, a touch of frost for some first

thing. A fair bit of sunshine around, our weather front dangling

in the north-west producing this cloud, some rain and showers. As we

head into Sunday, again a chilly start but more sunshine on Sunday

away from the north-west where we hang onto this cloud, and on Sunday

we are likely to see the highest temperatures but it won't last.

Thanks very much. We can see it is sunny outside because stay with us,

you will see in a moment. Driverless cars look set to play

an increasing role in getting us That's one of the questions

being asked at a project in south east London, where Fiona Lamdin

is for us this morning. We are possibly in the most

connected place. Above me we have the cable cars, the airport is very

close by. We have the river bus and taxis and the Tube, and right on

cue, the driverless pod arrives. This is the first day they are using

them, the public haven't been in yet. Let me show you around, Nick,

good morning. Show me how some of these work. We have a camera at the

front, we have some senses. Tell us how it works. A combination of

lasers and cameras that allow the vehicle to understand where it is,

what it sees and how to navigate to get to its destination. Let's go and

have a test. As we get in, I have told you it is driverless, I should

point out there is someone here in the corner. Good morning. You are

here just for safety but when these things start you wouldn't be here,

would you? We will always have someone to monitor, but only for

safety. We're going to get in if we can get our cameraman in. Here we

go. The doors are going to close. And we're off. How fast are these

things going to go? At the moment up to 50km/h, about nine mph, four

metres per second -- 15km/h. It is pretty smooth, you jump in and it

takes you on a slow, leisurely trip and you type in where you want to

go? You will summon the vehicle with an app and it will take you to your

destination. The trials are about understanding what the public think

about these vehicles as a service in the city. Is this a reality, how

many years before these pods could be everywhere in the city? In cities

it could be very quick, it could be a couple of years where we could see

these as a commercial service operating in geographically

constrained environments as a commercially viable service. How

will it be, 20 years, 30 years, will we be ditching the car? Will we say

to our children, we won't go on a long car journey, actually we camp

late card games... Is that a reality, are we going to stop

driving -- can play. We are confident that automation will make

things safer, cleaner and more affordable but we need to bring the

public on that journey and that's what these trials are all about. I

don't know if you saw but we actually did stop, we are getting

out and we have... Good morning. You have been looking into what the

public think about these pods. What does the research say, are people

nervous? It is interesting because this is a new type of vehicle. We've

looked at over 120 people, different age groups and backgrounds,

cyclists, car users and non- car users, we have found there is a

utopian view and a dystopian view, some are scared about technology and

others ask aired. It falls into two age groups, younger people are

excited. -- are scared. Young people really want this product and a

service instead of a product because they aren't getting their licences

as much and at the other end elderly people want it because it extends

their use of cars. Really interesting demographic changes. I

asked my taxi driver on the way this morning, wanting to know what he

felt about being out of a job in the next number of years, the only thing

he said is that you can't talk to anyone, when you get in these pods

they are quite isolating and lonely. A lot of discussion and thoughts.

Back here in an hour to take you on another journey! Quite a few

questions, Charlie? I was curious, was it preprogrammed to go from one

place to the other? It is at the moment but the idea is you will be

able to choose where to go. Fascinating! Yes! We will be back

with her later and she can answer your questions.

Four months after the Chancellor pledged

?23 billion to get the UK working harder and smarter,

Ben's in Devon to find out how British businesses are trying

to solve the puzzle of productivity.

That looks like a puzzle, Ben? Good morning, guys. Welcome to Devon, I

promised earlier I would explain how this works and why this was part of

the answer to the productivity puzzle. This traditionally would

have been done with ballbearings, there are now no ballbearings in it

and it means it breaks down less often and is used in machinery

Countrywide, so less time wasted and more productive time. We are talking

about the productivity puzzle because the UK is way behind other

European countries in terms of productivity, behind France, Germany

and the US. What can be done to address it? Why isn't it just about

working harder? It's about working Now, though, it's back

to Charlie and Louise. with Charlie Stayt and Louise

Minchin. The UN Security Council will sit

in emergency session later to discuss a suspected

chemical attack in Syria. At least 72 people,

20 of them children, but some estimates put

the number much higher. The US has accused President Assad's

regime of "barbarism" and joined Britain and France in calling

on the United Nations to order This morning, Russia claimed

the incident was caused by the bombing of a rebel-held

chemical weapons depot. earlier, a professor from Leeds

University told us this was highly improbable. There is no evidence

that I am aware of that the rebels had access to chemical agents and

chemical weapons. The Syrian regime should have disarmed. It was

required to do this under a treaty that it entered into in 2013. It

should have disarmed. But there are many questions. What is the

provenance of this particular weapon? Who supplied it? Where did

they get the material? Lots of unanswered questions.

The Prime Minister has indicated that free movement of EU citizens

across British frontiers may need to continue in some

Theresa May explained that while immigration would be under

British control from the moment the UK left the EU, there would need

Labour has failed the Jewish community by not expelling

Ken Livingstone from the party, according to the chief rabbi,

The former Mayor of London was yesterday given a further

one-year suspension for claiming Hitler supported Zionism

The US military has confirmed that North Korea fired a medium-range

ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan overnight.

The launch comes on the eve of a visit by China's President Xi

Jinping to the United States to meet President Trump.

The two will discuss how to curb North Korea's

A child has suffered life-threatening injuries

The attack happened in Chatham yesterday afternoon.

Two people have been arrested over the incident and the dog was shot

A parliamentary report has called for radical changes to the NHS

in England, saying there's been a shocking lack

A committee of medical experts and peers suggest the health service

needs better funding and staff training.

The government says more money has been committed to the NHS

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will attend what's being called

"a service of hope" for the victims of the Westminster attack later.

Around 2,000 people will be in the congregation at Westminster

Families of the victims, faith leaders and representatives

from the emergency services will be among the guests.

Drivers of diesel cars who are facing new charges

and restrictions in cities across the UK

The government is expected to reveal a new plan to improve air quality

later this month and this morning there are hints the proposals

could include extra support for affected motorists.

A rare pink diamond has become the most expensive gemstone ever

The 60-carat 'pink star' fetched more than ?57 million at Sotheby's,

Coming up on the programme, Carol will have the weather

We are talking about Zlatan Ibrahimovic after he scored injury

time penalty. This time, just a draw. I could you can look at

Manchester United's season one of two ways. There are probably 20

games which are unbeaten but half of them are drawers, which is why they

are still in fifth. As so many times this season,

Manchester United had to rely His penalty in injury time secured

a 1-1 draw at home to Everton. The visitors took the lead

when captain Phil Jagielka hooked But United persisted,

and when Ashley Williams handled the ball in injury

time he was sent off. A penalty was awarded and

Ibrahimovic converted. It's an amazing run,

20 matches unbeaten, but too many draws at home

and because of that we are in the position that we are

because we have the spirit, Not today, we didn't create

a lot today, but we don't We don't have squads

like Man United and Chelsea. We had seven players of 18

tonight, 22 and younger. Maybe that's a little bit more

difficult now to take the next step. Still, a point against Man United

and we know we are close to them. Maybe it's more for next

season than this season. Sunderland issued a statement ahead

of their match against Leicester, saying they fully supported

their manager David Moyes following his controversial comments

to a female BBC reporter. On the field, Moyes's

problems continue. His side lost 2-0 at Leicester

and so remain bottom of the Premier Islam Slimani and Jamie Vardy scored

the goals for Leicester. I thought we did more than enough

to maybe being in front. I didn't think Leicester

had the form that I've I thought we played well and made

it difficult for them. Burnley ended a run of seven games

without a win by beating George Boyd scored

the game's only goal. Elsewhere, Watford

beat West Brom 2-0. There are six Premier League matches

as well this evening. In Scotland, Celtic have already won

the Premiership title and Aberdeen are well placed

to finish runners-up. They beat Inverness 1-0 last night

to move 13 points clear of Rangers Elsewhere, Ross County have moved

above Dundee to eighth after beating The Republic of Ireland women's

football team have threatened to strike in a row

over their treatment by the Football Association

of Ireland, which could see their match with Slovakia

next Monday called off. A group of 13 players held a press

conference yesterday They want compensation for lost

earnings while on international duty The FAI says it's deeply

disappointed because it has made repeated offers to discuss

payment and compensation. Defending champion Heather Watson

is into the second round of the Monterray Open,

following a three set win over Nina Watson squandered two

opportunities to wrap up A single break in the final set

helped seal the match and setup a second round meeting with sixth

seed Ekaterina Makerova. Finally, the Masters gets under way

tomorrow and Danny Willett will start the defence

of his title alongside and the Australian

amateur Curtis Luck. It's been a tough 12 months

for Willett, who's struggled for form after becoming the first

Englishman in 20 years, since Sir Nick Faldo's victory,

to wear the Green Jacket. To be Masters champion for this 12

months has been amazing. To be able to take the green jacket

to places and to wear it with pride and for people to see it,

the expression on people's faces when they see one

in the flesh is something He tweeted this morning to say that

the champions dinner last night was excellent, so I am assuming that

means the Yorkshire puddings were a success!

An estimated 60 million people around the world still live in fear

So following in the footsteps of his mother, Prince Harry has

pledged to "finish the job" and rid the planet of the danger by 2025.

In a speech at Kensington Palace yesterday,

he paid tribute to his mother, explaining how she visited Bosnia

in 1997 and made a promise to two boys who lost their legs there.

When my mother said goodbye to him that August, just weeks before his

untimely death, she told him he would not be forgotten. Please help

me keep her word to those two children and others throughout the

world who still need us to finish the job and rid the planet of

landmines. Princess Diana first shone a spotlight on issue 20 years

ago. Let's have a look at what has happened since then.

These steps collapsed down on themselves with the weight...

Joining us is Sean Sutton. 60 million people still affected. You

were at the event last night with Prince Harry. He is very emotional

about this, actually. It was a very moving speech. What a tribute to his

mum. Amazing. Prince Harry is raising awareness for this issue,

but also for the extended commitment from the British government, which

is very welcome. Again, a great testimony to his mum and the work

she did all those years ago. Interesting, when you see those

images of her kitted out and doing those press trips she did, the

spotlight that it put on the issue then matters now, just as it did

then. You met her many years ago? Yes, I'm a photographer by trade and

a big part of my work is still documentary photography. I had an

exhibition with the Royal Geographical Society and I spoke to

her about the pictures and met other guests at that time, Ken and Jerry.

Ken Rutherford and Gerry Whyte, who both lost legs to mines some years

before. So we all met her at the same time and we were also together

last night. Give us a sense of where these mines are. I understand in

some areas they are just in houses? There's a real landmine emergency at

the moment in the Middle East, in Iraq, where I've just come from,

there's a terrible problem. Minefields run around villages,

through them, around schools. As an example, one village, before we

started working there, 44 families had returned, ten people had died,

five people injured. This was in October. Now that village has been

cleared and 520 of the original 540 families have gone home. That's

because of the work that we are doing. Otherwise they would still be

in camps or trying to rent somewhere. It is a race against

time. There is amazing work being done and this event last night was

the champion of fact that there are many countries that we can finish.

We can make landmine -- the countries landmine free if we come

together. Talking about the practicalities, how do you know

initially that an area has a problem with landmines? Without being

fisheaters -- facetious is because someone gets injured, and you start

looking? People are forced to go home. Most people know they are in a

dangerous area. There are also booby-traps in houses. Technically

there are ways you can find out, about whether there are landmines,

by using machines or dogs, finding exactly where the rows are. But

everywhere at that environment, you have to consider a dangerous. As I

said, ten deaths in that village. They find out the hard way which

parts are more dangerous than others. Imagine living like that,

with your kids. In that environment is the -- environment. You say you

can clear a place, but that notion of being there, the possibility that

something might be missed. Very unlikely. Every day I walk on land

that we've cleared. It is part of my job to document the problems and

solutions we offer. I would take my family there, I honestly would. I

feel very confident in the work we do and we have to. If you are going

to clear land and pass it on to the authorities, to let the kids go back

to school, you've got to be pretty sure that it's cleared. Painstaking

work. Thank you very much. You're watching

Breakfast from BBC News. emergency talks after a suspected

chemical attack in Syria left dozens In the last few minutes the Foreign

Secretary Boris Johnson has arrived at a conference on Syria which is

being held in Brussels this morning and has been giving his reaction.

I think what it shows is this is a government that has absolutely no

compassion for its own people, that has put itself beyond the pale. I

certainly think that it will need to be investigated and the question of

culpability for what has been done will need to be established and

where it is possible to bring criminal prosecutions, as you

suggest, I think that is certainly appropriate. But I think what it

confirms to everybody is that this is a barbaric regime that has made

it impossible for us to imagine them continuing to be an authority over

the people of Syria after this conflict is over. I simply don't see

how that can happen. Boris Johnson speaking ahead of that

UN Security Council meeting taking place later today and the latest

figures this morning, it's being reported as many as 72 were killed

in that attack. We will be discussing it further on Breakfast

but a little pause for the moment and catch up with the weather.

A chilly start in some parts of England and Wales under the clear

skies by night, we have seen the temperatures tumble lower enough for

a touch of frost but here we have some sunshine. For most today it

will remain mainly dry, I say mainly because a few showers are in the

forecast. High pressure remains the driving force for the next few days,

things fairly settled, but the strong wind will change in the

Northern Isles. . Still gusty but today it will ease

down. Quite a lot of cloud in the north-west of the UK and through the

day some of that will go south. Even so we will still see some holes in

the cloud and sunny spells developing, just not everywhere. By

4pm, across Kent and southern counties generally, we are going to

hang onto that sunshine and that will extend into the Channel Islands

but only 11 as the maximum here. From the Isles of Scilly to

south-west England, again we are looking at some sunshine. As we go

through south Wales, into Gloucestershire, the Midlands, much

of the rest of Wales, we're looking at a cloudier scenario and some of

this is iCloud so it will be bright but not wall to wall blue skies. For

Northern Ireland and Scotland, cloud in the north-west but even so, some

holes in that but the brighter skies will be in the east and in the east

we could see temperatures up to 15. Parts of the Northeast also favoured

to hang onto a bit of sunshine as we go through the day. Generally

speaking those are our temperature values, 11-14, in the sunshine we

could hit 15 or 16. For example, Cardiff. Cold in the Northern Isles.

A touch of frost in eastern Scotland, south Wales and south-west

England, moving us into another day tomorrow and also Friday of very

similar weather conditions. Largely dry, one or two showers, sunny

spells but variable amounts of cloud, so chasing the holes in the

cloud to find the sunshine. But turning warmer. High pressure once

again really ensconced as we go through the weekend. Weather fronts

coming from the north-west will introduce more cloud and at times

the odd shower in the north-west, but by Sunday we are pulling in

milder air, warmer air from the Azores. So on Sunday we can expect

temperatures across parts of central, southern and eastern

England between 25 and 22, 22 is 72 Fahrenheit. Aberdeenshire, 17. -- 20

and 22. This represents the warm air, it isn't sunshine. You can see

out to the west we have a paler yellow, so here not as mild. So on

Saturday we start on a chilly note, a touch of frost, a fair bit of

sunshine around, a bit more cloud in the north-west but even so, glimmers

of sunshine, one or two showers and by the time we get to Sunday, again

after a chilly start, sunshine developing widely across England and

Wales and eastern Scotland. For the rest of Scotland and Northern

Ireland, bright spells, but again with our weather front close by,

rain and showers but Sunday will see the highest temperatures, up to 22

in the areas I mentioned, but it won't last. But thank you for

bringing us some sunshine! See you in half an hour.

New figures out this morning are expected to show

the productivity of British businesses continues to lag behind

that of other countries, including Germany and the US.

So should we be working faster, harder,

and perhaps even smarter, to boost economic output?

Ben is in Tiverton in Devon for us this morning.

Some robotic machinery? Yes, welcome to Devon, I've made some friends

this morning, these are some of the machines they have here because this

place makes all sorts of things. Linear motion technology, replacing

things like the ballbearings and making sure the equipment that moves

can do so more efficiently and productively, meaning fewer

breakdowns and less time spent repairing machines, more time

producing. Barry is the boss. Good morning. We are looking at some of

this scenery you have installed, it comes at great expense but it is how

you improve productivity, and it's not just about sackings. It is about

upscaling staff and challenging them to do different things, turning them

from machine minders into programmers and decision-makers.

We look around this factory, it now allows the staff to do more, to do

more value added stuff and allows them to be more productive. Exactly,

it has helped us to grow because we have been moving mundane jobs onto

more added value jobs. Come to me because I want to introduce you to

do other people. When we talk about manufacturing, the challenge is you

can see how you might be more productive, but looking at

services... Sarah and Jo are with me, they make stuff here and putting

more machines in would be more productive, but what if you are a

bank, hairdresser or restaurant, services, how would you do it? Lots

of ways, but you just need to make sure employees know what is required

of them through things like appraisals and effective management,

because all too often people are promoted into positions of

management when they don't know what is required. Communication and

training is the most important thing. How would you make sure you

have the right staff to do the job, we talked about replacing humans

with robots and putting those humans on to add more value. It sounds that

easy but it isn't that easy in practice? Definitely not. It's all

about recruiting to make sure you have the right people for the right

job with the right skill set. Joe, why is the UK struggling to improve

productivity? It improved after the financial crisis, then it dropped,

and we have struggled to get to the levels of the four. We've seen the

same pattern across much of the advanced nations -- before.

Productivity has fallen... We have had .3% since the financial crisis.

One answer might be in this country we are failing to have an industrial

strategy at the government level, we don't have policies to get companies

to invest in new machinery and train their workforce. Instead we have had

austerity and that isn't intrusive to a productive high reach economy.

If anyone is watching and they run a business big or small, what do they

need to start thinking about? For employers it's about making sure you

have the right policies and procedures in place, so your focus

on what you want to achieve. If everyone is aligned to the same

goals you have a better chance of improving productivity. Good advice.

For the moment, thanks very much. That's the issue, we talk about

productivity, it feels like an issue a bit difficult to grasp but it's

really important for business because if productivity improves,

our wages go up and living standards go up too. There's a real fear this

is the first generation were living standards are rising as quickly as

have in the past and that all comes down to productivity. It's called

the productivity puzzle. Thanks very much, Ben.

All this week on Breakfast we're celebrating 50 years