tonight at 10:00: mps vote to back the government's rwanda bill. it passes with a majority of 1m. the eyes to the right, 320. the noes to the left, 276. enough rebel mps fell into line, but the real test for rishi sunak is still to come. good evening from westminster. you know, this place is all about two things, noise and numbers. yes, over the last couple of days there's been plenty of both. but in the end, numbers matter more and the government has won. at this policy still faces challenges ahead. also on tonight's programme... the tragedy of the two—year—old who died alone. it's thought bronson battersby starved to death after his father suffered a heart attack.

health issues for both the king and the princess of wales — king charles is to be treated for an enlarged prostate and catherine has had abdominal surgery. a cold night ahead in northern ireland — gritter drivers are among public service workers on strike over pay from midnight. and the cancer treatment that allows children to spend far less time in hospital. and newsnight at 10.30 — we'll go deeper behind the headlines and speak live to key players on today's big stories, plus a first look at tomorrow's front pages. good evening.

after debating all afternoon and into the evening, mps have voted in favour of the government's latest version of its plan to send some asylum seekers to rwanda. that's despite some tory mps rebelling and pushing for changes to the legislation. chris mason is at westminster for us tonight. good evening. this has been a couple of days of noisy, angry, lengthy debate, within the conservative party. at the best way of summarising it is this. we have had, on several particular points around this policy, around 60 conservative mps, a sizeable chunk of the parliamentary party, saying, that for multiple reasons, they fear that the government's latest iteration of its rwanda plan will not work. but, and it is a big but, when the big vote came, around a0 minutes ago, the vast majority of those sceptics, in the end, did not want to kill the

plan stone dead. and so it continues, on the house of lords. here is the story of the day. the ayes to the right, 320. the noes to the left, 276. the sentence that tells you the government has won. after all the noise, the numbers. the rwanda plan lives on. this is what all of this is all about. the government has promised to stop the boats. the numbers are down, but migrants keep coming. this was dover this morning. the rwanda plan is about putting people off attempting this crossing, but no—one who's made this journey has been sent there yet. in the commons this evening, the home secretary had a go at uniting his bickering party, and turning his attention to opposition parties. the gulf between our aspiration to control our borders and their blase, laissez—faire

attitude to border control could not be more stark. stopping the boats is notjust a question of policy. it is a question of morality, and it is a question of fairness. what a farce. today and yesterday have been just another day of tory chaos and carnage. a prime minister with no grip while the british taxpayer is continually forced to pay the price. for from dismantling criminal gangs, this government has _ become the criminal gang. breaking international law, moving vulnerable people across the world without legal process. no right of appeal, no concern for the safety or human - rights of asylum seekers. the story of the last two days has been the conservative party having a noisy argument with itself. dozens and dozens of tory mps think the government plan probably won't work. all i can say is i wish the government well, but i do have to say that i can't

support this in all conscience because i have set out my case and i'm not going to retract it on principle. 18 months ago, this plane was due to take some migrants to rwanda, but at the last minute, using what are dubbed pyjama injunctions, the european court of human rights said no. the plane never left. this afternoon, some conservatives, including prominent ones, argued that the default legal position should be that these rulings are ignored. the foreign court overrode englishjudges, overrode the will of the government, overrode the will of the british people to control our borders and stop the boats.

that's a problem with the foreign courts. 61 conservative mps in total agreed tonight, unconvinced by this argument they'd heard from the illegal migration minister. the prime minister has been clear that he will not let foreign court block these flights. we simply cannot let an international court dictate our border security and stop us from establishing a deterrent. but, for all the argument, the now near—two—year project to send some asylum seekers here, to rwanda, remains alive. what the rwandan president make of all of this? you are getting hundreds of millions of uk taxpayers money. not a single refugee? if people don't come, we will return the money, he says. the uk has already handed over £2a0 million. and tonight is not the end of the wrangling over this policy. it heads next to the house of lords. and whilst we have been watching the report, my phone has been pinging a way with reaction from inside government and amongst others in the

commons. number10 government and amongst others in the commons. number 10 tonight saying that the passing of this bill marks, they say, a major step in our plan to stop the boats, in which they describe as the toughest plan ever introduced in parliament to tackle illegal immigration. looking at the conservative mps that did rebel tonight, 11 of them in total, obviously a far smaller number than the 60 odd who were willing to register their opposition to elements of the government's plan. amongst them, recent cabinet ministers, suella braverman, simon clarke and, indeed, robertjenrick. so, rishi sunak again can breathe a sigh of relief. victory sometimes is, oralways sigh of relief. victory sometimes is, or always is, the absence of defeat. his plan still stands. as i mentioned, it now heads to the house of lords and will face opposition there, and the government faces a deadline, which is the general election, to try to prove they can make this policy work. the policy are still alive, proving it can work

is a work in progress.— are still alive, proving it can work is a work in progress. we will leave ou to is a work in progress. we will leave you to your phone! _ is a work in progress. we will leave you to your phone! thank— is a work in progress. we will leave you to your phone! thank you - you to your phone! thank you very much. the prime minister insists the rwanda plan would be a deterrent for people making the journey across the channel in small boats. our home and legal correspondent, dominic casciani, is here. how feasible is his rwanda plan? picking up on what chris has been saying, what is going on behind the scenes is the legal and policy machinery, which is now being moved into place to try to build on this critical political victory of sorts tonight, and in the house of commons. too things which have happened in the last 2a hours, we have new guidance to civil servants, telling them if a minister chooses to ignore the european court of human rights once the bill becomes law, that is the minister's responsibility and the officials have a duty to implement that policy, even if they have qualms about breaking international law. yesterday we heard there were apparently going to be newjudges to help expedite the cases, although

the lady chiefjustice add something to say about that when talking to mps, saying it may be more complicated than suggested. is this a legal and policy inevitability? well, james cleverly told mps tonight in the final reading that this bill is incomplete compliance of international law, yet the front page of the bill still carries a message saying that i am unable to make a statement that the provisions are compatible with the european convention. that is critical as it goes into the house of lords, because many peers there think deeply about constitutional issues and they are really concerned about where this will take the uk. even if they don't vote it down and it ends up they don't vote it down and it ends up going to our courts, we don't know how yet ourjudges are going to react. know how yet our “udges are going to react. ,., . ., ~ know how yet our “udges are going to react. . ., ~ i. , . in lincolnshire, a two—year—old child is thought to have died of starvation after his father, who was caring for him alone, suffered a fatal heart attack. bronson battersby was found in the home of his father kenneth, who is thought to have died in the days after christmas. bronson was then left alone. there were attempts to check on the child's welfare,

but by the time the property was entered it was too late. an inquiry is now under way. jo black has our report from skegness — and the details are distressing. bronson! come on, then. bronson battersby was known to social services, but his death and that of his father appear to have happened in the most tragic of circumstances. the bodies of bronson and his 60—year—old father, kenneth battersby, were discovered on january the 9th. children's services say kenneth, who was on his own with his son, passed away at home, and that meant nobody was there to give his little boy care. and, as a result, he also died. it is a tragedy. ijust happened to look out my window and i noticed suddenly this huge police presence. and then i spoke to a couple of residents across the road and one of them said that they had found a body in there of a child. bronson was last seen waving

at a neighbour on boxing day. the next day, his father arranged a visit from social workers for the 2nd of january. the social worker visited the house that day, but the knock at the door went unanswered, so the police were contacted. two days later, a social worker visits again. five days later, bronson and kenneth battersby are found dead after the landlady is asked to open the property by social services. that landlady, maria clifton—place, didn't want to appear on camera, but she told us she rushed to the address when social services asked if they could gain entry. i opened the lounge door and kenny was just laid on the floor and i knew he was dead. it was just a horrible, horrible tragedy for that poor little boy and kenny. we're just heartbroken. i classed kenny as a personal friend. he really helped me

out when i needed him. 0n social media, bronson�*s mother has paid tribute to her little boy and says she will forever miss him. just incredible to think. that something like this could happen in skegness, in britain, in 2024. - there are obviously lots of questions to answer, | but it's just such a tragedy. meanwhile, children's services have started a review, which should take 15 days. in cases such as these, we would normally be visiting monthly. so we would normally be visiting the families at monthly or less intervals. so, in terms of that timeline between the fourth and the ninth, that will be the subject of a rapid review. what we need to do is get all agencies together to understand, from the different perspectives, what's happened, so that we can build up that very clear picture. lincolnshire police are not treating the deaths as suspicious and have referred themselves to the independent 0ffice for police conduct. jo black, bbc news, in skegness.

0ur social affairs editor, alison holt, joins me now. people will be watching this and wondering how could this have happened? i wondering how could this have happened?— happened? i think that is the inevitable — happened? i think that is the inevitable question after - happened? i think that is the - inevitable question after something so tragic, it will have been deeply traumatic for the family, it is also distressing for friends and neighbours, and for those who worked with bronson and his father. these things are always obligated. the missed appointment with the social worker was a red flag, but she followed expected practice. she alerted the police, she visited other possible addresses. and she visited again. a social worker doesn't have a right to enter someone's home, that is down to the police. importantly, children's services viewed bronson as a child in need, which means in need of support. he was not under the highest level of supervision, which is child protection. we have also had suggestions from the social work

team that there were no particular concerns about the father's health. so, how do you predict something as tragic as a heart attack? and there are huge amounts we don't know. we don't know what checks were made by the police, we don't know what conversations were had with family and friends, and, although it is the start of the new year, we don't know if there were missed playgroup sessions, for instance. so it will be for the rapid review to try to answer all these questions and decide whether or not action could have been taken more quickly. thank ou. both king charles and the princess of wales will be away from public duties for a while because of health reasons. kensington palace said that catherine, who's a2, has had abdominal surgery and will be in hospitalfor at least ten days and not back to engagements until after easter. shortly after that, buckingham palace said the king is to receive treatment for an enlarged prostate. here's our royal correspondent daniela relph. together on christmas day — the king, the princess of walesjust behind him and the wider royal family attended church on the

sandringham estate in norfolk. it was the last time the king and the princess were seen in public. they appeared in good health. in the run—up to christmas, the king carried out all his scheduled public engagements. there was no indication of any problems. but this afternoon buckingham palace released a statement. it said... "in common with thousands of men each year, the king has sought treatment for an enlarged prostate. "his majesty's condition is benign and he will attend hospital next week for a corrective procedure." earlier in the afternoon came news of the princess of wales being in hospital. like the king, she too had shown no sign of any health issues last month during a full programme of engagements that included hosting a carol concert at westminster abbey. but kensington palace has now said that the princess was admitted to this london hospital yesterday for what they described as planned abdominal surgery. she's expected to stay here for 10—1a days,

and is unlikely to return to royal duties before easter. as you're the volunteers for this evening... palace officials have not disclosed why the princess had surgery. they say they appreciate there will be interest in her condition, but she wants to keep her personal medical information private, and would like to maintain as much normality as possible her children. well, this evening the princess of wales is spending her second night here in hospital in central london, and we are unlikely to see her back on royal duty this side of easter. in addition, her husband prince william is scaling back his royal work as well to help with her recovery, and then next week the king will need a short stay in hospitalfor his king will need a short stay in hospital for his condition, king will need a short stay in hospitalfor his condition, and he may find himself out of action for a few weeks as well, so this is all creating some real problems for the royal family, creating some real problems for the royalfamily, but buckingham palace stressed this isn't a constitutional

issue. the king will be able to carry on with many of his duties, but he will be limited in terms of getting out and about on engagements until he has fully recovered. thank you, daniela. iran has launched a missile attack apparently targeting militant bases in western pakistan which killed two children, according to officials there. islamabad said the attack was "illegal" and warned of "serious consequences". earlier this week, iran also attacked targets in iraq and in syria. the strikes add to the growing tension across the middle east. our world affairs correspondent paul adams is here with more. as david cameron said recently, warning lights seem to be flashing all across the middle east. and each day, it seems, there's a new one. to what extent, then, are they all connected? and is all this happening because of the war in gaza? well, yes — and no. let's look at the most recent examples. last night, iran fired drones and missiles into neighbouring

pakistan, targeting what it says is a terrorist group responsible for attacks inside iran, including one in december which killed 11 iranian policemen. on monday, iran fired missiles and drones in the other direction, hitting targets in syria and iraq. these attacks, it said, were also retaliation — in this case for a devastating bomb attack in the iranian city of kerman just two weeks ago. now, none of this was about gaza. this was iran showing to its own people that attacks on iranian soil will not go unpunished. but there is a connection. at a time when the middle east is boiling, the use of long—range ballistic missiles is a warning to iran's enemies, especially israel and the united states, that it's more than capable of hitting targets well beyond its borders. then there's the red sea, where the us and uk are attempting to persuade the houthis, close allies of iran, to stop attacking shipping

bound for the suez canal. the houthis say all this is motivated by the war in gaza. and finally, all of iran's other allies and proxies around the region... hamas in gaza. hezbollah in lebanon. militias in syria and iraq. they've all benefited from iranian military support, and they're all seeking to punish israel, or its ally the united states, for what's happening in gaza. speaking today, iran's foreign minister said that if what he called the genocide in gaza stopped, then that would bring an end to the other crises and attacks occurring across the region. that's a bit of an exaggeration. the dangers currently facing the middle east don't all stem from what's happening in gaza. but the war has made things infinitely worse. reeta. paul, thank you.

four brothers killed earlier this month by an israeli air strike in the occupied west bank were palestinian civilians who posed no threat to israeli forces, witnesses have told the bbc. violence in the territory has been rising. the un says that more than 300 palestinians have been killed there by the israeli army since the hamas attacks on israel three months ago. 0ur middle east correspondent lucy williamson has been to al—shuhada to investigate the killing of the four brothers which happened hours after a 19—year—old israeli officer was killed during clashes with palestinian groups injenin. gunshots, sirens. the war is in gaza. but it's hard to miss the warnings coming from west bank cities likejenin. since the hamas attacks, the israeli army has come

intojenin again and again, and again, determined to root out hamas and its sympathisers. jenin armed groups here, determined to resist. those armed groups proudly claim any members killed in israeli operations as martyrs for their cause. none have claimed the four darweesh brothers, killed in an israeli air strike ten days ago. their mother's first gesture on seeing where they died, to tidy a little. translation: i wanted to come and imagine where each - of them was sitting. alaa was there. ahmad, rami and hazza were here. there were the other martyrs. i wanted to see exactly where my sons were. the men, all in their 20s, were filmed by a security camera sitting around a fire with three of their extended family

as the air strike happened. one of the first paramedics on the scene is convinced they were doing nothing wrong. translation: there was no sign of any clashes or confrontation. l not shooting, not throwing stones. was there anything you saw that could explain why these men were killed? translation: there was nothing. they had no weapons. they were drinking coffee by the fire. they were wearing slippers and pyjamas. we asked the israeli army why the men were targeted. it said an aircraft struck a terrorist squad that hurled explosives at israeli forces, and sent us this video. the black flashes near the passing vehicle, consistent with explosives, analysts say. witnesses said soldiers drove through the village 15 minutes to an hour before the strike took place. we asked the army when their footage was filmed. it said it had nothing to add.

their mother, ibtesam, found all four sons in the hospital morgue. the family showed us israeli entry permits for two of them. no—one israel sees as a security threat would have them. translation: they took my whole family away. i who can i complain to when all countries are supporting israel? if they wanted to do anything, they would have helped the children in gaza. my sons are under the soil now, and no—one stood with them. in the village cemetery, her caresses and her questions go unanswered. this is a place she can take her grief. but her anger has nowhere to go. lucy williamson, bbc news, jenin.

here, expectations that interest rates will be cut this year remain — despite a surprise rise in the uk's inflation rate last month. inflation, which measures how prices rise over time, went up marginally to a% in december, up from 3.9% in november. economists had forecast a slight fall, but rises in tobacco and alcohol prices were behind the increase. northern ireland will tomorrow see a day of widespread strikes affecting health, education and other public services as 16 public sector unions stage industrial action. at stormont, there is no sign of any restoration of the power—sharing institutions after an absence of nearly two years, meaning continuing stalemate on issues such as public pay. 0ur ireland correspondent, chris page, has more. every winter mini mountains of salt are scooped up and spread on the roads. but tomorrow in northern ireland, the gritting will largely grind to a stop.

staff are taking part in what is thought to be the biggest coordinated strike ever held here. the workers say pay is well behind the rest of the uk. £10.92 an hour, which gives us a basic take—home pay of £333 a week. and we've just came here to say we can't live on what we have. we've asked time and time again for help. nobody out there seems to be giving us the help. many public services will stand still, and officials have given a warning about driving on unsalted roads in cold weather. the road network will be much more hazardous, so i would just ask people to be very careful if they do have to travel, and only travel if absolutely necessary. as the temperature remains low, politics is still frozen. the democratic unionist party is vetoing power—sharing at stormont in protest against trading arrangements after brexit. the irish nationalist party, sinn fein, temporarily recalled the devolved assembly today.

the woman who's in line to be first minister said it could be the last sitting. if it is the case that the dup will not respect the outcome of the election and restore democracy, then there is an obligation of both governments, both the british government and the irish government to look at plan b. there must be a british—irish partnership that provides joint stewardship and an intensified role for the irish government in the affairs of this state. the dup said it wouldn't allow devolution to be restored until its concerns were dealt with. 0ur negotiations with the government have made real and significant - progress, but will continue l until there are arrangements agreed that unionists _ as well as nationalists can support. the uk government says public sector pay is a matter for a devolved government. it has promised an extra half a billion pounds for wage increases if devolution is revived. trade unions say they are being used as political pawns.

so in a few hours, buses will stop, health workers will walk out and schools will shut in a day of demonstrations and disruption. and my colleague sophie raworth will be presenting the news from belfast tomorrow as those public sector strikes take place. children suffering from leukaemia in the uk are starting to be treated with a drug that is much kinder to their bodies than chemotherapy, and can be given at home. michelle roberts reports. life's getting back to normal for 11—year—old arthur. he's been clear of cancer for almost a year now. he was one of the first children in the uk to try out a new type of cancer drug. blinatumomab, or blina, can replace big chunks of aggressive chemotherapy. the news came that actually there was still some residual cancer, so that particular chemo phase had not worked as expected.

for arthur, blina was then the only real option to tackle his blood cancer. you can see the picc line that goes into his pyjamas and actually there on the right hand side, the pump that was separately at that point, or not yet in the backpack so everything could be... all of the kit can be carried in a small bag. although he had to wear it day and night, it gave him back his freedom. really good... doctors say it's a much kinder alternative. hello, arthur. come on in. hello. and could be a game changerfor kids with b—cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia who struggle on chemo. chemotherapy are poisons that kill i the leukemic cells, but also kill. and damage normal cells. and that is what causes their side effects. - blinatumomab is a gentler, . kinder treatment that doesn't have the same side effects - as chemotherapy, but can cure just as many patients as chemotherapy.

that bead represents chemo... it's been a long, toughjourney for the whole family, made somewhat easier by blina. it made it feel like a lot freer. it also freed up some of mum and dad's time and they could finally do work again. instead of having to go to hospital with me. new year was when we found out that the blina had worked and that there was no residual cancer. and so that was just amazing. and so we had double celebrations there. blina's already used in adults, but it's not yet widely available on the nhs for children. given its promise as a kinder, gentler treatment, arthur's medical team hope it could be in the future. michelle roberts, bbc news.

time for a look at the weather. with warnings of more snow in places, here's chris fawkes. yes, the cold snap may well be coming to an end, but it does so with something of a sting in the tail across northern areas of the country, snow getting ever heavier and increasingly disruptive, and of course we have seen loads of snow over recent days, 0bi 20 centimetres in lerwick, bigger drifts around. looking at the satellite picture, these massive thunder clouds are forming trough that will be pushing southwards, bringing the ever heavier snow showers in across the north of the country. so for northern scotland, another 5—15 centimetres, windy conditions so blizzard at times, and heavy snow showers will make their way across northern ireland, so we will get accumulations here, perhaps ten centimetres overnight and into tomorrow, so much greater risk of seeing disruption here. elsewhere, we will continue to see largely dry conditions across a large part of

england and wales, wintry showers