the brexit secretary david davis has been urged by his labour shadow keir starmer to clarify the governments plan for leaving the eu. it follows an attack on the government from sir ivan rogers britain's departing eu ambassador, following his resignation yesterday. sir tim barrow, political director at the foreign officer will replace sir ivan rogers. in an email to staff informing them of his decision to leave — sir ivan said the government did not have a plan for the negotiation. he went on to say: those of the words of sir ivan rogers in an e—mail to staff. with me is seema malhotra, labour mp who sits on the brexit select committee. he didn't mess around easy? there is a bigger issue here. it was a stark public warning that six months on from the referendum you don't seem

to be any further forward will stop what is quite shocking is that sir ivan, his comments about muddled thinking did not surprise me, he is saying that as an insider he did not know what theresa may and her ministers actually wanted to do and achieve and for those of us who observed the power premier list and her ministers the irony is that we have had the same impression. i think this is saying that the government needs to get its act together very fast because if theresa may gets it wrong, if the government gets it wrong, the people who will suffer our british families and businesses. it is our future and prosperity and security, and it is vital that they now come forward what they're negotiating objectives are going to be. but the government saying the plan is being formulated and sir ivan does not necessarily have to know it now, he just eased to know it in time for the triggering of article 50. and some

brexit supporters are making it clear he was not on board anyway. they believe he is someone who is actually trying to hold back the march of the uk out of the eu.” personally don't believe that is the case. what's ivan has said is quite consistent with the view that i have heard from many people, those in business and otherwise, those in universities, scientists, people who are resident here from the eu, british citizens abroad, everybody feels uncertain about which direction the government wants to go in. this is because there is more than one way to brexit. the government had come forward and laid out even its priorities that it wa nts to out even its priorities that it wants to have a future relationship with the eu, there is going to be a positive one, sending out a positive tone, that we have left but we're not leaving usual europe, they are friends, allies, we want to see them continue to be successful, making sure we protect employment rights, guarantee our environmental

legislation, those are the sorts of things that people want to understand as well. what is the government ‘s priorities? i will give you another example because it comes back to what it means for our constituents, we want to see someone be able to get on and have access to jobs. if we get on and have a future without you eu that does not safeguard our economic interests, look at our relationship and protect oui’ look at our relationship and protect our interests in the single market, say how to make sure we get our membership stake in the eu, that can put at stake millions of billions of pounds in our economy. sir tim barrow is going to replace sir ivan. does that make sense to you? will he go in and bad for britain?” does that make sense to you? will he go in and bad for britain? i very much hope that we will see the secretary of state state david davis come to parliament next week because these are important questions. i think what we want and the british

people want to be sure is that the government knows where it's going. theresa may will be stronger in negotiations if she has parliament behind her and people want to know that they have a government that is going to bat for british visitors, jobs, the future of young people to be able to work, travel... they have to know that he will bat for britain to. the ambassador. he always do what the politicians will ask because that is theirjob. this is an issue about whether there has been a lack of political direction and consistent political direction. you might shoot the messenger but it does not change the message. fingers of the very important readily with the substance of the issue and not just seeing a change in the ambassador and thinking that solves the problem. thank you. four men have been remanded in custody over a hit—and—run crash on new year's eve which killed two

young girls. the two cousins — 12—year—old helina kotla rova and zaneta krokova, who was 11 — were struck by a car close to their homes in oldham. our corresponded is in salford. ring us our corresponded is in salford. ring us up—to—date with the details. those four men appeared in court earlier today to face charges over the crash which happened on new year's eve in old. as you say it's claimed the lives of two young girls, two cousins, aged 11 and i2 yea rs girls, two cousins, aged 11 and i2 years old. the two cousins were in oldham, crossing years old. the two cousins were in old ham, crossing the years old. the two cousins were in oldham, crossing the road, holding hands on their way back from a shop, when they were knocked down on saturday evening. the older of the two girls died at the scene. the 11 new roles girl was taken to hospital sir suffering serious issue reads —— injuries which she did not recover from. police have made a number of request arrests and today they told us request arrests and today they told us four men have been charged. among

them is a 38 your old older man. he is charged with a number of offences including causing the deaths of the two girls by dangerous driving, perverting the course ofjustice, driving without a licence, failing to report a collision. the other three men who appeared "beside him are aged between 18 and 50 and they are aged between 18 and 50 and they are reduced of conspiracy to convert the course of justice. are reduced of conspiracy to convert the course ofjustice. or four men have been remanded in custody until their next court appearance and that will be in manchester on the ist of february. now, to the dinosaur who's about to go on tour. dippy the diplodocus has been the centre piece at london's natural history museum since 1905, and has appeared in two hollywood blockbusters. but today he's being dismantled, ready to be cleaned up, and then sent round the uk on a two year long tour. he's being replaced by the skeleton of a blue whale. our correspondent, daniela relph has more. it's busy here most days,

but for those queueing today, there was a goodbye to be had. the first sight of dippy has been a lasting memory for so many children. it's the first thing you see when you arrive. the natural history museum estimates that 19 million people have stood here and looked up at dippy. it's not known whether the diplodocus is a he or she, but today, it is the last chance to see dippy at the museum. because it's the last day, people might want to... people might not have seen it before, so they want to come over. that's why there's lots of crowds. what do you think of dippy? he goes "rahh! " it's amazing to think it lived a long time ago though. it was actually walking around. i'm a bit sad that he's going, but maybe i can see other dinosaurs, maybe. dippy first came to the museum more than 100 years ago. made up of 292 bones, the dinosaur arrived in 36 cases. during the second world war,

the dinosaur was taken to the basement to protect it. the diplodocus is a plaster cast replica of the real thing. it would have weighed 13 tonnes when alive. it's been cleaned up and cared for in the main entrance hall since 1979, when it took up its current position. pulling apart and moving the dinosaur will be detailed, delicate work. in the morning, we will be starting to take dippy down. we take the glass barrier away and then we start working from the tail, back up to the body, and then the neck, and then over the next month, we'll be taking each bone down. each of those 292 bones. we will be cleaning them, inspecting them and then packing them up. once cleaned up and reassembled, dippy goes on tour for two years. it begins appropriately on dorset‘sjurassic coast, before moving to birmingham, glasgow, newcastle, cardiff and other locations.

and this is what replaces dippy. the skeleton of the blue whale, hung from the ceiling to give the impression of it diving, of it being a living species that needs protecting. but today, it's all about dippy. for those feeling a little sad about the departure, there are tentative plans to recast the diplodocus in bronze and place it in the museum grounds. but for now, it is goodbye. the train drivers union has said it is splitting a six—day strike splitting a six-day a six-day strike on southern railway next week into two three—day stoppages. drivers will walk out next tuesday, wednesday and friday — and then again later injanuary — because of a long—running dispute about who should open and close train doors. our correspondent sarah smith is in crawley in west sussex i suppose, isuppose, sarah, the

i suppose, sarah, the first question is, while the union is saying it is three strikes with one day off in the middle, it's actually four days because the trains will be on the wrong places as the result of the previous two days. yes. they're saying is that of six days it is three days next week and in three days later. but you're right. the trains will be all over the place. but it will only be three days of striking so three days without pay. they are saying they are taking a longer—term view of this dispute and thatis longer—term view of this dispute and that is why they are splitting this strike. they say the train company has been taken posturing rather than negotiating over who should open the doors, whether there should be drivers or guards on all the trains. southern save the union have treated passengers with absolute contempt. the language here shows you just how bitter the dispute is. there is no

sign to unending and stuck in the middle, as always, other passengers. i have to go back to uni next week and is lucky that i can get a lift because if i had to get the train i wouldn't get back in time. because if i had to get the train i wouldn't get back in timelj because if i had to get the train i wouldn't get back in time. i work at gatwick airport and i'm always late because the trains are always cancelled. i heard it's because somebody doesn't want to have to open doors as part of theirjob. but i think people should just be thankful they have a job. this time southern save a putting on 200 buses to ta ke southern save a putting on 200 buses to take people to other stations where the train lines are still running. but 2000 trains a day will be cancelled because of this strike. that won't we nearly enough capacity. time for a look at the weather. we are talking frost and plenty of

it through the night to night. quite breezy down through the north sea coast. a little bit of ice is likely. certainly inland the talking point will be the feel first thing in the morning. in towns and city centres it will hoverjust in the morning. in towns and city centres it will hover just above freezing. —— below freezing. in rural parts, well below freezing. the remnants of a weather front still producing cloud and spits and spots of rain. elsewhere it will be a cold start. once the frost lifts away will buckley the sunshine. it will be a lovely day. a southerly breeze will continue to bring more cloud across the west facing coast and it will be seven or 8 degrees. further inland places may see temperatures just a few degrees above freezing. on friday it changes. the southerly changes to south—westerly and pushes the weather fronts in. it south—westerly and pushes the weatherfronts in. it brings south—westerly and pushes the weather fronts in. it brings wetter and windy weather for friday and

stays cloudy for the weekend. this is bbc news. the headlines are 7pm. britain has a new ambassador to the eu after the acrimonious fallout of its predecessor. labour is asking for a statement from the government. come to the house on monday. reassure the house that there is a plan, reassure the house of commons about the team and reassure us about your attitude to the civil service. the young girls killed in a hit and run in oldham on new year's eve — four men are charged. a not so festive end to the shopping season — disappointing sales at next over christmas and a warning of tough times ahead. belgian prosecutors have released

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