this is bbc news. the top stories developing at 11am: mps vote today on the legislation that will give the government the go—ahead to trigger article 50, the formal process of leaving the eu. i'm ben brown at westminster, where we'll be following the brexit debate as it unfolds today. a tunisian man suspected of planning an attack is arrested after more than 1,000 german police carry out security raids in the state of hesse. president donald trump has nominated colorado federal appeals court judge neil gorsuch for the us supreme court. he has outstanding legal skills, a brilliant mind, tremendous discipline and has earned bipartisan support. also: train fares could be hundreds of pounds cheaper. a new trial to overhaul rail fares on some routes will begin in may after train operators in the uk admitted that buying the right ticket could be baffling.

an estimated 620,000 people in the uk have a faulty gene that puts them at risk of sudden death, the british heart foundation has warned. mps will vote tonight on legislation that would allow the prime minster to formally start the process of leaving the european union. the government is expected to win the vote quite comfortably, despite opposition from some labour rebels. we'll be looking to see exactly how many. plus the liberal democrats and the snp. yesterday saw impassioned speeches for and against the bill in the house of commons.

the debate went on right up till midnight and will continue today with a vote around 7pm tonight. if the bill is passed, it will continue its passage through parliament and ultimately allow theresa may to trigger article 50 of the lisbon treaty. 0ur political correspondent chris mason reports. heading home into the winter's night after nearly 12 hours of debate. midnight in westminster with another afternoon of discussion to follow today. this is a debate with fire and passion. with some long speeches. and some very short ones. the speaker: drjulian lewis. thank you, mr speaker. in my opinion, the people have decided, and i'm going to vote accordingly. laughter. that eight second speech best sums up the mood of mps however they voted in the referendum.

this is a process that needs to be triggered. we need to do it soon and the public of this country expect us to do it. but not everyone is convinced. the new government have acted as though the vote in the referendum gives them carte blanche to engineer the most extreme kind of arrangements for the uk leaving the eu. she is one of a few dozen labour mps who could vote against starting brexit, but ministers are confident they'll win easily because many mps who passionately campaigned for remain will support starting the brexit process, even if they're irritated by the claims of some. please don't mock our intelligence by pretending we're going to sign a suite of trade deals on day one of leaving the european union. and mps return here this morning to pick up where they left off. we expect the debate to resume after

prime minister's questions just after 1pm. should be a vote this evening at 7pm. there is a reasoned amendment from the snp but that is not thought to be successful. it is thought the government will quite co mforta bly thought the government will quite comfortably get this motion through the house of commons. iain duncan smith joins the house of commons. iain duncan smithjoins me now. a prominent leave campaigner during the referendum campaign. thank you. for some mps, this is a matter of conscience and principal. whatever was voted on in the referendum, for example ken clarke saying he would not vote for this bill. there are

two differences here between conscience and what one did. keir starmer on the opposition side made it clear quite sensibly, if you voted in 2015 to pass the referendum act which was overwhelmingly voted by labour and conservative, then you really should vote for triggering article 50. that was the result of the referendum. ken clarke voted against that, so he is in the clear. they are at liberty to do that if the feel strongly about it. but tonight is only about triggering article 50. it's not about getting rid of the 72 acts, so it's quite straightforward. what about mps who represent constituencies who voted

overwhelmingly to remain, like those in scotland 7 overwhelmingly to remain, like those in scotland? we gave the united kingdom, the people of the united kingdom, the people of the united kingdom, a referendum and their decision was final. if they chose to leave, we would leave. if they chose to stay, we would stay. they chose to stay, we would stay. they chose to leave. if you believe in democracy, you have to act on it. what about the process now in terms of how much the government consult parliament during negotiation?” think that will be never—ending until we leave. weekly article 50, and then we need to do the 1972 european communities act is which will need to be repealed. that means

amendments will flow and there will bea amendments will flow and there will be a debate. the government is committed to coming back to the house regularly to update the house and say this is where we are. they won't give away every single secrets 01’ won't give away every single secrets or issue. you can't have 650 mps carrying out a negotiation with the european union. then they will come back and say, here is the deal. what sort of debate would you expect them? quite a fierce debate about whether we should accept the deal or not. and the government will make a case for whatever deal it is they have got. then parliament will have its say in a vault. it will either be accepted or rejected. parliament has a whole load of checks and bala nces has a whole load of checks and balances and lots of time to debate this stuff. the government looking already to make alternative trade

deals. ken clarke said this is alice in wonderland stuff, this idea we can conjure up magical trade deals to replace business with the european union. the eu are in a state of economic crisis. the euro isa state of economic crisis. the euro is a disaster for many countries. massive levels of unemployment. there is a rise of some extreme parties in holland, austria and france. if you don't think this is a problem, then you really need to think carefully about it. so the alice in wonderland and allergy is really more about the european union, which is turning its back on the idea of the need to make change. what we have done is chosen to leave, were not leaving europe, we still want to be friends, cooperate and trade with them, defence and intelligence arrangements, and of the sensible we will carry on having trading arrangements. we are not

withdrawing from the world. this is about re—engaging with the rest of the world. thank you. we will bring you more of the debate live here on bbc news throughout the day. and the vote will take place this evening at 7pm. thank you. german officials say they have broken up a major islamist terror network, that was in the early stages of planning an attack in germany. more than 1,000 police officers have carried out more than 50 raids at homes, offices and mosques this morning. our correspondent damien mcguiness is in berlin and we can speak to him now. what can you tell us about these raids? well, german officials say they have arrested 136—year—old tunisian man. now coming he is accused of helping to organise a terrorist cell in germany which officials say they have broken up. they were in the early stages of planning an attack. more chilling is the fact this 36—year—old suspect

arrested early this morning is accused of having links to a terror attack in tunisia in 2015, in which 22 people in total were killed. that was that the bardo museum. questions are being asked about how he managed to get to germany and why he remained undetected for so long. 0fficials remained undetected for so long. officials have said they have had their eye on him for a while and now because they have managed to break up because they have managed to break up this terror cell, they are describing this as a signal to islamist in germany and throughout europe in general that police here will not tolerate any islamist terror activity. it was a huge operation. more than 1000 police involved. many homes, offices and mosques raided? a total of 54 homes, apartments, businesses and mosques. that was all in the region of hesse. that was all in the region of hesse. that is thought to be one of the

major focal that is thought to be one of the majorfocal points. that is thought to be one of the major focal points. with you for it is in germany, they have had their eyes on this for awhile. this raid shows they have concrete reason to believe that terror attacks were being planned. it has to be pointed out that have said there was no concrete actual target they could have identified so far, but they said the suspect they have and the people they are investigating are 110w people they are investigating are now accused of being in the early stages of the potential attack here in germany. thank you. neil gorsuch, to fill a vacancy on the us supreme court. if confirmed, the 49 year old will become the youngest person to fill the position in a quarter of a century. some democrats say they will oppose the choice because of his attitudes towards women's and workers' rights. 0ur washington correspondent has more. in the hands of this man, even an appointment to the top court in the land has the feel of a reality tv show. today, i am keeping another promise

to the american people by nominating judge neil gorsuch. donald trump had brought the top two contenders for the job to washington in order to keep his prime—time tv audience guessing, only to tell this federal appeals courtjudge, "you're hired." judge gorsuch has outstanding legal skills, a brilliant mind, tremendous discipline, and has earned bipartisan support. at 49, neil gorcuch is the youngest nominee to the supreme court in more than a quarter of a century. his appointment is for life. standing here in a house of history, and acutely aware of my own imperfections, i pledge that if i am confirmed i will do all my powers permit to be a faithful servant of the constitutional laws of this great country. judge gorsuch‘s conservative ideology is closely aligned to that

of the man he has been nominated to replace, justice antonin scalia, who died just last year. the choice of neil gorsuch is a gift to those who voted for donald trump. his conservative views could tip the balance of the supreme court on such key issues as abortion, voting rights, and religious equality. and we'll have more on all the latest developments from the trump white house tonight at 7pm in our programme 100 days, with katty kay in washington, and christian fraser in london. that's at 7pm here on the bbc news channel. fighting between government forces and pro—russian rebels continued overnight in eastern ukraine, with shelling reported in the industrial town of avdiivka and further south near the city of mariupol. the latest flare—up in the conflict is the worst in months. a memorial service is being held independence square in kiev for seven ukrainian soldiers who were killed in avdiivka. 0ur correspondent tom burridge is on the front line there. we are on the road on the way

into avdiivka, a small city where there has been recent heavy fighting between russian backed separatists and the ukrainian military and you can hear in the background there is a heavy battle not farfrom here. you can hear a lot of outgoing firing from the ukrainian side. in the two years of covering this conflict i've rarely known the situation to be this unstable and volatile. we've come into avdiivka, this small city, and you can see the coking plant there. coke is a material used in the process of making steel. it's a huge feature of this small city, right close to the front line. what is striking is when you come into avdiivka, you can hear the artillery, you can hear the mortars going off in the background, down towards the industrial zone, which is right next to the front line. essentially the front line between ukrainian military on this side and russian backed separatists on the other. what is striking here in avdiivka, though, is the signs of everyday life. a large group of women just waiting for the bus. probably about a five—minute drive from the war‘s front line. so we've come up to the far end of avdiivka. we are not far from the prom zone,

an industrial area just on the edge of the city. you can see these flats here have been shelled in the past. there are a lot of ukrainian soldiers here. they are much more busy than they have been when i've been in the conflict zone in the past. there is a lot more activity going on, a lot more military vehicles. you can actually see the 0sce here. that is the international monitors which have been monitoring the conflict in eastern ukraine. they are in the area trying to sort of basically keep tabs on the fighting. you can see in the background, residents again. local residents coming out of their flats. people live in this area and this is a daily reality for them, although the last two or three days have been much, much worse than usual. new research suggests that more than 600,000 people in the uk are at risk of sudden death from a faulty heart gene. the british heart foundation says that's far more than previously thought.

the charity is calling for more research to help detect and treat the condition. sanjay prasad is a cardiologist at royal brompton hospital in london and canjoin me now. this latest estimate of the number of people who could be a risk of sudden death is 100,000 higher than previous estimates. tell us more about this faulty gene. there are two main genes that affect the heart resulting in this condition. it is when the muscle takes an intrinsic pet. in essence, what they are doing is affecting the proteins in the heart so that the heart muscle does not work as well as normal. patients are at risk of two main conditions. 0ne are at risk of two main conditions. one is getting serious and major rhythm disturbances and the other is

getting pump failure is, so the heart does not pump enough blood around the body. a greek tragedy is that many of these patients are often young and in the prime of life. with early detection, there is a good treatment. early recognition means we can intervene and do something about this. 12 people aged 35 or under are dying every week with no apparent explanation, mostly because of inherited genetic faults. are there any early warning signs? usually, one of the most common ways these patients present is tragically when a family member has had a sudden death or aborted sudden death with the have collapsed and an investigation has undertaken that they have some form of heart muscle disease. symptoms otherwise our chest pains, lots of palpitation, blackout or feeling as though they are going to blackout, or shortness of breath for no obvious reason. it

is in the absence of a bad chest infection when symptoms are lingering. those are the key things to be aware of. what is your advice? this will worry everybody because anyone could be at risk. people simply don't know. should people get screens? what's the best advice? the priority group is anyone when we know that a family member has been affected. what we now recommend, for example, is if you have a farm labourer brother, sister, parent, child has been affected, those are the priorities and we would would wish to screen you early on. for the general public, i don't think they need to be alarmed. if you're getting chest pain or palpitation, if they have blacked out or are having episodes where they feel as though they are blacking out, there is no explanation, then those other patients we wish to see. it is equally important not to alarm the

general public. so the symptoms i have identified or a strong family history, those are the things to consider. thank you very much. now some breaking news out of istanbul. the afp news agency is seeing an armed man is holding a number of doctors and staff hostage ata number of doctors and staff hostage at a hospital. a newspaper has said the gunman is believed to be a patient at a psychiatric unit in a hospital in istanbul. police have gone to the scene. that is all we have at the moment. so i newspaper report is saying an armed man is holding a doctor and the number of other staff hostage in istanbul. the newspapers reporting the gunman appeared to be a psychiatric

patient. we have no independent confirmation of this. we will check out these reports and update you. the headlines on bbc newsroom live: mps will vote at 7pm on triggering article 50. president trump has nominated neil gorsuch, a conservative colorado judge, for the us supreme court. railfares conservative colorado judge, for the us supreme court. rail fares are to be overhauled as operators admit that ticket types can be baffling. now the sport. antonio conte said he was "proud" of his chelsea players, for the "personality" they showed against liverpool at anfield. their 1—1 draw left chelsea nine points clear at the top of the premier league. they went ahead at anfield, through a david luiz free kick. georginio wijnaldum equalised for liverpool. and diego costa had

the chance to give them an even bigger cushion — but he had his late penalty saved. it is important to draw against a really good team. it is important to carry on in this week to try to increase our point in the table. with chelsea dropping points, arsenal could have narrowed the gap — but their title challenge they were beaten 2—1 at home to watford. younes kaboul and troy deeney scoring within the first 13 minutes. arsenal are third, level on points with tottenham, who drew 0—0 at sunderland. hull city's ryan mason says he's "lucky to be alive" after returning home from hospital. mason fractured his skull in a challenge with chelsea defender

gary cahill and had surgery the same night. he's not put a time—frame on his recovery but has thanked everyone for the "overwhelming support" given to him and his family. and lord coe has been asked to meet mps again after emails seem to confirm that he did know the details of doping allegations in athletics, four months before they became public. coe had told a parliamentary select committee that he was unaware of the specifics of the russian doping scandal. that's all the sport for now. we'll have more on the bbc news channel throughout the day. train operators have promised to overhaul what they say is a baffling ticketing system. trials aimed at making it easier for passengers to find the cheapest fares will begin in may. 0ur correspondent daniel boettcher is at kings cross station. thank you. passengers have been

complaining for many years it is often difficult to understand where they can find the best fares and they can find the best fares and they are not offered the cheapest deals. looking at some long—distance journeys, for example travelling from wick in northern scotland to cornwall, and off—peak return can cost more than £340 if you buy as one ticket. if you break the journey up one ticket. if you break the journey up into six different portions, it can be as little as £80. this is one of the issues that this trial is going to look at. rail delivery group which represents train companies says there are about 16 million different ticket prices, some of which are never even used. rail operators say this is largely down to rules which have been building upfor down to rules which have been building up for decades and they are keen to try to find a way to offer the best deal. the government is working with them on that. some of

the things this trial will look at, as well as the discrepancy between single tickets and split tickets, is whether passengers should be told whether passengers should be told whether two singles are cheaper than a return. passenger groups have welcomed as overall, but they say they should also be looking at part—time season tickets. they see people who don't have full—time jobs at the moment are paying too much. this will be trialled on some individual routes starting from me. thank you very much, daniel. let's return to westminster. the debate will continue this afternoon. the vote on whether to trigger article 50 will take place at 7pm

this evening. let's talk to geraint davies, labour mp for swansea. you're planning to defy davies, labour mp for swansea. you're planning to denyeremy corbyn by abstaining this evening. can you explain why? people have voted to leave, i respect that. i'm saying don't push article 50 yet because it gives all the rights for negotiation to the eu and we decide nothing. people have voted for a strong economy, more money and less immigration. they are not getting the £350 million for the nhs, 5% of their income will be cut by inflation. we will get tariffs and we will getjob losses. inflation. we will get tariffs and we will get job losses. people inflation. we will get tariffs and we will getjob losses. people i have spoken to have said they want a final say on the exit package and therefore delay article 52 gives a

chance to have that vote, so that people can have the final say. surely the people who voted to leave arejust surely the people who voted to leave are just expecting this to be pushed through. they are saying we want to leave as soon as possible. why are you still messing around in the house of commons? they didn't save up house of commons? they didn't save up to leave on any cost, be a jobs or money or access to the single market. we need to be at the negotiating table to ensure the best deal for britain. the only way to do thatis deal for britain. the only way to do that is to delay article 50. french elections in may and german elections in may and german elections in may and german elections in october, so we need to delay this until the end of october. that people should have the final say on whether they still want to leave or whether they will remain. does it bother you that you are voting against the whip? jeremy has voted against the whip on more than

400 occasions. he is a man of principle and i expect he will respect my principles. thank you. back to you. the headlines are coming up on the bbc news channel. in a moment we say goodbye to viewers on bbc two. first we leave you with for a look at the weather. thank you. it is an improving picture through the course of this afternoon. skies will be brightening up afternoon. skies will be brightening up as the rain clears away from eastern part of england. some showers over western scotland will fizzle out and there will be a slice of brighter weather developing over central areas of the uk. conditions going downhill over wales and south—west england. quite mild. the band of rain will move northwards and eastwards this evening. fizzling out as it does. turning windier for

all, particularly over the west. i'll might everywhere. deep area of low pressure will influence weather on thursday. windy, gales over southern and western parts. outbreaks of heavy rain spreading northwards. some brightness pushing into words southern and western areas. a really blustery day. very mild. if you add only strong it will feel a little cooler than this. friday, uncertainty to what is taking place over the south of the uk. deep area of low pressure is likely to bring windy weather to many parts. the worst could potentially be over northern france. keep tuned to the weather forecast

because the storm on friday could well become a named storm. take care. this is bbc newsroom live. the headlines... mps will vote this evening on the legislation giving the government the go—ahead to trigger article 50, which formally starts the process of leaving the european union. more than 1,000 police officers have carried out 54 anti—terrorist raids across the german state of hessen. a tunisian man suspected of planning an attack was arrested. president trump has called on the us senate to quickly approve his nomination for the country's supreme court. republicans say neil gorsuch is an impressive judge, but democrats are threatening to block the appointment. a new trial to overhaul rail fares on selected routes will begin in may after train operators in the uk admitted that buying the right ticket could be baffling. the system will make sure that passengers pay the cheapest possible fares. let's get more now

on the latest controversy to surround president trump. he's appointed a conservative, neil gorsuch, as a nominee to the supreme court, and has called on the us senate to speedily approve his nomination. the court has the final legal word on many of the most sensitive us issues, from abortion to gender to gun control. but democratic senators, who can delay or even block the nomination, have raised questions about judge gorsuch‘s attitudes towards women's and workers' rights. we can speak now to steve wermiel, professor of practice in constitutional law at washington college of law. it isa it is a very different system there from here so please explain why this is so important. the us supreme

court is unique in the world in that it has the last say on acts of congress and of the president as to whether they are constitutional so it can overrule the president and the congress and that makes this all important, it really gives it all the power. in accepting the nomination, judge gorsuch says it is the role ofjudges to apply not all of the people's... what do you read into his statement? i think it is a conservative philosophy, basically criticising the court and judges who try to expand rights and who in his mind pursue their own political and ideological agendas. who exactly

does that and when is the subject of debate and will be the subject of lengthy confirmation hearings. how much scope is therefore judges? presumably are very strict interpretation of the law is no cerri —— necessarily impartial. interpretation of the law is no cerri -- necessarily impartial. our constitution doesn't mention the right to privacy specifically but the supreme court in a series of opinions over about 50 years has found a right to privacy and then said that it includes the right to abortion, same—sex marriage and a variety of other things. if you take a narrow view and say that you only read the constitution according to its literal meaning and language then you cannot find those kinds of expansive rights and i thinkjudge gorsuch is criticising some of those

expansive views. if he is approved it will take the supreme court backed a position where are five conservative judges and four liberal. what potential impact, looking at some of these very sensitive issues, abortion, gun control, how could you see things unfolding with him on board?” control, how could you see things unfolding with him on board? i think there are two ways to think about him. he will not change the balance immediately in cases like abortion and affirmative action and perhaps gun rights, that the court goes back to where it was beforejustice scalia died about a year ago. but he is 49 years old and it brings new

life to the conservative wings of the court. justice kennedy is 80 and the court. justice kennedy is 80 and the others are in their 60s. judge gorsuch is 49 and could conceivably be on the court for 30 years. there has been a vacancy for some time because barack has been a vacancy for some time because ba rack 0bama's has been a vacancy for some time because barack 0bama's nominee did not call through. —— go through. is ita not call through. —— go through. is it a certainty that this goes through? it is likely. republicans control the senate 52—48. there is a strange process called a filibuster where the democrats can object to the nomination going to a vote and if they do that then it takes 60 votes to cut off the debate and move forward. the republicans do not

necessarily have those votes so they might have to change the rules of the senate, which they can do by a simple majority, in order to go forward. that will be one of the big things to watch, how much to the democrats oppose this and how hard are they willing to fight? is he a controversial figure, are they willing to fight? is he a controversialfigure, neil gorsuch? he isa controversialfigure, neil gorsuch? he is a mix. he is a very respected judge, a very smart and extremely well educated, he spent time at 0xford as part of his education, he is very likeable, personable, everybody who knows him says wonderful things about him being easy—going and not pretentious, incredibly smart, but he is very conservative and in some ways this isa

conservative and in some ways this is a full dress rehearsal for the country for the next vacancy, whoever leads the court next after this nomination was even nomination which would tip the balance significantly in favour of the conservative view so i think this is a dry run for what happens next. thank you very much. donald trump's decisions to build a wall on the mexican border, and temporarily ban new arrivals from some majority muslim countries have led to protests — notjust in the united states. but it's not the same story everywhere. in saudi arabia, many have welcomed donald trump as someone they can do business with. 0ur chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, is in the capital riyadh, where the saudi 0il minister khalid al—falih has been talking to her about the new american administration. to confirmation of the secretaries,

governor perry is someone i look forward to working with, the energy secretary, a great person, he is for oil and gas, secretary, a great person, he is for oiland gas, and secretary, a great person, he is for oil and gas, and we share a few things including that both of us went to a texas university, so i look forward to coordinating on energy policies and making sure there is a better understanding of what we in saudi arabia stand for. rex teller some from exxon on must be well known to you. he is one of the highest qualified executives i have ever dealt with. he is a statesman by nature. i have watched him with admiration as he led exxon

mobil to become the most respected oil and gas company in the world and i'm sure he will take his experience and wisdom to his new position as secretary of state. saudi arabia has many friends in the administration. donald trump did business here, closing deals during the election campaign, and others are known well. ata time campaign, and others are known well. at a time when muslim countries are worried about the relationship with the us, you are confident about going forward with the relationship? the relationship with saudi arabia is very strong and i think at the end of the day whether it is economic, people to people, geostrategic, saudi arabia and the us cannot afford not to work together in concert to confront the challenges facing the world. police in california have announced the results of their biggest ever operation to find girls and young women forced into commercial sexual exploitation.

they made almost 500 arrests and rescued more than 50 young people. angus crawford has been given exclusive access and spent three days with the lapd. this is his report. look beyond the handcuffs and the painted nails. these are not adults. just girls aged 16 and 17, arrested on the street for prostitution. once inside, no cell, no bars or locks, just a room. a place of safety where young people can get help and support. we find minors everyday we are out here. 11 is the youngest. 0n the street they call the blade, in the richest country in the world, children are bought and sold at any time of day, every day. sergeant brian gallagher heads the area vice unit. his job tonight — find those girls, get them off the street. they stop a man they recognise. he has a passenger.

it is cold and she's shivering. it is four o'clock in the morning and a routine patrol of the vice squad here has pulled over a car driven by a man they know is is a pimp. when they stopped it, a young woman got out of the car and they are concerned about her. she says she is 19. her parents have reported her missing. see her tattoo? it is the name of her pimp. here they called branding. a lot of these girls, when we talk to them, they tell us they're out for 20 hours a day working. they get a little bit of food, they get abused physically, sexually. it's barbaric what is being done to these little kids. my cousin grabbed me on the way home from school. america is slowly waking up to reality. thousands of children are being sexually exploited for money. i am 12 years old. 12 years old. that is why they launched operation reclaim and rebuild,

state—wide, lasting three days. prostitutes and customers arrested, processed, some are released with a warning. for others, it's jail. just 18, caught for a second time, treasure. she started on the street in middle school. you were a child when you first started doing this. yeah. what sort of things have happened to you working on the street? raped, somebody pulled a knife out on me, a gun, tried to rob me. this is crystal. crystal is in for an unpleasant surprise. the caller is an undercover officer arranging a sting in a hotel room. this time, the prostitute is an adult, so why is she here? just listen. my life is falling apart. this is the only thing i can do to survive on these streets right now. for detective brian gallagher

it seems never ending. children forced to work the streets turn into women who know only this, a life of violence and exploitation. a 18—year—old girl who was raised by her drug—addicted parents has written a letter to thank them. chelsea cameron's parents missed many important moments as she grew up, like exam results and prizegiving. but in the letter, chelsea explains that she's not angry with them but thankful that she was able to become independent, ambitious and determined never to take drugs. speaking on victoria derbyshire programme, she read out her letter. life is not sunshine and rainbows and thank you for teaching me that life is unfair. people disappoint you and there is sometimes nothing you can do about that. a lesson well learned from the both of you. thank you for not being there to wave goodbye as ijetted off to uganda on a trip of a lifetime.

thanks for not being there when i got my first set of exam results, to say well done. thanks for not being there when i got the position of head girl, a personal dream. thanks for not being there for me when i stood in front of hundreds of people to speak at my school prizegiving. thank you for not being there for me when i needed you. you have given me the greatest lesson of how to be independent. you have both allowed me to be more patient and tolerant a person than i could have ever imagined. dad, i see you often but i hope you now have a greater insight into the type of person i am and the things you have taught me. mum, i have not seen you in a while and i hope you are well. i hope you also know me a bit better now and know that i am trying to be a good person and that all is well. i hope one day that you will wake up and realise that there is so much more of the world has to offer you guys and when that day comes —— more the world has to offer you guys and when that day comes

please come to find me so we can enjoy life together. i will show you some nice restaurants i like to go to and if you're lucky i might take you to germany one day. until then, i'll dream of what my life will be like with parents to enjoy it with. wow. that is really powerful and very moving. i think what is really upsetting as you say life is not sunshine and rainbows. we know that but you know it at such a young age. that makes me really sad. yeah. there are lots of negative things that come into people's lives, possibly not through their own circumstances, and what i really hoped to do by sharing the letter was to allow people to know that they can choose positivity, no matter the circumstances they are in, and choose to havejoy in their life, no matter what happens. society sometimes tells you what your fate is but tells you that if your parents live a certain way or if you live a certain lifestyle that it is destined that you live like that and my hope

is to show other young people that they can choose exactly how they want their life to be. they can choose joy and happiness and positivity, no matter what the circumstances. what kind of response have you had? i have had incredible responses. so many people contacted me that i don't know, that have been in similar situations, that have said, "this has really helped me, i've been in the same situation, it's made me know that it's ok to talk about how you feel, not to bottle it up," and to know that they don't have to fall into that pathway, and i think, not just with drugs, a lot of people have contacted me with any negative situation they have had in their life and, you know, it has made them realise that you can choose to be positive. just because something negative has happened in your life, that doesn't determine your attitude. you can be positive and continue to be happy. and is it young people contacting you, is it kids, is it middle—aged people, who is it? all sorts? yeah, i've had a lot of different people contacting me. a lot of young people,

a lot of older people that maybe didn't know my circumstances before or had known my parents and things like that and they've really reached out to support me and allowed me to know that i've helped someone by sharing the letter as well, which was my desire. if you want to see the full version of that interview on the victoria derbyshire programme it is on the bbc website. we have some pictures now of a rare phenomenon known as a lava fire hose, a stream of molten lava fire hose, a stream of molten lava flowing into the pacific from a crack in a cliff. it is more than 400 fahrenheit going into cold

water, so it is pretty explosive as it goes in. it is from a volcano in hawaii which has been erupting continuously since 1800 ‘s. in a moment a summary of the business news this hour but first the headlines on bbc newsroom live. mps will vote this evening on the legislation giving the government the go—ahead to trigger article 50, the formal process of leaving the eu. president donald trump has nominated colorado federal appeals court judge neil gorsuch for the us supreme court. a new trial to overhaul rail fares on selected routes will begin in may after train operators in the uk admitted that buying the right ticket cn be baffling. in the business news... the head of talktalk, dido harding, is to leave the telecoms group in may after seven years. baroness harding will be replaced by current managing director tristia harrison. talktalk was recently fined over

a major hacking breach, and said that revenues fell in the final months of 2016. volkswagen has agreed to pay at least $1.22 billion — about £1 billion — to fix or buy back nearly 80,000 polluting us 3—litre diesel—engine vehicles to settle claims it fitted illegal emissions—cheating software to the cars. one of its german suppliers bosch also agreed to pay $327 million to american diesel vw owners. britain's economy is about to slow down but only slightly, according to the independent think tank the national institute of economic and social research. from 2% growth last year they are now expecting 1.7%. however this is the latest of three forecasts over the last six months, each one more optimistic than the last. in august they thought the economy would grow 1%, then they altered that to 1.4%, now its 1.7% joining us is james warren, from

that think tank. you have altered the forecast of the last six months, although a lot of people had. why have things changed so much? largely the change between august and now has been the performance of last year, 2016, specifically the household sector. consumption has been stronger than we expected. do we know why? a little bit of a wheel income story, or income adjusted for inflation, given the very week inflation, given the very week inflation, the benign inflationary environment of the past year, it has improved household purchasing power and that has supported consumption. surely we will get inflation which could hurt that on the head? absolutely. we think that

depreciation in consumer prices is beginning to happen and will continue through the year. we expect inflation to reach 3.8% by the end of 2017 and on the other side, nominal wages will be at about the same pace so we will have flat real wages and this should moderate household consumption somewhat. that is above the target from the bank of england so one would expect them to put up interest rates. we think they will probably not. we think given the nature of the shock hitting the economy, the exchange rate shock, they will look through this and be relatively patient as this passes into the economy and then inflation subsides back towards their target. we do not think they will begin to raise interest rates until the middle or end of 2019. you don't

think there will be an inflationary spiral as wages and prices go up into 2018/19? i think this is a temporary shock and we have a softening of domestic demand, weaker consumption this year, and that is not conducive to supporting wage increases. it then is how much households will protect employment as opposed to wages as to whether or not we will see it passed into inflation via wages. the footsie was down sharply but back up again today. volatile markets right now, difficult to predict which way they will go next. it is all to do with politics and no

one quite knowing what is gone to happen next. that's all the business news. some sad news about sir ken morrison of the supermarket morrisons, he has died at the age of 85 following a short illness. he was instrumental in growing the chain into one of the uk's largest retailers. his parents owned a small grocery chain set up in 1899. and the chain has grown and grown and is the fourth—largest supermarket group in britain. sir ken morrison, instrumental in overseeing that growth, has died at the age of 85. in a moment we'll cross live to the house of commons for prime minister's questions, ahead of mps beginning a second day of debate over the brexit bill.

let's get more from our assistant political editor norman smith who is in westminster‘s central lobby. last weekjeremy corbyn had a bit of a difficult day, tripped up by therese may —— to race on may —— theresa may. he will be looking to bounce back again and it is likely he will try to have a go at her over the donald trump visit. the travel ban and the offer of a state visit to mrtrump. and ban and the offer of a state visit to mr trump. and specifically when theresa may actually knew about the travel ban because downing street have been adamant that she was in the dark until she arrived in turkey. but there are suggestions, not denied by number ten, that donald chubb actually told her when

she met him in washington. i suspect that might be something jeremy corbyn wants to press on, to ride the bandwagon of unease about britain pars ocean ship with donald trump. —— britain's relationship. let's get the latest weather. conditions are going to improve with some dry weather and brightness. we have had pretty wet weather through the morning. the weatherfront eventually clears off into the north sea. this area of low pressure has thursday marked out, wet and windy for all of us. quite a fine afternoon for many parts of scotland and northern parts of england, the midlands and central and southern areas. meanwhile the next weather

front pushes into the south—west, moving north—east roads through the afternoon. it hangs back for the southeast, staying grey and dismal. sunshine breaking through in the midlands, northern england and much of scotland. in northern ireland, the weather front will move in with the weather front will move in with the increasing wind. scotland will not be as cold as the last few days. this rain fizzles out as it moves north. later on in the night, the area of low pressure moves in bringing windy weather and outbreaks of rain. very mild in the south and across the north. a deep area of low pressure will be stuck on the west of ireland. the isobars are tightly packed. southerly winds as well. and a spell of rain. gill force winds across the south, south west,

through the irish sea. outbreaks of rain moving north. this friday's headache. this area of low pressure with its position, we have been uncertain where it is going to impact. it looks like it will affect north and north—western france with strong winds through friday but there is a chance we could see some strong winds in the south west, south course in south—east, 50—60 mph inland. 80 mph on the course. stay tuned to subsequent weather forecasts. the weekend will be a little cooler than recently. some sunshine. we expect another windy speu sunshine. we expect another windy spell with some rain across southern parts of britain. head online for

the latest update and weather warnings. this is bbc news. the top stories developing at midday: mps vote today on the legislation that will give the government the go—ahead to trigger article 50, the formal process of leaving the eu. a tunisian man suspected of planning an attack is arrested after more than 1,000 german police carry out security raids in the state of hesse. president donald trump has nominated colorado federal appeals court judge neil gorsuch for the us supreme court. he calls on the senate to speedily approve him. we'll be live in the house of commons where theresa may is about to face prime minister's questions. this is the scene inside the house

of commons. the prime minister is due to get her feet shortly. whilst we wait for it to begin, let's bring in norman. another week with really one subject on the agenda? well, i think it's almost certain that jeremy corbyn will want to tackle theresa may over donald trump, but there will also be quite a bit of a focus on brexit and when mps are going to get this promised white paper on brexit, which they have still not been given, even though... injured in the gun attack in quebec city on sunday. and in paying

tribute to our former colleague. parliamentarian, i'm sure that our thoughts are with his friends and family. i had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others, andi ministerial colleagues and others, and i shall have further such meetings later today. thank you, mr speaker. i associate myself with the tribute paid to the victims in canada and to the family of tam dalyell. mr speaker, north devon is quite rightly concerned that the current review of health services across the county may result in the loss of some acute services at our hospital in barnstable. for some residents, the nearest alternative could be three hours away. will my honourable friend assure me that she will listen carefully to those concerns, because i want to be able to say to north devon that we are the party of the lhs? -- the nhs.

i thank my honourable friend for his question. i can reassure him that this government is absolutely committed to ensuring the best possible health care for patients right across the country. i recognise that there are concerns that have been expressed locally about the north devon district hospital. i'd understand that there are no specific proposals at the moment, but i know that the input of local communities will remain crucial robin briars says. and i can assure him that of course it is this party in government that is putting in the extra funding into the nhs and showing how we evaluate. jeremy corbyn. thank you, mr speaker. i joined the prime minister in offering condolences to all those who died in the horrific attack, fuelled by hate, in quebec. we

should send our solidarity to everybody in canada in this sad occasion. i also associate myself to the tribute for the former member for west lothian, can dl. former father of the house, he probably thought to expose official wrongdoing and cover—ups from the miners strike to a ruck. i'm sure that the prime minister would agree with me that his scrutiny and contributions made this house a better place. and can i recommend to all members his autobiography, the importance of being awkward. laughter and i'm quite happy, mr speaker, to offer my copy to the secretary of state for brexit to have a good read of it. i'm sure he's probably already read it. mr speaker, at last week's prime minister is questions, the prime minister told the house,

i'm not afraid to speak frankly to the president of the united states. what happened ? the president of the united states. what happened? well, first of all, cani what happened? well, first of all, can i say to the right honourable gentleman that i wasn't aware of the book that he referred to, but i suspect, given the number of resignations he's had from his front bench, that some of his colleagues have indeed read that book! i'm happy to say to the right honourable gentleman that when i visited the united states, i'm pleased to say that i was able to build on the relationship that we have with our most important ally. and to get some very significant commitments from president trump. and crucial among those was a 100% commitment to nato. nato, which keeps us safe and europe safe too. mr speaker, downing street

has not denied that the prime minister was told by the white house that the executive order on travel to the us was imminent. so let's be clear, was the prime minister told about the ban during her visit, and did she tried to persuade president trump otherwise? first of all, on the policy that president trump has introduced, this government is clear that that policy is wrong. we wouldn't do it. in six years as home secretary, i never introduced such a policy. we believe it is divisive and wrong. if he's asking me whether i had advanced notice of the ban on refugees, the answer is no. if he's asking me if i had advanced notice that the executive order could affect british citizens, the answer is no. if he's asking if i had advanced notice of the travel

restrictions, the answer is, we all did, because president trump said he was going to do this in his election campaign. the question, the question is how you respond. thejob of government, thejob of is how you respond. thejob of government, the job of government is not to chase the headlines. the job of government... thejob not to chase the headlines. the job of government... the job of government is not a trait to the streets in protest. thejob government is not a trait to the streets in protest. the job of government is to protect the interests of british citizens, and that's exactly what we did —— not to ta ke to that's exactly what we did —— not to take to the streets. mr speaker, on the day after the executive order was made to ban refugees and visitors from seven predominantly muslim countries, why did she three times refused to condemn the ban then? i've made very clear, very clear, that we believe this policy

is divisive and wrong. it's not a policy that we would introduce. i've also made very clear when asked about this that this government has about this that this government has a very different approach to these issues. on refugees, this government has a proud record of the support that we have given to refugees, and long may it continue. mr speaker, the prime minister said the united states is responsible for united states is responsible for united states policy on refugees. but surely it is the responsibility of all of us to defend the 1951 refugee convention, which commits this country, the united states, and 142 other states to accept refugees without regard to their race, religion or country of origin. president trump has breached that convention. why didn't she speak out? first of all, i've made absolutely clear what the goverment‘s view on this policy is. secondly, as i've just goverment‘s view on this policy is. secondly, as i'vejust said, this government has a proud record, and

this country has a proud record, of how it welcomes refugees. we have over the last recent years, we've introduced the very particular scheme to ensure that particularly vulnerable refugees in syria can be brought to this country, and something like 10,000 syrian refugees have come to this country since the conflict began. we are also the second biggest bilateral donor, helping and supporting refugees in the region. that is what we are doing. i have said that the policy is wrong. we will take a different view on we will continue to welcome refugees of this country. mr speaker, i also wrote to the prime minister on this issue, and i received a reply this morning. i hold in my hand her piece of paper. she makes no mention of the refugee convention, nor condemns the us actions in this respect. mr speaker, last week i also asked the prime minister to assure the house that

any united states trade deal, she would not offer up our national health service as a bargaining chip. she gave no answer when asked in the us she also refused to rule it out, so let's might ask her a third time, will she will out opening up our national health service to private us health care companies? yes or no? mr speaker, i could give a detailed a nswer to mr speaker, i could give a detailed answer to the right honourable gentleman's question, but i think a simple and straightforward reply is what is required. the nhs is not for sale, and it never will be.” what is required. the nhs is not for sale, and it never will be. i hope, mr speaker, that includes not having us health care companies coming in to run any part of our national

health service. mr speaker, president trump has torn up international agreements on refugees. he has threatened to dump international agreements on climate change. he has praised the use of torture. he has incited hatred against muslims, he is directly attacked women's rights. just what more does the president trump have to do before the prime minister will listen to the 1.8 million people who have already called for his state visit invitation to be withdrawn the right honourable gentleman's foreign policy is to object to and insult the democratically elected head of state of our most important ally. let's just see what he would have achieved in the last week. would he have been able to protect richest citizens from the impact of the executive order? no. —— british

citizens. would he have been able to lay the foundations of a trade deal? no. would he have got a 100% commitment to nato? no. that's what labour has two of this country. less protection for british citizens, less prosperous, let's save —— what labour has to offer. —— less safe. he can lead a protest, i'm leading a country. order, order. thank you, mr speaker. today, it is inconceivable that somebody would be prosecuted because of who and what they are. would my right honourable friend drawing me and welcoming the posthumous pardon of some 49,000 men thanks to the

goverment‘s bill that was enacted yesterday, and encourage those who are still alive to come forward so that there are injustices can be overturned. i'm very happy to join my honourable friend in welcoming what i believe is an extremely important change to the law. we made a manifesto commitment to it and we have now delivered on it. passing this law has been a long—standing commitment for the government. it is momentous, it does take action to right the wrongs of the past, and like my right honourable friend, i would certainly encourage those still alive to applied the home office to have their references disregarded. we on these benches associate ourselves with all the comments thus far on the tragic deaths in quebec and on the passing of time dl. the respect for him was held across the political parties. he served with great distinction for more than 40 years. the prime minister had a very successful international visit in this last week. to ireland. and there she

spoke publicly about her commitment, it's very important i think, the commitment not to have a hard border on these islands. that there should continue to be free movement of peoples on these islands, and trade should be protected and enhanced. given that people will be watching this not just given that people will be watching this notjust in britain but also in ireland, would she take the opportunity to explain how she will deliver these sensible and important outcomes? these are absolutely the outcomes? these are absolutely the outcomes that we want to see. i was very pleased to meet with the taoiseach and discuss with him the joint intent that of his government and mine have two ensure that we don't see a return to the borders of the past in northern ireland. and to say that of course we focus on the land border that is between northern ireland and the republic of ireland, of course the issue of movements from ireland does in effect other places as well, such as port in

wales. it is an important issue for us, and we have agreed the work we are going to do together to deliver what i believe will be as frictionless as possible a border, and also one of the objectives that i set out in my plan for our negotiating objectives is to retain the common travel area. we the common travel area. welcome what the prime has we welcome what the prime minister has had to say on these issues and we welcome the intensifying of negotiations between the uk government and the devolved administrations ahead of triggering article 50. so the prime minister is very helpfully explained that it is perfectly possible for parts of these islands to be in the single market, without borders, with free movement of people and at the same time protect and enhance trade with one another. this is very, very welcome, mr speaker. will the prime minister give a commitment to work

with the irish government and a commitment to work with the scottish government to deliver all of these things? 0r government to deliver all of these things? or will wejust government to deliver all of these things? or will we just have to get on with it ourselves? first of all, the right honourable gentleman is right, that following the meeting of the plenary session on monday morning we did agree to an intensification of discussion on issues related to the bringing back of powers from brussels, and as to where those powers should lie within the united kingdom, and to intensify that in the run—up to the triggering of article 50 and beyond. 0n the other question, i'm afraid he really should listen to the answer that are given because he's trying to imply something that isn't there. yes. we are very something that isn't there. yes. we are very clear that we want to see a frictionless border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland. i'm also clear that one of the objectives of our negotiation is to see us objectives of our negotiation is to see us frictionless a border as

possible between the united kingdom and the rest of the european union. if he is so worried about having a frictionless border between scotland and the european union, he shouldn't wa nt to and the european union, he shouldn't want to see scotland independent and ta ke want to see scotland independent and take it out of the european union. order! we shouldn't have to allow for the reaction to every answer from the smb benches before we proceed to the next question. mrs maria miller. —— snp. proceed to the next question. mrs maria miller. -- snp. eu nationals provide a vital and expert service in my hospital in basingstoke. along with thousands of others they face an uncertain future. i know this is something the prime minister wants to give priority to in sorting out, will we be hearing more about it in the forthcoming white paper? my right honourable friend makes an important point. i would like to confirm my intention and expectation that we will be able to offer that

reassurance. i do also want to see reassurance. i do also want to see reassurance offered to uk nationals in the eu. i will be working to ensure this is an issue we can deal with at an early stage in the negotiations. it was one of the objectives i set out in the plan. it will be referenced in the white paper. i can inform my right honourable friend and the house that that white paper will be published tomorrow. prime minister, your responses today have been deeply unsatisfactory. the president of the united states had —— has advocated torture, misogyny, racial discrimination, sexual assault, isolationism. the leaders of canada and germany responded robustly but your response was to jump robustly but your response was to jump ona robustly but your response was to jump on a plane as soon as possible to hold his hand. mr speaker,

doesn't this country deserve our leader willing to stand up for british values? order! i have issued no response and the honourable gentleman not only shouldn't breach parliamentary protocol, but he shouldn't tempt me. the prime minister. i will tell you what standing up for british values is. i had this government introduced the first modern slavery act in this country. i have ensured that stop and search is reduced because i don't believe that anybody on the streets of this country should be stopped and searched because of the colour of their skin. and i ensured justice for the families of hillsborough. despite the fact most of the country —— countries covered by the trump ban have total exclusion of israeli visitors, shouldn't the protestors be calling for that banned to be lifted?” thank my right honourable friend for pointing this out. it is absolutely

right that this house should be aware of the discrimination and the band that exists around the world, particularly for those who are is really sad isn't —— citizens. we don't agree with that approach. and it is not an approach we shall be taking. iwait it is not an approach we shall be taking. i wait for the day when the right honourable gentleman opposite sta nce right honourable gentleman opposite stance up and condemns it, too. mr speaker, a constituent of mine suffered a bleed on the brain in 2012. she has struggled to work since but was due to disk —— to retire in december. due to changes to state pension retirement age, she will not retire until 2022. this has short—changed 2.2 million women and brought shame to this government. will the prime minister look again and support diana and the millions of women who deserve fairness in retirement? the issue of those who are known...

to refer the honourable gentleman to the fact we did commit over £1 billion to lessen the impact on those affected, so no one will see their pension age changed by more than 18 months. but we do have to be realistic and looking at pension ages, but the fact that people are living longer. if we want a sustainable pension system, we need to equalise the state pension age faster and bring forward the rise.” welcome the £450 million announced in the autumn statement to fund a trial for the pilot of the digital railway. given the new fleet of trains on the border and the economic growth opportunity that exists for our region, does the prime minister agree that the main line represents the most compelling case for that pilot? my honourable friend is right about what he says about transport links. i understand

digital signalling could increase capacity by up to 40%. hence the investment he refers to. i know that the department for transport is looking currently at where those trials should take place. but we certainly recognise that the great eastern and mainline is one of the areas that could benefit. a few moments ago the prime minister tried to claim credit for passing stonewall‘s alan turing bill. she didn't. the bill pardons all gay men found guilty of crimes no longer on the statute book. so when will the prime ministerfollow the statute book. so when will the prime minister follow the scottish government and pardon automatically the living as well as the dead? when i was home secretary the legislation was introduced that gives the opportunity for those who are alive to apply to the home office to have those events is no longer on the statute book expunged from their record. the honourable gentleman

says they are not doing it. my honourable friend and i have both, in this chamber today, encouraged people to come forward and make that application. that is a message we should all give. at the white house my right honourable friend gain some assurances from president trump about his commitment to nato, an achievement welcomed by the governments the czech republic, latvia and lithuania. does my right honourable friend agree with me that the way to engage with president trump and win such agreements is by not insulting our close ally, but by bringing him close, and not doing as the leader of the is it and demands, that we reject our closest ally? would this not leave britain and our european partners less safe and less secure? my honourable friend is absolutely right in the points he makes. we should neverforget absolutely right in the points he makes. we should never forget that america is our most important ally.

it isa america is our most important ally. it is a long—standing relationship. american men and women served alongside and died alongside uk men and women in two world wars to protect our security and the security of europe. if we were not able to have that relationship and see that commitment to nato particularly, we would see this country and europe less safe. many were surprised that immediately after those cosy images with donald trump, the prime minister chose to meet with the turkish president, who has been running an increasingly repressive regime since last summer. could the prime minister confirm whether she raised any human rights concerns with president cardigan? will it be the policy of post—brexit britain to put arms deals before human rights abuses? first of all, i think the honourable lady should recognise that turkey is an important country in relation to both our security and the issue of migration into turkey and

potentially into europe. turkey has, and continues to host, 3 million refugees from syria. i commended the turkish government on the welcome they have given those refugees. and yes, idid they have given those refugees. and yes, i did raise and i suggest to the honourable lady she should just have looked at the press conference i gave after my discussions with president erred again, in which i made it clear that we had condemned the coup but we also expected the turkish government to support its democratic institutions, to support international human rights and the rule of law. i wholeheartedly congratulate my right honourable friend in securing 100% for nato from the us administration. cucchietti climb what she is to persuade our other allies the importance of press —— their

obligations? can i thank my honourable friend for the work he does on the nato parliamentary assembly. i know he is fully engaged with that. there are commitments that have been made. at the nato summit in 2014 oliver nato allies committed to spending 2% on defence within a decade. we have seen progress but i agree with president trump that many allies need to go further. i can assure my honourable friend that i and other ministers across government raise our “— friend that i and other ministers across government raise our —— the issue regularly. last week's london air pollution was worse than that of beijing. so will the prime minister assure me and my constituents in 0sterley, brentford and chiswick, that the hugely expensive proposal to double the capacity of the m4 as it arrives in london will be shelled forthwith? --

shelved. the issue of air quality is one this government takes seriously. quite a lot of work has been done since 2011. over £2 billion has been committed to enable, for example, bus operators to upgrade their fleets. but we do recognise that more needs to be done. we have seen a reduction in nitrous oxide fumes in recent years but we will be bringing forward proposals to ensure we can maintain the air quality that we can maintain the air quality that we all want to see. as a fellow ba rtra we all want to see. as a fellow bartra member of parliament, will my right honourable friend the show her support for brighter bircher, the campaign that is part of the 2017 europe mental health, and give her continued —— commitments to ensure we have parity between mental health and physical health in this country? iam very and physical health in this country? i am very happy to endorse the

campaign that my friend has referred to. i think it is important that we continue to raise awareness of the issues around mental health. and the fa ct issues around mental health. and the fact the government has committed to this parity of esteem between mental health and physical health is important. there is more to do a mental health. i have set out some steps we need to take. but i commend all those working to raise awareness of mental health and provide support to those with mental health problems. the association of directors of adult social services have said that 4.6 billion has been cut from social care budgets since 2010. does the prime minister take any responsibility for the pain and the distress that the tories have inflicted on poor vulnerable older people being denied their rightful care? yes, horror no? this

government has taken a number of steps to increase the funding from local authorities to provide for social care. i also believe it is important that we do ensure best practice is being developed and put into place across the country. there are some parts of the country where the record on social care, the interaction between hospitals, is better than others. there is a longer term issue to ensure that we have a sustainable system for delivering social care for people in this country. the labour party ducked that issue for 13 years. we're addressing it. will my right honourable friend join me in congratulating the academy on the recently received world—class schools quality mark award, and indicate how awards such as this drive people excellence? tojoin my friend in congratulating the whole team at morley academy. i

think it shows the work the trust is doing in driving up excellence and improving outcomes for pupils. we are determined to drive up standards in schools to ensure broad children have good school places, a good school place for every child, so they can all be at the level we see in the morley academy. how will the thousands of people who've lost theirjobs at bhs feel that it may ta ke yea rs theirjobs at bhs feel that it may take years before the case of philip green, the disgraced and discredited businessperson, will have his knighthood possibly withdrawn, taken away or otherwise? isn't it remarkable? people lose theirjobs, they suffer all the consequences and this man keeps his billions and his knighthood. the honourable gentleman has raised an important issue. this has been raised by many members of this house in terms of their concern about what happened at bhs and the attitude and

approach philip green talk. the issue of whether a knighthood should be taken away from somebody is a matter for the relevant committee. they will be looking at this. i understand they have said they are waiting for the investigations to complete, but this is an issue for an independent committee. tonight there will be an historic vote in this place. a vote that i never thought i would see in my political lifetime. the british parliament voted to withdraw from the european union under the excellent leadership of the prime minister. would the prime minister be surprised that people on the opposite bench or demand time to discuss this and debated, namely the liberal democrats, didn't even bother to turn up last night? these benches or pack, both benches were packed, the

dv -- the dup pack, both benches were packed, the dv —— the dup were here and there we re dv —— the dup were here and there were some labour members. isn't that surprising? throughout my political career i have fought —— nothing the liberal democrats do ever surprises me. but i willjoin my honourable friend in commending the bill that is before the house. this house has a simple decision. we gave the right of judgment to the british people. they made their choice, they want to leave the eu. the question every member must ask themselves as they go through the lobbies tonight is, do they trust the people? the right honourable gentleman is here now. let's here the fellow. tim farron. —— let's hear the fellow. who'd have guessed it, mr speaker?

we are here now... laughter. asking the questions about the future of our country on brexit that a strong leader of the opposition should be asking. order! order, mr knight! i'm very worried about you. you recently suffered from a bad leg. with all that shedding you will be suffering from a bad head. calm yourself, man! the prime minister will return... the prime minister will return... the prime minister will return at some point with a deal with europe that our people will have to live with for decades to come. especially our young people. 73% of whom voted

to remain. nobody knows what that deal will look like. but someone, someone will get to agree at. should it be her government? should it be this parliament? 0r it be her government? should it be this parliament? or should it be, as i believe, the british people? i've already said they will be a vote on the deal in this parliament. calm yourself. you are in a state of excessive excitement, even by your standards. nigel adams. excessive excitement, even by your standards. nigeladams. quite difficult to follow that! back in the real world... laughter. in december 2015, my constituency suffered some terrible flooding, particularly the town of tadcaster. the damage was made worse when the bridge collapsed. thankfully the

briton —— bridge will be reopened this week. willie prime minister thank all those involved in the restoration of the bridge? would you join me in thanking the residents of tadcaster who have had a terrible year? 5—macro i am very happy to join my honourable friend both in commending and in thanking all those who have worked so hard to see the restoration of the bridge at tadcaster, but also the people of tadcaster, but also the people of tadcaster who have had to put up with this disruption and inconvenience for such a long period of time. i'm sure they will all welcome the return of the bridge. we commend all those involved. the news revealed yesterday that toshiba is reviewing its investment in the moorside nuclear—power plant. not only does it put a cloud over

jobs in cumbria, but also over the future of our energy and security. what does he do personally to make sure the deal stays on track?” what does he do personally to make sure the deal stays on track? i can assure the honourable gentleman that in relation to a number of deals and potential deals around the nuclear industry, both i and the business secretary are involved in these and are very keen to ensure that these jobs are brought to the united kingdom, and we do see these deals keeping on track. so i can assure him that the government's commitment is there. this week, the danish drug firm invested 115 million in the uk, in order to further research into type two diabetes. with the prime minister join two diabetes. with the prime ministerjoin me in welcoming the investment, welcoming those academics and scientists, many from the eu and around the world, who will appreciate that the surety she spoke of earlier? but also work with me to ensure that new treatments get

to patients as quickly as possible? this is an issue that i do recognise particularly, personally, although i ama particularly, personally, although i am a type one diabetic rather than type ii. any investment in research for diabetes is to be welcomed. we do need to ensure that where there are new solution is found, where there is support for diabetics found, that we see that getting to people as quickly as possible. there isa people as quickly as possible. there is a significant number of people who suffer from type two diabetes in this country, and the figures show there is a great risk that number will increase significantly in coming years. we need to do all we can to prevent people becoming type ii diabetics in the first place, but also to support those who are, so that we see that people suffer from fewer complications in future and are able to manage their lives. today's is world hijab day. i wonder if the prime minister would join me

in recognising the right of muslim women's network the hijab without fear, if they wish? and the right of all women everywhere to wear what they want, when they want. willie prime minister also commit to standing upfor prime minister also commit to standing up for the right to refuge for men, women and children wherever they may be, regardless of their religion? first of all, on the second point of the honourable lady races, it is absolutely the case that this country welcomes refugees to the united kingdom. and we do so regardless of their religion. there is no question of discriminating on the religion. 0n the issue that she raises about the wearing of the hijab, | raises about the wearing of the hijab, iam raises about the wearing of the hijab, i am absolutely in line with her. what a woman wears is a woman's choice. the russian armed forces regularly carry out large—scale exercises, including with nuclear capable equipments, on the borders of eastern europe. would my right honourable friend i agree with me

that the american commitment to nato is absolutely pivotal in protecting the countries of eastern europe from going the same way as already has happened to eastern ukraine?” absolutely agree with my honourable friend. i think the commitment that president trump has given, 100% commitment to nato, is crucial in ensuring we can provide for the security of this country and others in europe, and particularly for those in eastern europe on the borders with russia. i know that my honourable friend earlier referred to the fact that the czech republic, the latvian government, the little winning government, had welcomed that 100% commitment. —— lithuanian government. we have played our part. 300 troops will be going to lithuania and estonia later this year. in 2015, my constituent was lured to

her death to pakistan where she was brutally raped and murdered. willie prime ministerjoin me in reiterating the commitment of this house and this country, that we will not tolerate violence against women, and to encourage the pakistani government to continue in its effo rts government to continue in its efforts for justice for our british girl? yes, can i say to the honourable lady that obviously she has raised a very tragic case that has raised a very tragic case that has taken place. our deepest sympathies are with samir‘s husband following her tragic death last year. we don't interfere in the legal processes of another country. but the foreign office, i understand from the foreign office the pakistani police have charged two people with murder. the foreign office are provided assistance to samir‘s husband and will continue to do so. i understand the home secretary will be meeting the honourable lady soon to discuss this issue. prime minister's questions

has just finished. let's get more from our assistant political editor norman smith who is in westminster. a couple of things struck me. we learned that at long last when the brexit white paper will see the light of day, tomorrow. i would suggest it makes already remote prospect of a tory revolt over the brexit bill tonight evermore unlikely if not out of the question. they have been pressing for a white paper and now theresa may has said here you are. jeremy corbyn, as expected, challenged theresa may over the visit to donald trump and in particular when she knew about the travel ban, whether donald trump told her before she was first challenged about it at the press

conference in turkey. he asked very direct questions and theresa may said clearly that she was given no advanced warning about the travel ban or the impact on british citizens. the real body blow was her final riposte which was one of those slam dunk answers. she said, "he leads protests, i lead the country." we expect the brexit debate to start up we expect the brexit debate to start up in we expect the brexit debate to start upina we expect the brexit debate to start up in a little while in the commons. some impassioned speeches yesterday but the government is not going to have any trouble getting this through. the most interesting thing happening todayis the most interesting thing happening today is evidence taking place in one of the committees from our former ambassador in brussels, sir

ivan rogers. he presented a stark assessment of what other eu countries will say to us going into the talks, and that he believes they will ask for billions and billions of pounds back in compensation because they take the view that brexit has put a time bomb under the eu budget so he suggests they will demand between 40 and 60 billion pounds from britain. that will ignite the negotiations and i would imagine it would make the prospect of any deal almost impossible but you get the sense of the difficulties ahead for theresa may when she goes to brussels. that is an extraordinary number. we will hear from that is an extraordinary number. we

will hearfrom sir ivan rogers right now. the uk's former ambassador to the european union, sir ivan rogers, has told mps that brexit talks in brussels are likely to descend into "name—calling" and "fist—fighting". sir ivan has been giving evidence to a commons committee this morning and said differences could be resolved. but he said that any trade deal after brexit would require a "humongous" amount of work. trade negotiations, at the risk of sounding rather glib, always start with people making pious and pro—free trade comments usually on both sides of the table. they usually end up in a fairly mercantilist fistfight but then most of them resolve themselves and end up with trade deals, not all, by any means, but they go through phases. you will have full coverage of the brexit debate when it starts in the commons. we expect it any time soon. a tunisian man has been arrested in germany, suspected of of recruiting for so—called islamic state. more than 1,000 german police have carried out a series of raids the central state of hesse. damian mcguiness, our correspondent in berlin, has more details. well, german officials say

they have arrested one 36—year—old tunisian man. now, he is accused of helping to organise a terror cell in germany. officials say they have broken up that cell. they say it was in the early stages of planning an attack on germany. more chilling is the fact that this 36—year—old suspect arrested early this morning is accused of having links to a terror attack in tunisia in 2015, in which 22 people in total were killed. that was at the bardo museum. questions are being asked about how he managed to get to germany and why he remained undetected for so long. officials have said they have had their eye on him for a while and now, because they have managed to break up this terror cell, they are describing this as a signal to islamists in germany and throughout europe in general that police here will not tolerate any islamist terror activity. it was a huge operation.

more than 1000 police involved. many homes, offices and mosques raided. a total of 54 homes, apartments, businesses and mosques were raided. that was all in the region of hessen. that is thought to be one of the major focal points of where salafist terror preachers are operating so the authorities in germany, they have had their eyes on this region for a while. now this raid shows they have concrete reason to believe that terror attacks were being planned. also it has to be pointed out that the authorities have said there was no concrete actual target they could have identified so far, but they said the suspects they have and the people they are investigating are now accused of being in the early stages of a potential attack here in germany. thank you. the headlines on bbc

newsroom live... mps will vote this evening on the legislation giving the government the go—ahead to trigger article 50, the formal process of leaving the eu. president trump has nominated conservative judge neil gorsuch for the us supreme court. rail fares are to be overhauled by train operators, who've admitted buying tickets can be "baffling". president trump has nominated a conservativejudge from colorado, neil gorsuch, to fill a vacancy on the us supreme court. some democrats say they'll oppose the choice because of his attitudes towards women's rights. 0ur washington correspondent, david willis has more. in the hands of this man, even an appointment to the top court in the land has the feel of a reality tv show. today, i am keeping another promise to the american people by nominating judge neil gorsuch. donald trump had brought the top two

contenders for the job to washington in order to keep his prime—time tv audience guessing, only to tell this federal appeals courtjudge, "you're hired." judge gorsuch has outstanding legal skills, a brilliant mind, tremendous discipline, and has earned bipartisan support. at 49, neil gorsuch is the youngest nominee to the supreme court in more than a quarter of a century. his appointment is for life. standing here in a house of history, and acutely aware of my own imperfections, i pledge that if i am confirmed i will do all my powers permit to be a faithful servant of the constitutional laws of this great country. judge gorsuch‘s conservative ideology is closely aligned to that of the man he has been nominated to replace, justice antonin scalia, who died just last year. the choice of neil gorsuch is a gift to those who voted for donald trump. his conservative views could tip

the balance of the supreme court on such key issues as abortion, voting rights, and religious equality. staying with donald trump, his decision to build a wall on the mexican border and temporarily ban new arrivals from some majority muslim countries have led to protests — notjust in the united states. in saudi arabia, many have welcomed donald trump as someone they can do business with. i look forward to confirmation of the secretaries. governor perry is someone i look forward to working with, the energy secretary, a great person, he is also pro—oil and gas, and we share a few things including that both of us are aggies, from texas a&m, so i look forward to meeting him

coordinating on energy policies and we will make sure there is a better understanding of what we in saudi arabia stand for. rex tillerson of exxon must be well known to you, personally and professionally, the choice for secretary of state. rex tillerson is one of the highest qualified executives i have ever dealt with. he is a statesman by nature. i have watched him with admiration as he led exxon mobil to become the most respected oil and gas company in the world and i'm sure he will take his experience and wisdom to his new position as secretary of state. saudi arabia has many friends in the administration. donald trump did business here, even closing deals during the election campaign, and you mentioned others

that are known well. at a time when many muslim countries are worried about the relationship with the us, you are confident going forward about the relationship? the relationship with saudi arabia is very, very strong and i think, at the end of the day, whether it is economic, people to people, geostrategic, saudi arabia and the us cannot afford not to work together in concert to confront a world —— afford not to work together in concert to confront the challenges facing the world. and we'll have more on all the latest developments from the trump white house tonight at 7pm in our programme 100 days, with katty kay in washington, and christian fraser in london. that's at seven here on the bbc news channel. the town of watford has been to say

goodbye to football manager graham taylor. he was 72 and died last month. the service is being held at saint mary's church and is being relayed to the public outside. the latest fighting in eastern ukraine between government troops and russian—backed separatists is described as the worst there in months. a memorial service is being held in kiev for seven ukrainian soldiers who were killed in the town of avdiivka. tom burridge sent this report from the front line. we are on the road on the way into avdiivka, a small city where there has been recent heavy fighting between russian backed separatists and the ukrainian military and you can hear in the background there is a heavy battle not farfrom here. you can hear a lot of outgoing firing from the ukrainian side. in the two years of covering this conflict i've rarely known the situation to be this unstable and volatile. we've come into avdiivka, this small city, and you can see the coking plant there. coke is a material used in the process of making steel. it's a huge feature of this small city, right close to the front line.

what is striking is when you come into avdiivka, you can hear the artillery, you can hear the mortars going off in the background, down towards the industrial zone, which is right next to the front line. essentially the front line between ukrainian military on this side and russian backed separatists on the other. what is striking here in avdiivka, though, is the signs of everyday life. a large group of women just waiting for the bus. probably about a five—minute drive from the war‘s front line. so we've come up to the far end of avdiivka. we are not far from the prom zone, an industrial area just on the edge of the city. you can see these flats here have been shelled in the past. there are a lot of ukrainian soldiers here. they are much more busy than they have been when i've been in the conflict zone in the past. there is a lot more activity going on, a lot more military vehicles. you can actually see the 0sce here. that is the international monitors which have been monitoring the conflict in eastern ukraine.

they are in the area trying to sort of basically keep tabs on the fighting. you can see in the background, residents again. local residents coming out of their flats. people live in this area and this is a daily reality for them, although the last two or three days have been much, much worse than usual. sir ken morrison, the former chairman of the supermarket group morrisons, has died at the age of 85 after a short illness. morrison was influential in turning the bradford—based supermarket into one of the uk's biggest retailers. he was chairman of the retailer for more than 50 years, before eventually standing down in 2008. now here's something you don't see everyday. this is what's called a lava firehose. the kilauea volcano in hawaii is currently pouring a stream of molten lava into the pacific 0cean. it is 400 fahrenheit or more.

triggering little explosions as it goes into the cold water. it's been erupting continuously since 1983, but scientists say this flow, caused by the lava pouring through a crack in the cliff, is pretty unique. in a moment the news at one. first, the weather. the weather will get increasingly turbulent over the next few days, the prospect of severe gale force winds at the end of the week. you can see this system racing through the atlantic towards the uk, powered bya the atlantic towards the uk, powered by a strong jet stream, over 200 mph. 0n by a strong jet stream, over 200 mph. on thursday, pretty windy weather for the south and west of the uk but this system on friday

could bring severe weather. today we have seen a few bright spots between weather systems. there will be some brighter weather across central areas of the uk but that afternoon looks pretty wet across eastern counties of england and an area of rain across northern ireland, wales and the south—west. milder air continues to move north. still quite chilly for north east england and eastern scotland. tonight, southerly winds, mild forjust about everyone, maybe a touch in northern scotland —— touch of frost. rain moving into southern scotland by the end of the night. on thursday, low pressure to the west of ireland bringing heavy winds. a few brighter spells every

now and then. turning milderfor north east scotland. yesterday we spoke about two different tracks of low pressure on friday. the preferred one takes the worst of the weather into northern france but we could see the storm turned towards southern england. we need to pay close attention to the storm because it will bring severe weather with a high risk of disruption. at the moment it is probably going into france but a small change in the jet strea m france but a small change in the jet stream could send the worst of the weather into southern england with the potential for severe gale force winds, particularly on friday evening. still some uncertainty about the track of this low pressure. squaring up for a fight as democrats voice their fierce opposition to donald trump's latest appointment. the president has chosen the conservative appeals courtjudge

neil gorsuch for the vacant and powerful position the court has the final legal word on many of the most sensitive issues like abortion, gender rights and gun control. we'll be live in washington for the latest. also this lunchtime: mps vote today on legislation which would give the government the go—ahead to trigger article 50 — the formal process of leaving the eu. three generations murdered on a beach in tunisia — an inquest hears from the teenager who survived — but lost his brother, uncle and grandfather. just the ticket — train operators admit fares can be baffling as they promise to try out a new system to find the cheapest tickets. and the nets keeping sharks away from australian beaches — but campaigners say they're killing dolphins and other marine life.