the iraqi government blames islamic state militants for an apparent chemical weapons attack in the battle for mosul. it is understood 12 people have been hospitalised but isn't exactly clear which chemical was used. the centre—right candidate in the french presidential race, francois fillon, has suffered another setback. his campaign manager has quit. it is the latest sign that he is losing support in the face of a corruption scandal. a former journalist, juan thompson, has been accused of making bomb threats againstjewish centres and of cyber—stalking his ex—girlfriend. it's alleged thompson sent threats to a jewish school in michigan, thejewish history museum in new york and a community center in manhattan. now on bbc news, the week in parliament. hello and welcome to the week in parliament.

a setback for the government, as the lords gives the brexit bill its first defeat. peers demand guarantees for eu nationals in britain. these people are not bargaining chips. when we say take your children out of the schools, we would say to the elderly, please go away from our care homes. these amendments are at the wrong time, in the wrong bill, on the wrong subject. peers make their mark in a week when a tv documentary discloses what life is really like in the house of lords. complete with its rather odd ceremonies. visitors from overseas go to watch the changing of the guard. people do like these quaintnesses. and if so, in whose interest is it to take them away? and snappy dresser and long served parliamentarian,

tributes are paid to the late sir gerald kaufman. he was an iconic figure in the labour party. and in british politics. he loved marmalade, so he was made marmalade ice cream. first, just doing theirjob or causing needless interference? peers made sure the previously untouched brexit bill got well and truly damaged and will have to return to the commons. on wednesday night, the lords voted by a majority of more than 100 for the inclusion of a guarantee of rights for european union nationals living and working in the uk. ministers don't want that in the bill, whose full tittle —— title is the eu notification of withdrawal bill. the red benches of the lords were unusually packed for a three—hour debate. in the end, this is a matter of principal. this house can in fact make decisions and give

a unilateral guarantee. and, my lords, that is what we should do. let us all remember how shocked we were when idi amin expelled the ugandans. —— the asians from uganda. so shocked that we offered them refuge in this country. as we've had over three million people live in this country who are european nations. but it's notjust them who are experiencing anguish. it's also their family members, their employers, their neighbours. it is quite clear to everyone in this house that there is no chance the parliament would approve the expulsion of eu citizens legally residing in this country. no way. and this is understood by the government. this amendment has no place in this bill. whatever. these people need to know now, not in 12 months' time. they simply can't put

their lives on hold. some are planning schools for their children. they're moving jobs, renting or buying a home or acting as carers. i think that the government ought to accept that the weight of opinion is in favour of that unilateral guarantee which will trigger similar rights for britons abroad. what has changed is the prime minister has said, it is our first priority. she's said that the fate of those people living in this country from europe will be determined by primary legislation and that no change will be made other than with the agreement of the other place in this house. that's good enough for me not to wish to amend a bill which prevents us... ..which allows us to get on with the process of making that happen. these people are not bargaining chips. they actually — if we say quite

freely that they can stay, that does give them moral high ground to our government in its negotiations. why is everybody here today so excited about an amendment which looks after the foreigners and not the british? it's true. quite right. ijust would like to point out to the noble lord the reason the amendment is structured as it is, is we are conscious of the powers of the british government and the british government is able to determine the lives of the eu citizens resident in this country, but we are not able to determine the lives of our own citizens abroad. of course we don't have the power to do... ..to look after our citizens overseas. not in these days when we don't have many gunboats. if, as i do, want to see there is this decision that the government takes on behalf of all of us, that citizenship should be given a guarantee to remain, the best way to do it is to call the bluff of angela merkel. my lords, this is a

matter of principal. it is a simple matter of principal of being prepared to do the right thing because it is the right thing and being prepared to say so. and that is what i hope these benches and members on all sides of the house, not all members, but members on all sides of the house, including the bishop's bench, will be prepared to do when it comes to taking the vote. these amendments are at the wrong time in the wrong bill, on the wrong subject and we should support the rights of british citizens living in europe. but at the end of the debate, peers voted for the labour—led amendment against the government. they have voted contents, 358. not contents, 256. so the contents have it. and the brexit bill will see more debate in the lords in the next few days, with more upsets

a distinct possibility. well, with public interest in the upper house higher than it normally is, there was a tv series showing what goes on in the lord's. meet the lord's on bbc two, monday evening, is the latest documentary to show life behind the scenes at the posh end of the palace of westminster. but is it giving a fair picture? we'll talk to two experts in a moment. first, let's get a brief reminder of last monday's initial installment of meet the lords. lord palmer is doing some lobbying of his own. this used to be our television room, which i had the most lovely comfortable chairs in it. to watch big sporting events like wimbledon or cheltenham races oi’ whatever. and i came in here the other day and was amazed to find it had been

turned into an office. as you know, we are very, very short of space and a lot of the new members do want a desk. but i've never, ever seen these desks occupied, which does seem really rather extraordinary and i actually put down a written question about this. why has the television room closed down? and will there be an alternative venue? i was told, no there will not be an alternative venue. so, that was a clip from the first programme, in the meet the lords series. the second programme is coming up on monday. now, two years ago there was a very similar tv documentary, a series of programmes all about the house of commons. it was called inside the commons. here to talk about both documentaries we have two people who might well be called parliamentary insiders. sir david beamish has been chief clark in the house of lords. and we have the clark from house

of commons for the past two years. what did you make of meet the lords? did you enjoy the programme? i enjoyed it. i wish it could have been more representative. but the good thing about it was behind the flummery, which makes good television, there was some good stories that showed the house doing itsjob, which, at the moment, was brexit going on is very much in the public eye. i was delighted the public have an opportunity to see that for themselves. did it convey the house of lords that you know? well, yes, though i don't think it was exactly a cross—section. for example, the clip we have just seen of lord palmer, i don't think you would find many peers who shared his view about the tv room, which was a little used facility and, as he said, we did need the space. but other parts of it, absolutely. some of the characters you saw, the ones i know well, and the kind of work that goes on particularly in relation to ill bills.

—— amendments to bills. two years ago, the documentary about the inside of the commons. there was a lot of resistance about that. the documentary maker had to apply many, many times for permission to get in with the cameras. were you in favour of it being made? once a good proposition came forward, and we knew what the controls would be, in terms of privacy staff, then i was happy about it. when it went out, were you pleased? i think the general reaction of the membership of the house, but more importantly, because this was for who it was made, it was not the membership, it was the public. it was positive. that pleased members. because they felt there were bits in it that showed them in the light they would want to be seen. particularly the work of individual members pursuing causes, sometimes with success, sometimes with not. so their constituents were saying to them, gosh, i had no idea this went on in the house of commons, or in the same token in the house of lords, presumably.

and therefore it is educational. you have mentioned constituents, which is an interesting point. because of course members of the house of lords don't have constituents and don't have any constituencies to go back to. that provides a different basis entirely. in a sense it is not so important what the public makes of the house of lords, on that basis. we've never thought of it that way. as the unelected second chamber, ensuring that they play a complimentary role to the commons that is appreciated outside is a little bit of a balancing act and again brexit provides a good example. we know that the commons will be considering at least one amendment from the lords, if the commons reject it, the house will have to decide whether to take it further, and plainly the house to be useful needs to command respectability. what about perceptions? people are generally not knowledgeable about the house of lords.

what do you think they will feel at the end of the documentary? will they feel better informed, or think it's a quirky, eccentric place? i am less placed to view than the viewers. i feel optimistic they will feel better informed. some of the work that is shown is not what members of the public normally get to see. they will have a better idea of the valuable work that's going on all the time, that's not front of house, so to speak. i suppose, in one sense, you could take what you want. if you want to think of it an eccentric place, there were one or two aristocratic shots, and there were shots of lords which were trying to breathe a lot of fresh air in the place. in a sense you can see what you want. yes, i think it would have given the public a more clearer view of the diversity of the lords, in terms of the membership and the seriousness in which they approach their legislative tasks.

you two are great specialists in your own houses. it's always being said in westminster there is a lack of knowledge about each other‘s houses. was it interesting to see how, if i may put it this way, how the other house lives? yes. i wouldn't say there were many surprises. i knew some of the characters being portrayed. some quite well. and i don't think anything came to me as a surprise. obviously, we know our own house better. but we do share a building. we're not married, but we do co—habit. you're right that there's sometimes concern among members of the lords that members don't know enough about them. i think i would say at senior staff level that is not the case and david and i work closely together on all sorts of things. so, like david, i don't think there are any surprises, although i did find the inside the commons series very instructive. in meet the lords we saw

the ceremony for introducing new peers, the procession at the start of each day and the garter king of arms. this will have struck the general public as being quite remarkable bits of flummery and tradition. do you think that some of it could go? some should be dispensed with? or should we be hanging on to these little show pieces? i think it's really up to the public to express a view on that. it sometimes surprises me how popular these ancient traditions are. for example, the state opening of parliament is the most striking example is widely covered. but visitors from overseas go to watch the changing of the guard or the beefeaters at the tower. sometimes i think people do like these quaintnesses and, if so, in whose interest is it to take them away? does it sit well in a 21st century parliament? i think some of the ceremonies are fine. if the people taking part are happy and if there's no reason that it believes it does any harm, then there's no need

to challenge them all. i do think it's sometimes worth questioning them and then working out why we do them and whether they are in anyway detracting from, particularly in detracting from making either house more accessible to the public and less efficient. to wrap everything up, coming to the business of tv documentaries, is it better to let the cameras in, warts and all, or is it better to keep them out? i don't think there's any doubt about that. it would look very odd if we were not willing to let the taxpayers who enable us to operate to look inside. incidentally meet the lords was not the first lords experience of this sort of thing. over my career, the bbc have been involved in three different documentary series. so we have been looked at before. and indeed we were head of the commons by four years on allowing all our proceedings to be televised. i am clear, we ought to allow this sort of thing. absolutely.

all the proceedings should be televised and available as they all are now. it is a fair question on warts and all. some of the warts may be, for example, staff, who i don't want to see exposed on television. that is not what theyjoined for. you have to be protective. in terms of documentaries, absolutely. and indeed we are in the middle now of a further documentary series on the elizabeth tower, known to many as big ben, which is being restored and rehabilitated. channel 4 will be doing a three—part programme on this and they will come out in the course of the year, showing about the clock tower and about the work that's done on it. it is being done with public money in the name of the public. why not let them see that? thanks very much forjoining us on the programme. and the second edition of meet the lords, bbc two, on monday evening. well, worth watching. time for a round—up

of debates in parliament. on wednesday, jeremy corbyn demanded to know why ministers were refusing to make benefits available to those with mental health conditions. theresa may said the government wasn't cutting benefits and said no—one would see a reduction from the benefit already awarded to them. but the labour leader said the decision of the government ignored a court judgment. the reality is this is a shameful decision that will affect people with dementia. those suffering disorders due to a stroke, military veterans with post post—traumatic stress disorder and those can schizophrenia. can she look at the effects of her decision to override what an independent court has decided and think again? what the court said was the regulations were unclear. that is why we are clarifying the regulations and we are ensuring that they respect that they reflect the original intention that was agreed by this parliament.

as the doping investigation continues into british cycling, do some big representations in the sport lie in tatters? damning evidence is given to the culture and sport committee about the absence of any record—keeping into what was given to riders and when it was given. the extent of our investigation is confined to this particular race, for which there are zero records by dr freeman. what about this woeful lack of record keeping? we haven't had an excuse from them. there is an acknowledgement there was no policy and no records. that is it. and the sky team? they did have a policy. not everybody was adhering to it. could the cost of car insurance be about to soar? following changes by the lord chancellor to the size of personal injury payments?

the transport committee finds motor s could be —— motor unionists could be facing higher prices. as you pointed out, it will add significant cost to the cost of drivers‘. you have a petition of 180,000 people who indicated their concern at the cost of car insurance, i think all of the market estimates that have been put out over the last 2a hours would indicate that the lord chancellor's decision yesterday is going to make car insurance for young drivers sky rocket. so people paying £4,000. you say that could be £5,000? that was the estimate. so, yes. how do get more of us to take the bus. the bus services bill gives the new directly elected mayors in the city regions the responsibility to run services. look at the wards and in four of the last five years it has been won by a municipal bus operators.

they are not the answer. i would not expect every local authority to set one up. why not let local authorities decide what is best for them? it is a point of difference between us. we do not want to go back to the situation where every labour council tries to set up its own bus company. it will absorb capital which could be wisely used elsewhere. after electoral success, it is on to westminster. the winners of the two february by—elections take their seats in the commons. firstly the new stoke labour mp gareth snell. i will be faithful and bear allegiance... and then in the all together louder atmosphere of the wednesday lunch time, the new copeland conservative, trudy harrison. reaching new heights was this mp out of order? a labour opponent thought

jacob rees—mogg might have been guilty of sizism. possibly. this week, the member for north east somerset was in my constituency. and to his credit he did inform me he was going there as a fundraiser. i offered to go with him. he rejected my advances. today, i opened the local paper to read he described the pygmy nature of the opposition, does the deputy speaker think that the term pygmy is appropriate while standing in the constituency of the shortest mp? there will be a quiet word in his ear. tributes were paid throughout the week to the father of the house, gerald kaufman, who has died at the age of 86. a former bbc sketchwriter and an adviser to harold wilson

he was a labour mp since 1970. we look back on an eventful career. junior minister in the 1970s. can gerald kaufman's book, how to be a minister was reading for ambitious mps. he fought his party's move to the left. famously describing the 1983 manifesto as the longest suicide note in history. later, as a select committee chair, he challenged organisations like the royal opera house and the bbc. the figures attached to sirjohn birt are astounding, aren't they. if you add his salary of £276,000 and his annual bonus of £159,000 and his benefits of £21,000 and his termination payment of £328,0400. we are arriving at... that's an ex—extraordinary sum of money. well, if you add those figures up

you are adding an approximate to an orange and a grape. it is all money. isn't it? he became a critic of the jewish state. it is time to remind sharon, the star of david belongs to all dues and no his repulsive government. to alljews and no his repulsive government. known as a distinctive dresser he became father of the house in 2015. i swear by almighty god i will be faithful and bear true allegiance to queen... tributes were paid to him at pmqs on wednesday. he was an outstanding parliamentarian. he was a committed mp, who dedicated his life to the service of his constituents and as father of the house, his wisdom and experience will be very much missed across this house. i am sure our thoughts are with his friends and family. he was an iconic figure

in the labour party and in british politics. he was a champion for peace in the middle east and around the world. i was talking to members of his family and his great nephews and nieces. i asked, how would you describe him? they said, he was an awesome uncle. we should remember gerald as that and convey our condolences to all of his family. remembering sir gerald kaufman and the new father of the house is kenneth clarke, who also first become an mp back in 1970. now, with a look at what has happened in the wider world of politics, here is our countdown, with ros ball. five, four, three, two, one... bronze miniatures were on display in parliament. the winning design will be used for a statue in manchester. vive mr president.

40,000 people have signed an on line petition calling for barack obama to stand for their elections. a by—election in the lords. 27 candidates are looking for a place among the 92 hereditary peers. the only members of the upper house. a bad week for crisps. prime minister, theresa may, is giving them up for lent. oh, yes! and they may have been defeated over the brexit bill this week, but mps did beat the lords in the annual pancake race. another successful pancake race. so, quickly flipping. now to the week ahead, two significant events coming along. on wednesday, the chancellor will unveil the contents of his budget box.

the final budget to be presented in the spring. before that, peers could be causing more embarrassment for ministers with another possible defeat on the brexit bill. dojoin me for the next week in parliament. until then, from me keith macdougall, goodbye. good morning. they say every picture tells a story well ta ke they say every picture tells a story well take a look at this picture from barnsley. forlorn looking rose bushes. the rain was relentless. further rain this weekend but some of us will see some drier interludes as well because the low pressure

sta rts as well because the low pressure starts to drift up into the north to scotla nd starts to drift up into the north to scotland and northern ireland. in the middle, a slice of drier, settled weather to come on saturday. we start off with some rain mostly across scotland may be some snow on top of the mountains. showery outbreaks to northern ireland and a fairamount of outbreaks to northern ireland and a fair amount of cloud down to the north of england as well. despite rain easing in east anglia, a good slice of sunny weather across much of england and wales to start the day. as we go through the day, the winds will be quite significant and the rain will drift into wales by the rain will drift into wales by the end of the afternoon east wales, central and eastern england a good slice of sunshine continues. it stays breezy and wait across the far north of scotland. some sunshine and shelter and it will feel better than

some of the weather we have had. for many, the premiership match is not looking to bad. a few showers for the liverpool arsenal match. as a move on to saturday, the front bringing some wet weather on sunday. a marked conscious to saturday. a grey, grim start, windy with rain heavy at times. it will feel grim if you're caught underneath the rain. we could sit the rain easing off for the kick—off of tottenham versus everton but sunderland versus manchester city could stay overcast. an settled into the north on monday for top slightly drier conditions to the south with top temperatures of around 11 degrees. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america

and around the globe. my name is lebo diseko. our top stories: reports of chemical weapon attacks in the iraqi city of mosul. survivors fleeing the city describe the brutality of life under so—called islamic state. two of the security forces which freed them were killed and according these civilians many more are being kept by so called islamic state as human shields. frusration for francois fillon, the centre—right candidate in the french presidential race, after his campaign manager quits. a man appears in court accused of making eight bomb threats tojewish centres across the us. and the elusive british graffiti artist banksy opens a hotel on the west bank, with a message for the middle east.