therefore, i voted for remain, and therefore, i think this sympathy could be transferred into political possibilities. this is the question of the british government and the question of the scottish citizens, and these two questions, we cannot interfere. why make you cannot interfere, but there is no doubt in your mind that scotland has the then simply go through a process — if it votes independence, it has two apply to bea votes independence, it has two apply to be a member of the eu. you are certain that is the case? they have to apply but it would be easy negotiations because at the moment, scotland's legislation is 100% compliant with the eu. there's not much to negotiate, because scotla nd not much to negotiate, because scotland fulfils all the legal means

by applying european legislation. 0k, thank you for that. in terms of what awaits the uk in the next couple of years, you know today that theresa may has told the houses of parliament that article 50 will be triggered by the end of this month. there is then a very long negotiation process ahead. how difficult will that be and how complicated, in your opinion? look, we have three agreements define. the first is the withdrawal agreement, which is to be negotiated until the end of 2018, because after two yea rs, end of 2018, because after two years, it must be finished, and that is what makes sense, that britain is still at the time of the next european elections in 2019, and

britain does not want to take part. a new relationship, for example, a free—trade agreement, and here we have to see that we have a constructive way to find a way for this transitional period, which should be limited to, and then we have to negotiate the future agreement. here, we have to find a solution for that, and this will be difficult negotiations. every free—trade agreement is difficult because it has to go through so many details, but we're ready for a constructive solution in that because we believe brexit is a damage for all of us and that we should avoid that this damage becomes even bigger. should avoid that this damage becomes even biggerli should avoid that this damage becomes even bigger. i amjoined by the political leader writer for the financial times. just compare far as

the financial prospects for an independent scotland after run another referendum compared to what those prospects were in 2014. in short, they are a lot worse than three years ago, because first, scotland's deficit has increased massively, now locked in a £15 billion, 9% of gdp, compared to 4% for the rest of the uk am so the public finances are not in a good stea k public finances are not in a good steak and if scotland went independent and the barnett formula, which sends money from the rest of the uk over hadrian ‘s wall to scotland, it would take eye watering austerity to sort the public finances. the other thing is north sea oil. the scottish government released this information white paper that said north sea oil reve nu es paper that said north sea oil revenues would be about 6.8 billion by now. in fact, they are about zero. in the last budget, the

government had to put in £24 million into north sea oil. the big question for scottish nationalist answer now is, how will you fungible economy? where will the revenue come from? they might argue that if scotland remains in the eu, in the single market, they could take financial services from london and make edinburgha new services from london and make edinburgh a new hub for that, but we haven't heard a lot about that from the scottish national party. that is the scottish national party. that is the big question for nicola sturgeon to answer. at the moment, it doesn't add up. a lot of questions and a lot of detail to be filled in, because it looks unlikely that the prime minister would agree to having this second independence referendum ahead of the brexit itself, so that poses a lot of uncertainty for voters in scotland, doesn't it? absolutely, and the key thing is that last time, it was the scottish government the decided the timing, format and question. last time, it was yes —

no. what if it was leaving the lead and remain? that might change it in people's minds. i don't think theresa may will allow a referendum before the uk has left the eu, which means it would be 2019 or even later. there was lots of discussion last time round about head versus heart. given people's experience with the brexit referendum, do you think that will make voters in scotla nd think that will make voters in scotland more less likely to think with their heads or their hearts?” would like to think they will go with their heads this time and stick with their heads this time and stick with their heads this time and stick with the uk. all the economists a that scotland is better off in the uk, that england and scotland's trade is worth about £50 billion, so that were to be disrupted, could have huge consequences for people in england and in scotland, but the fa ct england and in scotland, but the fact is, nicola sturgeon‘s argument

will be that conservative england is dragging you, the scottish, outside of the eu, and in that circumstance, i think people will be dragged by the heart to say, hang on it, we wa nt the heart to say, hang on it, we want a different future. finally and briefly, what about currency? you have the prospect of an independent england and then scotland wanting to remain in the eu ‘s an would it have tojoin the remain in the eu ‘s an would it have to join the euro? yes, in short. i think the case was scotland having the pound is even weaker now than it was in 2014, and we have heard from various eu figures they would not allow scotland to automatically join. the best the scottish national party ca n join. the best the scottish national party can hope for is you can join the eea shortly afterwards and adopt the eea shortly afterwards and adopt the euro, but there is a lot of questions about the stability of the euro and whether other euro holding countries would allow scotland to join. if scotland is allowed to do

this, it could set a precedent that would be dangerous for other countries. fiendishly complicated. sebastien, thank you for talking to us. sebastien, thank you for talking to us. sebastien pain, from the financial times. channel 4's chief executive david abraham has announced he will step down by the end of the year. the broadcaster said he would remain until a new chief executive has been appointed. earlier, ispoke until a new chief executive has been appointed. earlier, i spoke to the editor of broadcast magazine, chris curtis, who started by telling me he thought mr abraham's tenure amounted toa thought mr abraham's tenure amounted to a long time in television. he was keen on achieving stability and that when his successor came in,

they would be in an organisation that was commercially on a decent footing. they haven't quite managed to get that formal commitment from the government yet. which has been considering privatisation for some time. for almost 18 months now, really, the government has been pondering what to do with channel 4, whether to keep it not—for—profit, state—owned but making its own reve nu es state—owned but making its own revenues in the commercial sector with advertising, so it is a slightly odd, hybrid organisation, though some people say that is one of its main strengths. the feeling within channel 4 is the prospect of full privatisation has quietly gone away and they are confident they will remain on a pretty solid footing. how has it done under david abraham? pretty well. it is a slightly unusual beast in that it has to compete with the truly commercial broadcasters whilst at the same time having a remit to come

up the same time having a remit to come up with interesting, distinctive programmes which have a slightly different point of view. that's not a lwa ys different point of view. that's not always easy to manage, but they have generally done pretty well. commercially, they are in a decent place. they have been strategically updating how they do advertising sales. and shows like gogglebox, educating yorkshire, these have been long—running factual shows, so they are indecent hell. on occasions like this, we always cast are mine, to who might come next and take over. good question. there will be no shortage of candidates, i would have thought. there is a bit of debate about whether you go for a creative chief executive or a commercial to one. do you want someone who is strong in business and operations or someone strong in business and operations or someone who has grown up through programming? there are several candidates on both sides of that and it will be interesting to see which

way the board goes. the feeling at the moment slightly leans towards more the business leader than a creative leader. there is certainly an interesting question for the channel 4 board. an interesting question for the channel4 board. chris an interesting question for the channel 4 board. chris curtis, editor of broadcast. customs officers in thailand have made one of their biggest seizures of rhino horn. this is the largest seizure ever at

the airport, says this wildlife officer. he thinks people inside and outside the country were involved in the smuggling of debt. —— the smuggling attempt. it was found by chance, a couple of women putting their suitcase through, and it was spotted in a normal x—ray. you have to wonder how many other shipments of animal products get through this airport undetected. wildlife campaigners believe that rhinos in africa are being killed to order. in this case, they think, an orderfrom vietnam. the demand for the horn there is very high. rhinos are being hammered. even in the last week, there has been an upsurge in poaching in south africa. poachers are going after them like never before. somebody on this site just made a big order, which would have caused a recent spike, but it has been bad anyway, two or three rhinos

poached every day. corrupt officials must have helped bring this illicit cargo into thailand, he says. thankfully, though were honest officials willing to stop it, but that alone isn't enough to stop the ring is running this smuggling ring is runningthis! profitable trade. now, the weather. fine, mild weatherfor fine, mild weather for the fine, mild weatherfor the uk. clearly, that is not making headlines. what is going on in north america is. this storm is dumping a lot of snow inland, away from the lggggjge east coast. lots of cold immediate east coast. lots of cold air in place across canada and eastern united states, with thejet strea m eastern united states, with thejet stream becoming more powerful as ;% cold f stream becoming more powerful as ;% cold air f stream becoming more powerful as ;% cold air comes out of stream becoming more powerful as § cold air comes out of the % stream becoming more powerful as g cold air comes out of the us % that cold air comes out of the us this week, so it takes a more direct track to the uk, and our weather at

the end of the week becomes more active. virtues day, we have had high pressure, and wednesday is the same. we saw scenes like this today, near york. plenty of sunshine, blossom doing well. in northern ireland, another lovely day. this is how it looks going into tonight. under clear skies, there will be a touch of frost for northern britain. northern ireland will be damp and drizzly. showers in scotland become confined to the northern isles. a mild night further south, with plenty of glad. tomorrow, cloud will thicken from the west. damp and drizzly early on in the west, outbreaks of rain into western scotland. early sunshine in eastern scotla nd scotland. early sunshine in eastern scotland and cloud increasing. elsewhere in england and wales, a few brighter breaks, some glimmers of sunshine, and the longer lasting sunny spells will make it feel quite

warm again, 16—17dc possible. a cloudy story at cheltenham as the festival continues, particularly on thursday with a stronger breeze and the temperature being down a few did greece. —— a few degrees. the weather becomes more active to what we. a weather front moves through scotla nd we. a weather front moves through scotland and northern ireland with heavy showers and a strong wind. cloudy weather ahead of that into much of england and wales. by friday, a stronger weather system coming our way, and that will take rain from north—west to south—east, with the wind picking up on the tepid is coming down as well. so, things feeling different by the end of the week, with a strongerjet strea m of the week, with a strongerjet stream coming into play, and indeed, for the weekend, cooler, wetter, windier. goodbye for now. this is bbc news.

the headlines at 8pm: theresa may hails a key moment on the path to brexit. the prime minister says she's determined to secure a deal that works for all parts of the uk. this will be a defining moment for our whole country, as we begin to forge a new relationship with europe and a new role for ourselves in the world. threatened with famine — millions of people in africa and the middle east face one of the worst food shortages in decades. many of these people have lost their homes, lost their livelihoods. their husbands are farmers who have been forced off their lands by all the fighting involving boko haram. an irish coastguard pilot dies after she's pulled from the atlantic. her helicopter disappeared last night. three colleagues are still missing. three police staff are found not guilty